Warnings: Alcoholism, child trauma, arguing adults, divorce and its aftermath, no one is ok

As always, the Agency stinks of stale beer and aluminum cans. Her perfectly done lips purse, her eyes narrow just so. It's perfect and practiced of course. It has to be. She has to be pristine in at least some way. It makes up for the many, many places she is lacking.

Still, she cautiously steps into the office, finds her ex- (technically ex, they never divorced after all, though honestly they should but she knows why they can't) reclined in his creaky chair, reading the newspaper, probably for the derby. She finds the little boy also reading, eyes puffy, face pale, a stack of homework on the table behind him.

Eri had never seen Shinichi very often after the divorce, but she'd seen him enough. Enough to feel something, enough for those eyes to be unnerving.

Conan looks up at her first, that's why she knows those eyes so well. "Hello, Auntie Eri," he says softly, eyes flickering to Kogoro, who is steadfastly ignoring her. "Ran-nee-chan should be home soon. She wanted to make green curry but we ran out of tofu."

And she won't let me go by myself, was petulantly buried underneath all of that and Eri suppresses a smile at the thought of it. Sometimes, she's sure Ran forgets that the first time, Shinichi had been much more reliable than her and that likely won't change with this one. He'll be a precocious child all over again, with people paying attention this time.

Speaking of… she hasn't heard from Yukiko, which isn't too odd they often have their phones off because Yusaku has no sense of responsibility. But that's still not good. That's… hm. She doesn't have a word for it.

"What are you doing here?"

Eri restrains her eyes to keep them from rolling out of her skull. "We scheduled to meet today. Did you forget?"

He glowers at her through bloodshot eyes. "Ah… right. Yeah, sure."

Hopeless, she thinks wryly. His vices were really going to be his undoing one day. "So, finances?" She sat down like the chair wasn't yanked out of a pile of papers and cans. "Have you overspent again?"

"Che! Course not." He squinted at her. "Not with you and Ran looking at me like that."

"You want our daughter to grow up well?" She kept her voice even, one eye on the little boy who wasn't a little boy and how he seemed to be completely at ease with ignoring them. Hm. How often had he raised his voice already? Or did Kogoro and Ran get into more arguments than she was willing to admit over the phone that the little boy turned skittish wasn't even able to react anymore? Seeing the way her ex-husband was starting to bristle like a sullen cat rather than an angry one, Eri changed tactics.

"So what have you been buying instead?"

"Food mostly. And clothes. Kids cost money."

They weren't talking about the money for the school books and everything that had magically appeared in their account then. Fair enough. It wasn't like the Kudos would actually want to be thanked for something they considered minor.

"I see… much booze?"

He leveled her a look as if he knew she was pretending not to see the cans and bottles and the smell that almost took form in their room. He probably did. Idiotic though he may be, he wasn't without sense or observation skills.

"A little," he finally gave. She contained a scoff and merely sighed.

"Very well. Anything else?"

His eyes flitted towards Conan-kun, who closes another notebook with unenviable care. Should they tell him that his birth parents love him and he doesn't have to worry about things like notebooks?

She suspects not. He puts his things away and looks at her again. A shy smile crosses his face unbidden and then it's gone, because he's turned his head to the sound of footsteps.

"Ran-nee-chan," he greets softly as she walks through the door and announces herself. "I'm done. Can I help?"

Eri watches her hesitate, then offers. "Let him stir, Ran, it will do him some good to start young. He can use the rice cooker."

She doesn't miss the way he looks at her with more gratitude than you can fit in a little boy.

She also doesn't miss the way Kogoro grimaces. They need to talk about that and as always she'll have to do the legwork.

She almost doesn't see the way her daughter seems to shine at the sight of her. "Right… right!" She kneels down and instructs Conan-kun with quick care, then moves over to hug her and ask if she's staying for dinner.

Eri shouldn't, she has a career to push, things to do, but all the same.

"Yes," she says. "I just think I might."

The surprise on Kogoro's face feels like a victory and defeat all at once.

Kogoro watches things.

It's not that he's not observant, or smart. He doesn't have to have his wife's drive to know what's happening around him. He knows that he is too tired for this, he knows that were he his wife, he'd have more going for him, more likability, more a lot of things. As it is, he pays his rent and everything to do with it and that's about all, really.

(And he has love that overrides the rest of him when it really tries.)

So Kogoro watches Eri try to be involved, try to care and there's a lot of him that watches her fumble and feel pride because hey he could do it, why can't she? And the rest of him wants a drink minus his eyeballs that want to close and sleep forever.

She's as hopeless as he is, if he thinks about it. And he doesn't want to.

He watches Conan, who for a boy who had broken down earlier, seems functional and peaceful again. They'll see about tonight when his anxiety on education is no longer through the roof and his heart isn't in his mouth. They'll see about tonight.

But until then Eri checks homework and the kid does dishes and Ran…

Ran passes him a seltzer water and a hug and whispers how happy she is and he-

He drinks it.

It tastes like paper in a drink.

"We'll have to try another flavor," he tells her. He waits for her face to fall.

It doesn't. Her face is lined with a tremulous sort of resolve and he can't bear to break it just yet.

"Yeah," she agrees. "I thought so too. This one's plain."

Ordinary. And, Kogoro knows, that's not what they are.

A/N: Not much to say for this one. I'm really sorry it took so long. I'm gonna get ahead on these again before the next one comes out. Thank you for your patience!