Chapter Text
After their little adventure in London, Sherlock feels like he has gotten closer to William.
They still meet up for lunch most days and Sherlock occasionally shows up at the mathematician’s lectures when he has time to kill, but they now have started talking about more personal stuff too.
Sherlock has learned that William and Louis were adopted and aren’t biologically related to their older brother, but Albert was the one that took care of them after the rest of their adoptive family died in a car accident. The three of them are very close and try to have family dinners together as often as they can with their busy schedules.
William has also shared that he doesn’t have many close friends and mostly hangs out with his brothers’ friends since they are both more sociable than him. His best friend is apparently a theater actor called James but he doesn’t see him very often nowadays because he is always travelling around.
Sherlock makes a mental note of everything William tells him, wanting to learn even more. He’s been thinking about it for a few days and decided that he should probably ask the other man to hang out with him outside of work, preferably with alcohol involved. He could also ask him on a date but that still sounds too risky.
“Liam! Are you free tomorrow evening?” he asks William when he spots him in the corridor first thing in the morning instead of a greeting.
William looks a bit taken aback for a few seconds but then replies, “Yes? I don’t have anything planned after work.”
“Perfect, let’s go out for drinks then,” Sherlock announces, amused by the still confused look on William’s face.
“What? Do you not drink?” he questions when William continues to stare at him in bewilderment without answering.
The blond man rolls his eyes and says, “I do, I just didn’t expect to be asked this at 9 A.M. on a Tuesday.” There is an amused smile on his face.
“Well, are ya coming or not? I have a lecture to teach,” Sherlock points out nonchalantly even if his mood for the rest of the day is closely related to William’s answer.
“Sure, if you buy me the first drink,” William says in a voice that sounds too seductive for the early hour. Sherlock starts wondering if he is going to survive this not-date.
About an hour before his not-date with William, Sherlock’s phone vibrates with a text message. He runs his hands through his hair and throws both of the shirts that he has been staring at for the past 10 minutes on the bed and goes to grab his phone from the nightstand.
[ Hey, is it okay if you come pick me up from the university instead? I stayed a little later than planned and now I don’t think I have time to go home first. ]
Sherlock sighs dramatically and replies a quick ‘sure np’.
William had mentioned today during lunch that he would work on his research a little after his lectures for the day were over but wouldn't stay too late. Sherlock should have known not to trust the math professor when it comes to knowing not to overwork himself. For all of William’s brilliance, he sure struggles with taking care of himself. Sherlock finally understands how John felt all those years when he was trying to get him to take breaks from work.
Well, even if he isn’t the best at taking care of himself either, that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to make sure William doesn’t overdo it if he has the chance. And tonight he actually has the perfect opportunity.
Sherlock finally decides on the dark blue shirt, putting it on and finishing getting ready as quickly as possible. He grabs his keys and wallet and leaves his apartment.
Twenty minutes later, Sherlock is knocking on the door of William’s office.
“Yes?” comes William’s muffled voice from inside.
Sherlock opens the door and announces, “I’m here to steal you.”
William stares at him in confusion for a moment and then at his watch. He looks tired.
“I’m half an hour early,” Sherlock clarifies before William starts doubting his ability to read the time. “I figured you weren’t gonna stop working until the last possible minute and came to scold ya.”
And indeed, William is sitting on his desk surrounded by papers and books. His suit still looks spoteless but his hair is a little disheveled, probably from running his hands through it while thinking; Sherlock has noticed that this is a habit of his.
William looks at him sheepishly and says, “I was going to stop now…” Even if it’s obvious that he was completely absorbed in his work and had lost all sense of time when Sherlock arrived.
“Sure you were,” Sherlock chuckles, walking closer to William’s desk. “Get up, we’re gonna grab something to eat before going to drink,” he adds, leaving no room for argument. He is old enough to know that drinking on an empty stomach isn’t fun.
The blond man rolls his eyes at him and starts putting his stuff away. Once he is done, Sherlock turns around to go to the door but William’s voice stops him.
“Wait, I need to change first,” he says nonchalantly.
Sherlock turns around again and furrows his brows in confusion.
“I’m not going out to drink in a full suit,” William clarifies, starting to casually take off his suit jacket.
“Uhm, do you want me to wait outside?” Sherlock asks, suddenly feeling his face heating up like he is 15 again and he sees a shirtless man in a locker room.
“No need,” the other man answers, giving him a quick smile. He turns around and looks for something in his bag.
“You look good in suits,” Sherlock says, wanting to break the silence and then immediately regrets it when William turns to look at him and raises an eyebrow.
“What? It’s the truth. Not that you don’t probably look good in everything.” Sherlock has a feeling that he should probably stop talking right about now if he doesn’t want William to kick him out of his office and never allow him in again. He has never been good at controlling what he says, especially when he is nervous.
“Thank you,” William answers, smiling gently.
Sherlock starts thinking that maybe it wasn’t that awful of him to blabber like that until William gives him a very obvious once-over and his smile turns into a smirk.
“You look pretty hot today yourself,” he says as he starts unfastening his tie. “Blue looks good on you.”
Sherlock hasn’t dated a lot in his life, always focusing more on his studies and then his job rather than his love life, but he isn’t inexperienced. Even if he has only been in one long term relationship years ago, he did go on a few dates every once in a while and even had some flings. Given all that, the sight of his collegue unfastening a goddamn tie while calling him hot shouldn’t affect him this much.
“T-thanks,” he replies, his voice cracking like he is going through puberty again, very much affected by this situation.
