I've been working on this one since last October. Editing and changing this and figuring out that and going "OHH! What would happen if-". Sherlock is hard to write, guys. I think I have a good grasp of how to write him but it took me a while. There are two prologues basically to a story I want to write. The value of sleep from John's perspective and this from Sherlock's perspective. I finished most of it and published it all in one go. I'll add a few more chapters though and then call this finished.
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Sherlock was curious about John from the first.
He's curious and that's entirely unusual because with everyone else he can observe and deduce almost everything about them within minutes of meeting them. Then delete everything about them afterwards when they prove to be boring, which is almost always. After an hour, he can know everything and more, if he chooses to care enough to know.
But with John, however, he only seems to observe the rudimentary information. Far less than everyone else. He knows from the cut of the hair, the tan at the back of the neck, the way he perks up at sudden noises, and even that stance that screams parade rest, that this man is military. That limp and the cane don't match up. The gait is off for a person reliant on a cane and he doesn't even bother to ask for a chair. So, an injury that he's forgotten about. Psychosomatic, most likely a therapist. Invalided back, psychosomatic limp, and if he's with Stanford then most likely a doctor. The comment earlier from him confirms this, "a bit different from my day." Military doctor. Interesting. Which is even better because there are so few new and interesting things.
A military doctor would be more convenient as far as flat mates go. This may even be tolerable. As a doctor and a military man, he would be well accustomed to seeing body parts and a doctor of medicine may certainly be able to appreciate an experiment. If not, well, he would at least have a strong stomach. The man then offers Sherlock his phone when the detective asks Mike for his, knowing the man wouldn't have it on him. He isn't disappointed either. The doctor offers his phone up right away and the interactions they have from there are astounding.