Re: To Serve And Protect. [R18]

by Officer Kirkland Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:26 am

Arthur was tense in Alfred's arms for a moment, deeming himself undeserving of such an embrace. But he was only human, and upset, so he allowed himself to crumple against Alfred's chest with a hitched sob. He didn't miss the resulting wince though, and immediately drew back. "I'm so stupid," he muttered, "stupid, stupid, stupid. Fuck, I should have known-- should have--"

There was a slightly hysterical note to his voice and he knew that he must look insane, wide-eyed and pale-faced, wearing a pair of broken shorts that barely clung to his hips over a sliver of come-filled underwear. That was, if Alfred could see anything at all. How bad was his vision?

"You are going to the medical centre!" He shouted, voice cracking half way through. "You are going whether you like it or not and by golly you're going as soon as you get changed! Blurry vision, hours after being hit... This is-- I can't believe I let--" Belatedly, he realised that his eyes were leaking and swiped at them angrily, stunned that tears had actually made it past it defences. The hormonal imbalance triggered by narcotics was the cause, not worry and concern and fear for someone who had gotten far too close to him, far too quickly. At least, that's what he tried to tell himself. "Fuck, you are going to the medical centre!" he repeated in a broken voice, "you're going!"

by **Detective Jones** Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:38 pm

Alfred sighed in relief as Arthur sunk against him but tried to hold him still as the man freaked out. "Hey I told you to stop that." He says still in a calm tone. Atleast one of them had to be calm here.

"I'll go to the meds if you calm down." Alfred offers. He tries to get a look at Arthur's face but he can't quite make it out. "I'm sure it's nothing bad, just eh.." He trails off failing to think of an excuse.

He just wants to make Arthur feel better. <e can feel the other boy trembling in his arms and he runs a hand down Arthur's back trying to sooth him into a calmer state.

He gives a small smile. "You say fuck a lot." He points out trying to lighten the mood.

by Officer Kirkland Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:54 pm

Alfred's hand burned a line down his back, making Arthur shudder at the slightest contact. "Don't you bloody tell me what to do!" He snarled. "I won't stop, because I fucked up and this happened to you because of me. You are going to the fucking medical centre right now! At the very least, you're concussed... So don't fucking argue with me!"

Alfred's obvious attempt to distract him and lighten the mood went ignored. Arthur clutched at fistfuls of his hair, pulling at them and rebelling in the slight pain it brought him. It was nothing compared to how Alfred must be feeling, he told himself. He battled with his hysteria for a moment and gave a small, heart-wrenching cry. "I don't know what to do," he said, stressed. "I don't know what to do to make you better. And it's you, not some civilian, so you have to go to the medical centre. Please, Alfred! I can't-- I can't calm down, but you have to go! Just-- here, change your trousers and let's go, I'll come too and maybe the doctor can sedate me--"

Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. Alfred's arms were warm and comforting, and he knew he needed to calm down. If he couldn't, he'd get someone to sedate him. Arthur took a few deep, calming breaths, holding them for a few seconds at a time.

by **Detective Jones** Sat Jul 09, 2011 7:58 pm

"I wasn't arguing." Alfred says with a slight tone of hurt in his voice. And will you please stop yelling at me." He adds, hold loosening thinking Arthur is mad at him for something.

Despite all occurenses, Alfred feels rather ok other the the soreness and the vision. He thinks surely he's had worse as a kid running around. "I said I'd go alright. If it's that important to you..." suddenly a though struck him though. "It's me and not a cizivian? What's that got to do with it?" He asks curiously. He smiles though anf returns his hand to a reassuring stable place on his partners back as he sits up. He stays like that for a moment taking a few breaths of his own.

"Come on now..you need to get changed to." He says finally with a smile.

by Officer Kirkland Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:30 pm

"Yes, yes," Arthur agreed quickly, latching onto the distraction. "Yes, I'll find some decent trousers and let's be off." He scrambled off the bed and dug through his bags until he found a grey pair boxers and a pair of trousers. He rushed into the bathroom and tore off his shorts and underwear before slipping on the clean articles of clothing. He hadn't missed Alfred's hurt tone of voice, nor had he missed the way Alfred had questioned his words. Why had Arthur even said that? You, rather than civilians. But he'd meant it. If he had to choose between a random civilian and Alfred, Alfred would come first. Despite their duty, Arthur knew it was true.

