A tape recorder lay on his nightstand, and he clicks the "rewind" button. He laid on the bed, closing his eyes as he heard the soft whirring as it did its job, before clicking the play button. He had lazily put his paw on the nightstand, not even bothering to get up. "I'm home, Oyaji." He'd announced, as he did every time before he headed out before a heist. Not that he was doing a heist right now, he just needed his father.

First, it played in Japanese. Then, in English. "Listen, Kaito, and listen well. Who is the most important member in a circus?"

A dull laugh escaped him as he shifts in his bed, staring at the wall, which underneath black paint held bits of wood, and it was splintering at the edges, rough. "I used to think it was the one on the flying trapeze. But it's the clown." He replies, looking up at the ceiling. It was a mere recording, one he'd listen to many times.

"Yes, my son, it is the clown. Do you know why?" His voice was smooth, soothing. It'd often lull him to sleep, give him advice. Now, that voice was gone. Perhaps due to his hidden hatred, did Toichi really hate his son- or was it that someone disguised himself as him? It wracked his brain. He doesn't respond this time, letting the recording speak and anticipate any "stupid" Kaito had. "It is because they are so skilled, that they mess up deliberately. They make the audience laugh with false idiocy. They appear to be having fun, themselves. That... is a clown's poker face. They do not show weakness. And the most important thing for a magician is..."

A dull sigh escapes him as he looks up, and both the recording and Kaito himself spoke at the same time. It was as if they shared the same mind, the same thoughts, job and so much more. " Our 'Poker Face'." It was a reminder, that he couldn't show his weakness, his fear at being killed one day at a heist, nor his pain about Pandora.

A few raps on his door had caught his attention, distracting him from the depression, just momentarily. He sighs, getting up and shuffling towards the door, as he turns off the player. He decides to look presentable, dusting himself off and standing with a smirk. "Ah! Come in!"

// [member=6881]aurum.[/member]

Ever since what had happened to Kaito's home, Aurum had found himself quite worried about the young thief. The angel's mind was in a million different places these days, what with the heaps upon heaps of responsibilities he found himself juggling, but that didn't mean he couldn't find time for Kaito in there somewhere. After all, the domestic was practically like a second son to Aurum, even if he and the other had never truly discussed such a thing. It just felt so much more solid nowadays, considering that the proxy had been the first Kaito had turned to after being rendered homeless. Aurum had clearly been devastated for the other when he had been asked, but he had also been a bit overwhelmed, surprised that Kaito would trust him enough to ask such a thing. Needless to say, the tigon now had very little issue with thinking of Kaito as his "son", even if he only ever thought as much within his head. After all, Kaito was deeply attached to the father that he had lost, to the point where sometimes Aurum felt his grief had begun to make him act against his own self interest. This only became further cemented when the proxy heard voices coming from inside Kaito's room, and had listened in through the door. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised about the lessons Oyaji was teaching, but he still found himself scowling faintly.

He waited for the player to be finished before he knocked on the door with a paw, a relieved breath leaving him when Kaito actually allowed him to come in. He hadn't been sure if the thief would've been willing, considering the state he seemed to be in. As the tigon stepped inside, he immediately found himself slightly uneasy, the false smirk on Kaito's face enough to already make him want to shake the younger male. He held himself back, however, offering his own smile back in return, albeit strained. His one blue eye drifted to the audio player for a moment before snapping back to Kaito's face, his words finally coming forth, "Hey, Kaito. I wanted to see how you were doing, since I haven't checked in on you in a while. Not since everything..." He took a few steps forward, rumbling as he gestured a cream paw towards the player, "How many times have you listened to that, now?" He wasn't even sure he truly wanted to know, considering how long Kaito had been cooped up in his room.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM

It was Aurum. Thank God. He sighed, kicking his wardrobe open, letting the KID outfit actually get some air and not just be holed up somewhere. The black smoke paces around his room, almost as if Aurum wasn't there for a moment, before hopping to his window and closing the blinds. He didn't want anyone seeing him like this. Nor hearing this.

He stops, in the center of the room, a fake yet real-sounding chuckle escaping his maw. He wanted to see how Kaito was doing? The gentlemanly asshole's smirk returns to his face once more, as if he was fine. Because he had to be. There was no vulnerability for Kaito, or Kaitou KID. He could never be shaken up, and if his plans went awry, he'd always have a back up. He was charming, elegant, flamboyant - like his father and mother were before him. He gently waves his paw in dismissal, his smirk growing larger. "Me? Aurum-san! I'm fine, I've been fine for a while now. How are you?"

