Chapter Text
The lawyer wakes for the third time this day, swaddled in a quilt on the sofa, with the fireplace’s breath dusting his cheeks and tickling his feet. Confused, he collects himself to look around for any clues as to how he ended up so cozily? Perhaps that chamomile tea contained more than just herbs? Did Iris put tranquilizer in it…?
A pink note sits politely on the giant case/makeshift coffee table, signed with two beautiful signatures and one iconic flower insignia.
“Out to the market for groceries with Susie! We’ll return later tonight!” signs a light and animated script. “Don’t sleep the entire day. Please remember to eat something light, and I’ve left out some oranges for you by the counter.” scorns a delicate and practiced script with a sienna hue. Sholmes must’ve brought her imported ink from India.
Ryunosuke feels like a pathetic child, ill and useless to take care of himself. In a way it’s slightly sweet but also very debauched. He can’t help feeling a pit infesting his gut, but he fills it with a deep inhale of crisp air as he hatches out of his cocoon.
“You’re quite fond of lazing about, are you Mr. Naruhodou?” the detective tinkers away at a small mechanical rotary phone, not even looking his way, adorning his magnified goggles as he is hunched over his crowded desk.
Ryunosuke stares blankly at his figure, unable to put together a coherent sentence.
“To be fair, I do much of the same thing. I do not look down upon you, despite all the trouble I give you. Take it as a sign of friendship, my good man. I know how it is to feel frenzied, or completely empty.”
The young lawyer sits in his discarded blankets listening intently to Sholmes’s dulcet ramblings, a distinct tone among his vast range. Entranced, he waits for his next word.
“You seem to cope with it much better than I do. I have some rather dangerous vices of my own. Though you may not know what haunts me, and as I do not fully know what infests your mind, I know we cannot be compared. I was there to see your trusted partner, at his end. I’m aware not even you had the chance to see him collapsed in the flesh, though I think it is better that way. At the time, I’ll be honest. I didn’t regard it in a very serious light. I feel as though an apology is owed. So I do apologize for my antics, even if I may not seem it.”
“I… Thank you, Mr. Sholmes.” Ryunosuke is glad Sholmes is still facing away from him towards his desk, though unmoving. Warmth prickles his eyes, threatening to spill over in rivulets. Cufflinks rub at his eyes, eager to cover up evidence.
“Now that I know you much better, I see the toll it’s taken. Among many other things I figure, being in London and your very eventful day to day life. Now I only hope you don’t rot away in that ramshackle attic of mine, and come to your friends as we suffer some of our own consequences. It’s vital not to be too stubborn, Mr. Naruhodou. I am no stranger to that.”
Threats to spill become open gates, as tear after tear falls from his face. He doesn’t bother to wipe them away with his damp sleeves. He just listens.
Sholmes swivels around in his office chair facing him to say his last piece.
“Although Kazuma Asougi is gone, you are still here. Stop trying to flee, for you know he’d expect you to stay and continue to live. I can see it in the way you reminisce about him, and your own features twisting into that eternal guilt. But most importantly, you must find a reason to do it for yourself. No point in trying to fulfill the impossible.”
“After all, only I am capable of such.” Sholmes’s pensive expression molds into his usual smirk. “Now get up out of your nest and do something for God’s sake!” Sholmes strides past him with a couple firm pats on the back and disappears into the shadows upstairs.
“Crass as ever, isn’t he…” Ryunosuke shakes his hanging head, walking towards the door to shove his shoes on and grab his wallet to go out.