Falling Asleep

Falling Asleep 💤

Not to be a killjoy (though it is what I do best) but the unsafe and rough handling of a baby Pygmy hippo in a pretty substandard Thai zoo being meme-ed into something funny and cute really shows just how much groupthink plays into public perception of animal welfare.

Moo Deng shows avoidance, threat displays and stress around her keepers that are constantly man-handling her, blasting her with a hose and harassing her. The enclosure is mostly concrete, which is horrible for her soft feet. There looks to be some substrate but there doesn’t seem to be any areas for wallowing or deep water wading.

There’s also very easy access of this hippo to the public with no places to hide. I’d love if someone could shed more light on the enclosures but from what I’ve seen it’s not great.

Also the free contact and forcing into tubs that the keepers do is only going to create an avoidant and potentially aggressive and dangerous Pygmy hippo.

But the public happily overlook that because she’s cute. It’s a similar attitude with seals too.

Stop rewarding bad husbandry with clout. Baby animals deserve agency and respect and to grow up without getting harassed and feeling the need to defend themselves constantly.

It's a normal day in school - that is to say, school in Ekoda, Japan, since if he were in education in England he'd currently be attending college rather than the equivalent of Secondary education. More to the point, Saguru has been in and out of Japan often enough that the simple task of working in a teacher-assigned group was proving... difficult.

Their teacher must have noticed that although he could get along with almost any of the others merely by being polite, Kuroba did tend to act out less around him. Because they had been put in the same group, and expected to work together.

Only fifteen minutes in, however, and he could tell that things weren't working out. When Kuroba wasn't being belligerent, he was outright ignoring him.

Four and a half minutes later, and Kuroba wasn't even anywhere to be seen. Most likely he was somewhere nearby still, but the possibility remained that he'd simply taken off.

It was a state of affairs that had Saguru unable to stifle a sigh, no matter his relief that Aoko was still there with him.

"I get the impression," he said quietly, "that Kuroba-kun actively dislikes me. Perhaps I should have a word with the teacher and dissuade her from pairing us together, in future."

For an entire two minutes and thirty five seconds, Aoko didn't say anything. He glanced over, only to see her frowning.

"Really...? Aoko... isn't sure."

He blinks, confused and surprised. Surely she should have picked up on the awkward tension between them, by now-?

"Really?" He said dryly. "He can't ever seem to get rid of me fast enough."

It didn't matter how long it had been since the way he'd acted when they'd first met, or how he'd changed since then. Kuroba had made up his mind, and Saguru would be lying if he said that it did not, from time to time, hurt.

Aoko again took her time to think of how to respond.

"Kaito... Aoko thought he'd stopped doing that ages ago. He used to, after-" she cut herself off, but he could fill in the blanks. Kuroba's father was dead, after all, and grief did things to people. To children, especially. "He pushes people away when he thinks they're getting too close. He tried to push me and 'tou-san away too, but we're stubborn, and he doesn't bother anymore. But you didn't hear Aoko say any of that."

"Of course."

Kuroba didn't return for the rest of their classes.

Later that evening, Nakamori called with the news that a notice had somehow been delivered. Fairly straightforward, but in being so easily read it was also easy to read into it - the heist was due to take place once Saguru was supposed to already be back in London again.

The pieces were falling into place. He still had many missing, and it would be preferable to get confirmation from Kuroba himself (or Kid, if the case may be), but it was a working theory.

"It's a damn shame you won't be here," Nakamori was saying in the here and now, Saguru's attention snapping back to the problem at hand. "Could do with your help."

"No need for that," he heard himself say. "I'll be there."

It wouldn't take too much, to cancel his plans.

He was sure that the Kaitou Kid Task Force likely thought that the smile on his face was the result of him thinking of innovative new ways to trip Kid up - and in a way, they weren't wrong. Kid couldn't possibly be expecting Saguru to have decided that like hell was he just going to let himself be pushed away like that; now that he knew what was needed, he'd be as stubborn as it took.

Y'know what'd be funny? Kaitou Kid dropping enough accidental clues that he's fond of detectives when Shinichi knows that Kid just sees them as critics, to the point that he realises Kid is especially fond of one detective in particular and starts teasing him about it.

It takes Kaito a while to figure out because although he's a heist and magic genius he's not the best at emotional intelligence, and when he does? Guaranteed fun for Conan.

Because somehow, Shinichi can see past to what's going on in Kaito's head just enough to know he's flustered and panicking at the idea of Hakuba Saguru of all people showing up. He'd suggested off-hand that he'd heard from the guy who wasn't actually there once and Kid had twitched in a minute way, and from then on it's "sorry, it's just me" and complaining to Hattori about why Kid would be attached to someone whose best - in Shinichi's opinion - trait is liking Holmes.

It comes to a head, though, when he slips up about it around Hakuba himself, who... pauses, bemused.

And then starts to blush.

Basically, Conan acting as the annoying "little" cousin and teasing Kid over his crush only to end up as the world's most unlikely and unwilling wingman.

Do you ship it?

reason: Every detective needs a phantom thief and every phantom thief needs a detective. Saguru has figured out that Kaito is Kaito Kid and calls him from Paris to give him information on another phantom thief who is trying to outshine him. Saguru says: ""Do your best at least. I don't want to see you lose to anyone before I capture you myself". Homosexual behavior.