Of Boys And Men update (sherlocklouchverse, their first case)
Summary: The only thing Suzaku hoped for was finding an apartment. Not getting involved in crime cases or dealing with the shenanigans of the only operating consulting detective. 00, inspired by BBC's “Sherlock”.
Word Count: 2336
Warning(s): Despite this being 00, Watsonzaku is still very much John Watson in certain aspects (three continents!), so he’ll be noticing and trying to flirt. More subtext because it’s funny. Also: NC-17 for this chapter not because of sex, but disturbing themes, graphic talk and some triggering material.
Author’s Notes: Yes, this is an actual update. Plotty stuff finally kicking in? And I finally decided on a title, which fire_rose17 might have accidentally helped coining. ‘Of Boys And Men’ was originally intended to just be the title for the prologue chapter, but I rather like it overall too.
***
It shouldn’t have surprised Suzaku that they ended up in a cab, but as he found himself observing the hustle and bustle of London street life flying by him as the car skidded from scene to scene, Suzaku couldn’t quite hide the frown marring his face. Especially because he still didn’t have the dimmest clue where they were driving off to, nor why.
“Don’t worry. I’ll explain in a bit,” Lelouch said, straightening the collars of his coat, and smiling that annoyingly smug smile of his face.
Suzaku just rolled his eyes, irritation flaring up inside of him. “I’d prefer if you explained at once.” He felt tempted to add that Lelouch didn’t have to do it slowly because a) he’d gone through medical college, and b) could, if you bothered to explain cohesively as well as coherently, follow quite well, thank you very much.
“I know you’re not an idiot, Suzaku,” Lelouch said, shaking his head, “it’s just that this would be difficult for anyone to follow with a normal mind.”
Suzaku’s eyebrows flew together. “… Right, Lelouch. I’ll try to pretend for a second that I know what you mean, which I don’t. Anyhow, what’s … so difficult to grasp about this other than that you’re apparently a sodding madman who’s taking me off to God knows where?” He crossed his arms, not having to hold onto the cane because he had it propped, snugly, against the backseat of the cab.
If Lelouch was surprised, it didn’t show on his face. He just let out a sigh, and leaned back against the seat. “Alright then. I’m a consulting detective. The one and only of his kind in this world.”
Suzaku, of course, just … glared. Before he remembered his bloody manners. “Pardon me, what?” As far as he was concerned, he’d never heard that term before.
“I consult the police, offer them advice on their cases, so to speak,” Lelouch said dryly, as if this were all perfectly plausible, “You might have noticed that I have an affinity for observation.”
All Suzaku could do was snort. “Might have? You …” his voice dropped to a whisper, “nearly knew everything about me. It was amazing.” He didn’t bother hiding the amazement in his tone, didn’t even feel stupid for it because he meant every word.
He expected Lelouch to smile arrogantly or proclaim ‘oh yes, I’m that amazing’, but instead a flicker of something that looked like surprise flickered over his face, and then Lelouch’s lips curved into a small smile. A pretty one that brightened up his features because, for once, it wasn’t smug, but real. He shook his head. “Not everything. Just a few observable facts. No one could ever know everything about a person.”
Suzaku found himself smiling. “Not everything, no. I don’t have any siblings.” He hesitated for a second. “It’s my father who drinks.” He shrugged his shoulders, tensing a bit as he waited for Lelouch’s reaction.
But Lelouch just nodded, and then sighed. “Well, as I said, you can’t know everything.” It wasn’t sympathetic, but then the last thing Suzaku wanted or needed was someone pitying him. He remembered when he’d first told mates about his father at school, how they’d curled their lips in disgust and scoffed, telling him he was just making it all up because he was a nancy and looking for a shoulder to cry on --
“… You know, I don’t believe in the past,” Lelouch then said, breaking the chain of Suzaku’s thoughts. “Just the present. That’s all that counts. Who you were and where you came from doesn’t matter to me.”
Suzaku found his lips moving, despite all inner resolve to keep silent. “But-“
“It’s dull. Worrying about such petty and needless things as the past is dull,” Lelouch said, and rolled his eyes. He looked out of the window, and pointed at the people passing by. “It’s all meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Just stupid sentimentality that people occupy themselves with, and that hinders them from grasping more important matters.”
