In The Wake of a Storm, 1/?
Title: In The Wake of a Storm
Fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
Word Count: 1,071
Summary: Response to this prompt: Irene Adler shows up at their apartment, completely unannounced, needing a place to stay for a few days, Watson gets the completely wrong idea about her and Sherlock and suddenly realizes how painfully jealous he is! Points for Irene being awesome.
Part: 1/?
Part 1
John knew it was going to be a bad day from the moment he woke up five minutes late for work. He just doesn’t know how bad until he comes back to find a beautiful young woman sitting in his armchair.
“Ah.” She says when he enters, rising gracefully to her feet ad holding out a hand “You must be Doctor Watson. I’ve heard so much about you.” She smirks like she has a secret and shakes his hand like she hasn’t a care in the world.
“Uh, yes.” He says, confused. “Sorry, but who are you?”
“Irene Adler. Call me a,” she pauses, loading the silence with meaning, “a friend of Sherlock’s.”
“Right. Well, make yourself at home.” He says awkwardly, gesturing at the armchair she had just been sitting in. “Did Sherlock invite you?” he asks, making a note to remind Sherlock to tell him when he plans to have guests over. Especially about inviting guests over at a time when he doesn’t plan to be around.
Her smile widens as she settles back into the chair. “In a manner of speaking.”
They sit in silence. “So, what do you do?” he asks, as a way of passing the time.
She smirks at him. “I buy. And I sell. I suppose you might call me a businesswoman.”
“Ah.”
Silence falls again. Irene is staring out the window and John takes a moment to observe her. Her dark curls are pulled into an elaborate twist, her blue eyes are lined with makeup that, while heavy, flatters her. She’s wearing a deep red dress that falls to her knees and is cut just low enough to catch the eye without being obscene. Her ankles are crossed delicately, and she’s wearing the kind of shoes that Harry would have called ‘hooker heels’, black and strappy, with at least a two inch heel. Harry wouldn’t have been able to make two steps in those, but John can tell that this Irene Adler could handle them with grace.
“Would you like some tea?” John offers after a long moment. He’s not entirely sure they have any, or if the teapot is remotely sanitary, but he may as well offer.
She laughs, a very charming and ladylike sound. “No thank you. I’m familiar enough with how Sherlock keeps house that I think I’ll refrain from eating or drinking anything you haven’t ordered in.”
“Yes, where is Sherlock anyway?” He carefully doesn’t comment on the rest of her statement, because he’s not sure if he wants to know.
“Oh, he’s around. I believe he ran to his room for something. Probably to hide his diary or something.” She gives another tinkling laugh and John smiles awkwardly, not sure how to respond.
As if their words had summoned him, Sherlock appears in the doorway. He falters momentarily when he sees John, then gives Irene a suspicious look.
“John. I see you’ve met Irene. I hope that she has behaved herself.”
“Like an angel, Sherlock dear.”
Sherlock makes a disbelieving noise but doesn’t argue. Instead he drops down next to John on the sofa. John had sat in Sherlock’s usual corner, so Sherlock sits in the middle, rather than at the very end. John could touch him just by moving his arm a bit. Irene smirks at them both.
“So, do tell Irene, why are you here? I see your marriage didn’t work out. I’m glad I didn’t bother with a present.”
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting one.” She looks to John, like she’s sharing a joke “he is rather terrible at all this social stuff, isn’t he? It’s all rather endearing, don’t you think.”
“Yes, you’ve had your fun.” Sherlock interrupts before John can say anything. “Why are you here?”
Irene sighs, and all her bravado seems to seep away with the breath “I need a place to stay. Just for a few days. You’ll hardly even know I’m here.”
“Right. Well, I have no problem with it, provided you stay away from my belongings and try not to attract the attention of anyone untoward, as it were, but as you can see, I have a flatmate. You’ll have to ask him.”
Irene turns her gaze on him, blue eyes huge in her pale face. She is one of the most beautiful women that John has ever seen, but he doesn’t feel any attraction for her. Something about her makes him nervous. Something about her reminds him of a spider. Still, his mother raised him not to turn away from a woman in need, and he’s hardly one to turn out a person who has no where else to go.
“It’s alright with me.” He says, hoping that he sounds less reluctant than he feels. He has absolutely no desire to play host to one of Sherlock’s old flames. Or to watch them rekindle a past romance. Still, there’s no real reason to protest and it would be churlish of him to deny Sherlock a chance to date, since John himself so vehemently protested Sherlock’s interference in his own relationships.
“Oh, this will be fun!” Irene chirps, sounding delighted,
“Tremendous fun.” Sherlock responds in an unenthusiastic deadpan that has John feeling confused. “I mean it though Irene, if you bring the police to my doors again, I will be very displeased at you. As will John, I imagine, and his displeasure is not something you want to experience.”
John hears the hint of a smile at the end of his words and it makes his own lips twitch upwards. Then he processes what Sherlock just said. “Sorry, did you say the police? You said you were a businesswoman!” the last bit is directed accusingly at Irene.
Sherlock looks surprised, but Irene just looks amused. “Irene Adler is a world class theif, didn’t you know?”
John groans and puts his head in his hands. “Of course she is. Can’t you ever have any normal friends?”
“I have you, don’t I?” The question sounds matter-a-fact, but John’s gotten accustomed enough to recognize that it is a real question, vulnerability hiding just under the surface. It frustrates him that Irene gets to see it, even as he responds.
“Yes, I suppose you do.”
“Good. Now, Irene, please return John’s wallet to him, I suspect that he may rescind his decision otherwise.”
Irene passes it over with a soft chuckle and John wonders what the hell he just got himself into.
Part 2