Chapter Text
On the morning in question, I was thankfully not en route to one of my lectures, and this certainly seemed the only blessing at the time it happened. I was fresh from sleep, in spite of the late morning hour, and had left the dormitory to visit the chapel. The spring was finally allowing some warmth to cradle the days, and I savoured the sunshine with gusto as I traversed the paths between ivy-flocked brick buildings.
Perhaps if I had been more wakeful, or the sun at a lower slant than the near-overhead, I would have regarded the top of the stairs instead of looking at my feet, and the whole ordeal would have been avoided. When I reached the peak of the steps, I was therefore unprepared for a rumbling bark to assault my ears, and in the next moment for the jaws of a bull terrier to close around my foot. Luckily, I was able to support myself with the bannister and not careen with abandon down the stairs I had just climbed, but the mongrel was relentless, shaking her great head back and forth with my foot still tightly clamped in its mouth. I yelped in pain and fear, tugging with all my might for the beast to release my appendage.
The owner of the dog immediately sought the same outcome, of course, and after significant tugging on its leash, managed to wrangle the hound back to his side. My ankle throbbed my cheeks pale, and with horror I looked down to find my foot horribly mangled and bloody. I sagged to the ground, and my fingers trembled as I gingerly explored the damage.
“Ah, oh dear, oh I am so terribly sorry–” the owner of the brute said as he tied the leash to a fence some yards off. “Magna is never so violent, I think you must have just startled her, oh dear God, you need a doctor-!”
“Y-yes, a doctor- '' I agreed weakly, allowing him to help me to stand. We left the dog at the fence for the time being, and together we hobbled to the infirmary. All the while my helper babbled apologies, proclaiming that Magna was generally a gentle giant but that he had not seen me approach in time to heel her at his side. I placated him with assurance that I knew it wasn’t purposeful, and that I was sure it was simply a great accident.
Once he had delivered me into the care of the doctor, he dashed away to retrieve his dog. The attendant had a look of ghastly horror when she beheld my bleeding foot, but to her credit she set on a grim face and began her work with diligence. First, she removed my shoe, a brown leather Oxford that had become rather a bundle of scraps from the scuffle. I eyed it sorrowfully as the doctor rolled up my pants-leg and began to clean and bandage the injury; this was my favourite as well as my highest quality pair of shoes.
Twenty minutes into the surgery, the dog’s owner returned to see how I was getting on. Now that I was not in such peril, I could take in his appearance. He was a full-bodied fellow with flushed cheeks and a great mop of dark curls on his head. He sported an impressive black moustache to match, and wore a suit of slate grey with a sapphire cravat. The look of worry in his great green eyes was so entirely sympathetic that I nearly felt bad that he was troubling himself so much to my effect.
“I put Magna away at home, oh, my dear fellow I cannot tell you how sorry I am. Doctor, how terrible is it?”
She sighed and discarded the piece of gauze she had just finished using. “In my ten years here I’ve seldom seen a bloodier bite, but the bones aren’t hurt, far as I can tell.”
“Oh, thank God,” he huffed with relief, then came to stand at the side of the bed.
“My name is Victor Trevor. This is the most pitiful of circumstances I could hope to introduce myself to you in. I cannot tell you how sorry I am.”
I shook his hand with a smile. “Sherlock Holmes. I understand, not to worry. I don’t hold it against you in the slightest. It’s a pleasure to meet you, in fact.”
“What do you study, Mr. Holmes? I’m learning Botany myself, specialising in toxic plants.”
“Curious! I have a few botanical lectures this semester as part of my Chemistry studies.” I didn’t tell him that the nature of my major was Undeclared, nor that I hadn’t the foggiest what I might like to proceed with down the line.
“Ah, truly?” He sat on the cot next to mine. The doctor continued to apply antiseptic and bandages as we started to discuss our respective academics. In no time at all, she announced that I was bundled and ready to weather the trip home.
“You’ll want to stay off of it for at least ten or eleven days, Mr. Holmes,” she instructed. “I’ll send you with some bandages and alcohol to change your dressings, at least once a day, you hear? And we’ll get you some morphine too, it’s probably right painful.” Loaded up with all of these supplies in my satchel, I was discharged to go back to my lodgings.
“Please, let me help you home,” Victor insisted. He slung my bag on his shoulder and tucked under my arm to take the weight off my bad foot before I could place any say in the matter. That half of my body mass was now supported by him did not seem to impact him in the slightest; he was notably strong.
“Very well, thank you Mr. Trevor.” I was in no place to decline his assistance, so in half an hour’s time I was settled in my bed at my flat. Victor tutted about, making sure things were all in my reach and that I had water and food available without having to walk anywhere.
“Is-is there any other way I might be helpful to you, Mr. Holmes?” He wrung his hands and looked expectantly at me.
“Actually, I have one errand that would prove extremely helpful if you wished to assist me. I need to alert my professors that this has happened to me, and that I will be unable to attend lectures for the foreseeable future. Could I trouble you to deliver some letters to this effect to my educators?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Of course. Here, shall I grab you some writing material and a pen?”
During the interlude while I scribbled out notes to each of my professors, Trevor paced around my apartment. I was not usually keen on visitors, and indeed I had not expected to host anyone, so I confess I was a bit annoyed that he was so nosy into my space. However, he declined to touch anything or comment on my disorganisation, and in due time I had finished with my letters of explanation.
Victor took the letters and promised to bring them where they needed to go posthaste. I bid him goodbye and relaxed when I was finally alone again. The excitement of the morning had exhausted me considerably.
Without realising I had napped, I awoke in an hour or so when Victor returned. I confess I was surprised to see him.
