Fill: Positive Reinforcement
anonymous
September 23 2010, 04:30:24 UTC
I couldn't resist. (Pardon the Canadian-isms) ----- He carefully smoothed out the sheet on the fridge and straightened the two magnets holding it up.
He was probably nutters. Well, obviously he was nutters seeing who he was living with; this was clearly a symptom of the condition. Irritating a sociopath was suicide, akin to poking a cheetah with a stick. Fuck it, he thrived on danger. John grinned to himself before returning to the living room to finish reading the BBC front page.
An hour later, he was halfway through the blog’s FAQ help section when Sherlock slammed down the lid of his laptop and waved a piece of paper in front of John’s face.
“What’s this?” John couldn’t decide if Sherlock’s voice lacked inflection due to irritation or simply because he honestly had no idea what the list was doing on the fridge.
“List of chores and some stickers.”
“Yes, John, so I gathered.” This time the lack of inflection was definitely due to irritation. “How completely banal. Obviously you will remember to ‘do the washing up’ when we run out of plates.” He crumpled the list into a ball and tossed it at John’s head. John ignored the slight. He had another copy of the list printed after all.
“Well, no gold star for you then.” John opened the laptop and continued scrolling through the FAQs. Didn’t anyone else have difficulties deleting entries? He wasn’t -that- technologically illiterate. As the seconds dragged on he became increasingly aware of Sherlock’s glacial gaze locked onto his left ear.
“Alright. Enlighten me. What is the purpose of a gold star?” Sherlock held up the laminated stickers with some amusement.
John leaned back to regard Sherlock. “It’s a reward, for a job well done; you do thrive on positive reinforcement.” John’s steadily growing grin turned into a chuckle and then a laugh at the incredulous look on Sherlock’s face.
“I see, and I get this rubbish reward if I expand valuable time and energy to ‘purchase milk’ or ‘place severed body parts into biohazard containers’? Fascinating.” Sherlock dead panned even as he crumpled and tossed the second (hidden) copy of the list at John’s head.
“Hey, how did you find that?”
--- The room was cramped and smelled strongly of mould. Neither the small quarters nor having both Lestrade and John watching him work seemed to bother Sherlock, who was crouching over the dead woman’s body and examining her right foot with pedantic precision. “What can you tell me about the body?” Sherlock snapped in their general direction. Lestrade looked from Sherlock to John in a questioning manner.
“John, Shut up. Yes. You. Lestrade.”
“Uh. “ The DI looked taken aback. “She was obviously not killed here, not enough blood.” He ventured.
Sherlock gave a sharp nod before leaping to his feet and planting a sticker on the man’s forehead.
“Sherlock, what the bloody hell is the meaning of this?” Lestrade peeled the star off his face.
“Positive reinforcement. John’s idea.” With that Sherlock swept from the room slamming the door shut behind him.
“Um, Detective Inspector…I …that wasn’t…I can explain.”
-----
He carefully smoothed out the sheet on the fridge and straightened the two magnets holding it up.
He was probably nutters. Well, obviously he was nutters seeing who he was living with; this was clearly a symptom of the condition. Irritating a sociopath was suicide, akin to poking a cheetah with a stick. Fuck it, he thrived on danger. John grinned to himself before returning to the living room to finish reading the BBC front page.
An hour later, he was halfway through the blog’s FAQ help section when Sherlock slammed down the lid of his laptop and waved a piece of paper in front of John’s face.
“What’s this?” John couldn’t decide if Sherlock’s voice lacked inflection due to irritation or simply because he honestly had no idea what the list was doing on the fridge.
“List of chores and some stickers.”
“Yes, John, so I gathered.” This time the lack of inflection was definitely due to irritation. “How completely banal. Obviously you will remember to ‘do the washing up’ when we run out of plates.” He crumpled the list into a ball and tossed it at John’s head. John ignored the slight. He had another copy of the list printed after all.
“Well, no gold star for you then.” John opened the laptop and continued scrolling through the FAQs. Didn’t anyone else have difficulties deleting entries? He wasn’t -that- technologically illiterate. As the seconds dragged on he became increasingly aware of Sherlock’s glacial gaze locked onto his left ear.
“Alright. Enlighten me. What is the purpose of a gold star?” Sherlock held up the laminated stickers with some amusement.
John leaned back to regard Sherlock. “It’s a reward, for a job well done; you do thrive on positive reinforcement.” John’s steadily growing grin turned into a chuckle and then a laugh at the incredulous look on Sherlock’s face.
“I see, and I get this rubbish reward if I expand valuable time and energy to ‘purchase milk’ or ‘place severed body parts into biohazard containers’? Fascinating.” Sherlock dead panned even as he crumpled and tossed the second (hidden) copy of the list at John’s head.
“Hey, how did you find that?”
---
The room was cramped and smelled strongly of mould. Neither the small quarters nor having both Lestrade and John watching him work seemed to bother Sherlock, who was crouching over the dead woman’s body and examining her right foot with pedantic precision. “What can you tell me about the body?” Sherlock snapped in their general direction.
Lestrade looked from Sherlock to John in a questioning manner.
“John, Shut up. Yes. You. Lestrade.”
“Uh. “ The DI looked taken aback. “She was obviously not killed here, not enough blood.” He ventured.
Sherlock gave a sharp nod before leaping to his feet and planting a sticker on the man’s forehead.
“Sherlock, what the bloody hell is the meaning of this?” Lestrade peeled the star off his face.
“Positive reinforcement. John’s idea.” With that Sherlock swept from the room slamming the door shut behind him.
“Um, Detective Inspector…I …that wasn’t…I can explain.”
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I love you anon, I really do!
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Many thanks anon, you made my day. C:
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