A/N: Nope. Don't own anything. Have fun reading!
John tapped away at his laptop as Sherlock absently plucked at the strings of his violin. A case had just been solved and the detective was sure to start complaining of boredom at any moment.
"John.. John.. John!"
"What?"
"I'm board."
John lowered his face into his hand as he heaved a sigh, "What am I supposed to do about it? We just finished a bloody case five minutes ago!" He took a breath to continue ranting when his phone went off, alerting him of a text. Great. What now?
Sherlock flopped down onto the sofa with an over exaggerated sigh. "I'm board.. John, I'm board.. John.. John, I'm board.."
"I KNOW YOU'RE BLOODY BOARD!" The doctor snapped at him. It earned him almost a minute of blessed silence before he started up again.
"John.."
"AARG!" John got up wit a shout of annoyance and stormed out the flat.
When he returned from his nice, relaxing, quiet walk, he found a young lady wandering slowly down Baker Street. She kept glancing to her phone, then at the surrounding buildings. Lost. "Need some assistance, ma-am?"
His eyes widened in recognition when she turned to face him. "Candy!" He pounced on her with a hug, making her laugh. "Hey, John! How have you been?"
"Great and you? Still in service?" He gave her a weary smile as she nodded, her bright smile dimming just slightly before he invited her in.
"I thought you weren't going to get in until morning?" He asked as they ascended the stairs. She was just about to answer when something heavy was heard hitting the wall. The doctor raced up the last few steps in an attempt to save whatever poor object was being abused.
"What are you doing?!" His flatmate threw another book across the room, "Board!"
John rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Sherlock.." Another book flew past him. "Sherlock!"
"WHAT?!" The detective finally turned around and noticed they had company. "Um.. Case?"
John sighed, "No, this is my friend, Candy. She texted me earlier asking if I knew anywhere she could stay.."
"And you offered to let her stay here." Sherlock finished for him as he looked her over. A rather ordinary looking girl. Mid to late teens. Long, straight auburn hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. Innocent hazel green eyes set in a round face- not fat, just round. Bordering on oval. Decently full lips. Shorter than John.
No make up, well worn bluejeans and t-shirt. Old trainers with plenty of stains and scuff marks. Either a casual traveler or tomboy. Tomboy was looking more likely by her short, blunt, barely kept nails and callused hands. The way she held herself, feet close together, hands clasped in front of her. Shy. A bit lazy, judging by her bad posture.
"Don't even think about it, Sherlock. Don't even try to deduce her. It's rude." John stopped him from voicing his opinions and just led the girl by the arm up to his room. "Come, we'll get you settled in."
"She's too young for you, John." The shouted remark followed them up the stairs making the doctor roll his eyes. Candy just giggled quietly at her friend's annoyance.
Candy wandered back down into the living room after her friend left to get groceries, complaining that his flatmate wouldn't stop using all their food for experiments. She found said flatmate face down on the sofa looking for all the world like a corps. The only thing that gave him away was the slight expanding and contracting of his rib-cage as he breathed.
She took in the horrid state of the room. Paper and books strewn everywhere. A smiley face spray painted on the wall above the couch with bullet holes decorating it. A skull setting next to a large knife stuck in the mantle of the fireplace, ruining the beautiful wood.
A heavy sigh came from the body sprawled across the leather couch and she got an idea. John was always complaining to her in his emails about how annoying and childish his flatmate was. Like an overgrown five year old.
She smiled mischievously as she leaned over and whispered in Sherlock's ear, "You are now in manual breathing mode."
Taking a silent step back, she waited and watched as the man's breaths became slightly forced and uneven. After a second he sat bolt upright and glared at her. "That's not funny." He told her indignantly as she gave him a sweet, innocent smile. He just growled at her and stormed across the room, into the kitchen to check on one of his experiments, letting her steal his spot on the sofa after pulling her friend's laptop out from under a pile of papers.
"Hurry back -SH"
John sighed as he waited in line at the check out.
"Why? -JW"
"You are now in manual blinking mode -CW"
He tried to stifle his laugh, making it come out in a weird snort and earning him a few strange looks. The cashier most notably, kept glancing at him before finally asking, "Are you alright, Sir? Something in your eye?"
Back at 221B Sherlock was chasing his flatmate's friend around, trying to retrieve his phone from her. She was quick to dodge and slip away from his long arms at the last second, frustrating the detective to no end with her constant, childish giggling. The phone beeped in her hand, alerting them of a text.
"Give that here!" She dodged the lanky man again and perched herself on the back of a chair in a very cat-like manner, somehow not tipping the piece of furniture over.
"Having fun torturing Sherlock? -JW"
"Don't know what you're talking about -CW"
She hopped off the chair and danced around the furniture away from Sherlock as he tried to snatch his phone back again, never taking her eyes from the screen as she texted her response, a big smile on her face.
When John returned, grocery bags in hand, he found his flatmate sitting in the middle of the floor pouting as Candy continued playing with his phone, lounging across the couch. He smiled at the scene, earning a glare from his flatmate.
Candy got up and followed her friend into the kitchen to help put the food away, leaving the phone balancing atop Sherlocks head as she passed by. He caught it as it tumbled off the moment he moved and checked to make sure she hadn't messed with anything. She'd added a number to his contacts list but that seemed to be it.
He threw a murderous glare toward the kitchen as laughter floated out along with the sounds of things being moved around to make room for the food. Damn annoying girl. He couldn't quite put a finger on it but there was something off about her. Something about the way she moved. So quiet and graceful while her demeanor and posture suggested clumsy and careless. He hadn't heard her come down the creaky steps while he was laying on the couch. Her eyes, too, seemed off. Innocent yet not. Hiding something behind a well placed facade.