Surprise (Sherlock- featuring John, Sherlock, and the Woman) 2/2

[cally]

Surprise

(So, what if The Woman wasn’t in the best of health when she was asleep in Sherlock’s bed?)

When John and Sherlock come home to find the Woman in Sherlock’s bed, they are definitely surprised. The two exchanged glances, unsure what to do.

Irene Adler, clad only in Sherlock’s dressing gown stirred, and sneezed. This surprised the pair even more.

Hi-iiKishoo!

“Bless you,” John said automatically.

“Thank you Doctor Watson,” she replied, sniffing. “It appears that I’m a bit under the weather. I don’t suppose there’s anything you can do?”

John blinked. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do her any favours, especially after their last meeting. But, he was Doctor John Watson, so he nodded and went off to fetch his medical bag.

This left Irene still in Sherlock’s bed, and Sherlock standing there awkwardly, not entirely sure of the situation. He calculated there were about 6 ways this could end, and none of them very well.

Hi-iiKishoo! Ahh-Hi-iiKishoo!

The Woman sneezed desperately, breath hitching, which brought Sherlock out of his thoughts.

“Aren’t you going to bless me, Mr. Holmes?” If she were a cat, she would have been purring at this point.

She paused before Sherlock could reply, and sneezed again. Ahh-Hi-iiKishoo!

“What for,” he asked?

“Well, it’s the nice thing to do, you know. It’s not about superstition anymore, but comfort; to show you care.” She rubbed her nosed and sniffled, more wetly now.

Sherlock rolled his eyes. “Is it now?” He unconsciously crossed his arms.

Irene studied his body language and smiled. Now, she was getting somewhere, she thought.

She pondered her next move, but before she could speak again, a pair of sneezes overtook her.

Ahh-Hi-iiKishoo! Kishoo!

Sherlock studied her, an odd look on his face.

“I don’t suppose you have a tissue,” she asked.

Sherlock rolled his eyes again, but pulled his handkerchief out of his trouser pocket and handed it to her.

“Thank you,” she said and blew her nose gently.

“So,” Irene said with a smile, “tell me why.”

“Tell you why what?”

“Why you won’t bless me.”

Sherlock took up his defensive position once again. “I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” he said with a growl.

“Oh, I think it is, Mr. Holmes.” Irene stood up and walked over to where he stood. She ran a finger down his lapel and smiled. “I think I can hazard a guess.”

He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.

“I think you want to, desperately. It’s given you a funny feeling, hasn’t it, my sneezing. The same thing happens when John is ill or if he just happens to sneeze. You want to say it, you want to comfort him, but you are ah ahh Ahh-Hi-iiKishoo afraid. Sorry! ” Irene had quickly turned away when the sneeze had overtaken her, but not before she saw his pupils dilated as her breath hitched.

“Go ahead, Mr. Holmes, I know you want to.” Irene smiled, teasingly.

“Bless you,” Sherlock said quietly.

“There, now that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

Sherlock shook his head, and looked away from her.

“Now just think, the next time your Doctor Watson is sick, you can comfort him.” Irene sat back down on the bed, smiling, as if she had made a huge conquest.

She wiped her nose, daintily, the hint of a smile still on her face. Sherlock still stood, arms crossed, when John came into the room with his bag.

He looked at the two of them, and shook his head, pretending as if he hadn’t been listening at the door all along. Something to ponder later, John thought.

“Sherlock, can you go get her a glass of water,” he asked. Sherlock practically jumped at the chance to get out of the room, and strode out into the hall.

John studied the Woman. He opened his bag and took out a thermometer and handed it to her. “Here,” he said. She smiled slyly, and put it in her mouth. John resisted the urge to scream.

While they waited for her temperature to register, he checked her ears and lymph nodes, but didn’t find anything unusual. As the thermometer beeped, Sherlock came back in with a glass of water.

John retrieved the thermometer. “Your temperature is slightly elevated, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. Do you have any discomfort or pain?

“Other than the sneezing, not really, but my throat is a bit on the sore side,” she admitted.

John removed a penlight from his bag. “Open up,” he said. Irene opened her mouth, but just as John was about to look in, she pushed his hand away and turned her head away.

Ahh-Hi-iiKishoo! Kishoo! Kishoo!

“Sorry,” she said.

