Work Text:
There was a comfortable silence that settled between them, with Inference looking down at the smoke that rose from his pot, its tail dissipating into the cold air. Ronald was silent as he looked up at the sky, admiring the stars that hung above. They formed a beautiful river of glowing lights above them, staring quietly at the duo resting on the stone walls, their backs brushing against the trimmed hedge wall of the garden. Inference felt at ease with the only man he considered a friend sitting next to him in this serene setting. The times had been too cruel with all the enemies that wanted him dead in his pursuit of the truth. He was glad Ronald was there to remind him that society wasn’t as inhumane as his long years of investigations led him to believe.
“I must thank you, Ronald, for always trying to drag me out of my suffocating office.” Inference smiled in his pot, small smoke puffed out every time he breathed.
“Oh you, do not fret. As a friend, it is my duty to provide you time off work even when you stubbornly refuse.” Ronald said dramatically as Inference rolled his eyes, “Besides, what is life if not to live it with the people that matter?”
Inference stopped, “You consider me a person that matters?”
“Always, what nonsense are you speaking?”
Inference chuckled. He supposed that was Ronald, a man that liked to make relationships he deemed useful to him. Whether or not that usefulness was in terms of financial benefits or simply for his personal enjoyment, Inference was none the wiser. If there was one thing true that came from this man’s mouth, it was that Inference did indeed need a break out of his office.
“And what do you consider me?” At the question, Inference turned his head. Ronald wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were glued to the stars above. He supposed the stars were lovely tonight, so Inference took no offence.
“A person that matters, is what you want to hear?” He said cheekily, and Ronald looked back at him with a jokingly unamused smile, “I jest. You do matter, Ronald, a priceless friend I do not deserve.”
“Now do not talk like that. You are a smart man with strong morals, it is I that do not deserve you.”
“Sometimes I feel I only comply with your invitations if it benefitted my investigations.”
“It is human nature, my friend.” Ronald looked back at the sky, “Sometimes we do things only for our benefit. It is only fair in a city such as this. I would not wish for you to carry the blame.”
Inference looked down apologetically. He still felt a tinge of guilty in his chest.
“Besides, I knew you wouldn’t enjoy these extravagant parties. I admit, I am slightly selfish, there is something I want out of these times I spent with you.” Ronald’s voice was lower now, more meek and guilty. It caught Inference off guard.
“What might that be?”
“I…” Ronald stumbled in his words, “I should not. It is alcohol speaking.”
“You want me to give you free commissions?” Inference huffed a laugh, “Do not be a shy, old friend, that is unlike you. If you wish for that, it can always be arranged.”
“No… No, it is not that.” Ronald sighed, finally willing to tear his eyes away from the sky that seemed to ground him so, “You… You are a good friend of mine, but I fear there are some things…more that I hope for.”
Inference sensed that the conversation had gotten deeper, and he removed himself from his pot to look back at his hazy yellow eyes full of worry and sorrow.
“Please stop your pursuit of the truth behind the army. I know it is important to you, and the brothers that had been on the battlefield with us. But I sense something sinister is at play here, and I do not wish for you to get hurt.”
That made Inference stop smoking, “What makes you think that?”
“I am an actor, Inference. I know when you are trying to hide your anxiety. This truth you seek, it’s something more than just the corruption of the army, isn’t it? You cannot handle it alone?”
Inference didn’t say anything. Damn, of course, the renowned actor Ronald of Ness could tell if something was bothering Inference. From the times they spent together in these missions disguised as attendees, he definitely would have picked up on the risk of his actual investigations. At the silence of the detective, Ronald sighed. Before Inference could react, his right hand was being lifted from his lap and brought up to Ronald’s chest, an endearing gesture. He could feel it beating even through the thick layers of his fancy suit, an erratic pace that accelerated and strengthened with each passing second. All of sudden all of the nerves in Inference’s body screamed for him to pull away, to stop what Ronald was about to say, the hand on his heart tickled uncomfortably, and his breath, as well as some of the smoke from the pot, was stuck in his throat. But a part of him simply couldn’t, and he sat there like a dumb duck at all the words that fell out of Ronald’s lips.
“Back in the army, when we were two young idiots that had nowhere to go but the battlefield, when we were comrades in arms. You have no idea how much my heart ached every time you went out there and came back with new wounds and cuts. You were so courageous, fast-witted, and critical. I thought a man such as yourself did not deserve it, someone as… as righteous, shouldn’t be hurting yourself so much in the field for your comrades. And yet you did. Your selflessness, it was charming in every way, Naib.”
That sense to pull away only increased at the sound of his real name.
“Ronald, you-“
“So when I see you in the theatre again, after being separated for so many years, for the first time in my long cruel theatre years, I actually felt emotions. I remember it so clearly… It was as if you made the rose in my chest bloom. I wanted to help you however I could…”
Inference remembered it so well when they were reunited after so long, Ronald was overly catering to him. He needed to talk to Bella, so Ronald introduced him to the bell boy; He needed to investigate the stage, so Ronald convinced Sparrow and Smarty Pants; Fragrance Queen made a peculiar comment, so Ronald reported it to him. Even now, if Ronald’s invitations ever benefit his investigations, Ronald always found ways to get him into the invitation list. All this time…
“Ronald, you are saying too much.” Inference finally found the courage to move his hand, only to find it practically pinned to his chest, “And yet I still do not understand… I- Are you saying-”
Words failed to come out of his mouth, for the first time in a long while, he felt scared. Every opening of his mouth ended with no sound, it was as if the words refused to come out. It didn’t matter, Ronald finished it for him.
“Yes, What I’m saying is… I-“ Even Ronald hesitated, but he was an actor, he was bound to be braver with words than Inference ever would, “I supposed it could start in the army, or when I met you at the theatre again, I don’t know. All I knew was that I did not act myself whenever you ask anything of me, I lost the ability to think, I do things I don’t normally do. Does that sound like you are just a good friend to me?”
Wide eyes stared at him, and the small struggling of his hand seized.
“You are drunk.”
“Perhaps so for now, or perhaps since a long time ago.” Ronald sounded sober, “I know, I am a hopeless man now, telling you all this, but I simply cannot stand seeing you throwing yourself into danger like this any longer. I must say this before it is too late.”
The hand holding him gripped tighter.
“This man, whether you want to acknowledge as a friend or not, is truly, genuinely in love with you.”