[Addicted 007] A Little Researching Expedition

[hisdearblogger]

Who: John & Mycroft
When: After dropping the files for Sherlock off at the flat, he decides to learn more about the [consulting] detective from the best, if not obvious, source: his "arch-enemy", Mycroft

Comments

[fixeselections]

Mycroft had a similar message from his brother not so long ago, so John's message does not surprise him in the least.

Of course, my door is always open.

[hisdearblogger]

His eyebrows go up slightly at the reply but he is up and getting his jacket back on, typing back:

On my way then.

And he was out the door. He didn't mean to impose - Mycroft had always made it seem like he was such a busy man - but John felt now would be a good opportunity to do this (with Sherlock out and not trying to keep track of him).

John had a distinct feeling that the other man would not be happy with him going to see Mycroft. Especially with what he was going to be talking about...

[fixeselections]

Mycroft is a busy man. He does not like to be busy. In fact, his very nature means he would rather be doing nothing, but with a mind like his, it is impossible.

One of the major issues pressing on his mind, not that he would say so, is his brother. While Sherlock has always been unique, his recent attachment, as there is no better word to describe it, to his flatmate is surprising.

It is never good when Sherlock surprises Mycroft.

I shall have my receptionist, Jessica, prepare tea. Please try not to break the tea service.

[hisdearblogger]

John was already in a cab and frowned at the text. Brow slightly furrowed, he typed back:

Pretty sure I can manage that.

He shook his head, looking out at the city passing by, wondering why both Holmes brothers seemed to speak in such an obtuse fashion.

[fixeselections]

Mycroft is fiscally responsible. Though a tea service is a pittance, Sherlock had already broken one and that is enough for any given month.

Jessica is relieved to hear there will not be another repeat of the last personal visitor her boss had, though she handles it with aplomb. Such behaviour is expected in Mycroft's office.

The front desk, and security is notified of the impending arrival, to speed things along.

All Mycroft can do now is await his guest.

[hisdearblogger]

When John arrived, almost surprised he had remembered the address considering he had only been there once before, he just walked right through. Security and Mycroft's secretary acting like they had been expecting him.

It surprised him at first but then, he remembered, this was Mycroft. The surprise pretty much faded away after that.

Entering the other man's office, he nodded, "Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice." He hesitated slightly before sitting down in the chair in front of Mycroft's desk.

[fixeselections]

"I appreciate guests who have the courtesy to call ahead." There is someone between them who usually does not.

Yet he did, last time, surprising Mycroft. Although, to be honest Sherlock is the only person in the world who regularly does so.

As he had with his brother, there is pot of fresh tea and two cups on the table. No one can say the British Government isn't hospitable.

"I can safely say this visit is in regards to my brother, can I not?"

Pro tip: it's not really a question.

[hisdearblogger]

John gave a tight smile, nodding, wanting to go 'Isn't it always?' but settled on, "That's a pretty safe bet."

Clearing his throat, feeling slightly nervous about this, "I wanted to ask some questions about him. If they're too personal I understand but..." He paused, trying to find the right words. Then he decided that sometimes it's best just to be blunt, "How long has he been the way he is? I mean, he says he's a sociopath... Has he always been like this or...?" John was still trying very hard to wrap his head around the whole concept.

[fixeselections]

Mycroft suspected this conversation was going to come eventually, but he never wanted to encourage it.

"My brother has the penchant for the melodramatic, but has he ever been diagnosed as a sociopath? No, not that the term is used much anymore amongst professionals." There is a pause as Mycroft clears his throat, having Jessica rush in and pour tea for the pair of them.

It is not until Jessica has left the room, and Mycroft has had a sip of tea (a soft Earl Grey), that he speaks again.

"Mummy did have him tested, when he was in Lower Sixth. It wasn't the first time he'd been tested for a psychiatric disorder either. Yet he always came back on the borderline. It was, odd."

If John is to take odd to mean that Mycroft suspects Sherlock rigged his test results by studying more for them than he did his A Levels, John would be right.

[hisdearblogger]

John accepted the tea after it was poured, whispering a small 'thank you' to the young woman, and drank more than a sip (Earl Grey was always good).

However, it didn't take long for him to stop and frown, brow furrowed as he seemed to glare at the bottom of Mycroft's desk, turning over all that the other man had said. He then looked back up, deciding to be blunt again, "He faked it?"

And then, "Was he ever diagnosed with anything officially?"

[fixeselections]

"I have always suspected so." Mycroft delivers this news as if he is telling the time. He's lived with it for so long, it does not affect him.

"There was discussion of antisocial personality disorder. Another talked of Asperger's and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. In truth, we will probably never know exactly from what he suffers, other than having an obviously addictive personality, which can be a symptom of a wide range of diagnoses."

[hisdearblogger]

John sets his cup down and runs a hand through his hair, feeling frustration starting to rise in him, he breathed out tiredly.

Propping one arm on the chair's armrest, propping his head up, "So, he's just been acting antisocial ever since he was born?"

[fixeselections]

"Oh no, he is most definitely antisocial, but it is whether or not it is the actual disorder from which he suffers that still remains a question." Mycroft takes another sip of his tea, and what is the small plate of biscuits for if not to be eaten?

He takes his time chewing, as if he can somehow trick his mind (as if his mind could be tricked) into not taking a second biscuit because of the effort it takes to eat the first.

"Sherlock played strange even as an infant. He preferred only the company of myself of Mummy," and no, it is not the least bit funny that a man Mycroft's age calls his mother that. Imagine the formidable woman who raised Mycroft and Sherlock.

[hisdearblogger]

Oh no, John agreed thoroughly that Mrs. Holmes had to be an incredible woman to raise both Mycroft and Sherlock. That was not something he found difficult to believe. It had more to do with Sherlock's behavior (and him ever preferring Mycroft's company).

And then, as if it just occurred to him, "What about your father? (And you two actually got along when you were young?)"

John really was being nosey, wasn't he?

[fixeselections]

"Father," The formality of the title is far different than how Mycroft refers to Mummy, "left shortly before Sherlock's second birthday."

It was not a traumatic departure. One day he was there; the next day he was not. Unlike Mummy, Father did not have the spine to deal with both of his children.

"I got along with Sherlock. He did not get along with me." Never a demonstrative child, nor one disposed to showing initiative, Mycroft did do something he would only have done for his brother. "Upon occasion, I would fetch the toys Sherlock would toss from the crib when he was an infant."

"When my brother was 18 months, I told the nanny not to pick anything up any more, because Sherlock was only throwing things to see if he could control her actions."

He sits back as if remembering the moment. "Perhaps Sherlock never forgave me for ruining his first experiment." He does not add that the woman involved was the last nanny the pair ever had.

[hisdearblogger]

John looked down at finding out about their father (or lack there of); he had had a father himself. Though in truth, with how he had been to his family while John grew up, they most likely would have been better off without him. He nodded, though. It made sense now why their father was hardly ever mentioned (and why their mother seemed nearly revered).

At the rest, he nodded more slowly. "It almost seems like he's never grown out of that, doesn't it?" Although imaging Sherlock as a little infant or toddler was... jarring and yet, it made him smile a little. Little Sherlock running around and Mycroft behind him (walking, of course). It almost made him laugh, to imagine both of these baffling men as little, tiny children. Oh, their poor mother.

(John was finding it hard to stifle the desire to meet her.)