Work Text:
Trifles
Holmes’s fingers were long, thin and scarred. Yujin had noticed it before, just as a vague observation, though now that he was holding the man’s hand in his own, he could truly make out the details. A small line of white ran down from a cuticle towards the top knuckle. Yujin had no idea what might cause something like that. Perhaps a dog had attempted to snap at Holmes’s hand and while the man had reacted in time, one of the animal’s teeth had nicked him close to the fingernail. Two more lines ran horizontally across the index and middle finger, connecting so seamlessly there was no question the injury which had caused them was one and the same. Turning Holmes’s hand around carefully, a far more vivid scar was visible on his palm, angled diagonally. A mishandled knife, perhaps? Then there were the areas which looked more red and raw; they must’ve been leftover traces of a burn. Chemist was a dangerous profession, even more so when one was as impatient and reckless as Holmes. The skin was dry as well, most likely the result of repeated washings.
“What are you looking at?” Holmes asked him, piercing through the low drone of the gramophone player.
Yujin tore his gaze away from the man’s hand and instead peered up into his eyes. They were both situated on the settee, leading to a very close proximity. Holmes was smiling.
“... Trifles, I suppose,” Yujin said.
“What do they tell you?”
“Well…” Yujin’s fingers squeezed into Holmes’s palm. “You are reckless. Hasty. You have very little patience and very little care for yourself.”
“Excellent deductions,” Holmes admitted with a nod of the head. “But then… You already knew this without looking at my hand, didn’t you?”
Indeed, they’d been sharing their living quarters for four years already. If Yujin hadn’t already come to this conclusion by following other clues, he could never have called himself the great detective’s partner.
“I did. These trifles are simply…
results
,” he said. “Isn’t it the fate of a detective to stumble upon these sorts of clues when the damage is already done?”
Holmes breathed a quiet chuckle of amusement. “My hand is a crime scene, is it?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean-”
“It’s a valid assessment. However, detectives may still intercept clues as a situation plays out. That is the strength of Sherlock Holmes’s Theater of Logic and Reasoning. For example…”
Holmes’s hand twisted a bit, shifting its hold on Yujin’s own to bring it up closer to his eyes. Closer to his mouth. Yujin swallowed thickly.
“There is tension in your fingers, just as there is in the rest of your body. You ought to take a break more often, my friend. Or so I would say, but there is more to this tension, is there not? It increased when I moved your hand.” Holmes’s gaze shot towards Yujin for a split second, then returned to its observations. Fingers slipped down to touch Yujin’s wrist, pressing down several inches below the thumb. “Your heart rate has increased. I can feel it right here. Another telltale sign of mounting restlessness. Ah- there was a twitch in your hand just now. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Holmes…” It was not a warning, nor a plea. Yujin didn’t know what his intention was beyond halting the string of deductions. They had been growing closer for a while already, displaying warm feelings in a variety of ways. Nothing was being said that wasn’t already known. Even so, he felt uncomfortable to have his anticipation laid bare.
Vulnerable
, even.
Despite that, he didn’t have the resolution to pull his hand from Holmes’s grasp.
“A jitter in your voice, barely perceptible,” Holmes murmured quietly. His fingers trailed along Yujin’s arm. “You attempt to restrain yourself, because you cling to what is proper, but your heart betrays you and your composure shakes in its foundation.”
“I… Ah-” was about all Yujin could vocalize. Holmes’s hand had landed on his cheek, and the touch silenced him. His heart hammered in his chest and he became quite aware that anything he did from now on, any reaction that would form, it would be picked up on.
Holmes leaned in closer, his face mere inches from Yujin’s own. “A light blush on your cheeks, the result of your elevated heart rate and your embarrassment. Endearing, really. Your eyelids are fluttering- you’re struggling to keep them open and look my way. There’s an instinct to bite your lip, but you’re fighting that as well. Admirable. What
are
you waiting for?”
That was a good question, Yujin supposed. He closed his eyes, along with the distance between them, capturing Holmes’s mouth in a kiss. The fingertips on Yujin’s cheek pressed against his flesh with more force. He could make out Holmes’s smile through the motions of their lips.
As always, the world’s greatest detective had found his way to the truth.