Chapter Text
"William.. James Moriarty," Conan repeats slowly.
Like before, Conan couldn't help but point his finger towards William accusingly.
That was the last name Conan had expected to be uttered from William's mouth.
"That's my name," William replies.
He opens his mouth, trying to form sentences but the attempt was futile.
Conan hadn't predicted that he would be meeting this supposed antagonist this early. Because of this, he doesn't know how to react currently.
At least when he met Moriarty in the Cocoons, he knew exactly what to do and say. William is way different from what Conan pictured Moriarty to be. Especially when he had no ounce of suspicion of William being Moriarty.
Perhaps the different look that Sherlock had should have warned Conan about the look of other characters.
William smiles, "It seems that you recognise me?"
"I've heard your family name before. I think my father once mentioned it."
He lied as easily as he breathed. Conan is lucky that he was living a lie back in his world.
Thinking about this situation properly, William being THE Moriarty makes almost no sense. He shouldn't have made contact with Sherlock this early. Additionally, being close to Sherlock? That was definitely not in the books.
William has been very nice to Conan since he met him. Is Moriarty this nice in the books?
Is Moriarty even a common name here? Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding on his part and nothing more.
While Conan has suddenly stopped talking to ponder his next move, William decided to strike his move.
"When did you arrive in London?" William questions.
"Huh?"
"You are fluent in English but have not developed the common accent in Britain. Surely, it has not been too long since you have arrived here," William states.
William is too sharp, Conan thinks. Surely, this is some sort of payback for thinking that William could not pull off being Moriarty.
"Some months ago! I think it was three months," Conan grins.
"Now, it's my turn to ask! What do you work as?" Conan asks, acting like an overly curious child.
This was just a question to see if he was actually Moriarty despite the same last name.
Would William outright call himself a crime consultant? The chances of that are fairly low. Almost zero perhaps. But, could you quell Conan's curiosity? It's almost like Conan is bursting with questions to ask.
Conan could feel that his denial about William being Moriarty has gone down. Actually, it would be quite amazing if William actually is Moriarty.
After all, Moriarty is still one of his favourite characters despite being the antagonist.
"Are we exchanging questions now? I work as a maths professor in a university at Durham."
That lines up. If Conan remembers correctly, Moriarty was a genius in Mathematics. He wrote some stuff about maths, didn't he?
Maybe Conan could try to push his theory of him being Moriarty..
"Ah! I remember now! You were the one who wrote about some Binomial Theorem paper, right?"
Even if William denies it, Conan could just state that he was mistaking William for someone else. But judging from William's reaction, it seems that the attempt would not be necessary.
"You've seen it?"
William reaches Conan with his right hand. He places his index finger on Conan's head as he continues.
"Aren't you a bit too young to be reading about such materials?"
Conan sweatdropped, "I saw that paper on my father's desk. It seemed interesting so I tried reading it. However, there were too many big numbers.."
As a child, that excuse should suffice. He can't admit to being knowledgeable in a topic that he should be learning in ten years. He has, very likely, established himself as a smart child in William's eyes. However, he shouldn't be acting too smart. It would likely bring William's guard up and Conan would prefer it if that does not happen.
Also, William did affirm his suspicions. Does that mean that William is actually-
Conan jerked towards his front. The carriage suddenly stopped. Just as he felt like he was about to hit the floor of the carriage, a sudden hand grabbed him by his shoulder.
"Did you get hurt?"
The mysterious hand that held him was owned no other by William. He looked at Conan with worrying eyes. Is this really the same man that terrorised London with crime?
"Um.. no. I'm alright, Mr. Moriarty. Thank you for your concern," Conan thanked. He brushes his shoulder that has been touched by William.
William hummed, "Please call me William as you did before. It feels like we are strangers even after being through a lot with you today."
Conan flushes. Did he accidentally call William, Moriarty? His curiosity about William might have gotten a hold of him.
"Ah. Of course. So have we arrived at your manor?" Conan looked out of the window in the carriage.
It may seem like he is trying to change the subject. However, it was merely just curiosity. There has to be a reason why the carriage suddenly halted after all.
"Yes. Time does fly by fast."
A creak turned Conan's attention towards the door. The driver of the carriage opened the door. He offered his apologies to the passengers on board for the sudden stop. Conan does not want to be in this awkward situation so he accepted their apologies almost immediately.
William was the first one out of the carriage, offering his hand to Conan as Conan hops off the carriage.
The manor in front of him was daunting. Conan did have a preview of said house in the carriage but he underestimated the size of it.
So William is 'rich' rich.
As Conan approaches the house, he could hear muffled rustling from his left. He turned towards where the noises came from. However he was only met with an empty looking greenhouse.
Conan must have looked a bit out of it, as William soon ushered Conan towards the entrance of the house. Was he trying to hide something?
That thought soon went away as he heard the door in front of him open despite them not knocking on the door. He was met with someone that looks too similar to the blonde man he was just conversing with.
This other man had the same ruby eyes as William. He also shares the same shade of hair, though the hairstyle differs from their hair covering the right of their face. The major difference, however, would be the glasses sitting on the man's nose.
The man looked at William with relief, not paying any mind that Conan was also in front of him.
"Welcome home, brother. It's great that you have reached home safely. If you had come any later, Moran would have-"
The man trailed off at the end, suddenly noticing that the young boy was standing beside William.
He looked back and forth, from William's face to Conan's face, unsure of what to do next.
"Um.. if I'm not intruding, brother. Who might this be?" he questions.
William smiles, "Ah, Louis. This boy is going to be a guest here for a while."
The man's face twists in confusion.
"..Okay. Let me prepare the guest room," the man replies without asking any questions. He almost immediately disappeared from view after stating those words.
From their conversation, Conan could deduce that both of them are brothers. It's pretty evident by how they call each other. And also how similar they both looked.
Did Moriarty have a brother? If Conan's not wrong, he could remember some discussions on forums online about this topic. They say that Moriarty likely had a brother or two. However, Conan's not sure whether Moriarty had any connection with his brothers during his reign of terror.
So did Conan arrive before all the crime happened?
Nah. That feels very unlikely. However, it does explain some stuff that Conan was thinking before.
A voice stops Conan's train of thoughts.
"Come on in."
Well, Conan would just have to think about this later.