The... player? A rare look of shock comes on his face, and he lets out another chuckle, this one slightly nervous, with a brow raised. He really pointed to it, eh? His gaze drifts away, as he regains his composure. Feeling as though Aurum shouldn't see him like this, he hops towards his wardrobe, on it for a brief second before jumping onto the floor. He moves past his usual KID outfit stuff - the cape, that suit, the tophat, the monocle... aha! There it was. The mask for his first ever heist. Is was white, with a smile face, red glowing eyes and a red smile. He puts it on, making sure it fits before facing the pregnant tigon.

He shrugs a bit, answering his question. His voice is rather casual, as if there were to be expected. His memory allowed him to remember so much. "Twenty five thousand, nine hundred, and thirteen times."

He supposed he should've expected this. After all, it wasn't as if their past conversations had been totally openly emotional and easy. Aurum had managed to wrench genuine emotion from Kaito before, but it had hardly been a pleasant process, considering Kaito liked to put up walls and hide behind masks. The angel was starkly reminded of that when Kaito proclaimed he was fine, that wretched little smirk that was so forced and fake yet fooled so many plastered upon his face. The tigon wasn't able to hold back a sigh, his paws shifting carefully against the wood floors beneath him before he muttered, "Ah, I see. Well... you know, if you weren't fine, that would be okay too. I mean, you lost your house, and you had to deal with that asshole who did it. Not many people ever have to deal with losing a home like that, so if you didn't feel great... that would be fine." It felt so frustrating, going against the things that Kaito had practically been programmed to do for his entire life, but the proxy knew he had to do it. If he didn't, the feline would never get better in any way, and would probably just spend his entire life toiling away at a life of thievery that would never ultimately bring him happiness. The thought made Aurum's heart sink.

He watched as the black smoke moved over to his closet, the tigon's head cocking to the side with curiosity over what he could be doing. When Kaito further turned around, Aurum almost recoiled, startled by the appearance of a very literal mask in place. It would've been nice, knowing that he had managed to crack Kaito's so carefully upheld composure somewhat with his words, but the mask was so unnerving that he held little satisfaction, at least for the moment. When Kaito spoke again, Aurum found his one blue eye widening almost comically, a shocked noise leaving him before he spoke, "Twenty... five... Jesus, Kaito. I'm surprised you haven't burnt the thing out by now, playing it over so many times..." He looked over at the player with a concerned look in his eyes, his usual fatherly nature beginning to itch with worry for the young thief.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM

Suddenly, Kaito was remembering why he had hated this mask and only used it on one heist. It was too warm. Grumbling to himself, he yanks it off, throwing it back once more in the closet. Sure, it held memories, but it wasn't practical. He closes the closet, trying to think of places to store his suit and such, and half-listening to Aurum. It'd be fine if he wasn't fine? No. No, it wouldn't. Even if things were so fucked, he'd have to be either happy or neutral or confident. Yep. Those three emotions were the stock that Kaito Kuroba felt. He can see through the awkward way of wording it, rolling his eyes and sending a glare to Aurum. "You do not have to sidestep what you actually wish to say, Kin-keibu," the boy remarks, a bit coldly, with narrowed eyes. What the hell? Did the pregnant tigon actually want to help, when he's got a pregnancy going on and so much more, like actual responsibilities? Not some stupid romp through life, being a thief, doing what he pleased? Aurum was better off helping himself.  "Focus on you. You're the main character in your story, I'm just a side-character."

At the comical eye widening, Kaito forces himself to not chuckle or laugh. Smiles and laughter were good, but one needed to remember their most important feature. That took precedence over everything else right now. He was surprised? At the fact that the black smoke could remember such a fact or that he had listened to it so many times? It didn't matter. He'd keep his stoic look on, not frowning, not smiling.  "I had burned different players out. This is a different one. Why do you ask how many times I've listened to it?"

In many other cases, being told to focus on himself probably would've been good advice to Aurum. After all, in the past, the proxy had pushed himself far beyond his own limits, only succeeding in ultimately exhausting himself and having everything all come crashing down upon him. Taking up too many causes could be a curse the angel was well acquainted with, and had this been a different time in his life, perhaps he would've listened. However, all in all, Aurum was doing alright at the moment. Aside from the usual anxiety an expecting mother would've felt, the tigon's life was finally beginning to feel like the pieces were falling into place. Because of this, the proxy felt no guilt or remorse on focusing on Kaito or his issues. Hell, even if Aurum hadn't been in a good place, he still would've focused upon trying to help Kaito. The feline was family to him, and even in the most dire of circumstances, Aurum had never ignored family. Taking a deep breath, the male mumbled, shaking his head from side to side with a soft chuckle, "Trust me, Kaito. I know when to focus on myself. But for now, I'm far from the main character. I'm worried about you. I want you to be alright." He emphasized the last word, hoping that he could communicate to the young thief just how much he cared.

