Chapter 1
John Watson stood in the doorway, staring at the prickly animal crawling around on his bed. It stared back at him with its beady eyes, its pointy nose raised as it sniffed the air. John turned away from the small creature and, without a word, walked briskly down the stairs to the living room. Lounging on the sofa in his grey pyjamas and blue dressing down was Sherlock, his eyes closed and hands positioned under his chin. John took a short moment to give his flatmate a death glare before confronting him.
"Sherlock." The younger man opened his eyes and turned his head to face his friend. "Why is there a hedgehog in my bed? A bloody hedgehog, Sherlock!" John stood there waiting for an answer, his hands balled into fists by his sides and his brow furrowed in confusion and anger. Well, perhaps not anger. He found it hard to stay angry at Sherlock. Things like this were what made most people hate the man but John found them more endearing than infuriating. Although, the sociopath had to learn that John was not fond of his experiments including him. Sherlock gazed up at John with a twinkle in his blue-green eyes.
"It keeps me company when you aren't here. It's better than talking to Billy," he nodded towards the skull sitting on the fireplace, "and God knows I'm not going to call Mycroft. Besides," he added, "it reminds me of you." By now John had calmed down and simply raised an eyebrow at Sherlock's last statement.
"It…reminds you…of me. Right. And how does it do that exactly?" He stood with his hand resting on his hips and tilted his head slightly to the side inquisitively.
"Like that," said Sherlock simply. "You share many of the same mannerisms. It tilts its head and follows me everywhere, like you." The man closed his eyes, assuming that the conversation had concluded. John disagreed.
"I don't follow you everywhere." John said defiantly, furrowing his brow and folding his arms. At this, Sherlock rose from the sofa, casually walked to the kitchen, and began making tea. Without thinking, John followed him.
"Yes you do." John opened his mouth to argue but instead headed back to his room, defeated.