Chapter Text
“Welcome, Mr. Holmes,” the man responsible for showing Sherlock around the university greets him as they make their way inside the building.
Sherlock greets him too, smiling awkwardly. He starts looking around, taking in his surroundings and admiring the architecture. He may have decided to move to Durham on a whim but he can’t really regret this decision considering how beautiful the city is; definitely very different from London too.
“I would have been more surprised by how young you look considering your achievements if we didn’t already have a brilliant professor around your age working for us,” the man continues before Sherlock can ask him who exactly he is.
“Oh? I guess the rumors about that genius mathematician are true then,” Sherlock replies, not interested in the identity of this random man anymore. He has heard quite a few things about the young man whose genius mind left adults shocked ever since he was a kid.
“Yes, Mr. Moriarty is truly one of a kind,” his companion nods, seeming completely entranced just by thinking about the mathematics professor. Now Sherlock is even more intrigued, already making scenarios in his head about how he could get to meet him as soon as possible.
It turns out that the universe decided he didn’t have to try.
Sherlock runs into the young professor right after finishing talking with the head of the university. It doesn’t take long to figure out that it’s him even if he has never seen him before. There aren’t exactly many youngish looking men walking around in suits.
William Moriarty may look young but you can’t miss that he is someone important. It’s not just the way he is dressed, but the aura he emits too. Sherlock usually has to prove himself in order for people to take him seriously simply because he refuses to try to look like a ‘dignified professor’ like they ask him. William, on the other hand, looks the picture-perfect of a respected professor.
“Hey!” Sherlock decides to take the initiative to greet him, accidentally startling him a little. He hates to admit that even just the way the man is holding himself has already charmed him.
“Hello,” William replies, the look of surprise on his face being quickly replaced by curiosity. He stops walking and stands properly in front of Sherlock, offering him a polite smile along with his attention.
“I’m Sherlock Holmes,” he introduces himself, offering his hand for a handshake. “I’m the new chemistry professor. You must be the young mathematician I’ve heard about, right?”
“I suppose that’s me. I’m William Moriarty,” the blond man replies, reciprocating the handshake. “Nice to meet you Mr. Holmes, I’ve heard about you too.”
Sherlock probably fails to hide the delight from his face at that, taking a little too long to retract his hand as he’s now staring at the more genuine smile on the other man’s face.
“Nice to meet you too!” he replies enthoustically. “I’m honestly a little relieved that someone my age works here because in the last university I worked at I was surrounded by old people, full offence,” Sherlock tries to joke, hoping that the blond man isn’t as serious as he looks at first glance.
William exceeds his expectations by chuckling at his words, hiding behind a delicate hand. Sherlock’s breath catches in his throat.
“Your presence here will definitely help to lower the average age,” he replies, giving Sherlock a wink. If Sherlock thought the man was charming when he was just walking down the corridor, now he is definitely ready to worship whoever is responsible for the two of them existing in the same universe at the same time.
He laughs along with him before he says, “We should have lunch sometime together, Liam! I feel like we’ll get along!” It’s not everyday that Sherlock meets someone this interesting.
William nods, his smile turning polite again. “I have to go now but I’ll see you around,” he says. “Have a nice day, Mr. Holmes.”
Sherlock can only stare at his retreating back as the blond man starts walking towards one of the lecture halls. The chemistry professor is tempted to follow him in, curious about the way he teaches, when he remembers that he was supposed to go check his new office. Maybe another day.
It takes two days for Sherlock to run into William again. Far too long if you ask him.
He spots him at a table outside when he tries to find somewhere to sit and smoke. The math professor is sitting alone eating lunch while also seeming to be reading something. As Sherlock makes his way towards him, he realizes that the blond man is grading papers.
“Yo, Liam!” he greets, not very gracefully taking a seat across from him.
“Hello, Mr. Holmes,” William replies, looking up from his papers to smile at him.
“I hope ya don’t mind me hanging out with you for a bit, I’m already done for the day and I don’t feel like going home yet.” Sherlock hopes he doesn’t sound too desperate even though he is, in fact, very desperate. He gets a cigarette out and lights it with a practiced move.
“It’s fine, I’m not busy,” William says. It seems like he doesn’t have a problem with multitasking. He is correcting the assignments without spending more than a few seconds scanning them while also somehow eating at the same time. Sherlock can’t deny that he is impressed.
“So, Liam, are you from ‘round here?” he asks, curiosity not letting him shut up.
William shakes his head and replies, “I lived in London for most of my life but I moved to Durham to work in the university. I still go there during the weekends though.”
“Oh? How come?” Sherlock questions, leaning forward on the table and resting his chin on the hand that is not holding the cigarette.
“I moved here with my younger brother but our older brother still lives in London so we visit him and stay over whenever we can,” William explains. Sherlock had honestly forgotten that some people are actually close with their siblings. “How about you?” the blond man redirects the question to him.
“I’ve lived in London all my life. I randomly decided that I wanted to move somewhere else a few months ago so here we are now,” Sherlock replies nonchalantly, choosing not to share the reason behind that decision yet.
