» endymion ; sherlock holmes

xvii. MIND IS A PRISON

┏━━━━ ༄ ━━━━┓
mind is a prison
┗━━━━ ༄ ━━━━┛

Sherlock was practically staring at Janet when she was ordering the chips, for she was the more extroverted of the two. 

"Can we also have some mustard, please?", said Janet, smiling apologetically. The cashier distorted his face into an annoyed grimace, but wrote down her wish without commenting on it any further.

"How do you know I liked chips with mustard?", interjected Sherlock instantly.

"Who says it wasn't for me?".

"When we were here after your little fight with Mister My-son-has-to-finish-his-presentation, you ordered them without mustard and dug into them. You clearly enjoyed them and didn't miss anything. Also, you would have ordered the mustard if you would have desired it - You're not scared or ashamed of speaking up. At least not if it's about superficial things."

"Right."

"So, how did you know?".

She pursed her lips tightly. "I won't tell you."

Sherlock's eyebrows narrowed, startled. "And they say I'm antisocial. At least I give them insights into my brain, whose intelligence they can only dream of."

"I never called you unsocial. But I guess the time has come now – You really are antisocial."

Sherlock leaned back, pulling his legs to his chest, longing for a chip, only to throw it back. "He should hurry with the mustard – HEY! How long can it possibly take to open the fridge and grab mustard!".

"Don't be dramatic!", said Janet promptly.

"Why not?", responded Sherlock, tapping on the table with his long, thin fingers. "I'm hungry. And I don't like chips without mustard."

"Good question", sighed Janet. "Sometimes I'm wondering about simple questions like these, actually. Why do people act the way they act?".

Sherlock showed a thoughtful expression. "Because it is required from us."

"By whom?". Enthusiastically, Janet leaned forward. She bit her lip.

"Your dad always told you to stop biting your lip. You were an insecure child, always tucking on your sleeves, biting the skin around your nails or chewing on your lip – he was strict and neat, a control freak. He strived for perfection, always told you that you weren't good enough, that you could do so much more, different things, for you weren't really focused on school or learning, always in trouble. John was constantly trying to protect you - he is good at wearing a mask, being polite to people, telling them what they want to hear. You, however, know what they want to hear, but you don't apply that knowledge. You can't keep your thoughts to yourself. The rebellious side in you dominates your reasoning." Sherlock had gotten closer to Janet, looking into her diamond blue eyes, searching for something to deduct. His face suddenly turned disappointed. The chaos behind her gaze hid the truth from him.

"You're right." Janet smiled slightly, but he didn't miss the twitch in the corner of her lips. "Did you deduct it based on me or John?", she whispered as her voice broke, which she hid by clearing her throat and quickly glancing away.

Sherlock tried to suppress his grin, jerking his head sideways. "A mixture. But mostly on John. He's like an open book."

"At least that's what you think. He's just good at framing you. He gives you enough to satisfy you, to avoid your suspicion – you don't know about the things he doesn't want you to know about."