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A string of swear words that would make most people blush, were murmured under a very angry Detective Inspector’s breath. All night he had be so careful. He had managed to steer clear of all the bustling waiters swarming around with their trays full of hors d'oeuvres. He only had 5 bloody minutes left. Now he was in the restroom frantically scrubbing at his wine soaked shirt.
A few weeks ago Detective Inspector Lestrade was handed a case about a 28 year old government worker who had been murdered outside of a pub in east London. There were prints all over the scene so it was an open and shut case. The paper work was done in an hour; it should have been over then. However a few days later the Chief Inspector wandered into his office proclaiming he had great news for Lestrade. The murder he had caught had plans for a highly secret project in his possession. The MOD had been going insane trying to find the leak and Lestrade had caught him without knowing the whole story. Nonetheless Lestrade was going to be honored at a small ceremony for himself and a few others, with the Commissioner of police leading the event.
The day before the soirée, Lestrade went to rent a suit. All his suits were meant for work and he felt like the occasion called for something a little more proper than his worn down office suit. Though he did not feel comfortable in a tuxedo so a 2 piece suit rental it was. He did not know the value of his new outfit, nor did he want to. It felt expensive though.
The next night he was forced to play a real life version of Pacman avoiding the waiters, the punch bowl and messy eaters while managing to introduce himself to all the parties’ attendees.
He felt more comfortable about the safety of his suit, so he started to relax. That was his mistake as he turned to talked to a fellow DI he collided with a woman with a glass of red wine in her hand, the contents of the said cup spilling onto the front of his suit. Lestrade’s feet took over and carried him to the restroom he had noticed toward the back of the hall. He rushed over to the sink finally surveying the damage done by collision. That is when the swearing and the scrubbing began. It was bad.
“Is there a problem Detective Inspector?” a calm voice inquired.
Lestrade was so caught up in the state of his jacket, he didn’t notice the other man standing at the other sink with a slightly amused expression.
He looked up “No Mr. Holmes no problem at all. I just have to receive an award from the commissioner in five minutes and I have a suit which resembles that of drunkard’s.”
“Mycroft, please.” The politician corrected. He moved a step closer to the frustrated Inspector getting a better look at the mess on his shirt and jacket.
Lestrade stopped fidgeting to let Mycroft get a clear view of his damaged outfit. A smile slowly spread across the government official’s face. “5 minutes you said?” he asked.
“Yea.” Lestrade answered. “5 minutes and no way to get this stain off”
“That is true,” responded Mycroft stepping away and raising back to full height “but does not mean you have to be the one wearing it.”
“What are you talki…” Lestrade trailed off as Mycroft started to remove his jacket.
“Take your shirt, tie and jacket off.” stated Mycroft, jacket now completely off. He continued his explanation as the detective stood there speechless. “I have a non-wine soaked shirt and jacket and that is what you need. We are going to trade.”
“Oh, oh okay.” Lestrade’s brain finally caught up to Mycroft’s quick thinking. He carefully removed his jacket, as if he could cause more damage by ruffling it. Mycroft skillfully unbuttoned his waist coat, shrugged it and laid it on the counter with his jacket. He was undoing the knot in his tie when he noticed that Lestrade had stopped working on the top buttons of his shirt in exchange for looking up at him.
“Yes.” he questioned, raising his eyebrow at the officer.
“Why are you taking off your tie?” He got out still staring down at Mycroft’s hand around the knot. “The stain isn’t visible on mine.”
Mycroft let out an audible chuckle “Yes Gregory, but that tie color will never work with my shirt.”
Lestrade smiled “Oh of course not, how silly of me.” He glanced away now working on the knot of his own tie, to slip it off.
They worked in silence unbuttoning their own shirts. Greg finished and removed his wine trenched shirt. Placing it on the counter with his other articles of clothing, he looked up just as Mycroft removed his. Mycroft placed the shirt by the sink when he finally looked up to see Lestrade, mouth slightly agape, staring at his stomach. Lestrade quickly noticed that Mycroft had stopped moving and turned away embarrassed at his previous action. Mycroft took a moment to give nothing but trouser clad detective a look over, before reaching out to lay a hand on Lestrade’s bare shoulder turning him back to his way. Their eyes meet for a second before the Holmes cleared his throat.
“Time is ticking Detective.” he stated simply.
“Yea” sighed Lestrade remembering his reasons for being there in the first place.
He reached for Mycroft’s shirt cross counter. They dressed quickly and quietly. Mycroft placed his waist coat over Lestrade’s damp shirt loosely clinging to his body. Lestrade tightened Mycroft’s tie around his neck. Mycroft choosing to hold Lestrade’s jacket not wear it, grabbed his own before Lestrade could. He then stepped around the Inspector still fidgeting with the shape of the neck and stilled him by lightly touching his arm. Lestrade’s arms instinctively reached back allowing the other man to dress him. Once the jacket was on Mycroft’s hands remained the base of Greg’s neck slowly smoothing out the shoulder material.
“There, problem fixed” he smiled dropping his hands back to his sides as Lestrade turned to face him.
“Yes it would seem so.” Lestrade stated a smile creeping onto his face. “Thanks Mycroft.”
“You are very welcome”
Lestrade turned to go around Mycroft who was in the path of the exit. He stopped not taking a step and instead leaned up onto his toes and gently kissed the other man’s cheek.
Mycroft stood their slightly shocked as the other man swaggered away, grinning. He took a deep breath and collected Lestrade’s jacket it off of the counter draping it over his arm and making his way toward the doorway.
Lestrade out of the restroom turned to glance at the door. Smile still across his face and thought, “Maybe it wasn’t such a problem after all.”