After that, Kaito was quick to change the subject, once again focusing on the audio player that they had been casually speaking about. Aurum watched the other's stoic expression with an internal sigh, wishing that he'd reveal anything further. Anything that the angel could use in order to help. Instead he just questioned, causing the proxy to shift from side to side before he answered, "I was just wondering because... well, that doesn't seem very healthy. Trust me, I can very much relate to missing someone, especially someone who meant as much to you as I'm sure that he did, but... there's a difference between missing someone and clinging onto the past even when it's unhealthy. This feels like the second one, and it feels like ultimately, it'll just end up hurting you further." He was trying to speak more directly to Kaito, figuring using a direct approach would be best, since the thief seemed to be an expert at dodging the subject.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM

He casually begun to take the tape out of the player, using his wind elemental to spin the player silently, as if it were a true magic trick. He could hardly do those now, could he? Magic wasn't meant to be real. It was meant to boggle the mind, to be a simple illusion. Yet, he was stuck using... Akako's kind of magic. He stops, snickering to himself, listening to the tigon, even if it appeared that it wasn't the case. "No need to check up on me, Aurum-san, I'm fine," the petty thief once again insists. The player dropped, and he grabbed the cassette tape, ready to put it back in, though it appeared that he would not be leaving.

Unhealthy? Good God, his job had his life on the line every heist, had him running from the police, had him threatened, nearly beaten. There were more unhealthy things than missing his father. He wanted to roll his eyes. But, at the same time... Aurum was actually a good guy. He didn't steal things. He let someone who he knew had been threatened into his home. He'd at least listen to the man. Kaito's tail swishes behind him. Blue eyes the color of the ocean glance over, and he turns to fully face the man. He couldn't give up now, not while those... people impersonated his father and- "I understand where you're coming from. But it's a bit too late to stop what you deem unhealthy. That person, disguised as my father, tried to kill me the same way my father was killed. And now? Now they're after Pandora, and I'm caught up in this mess. I don't care how hurt I become, I need to finish this." His eyes narrow. "It may be unhealthy, but I'm not all about vengeance! I cling onto the past so I can realize what it means to move on. I want to get those people who set up that trap for Oyaji, make them face justice, and move on! Because that can't be all there is to my life."

For the most part, Aurum was usually able to rather easily pick out when Kaito was using some heavily flawed logic. That was mainly because, back when he had been Kaito's age, he had used variations on the same flawed logic to justify his own life choices. Life choices that, up until he had finally joined Tanglewood, had just led to an existence full of servitude and suffering at the hands of others. Despite this, for once it actually seemed as though Kaito was making a bit of sense. Not all of it, granted. Some of what he was saying was still incredibly unhealthy, but at least he was actually using logic to back up his words, to a certain extent. However, the proxy had his doubts that Kaito would actually keep to his word in this case. Would the boy ever truly move on from the persona he had created, and all of the trauma that he had endlessly wrapped up in it? The thief had gone through so much that it seemed only natural that he would cling to what was familiar, and that was perhaps what frightened Aurum the most. He knew how easy it was to fall back into old patterns because they felt like safety, even when they were hurting you in the end. The player that Kaito was blocking behind him was proof enough of that.

Taking a deep breath inward, Aurum looked down for a long moment, seemingly trying to gather his thoughts, trying to figure out how to get his point across to Kaito. Eventually he just shook his head, deciding to jump into it, "I... I realize what you're saying, Kaito. Trust me, I really, really do. I know that you feel like you've been wronged, and you're right to want revenge and closure. For you, and for your father. I guess what I'm trying to say... what I've always been trying you say, ever since our first conversation..." He looked to the side for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek in intense thought before he continued, "What I've been trying to say is that I care about you, Kaito. If I didn't care about you, I never would've let you stay in my home after everything that happened. And you may not care if you get hurt in this crusade for your father, but I do care. And... I know that it's selfish to feel this way. I know that it's selfish to feel like you're practically my own son, and not wanting you to go and get yourself hurt further, but... I can't help it, okay?" Aurum's voice took on a soft tone of desperation at the end, his one blue eye reflecting his worry and sadness inside as he looked Kaito over.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM