Selfless | Sherlock

Boundaries

As we entered the office of the owner of Janus Cars, I felt quite out if place. It would seem I was just Sherlock's little pet at the moment, following him around and providing input as needed. The thought disgusted me, but with a civilian's life on the line I kept my complaints to myself.

Boredom overtook me rapidly while the men talked, but when Sherlock asked for money for a cigarette, my attention returned. I shot him a disapproving glare but took notice of the foreign money in the man's wallet.

My eyebrow raised in curiosity but I said nothing as the man shrugged apologetically and informed Sherlock that he had no change.

"Alright thank you so much for your time, you've been very helpful," Sherlock stated before ushering me out of the door while John followed close behind.

As we headed to the car, I heard John offer Sherlock spare change and glanced back at him in annoyance.

"Nicotine patches remember? I'm doing well," Sherlock responded, alleviating my worry with a wave of his hand.

"What was that all about then?" John questioned.

"It gave us a look inside his wallet," I responded quietly.

"Exactly. Mr Ewart is a liar," Sherlock added, stalking off in the direction of the road to hail a taxi.

My shorter legs made it so that I was forced to jog to keep up with the detective's long strides, and I noticed John struggling behind me as well. When we reached the cab, Sherlock turned to me.

"Will you come with me to the lab? I'm going to run some tests on the blood that was on the seat."

"Of course," I responded, reaching to open the door as John walked off to find another cab to bring him back to the flat.

Sherlock's hand darted out to grab the handle and he had opened the door for me before I had the chance to protest. Despite the fact that we were in public, the polite nature of his actions made me smile up at him gratefully as I slipped into the center seat of the cab. Once the man had slid in beside me and closed his door, I took Sherlock's cold hand into my own and squeezed it gently. The detective stared down inquisitively at our interlocked hands, tilting his head ever so slightly before raising his gaze to meet my own. I grinned sheepishly at him before burying my face in his shoulder to hide my embarrassment.

Sherlock tensed and shifted as though uncomfortable, making me pull away with a jumbled apology cascading from my lips. The detective watched me intensely, holding me captive under his scrutinous gaze. I fell silent and shifted uncomfortably under the inspection, but still watched him cautiously as though he was a snake ready to strike at me: his unsuspecting prey.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," I repeated, my voice shaky under the watchful gaze of Sherlock.

Although the detective often was deemed inhuman, I had never realized how confused he could become in the face of anything to due with sentiment. As the cab approached the lab, I finally broke under his gaze and averted mine to the window. I could have sworn I had seen some emotion within his normally stoic expression as I did so, but my embarrassment would not allow me to take another glance to see if it was merely a trick of the light. My eyes closed to allow my mind to stop racing with foolish doubts and I chose to keep them that way until we were to reach the laboratory.

The more childish side of me hoped that Sherlock would hold me close, but I was well aware that any form of affection from the man would be rare and should be considered a privilege. I had pushed his limits, as displays of affection with him were rarely loving and more often fueled by waves of desire rather than emotion. It would also seem that he had something on his mind in regards to our relationship, or lack of, and I figured I had incited a flurry of thoughts in his usually orderly mind. A sigh escaped my lips at the realization of the lost progress regarding the breaking of the detective's walls. When we arrived at our destination, I felt the cab stop and held my breath. My mouth opened to speak, but before I could find the words the sound of a car door slamming caused my eyes to snap open.