Experiments
MOAR FIC.
Experiments: In which Sherlock runs an experiment, and John is surprised. Written for sherlockmas.
Rating: R
Word count: 1356
Pairing: S/J
Warning: UnBrit-picked.
Disclaimer: I am not related in any way to the Beeb, Sherlock, Doyle, etc, all rights belong to them.
(Thanks to betwixt_worlds for beta'ing!)
Fact: the bed was warmer than usual. Sherlock didn't sleep much, but when he did he was usually just this side of cold, possibly from heat change in the body during sleep, more probably because he'd never bothered getting a thicker blanket after the move. Spring in England was not necessarily a warm time of year.
Fact: the bed dipped to his right in a way that he hadn't experienced often, and not in a few years. It did not feel like a dip made of evidence, or clothes, or various normal things he sometimes did not bother to kick off the bed before slipping into unconsciousness.
Fact: there was soft snoring coming from the direction of the dip.
Fact: there was an arm thrown across his midsection in a haphazard fashion and a head on his shoulder.
Conclusion: someone was in his bed.
Various possibilities were brought up and summarily discarded: fling (he didn't do flings, poor quality of choice or unwanted clinginess), witness to something he was keeping safe (the last case was closed three days ago, he'd been complaining of being bored), Mrs Hudson (that had been memorable, although not in the way most people would think), John.
…John. John had an arm across his stomach and was snoring quietly in his ear, and for a moment Sherlock's mind was a perfect blank as to why. The first night John had moved in, they had discussed that Sherlock did not do this, and he had never given any indication otherwise, why on Earth-
Oh. The experiment he had set up in John's bed while he was at Sarah's, assuming that John would be gone a few days this time (had been assured as such, in fact, based on the small bag John packed and the spring in his step), which had been ongoing when John arrived home two days early. John had not been amused. Sherlock was quite good at deductions, was rarely wrong, but he had not foreseen that Sarah's mother would have fallen ill and John would come home rather than accompanying Sarah to her mother's. There was always something.
Thus, John in his bed and snoring in his ear. It was cold, and John informed him that no, he was not sleeping on the sofa, and frankly he did not care whether or not Sherlock was in his bed when John slept there; the military had stripped John of most inhibitions and he was clearly not afraid of Sherlock suddenly attempting to mount him in his sleep. John trusted very easily, or at least tended to trust Sherlock easily.
This amused Sherlock. Trusting as John was, he clearly had not realised Sherlock had easily deduced that John was not only bisexual, but also found Sherlock himself attractive. While John had obviously dismissed his attraction to his flatmate as not worthy of pursuit and set his sights on Sarah, the attraction was still a living thing, evident in his eyes when Sherlock's shirt was slightly farther unbuttoned than necessary, and the occasional small grin he would wear if Sherlock caught his unguarded face after climbing the stairs ahead of him. Sherlock was well aware of his looks, and used them with devastating skill to get what he needed from people. Thus far, nothing he needed from John required that sort of attention, but this most singular morning was entirely too tempting an opportunity, especially with John home and disappointed in Sarah yet again.
Fact: John was wearing an undershirt and pants under the covers, both worn and soft, much more interesting than the new, painfully clean underthings he had worn to Sarah's.
Fact: John's stomach was quite warm to the touch beneath his undershirt, with a soft line of hair running from his navel downwards and into his pants. (This Sherlock did not record with his hands, but with his side, as John's shirt had rucked up in the night and the skin was pressed against Sherlock.
Fact: John's face was, if Sherlock turned his head to look, quite close, although turned down away from Sherlock's. His head had somehow cushioned itself on Sherlock's shoulder, and his hair was now brushing the underside of Sherlock's nose.
Fact: John could be induced to arch slightly when stroked along the spine, without being woken, if done carefully.
Fact: John's head also tilted up at such a caress, and a soft sigh escaped his mouth.
Sherlock smiled. John, it seemed, could be a heavy sleeper when sharing a bed. The question was, how far could this go before John awoke, and what would his reaction be at his body's response..?
~~~~~
John was very much surprised to discover upon awakening that Sherlock had deemed not only his bed, but his body, free grounds for experimentation. This realisation was a few moments in coming, however, as his half-sleeping brain was trying to work out when Bryson had climbed into his bunk and what shift he was standing, and why his shoulder hurt. Bryson had always been a fan of waking John up with intimacy, and while back then he had usually not been surprised, something was signaling that this was an unusual event.
Abruptly he woke to the present day, with Sherlock Holmes, his untouchable, supposedly asexual flatmate, with his tongue on John's shoulder and his hands quite a bit further down. He gasped, but apparently that was something he had already been doing, as Sherlock did not change his actions in the slightest.
