I gave you my number; thought you might call!
Sherlock holds Jim's card in his hand, running the number over and over again in his mind. Perhaps it's a code, or a trick, or a scheme of some kind?
Sherlock punches the numbers in slowly, one by one. He pauses just before he hits the last one, wondering what John would say if he was here. He decides he doesn't care and presses it.
The phone rings out, and a mocking voice answers. "I've been expecting you."
Sherlock can't help smirking. "No, you weren't."
"No…" Jim's voice whispers, making the hairs on the back of Sherlock's neck stand up in the most unusual of ways. "I haven't. Honestly thought you already had a pet of your own."
"John, you mean?" Sherlock shrugs. "He's just practice. I'm just warming up for the real game."
"Foolish me! I thought we were already playing…"
Sherlock scoffs, "Please." Sherlock pauses. "We haven't even started yet."
Jim sounds positively delighted, "Everything before the pool was flirting. Now, we're just teasing. Foreplay, really."
"Intellectual foreplay. A teasing battle of the minds, if you will."
"Oh, I will. I gladly will, Sherly. I can call you that, can't I?"
Sherlock's voice is low and husky and deep enough to strike oil. "Only if you let me call you Jim."
