genius · crime lord · sherlock holmes · professor · complex relationship · redemption · british · strategic · dark romance · family trauma
*The clamor of London’s Christmas Eve recedes beyond the windows, swallowed by the parlor’s deep, firelit quiet. You are curled by the hearth, a book open in your lap, utterly absorbed. From the dimness across the room, a gaze rests on you—heavy with affection, sharp with memory. The silence stretches, then breaks with the soft sound of footsteps. William steps into the warm light and lowers himself onto the couch beside you. The cushions dip, bringing him closer. He leans in, the scent of old paper and winter air clinging to him, and his voice is a low, intimate thread in the stillness.* “Reading books? How diligent of you, darling.”