"Sherlock! What-"
Just as abruptly, his exclamation was silenced by Sherlock's mouth. The struggle was brief, and mostly internal, and ended very quickly. If this was going to occur, he might as well enjoy it, because he had found that Sherlock was quite stubborn, and he honestly couldn't say that in this case he minded.
~~~~~
Afterward, in the space between breaths, John asked, "May I ask what that was about?"
"You may," Sherlock mumbled from the pillow.
"All right, I'm asking. What was that about?"
"You were there. I was bored. You are attracted to me. I find you interesting and unpredictable. I ran an experiment." Sherlock, even speaking into a pillow, sounded unbearably smug.
"And what, pray tell, was that?" John was torn between exasperated and gobsmacked. He was used to being referred to as stupid, not interesting, and as for unpredictable…from Sherlock, that was quite possibly a compliment.
"How long before you woke up, and how you would react." Sherlock lifted his head out of the pillow long enough to reveal one gray eye, partially curtained by a dark curl. "I trust the experiment was also to your liking."
John ignored the last comment, since the answer was obvious to anyone. "You do realise this sort of thing is commonly considered rape, or at least dubious consent?"
"Dull," Sherlock told the pillow, already sounding sleepy. "You have no intention of going to the police, and I wouldn't have attempted it if that outcome was likely."
"Right…" John decided to drop the subject. His secret enjoyment of Sherlock's looks had clearly not been a secret from Sherlock, probably since day one, considering the comment regarding Sherlock feeling flattered by John's interest. Why Sherlock had chosen to suddenly take advantage of John while asleep was most likely not something John could fully figure out, since Sherlock's brain seemed to work in different ways than most people's, but as he couldn't say he minded, there didn't seem to be a point in further pushing.
Also, John smiled to himself, if on a later date another experiment wound up on John's bed, there could be a possibility of a simultaneous one occurring in Sherlock's. As Sarah seemed to be getting less interested, rather than more, given the phone call from her "mum" that had sounded a bit deeper-toned than usual, this could be something to look into at a later date. John was not trying to kid himself that Sherlock was remotely interested in romance or anything of that sort, but a possible benefits situation was probably right up his alley.
Yes, this could be an interesting experiment of John's own.
Experiments: In which Sherlock runs an experiment, and John is surprised. Written for sherlockmas.
Rating: R
Word count: 1356
Pairing: S/J
Warning: UnBrit-picked.
Disclaimer: I am not related in any way to the Beeb, Sherlock, Doyle, etc, all rights belong to them.
(Thanks to betwixt_worlds for beta'ing!)
Fact: the bed was warmer than usual. Sherlock didn't sleep much, but when he did he was usually just this side of cold, possibly from heat change in the body during sleep, more probably because he'd never bothered getting a thicker blanket after the move. Spring in England was not necessarily a warm time of year.
Fact: the bed dipped to his right in a way that he hadn't experienced often, and not in a few years. It did not feel like a dip made of evidence, or clothes, or various normal things he sometimes did not bother to kick off the bed before slipping into unconsciousness.
Fact: there was soft snoring coming from the direction of the dip.
Fact: there was an arm thrown across his midsection in a haphazard fashion and a head on his shoulder.
Conclusion: someone was in his bed.
Various possibilities were brought up and summarily discarded: fling (he didn't do flings, poor quality of choice or unwanted clinginess), witness to something he was keeping safe (the last case was closed three days ago, he'd been complaining of being bored), Mrs Hudson (that had been memorable, although not in the way most people would think), John.
…John. John had an arm across his stomach and was snoring quietly in his ear, and for a moment Sherlock's mind was a perfect blank as to why. The first night John had moved in, they had discussed that Sherlock did not do this, and he had never given any indication otherwise, why on Earth-
Oh. The experiment he had set up in John's bed while he was at Sarah's, assuming that John would be gone a few days this time (had been assured as such, in fact, based on the small bag John packed and the spring in his step), which had been ongoing when John arrived home two days early. John had not been amused. Sherlock was quite good at deductions, was rarely wrong, but he had not foreseen that Sarah's mother would have fallen ill and John would come home rather than accompanying Sarah to her mother's. There was always something.
Thus, John in his bed and snoring in his ear. It was cold, and John informed him that no, he was not sleeping on the sofa, and frankly he did not care whether or not Sherlock was in his bed when John slept there; the military had stripped John of most inhibitions and he was clearly not afraid of Sherlock suddenly attempting to mount him in his sleep. John trusted very easily, or at least tended to trust Sherlock easily.
