Ingenium (✓) | Sherlock Holmes

🎓 7*reminiscence

I felt an uncanny nagging in the pit of my stomach. Was it rage? Was it a feeling of protection towards Rhea? Was it embarrassment because James had discovered my weakness?

For Pete's sake, never have I ever asked so many questions in such a short time line! I was turning into a mushy man.

"What is the purpose of revealing your surveillance of her?" I inquired, my tone as arid as a land bereft of water.

"Teasing is healthy once in a while, Sherlock. You must remember all those games we used to play." He grinned maliciously, licking his lips.

"I played games because you were an entertainment, James. But if you hurt the people I care about, all admiration I ever owned for you is no more than a waste disposal."

I could not believe I have just pronounced the word "care". Being a rationalist – it seemed that I found that adjective rather proper as an excuse – admitting the truth was optimizing. Therefore, indeed, I cared about Rhea. Of course, Mycroft was out of the picture, since being a brother automatically triggered some protective feelings.

"Caring about another person apart from you? I am adamant about this realization. We can do so much more together, Sherlock. Two brilliant minds combined into one will accomplish what the entire mankind failed for the past... actually, since the beginning of time."

I gazed at my wounds. They had been negligently cleaned, which was more than irritating, considering that a bloody antimicrobial cloth would not have been so difficult to procure.

"I shall do no evil things, James, as disappointing as it may seem for you. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe positive emotions could actually fuel our intelligence?" I had to plant the seed of doubt, for – yet again – it seemed like the most efficient solution.

Moriarty scoffed in disdain, the corners of his mouth dropping.

"Has she performed a lobotomy on you, my fellow genius? Feelings are pure poison. They make you lose focus and perspective upon your plans. They are evil, not rational people like you and I."

"I may be rational, but am smart enough to realize that you cannot fully extract emotions from an individual. Dissecting sense from sensibility is the most stupid purpose anyone could ever have. You, of all people, should have anticipated that, if you are, indeed, as brilliant as you assume to be."

He gritted his teeth and I could have sworn that he actually cracked one or two molars. I was finally grasping a valid outcome.

He mindlessly – alas, the irony of losing rationality – threw a chair across the room, tearing it to wooden pieces.

As I watched his tantrum, I had a reminiscence of our childhood. We used to be friends. He was aware of basically every element of my life – probably that was the reason behind his cognition of my judgment. But as we grew into teenagers, our link broke. It felt like a magnet losing one of its poles, which fundamentally meant the end of our friendship. He aspired to take over the world – as common as it may sound to initiate people. I aspired to mitigate my hunger for knowledge without doing harm. Our intents included one shared element – intelligence and its evolution – but divagated due to Moriarty's depravity.

"Were you thinking about us?" He asked. I must have imagined it, but I saw a flicker of regret in his eyes.

"There is no us. Stop referring to us like it is a bloody bromance!" I yelled, my fists clenching under the rope that held them immobile.