Suzaku frowned. “I’m not quite sure I’m following. What’s more important than … knowing about someone, their motives and reasons?” He swallowed. “I thought you were a detective -“
Lelouch gritted his teeth, as if this were a personal insult to him. “Consulting detective, and really do you think people commit crimes because of childhood traumas?” He chuckled as he did an elegant yet dismissive wave with his hand. “That’s a common mistake everyone makes at a crime scene, searching for …” he snorted, “motives. But really, what you should be looking for is clues. Things that are, “ he shifted closer to Suzaku, and Suzaku felt himself catching his breath when confronted with those brilliant, expressive eyes gleaming with excitement , “tangible, not laden with emotion, but crucial because they reveal how the murder was committed. The why and how can always wait.”
He still didn’t quite grasp, but then he felt that no one would be able to quite trace Lelouch’s thought processes. Then again, Lelouch and life seemed to be quite far from normal.
When the car came to a halt in front of what looked like a crime scene, Suzaku knew his life would never be normal either again.
…
It was a crime scene, indeed - not just made obvious by the blaring hoots of the police cars, and the siren lights ghosting in and out, out and in, but because there a tape separating him and Lelouch from the police cars and assembly of people gathered round the building.
Suzaku blinked, and rubbed his eyes. He found himself thinking that he preferred the blasting of his army days infinitely more.
His eyes widened a bit when an attractive red-head walked over to them, frown deeply etched on her face and hands on her hips when she caught sight of Lelouch.
“So you’ve finally had the galls to arrive,” she said, glancing at her watch, and rolling her eyes. “Nearly on time, should I be impressed?” Her eyes narrowed, and Suzaku still found himself thinking that she was rather finely shaped, in spite of the overall she was wearing. He would have just liked it more if she had smiled.
Lelouch merely shrugged, eyes fixed on the distance. “Inspector Stadtfeld, nice to see that you’re as cheery as always.” He snorted. “Trouble with your husband yet again? No you don’t have to answer -- the bags around your eyes betray you.”
The glare that Inspector Stadtfeld sent in Lelouch’s direction was positively seething, but she sighed eventually. “Right. Enough with the smalltalk.” She let them pass through the tape, rolling her eyes as Lelouch pushed up the collars of his coat, and muttered ‘show off’.
And then she finally noticed Suzaku. She pointed at him, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s this?”
Suzaku opened his mouth to say something, anything but Lelouch got there before he did. “He’s with me.”
“I can,” Kallen replied, eyeing Suzaku with some renewed interest, “see that, but who is he?” She glared at Lelouch. “This isn’t the best place to bring your date to.”
If Suzaku hadn’t felt his cheeks turn red before, now he did. It was one thing to be mistaken for gay by a kind, elderly landlady, but another matter entirely to have an attractive woman think he was dating … well, someone like Lelouch. Actually, it was just plain awkward. Period.
He answered before Lelouch could. “I’m not his date, I’m …” Right, what was he? Tag-along? He coughed, and opened his mouth to speak again, but then Lelouch cut in.
“He’s going to help me with the medical inspection. Suzaku Kururugi is an army doctor.”
...Still, Inspector Stadtfeld didn’t seem impressed. “You do realise that,” she said, crossing her arms, “we have an entire team of people for that?”
And Suzaku really couldn’t deny the rationality of that argument. The doubt of whether he was even supposed to be here crossed his mind yet again, but then again, he sensed that rationality, when applied to Lelouch, wasn’t going to work a lot or at all. He sighed, gripping his cane harder.
“Anderson won’t work with me, apart from --,” disgust seeped into Lelouch’s tone, “being frightfully incompetent.”
“Look-” Stadtfeld started, then rubbed her eyes before finally sighing, “Okay, have it your way, as long as you’ll promise to work on this case.” The level of despair in her tone made Suzaku’s eyes widen. It didn’t quite fit with the tough image she’d been showing so far.
