In the episode 201, Sherlock's EATING! He was chewing something that looked like a pop tart(to me) while John was typing a blog on Speckled Blonde. It inspired this story. I hope you enjoy it. Timeline: 103-201 Reviews are very appreciated:)

p.s I have no idea if there is any UK version of a Pop Tart... If there is, let me know:)

"Is there some food in the fridge? I'm starving."

The detective didn't stir: he was in his mind-palace. Sherlock wouldn't know that John was in the same room.

The doctor opened the fridge after steeling himself. There could be anything. For example, at the early days of their flatshare, he found a severed human head inside. This time, what greeted him were bare shelves except some sauce tubes, a squashed orange, and yogurt bottles that had expired three days ago. All the plastic containers were empty. John had brought in a considerable number of containers when he realized that food and cadavers had to share a "space".

John thought about visiting downstairs flat, but remembered that Mrs. Hudson was gone to her cousin's for a few days. His stomach grumbled: he barely had lunch that day. The doctor made tea and had to chew dry biscuits without jam.

Murphy's law: everything always runs out at the same time.

At least a few biscuits stopped the sharp pang from hunger, though they weren't filling. Draining his tea, John got a paper and scribbled down a few items they needed urgently like bread, jam, and milk. He had long given up a hope for his flatmate to surprise him with a full refrigerator. A few times he did try, believing that flatmates were supposed to share flat-chores, too.

Sherlock's trip to Tesco ended in disasters. Either he deduced his cashier or other customers and got kicked out from the store by its manager. Or he had a knack of picking out smallest (bad) details that stopped customers from purchasing dairy or meat products at the store. Now there was no store that Sherlock could go within a four-mile radius. It had to be John that brought in food. This morning he had noticed that it was time for a grocery shopping. There was a terrible bus accident at a busy intersection. The hospital was flooded with people hurt or bleeding. John had completely forgotten about it.

Sherlock woke up from his trance. He looked paler than usual. John set a cup of hot tea in front of him. The detective's body swayed when he sat up. In exasperation, the doctor asked,

"Have you eaten today?"

"I don't remember."

"There's no food here. Sorry. I finished the last biscuit."

"I'm fine with tea."

"No. Drink and rest. I'm going to the store."

John headed out to the grocery store. Besides biscuits, what would be the easy-to-grab food for his friend? His eyes scanned the aisles and stopped at the tall stacks of instant noodles. Then he remembered last time: he had thought Sherlock could boil water - he could. and that was the trouble.

Two weeks ago, John found that the store had a bargain on instant noodles(ramen). Without hesitation, he threw a box of 24 packages in the cart. Sherlock could make tea: he could boil water. Back at the flat, John had to explain how to cook the ramen as the detective had never eaten ramen.

The next day, John knew that something was wrong when he walked into the flat. He found Sherlock cooking in the kitchen. Four identical pots were on the heat and 4 packages of noodles were open.

"What are you doing? Did you invite someone over ramen?"

"Experimenting."

"What experiment requires four ramen noodles?"

"John. It's good that you're here. I need your help. I'm testing to find out the best way to cook the noodles. I had put dry noodles before soup for two pots. For the other two, soup before noodles. No 1 and 3: I put the noodles in cold water, the other two in boiling water. I've been cooking them for about 8 minutes. They are almost done. Wash your hands and sit down. I'll serve you."

"Serving me?"

"See, there are four bowls for you and a glass of water. You have to rinse your mouth after a bowl so that you can taste the next one better."

The detective served four "thank-God-it-was-small" bowls of ramen that looked, smelled, and tasted the same. At first, it was so wonderful to be served by none other than his flatmate - Sherlock. John couldn't tell which one was which, nor could say which one tasted best. Actually it was hard to keep on smiling after two bowls. After four bowls - Sherlock had only a couple chopstickful for each, John could hardly move. Yet he smiled and thanked the sleuth, believing that it was a progress. "Chore-share" was a possibility.

For the next five days, Sherlock kept on experimenting. In other words, John had to eat four bowls of ramen every night. On Friday, John could not help but grimace when the detective declared that he would buy another box. John stopped him with a glare.

"There are a dozen flavors, John!"

Sherlock protested, but a look from the doctor silenced him.

Mrs. Hudson wouldn't be back in another ten days. The café downstairs was renovating. They needed food that did not require cooking, not even a simple task of boiling water. Think about Ramen! What could be the best food for them without any risk of a fire or explosion or stomach ache?

John's eyes stopped at a "breakfast on the go" section.

Pop Tart!

He read the product details very carefully. The best thing about it was that it didn't need heating. Smiling, John got three boxes of different flavors.

I know John was fired in the middle of TGG. Let's say he had to work temporarily back at the clinic:) Thanks for kind reviews!(signed in and guest all...)

I didn't think I wrote a "domestic" Sherlock. He was simply experimenting after coming across an article about "How to cook Ramen best". The most scariest critic at home declared it is OOC Sherlock. Is he? :-)