William looks at him and laughs lightly at his reaction before his signature devilish smile returns to his face and he decides it’s a good idea to completely kill Sherlock by beginning to unbutton his dress shirt. Sherlock’s blood starts flowing towards the wrong direction.
He briefly considers turning around to give the other man some privacy but it’s apparent that William is actually the devil incarnate and is doing this on purpose, so Sherlock can’t back down. He tries to scold his face into a neutral expression and look as casual about this as possible even if he feels like he is burning in the pits of hell.
The blond man, probably very aware of his effect on Sherlock, seems to be taking his time with unbuttoning the shirt. His slender fingers slowly work on each bottom, revealing an inch of pale skin every time. No amount of shirtless men Sherlock has seen over the years could have prepared him for the sight of genius professor William Moriarty basically giving him a strip-tease.
Once he has unbuttoned all of the buttons, he gives Sherlock a quick sly glance and turns around to take the shirt off, giving Sherlock a full view of his bare back.
Sherlock’s quick inhale of breath is probably audible in the quiet room.
It may be autumn but it feels more like midsummer right now.
William’s skin looks very touchable.
It seems like the blond man decides to spare his life for now and puts on a maroon satin button-up shirt that Sherlock hadn’t even noticed he had left on his desk chair. He buttons it up before he turns around and gives Sherlock an innocent smile.
“I’m ready now, let’s go.”
The only place I’m going is hell, Sherlock thinks to himself.
Drinking with William is definitely… an experience.
Sherlock has learned his lessons to not make assumptions about William without enough evidence, so he is only slightly surprised when he finds out that the blond man is a heavy drinker. That makes two of them.
"One of my older brother's friends used to make me drink with him ever since I was a teen," William explains while downing his second drink like it's juice. The first drink that Sherlock promised to pay is long gone. "He called it 'practice'," he continues, sounding amused. "He also tried to teach me how to flirt with women but that didn't go as planned."
"How come?" Sherlock asks, even though he has a good idea why. He leans his head on his hand and looks at William curiously. He wishes he had a cigarette to distract himself from staring at him like an idiot.
"I only fancy men," he answers matter-of-factly, taking another sip from his drink.
Sherlock hums, not surprised by this revelation. He is sure that William has also figured out his sexuality but he feels the need to clarify, "I'm also into dudes."
"You don't say," William chuckles and then gives him a pointed look. "You wouldn't have asked me on a date otherwise now, would you."
…
There is a moment of silence as Sherlock stares at William wided eyed and the other man slowly loses the confident look that he has been wearing all night.
"Is this… not a date?" he questions, sounding unsure all of a sudden.
Sherlock blinks and tries to force his mouth to form words again.
"It is?" he attempts to confirm, but it sounds more like a question than a statement.
"I mean… I definitely want it to be, I just didn't know if you also…" His nervousness is definitely obvious in his voice in his attempt to fix the situation before there is a misunderstanding.
"Sherlock," William sighs, sounding exasperated.
"Yes," he replies, holding his breath.
"I don't just… do this” —he points between them— “with just anyone, you know," the other man says, more calmly now.
Sherlock is embarrassed to admit that had convinced himself that William wouldn’t want to go on a date with him. Maybe he should go check his IQ again because he is obviously an idiot. If John hears about this he will never let him live it down until the day he dies.
"If i knew you'd say yes to a date I would take you to a fancy dinner or something like that," he laughs, a pleasant warmth settling on his stomach.
William shakes his head with a smile and says, "I much prefer this, I don’t like fancy places."
A wide grin forms in Sherlock’s face, realizing that William and him have yet another thing in common. He was right the first time they met when he immediately concluded that they would get along. Well, /more/ than get along by the looks of it.
Sherlock spends the rest of the date(!) thinking about how much he wants to kiss William now that he knows the other man would let him. In the end, he decides to be a gentleman and not attempt anything like this in a public place considering that they are both supposed to be respected professors. He didn’t drink enough to forget about that.
Well, when he drives William to his house and walks him to his door, he decides that this is his chance, there’s nothing stopping him now.
“Do I get a goodnight kiss?” he asks, giving him a flirtatious look while touching his arm.
“Hmmm,” William pretends to think about it for a second. “I think you deserve one.” The tone of his voice is lower than usual when he says this, and he takes a step forward, bringing them closer together.
Sherlock’s heart feels like it’s going to jump out of his chest, making him forget about all the teasing lines he had prepared for this moment. His mind is blank, the only thing that he can focus on is William’s face slowly getting closer to him as Sherlock instinctively raises his hands and gently places them on the other man’s face.
There is a moment where they just stare at each other in silence before Sherlock finally breaks out of his daze and leans forward, capturing William’s lips in a soft kiss. The blond man responds almost immediately, grabbing the front of his shirt to bring him even closer, while his other hand goes to the back of Sherlock’s head, sending chills down his spine when he lightly tugs at his hair.
They break apart after a few moments, still standing close enough to feel each other’s breath on their faces. Sherlock tries to lean in again, but there are suddenly steps approaching the door from inside the house and William lightly pushes him away, hiding a giggle behind his hand.
“My brother must have heard noise and come to check what’s taking me so long,” he says, giving Sherlock an apologetic look. “Thank you for tonight, it was very nice, we should do this again.”
“Yeah,” Sherlock mumbles, still malfunctioning after the kiss. “Goodnight, I’ll see ya tomorrow.”
“Goodnight,” William nods and gives him a quick peck on the cheek.
He disappears inside the house before Sherlock has time to realize what’s going on and react.