He had to be calm. Even though it was his fault, he couldn't afford to dwell on last night's mistakes. He could berate himself later.

He took a moment to try and compose himself, but didn't let himself linger too long. Alfred needed to be checked up on at the medical centre. Taking another few deep breaths, he let himself back into the bedroom. "We have to go," he said, "I don't know how bad it is but blurry vision means that you probably have a concussion at the very least--" Well, at least the American had taken the chance to change his trousers, he supposed, "--and at the worst, it could mean permanent damage to your eyes." He slid his mobile phone into his pocket and hesitated before taking Alfred's hand.

"How bad is it?" he asked, pulling lightly to coax Alfred to his feet. "Come on, I won't let you walk into anything, love."

by **Detective Jones** Sun Jul 10, 2011 3:12 pm

Once Arthur was off the bed, Alfred tries to get up too. He moved a bit slowly but it wasn't too bad if he toke his time. Eventually he got his feet on the floor and slide off the bed, standing for a moment to test out his balance. It was ok. He gives a thumbs up to show he's got this.

While Arthur is in the bathroom Alfred looks through the clothes that he had still yet to put up in a closet, the bag, spilling out onto the floor. It takes a moment for him to bend over and pick up the pair of jeans he picks out. Ones significantly looser and more comfortable then the ones he wear the night before.

He is just sitting on the edge of the bed, getting another shirt on as Arthur exits the bathroom and hurries him along. "I know, somethings probably wrong but no use in worrying about it til we get to the med right?" he says trying to be positive.

"It's not so bad.." Alfred have lies. He is surprised at Arthur taking his hand but doesn't complain as it really is helpful. "Thanks.." he says appreciatively following Arthur out the door.

by Officer Kirkland Sun Jul 10, 2011 5:55 pm

"That's... Quite all right," he mumbled, looking straight ahead even though he knew that Alfred probably couldn't see his expression. "It's the least I can do..."

The medical centre was incredibly hard to find. Arthur guided Alfred along slowly, making sure to keep him from colliding with anyone or anything. It was around 10am so most students were in their classes, but there were still some stragglers loitering in the halls and walkways. Most of them ignored the pair, but Arthur did catch sight of some leering faces.

It seemed that last night hadn't been a complete disaster after all, if people were paying attention to them. They were probably already notorious in the party scene here; it wasn't every day that newcomers made out unabashedly and then brawled with the host of the party. They had been pretty protective of each other too, something that wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

After following a multitude of signs and stopping to study the campus map, they finally made it to the medical centre. Arthur quickly explained that Alfred had gotten hit in the head and now had blurry vision, but left out all the other details. Chances were, if an ambulance was called to the party then the police probably made their way there too. Arthur didn't really want to talk about last night's drugged adventures with his colleagues.

The doctor called them in and Arthur gently tugged Alfred into the doctor's office, allowing his partner to sit and nervously leaning against the wall as the doctor examined the American.

by **Detective Jones** Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:37 pm

As they walked to the med Alfred felt like it was last night all over again. The only difference was that this time his fuzzy vision had a lighter tint to it due to the sunlight out now. He could still feel the staring even if he couldn't necessarily see it. H felt less concerned though, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Once they were safely inside the room in the doctor's office, Alfred relaxed a little, slumping forward a bit in his seat and for the first time all morning really looking tired.

When the doctor came in he blinked several times and rubbed his eyes trying to get a look at the man who promptly shines a bright light in his face. Alfred squinted and moved to cover his eyes.

The doctor makes a humming noise at this and Alfred just makes a sour expression as his face is poked at.

"Hey doc are you gonna tell me what's wrong or feel my face up all day?" Alfred says a little irritated since he can't see the man that well and he's not saying anything.

Finally the doctor gives him some space. "You said you got hit right?" The doctor asks suspiciously.

Alfred nods.

"Well, it's caused some damage to the optic nerves in the back of your eye.."

"What's that mean?"

"It means your vision may or may not get better." the doctor says shortly, obviously a bit irritated to not get the whole story and dealing with someone like Alfred.

by Officer Kirkland Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:27 pm

Arthur's blood ran cold at the doctor's calm announcement. "Fuck," he whispered, horrified, "fuck, Alfred, your eyes--" He ignored the doctor's murderous glare and wrapped his arms around himself, fingernails digging into his flesh. Alfred's eyesight was going to be permanently damaged. His eyesight, something that was so incredibly important and impossible to stay on the force without. Suddenly his guilt was back ten-fold, and he felt like he was choking on every breath he took.

"I-- You-- Alfred, I'm so sorry--" He turned to the doctor, eyes pleading, "please, sir, there must be something that you can do? Is there a way to fix this?"

by **Detective Jones** Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:54 am

Alfred didn't need to see to know what Arthur was starting to freak out again. He looked over at him trying to give him a expression to show everything was going to be okay. He opened his mouth to say so as well but was beat by the doctor talking once more.

The doctor had turned to Arthur looking even more annoyed then before. "I never said there wasn't anything I could do." He pauses going a small desk in the room and pulling out a drawer with several rows of glasses inside. he kept speaking as he picked though them. "Now, about half the time, eyes can heal themselves in this situation, it just may take some time until we know if they do."

He snaps the drawer shut and walks back over to Alfred with a pair of lens that are half framed. He gives them to him. "Do these help any?"

Alfred slips on the glasses and blinks as his vision shifts again. He looks around, finding Arthur and grins. "Hey! not bad." He says then notices Arthur's expression finally and slips off the table he's sitting on to go over to him. "Hey,..it's ok. See!" He points to the frames on his face.

The doctor has wondered over to them as well. He gives a look between the two and coughs to get their attention. "I won't ask how this happened...but please try to make sure whatever rough housing you two were getting into doesn't happen again."

by Officer Kirkland Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:50 pm

"Yes," he murmured uncertainly, giving his partner a weak smile, "I see. They... They look nice, Alfred." And they did. Somehow, they made his face look more mature, but no less handsome. And even though his eyes were now hidden between panes of glass, they were still as bright and blue as ever. Arthur wrung his hands. He'd freaked out enough today. It was better to channel his concern into something more productive, like determination or anger. He settled on trying to act more professional. His posture changed, shoulders relaxing slightly and head held high. But the guilt and upset was obvious in his eyes.

"Yes, sir," he told the doctor, "it will definitely not happen again." And it wouldn't, if Arthur paid more goddamned attention to not being drugged, and kept Alfred as far away from the likes of Ivan as possible. And that's what he fully intended to do from then on. He didn't want something like that to happen again.

They were ushered out of the office. The receptionist smiled at them. "What will you boys be paying with, then?" she asked, typing furiously on her computer.

"Card," Arthur said immediately. Like hell he'd let Alfred pay for something that wasn't his fault. Something that was Arthur's fault. "Could I come back in a bit, though? I didn't bring it with me, I'm afraid."

by **Detective Jones** Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:59 pm

"Really?" Alfred says looking happy. He hadn't seen a mirror in the office so he wasn't sure how they looked on him but he was glad that Arthur seemed to like them. Now that he could see though he was definatly aware of Arthur's upset state. At least he wasn't freaking out anymore though, he supposed that was an improvement.

Alfred gives his partner a questioning look but nods as well. "We'll be more careful." He promises before laughing a bit. "It was my clumsy fault anyways I guess." He automatically grabs Arthur's hand as they leave.

"Paying.." Alfred repeats not having thought about the expense til now. He frowns but then Arthur is there quickly saying he'll pay for it. Alfred looks a bit shocked. "Artie..you don't have to do that." He replies jaw falling open a bit as he knows that his glasses probably didn't come cheap.

by Officer Kirkland Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:35 pm

Arthur couldn't help blushing as Alfred held his hand. The American's hands were large, but not overly so, and slightly calloused yet gentle. "G-git," he stammered, not making eye contact, "It's not like I'm doing this for you. I just don't have much to spend my money on!" He'd saved up more than enough, both from his years working part-time jobs back in school and his years on the force. Even though he didn't get paid a whole lot, it added up and it was currently much more than a single man such as himself needed to survive.

"Besides..." he sighed, but decided not to finish his sentence. He had to control himself. Maybe he'd ask the doctor for anti-anxiety medication when he came back to pay. He'd never suffered such a lack of control before, but that had been before that disaster of a case. He had to focus, had to prove that he could still get the job done.

"I'll come back," Arthur assured the receptionist, "It should only take me a quarter of an hour, at most. I'll just get this big lump back to the dorm, first."

She smiled knowingly, her eyes twinkling. "Of course, dear. Be quick, though. We close for lunch at twelve thirty."

"I will. Thank you!"

Arthur pulled Alfred out of the medical centre, rounding on him as soon as they were around the corner. "Is it better?" he demanded anxiously. "How're your eyes? Do the glasses help enough?"

by **Detective Jones** Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:11 pm

Alfred seems to expect this excuse and smiles at Arthur. "Well,..alright. If you put it that way. It's really nice of you, man." He says having the urge to hug Arthur again but holding back on it.

It was strange, ever since that first time Arthur had kissed him he had been more and more inclined to just..touch the other man. Alfred had always been a very hands on person but this felt different and he didn't know why.

He gave the receptionist a flash of a smile, feeling nearly back to his old self now aside from the soreness in his body. As he followed Arthur out he wasn't expecting him to ask questions so suddenly and jumped a little but was more then happy to answer them with a chuckle.

"It's better, yeah." He reaches up and pokes at the glasses, getting used to them still as they slide down his nose. "They help enough and my eyes don't hurt, I promise." The anxious look on Arthur face is rather good looking, Alfred thinks although he still insists that Arthur needs to calm down. He's never seen someone so wrecked from a single night. Then again it had been a bad night. He frowns thinking about it. Had he done enough to keep Arthur safe?

by Officer Kirkland Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:42 pm

"All right," Arthur nodded, "just tell me if it gets any worse, understood?" He led Alfred by the hand, following the many corridors and walkways until they arrived back at their dorm room. As he unlocked the door, the smell of sex and vomit made him take a step backwards. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "Just stay out in the main living area while I clean the bedroom, all right?"

The bedroom was a mess. The mess of dried come and stomach contents was smeared across the floor, and Arthur concentrated his efforts on cleaning those first. Just looking at them made him feel incredibly ill, but he steeled himself and did what he had to do. Next came the clothes that were scattered around their respective bags; these were folded up neatly and placed on the beds. He opened all the windows and hoped that that would be enough to get rid of the smell. Arthur took the time to brush his teeth, finally ridding himself of the aftertaste of vomit, alcohol and drugs. Deciding that he still felt filthy from the night before, he took a quick shower and dressed in casual trousers and a polo shirt.

"I'm sorry," he said when he finally emerged, feeling more focussed and clear-headed than he had since he'd taken on this case. "Both for losing my head earlier this morning, and for what happened last night. I never meant to make you uncomfortable, or place you in any danger. Rest assured, it shan't happen again."

by **Detective Jones** Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:13 pm

Alfred nodded and toke up place in the living area while Arthur disappeared into the the bedroom. The smell made his nose wrinkle and he wasn't going to complain about not having to help clean that mess up. At the same time though he didn't want Arthur to have to do it all alone.

He paces around the small couch in the room eventually finding a mirror on the wall. He approaches it slowly, looking at his new reflection with the glasses on. He examines it cautiously, fingers reaching out to touch the surface of the mirror. Finally, he frowns. The glasses they help him see fantastically but now that he sees them on himself. He feels like a huge geek.

He is pulled out of his thoughts as Arthur comes back into the room. Alfred spins around trying to whip the dissatisfied expression from his face. "N-no. I told you already. It's alright, I'm not holding anything against you. We just need to be more careful, both of us." He pauses before considering what he says next. "What do we do about the next party?"

by Officer Kirkland Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:57 pm

"Yes, I'll be more careful. Well," he said, frowning as he considered their next course of action. "They all know of us now, so I'm sure it won't be long before we're invited to another party. Until then--" he cut himself off as he spied an envelope that had been slipped under their door. They'd somehow missed it on their way in. Arthur tore it open.

"Perfect," he announced. "They've given us our timetables. Follow these, socialise with your classmates and act like a couple. The more they see of us, the more action they'll want to see, and the more parties we'll be invited to. Oh, and try not to pick fights with Braginsky." He paused to look over the timetables. "Now, we won't have the same classes since I'm in Arts and you're in Science, but our breaks are roughly the same."

Arthur paused, his forehead creasing in the way it always did when he realised he'd forgotten something terribly, terribly important.

