Archive of Our Own ^beta

Basil clicked his tongue as he gingerly inspected Dawson’s right wrist. This wasn’t his area of expertise, but while he wasn’t as educated in medicine as his companion, he was certain he knew enough to diagnose and treat the injury that had befallen Dawson while the two of them pursued the suspect of their latest case.

His fingers ghosted over the places where bones met, trying to be careful while still getting a feel for the type of injury. If he was too focused, he knew, he ran the risk of forgetting this wrist was part of a person - and an injured part, at that. He didn’t want to hurt Dawson, especially not when he was already wounded because of a case.

Because of you, a voice deep in the back of his mind hissed. A little more focus was in order, then, to push such treacherous thoughts away. The treacherous ones, and the impractical ones, too - thoughts of how nice it felt to be holding onto Dawson like this, how a quiet moment with his companion like this was rather invaluable…

Dawson winced, and Basil scowled, murmuring an apology. He couldn’t think about that right now, he needed to be mindful of his companion’s pain.

It was nothing he hadn’t already known for over a month now, anyway. But romance… It wasn’t something Basil did well with. At least, so he assumed. It wasn’t like he had any real, meaningful experience. Still, even simple relationships were hard for him to maintain without struggle. And as well as Basil and Dawson got on, their bond had already proven no exception. It was an adjustment for both of them, having Dawson in the flat, on each case. To further complicated things? No, it would be too risky. What if Dawson, the first true friend he’d had in years, wanted to leave…?

Basil’s brow furrowed as he tried to sweep every pesky lingering concern aside. I just need to figure out what’s wrong with his bloody wrist, he reminded himself. As he did so, his fingers curled a bit too tightly, and Dawson let out a yelp of pain.

“You know,” he began, with a chuckle Basil easily clocked as trying to play things off, “This may not be entirely necessary, Basil–”

“No,” Basil cut in, and even he could recognize his tone was too sharp. He sighed, and tried again. “No… I can do this.”

Dawson looked at him with an odd twist of the mouth; a hint of a smile that simply made no sense in the situation. “Oh, I know you can, Basil. But you don’t need to; I’m sure there’s more important things for you to be tending to. The case isn’t closed yet.”

Basil winced at the reminder, but… “It’s fine. Don’t worry about the case, I’ve all but cracked it,” he lied. “This comes first.”

“That’s very kind of you, Basil. But it’s not as dire as all that.”

Basil didn’t respond - didn’t have anything to respond with. He simply continued his check, putting his all into walking the fine line that lay between being unaware of how he was impacting Dawson and thinking too much about Dawson’s injury, his presence.

Finally, he was satisfied he had the answer, stating, “It’s a sprain.”

“See? Not dire at all.”

Basil hesitated. His gaze scrutinized Dawson, who seemed to shrink in on himself just a little, just enough to confirm– “You’ve known all along, haven’t you?”

“Well, I am a doctor.” Dawson mumbled with a blush. “I wasn’t trying to waste your time Basil, you just were so intent…”

But you did waste my time - what’s worse, you wasted precious time on the case, he should say, and he knows it, but… There’s something so heartwarming to Basil that Dawson would– humor him like this. Had he ever even been in the position for someone to humor him before? It should have been insulting, but in this moment, it felt like sitting by a warm fire.

“It– Was a foolish decision,” Basil acknowledged, “but I appreciate the sentiment behind it.”

“You appreciate the sentiment,” Dawson echoed, sounding downright fond. Basil felt his own face warming with a blush. “You truly are full of surprises, Basil.”

The warmth faded.

“Why is that a surprise? I’m not incapable of sentiment, you know.”

“Of course I know–”

“You’re hurt. The case is important, of course, but so is tending to your injury,” as he spoke on, Basil got to his feet. With frantic action, he retrieved a bandage to start wrapping Dawson’s wrist in. Yet, the actual wrapping was gentle, in sharp contrast to his tone. “You are my companion on my cases, as you know. What’s more, I’m not some– monster who doesn’t care. Just because I’m not predisposed to all that kind of–” at a loss for words, he rolled his eyes. “And besides that, if you hadn’t been working with me, you wouldn’t have been injured. If I’d been paying attention to you and not so solely focused on pursuing our suspect, you’d be fine. All things considered, of course I should be taking care of you now. It’s absurd to think otherwise”

“Oh, Basil,” Dawson sighed. “I didn’t know you were blaming yourself for this…” He sat up a little taller as Basil tied off the bandage on his arm, his tone shifting from soft to stern. “I know you’re not uncaring, but for you to put me over the case? Yes, that surprised me. And it’s a very happy surprise, indeed. And see here, I also know what I got into when I started working with you. A sprain won’t be the worst I face, I’m sure, but it’s worth the risk. We’re doing something that matters, and…”

He shook his head, his voice filling with warmth once again. “...I consider myself lucky indeed to be doing such work with you. Because you’re brilliant at it, yes, but also because you mean a great deal to me, Basil.”

Basil blinked. It felt as though so much had just come out, even more than what had been said outright. And… Perhaps it simply felt that way because it was so. The way Dawson was looking at him wasn’t the look of someone about to run out the door the moment things got difficult. And, while Basil didn’t pretend to know with certainty what love looked like, the way Dawson always - without fail - told him off when he was feeling low, and reminded him of just who he was and what he could do… It wasn’t far off the mark of what he’d imagine. Not far at all.

He felt a knot in his stomach untie for the first time in weeks. He hadn’t even realized it was there, and yet… The relief was massive.

“You mean a great deal to me, too, Dawson. More than I expected, and I’m glad for that.”