“Bless you,” John said. “Let’s try that again.”

Irene looked over at Sherlock, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room. She raised an eyebrow at him and he glared back. She met his glare until he mouthed the words “bless you,” at her.

John, now finished with his examination said, “You’ve got a cold. Not much I can do other than to give you some cold medicine.”

Irene blew her nose gently and nodded. John pulled a packet of cold medicine from his bag. “Here,” he said. “You also might want to think about putting some clothes on.” And with that John packed up his bag and headed out of the room, hearing Irene’s laugh follow him.

“Now then Mr. Holmes,” Irene said. “Do you need some more . . .practice? Or do you think you will be ok for the next time?”

Without giving Sherlock a chance to answer, she rubbed her ticklish nose. Her breath hitched quietly, culminating in 2 desperate sneezes.

Ahh-Hi-iiKishoo! Kishoo!

“Bless you,” Sherlock stammered out quietly.

“Very good Mr. Holmes. Just think how appreciative Doctor Watson will be,” she said with a wink.

Edited February 28, 2014 by tma

[ID2006]

Do my eyes deceive or do I sense a second part to this? And possible Johnlock coming my way... please please please.

[cally]

Do my eyes deceive or do I sense a second part to this? And possible Johnlock coming my way... please please please.

Oh, God yes. (Yes, yes, there will. )

[count tiszula]

At last, Miss Adler's lovely nose joins the rest of her naked body to delight our senses.

I don't quite see why Sherlock doesn't want to bless her, though. He isn't exactly the type to censor what he says publicly in any way, even if in this incarnation he is one of us.

[ID2006]

I can totally see Sherlock not wanting to bless her. I pretty much never bless antone but my SO and even that took a lot of practice. Besides, she wants him too and saying it to her is like letting her win.

[cally]

At last, Miss Adler's lovely nose joins the rest of her naked body to delight our senses.

I don't quite see why Sherlock doesn't want to bless her, though. He isn't exactly the type to censor what he says publicly in any way, even if in this incarnation he is one of us.

While he doesn't censor what he says, he also doesn't always say what is on his mind or what he *wants* to say. In this particular version (this fic), it really isn't something he's thought of; he's pushed it back into his mind palace somewhere. Now, the Woman shows up and gets in his face with something that he hasn't had bothered to process (or delete- b/c it has to do with John somehow). He knows that there's something about it; it's affected him when John has sneezed, but he's just written it off as sentiment. He also doesn't have a lot of experience in this area; he's spent so much time on his own and it isn't like when he is out and about he spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about it if someone were to sneeze; he's usually got other things on the go in his mind.

I'm not even really saying he's one of us in the fic either; maybe he is, maybe he's not. He does know that it makes him feel "funny" and he is rather disturbed by the fact, especially when it comes to John, as will be illustrated in the second part.

Wow. I totally analysed that way too much, huh? (Classic avoidance of my real life here.)

I can totally see Sherlock not wanting to bless her. I pretty much never bless antone but my SO and even that took a lot of practice. Besides, she wants him too and saying it to her is like letting her win.

There is the element of that too. He doesn't want her to win, but he also wants to explore how this all makes him feel. He's not good with sentiment and feelings (at this point) and now here's a normal, everyday reflex action that's causing him to have conflicting feelings. Perhaps he didn't like how it made him feel if a family member said it to him when he was younger (perhaps deleted by now?) or it's just not something that has given him cause to think about it until now, until John.

[cally]

Part 2

3 days later

John came home from a long day at the surgery. He was tired and he felt miserable. He had a headache and he had hardly managed to stop sneezing all day. All he wanted was a cuppa and his bed.

John headed through the flat and into the kitchen, sneezing the whole way. Sherlock sat unmoving in his chair, laptop perched on his lap.

Hi-etchhhhuh! Hi-etcssshhhhhuh! Hi-etchhhhuh! Hi-etcssshhhhhuh!

John clicked on the kettle and headed back into the sitting room. “Sorry, Sherlock. I can’t stop sneezing. Ugh. I feel awful.”

Sherlock put his laptop to the side and studied John. “Oh,” was all he managed to say. ‘Bless you, John’, he thought!

John pulled a crumpled tissue from his pocket and wiped his nose with it. He sniffled and sighed, resigned to his fate.