Then Suzaku looked at her again, taking in how tired and weary she looked. The lack of make-up, the dark circles around her eyes implied late nights, lots of up and about that had nothing to do with partying, but everything to do with work. Suzaku could sympathise, remembering how he’d often pulled an all-nighter just to save a patient’s life, overjoyed when it had worked or, alternatively, felt himself emptying the contents of his breakfast (always too much coffee, rarely anything more proper than a hastily made sandwich).
Therefore, when Lelouch just nodded and asked Kallen to lead him to the crime scene, Suzaku felt more than just relief washing down his spine.
He knew what it was like to feel helpless, after all, and how wonderful it was when you finally had someone who took the burden off your shoulders.
…
No trace of blood on the floor, nor on the walls, not even on the carpet -- the entire room a lavish affair, even decadent.
But then, decadent truly did fit the appearance of the room, making Suzaku cringe, the no-nonsense training of the army -- don’t be wasteful, and be practical -- still imprinted deeply enough into his mind that none of this really struck him as his cup of tea.
Lelouch was not paying any attention to the furniture, already leaning over the body, magnifier in his hand as he looked at the body for clues. He did it silently, not bursting out in random comments like Suzaku had halfway expected him to.
And it was nice observing him work, absorbing even because Suzaku could imagine the wheels turning in Lelouch’s head as he leaned down the body like this, as he seemed to catch every yet so minuscule detail that the murderer had left behind on the victim -- a victim who’d been mostly left naked, only a flimsy shirt left on him.
“Suzaku --your medical opinion, please,” Lelouch said, his voice ringing clear and demanding as Suzaku’s attention rolled back to focus, and he leaned down over the body himself, groaning a bit because of the limp.
Barely twenty was the first thing that popped into Suzaku’s mind as his eyes roamed over the still very boyish features of the ‘young’ Haliburton. Not that it mattered much. He’d seen far too many boys younger than this die on his operating table. He sighed. “Asphyxiation. Choked on his own vomit.” He sniffed. “No sign of alcohol, so --” He frowned, looking at the empty bottle that lay cradled in the young man’s hand.
Suzaku was about to say what he assumed when Kallen sighed. “Look, we already know this stuff.” It should have been rude, but Suzaku couldn’t blame her: the weary tone in her voice betrayed just how tired she was.
“There’s something different about this victim, and it’s not the state of undress,” Lelouch said, no emotion in his voice. “Look more carefully. Go downwards, perhaps.”
Disgust coiled in Suzaku’s stomach as let trailed his hand downwards past the buttocks, squeezing that, and even if no semen leaked out, the blood that flowed out gave him more than ample evidence of what had happened. All of this -- he’d encountered traumatised rape and molestation victims during his time in the army. He cleared his throat. “The intrusion was painful. No lubrication. The attacker used a condom.” Closing his eyes, Suzaku forced himself to take a deep breath. No matter how composed he sounded right now, the sickening feeling that rose to his guts each time would never quite leave him. “He probably went twice -- the second time, possibly after the boy had died.”
He looked up, taking in how horrified Inspector Stadtfeld looked and how utterly devoid of anything Lelouch looked. Well, apart from that annoying smirk on his face, the delighted glint in his eyes. Suzaku frowned. The question as to whether Lelouch was happy over this actually rose to the forefront of his mind.
The question answered itself when Lelouch started pacing around the room, his coat moving along with his erratic movements -- as if they were caught in a waltz, coat and detective, unaware of the world around them. But Suzaku had the feeling that as Lelouch jumped once, twice and exclaimed ‘lovely’ and ‘fantastic -- finally a good case’ that the man really didn’t give a dime’s worth about what anyone thought.
Especially not Suzaku because he still smiled when he clapped his shoulder, and said, “Brilliant, I knew you were good for something.” He then paced around the room again, muttering what a waste it would have been if Suzaku had proved to be incompetent after all as well.
...Right. Suzaku coughed awkwardly, trying to keep calm. “Good. I’m glad I could be of assistance.” He rose painfully, slowly onto his feet while he held onto his cane, not bothering to brush the dust off his clothes. That’s what the overall were there for -- to keep him clean. He just wasn’t sure his mind would be purged from this memory.
