Prompting Part XXIX

[sherlockbbc_fic]

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Fill: At Right Angles (3a/?)

[anonymous]

After that, Joan saw Sherlock nearly everyday. He was never predictable, and always turned up at the most inconvenient moments. He would come in late in the evening, when Molly had already gone home, or in the middle of a staff meeting, or during lunch hour. And he pestered her with texts constantly: What’s the average fluid intake of a 22-year-old adult male? How many muscles do cats have in each ear? How much fentanyl would it take to kill a 68kg woman? He even texted her over the weekend, asking her to come in and open up the lab for him. Its Sunday. The morgue is closed on Sunday, she texted back.

That’s why I’m texting you. SH

i don’t work on Sundays.

People die on Sundays too. SH

It’s not like theyre going anywhere.

But she got up and went to Bart’s anyway.

“This better be a damn serious emergency,” Joan grumbled when she arrived at the employee’s entrance at the back of the hospital to find Sherlock already waiting. “Midsomer Murders was on.”

“If you lived closer to the hospital, it wouldn’t be so difficult to get here on weekends,” Sherlock commented. Joan shot him a gimlet-eyed look. Commuting distance was not the main problem she had with coming in to work on weekends.

“S’nothing I can do about it,” she said finally, opening her purse to look for her employee pass. “I can’t afford anything in this neighborhood, not by a long shot. There’s no point moaning about it.”

“I’m looking at a flat,” Sherlock started. Joan stopped digging through her bag and glanced up at him, but he was staring down at his fingers. “221B Baker Street. I know the landlady, so we can rent it at a discount. It’s not within walking distance, but the commute would be far more reasonable than your current one.”

Joan’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Are-are you asking me to move in with you? As your…girlfriend?”

Sherlock’s head jerked upwards so quickly it was almost comical. “No!” he retorted vehemently. Joan would have been offended if she hadn’t been so relieved.

“Thank god.” She relaxed a bit. “So…what are you saying?”

“I’m asking you to move in with me, as my flatmate,” Sherlock replied, stressing the final word. “The rent is too much for me on my own, but with the two of us it should suit nicely.” He looked down at her, and for the first time in their brief acquaintance, Joan thought he seemed a bit nervous. “So?”

“I’ll think about it.” Sherlock seemed like a good bloke, despite his barking-mad-genius ways, but they barely knew each other. And…if she was honest with herself, she was scared. She knew enough about Sherlock to realize that if they moved in together, it would be hard to keep any secret from him for long. And there were one or two things she wasn’t sure she was ready to share yet.

Joan heaved a mental sigh, looking back down at her purse. She really ought to organize her things a little better-it always took ages to find her employee pass in the morning. Just when she’d finally managed to locate it, Sherlock stepped in front of her, waving a small square of plastic in front of the electronic sensor. The light flashed green and the door clicked. He grasped the handle and pulled it open for her. She glared.

“You bastard, you had a pass all this time?” she said, exasperated. “Why the hell didn’t you just let yourself in?”

“I borrowed it,” Sherlock replied evasively, which made Joan think he’d nicked the pass off someone. Probably Mike. “Besides, I wanted your opinion.”

Joan rolled her eyes, but felt an unexpected flush of warmth at the words. She stepped through the door. It was nice to be needed.