Heartbeats (Ranpo x Poe)

Annabel/Adrian Lee

"Who's Annabel Lee?"

Poe knew the name well. Of course he did, it was the name of a character he had written in a poem. His editor had asked him if he had ever tried writing any love poems or anything like that and Poe told him that "Annabel Lee" has the closest he'd ever done. However, he wasn't sure if it could even be considered romantic considering the death that was in it, just how death found itself in almost everything Poe wrote.

He had carelessly left it on his desk when he went to let Ranpo inside. If Ranpo hadn't stopped by without so much as a moment's notice, he would have had time to put the poem away but it's was too late now. Ranpo had picked it up from his desk, read it, and was now asking Poe about it. Only Poe didn't know how to answer.

"W-what?"

"Annabel Lee. Is she someone you used to know?" Ranpo asked with a curious look after he put the paper back on the writer's desk.

"O-oh no, she's just a character I made up." Poe said nervously.

"Is she based on a girl you used to love?"

Poe really hadn't expected such a question but at least he could answer easily, "No."

"A boy then? An Adrain Lee?"

Poe's face flushed. "N-no! She's not based o-off of anyone! I was j-just in the mood to write a short tragic l-love story!"

Ranpo sighed and plopped himself on Poe's couch, taking up all of it. Poe carefully sat in a nearby chair, tried to cool his heated up face, and prepared himself for more questions.

It was odd though. The only things that Poe had written that Ranpo seemed at all interested in was murder mysteries. Why did Ranpo care about a short poem Poe had written at ungodly hours of the night?

"Have you ever been in love, Poe-kun?" Ranpo asks while popping a piece of candy in his mouth.

So much for trying to cool his face down. He didn't know why the question caused such a reaction but it did and Poe didn't like it. He tried not to think about what Yosano had said to him a few days prior and forces himself to come up with a response.

"Why do you ask?" Poe was relived his voice didn't shake but it didn't last long.

Ranpo shrugged, "That's the only at all romantic thing I've never seen you write and the girl ended up dead by the end of it."

"I've written other romantic things!" Poe defends. And it's true, after his conversation with his editor, he had tried writing many ridiculously sappy love stories but he never liked how any of them came out so he scraped them.

"Really? Can I read them?" When Poe doesn't answer right away, Ranpo asks another question. "Oh, did you write something dirty Poe-kun?"

"NO!" Poe yelled, louder than we meant to. He struggled to remind himself to breathe. He suddenly worries he might have been too harsh but Ranpo's teasing grin stays on his face, not at all fazed.

"Then why can't I read any?"

"Because they're bad." Poe reasons but he knew he wasn't going to win this.

"Nothing you write could ever be that bad. Now come on, I wanna read some!"

Poe didn't have time to take in the unexpected compliment as Ranpo was already tearing through his desk. Poe had no choice but to sigh and give Ranpo a few drafts of the forgotten stories.

He was careful about which ones he let those bright green eyes see. He hadn't realized it until he spoke with Yosano but too many of the handsome men's descriptions were similar to that of the detective in front of him and he seriously doubted it would go unnoticed.

Poe still didn't know what to do with his newly discovered feelings but the last thing he needed was for Ranpo to figure them out.

Little did Poe know that Ranpo was already more than aware of the writer's feelings. The only thing was, he didn't know how he felt about Poe. He was his friend and he never wanted Poe to ever be sad or hurt but was that enough to be considered love? Ranpo had no idea, he had never felt romantic love before.

He already knew he was physically attracted to the writer. I mean look at him! Ranpo had never met anyone so breathtaking in his life. But romantically? He still wasn't sure. Either way, he was curious as to if Poe had a type and this seemed like the best way to find out.

However, he noticed that Poe had only given him a select few of his works. He was annoyed by this but didn't bother asking Poe why for he already had a pretty good idea.

Even so, he wasn't leaving without them so he waited until Poe had headed to the kitchen to make them some lunch and grabbed a few of them. He was glad he'd brought a bag with him so he had a place to hide the stolen books before Poe walked back into the room with Karl on his shoulders.

"Ah, I haven't gone grocery shopping in a while so there isn't much I can make-"

"Then why don't we go shopping?" Ranpo suggests. "I'm almost out of candy anyway."

Poe was about to reject the idea of going out before deciding, why not?

"Sure but I'm not buying you any candy." Despite saying this, both of them already knew that Ranpo was getting his candy and Poe was going to pay for it.