Not that it mattered, his mind already a wasteland of torn up bodies, lifeless eyes and bombs -- far too many bombs.
Dealing with a man who apparently got off murder cases was just the icing on the cake.
Word Count: 2336
Warning(s): Despite this being 00, Watsonzaku is still very much John Watson in certain aspects (three continents!), so he’ll be noticing and trying to flirt. More subtext because it’s funny. Also: NC-17 for this chapter not because of sex, but disturbing themes, graphic talk and some triggering material.
Author’s Notes: Yes, this is an actual update. Plotty stuff finally kicking in? And I finally decided on a title, which fire_rose17 might have accidentally helped coining. ‘Of Boys And Men’ was originally intended to just be the title for the prologue chapter, but I rather like it overall too.
***
It shouldn’t have surprised Suzaku that they ended up in a cab, but as he found himself observing the hustle and bustle of London street life flying by him as the car skidded from scene to scene, Suzaku couldn’t quite hide the frown marring his face. Especially because he still didn’t have the dimmest clue where they were driving off to, nor why.
“Don’t worry. I’ll explain in a bit,” Lelouch said, straightening the collars of his coat, and smiling that annoyingly smug smile of his face.
Suzaku just rolled his eyes, irritation flaring up inside of him. “I’d prefer if you explained at once.” He felt tempted to add that Lelouch didn’t have to do it slowly because a) he’d gone through medical college, and b) could, if you bothered to explain cohesively as well as coherently, follow quite well, thank you very much.
“I know you’re not an idiot, Suzaku,” Lelouch said, shaking his head, “it’s just that this would be difficult for anyone to follow with a normal mind.”
Suzaku’s eyebrows flew together. “… Right, Lelouch. I’ll try to pretend for a second that I know what you mean, which I don’t. Anyhow, what’s … so difficult to grasp about this other than that you’re apparently a sodding madman who’s taking me off to God knows where?” He crossed his arms, not having to hold onto the cane because he had it propped, snugly, against the backseat of the cab.
If Lelouch was surprised, it didn’t show on his face. He just let out a sigh, and leaned back against the seat. “Alright then. I’m a consulting detective. The one and only of his kind in this world.”
Suzaku, of course, just … glared. Before he remembered his bloody manners. “Pardon me, what?” As far as he was concerned, he’d never heard that term before.
“I consult the police, offer them advice on their cases, so to speak,” Lelouch said dryly, as if this were all perfectly plausible, “You might have noticed that I have an affinity for observation.”
All Suzaku could do was snort. “Might have? You …” his voice dropped to a whisper, “nearly knew everything about me. It was amazing.” He didn’t bother hiding the amazement in his tone, didn’t even feel stupid for it because he meant every word.
He expected Lelouch to smile arrogantly or proclaim ‘oh yes, I’m that amazing’, but instead a flicker of something that looked like surprise flickered over his face, and then Lelouch’s lips curved into a small smile. A pretty one that brightened up his features because, for once, it wasn’t smug, but real. He shook his head. “Not everything. Just a few observable facts. No one could ever know everything about a person.”
Suzaku found himself smiling. “Not everything, no. I don’t have any siblings.” He hesitated for a second. “It’s my father who drinks.” He shrugged his shoulders, tensing a bit as he waited for Lelouch’s reaction.
But Lelouch just nodded, and then sighed. “Well, as I said, you can’t know everything.” It wasn’t sympathetic, but then the last thing Suzaku wanted or needed was someone pitying him. He remembered when he’d first told mates about his father at school, how they’d curled their lips in disgust and scoffed, telling him he was just making it all up because he was a nancy and looking for a shoulder to cry on --
“… You know, I don’t believe in the past,” Lelouch then said, breaking the chain of Suzaku’s thoughts. “Just the present. That’s all that counts. Who you were and where you came from doesn’t matter to me.”
Suzaku found his lips moving, despite all inner resolve to keep silent. “But-“
“It’s dull. Worrying about such petty and needless things as the past is dull,” Lelouch said, and rolled his eyes. He looked out of the window, and pointed at the people passing by. “It’s all meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Just stupid sentimentality that people occupy themselves with, and that hinders them from grasping more important matters.”
Suzaku frowned. “I’m not quite sure I’m following. What’s more important than … knowing about someone, their motives and reasons?” He swallowed. “I thought you were a detective -“
Lelouch gritted his teeth, as if this were a personal insult to him. “Consulting detective, and really do you think people commit crimes because of childhood traumas?” He chuckled as he did an elegant yet dismissive wave with his hand. “That’s a common mistake everyone makes at a crime scene, searching for …” he snorted, “motives. But really, what you should be looking for is clues. Things that are, “ he shifted closer to Suzaku, and Suzaku felt himself catching his breath when confronted with those brilliant, expressive eyes gleaming with excitement , “tangible, not laden with emotion, but crucial because they reveal how the murder was committed. The why and how can always wait.”
He still didn’t quite grasp, but then he felt that no one would be able to quite trace Lelouch’s thought processes. Then again, Lelouch and life seemed to be quite far from normal.
When the car came to a halt in front of what looked like a crime scene, Suzaku knew his life would never be normal either again.
…
It was a crime scene, indeed - not just made obvious by the blaring hoots of the police cars, and the siren lights ghosting in and out, out and in, but because there a tape separating him and Lelouch from the police cars and assembly of people gathered round the building.
Suzaku blinked, and rubbed his eyes. He found himself thinking that he preferred the blasting of his army days infinitely more.
His eyes widened a bit when an attractive red-head walked over to them, frown deeply etched on her face and hands on her hips when she caught sight of Lelouch.
“So you’ve finally had the galls to arrive,” she said, glancing at her watch, and rolling her eyes. “Nearly on time, should I be impressed?” Her eyes narrowed, and Suzaku still found himself thinking that she was rather finely shaped, in spite of the overall she was wearing. He would have just liked it more if she had smiled.
Lelouch merely shrugged, eyes fixed on the distance. “Inspector Stadtfeld, nice to see that you’re as cheery as always.” He snorted. “Trouble with your husband yet again? No you don’t have to answer -- the bags around your eyes betray you.”
The glare that Inspector Stadtfeld sent in Lelouch’s direction was positively seething, but she sighed eventually. “Right. Enough with the smalltalk.” She let them pass through the tape, rolling her eyes as Lelouch pushed up the collars of his coat, and muttered ‘show off’.
And then she finally noticed Suzaku. She pointed at him, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s this?”
Suzaku opened his mouth to say something, anything but Lelouch got there before he did. “He’s with me.”
“I can,” Kallen replied, eyeing Suzaku with some renewed interest, “see that, but who is he?” She glared at Lelouch. “This isn’t the best place to bring your date to.”
If Suzaku hadn’t felt his cheeks turn red before, now he did. It was one thing to be mistaken for gay by a kind, elderly landlady, but another matter entirely to have an attractive woman think he was dating … well, someone like Lelouch. Actually, it was just plain awkward. Period.
He answered before Lelouch could. “I’m not his date, I’m …” Right, what was he? Tag-along? He coughed, and opened his mouth to speak again, but then Lelouch cut in.
“He’s going to help me with the medical inspection. Suzaku Kururugi is an army doctor.”
...Still, Inspector Stadtfeld didn’t seem impressed. “You do realise that,” she said, crossing her arms, “we have an entire team of people for that?”
And Suzaku really couldn’t deny the rationality of that argument. The doubt of whether he was even supposed to be here crossed his mind yet again, but then again, he sensed that rationality, when applied to Lelouch, wasn’t going to work a lot or at all. He sighed, gripping his cane harder.
“Anderson won’t work with me, apart from --,” disgust seeped into Lelouch’s tone, “being frightfully incompetent.”
“Look-” Stadtfeld started, then rubbed her eyes before finally sighing, “Okay, have it your way, as long as you’ll promise to work on this case.” The level of despair in her tone made Suzaku’s eyes widen. It didn’t quite fit with the tough image she’d been showing so far.
Then Suzaku looked at her again, taking in how tired and weary she looked. The lack of make-up, the dark circles around her eyes implied late nights, lots of up and about that had nothing to do with partying, but everything to do with work. Suzaku could sympathise, remembering how he’d often pulled an all-nighter just to save a patient’s life, overjoyed when it had worked or, alternatively, felt himself emptying the contents of his breakfast (always too much coffee, rarely anything more proper than a hastily made sandwich).
