(Untitled)

[byronicsherlock]

Who: John and Sherlock
What: Dealing with Jim drama
Where: Sherlock's cabin
When: Soon after Jim's post
Warnings/Notes: -

Comments

[drdaytimetelly]

John's conversation with Moriarty made a little more sense now. Moriarty was clearly an enemy, but an enemy that was willing to take the time and set up puzzles and games for Sherlock. John, however, was feeling a little ill at the thought of two brilliant people playing dangerous games with innocent lives on the line. Sherlock clearly relished having an adversary like Moriarty, but the lives, the innocent lives...

And his life too, apparently.

He's been staring at Sherlock, trying to read him in his own feeble way, trying to focus on the man in front of him and not all the nonsense he was hearing. Kidnapped, strapped to a bomb, and then blown up. Torn into a million pieces because Sherlock....because of Sherlock. God, it's horrifying. He thinks about what Sherlock's saying, he made it go wrong, and suddenly he's on his feet and on the other side of the table, standing beside the preoccupied detective.

He places a steady hand on Sherlock's shoulder, heavy silence in the air between them. John says nothing for a few moments more, then murmurs, "but you got Moriarty too, the bastard."

[byronicsherlock]

He freezes -- despite his skill, John's hand on his shoulder is entirely unexpected. The heat of his palm warms Sherlock's skin through the thinness of his shirt. He doesn't turn, not quite ready to see John's face. (The wide eyes, the firmness of his mouth as he nodded, do it Sherlock. White light and heat and everything stopped.)

He swallows heavily.

"Yes. I suppose I did." All things considered, it's rather an empty achievement.

[drdaytimetelly]

John wants to make it better, but he doesn't know how. He settles for just keeping his hand on Sherlock's shoulder. For once he's not the awkward one here. He's the calm one, the steady one.

Whatever happened, whatever the circumstances that brought Sherlock here, he doesn't blame him for it. He can't, knowing what he's come to the Barge for and seeing his reaction now.

...and God, he was probably encouraging Sherlock to blow them all sky-high if it meant taking Moriarty out with them.

"Sherlock." He exhales slowly. "Sherlock, look at me."

[byronicsherlock]

Sherlock takes a couple of breaths. Filing those irritating emotions away until he's sure of the expression on his face, until the beat of his heart is approximating normal.

He turns towards John. He still can't bring himself to meet his eyes for more than a couple of seconds, and the closeness of the air between them is suddenly stifling. He doesn't like this at all, still stuck too strongly in his memories. Unsettled and off balance, it's usually only Mycroft who can set him on edge like this.

He steps sideways, knocking the table leg with his heel, pain curling up the back of his ankle and he can't entirely suppress a wince.

[drdaytimetelly]

The moments before Sherlock finally turns to him are long and rather painful. John feels his throat begin to tighten, but he's still surprisingly calm despite all the palpable tension in the air. Sherlock can be unreadable sometimes, but John can see how uncomfortable he is in this very moment.

Sherlock begins to move away, the knock against the table startling John and briefly turning his attention down towards his ankle. "Sherlock--Jesus, it's okay."

He sighs and removes his hand, his gaze back on Sherlock's face. He steps back, giving him a little room, sorry for maybe having made his flatmate anxious or nervous or...whatever it was. "It's okay, Sherlock, it'll be all right. You've got a second chance now."

[byronicsherlock]

"Yes." Sherlock coughs to clear his voice. "Yes. Precisely."

And he will avail himself of this opportunity, he will. There's a way out of that pool that doesn't leave them all blown to bits and dead.

He flicks his fringe from his forehead in a sharp, jerky motion. Should get it cut soon.

"Did you have any further questions?" He attempts a semi-subject change. "I don't doubt Jim will also see this as a second chance of sorts."

[drdaytimetelly]

John smiles and turns to head back to his chair and abandoned mug of tea, giving Sherlock a little space to recover from that bit of discomfort.

"I'm going to have you tell me all about the other cases. I don't want Moriarty thinking he knows more than I do," John says, easing into the seat with forced casualness. See? Nothing's wrong. Everything's just fine.

He picks up his mug and snorts softly. He imagines that it's going to be difficult for Moriarty to do anything really sinister on the Barge, but he doesn't say it aloud.

[byronicsherlock]

He sees John's attempt to put him at his ease. Sees through his attempt. Even so, it does work, and he takes the second chair gratefully.

"Of course." He nods. He'd planned to bringing John up to speed anyway, he has ample notes. And he doesn't want to give Jim any more of a hand than he already, inadvertently, had. Missed a bullet, (possibly quite literally) with Jim's unexpectedly non-violent interaction with John.

He flicks a glance up at the noise, raising an eyebrow at John's amusement. "He knew enough to catch me in a stalemate," he says, warningly.

[drdaytimetelly]

John rolls his eyes, but he knows a warning when he hears one. Yes, so Moriarty was dangerous, but how dangerous could he still be without any of his usual resources at hand?

"I'll stay away from him," John replies. He honestly has no desire to play games with the madman, but he does worry that Sherlock still might.

He takes a sip of tea - it needed biscuits. Maybe they'd be lucky enough to have a box in the cupboard.

[byronicsherlock]

Good. Of course, Moriarty would likely seek them both out, but at least now John would be on his guard against him.

He leans back in his chair, stretching his legs out under the table, knocking against John's feet slightly as he unfurls his longer limbs. He sees John glancing at the cupboards, and, anticipating, says, "third on the right, bottom shelf."