William looks like he understands that there’s more to it but doesn’t press. Instead he asks, “How do you like Durham then?”
“Eh, I only moved here last week so I haven’t seen much of it yet. It’s certainly a beautiful place, I just don’t know anyone here yet so it’s a little boring,” Sherlock decides to be honest. He is definitely not used to living alone.
“I’m sure you will make friends here in no time,” William replies, offering him a soft smile. He then looks at the watch around his wrist and adds, apologetically, “It looks like I have to go back for my next lecture.”
Sherlock takes a few seconds to ponder it as he looks at William gathering his stuff and in the end decides to go for it.
“Is it okay if I attend your lecture?”
“Are you that bored?” the blond man asks, amused, raising an eyebrow.
“I would lie and say that I’m very interested in math but I’m really not,” Sherlock laughs, still waiting for William to give him his approval.
“Well, I’m a little offended that you are not interested in the world of mathematics but I’ll let it slide,” William says, not sounding offended at all. “You can come but I can’t promise you won’t get bored; it’s an advanced class too.”
“Oh, so I’m not gonna understand shit, that’s good to know,” Sherlock replies, putting out his cigarette. His math skills aren’t bad but he is certain that he won’t be able to understand much of the lecture. Still, it’s better than going back to an empty house so he doesn’t hesitate to follow the blond man inside the building.
Sherlock is only able to follow the lecture for about ten minutes before he gives up and focuses on William’s soothing voice instead. He thought that he had a very nice voice from the first time they met, but the blond man doesn’t seem to be very talkative so this is a unique opportunity to get to listen to him talk more. Maybe he can pretend to suddenly be interested in math and attend more lectures of his.
He shakes his head, trying to think of something more appropriate. He looks around at the students taking notes and raising their hands to ask questions. William takes the time to answer all of them and even repeats stuff or explains them in different ways. He never once dismisses a student’s inquiry, giving his attention to all of them.
Even without understanding what exactly they are talking about, Sherlock has enough experience in teaching to be able to tell that William isn’t just a brilliant mathematician, but an amazing teacher too. After all, not everyone who excels at their field is also good at sharing that knowledge. (Some of the professors he had in the past definitely proved that.)
It’s only the second time that Sherlock has met William, but he has already piqued his interest. Not a lot of things or people are able to excite him, but something about this man has him captivated without the other even trying. He can already tell that this is only going to get worse as he gets to know more sides of him.
The lecture passes quickly as Sherlock definitely doesn’t stare at William’s profile while he is writing on the board and wonders how he would look like in casual clothes instead of the suits he apparently chooses to wear everyday. Probably still beautiful.
He patiently waits for the students to leave the hall before walking towards William who is still gathering his stuff.
“Hey, professor, can I ask you a question?” he asks, barely containing his smile, trying to look thoughtful.
“Sure, is there something you need help with?” William plays along, smiling that devious smile of his.
“Hmm, actually, I might need some one-on-one tutoring,” Sherlock teases, giving his best flirtatious look. He hopes he isn’t pushing this too far.
“I’ll consider it if you really need it,” William says, looking up through his lashes as he closes his bag.
Sherlock can only stare at him in delight for a few seconds before his face breaks out in a grin, his cheeks feeling warm.
“You better!” he gushes.
The fact that William seems willing enough to indulge his antics almost makes him vibrate with excitement.
The blond man lets out a chuckle and walks towards the door, beckoning Sherlock to follow him. Sherlock doesn’t hesitate to catch up to him and the two men start walking side by side down the corridor, an easy conversation forming between them.
“Oh, shit, I forgot to take my stuff from my office,” Sherlock laments after a while, remembering that he was planning to do that after his smoke break before getting distracted by running into William two hours ago.
“Oh, do you want me to wait for you?” William asks, tilting his head.
Sherlock thinks about it for a moment and shakes his head. William had mentioned that he had some errands to run before going home, he doesn’t want to steal more of his time today.
“No, it’s okay, you can go ahead,” he says, waving him off.
“Okay then,” William complies. Sherlock is about to turn around to leave when the other man adds, “Let’s meet for lunch tomorrow too?"
Sherlock is taken aback for a few seconds. This is the first time William has ever sounded hesitant; he wasn’t aware that the blond man was capable of not sounding anything less than absolutely confident in himself.
“Sure thing!” he hurries to say, not wanting to let William doubt his willingness to spend time with him. “I’ll come find ya!”
Sherlock doesn’t take long to take everything he needs from his office. A few minutes later, as he’s walking towards the staircase, he absentmindedly looks out of the window and spots a mop of blond hair heading towards the bicycle parking rack. Sherlock pauses his movements, completely dumbfounded.
William, oh so professionally dressed William, instead of getting into a car to drive home, apparently rides a bike, still in his suit and everything. Sherlock questions if he’s seeing this correctly. Maybe he has suddenly developed myopia. Maybe his mother was right and he shouldn’t have been using his computer that much when he was a teenager.
He blinks and William is still there, unlocking his bike and then mounting it. Sherlock takes a deep breath. Why does every single new thing he learns about the other man make him even more attractive than before?