Thing Came Up In My Mind So I Have To Write It:

thing came up in my mind so i have to write it:

charles snapped back to reality when he saw crystal’s manicured fingers waving in front of his face. “charles? what are you…” she began, turning around to follow his line of sight which extended just past her ear.

“ah,” she said, quirking an eyebrow when her eyes fell on edwin, nose deep in notes for the case he was working on, his eyes flitting back and forth on the parchment in front of him with fervor as thin, wire-rimmed glasses sat atop his nose.

“hm,” charles mumbled noncommittally, now leaning on his palm while he stared intently at the fluidity of the fingers that traced the lettering on the page.

“alright, spit it out,” crystal said, an amused roll of her eyes following the words.

“it’s just- it’s so fun to watch him when he gets like this. all caught up in his work. he’s so smart and good at everything. so… mm.”

“charles?”

“hm?” he asked, still not tearing his eyes away.

“have you ever heard of a competency kink?” she asked, trying to suppress a laugh.

“wh- a kink??? why are we talking about that???” he asked frantically, his eyes finally ripped away from the other man as a vibrant flush colored his cheeks, but his temporary lapse in attention didn’t last long as he caught edwin rolling his sleeves up and brushing his hair out of his eyes through his peripheral vision. charles’ own eyes fluttered as he muttered under his breath. “christ.”

crystal snapped in front of his face.

“pay attention, charles. a competency kink. it’s when you’re really attracted to when someone’s good at something.”

“yeah, sounds interesting,” he muttered, moving around her hand to keep his eyes fixed to where the end of edwin’s ballpoint pen was pinned between his teeth as he analyzed something on the page. charles made a weak noise when he saw it, his hand coming up to gently brush his bottom lip like he was imagining that it took the pen’s place in between those sharp teeth.

“charles, for fuck’s sake, i think you have one,” she says, the laugh finally erupting at the absurdity of his steely focus.

“what? no. isn’t that like… normal? it’s nice when someone’s good at something,” charles defended, a bit flushed.

“yeah, well, no one looks at someone like that unless they want to bone them while they talk about like- quantum physics or like literature or some shit,” she said plainly, the amused grin still prevalent.

charles made a noise like he had just been punched in the chest at the idea.

“and now you’re thinking about it, aren’t you? god dude, just- go get your man. we’re never gonna finish this conversation until you can say what you need to,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“he’s not my-“ charles tried weakly.

“don’t care, go,” she said, pushing him forward.

he paused briefly, breathing in shakily before returning to his usual bravado seamlessly. “EDWIN!! what are you working on mate?” he called, grinning as he walked around the desk to look over his shoulder and discretely took his bottom lip into his mouth.

“i’m rather stuck on this piece of evidence, you see…” edwin delved into his explanation, charles’s pupils dilating with every word as his chest heaved.

“god, i’m so good at this. also, ew. i should leave.”