"We can't run into the lad we brought into the station. What course was he enrolled in? We can't talk to him, but if we follow him we may just find the party he was talking about."

by **Detective Jones** Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:00 am

Alfred inwardly groaned at the idea of another party. He was determined to not let a disaster happen again.

He looks over Arthur's shoulder at the papers in his hands and finds himself even more not looking forward to classes. Not only was he going to have to work to keep people from hurting them, he was going to have homework as well. He fiddled with the glasses on his face. Arthur had said they looked good on him but what would everyone else think.

"Hey, I wasn't picking fights with the guy, he was trying to do things to you." Alfred says a bit defensively. It wasn't like he was the violent type at all.

Alfred nods a bit slowly. "Yeah, although. Is he still here? I thought the poor guy might have up and left after all that but okay. Tailing no talking, got it."

by Officer Kirkland Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:55 am

"I know," he nodded, "and I'm grateful for that, but next time if it comes to it, I'd rather not have you brawling again. Who knows what damage you may cause yourself?" Arthur didn't like Braginsky. The man was overbearing, powerful and had pinned him to the ground. And it was suprising that he hadn't frozen up with traumatic memories as he was wont to do when caught beneath someone these days, but that had probably been because of the drug. His senses had completely blurred over -- a scary thought. But if he hadn't fought back, the most Braginski would have done was fuck him, maybe slap him around a bit. Nothing as bad as damaging his eyesight!

"I don't know if he still attends university here," Arthur admitted, "but... Well, I certainly wouldn't have given up an education because of something like that." Arthur supposed he could bother Scott about the lad -- Mathias, wasn't it? Mathias K-something? -- to see If he'd put in any special leave forms.

"Here," he said, handing Alfred the timetables, "I'm off to the medical centre. When I get back, we can go for an early lunch since we seem to have missed breakfast." They had to keep up appearances, after all. "And..." he hesitated, biting his lip lightly. "I wouldn't tell you that those glasses looked nice if they didn't, you know."

by **Detective Jones** Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:55 am

"I'm sorry" Alfred says with a rather sober expression. "I'll try not to fight next time but don't expect me to just stand there if your in trouble." In retrospect he guessed that messing up his eyesight might have been a bigger deal then he thought it was. It didn't bother him all that much though. When he had joined the police he knew that it would require sacrifice to help people sometimes, so it was simply second nature to shrug off his injury especially for his partner.

"Well, I'll be on the look out for the kid." Alfred says with a shrug, taking his timetable. "oh! geology!" He says sounding a bit excited.

He looks up at Arthur as he speaks again. "Okay..hurry back so we can get some food." He says because he doesn't want to outright say 'I want to keep you in my sight.' What Arthur says next though has him flushing a bit. Had he read his mind or something? "I-I know that." He replies covering his mouth a bit.

by Officer Kirkland Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:02 pm

Alfred's blush was strangely adorable. The thought made Arthur flush in turn, and he stammered a quick goodbye before rushing from the room. They couldn't exactly just stand there and blush at each other, could they? Arthur hurried to the medical centre to pay the fees. The amount made him wince slightly, but it was fine. It wasn't like he was doing anything with the money anyway.

On the way back to the dorm room, he ran into a familiar brunette, who immediately grabbed at his arm with a harmless-looking smile.

"Arthur! You and Alfred left too early last night. You didn't get to see all the policemen everywhere!"

Well, that was one thing that went right last night. Arthur would have rather been left to Ivan's mercy than to be found in that state by his condescending colleagues.

"Is Francis all right?" he found himself asking. "He didn't look very well when we left."

Antonio's expression instantly sobered. "He's in the hospital right now," he confided in a low voice. "He overdosed on whatever was in the drinks."

"What was in the drinks?" Although he felt a strange concern for the harassing Frenchman, Arthur knew it was a good opportunity to pick up information, especially since it had been their friend who had spiked the drinks with drugs. "Did Gil tell you?"

"Gilbert didn't do it," Antonio said, frowning. "He said there was some strange guy there, not someone we knew, who had put something in the drinks. He was just having a look at what it was when Elizabeta saw him. I think it was some kind of aphrodisiac mixed with the standard stuff though. It hit Lovi pretty quickly."

"A strange guy?" Arthur echoed. Was this the same strange guy whom Mathias had encountered? Or was it completely unrelated? This case was getting far too deep too quickly.

