Sherlock | Crappy Fanfics

Bathtime

There was a general rule in 221B, set up and agreed upon by both Sherlock and John without much hesitation. It was there to save both their dignity, not that there was much of it to save in the first place; various situations in different cases meant that there wasn't much to hide from the other anymore, but it still provided the pair of them with a sense of relief that when they were in the bathroom, they were alone with no interruptions from their roommate.

The first embarrassing discovery had taken place at Sherlock's expense. As was the norm, John had woken up and stumbled into the bathroom. Groggy eyed and not really thinking straight, he'd automatically presumed that Sherlock was still in bed. That was silent, for a start, and that provided him with evidence enough that Sherlock was most definitely not awake. That morning's newspaper (brought up by Mrs Hudson,) was tucked under his armpit as he shouldered the door open, stuffing his fist over his mouth as he yawned.

It was still silent as he sat down on the toilet, ruffling the newspaper ashe made himself more comfortable for his morning evacuation. He was on page 5, reading about an MP who'd said something stupid and was getting roasted for it, when Sherlock succeeded yet again in surprising him.

"John," John jumped at the sound of Sherlock's voice. "Can you pass me a towel?"

Looking up, John was slightly gobsmacked to see Sherlock sitting in the bathtub, surrounded by white frothy bubbles and a rubber duck.

"The fuck? Sherlock?" John scorned, covering the side of his face withhis hand and turning away from Sherlock, who was hurriedly trying to cover himself up with the bubbles. "Why didn't you tell me you were in here?"

"I did," Sherlock replied earnestly, quickly pulling the duck under water in hope that John wouldn't see it. "You just didn't hear me, and then you seemed too engrossed in your newspaper, so I decided to let you read it. But now my fingers are going wrinkly and I want to get out,"he frowned, going slightly pink. "Are you going to pass me a towel or not?"

John nodded quickly, leaning over and grabbing the towel and passing it to Sherlock who accepted it gladly.

"Can you, uh, look away while I get out?" he asked, and John couldn'thelp but smile at how timid he was. It wasn't very often that shy-Sherlock appeared, but it was always secretly there behind the massive ego.

John looked away, and Sherlock smiled gladly as he clambered out.

Neither of them said anything about it for the rest of the day.

--

"But I need to come in!" Sherlock whined, hammering on the door and threatening to turn the handle.

"You do not need to come in," John retorted, growing increasingly more irritated. "You want to come in, there's a difference."

The sound of Sherlock's head colliding with the door caused John to roll his eyes as he snapped the lid of the shampoo bottle shut.

"Joooooohn!"

John sighed heavily, readjusting himself so that Sherlock wouldn't be able to see anything when he inevitably burst through the doorway despite John's consistent protests.

"Fine, what do you want?" He swore under his breath as the door swung open, allowing Sherlock to storm through. "That wasn't an invitation for you to come in."

"Yes it was," Sherlock replied dryly, rummaging around in the cupboard over the sink. John scowled at his back.

"It wasn't," but he decided he couldn't be bothered to argue with him."What're you looking for?" he asked.

"This," John watched with a raised eyebrow as Sherlock turned around, holding up a golden ball and discarding the cellophane previously wrapped around it into the bin. He didn't have time to ask what it was before Sherlock had taken a step closer to the bath, and dropped the ball into the water.

"Sherlock!" John yelped, desperately trying to cover himself up. Sherlock shook his head, too busy watching the fizzing of the ball with sparkling eyes. "What the hell?"

"Relax," Sherlock drawled. "I didn't see anything. And even if I did Iwouldn't have minded," John blushed furiously, trying to work outwhat Sherlock had just said. He recollected himself, breathing angrily through his nostrils before continuing.

"What did you just put in the bath?" He quizzed, feeling the bubbles against his legs and deciding that he didn't like it much.

"Bath bomb," Sherlock shrugged. "It's called 'Sunlight', and it'll make the water turn gold, apparently." He dipped his finger in thewater, and John splashed him.

"Get out!" He yelled, and Sherlock blanched before quickly scarpering off, leaving a very disgruntled John sulking in a bathtub of glittering golden water.