“There we are, Mr. Holmes, all of your letters delivered,” he announced, coming in through the door which I thought had been locked. He carried a large paper bag with him.
“Mr. Trevor…” I trailed off, confused.
“Ah, apologies. I knew I’d be coming back so I borrowed your key. I promise I mean no trouble about it. You can have it back if you like.” He shifted the bag to the other hand and rifled through his pocket. “I just figured I should bring you supper, since you can’t make it to the dining hall on your own thanks to this mess I’ve landed you in.” Victor put the key on my bedside table and began to unload the bag.
“Oh, well… I do wish you had asked prior to assuming it, but I must confess I am grateful you’ve brought me a meal. Thank you, Mr. Trevor.”
“Oh, please, call me Victor.” He handed me a newspaper-wrapped bundle of fried cod and potatoes. “I hope you don’t mind fish and chips, Mr. Holmes.”
“Sherlock, please.” It felt only fair to exchange the first-name basis. “I am well inclined to fish and chips, as it happens. I enjoy many seafoods, les fruits de mer. Pray, sit and eat with me.”
Victor smiled at me. It was a warm look, genuine and comfortable. “Thank you, it would be my pleasure.” He pulled the chair from my desk and sat next to my bed.
I inquired after his knowledge of vegetable alkaloids, a topic on which he was quite passionate as myself, and for many minutes we discussed some of the more interesting variants. Of course, the effects of morphine and nicotine on the human body were exceedingly promising to medicine, but we were each more interested in the lesser known chemistries of muscarines and benzylamines. I readily listened to the research Victor was conducting regarding capsaicin, the compound in peppers responsible for the powerful burning sensation that they are so known for.
“Well, you’re certainly keeping abreast of such a ‘hot’ topic, I’m impressed with all you have already gleaned on the subject of your studies. You are surely a model pupil to your professors.”
“Ah, to the contrary! The time I spend honing my specialisation frequently overrides my more general studies. Most of my instructors catch me distracted and over-tired during lectures, for which I am sorely punished!” Victor bashfully scratched the back of his head.
“Tut tut, your fellow academics are fools not to see your impressive thirst for knowledge.” I waved away the suggestion. “I must admit I’m surprised you keep coming back to see me. Have you no other engagements with friends? I should think the agricultural crowd is a tight-knit one,” I posited, dipping a bite of my seafood in tartar sauce.
“No, I’m afraid I haven’t any friends.” Victor said it plainly, without a hint of sorrow. “Not unless you count Magna.”
“You can’t be serious, such a generous, handsome chap like you? No friends?” I scoffed. It was natural that I should be so solitary as to be friendless, being a gaunt, unsightly fellow with peculiar hours and introverted pastimes, but I found it hard to believe it of my dining companion, after all he had done to assist in my recovery.
“I’m afraid I’m entirely serious!” said he, chuckling indignantly. “You have only seen me at my most apologetic, I am usually quite more reserved than this. I find it easier to make sense of plants than I do people, oftentimes. I really prefer a book in solitude over most human company.”
I regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “Then how does it seem I cannot shake you? Your eagerness to accompany me contrasts your claim of keeping little society.”
Victor sheepishly chewed his food and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I confess I am driven to tend to you out of guilt. I feel terribly that my negligence caused this morning’s catastrophe.” He held his elbow shamefully and seemed to shrink as he looked around the room with embarrassment as he considered his liability in the matter. His cheeks were normally reddened with a healthy flush, so this contrition easily brought crimson to the rest of his face and turned the whole countenance quite pink.
“Oh, you mustn’t worry yourself over it, dear fellow. I mean it, you have more than made up for any culpability you might have had in the matter with your doting, and in fact it would be quite as easy for me to blame myself for not watching where I was going more closely.” I leaned forward to rest a hand on his shoulder. “Please, I beseech you, don’t let it trouble you. You’ve done more than enough for me to assuage your share of the responsibility.”
My imploring had stunned him into silence. Victor looked at my hand on his arm and let out a quiet breath. "Thank you, Sherlock. I… You’re right.”
With a nod, I returned to my recline against the pillows of my bed and we ate for a few moments in silence. The atmosphere shifted, some unseen barrier lowering as we accepted these awkward sentiments with open hearts. The vulnerability was unfamiliar, but it intrigued me. I perceived that Victor must have felt it too, as he pensively traced the stitching on my bedspread with his sincere jade eyes.
I finished my food and crumpled my newspaper to toss in the wastebasket, but my throw was faulty and it landed short of the receptacle. I scowled in annoyance.
“Ah, here, I’ll get it for you-” Victor crunched his own wrapper in his hand and stood to retrieve my failed attempt. He sauntered easily across the room, with casual vibrance, and despite my dismay that I could not serve myself in this simple need, I was grateful for his eagerness to do so. He returned to the bedside and sat back down, looking hopeful.
“Now, I know you’ve just told me that I needn’t fret over caring for you, and I agree, but would you accept my visit tomorrow morning as a friend?"
The mention of friendship warmed my chest. I was struck by the poetry that we were both such lonesome fellows, and the clandestine comfort of us each taking a liking to the other so immediately. I realised that during his visit I had not once felt the discomfort that company usually imposed on me; he was easy to talk to and careful not to judge me for my oddities.
"It would delight me, Victor. You may take my key again, it is not as though I have any use for it at present. What time shall I expect you?"
"Around 8, if that would be amenable?" He glanced at his pocket watch.
"That would be excellent. Thank you for everything, truly." I smiled at him as he shrugged into his jacket, and in the next moment bid him adieu into the cool night air.