When I Grew Up, I Put Away Childish Things
...
The Captain of MJN Air flailed somewhat, under the scrutiny of his First Officer. Douglas was looking at him, interested, and actually taking note of several things about the other pilot that he'd usually just passed over.
"So," Douglas said. "where, exactly, did that come from?"
He winced. He'd hoped it'd gone unnoticed, or that it would be ignored, but not this. He didn't like drawing attention to that part of himself any more.
"N-nothing," he stammered out. "Just- nothing. I didn't- anyone could have- it wasn't-"
Douglas held up a hand against the onslaught, a slight frown on his face.
"That, sir, was hardly nothing." The shorter man in the other chair's face grew red as he tried to sink into the chair. An act which, since while he was shorter than his First Officer yet still taller perhaps than some, did not quite have the desired effect. "You know, this is the first time in as many years that I've been with MJN, that Mr. Birling both had all of his Talisker whiskey and presented us with some rather impressive tips for our efforts. And believe me, I certainly was not intending on the first of these."
"I'm not going to say I'm sorry!" The captain blurted out, a poor impression of confidence coming off too loudly to be believed. "Because I'm not. And it would've been wrong of you to steal it in the first place."
"...You know, I'm not actually as annoyed with you for it as much as I am curious. Just where did you learn to think like that? I could almost have thought you were, heaven forbid, extremely intelligent, for a moment there."
"I wasn't... I wasn't taught. Not- not exactly. It just... I mean..."
"If there's something you'd like to say, Captain..."
"Oh, all right. Fine! If you must know, when I was younger, I wanted to be. Well, I wanted to be a detective. There, you can laugh now."
And the Captain proceeded to look steadfastly away from his First Officer, concentrating on the controls and the rather nice view out of the window.
Douglas wasn't laughing. Hesitantly, he sneaked a look to the side, and saw that he was, in fact, frowning a little in thought.
"I have a question for you."
"Oh?"
Try and pretend it's no big deal. It could be about, literally, anything.
"Why, if you can think like that, did you choose to become a pilot? You could have... I don't know. Become a detective. Or at least a better pilot."
"I... I guess I sort of grew out of it. And- and besides, my brother, he's older than me, he's better at that sort of stuff. So I never really felt the need to, you know... actually go for it. I mean, he's got people to go to for whatever he wants, he didn't need me, and..."
There was a long pause.
"I... see."
"And I mean sure, I was okay, but it was all just a phase, you know? And really, in the end, I went with something I figured I could actually do. That was useful. And I found that I actually really enjoy flying, you know?"
"I have noticed that, yes."
Their discussion was brought to an abrupt end by the sudden arrival of Carolyn in the doorway.
"Right then, my twin angels with more than slightly clipped wings! ...Ah, Sherlock. I see you have your hat back."
"Er, yes..."
In just a few minutes, once Carolyn was gone again, Douglas realised something.
"Sherlock."
"Yes, Douglas?"
"What was it you said your brother did, again? Out of curiosity, of course."
Sherlock Holmes, Captain of MJN Air, sighed.
"He's the British Government."
It was the single most depressed that Douglas had heard the other pilot in their entire shared career, and, given Sherlock's usual luck, that was saying something.
"...Ah."
...
AN: And from there everything changes in CP canon. EVERYTHING.
Bet you didn't see that one coming~