"I think maybe a friend of Ivan's." Antonio shrugged. "Anyway, I have to get to class. Who knows, maybe I have some with you! Lovi always tells me that I'm kind of oblivious, and I must be if I've missed large eyebrows like yours!"

Arthur gritted his teeth. "The classes are large, not my eyebrows."

Antonio farewelled him and disappeared down the corridor, leaving Arthur to hurry back to the dorm room. Maybe Alfred would have an idea about what they'd just uncovered.

"Alfred!" he called as he opened the door.

by **Detective Jones** Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:35 pm

As Arthur left Alfred went to go check out the bedroom again, it was cleaned then it had been aside from a damp spot on the floor still drying. The window was still open and the curtain waving in the breeze. He walked over to it and looked out the window, enjoying the view for a moment and even catching sight of Arthur before he rounded a corner out of site.

After another moment Alfred closes the window and goes to take a shower himself. He images that he can't smell that good at the moment anyways.

As he steps into the bathroom, it is noticeably still damp from it's recent use. The thought makes Alfred think about how it had been Arthur previously in this room, cleaning off. the thought makes him fidget with his hands as he turns the shower on. When the warm water hits his sore muscles though all thoughts are quickly washed away in favor of some relaxing time.

When he is done he wraps a towel around himself and locates his new glasses first as he can't do much without them now but stumble around. Just as he gets them on his face he hear's Arthur open the door and come back in. "Ah! I'm in here!" He yells from the bedroom, rummaging through his clothes for somthing to put on quickly, hair still dripping onto the carpet as he walks.

by Officer Kirkland Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:57 pm

Arthur followed the sound of his partner's voice to the bedroom, where he froze in the doorway. He tried not to stare at the glistening muscles, still wet from a shower. Alfred's body was solid and muscular, but not overly large like Ivan had seemed. There were trails of water dipping into all the little lines that made up his chest, and it was with great difficulty that Arthur managed to tear his gaze away.

"D-Dry your hair properly!" he blurted, cheeks pink. "You're dripping water all over the floor!"

He rushed into the bathroom, ignoring the warmth and steam still present in the small room, and grabbed an unused towel. Returning to the bedroom, he flung the towel over the American's head and stood up on his tiptoes, rubbing furiously at Alfred's hair.

"There!" he declared. He allowed himself a small, silly smile when he pulled the towel off and found the fly-away lock of hair still standing proudly despite everything bring mussed. It was endearing, these little quirks about his partner.

by **Detective Jones** Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:58 pm

"Sorry!" Alfred yelps as he continues to dig through his clothes as quick as he can once his partner and roommate come into the room. He barely registers Arthur standing there until he disappears into the bathroom.

"I was trying to get dressed." He says, wobbling as he tries to shove one foot into the pair of pants he's dug up. He is just getting his shirt on as Arthur returns and throws the towel over his head. He wiggles under the cloth and eventually ends up laughing.

Alfred is still chuckling as Arthur removes the towel and he runs a hand through his now vaguely damp hair. When he spots the smile on Arthur's face, however small it is, he is happy. It's the first time he's seen the other man smile at all since he met him really. "Alright, Alright, It's dry." He says, slipping on a hoodie with his shirt. He feels lighter now then he has since they started this case.

"So, how about that lunch?" He asks, sticking his hands in the pockets of his hoodie casually.

by Officer Kirkland Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:36 pm

Alfred's laughter made Arthur's smile widen. It was a clear, honest laugh and for a moment he allowed himself to just listen to it, forgetting the events of last night and the events that were surely to come. It filled him with the same kind of warmth that bubbled up inside him whenever Alfred touched him, or showed concern over him. God, he hadn't smiled like this in so long. He combed his fingers through Alfred's hair without thinking, trying to get the blond locks to lie flat.

"Yes, lunch," he said as they made their way to the door, "is there anything you wanted in particular? There are a few cafes on campus, and the refectory should be open. If not, we could drive somewhere."

If he closed his eyes and let his mind wander, Arthur could almost believe that there was no case, no drugs and murders and no old gunshot wounds. He could almost believe that they were two simple university students rooming together and going to have lunch. But life wasn't that simple, was it? His smile turned wistful as they locked the door behind them and made their way down the corridor.

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