"I can't believe you convinced me to do this," Sherlock sighed, obviously bored. The attic was surprisingly small, given the size of the rest of the house – Sherlock had to stoop down in order to avoid knocking his head against the wooden beams supporting the ceiling.
It had all started the day before – Sherlock's parents had phoned, completely out of the blue, to inform that they were moving house and needed help to clean out the attic. It would have all been fine for Sherlock if he hadn't been out at the time; if John hadn't answered the phone; if his parents hadn't told John. There was no escaping the menial task when John supplied copious amounts of sentiment and 'but they're your parents'.
"It's the proper thing to do, Sherlock…" John defended. Sherlock only snorted in reply.
John began to look through another box when something obviously caught his eye. "What is it John?" Sherlock asked impatiently.
John held a teddy bear out of the box with a slack-jawed expression but a smile trying to tug at the corner of his mouth. The bear was medium-to-large in size with blue-rimmed glass eyes, blonde fur; and it wore a cream-coloured jumper that actually looked suspiciously like the jumper John was wearing – in fact, it seemed like John's doppelganger. "Who's this?" John asked, amusement in his voice.
"No idea, must have deleted it." Sherlock stated in a staged monotone. John could almost swear that he heard the slightest tinge of emotion to Sherlock's voice.
"Well, undelete it! I've seen you do that before, you know. I want to know; I'm curious."
Sherlock took the bear from John and memories seemed to flood back like a tidal wave. "His name's John. We used to do everything together. He was my first ever toy – given to me by my parents just after I was born, apparently."
John's expression seemed to copy that of a goldfish. His eyes bulged, mouth gaping and closing every so often as if trying to ask something. "His… His name's… John?"
"Strange, isn't it. He's almost your doppelganger, too. A slight air of, what I can only describe as, creepiness to it…"
After a moment, John decided he was curious about another matter – which was also toy-related. "Did you have any other toys growing up?"
"Please promise you won't laugh…" Sherlock sighed.
"I won't laugh," John promised, doubting it was one he could keep.
"I had… a Barbie doll…" Sherlock confessed.
Yeah, John was right, he couldn't keep his promise. John doubled over on himself and roared with laughter. "You?! You had a Barbie doll!?" he laughed.
Something changed in Sherlock's face as his line of vision focused on something behind John. "He was interested in fashion for a time. He only dressed her up, she was more of a model than a doll to him." John turned to see Sherlock's mother behind him.
"But I soon grew out of it –" Sherlock began before being interrupted by his mother.
"After five years," She smiled. This made John laugh even more; so much so that he could hardly breathe.
After a minute or so, John just about managed to regain composure. "Is that why you were being so bitchy about the colour of the victim's clothes in A Study in Pink?" The look Sherlock gave John was a clear enough answer. "Oh my God…" John laughed.
"Oh, you found John!" Sherlock's mother smiled. She looked over at the bear then back to the human John. "These too look awfully alike; it's quite eerie! Same name and everything!"
"Yes it's… Weird…" John sighed.
"Sherlock, darling, do you remember why you started calling him John when you were two? I remember that Christmas morning like it was yesterday," she beamed.
"No, I don't…" Sherlock's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Well, I had knitted John the bear a new jumper so we took off his current jumper and he had a little heart stitched on his chest with 'John' in red stitching."
"That's so sweet!" John smiled. "It bloody strange if you ask me, though!"
"Well, John, Sherlock; I think we can handle it from here. Give us a call in a week if you'd like to come over to the new place."
Sherlock hugged his mother and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Of course, mummy."
"See you two later." There was a smile on her face, the sort of smile that came from knowing what no one else did. But John and Sherlock ignored this and left to get back to 221b.