"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
-Alfred Pennyworth
oOo
"Before all, let me ask you something. Do you want to watch the world burn?" That was James Moriarty's first words to Sebastian Moran, the words which created a formal, then a casual relationship between the two men. At first, Sebastian saw James Moriarty as the God himself, then the image changed to a fearless man who was ready to do anything. To Sebastian, James Moriarty was Mr. Moriarty at first, then James, and then, finally, the relationship began to deepen so intense that the mastermind was just Jim. Jim was different than James Moriarty, both had the flickering eyes the world feared, but Jim was more human. Jim was the side of Moriarty that he never showed anyone except Sebastian.
Burning the world was fun to Jim, creating a place that his name was tattooed into the crust. He liked fear, he liked the effect it made on people. Everyone was afraid of him, of his ability to see what's behind the curtain. He had been like that since the very beginning, spreading fear like a wildfire. Whenever the name James Moriarty was around, whispered or said in fear, Jim smiled. James Moriarty was a name that was mentioned in fear. However, Sebastian had never been like that. Even before they met and started working together, Sebastian was respectful, yet fearless. He wasn't afraid of Jim like other people did, and Jim could see that. That was why he had chosen him as his right hand man. That was why, although he would never admit in a million years, Sebastian was the man who Jim fell for.
Some days, Jim and Seb would just sit in their apartment, together, and did not even move a muscle. Jim would still manage to control the world these days, and that was why Sebastian admired him. The man he knew was not the man who ruled the world, yet he could still be the both at once. He would be cuddling with Seb and texting someone to shoot someone else. He would speak on the phone while watching TV, and yet could still laugh when the cartoons were on. To Seb, Jim was a man of mystery, yet he was so clear. He liked burning the world, he loved it just as much as he loved spending time with his tiger. He was a simple man, Jim; however, it was Moriarty that confused Sebastian. He didn't understand how he could be the same person as the loving, caring Jim. He couldn't understand why.
Because he was bored, that was the answer. Jim was bored of the ordinary, normal world they lived in, and he wanted to spend time. He wanted to see the world burn, he liked seeing how fire showed a man's priorities. He liked seeing fear in his victim's eyes, and no person, no Sherlocks or Johns could take that away from him. But he also cared. He cared about Sebastian, and although he cared about nothing else, in Sebastian's eyes, that was enough. He would come, no matter how busy he was, if Seb was hurt. He cared. That was how he could be two men at once. He did the things that interested him the most, and cared for nothing else. It didn't matter for Sebastian. As long as Jim wasn't bored of him.
But some days, often, they would go out on the field and fight with the angels themselves. Sebastian also loved those days, the days of darkness and the utter proof that James Moriarty was the king. And Sebastian was happy with shooting people, he enjoyed the look in their eyes as the life began to leak out of them. He liked working for Jim Moriarty, sometimes his boss, sometimes his lover. He loved his job just as much as he loved Jim, and he wouldn't let anyone, not even Jim's toys or Mycroft Holmes' men interrupt them. That was also why he had helped with Jim's plan. Together, they faked Jim's death and Sebastian was not afraid. Together, they had found the happily ever after, for once.
But the game was back on. Jim had to go back being James Moriarty, the man everyone feared, the big king with the fanciest crown. Sebastian knew he couldn't stop it, so he just didn't. He agreed, and they were back in game immediately. Sebastian wondered much. He wondered if Jim really loved him. He wondered if this was a bad plan. He wondered if his life was a big fat lie.
Then Jim would ask "What are you frowning at, Sebbie?" and Sebastian's doubts would disappear. The tone of his voice, it was something that he hadn't heard him use for no one except him. Love or not, Jim cared. And Seb had no one else.
"Do you love me, Jim?" he asked this one time suddenly, and immediately regretted it. Crap. He knew that Jim was not capable of feeling, loving. Why did he ask such silly questions? He was so ordinary. But Jim just laughed softly, not something Seb heard every day.
"That was your problem, darling?" he asked, smiling slightly. His eyes were flickering as usual, a powerful blaze that managed to amaze Sebastian every single second.
"I am," Seb said. "In love with you, I mean. I am sorry. Stupid question." But Jim frowned. The smile of his, the smile that he loved seeing was gone.
"Seb, it's not that I am not in love with you. It's that I am. I'm sorry that I never said it before." And that; that was the best day in Sebastian's life.
oOo
Some days it would rain, Jim loved rain. Unless there was a client, they'd snuggle together in their apartment and watch the rain. Mostly there were absolute no conversation between them, just the silence that spoke everything. But sometimes, they'd talk about life and it's meaning. Sometimes they'd talk about emotions, sometimes something else. In times like that, Seb could not recognize Jim as a unique person, just the one he loved. To him, he was normal, and that was all that mattered for Jim. The man who called the world ordinary as an insult, was also ordinary these days. But it didn't matter. He was in love.
Jim would type a few letters on his phone, and Seb would know that someone had died in some random part of the world. Sebastian was there all along, since Jim started working around UK. He had seen Jim's worst. He had seen the predator inside him that waited to attack, longed to see blood. Sebastian was okay with that. Everyone had their demons, anyway.
Jim was also a man that no one knew, with so many secrets that Sebastian learned a new one every single day. One day it was that he was color blind, and another it was that he was afraid of losing control. He would have these attacks that he let no one see, but Sebastian had witnessed a few. Times like those, Jim would stay away, hide or leave, and cried. He hated losing control, and Sebastian wanted to help. He really did, but he could not tell him that he knew. Not after the things he saw. Jim would destroy and set things on fire. But that was a thing he did usually. No, the thing that separated these attacks from his usual self was his utter desperation and craziness. Jim was a man that loved watching fire every day, but in these attacks, he needed to burn. He needed to burn down an entire house or set someone on fire until they died in agonizing pain. He was desperate to see life daring away from a soul. Sebastian knew that was why Jim tried to stay away in days like these. He was afraid he'd hurt Sebastian. He was afraid he'd destroy one thing he cared about.
So Sebastian would keep his mouth shut, no matter how much it hurt.
oOo
Jim would threaten people. He usually did what he said, a man of his word, but he never touched Sebastian, not even once. He'd threaten a hundred people on an average day, and half of them would take him serious. The other half was the ones who died. Sebastian was used to not question orders, he was used to do whatever he needed to do. And he knew that Jim was happy about it. He was happy that he had one person that trusted him with whatever he did.
Sebastian would also give his life for Jim, and he knew that.He preferred not to talk about it.
So sometimes, they'd kill, sometimes they loved. But they were always Jim and Seb. Nothing else, no need to be something else. There was James Moriarty of course, a man that Jim used as a facade to cover his real self, and Rich Brook, a man that Jim used to mock Sherlock Holmes. The brothers had always thought that they were superior, and Seb knew that made Jim laugh. After all, he was the real king, and everyone not innocent would know that neither Mycroft nor Sherlock could make him disappear. He was untouchable, unreachable, yet so close to Sebastian. That was his magic. Seb would never understand him.
oOo
And every night, they'd hold hands while watching the stars, no matter the time, they'd do it every single time. No one would realize it was them, no one would know that it was the psychopath who ruled the world and his tiger, all they saw was a cute gay couple and that was what Seb was in love with. They would hold hands, sometimes cuddle, and watch the stars in a night that was lightened by city lights.
"You know I love you tiger," Jim would say. "I love your devotion, I love your... self."
"I love you with all your quirks," Seb would answer, and Jim would understand. Sometimes, when other people were around, they'd coo and tell them that they were so cute and stuff, but who cared?
And together, in the loudness of silence, they'd watch the world burn.