AU: Boxing Match 'Verse (which needs a better name)

[mustbetruth]

Holmes is bristling with post-case satisfaction. Oh, yes, he located the person responsible for the crime and now he's on his way to the Yard, and there's something in that worth some pride, but for Holmes, all that matters is the mystery. And the fact that it's been resolved. The pieces fell neatly into place and he left Watson and Lestrade with

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[armydoctor]

The expression on Watson's face as he turned to look at Holmes was faintly startled, and more than a little pleased. It had been a wonderful, productive, glorious day. Holmes had been brilliant, and irresistable, and justice had been done, and it had been exciting. Watson himself was still running high on adrenaline.

This relationship was... new, sometimes frightening, certainly overwhelming, but on the whole... Watson found it disturbingly easy to accept it, despite all his misgivings, all his fears, the fact that this was very new to him, still, and not too long ago it would have been entirely unthinkable to act upon it.

He gave Holmes a smile, one that was a little wary, and stepped to angle himself towards Holmes with his head tilted to one side. "I am beginning to recognise that tone of voice. Shall I guess that you have some notion of how best to celebrate our success?"

[mustbetruth]

"I've given a thought or two to what options are available to us," he murmurs, stepping closer, but refrains from touching Watson. Their curtains are still open, and they'll need shutting, but for now he is enjoying this daring little game of teasing but not touching.

He can see Watson's hesitation, and he reminds himself that they've only been at this a few months; still, it isn't so easy to reign in his excitement, his satisfaction, his thrill over solving a case. To know that he can embrace Watson and spend all evening (in an ideal world) celebrating... He can't quite just turn off those thoughts.

"A good smoke, some good brandy, perhaps even in combination. Perhaps even in combination with another option... though that one would require closing the curtains."

[armydoctor]

"Perhaps you should draw the curtains, then," Watson suggested, with his chin lifted to a slightly challenging angle. Giving Holmes a command was always a curious thing, and he was never sure whether to expect obedience or challenge, but sometimes he was so unsure as to his footing in this relationship that he simply had to test the boundaries.

"Other than that small detail... I cannot say I have much objection to this sort of celebration."

[mustbetruth]

Oh, but that challenging edge in Watson's voice is so very, very alluring. Holmes's smile widens and he sets about shutting their blinds, feeling very warm and thrilled and excited. It had been a good day; it will be an ever better evening, tangling up with his new lover

[armydoctor]

Though he lifted his glass with the toast, Watson found it necessary to draw a breath to steady himself. He felt completely at sea, sometimes, could not believe he was going against all his background and upbringing like this, could not really believe that Holmes would be interested in him in the way he was, could not quite shake the feeling that some day it would all shatter somehow, Holmes would think better of it and break it off.

"To success," he said, clinking his glass against Holmes's, "and justice done." He sipped his brandy, smiling, feeling absurdly light-headed, and it was certainly not from that tiny sip of alcohol.

Feeling daring, he put out his hand to rest it gently on Holmes's waist, his fingers curled.

[mustbetruth]

Holmes has had to keep himself at bay; his treatment of relationships is a lot like his moods. He can go from feeling very standoffish to wanting to smother Watson with energetic affection. He'd forgotten about this part, the good part, in all the hurt and scandal. Finding himself in this position again, he wants at times to shower Watson with all the romantic inclinations he's been holding at bay, but he tries to hold back. At least a little.

He sets his hand on Watson's waist in return, hovering closer, and leans down to steal a kiss that isn't anywhere close to being as heated as he'd like it to be. They're just getting started, after all, and maybe part of the game is coaching Watson along until that hint of hesitation is gone from him.

"Right, and justice too. Though as long as the mystery is solved, that's justice enough for me."

[armydoctor]

"You care nothing at all for justice?" Watson smiled, rather teasingly. "Nothing at all for the forces of right that you help put into motion?" He had to wonder himself why he was focusing on that train of thought. Some sort of compensation for the sin he was potentially enacting now, perhaps. That wasn't a pleasant idea.

He took another swallow of brandy and drew himself closer. He'd always been a particularly physical person with women, and in this relationship things weren't much different. Once kissed, he wanted to continue kissing. Despite the brandy, he could still taste Holmes on his lips, and he was far more interested in that taste than he was in anything else. Trying to keep a firm grasp upon his glass, Watson leaned up to kiss Holmes again, still feeling somewhat anxious about it, still aware of how alien a thing it was -- and yet, utterly familiar, and wonderful.

"I'm starting to become disillusioned as to your true nature," he murmured.

[mustbetruth]

"I'm interested in the puzzle and its solution. If along the way, justice is done, well then. What a fortunate happenstance." He takes a drink, though he already feels as if he's vibrating all over, almost. The excitement of the case is generally enough to set him off on a good mood, but combined with Watson, kissing him and holding him close, Holmes can barely contain himself.

