Silence | Book 1

3-7: Museums

Hibiki looked at all the Sherlock Holmes paraphernalia stalled out with a childlike wonder, unable to choose between using his phone to show Liz and Sam all the items he discovered, or just straight up staring at everything and anything.

"He looks like a bear cub that fell in a honeypot." Killian whispered to Tristan who'd lagged behind a bit to look over the Victorian era antiques – not because he was particularly interested in Sherlock Holmes, but more so the time period.

"I think he read every story." Tristan replied, smiling a little at Hibiki's enthusiasm, since it was rather contagious.

"You serious? I thought he was more into American shite. Guns and freedom and all that sort of bull."

"You could just ask him? He seems eager to talk about it." Tristan said, pointing out that Hibiki was sharing plenty of messages with Liz and Sam.

"Could, but I want to talk to you about something." Killian said, whispering even softer and pointing into another room to talk.

"Yeah?" Tristan asked once they'd turned the corner, not sure what this was all about.

"You know I spoke to the girls, they're not really into this whole police museum. They want to go into the city, you know how they are." Killian told him, but Tristan raised a single eyebrow.

"I'm not that daft. You want to go into town, don't you?"

Killian sighed audibly.

"Alright yeah, I just don't want to spend my entire afternoon in London in museums. You're a museum kind of guy though, so you could go with."

"So you're just shafting him on his birthday?"

A little taken aback by Tristan calling him out on it, Killian went on the defense.

"Listen, you're a better friend to him anyway. It's no use if we're there dragging our feet pretending to enjoy it. Just go with him, have a jolly good time, alright bud?" With two pats on his shoulder, Killian finished their conversation, leaving him before he could sputter back. Somehow he felt insulted by this, and he wasn't sure how Hibiki would take it, but he knew that there was very little he could do if they didn't want to go.

He sighed and muttered something under his breath about muppets, then rubbed his clean shaven chin out of habit. There was nothing he could do but try his best to make Hibiki happy, even if that meant being the only one going to that museum with him. He'd been about to turn around to go back, when Hibiki came up beside him instead. It startled him slightly, but he still smiled regardless.

'Are you coming? There's another floor to see.'

Hibiki held up his message with a wide grin. He didn't usually notice, but somehow Tristan felt very aware that he was taller. Although he'd known that on an intellectual level, somehow Hibiki's nearly naive enthusiasm and his own protective instincts made him genuinely feel taller, older and more responsible. For a moment he felt like he had to defend Hibiki against the disappointment that everyone else leaving would cause, especially since he was innocent in all of this. So he smiled and attempted to match the enthusiasm as he was taken to the next floor of the museum.

"You know, Killian suggested to me that maybe we should go to the Police Museum just by ourselves?" Tristan began, as they both stared at an antique clock on the nightstand of a replicated Victorian bedroom. Hibiki perked up slightly surprised, raising both his eyebrows before smiling. "Only the two of us. Since they want to go see more of London."

The smile didn't falter, instead Hibiki shrugged a little that he didn't care all that much, and for extra emphasis followed it up by huffing softly and making a shooing gesture to say they could all go.