MHA #15, Saturday Morning

[pocketpretzels]

As far as birthday celebrations went, Watts- well, he didn't have anything to compare it against, actually, but all the same he thought it went rather well.

Yes there'd been a part of the evening where his fears had been laid out for all- or at least for Steven, as no one else had actually paid them any mind- to see. But the conversation had shifted, eventually, and then they'd come back to the island, fumbling their way through the hallway and stopping only for the occasional kiss that still tasted of crepes.

Fumbling all the way, as it happened, to Watts's apartment, through the door, and into the bedroom. Where there was (shockingly) more kissing. And then some things that weren't kissing. And then, eventually, drifting off to sleep together.

Which naturally led in to waking up together. Or it would. Eventually. Right now they were still both blissfully asleep, Watts once again doing his very best impression of an octopus curled around Steven.

[ooc: for he who is mentioned in the post.]

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

Steven squeezed Llewellyn's hand tighter in sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Llew. I can't imagine what that was like to find out."

[pocketpretzels]

"However horrible it was for me, it was a million times worse for Hubert," Watts continued. "It nearly destroyed him; he was ready to kill Nigel then and there in revenge, but I promised him, I promised that justice would be done. We had the murder weapon, after all. With Daniel's fingermarks on the blade, proving that he'd tried to defend himself."

[hasaknightjob]

"Did he go free?" Steven asked, trying to imagine what might have gone wrong.

[pocketpretzels]

"His conviction was overturned," Watts confirmed. "Due to the murder weapon being 'no longer of evidentiary value'." He took a deep, shuddering breath before he continued.

"The knife was in the process of being catalogued by a constable, when a fight broke out outside of the station. That constable was told to leave his desk to aid in the melee outside, and when he returned- the fingermark had been wiped clean."

He looked up at Steven, meeting his eyes for the first time since he'd begun recounting this tale. "And would you care to take a guess at the name of the man who told that constable to leave his desk?"

[hasaknightjob]

Steven looked back, unwavering. "You?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Me," Watts confirmed. "But even then, I thought there was still a way I could see this through. After all, Danny's body was still in the funeral home. And if Hubert were to go there no-one would question it. So I sent him with the knife and told him to place Daniel's thumbmark on the blade. The only problem there was, Hubert never did get the hang of left from right. He used the wrong hand. Meanwhile, Nigel knew full well the evidence was faked, as he was the one to orchestrate getting rid of it. So he and his father petitioned the courts to re-examine it. Once they did, they found out the thumbmark was from the wrong hand and with that they had to let him go."

[hasaknightjob]

"Nigel was the one to get the blade wiped, you mean?" Steven asked, to see if he understood correctly. "Did he organize the fight outside as well?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Yes," Watts nodded. "The fight was an idiot trap and I, the idiot. He himself was imprisoned at the time of course, but he had his gang initiate the fight and send someone in while we were distracted to take care of the evidence."

[hasaknightjob]

"Right, I understand." Steven resumed lightly stroking Llewellyn's hand with his thumb. "What happened after?"

[pocketpretzels]

"After Nigel was released, he and his gang went out drinking to celebrate. Hubert had got hold of a gun, and telephoned me to let me know he planned to confront him outside the tavern that night. I rushed over, only to find Nigel already dead in an alleyway and Hubert nowhere to be seen. Naturally, I assumed Hubert had shot him and then fled, so I did the only thing I thought I could do, used Nigel's gun to fake an altercation between himself and I, and then used a nearby call box to call in reports of gunshots to the station." His gaze flicked briefly to the scar on his left bicep, and then back to Steven.

"Of course, my ruse was all for naught, as Detective Murdoch picked away at the inconsistencies in my story, and then sent a couple constables to re-examine the crime scene and that's when they found- that's when they found his body. Hubert's. Mutilated in the same way Danny had been." He could still see those photographs in his mind's eye, so much blood...

[hasaknightjob]

Steven had noticed the scar before but hadn't asked, assuming Llewellyn would tell him if he wanted. His face fell when he heard about what happened to Hubert. He pulled Llewellyn's hand over to hug it closer to his chest. "Oh, Llew. I'm so sorry."

[pocketpretzels]

"But don't you see? I may not have been the one to wield the knife but I'm still the reason they're dead," Watts insisted.

[hasaknightjob]

"I see no such thing, Llewellyn Watts," Steven said. His voice was firm but not unkind. "Nigel is the one who did it. You tried on multiple occasions to stop him and things got in the way. What mistakes you made, if they could even be called that, were based on your good nature. I am so, so sorry about your brothers. You know that I am. But it wasn't your fault."

[pocketpretzels]

Well, he could tell, at least, that Steven thought that true.

"I wish I could believe that."

[hasaknightjob]

"What would you have done differently?" Steven asked.

[pocketpretzels]

"When we were younger? I would have pushed harder for Nigel to face consequences, any consequences, for his actions. Perhaps I might have headed things off at the pass. After Daniel- I should have just let it go. Not attempted falsifying evidence. Not let things get to the point where falsifying evidence felt necessary. Instead, every step I took I stumbled and made things worse."

[hasaknightjob]

"So adults failed you all as children, yeah?" Steven said. "And later, when you were the adult, you tried to help and made mistakes. It means you're human, Llew. Not that you're horrible. Being horrible would be not trying to help. Delighting in the cruelty your brothers had to face. Or, later, when they were in trouble, abandoning them to it like your sister did you. And don't start saying maybe they would've been better off if you had left them. I don't believe it's true for a moment. It certainly wouldn't be true if you tried it with me."

[pocketpretzels]

“No?” Watts said, mind reeling as he tried to figure out how Steven had correctly guessed at his train of thought.

(Because it was painfully obvious, that’s why.)

[hasaknightjob]

Obvious in general, and even moreso given that Steven had become a fast expert in the coping mechanisms of one Mr Marc Spector.

"No," Steven replied. "And make no mistake, I do very much mean that for me. Barely liked losing you for a weekend, remember. But for you - I mean think about it. What's loving someone if not all parts of them, imperfect bits and all? If you went back in the past and asked them, do you think your brothers would say they truly wish they'd never known you?"

[pocketpretzels]

Well, perhaps if he went back far enough...

But no. Watts remembered those first few weeks with Mrs. Marks. He'd been an absolute misery, cocooning himself in the blanket he'd stolen off Clarissa's bed in their old apartment and refusing to leave the room he now shared with two energetic younger boys. Who'd persisted and persisted and persisted until he finally broke and started playing with them.

"No," he admitted, "No, they would not."

[hasaknightjob]

"Didn't think so," Steven said. "Not based on all you've told me. See? That's how it works when you love somebody. And if someone didn't love you, Llewellyn, that's on them, not you. Especially your sister. You were a child. Then way I hear it she barely knew you as a man. Saw you and scarpered off again straight away, didn't she? That's on her loving running. That's got nothing to do with you."

[pocketpretzels]

Watts... did not have a rebuttal for that. "You truly believe that?"