Hi-etchhhhuh! Hi-etcssshhhhhuh! John quickly turned to the side and sneezed, nearly bending fully at the waist from the force.

Sherlock stood and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. “Here,” he said handing it to John. “Bless,” he said, so quietly that John didn’t hear.

“Thadks, Sherlock.” He blew his nose as he headed back into the kitchen.

Sherlock followed, hovering in the doorway. He studied John, as if he was a slide under his microscope.

“Sherlock, you’re starig.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Tea,” John asked.

Sherlock nodded.

John quickly turned away again and sneezed harshly into the handkerchief.

Hi-etchhhhuh! Hi-etcssshhhhhuh! Hi-etchhhhuhhhi!

He sniffed and quickly apologized. “Sorry, Sherlock.”

Sherlock stared at him again, mind working a mile a minute.

“Oh!” Sherlock said. “You were listening.”

John blushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean . . . .” Hi-etchhhhuh!

“Listen, Sherlock. Id’s fine. Id’s all fide,” John said.

Sherlock nodded. “I am seldom at a loss for words, John.”

John smiled, and poured hot water over the tea bags and finished preparing the tea for them both. Sherlock took the mugs and carried them into the sitting room. John looked puzzled for a moment, but then a tickle in his nose made him think better of it.

Hi-etchhhhuh! Hi-etcssshhhhhuh! Hi-etchhhhuh!

He followed Sherlock to the couch and sat down next to him. Sherlock looked at him, thinking. “Bless you,” he finally said quietly. Before John could respond he continued. “If you’d like me to say it for the ten other times you’ve sneezed since you’ve been home, I can do that if it will make you feel better.”

John laughed. “That’s ok Sherlock. Thadk you.”

A hint of a smile appeared on Sherlock’s face. “You know this isn’t really my area, John. Is there anything I can do?”

John shook his head. “I’ve taken some cold medicide. It just needs to rud it’s course.”

Sherlock nodded and sipped his tea.

“But,” John said, “you could rub my head? If it’s not too much to ask.”

Sherlock hesitated, but nodded again.

John took a final sip of his tea. He moved down the couch a little, and toed his shoes off. He then put his head in Sherlock’s lap, facing the telly. Sherlock reached for the remote and handed it to John. And then he carefully placed his long fingers on John’s head.

It was like hot sparks running through John’s veins at the first touch. Sherlock slowly began to slide his fingers through John’s short hair, making random patterns and circles. John sighed into the touch, smiling. He flicked through the channels, setting on an old episode of Doctor Who.

The two sat quietly watching telly. John was completely relaxed, enjoying Sherlock’s ministrations. Sherlock’s mind was processing everything; the feel of John’s hair, the colour of John’s hair, the sound of John’s breathing, anything but his own feelings.

Moments later, very nearly imperceptibly, John tensed. With nary a thought to what he was doing; his mind was so full of other things, he quietly said, “Bless you, John.”

Hi-etchhhhuh! Hi-etcssshhhhhuh!

John sat up quickly. “Sorry, Sherlock!” He wiped at Sherlock’s leg where he had slightly sprayed from sneezing.

Sherlock laughed, a deep rumbling sound that made John tingle from head to toe. “John, the day we met I was whipping a corpse with a riding crop. I’m not exactly bothered by this.”

John smiled. He wasn’t really 100% sure what the conversation had meant between Sherlock and the Woman, and to be honest, he didn’t really care. He could tell by the look on Sherlock’s face right now that she didn’t matter at all. Right now, all that mattered was the two of them.

“In that case,” John said with a smile, “you won’t mind this either.” And he leaned over and kissed him.

[ID2006]

Perfect ending.

[cally]

Perfect ending.

I'd love to give it a proper ending at some point, but this shall have to suffice for the moment.

[cally]

I know this is a bit random, but if any mods are reading this, could you change the tittle to 2/2 or finished for me? I can't do it myself sadly, and nor do I have permission to PM anyone to ask to do it!

[facet]

.

Edited October 30, 2019 by facet
Removed by user.

[cally]

Umm... This is glorious. I would love to see more of John and Sherlock. You made them both so cute!

Thank you! I am so glad you enjoyed! I have a rather extensive drabble thread in the drabble section, with plenty of John and Sherlock!