The words from whoever was speaking filtered through the stacks all the way back to Kyungsoo’s desk where he was diligently pretending the game of solitaire on his screen actually constituted as work. The evening was waning on and while he wished it was closer to closing time, one glance at the clock in the corner just below his score of 3265 showed him that his wish was far from ever coming true. In fact, if the brunette didn’t know any better, he’d swear the digits went back a minute just to spite him.
“An evening on criminal minds.” His lips moved along as he read the title of the get together from a piece of paper laying next to his computer to himself. “Presented by ####.” Kyungsoo recognized the name of the newspaper, but he couldn’t recall the last time he’d ever actually picked one up. Probably when he himself had worked as a typesetter in the late 1700′s. Nowadays though, just like everything else, technology had taken over and there was no need for a young man of slight build to squeeze between machines and risk his fingertips. Which, when he thought about it, really was for the best. He liked his hands and computers weren’t the worst thing the passing of time had brought along.
The more Kyungsoo tried to ignore the soft gasps and coos of women sitting in on the seminar, the more he found himself actually zoning in and listening to the young man speaking to them. His voice was nice and Kyungsoo wondered if the young man was from the paper or a random speaker. If he was from the paper, obviously whoever had chosen him to speak on their behalf realized the young man would appeal to a certain demographic. Housewives were usually the ones who ended up handling finances, and well, “He’s good looking. I bet he gets a couple of online subscriptions for them tonight.” The faery snorted, “But good lord, is he tall enough? That’s just not fair. Not fair I tell you.”
Pushing his chair back, Kyungsoo closed out his solitaire game, wincing as the his bones cracked and his joints protested. “Okay, yep. Definitely time to make the rounds. Rigor is setting in…”
Really, he was just using his rounds as an excuse to move closer to the gathering. From the few words he had heard, it seemed an interesting conversation and he hoped that no one minded him giving a listen for a short bit of time.
“--simplicity and complexity co-exist. They run along the same line, really. You can take any one simple device—much like the investigations in the show. One killer. One or more victims.” His eyes glance over the crowd, lingering on the boy in back as he speaks. Not meaning to zone out on the distraction of their movement, but purposefully stressing, “—the bystander. It can be reduced to the simplest of terms, but what draws in the audience are the twists.” Not breaking for breath even as he adjusts the mic clipped to his collar and jumps down to the audience level from the stage, mouth edging on a smile when participating members murmur in wonder.
Dunno’, but I want whatever he’s taking.
At least he’s good-looking.
Lights cut out. Then there are the gasps and concerned mumbling. Followed by the rise of voices and what’s going on’s, is this an emergency’s—?. He had already walked to the back of the room without detection, footsteps and shadowed shape obscured by the worried tones and nervous movement of everyone else. When lights flicker on again, he is standing behind someone randomly selected, closest to the exit—and a quick glance up and down nearly makes him laugh. It was the same person he’d seen remain on the perimeter of the discussion. Never quite joining, and immersed in their own task.
“The element of surprise adds fuel to the fire. No one wants to pay attention to a boring plot line,” he finally speaks, amplified voice causing the sudden hush. Lost in the crowd, people first have a difficult time noticing him, and Daisuke does not make his location obvious. “The most iconic characters are those we relate to. The most memorable stories are ones we emotionally involve ourselves in. We come together in times of emotional strife. Confusion. Wonder. Fear--we are afraid of the dark because of the danger that lies inside. The unknown.” Daisuke pauses, crossing his arms. Some people had even turned around to stare toward where they believed he was speaking.
“There is nothing to fear in the dark that is not in the daylight, and danger is often much more familiar to us than the monsters we relate it to. Much closer.” He side-steps out into the aisle finally, more off in his own thoughts as the discussion concludes with, “keep that in mind.”
Standing there for nearly a minute, shaking people’s hands and plugging the news outlet he works for, he nearly forgets the person he used as a human shield. Shit would be one word to describe his expression before he turns on his heel.
“—sorry about that. Just theatrics, you know. Once you’ve had one discussion one way, people feel like they’ve heard it all.”
