This was written in response to the Whitechapel_itv kinkmeme promt 'Morgan helps Chandler come to terms with his feelings for Kent'
Please be aware, I am NOT a writer. I'm an artist, I paint, so the grammar will be terrible, you'll find I love a good long run on sentence, and I throw full stops in where ever I please. I call it artistic licence....
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The flickering candle light throws shadows across the table and the low music sets a mood which he guesses to be romantic though he's never really had much experience in that department.
He pours more wine into Morgans glass, glad he brought one of his good bottles seeing all the effort she has made.
"So they're like family, your team?"
Chandler smiles at this "yes, I really don't deserve them"
"you shouldn't hold onto the guilt you know, I'm sure he doesn't"
He'd just finished telling her about the Kray case and how he'd suspected Kent, how he'd been submerged so deep in the paranoia and distrust that he'd miscalculated, badly. god, he'd missed him.
Morgan sits back a little "So, was it that he's not usually trustworthy?"
Chandler snorts a little "On the contrary, he's the most consistent. You know, when I first arrived in Whitechapel he's the only one who reached out to me, the only one who made an effort, was interested in what I had to say. You don't often come across a DC so loyal. To be so young and to go through the things he has and still turn up every morning wanting to set the world right, he amazes me he really does"
"hmm, so you admire him them?"
"God of course" and Chandler seems to come alive " you should see him work, you wouldn't expect it with him being so quiet but its all going on up there" he taps his head lightly " he's always looking for clues, theories. Always trying to solve the riddle. And the way he can talk to witnesses, it's as if he can get them to remember details they hadn't even realised they'd forgotten"
He's beaming now, pride clear in his expression.
"And why do you think that is? Why is he so good with them?" she enjoys seeing him so animated.
" I don't know, it's his nature I guess. He's gentle, approachable, makes you feel at ease. He could get along with anyone"
"even you?" its said lightheartedly but the good humour doesn't make it all the way across the table.
"Well, we all work well together, despite my particularities" he shifts his fork slightly, as if just thinking about his demons makes them come out to play. " I have a good team, we all make an effort to make it work. I've caught Kent cleaning the desks on an evening.." he looks embarrassed.
"And you think that's a bad thing? that he's trying to accommodate you're 'particularities'"
"No not at all". that's a lie. "I appreciate it, he goes out of his way to make things as easy as possible for me. It's not often I meet someone who I don't have to make such an effort with" I wonder what he's doing now.
"You've told him this, have you?"
He shakes his head "Not exactly. I should do but I haven't had time really, not with this mad man on the loose and everything else" He realises he probably shouldn't have mentioned the fact that the man who attacked his 'date' is still at large...
"So he doesn't know how much you appreciate him?"
"I guess not, I hadn't really thought about it.."
"Does he not appreciate praise?"
"Well yes, who doesn't?" and it occurs to Candler he cant remember the last time he told Kent he'd done a good job, or witnessed that small smile he's always rewarded with when he does... perhaps he's still awake.
"He means a lot to you."
"Well yes, all my team do.."
"But it's different with him isn't it?"
There's a pause, and Chandler suddenly doesn't know where this is heading.
"Was the food nice?" she asks
"Erm, yes.."
"And the company?"
"Of course"
"I'm easy to get on with aren't I?"
"Of course..."
"So, If the food was nice, and the company was nice, and if I tick all the boxes" she leans closer to him now and Chandler thinks this must be how a suspect feels sat across the table from Miles. "why have you spent the entire evening talking about Emerson Kent?"
There's a look in his eye she can read all too well, she sees it in her patients every day; it's the look one gets when things start to fall into place, when the mess finally clears, when the pieces come together.
He'd simply call it a 'Eureka moment'.
"Go" she says slowly, and he's out of the door before she can pick up her glass.
.