"Fortunately I have at my side a companion who is very much interested in justice and the forces of right, so my 'true nature' is nicely balanced." Leaning in, he kisses Watson again, longer than before, squeezing his hip.

[armydoctor]

Laughing, Watson made a half-hearted attempt at disentangling himself, though without any actual desire to get very far away at all. "If you carry on like this," he protested, "I am going to spill brandy all over and I will be holding you solely responsible, I'll have you know."

He leaned forward, even as he was pretending to be trying to escape, and kissed Holmes playfully, rather hungrily. To be referred to as so essential a partner, even in play and teasing, pleased him immensely. He was not in the least certain of how deep Holmes's feelings might run, and he didn't dare examine his own feelings too closely, not already.

[mustbetruth]

"Oh, and what would the consequences be?" he murmurs, smiling broadly as the kiss ends. Admittedly, he longs for the day when he doesn't feel the insecurity and hesitation coming off Watson; it's partly why he loves goading Watson into giving in and giving such wonderful kisses. Then again, Holmes -- for all his romantic enthusiasm -- hasn't exactly been eager to open up and talk about... anything pertaining to his emotional state or his past.

"If you get brandy down our shirtfronts or -- horror of horrors -- our trousers, then we'll be forced to remove them." He looks playfully up to the ceiling, pretending to think. "I'm still unsure as to how this is bad."

[armydoctor]

Watson felt himself blush, and in an attempt to hide it, bent his head to rest his forehead on Holmes's shoulder for a moment until he felt it pass, laughing quietly. "I suppose that's one way to be optimistic about things."

When he lifted his face again, he let his face stay very close to Holmes's. He looked a moment, memorising the angles of Holmes's face, fascinated and yet (even now) faintly repelled by the idea of kissing that face, of loving the male body, this male body. It was peculiar, sometimes, to stand on this line, in this place, and be of both minds -- and yet, for the past several weeks, for well over a month, he had been doing exactly what he was so frightened of, and loving it

[mustbetruth]

It's very hard for him to resist staying still while Watson is this close, studying him. His breathing turns into slow, measured breaths as he waits for Watson to move, and he returns the kiss eagerly, hungrily. Holmes doesn't find it difficult to be in charge most of the time -- in every situation, not merely romantic ones -- but when he's caught like that beneath the gaze of a lover... Well, he's used to doing the observing. When someone observes him, it makes him feel vulnerable in a way

[armydoctor]

"Well, I'll let you worry about the consequences, then." Watson put a hand to the back of Holmes's neck, returning to kissing him with a great deal of enjoyment in the act. The further he went into this, the easier it was to lose himself in it, to forget his misgivings.

After a minute or two, Watson broke away, breathless, and glanced over his shoulder at the sofa behind them. A good goal, he had to suppose. Turning back to Holmes, he drew him gently in that direction. "In fact, I'll let you think of some good consequences now," he invited, playfully. "Or even a reason for some consequences, for that matter."

[mustbetruth]

"Hmm, reasons," he murmurs, now pressing his lips to Watson's neck as he pushes his jacket off his shoulders. "Let's see. This morning at breakfast, you got crumbs on your tie. Clearly you don't know how to keep your tie clean, and the consequence is that you must go without." He slips Watson's tie off and drops it to the floor.

He nudges Watson back onto the couch and swiftly follows, straddling his lap and capturing his lips in another heated kiss. In this position, it's all too easy to push his hips forward, to rock against Watson, but he does his best not to.

[armydoctor]

He felt like he was barely breathing. Feeling very vulnerable indeed, Watson had to struggle for a moment with himself, caught between two options -- except, truly, there wasn't much choice for him, and he quickly tipped over into acceptance, as tentative as it was. He knew what ultimately would pass between two men in the bedroom, what seemed to him to be a final line, a final act of depravity, and even if they hadn't arrived there yet, he was not entirely certain how he felt about it. He was faintly dreading it, faintly anticipating it.

This was all utterly confusing, far more so than any relationship with a woman he had had.

But at least after his momentary feeling of being overwhelmed, he quickly regained his equilibrium, answering Holmes's kisses enthusiastically. "Fine, I accept your judgement." He slid his hands over Holmes's thighs. "Is it worth anything that I promise to be more careful in future?"

[mustbetruth]

"Oh, I think so. I'll give you your tie back," he says with a playful smile, and he runs his hand down Watson's chest, breathing heavily. He wants to take that final step with Watson so very badly, though he's fairly certain that it would be better if Watson took the dominant role, and Holmes the submissive, should they ever reach that point. He realizes this is a compromise that he has no real argument against, but... well, frankly, he doesn't often take the submissive role. Holmes doesn't take well to feeling vulnerable.

No matter. That won't happen for a while yet, he assumes. he kisses Watson, sliding his fingers into his hair, and wills his hips to stay still and behave themselves.

"Even better idea. You may take off my tie."