221c - A Sherlock Fanfiction

Sherlock

She looked bewildered. I handed her green anorak back to her, and she hung it up on a coat hook. "Solve... More... Crimes?" She blinked.

"Yes. You will be a surrogate John. I haven't had a suitable surrogate John in a long time." I drew my lips into a fine line, hands folded behind my back. She was small, John's height, but thin and lithe.

"Okay!" her demeanor totally changed. She brightened and she walked past me into the kitchen, brushing my arm with her hand as she did so. I felt weird. Almost like how Irene used to make me feel.

"Oh, and Ally?" I asked, following her.

She turned her shoulders and head back to face me. "Yeah, Sherlock?"

"So, Scotland Yard is having a Christmas banquet, and they invited me. I wasn't originally going to go, because it's a couples' thing, but I was wondering if you would like to go?"

"With you?"

"With me."

"On a... Date?"

"On a date."

"Sure."

"Good."

"Is it formal?"

"Yes."

"So I will have to wear a fancy dress?"

"Yep." I said, popping the p.

"Hm. Looks like I'm gonna hafta go shopping." She turned to walk down the corridor. "Say, Sherlock, if you want, feel free to stay over." She rushed into her bedroom, and returned with a spare pillow and blanket. I chuckled.

"I'll be right back." I said, ducking out. I returned with my pajamas and my dressing gown on, and she had changed into sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. She had laid out a bunch of pillows and blankets, and had large stacks of books. I had read them all multiple times.

"Some of my favourite books." she said, gesturing to the stacks. I noticed a few of my favourites as well, but there was one book that stuck out to me, definitely NOT one of my favourites. I sat down on the blankets, and pulled it out of the stack.

"Astronomy 101?" I asked incredulously. "You find astronomy useful?"

"Yes, but I just enjoy reading it. It kerbs boredom."

"Rather, I find that it induces boredom."

"Everybody's different, Sher."

"True."

She sat down next to me, and pulled out a massive book. It obviously at one point had a jacket, but was now just a canvass cover. I couldn't see the writing on the front. It was an old book, like maybe forty years. The corners had worn through to the point that I could see frayed cardboard. The pages were uneven and some had water stains. The binding was broken and cracked. "What book?" I asked.

"It's The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King all in one."

"Wow."

"Yeah, It's my absolute favourite out of this whole stack."

I smiled at her, and we discussed literature for most of the night. We argued about the usefulness of astronomy, we talked about philosophy, anatomy, and chemistry, as well as works of fiction, like The Counte of Monte Cristo, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings. Eventually, we fell asleep. She had dropped off first, slowly fading until she was completely asleep. Her dark red hair was splayed out over the white pillow, long and silky. Her pale face looked serene, and she was almost smiling. Probably dreaming of a nice murder, I thought to myself, chuckling. I soon fell asleep as well.