Date or Dare is set between the summer and Christmas of when Dr Watson meets a young woman who comes to ask Sherlock's advice about some mysterious packages of money that she has been receiving. This short is written to give some background as to why he finds her so appealing after not knowing her for long and why it's love rather than lust that he's feeling.
He finds her very attractive but she treats him like an older uncle and he knows that his feelings for her are not reciprocated. The tension between the two of them is such that even Sherlock is bothered.

NB Stylistically, I include a lot of ... and - to give an idea that this is John chatting to himself and maybe how someone would write a blog or a personal diary. It's intended to be informal, though he'd never post any of this online in case she or Sherlock got to read it.

Chapter 1: Date or Dare
Sherlock was working on a case that had absorbed him for some days before he called on her as a 'consultant' to a Consultant Detective. I'd been intrigued about what that would entail until she was there for a whole weekend talking about handles, hinges, locks and other door furniture with Sherlock in rather longer bursts than was necessary in my view - now to be honest, I'd rather not have known. Sherlock seldom slept during this time and frequently stopped either of us from getting any too.

He would suddenly call out a question and when it was not answered immediately by either of his sleeping companions, he would leap out of his chair and shake whichever of us he thought would or could answer. He often got this badly wrong, ending up waking us both, so if Sherlock didn't sleep - we didn't sleep either.

Anyone would be irritable after that kind of proximity and sleep deprivation - the gestapo could have learnt a thing or two from Sherlock - it's not surprising it all kicked off after a sleepless night, or three.

Added to that the two of them treated me with contempt when they even noticed I was in the room. Sherlock held out his mug, without looking up, at fairly regular intervals in the certain knowledge that I'd fill it with something to keep him awake for that while longer that he needed. ... And neither had given me any eye contact since they had started on their mysterious quest.

There were several occasions where I found them unbearable to be with and had to leave and when I was there ...

I had only to mention that the new laptop was performing unpredictably and she'd lean over my shoulder and make a swipe movement and the whole screen changed back again to what I'd been working on. It was humiliating!

And as for cooking! They either belittled my efforts or ate without leaving their desks or breaking their unfathomable chat. When I complained of being hungry and refused to cook the next meal she walked speechlessly into the kitchen. Moments later she came out again, plonking an opened jar of peanut butter with three teaspoons sticking out the top onto the table.

And later it got worse. She decided that she needed some 'proper' food and set off into my kitchen!

All I suggested was that a tin of tomatoes would elevate a boring rice dish into something reasonable edible ... I can't remember the time someone, other than Sherlock, looked at me like that. Ok, so her risotto was exceptional good, without the tomatoes, but I really was only try to help.

I'd kept my cool after so many 'last straws', but Sherlock broke first - though this is all your fault Sherlock!

"Right that's it - I'm going out - you need to have it out ... have a row ... have sex ... I don't care, but sort it by the time I'm back. You've until 23.07!" and he was gone.

Our heads turned as if in a bizarre, slowmo game of tennis - just the one way, toward to Sherlock's retreating back. "Oooo! Get Her!"

"What was that about?" I agreed.

And then we laughed and talked ...

"John, you ever played 'Date or Dare?" - I shook my head wondering where this latest tease could be headed.

"Friends of mine played it when they were having problems with their friendship and it really works, as well as being a huge amount of fun. Sherlock really doesn't need me on the case and I'm desperate for a break so would really appreciate you giving it a shot."

"Depends." I was suspicious. "What does it entail?"

"Ok, it's simple. One of us chooses either 'date' of 'dare' to start off with and the other has to 'organise' whichever is proscribed, for the asker. Then swop and reciprocate."

"So what constitutes a Dare?" I asked warily.

"Depends on the person you're partnered with, what you know about them and what you think would 'get' to them." she explained. "Best ones challenge what you know about the other person, something that scares that person to the core but that you can turn into something that's fun. It's supposed to show that you know them better than they do and make them see you differently."

I asked for examples - this would likely give her even more power over me, and I wasn't warming to the idea as yet. Though 'date' ... now that sounds ok ... what could be bad there!? ... oh, right, major broken heart ... general emotional carnage ... that one's never going to end well for me ...

"Oh right. The simplest ones are physical - bungee jumping, tomb stoning, day on the trapeze with a circus troop, flying a plane that kind of thing. Then there's personal embarrassment - people are pretty uninspired on that - tends to involve getting naked in a public place. Sex is out though of any kind. It's an unfair one given the whole thing is supposed to be platonic and you do have a lot of personal power over the other person. But you can say no, but then the whole Game is over - no more dares, no more dates from when you refuse anything set up for you - I've only done that once ...

"Then there's humiliation. Getting someone to do something that they find extremely difficult or makes them look a clot in a public arena. Making a dyslexic join a spelling-bee is unnecessary and a bit prejudiced, but there are other options if you use your imagination ... The clever one are subtle.

"Ones I've either had done to me, or arranged for other people ... hurm ... early one of mine, I got my friend Derek to go to his usual launderette with only a sachet of washing powder and some softener. Challenge was he had to wash and dry every stitch he was wearing - not including his shoes - and wasn't allowed to leave until he'd done so. I said folks tend to go for getting naked - wasn't my most imaginative ... early days ... got better since ... Had unforeseen consequences though - well unforeseen by him anyway - that he stopped mooning around after me and is now very happy married, thank you very much, to the woman he shared his conditioner with - and that's not a euphemism, btw! Touching how close he got to that pair of trainers too - his wife says he still has them ...

"I once had someone get me to do lap dancing in a club - neither particularly scary, nor in the slightest bit fun and not impressed he collected my 'tips' to pay for the 'date' - we didn't get that far, in case you wondered.

"Need to have food included ... people need to eat ... oh and there's a ceiling on the cost too - £50 for each activity, included transport, food, activity ... you can call on friends to provide freebies, call in favours, I advise you meet there to save on transport to and from the rendezvous ... basically it's to stop folks getting carried away with impressing with how much they're prepared to spend and to use their imaginations a little ... just think, this is something Sherlock could excel at, but wouldn't go near with a barge pole! Just as well - it'd be a bit of a challenge to find something that would scare him other than talking to people about trivia ... would be hard to tell the difference between 'date' and 'dare' in his case too.

"You're a newbie, so you'd get to choose first and I'd have to 'go' first. Better that way, believe me. I've seen too many people go too far with folks that had something really tame in mind for them, believing that something over the top would be a winner - it's not about winning or losing either, by the way. Horrible consequences happen when people go too far in this game - untimely end of friendships ... though you'd think they'd have not lasted long anyway given their differing agendas."

"And there are rules: max spend is £50 per date or dare, no sex related activities, no recruiting naive under 18s for a thrill, six hours max for a dare, twelve for a 'date', though when and where are up to you, Doc."

"Ok, can I make a rule? No Doc, no Dr Watson for the duration - just John ... please. And I'm going to regret this, but I choose "dare'.