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The first time Mike noticed something was the morning after the Seattle day-trip, after a ridiculous sequence of events led to them staying overnight. He'd been blasted by one too many cannons - the worst being his very sketchy run-in with a certain not-so-stable vampire in Hoshizuki's woods. Though the doctor wasn't at fault, things had gotten real dangerous - for Mike, of course, because heaven forbid the universe stop messing with him.
Of course, it wasn't done with him.
Not when Mike was standing in their guest room, watching Beau shamelessly ogle the doctor's hands like it was business as usual.
The second time Mike noticed should've been the first time. After all, he’d been regaled with certain… spicy details as they investigated the mystic world together - details he asked for, because damn it, he wanted to know what the hell was going on!
Mike, Beau, and Edward were crowded around the TV, playing a rather brutal Mario Party minigame. When the long-haired boy stepped out to grab snacks, Edward leaned over and whispered to him.
“He really likes my brother’s hands, huh? Not surprising, given his hand kink!”
How hadn’t Mike realized it earlier, with how shameless Beau was being?
What the hell was he doing?
No, really.
Why the hell was Mike sitting there, staring at the vampire doctor's slender fingers as they placed a black stone on the go board, as if they held the secrets to the universe?
Hmm… though, in a way, they did, with all the mystery around him and his siblings.
The doctor… err, Carlisle glanced up at him after completing his turn. When Mike met his eyes, the doctor's lips twitched upwards. He didn't need to say anything to know that they both knew that the man knew exactly what Mike was doing.
Why was Mike still staring?
Wasn’t doing it once and getting caught bad enough?
Apparently not. This time, Mike was seated at a custom mahjong table, eyes darting between the green tabletop, the white tiles before him, and three sets of pale hands.
Of course, Carlisle was seated across him. Mike saw the elegance in how his fingers placed the tiles. There was also Edward moving with grace to his right, and Rosalie to his left. Her slender, painted fingers clicked against tiles as she drew them.
In observing her, Mike overlooked the curious eyes gazing at him in turn.
“Care to explain why you’ve been staring at my hands all this time, Michael?” Rosalie asked as her perfectly manicured fingers dropped ten marbles into her end of the mancala board.
Her deep burgundy nails matched her elegant sundress.
“You’ve been staring at Carlisle’s hands too. Don’t tell me you’re-”
“No way, Rose. No one could match that horny moron.”
A blonde eyebrow raised in silent question.
“I’m trying to figure out what the appeal is.”
“Oh, you should’ve asked Elle earlier,” she said with a smirk as she wiggled her fingers.
Great. That was exactly what his mind needed.
Mike figured it best to answer the question as quickly as possible.
He was on YouTube when Edward plopped himself on the couch beside him. Beau had introduced him to the Ace Attorney VNs and Mike wanted to see Edward's reactions.
Cheering on Phoenix, vibing with Maya, feeling for Edgeworth, cursing at von Karma.
All of it was quite amusing but, as expected, his eyes inevitably landed on elegant fingers tapping away at the keyboard as he was playing through the courtroom scene.
“Is there something on the keyboard, Mike?”
Objection! He absolutely did not have a thing for hands!
Carlisle steepled his fingers and pondered his next move before moving his knight across the chess board.
Despite their perilous first encounter, they’d grown closer over time. A familiar warmth resonated through his color field - a soft gold, matching Carlisle’s eyes. While Mike couldn’t pinpoint what that feeling was, he felt unusually at ease around the man.
“Michael, have you seen Edward play the piano before?”
They both knew he had, but a smile played on Mike’s lips.
It wasn’t the first time Carlisle pointed him in the right direction.
Somehow, the doctor just knew what he was looking for.
The Moonlight Sonata was a piece Mike knew well. His sister practiced at home, he’d seen Carlisle play before, and Edward liked to casually improv every so often.
Nothing could compare to seeing the auburn-haired vampire seated properly at the baby grand, wearing a contemplative expression as the haunting, nocturnal notes of Adagio Sostenuto flowed freely from elegant fingers, moving gracefully over the keys.
The scene before him combined with the melody echoing around him and the strengthening thrum, calmed his mind and pulled his spirit closer.
When the room fell silent, Mike noticed sharp gold eyes intensely assessing him.
"Haha, oh my god! This is way too perfect!"
Nothing good could possibly follow those words.
Not when they were coming out of Edward's mouth.
Not when he was bent over himself cackling maniacally.
Not when the widest grin Mike had ever seen graced his face.
"You know something, Mike?" he started, glancing at his hands.
Oh, hell no. That joker better not say-
"Feel free to ogle my hands whenever you like!"
…that settled it.
Mike was going to make Beau pay for starting this ridiculous sequence of events.
Edward too, for enabling that horny moron the entire way.