Therefore, when Lelouch just nodded and asked Kallen to lead him to the crime scene, Suzaku felt more than just relief washing down his spine.
He knew what it was like to feel helpless, after all, and how wonderful it was when you finally had someone who took the burden off your shoulders.
…
No trace of blood on the floor, nor on the walls, not even on the carpet -- the entire room a lavish affair, even decadent.
But then, decadent truly did fit the appearance of the room, making Suzaku cringe, the no-nonsense training of the army -- don’t be wasteful, and be practical -- still imprinted deeply enough into his mind that none of this really struck him as his cup of tea.
Lelouch was not paying any attention to the furniture, already leaning over the body, magnifier in his hand as he looked at the body for clues. He did it silently, not bursting out in random comments like Suzaku had halfway expected him to.
And it was nice observing him work, absorbing even because Suzaku could imagine the wheels turning in Lelouch’s head as he leaned down the body like this, as he seemed to catch every yet so minuscule detail that the murderer had left behind on the victim -- a victim who’d been mostly left naked, only a flimsy shirt left on him.
“Suzaku --your medical opinion, please,” Lelouch said, his voice ringing clear and demanding as Suzaku’s attention rolled back to focus, and he leaned down over the body himself, groaning a bit because of the limp.
Barely twenty was the first thing that popped into Suzaku’s mind as his eyes roamed over the still very boyish features of the ‘young’ Haliburton. Not that it mattered much. He’d seen far too many boys younger than this die on his operating table. He sighed. “Asphyxiation. Choked on his own vomit.” He sniffed. “No sign of alcohol, so --” He frowned, looking at the empty bottle that lay cradled in the young man’s hand.
Suzaku was about to say what he assumed when Kallen sighed. “Look, we already know this stuff.” It should have been rude, but Suzaku couldn’t blame her: the weary tone in her voice betrayed just how tired she was.
“There’s something different about this victim, and it’s not the state of undress,” Lelouch said, no emotion in his voice. “Look more carefully. Go downwards, perhaps.”
Disgust coiled in Suzaku’s stomach as let trailed his hand downwards past the buttocks, squeezing that, and even if no semen leaked out, the blood that flowed out gave him more than ample evidence of what had happened. All of this -- he’d encountered traumatised rape and molestation victims during his time in the army. He cleared his throat. “The intrusion was painful. No lubrication. The attacker used a condom.” Closing his eyes, Suzaku forced himself to take a deep breath. No matter how composed he sounded right now, the sickening feeling that rose to his guts each time would never quite leave him. “He probably went twice -- the second time, possibly after the boy had died.”
He looked up, taking in how horrified Inspector Stadtfeld looked and how utterly devoid of anything Lelouch looked. Well, apart from that annoying smirk on his face, the delighted glint in his eyes. Suzaku frowned. The question as to whether Lelouch was happy over this actually rose to the forefront of his mind.
The question answered itself when Lelouch started pacing around the room, his coat moving along with his erratic movements -- as if they were caught in a waltz, coat and detective, unaware of the world around them. But Suzaku had the feeling that as Lelouch jumped once, twice and exclaimed ‘lovely’ and ‘fantastic -- finally a good case’ that the man really didn’t give a dime’s worth about what anyone thought.
Especially not Suzaku because he still smiled when he clapped his shoulder, and said, “Brilliant, I knew you were good for something.” He then paced around the room again, muttering what a waste it would have been if Suzaku had proved to be incompetent after all as well.
...Right. Suzaku coughed awkwardly, trying to keep calm. “Good. I’m glad I could be of assistance.” He rose painfully, slowly onto his feet while he held onto his cane, not bothering to brush the dust off his clothes. That’s what the overall were there for -- to keep him clean. He just wasn’t sure his mind would be purged from this memory.
Not that it mattered, his mind already a wasteland of torn up bodies, lifeless eyes and bombs -- far too many bombs.
Dealing with a man who apparently got off murder cases was just the icing on the cake.