This amused Sherlock. Trusting as John was, he clearly had not realised Sherlock had easily deduced that John was not only bisexual, but also found Sherlock himself attractive. While John had obviously dismissed his attraction to his flatmate as not worthy of pursuit and set his sights on Sarah, the attraction was still a living thing, evident in his eyes when Sherlock's shirt was slightly farther unbuttoned than necessary, and the occasional small grin he would wear if Sherlock caught his unguarded face after climbing the stairs ahead of him. Sherlock was well aware of his looks, and used them with devastating skill to get what he needed from people. Thus far, nothing he needed from John required that sort of attention, but this most singular morning was entirely too tempting an opportunity, especially with John home and disappointed in Sarah yet again.
Fact: John was wearing an undershirt and pants under the covers, both worn and soft, much more interesting than the new, painfully clean underthings he had worn to Sarah's.
Fact: John's stomach was quite warm to the touch beneath his undershirt, with a soft line of hair running from his navel downwards and into his pants. (This Sherlock did not record with his hands, but with his side, as John's shirt had rucked up in the night and the skin was pressed against Sherlock.
Fact: John's face was, if Sherlock turned his head to look, quite close, although turned down away from Sherlock's. His head had somehow cushioned itself on Sherlock's shoulder, and his hair was now brushing the underside of Sherlock's nose.
Fact: John could be induced to arch slightly when stroked along the spine, without being woken, if done carefully.
Fact: John's head also tilted up at such a caress, and a soft sigh escaped his mouth.
Sherlock smiled. John, it seemed, could be a heavy sleeper when sharing a bed. The question was, how far could this go before John awoke, and what would his reaction be at his body's response..?
~~~~~
John was very much surprised to discover upon awakening that Sherlock had deemed not only his bed, but his body, free grounds for experimentation. This realisation was a few moments in coming, however, as his half-sleeping brain was trying to work out when Bryson had climbed into his bunk and what shift he was standing, and why his shoulder hurt. Bryson had always been a fan of waking John up with intimacy, and while back then he had usually not been surprised, something was signaling that this was an unusual event.
Abruptly he woke to the present day, with Sherlock Holmes, his untouchable, supposedly asexual flatmate, with his tongue on John's shoulder and his hands quite a bit further down. He gasped, but apparently that was something he had already been doing, as Sherlock did not change his actions in the slightest.
"Sherlock! What-"
Just as abruptly, his exclamation was silenced by Sherlock's mouth. The struggle was brief, and mostly internal, and ended very quickly. If this was going to occur, he might as well enjoy it, because he had found that Sherlock was quite stubborn, and he honestly couldn't say that in this case he minded.
~~~~~
Afterward, in the space between breaths, John asked, "May I ask what that was about?"
"You may," Sherlock mumbled from the pillow.
"All right, I'm asking. What was that about?"
"You were there. I was bored. You are attracted to me. I find you interesting and unpredictable. I ran an experiment." Sherlock, even speaking into a pillow, sounded unbearably smug.
"And what, pray tell, was that?" John was torn between exasperated and gobsmacked. He was used to being referred to as stupid, not interesting, and as for unpredictable…from Sherlock, that was quite possibly a compliment.
"How long before you woke up, and how you would react." Sherlock lifted his head out of the pillow long enough to reveal one gray eye, partially curtained by a dark curl. "I trust the experiment was also to your liking."
John ignored the last comment, since the answer was obvious to anyone. "You do realise this sort of thing is commonly considered rape, or at least dubious consent?"
"Dull," Sherlock told the pillow, already sounding sleepy. "You have no intention of going to the police, and I wouldn't have attempted it if that outcome was likely."
"Right…" John decided to drop the subject. His secret enjoyment of Sherlock's looks had clearly not been a secret from Sherlock, probably since day one, considering the comment regarding Sherlock feeling flattered by John's interest. Why Sherlock had chosen to suddenly take advantage of John while asleep was most likely not something John could fully figure out, since Sherlock's brain seemed to work in different ways than most people's, but as he couldn't say he minded, there didn't seem to be a point in further pushing.
Also, John smiled to himself, if on a later date another experiment wound up on John's bed, there could be a possibility of a simultaneous one occurring in Sherlock's. As Sarah seemed to be getting less interested, rather than more, given the phone call from her "mum" that had sounded a bit deeper-toned than usual, this could be something to look into at a later date. John was not trying to kid himself that Sherlock was remotely interested in romance or anything of that sort, but a possible benefits situation was probably right up his alley.
Yes, this could be an interesting experiment of John's own.