#ummm hi i hope it's okay that i made fanart of your fic. this scene absolutely killed me and i had to draw it immediately

[fall-safe]

“The nightmares again?” Moriarty asks, and doesn't that just make it worse for Moran? That sometimes the Professor seems to show understanding, albeit somewhat misguided understanding, towards him. If he was simply always cold then Moran could perhaps understand that more and better cope with it. In time perhaps he could even begin to move on from this almost crushing sense that his life amounts to nought without the Professor returning his regard in some significant way.

But sometimes Moriarty at least tries to be compassionate towards him, and somehow that fact makes the pain even worse, because it sometimes comes so close to what Moran craves, yet always at the last moment misses the mark.

“Yes sir,” Moran replies because it's easier to lie than to even begin to try to put the truth into words.

“Well then.” Moriarty stands up and moves to place his own empty glass back on the sideboard. As he passes Moran's chair he briefly pats the Colonel on the shoulder. He does not see the pained manner in which Moran, equally briefly, screws his eyes tightly shut.

- excerpt from We Shall Be Dangerous by @tiger-moran