"Okay, this is new," John observed to Greg Lestrade.

"Isn't it? A puzzled Sherlock Holmes is a sight to see."

The man in question was studying the crime scene with an air of slight confusion. He approached John and Lestrade. "Cause of death is quite straightforward, but I have to admit to being slightly puzzled by their state of undress, as they were clearly playing some form of card game when the attack happened."

Lestrade grinned. "They were trying to relieve their youth, Sherlock, by playing Strip Poker."

"Strip Poker?"

"You've never played Strip Poker?"

"Obviously not."

"Never cared much for Strip Poker," John said with a wide smile. "Playing strip versions of board games was always much more fun." Sherlock stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown an extra limb.

Sally Donovan, who had been listening, giggled. "Oh yeah, we played Strip Risk at Hendon."

John grinned at her. "At Med School we played Strip Operation. That was hilarious. Every time the red nose lit up, off went a piece of clothing, hard to look at some of the doctors at Barts now without laughing."

Sally giggled again. "It would be. I feel the same way about some senior officers."

Anderson chimed in with "We played Strip Yahtzee at university."

"Dear God," Lestrade muttered.

John's grin turned evil, "I think we should introduce Sherlock to the pleasure of strip games." He winked at his flat mate, who had been listening, his expression aghast at the revelations.

Lestrade burst out laughing. "Are you serious, John?"

"Yeah."

Lestrade grinned. "What would we play?"

"You want in on this?" John asked.

"Fuck yeah! I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

Donovan and Anderson vigorously nodded their agreement. Sherlock settled for giving John a filthy look.

"How about Strip Cluedo?" Anderson suggested with a smirk.

"No!" John exploded. "Not Cluedo."

"Why not?" Lestrade asked curiously.

"Because I can tell you now the outcome would be Doctor Watson in the living room with the violin bow."

"You've played Cluedo with Sherlock before." Lestrade stated.

"Can you actually kill someone with a violin bow?" Sally asked.

"I was in the army, Sally, I learned to improvise."

"What about Strip Monopoly?" Lestrade suggested. "I've got a Monopoly set at home." He smiled wickedly, "Used to play Strip Monopoly with the wife before she left me."

"And you wonder why she left you?" Sherlock muttered. John elbowed him in the side and glared.

"What rules do you use?" Sally asked.

"Pretty basic, every time you land in jail you have to remove a piece of clothing. If you have a get-out-of-jail-free card and elect to use it, you take off two pieces. Forfeits of removing clothing in lieu of paying rents to be negotiated between the players."

"Sounds like fun." John grinned at Sherlock who was looking grumpy. "When?"

"Saturday?" Lestrade looked at Donovan and Anderson who nodded agreement.

"Your place?"

Lestrade grinned. "Why not? Make it around 8pm. Bring booze."

John nodded. "Booze always makes these sort of nights even more fun."

"You'll be having fun alone," Sherlock sniped, "I am not spending my Saturday night playing stupid games."

SATURDAY NIGHT

"But John…." Sherlock whined.

"No, Sherlock. You are going. Get in the cab. Now."

"I don't want to."

"Tough titty." John Watson shoved Sherlock bodily into the waiting cab, climbed in, slammed the door, gave the cabbie the address and they took off.

Sherlock folded himself into a pose that warned of an extreme sulk front approaching. John ignored him. Sherlock glared at him.

"Water off a duck's back, Sherlock. I'm not backing down. We're going to Greg's and we're going to have fun."

"Fun!" Sherlock spat the word like it was the world's worst expletive. "How can an evening spent in the company of Donovan and Anderson be fun?"

"You'll get to see them make fools of themselves."

"I see that every time Lestrade calls me to a crime scene," Sherlock sniffed.

"Sherlock, just shut it, please?"

Sherlock looked at John. He could see his friend was beginning to get upset. "This means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

John looked out the window. "Well, yeah. The chance to do the sort of crazy things I used to do."

"We do crazy things now."

John turned and smiled fondly at Sherlock. "I know, and I enjoy them, but for once I'd like to do something crazy where there is no chance of my being killed or maimed."

"You might still see a maiming, because if I have to see Anderson naked I may very well tear my own eyeballs out."

John chuckled at that as the cab rolled on into the night. All too soon, in Sherlock's opinion, they were pulling up outside a little terraced house.

Greg Lestrade came down the steps to meet them. Sherlock stared at him. Lestrade was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. It occurred to Sherlock that he'd never seen Lestrade dressed in anything except a suit. It was a strange experience seeing him relaxed and laughing, relieving John of the six packs of beer that he'd brought.

"Glad to see you both. Donovan and Anderson are already here." Greg lead the way into his house.

Sherlock nodded politely to Donovan and Anderson as he took a seat at the table where the Monopoly board was set up. John put a glass of red wine down beside Sherlock, before taking the seat next to him, beer in hand. Grinning, Greg took his seat, sipped his own beer and said "Are we ready to play? Everyone remember the rules?"

John felt a momentary pang. Was this a good idea? He would really regret this if Sherlock ended up shamed and humiliated. John vowed to himself to stop the game before that happened.

TWO HOURS LATER

"You know, this really is an extremely fascinating game. I hadn't realized that it blended skilful strategies with elements of chance. It's been a very interesting experience. We must do it again."

John couldn't help but giggle. Apart from removing his jacket, and shoes and socks, Sherlock was still fully clothed. Anderson on the other hand, was not only naked, but bankrupt as well. All his money and properties now reposed in Sherlock's hands.

Donovan had managed to remain discreetly covered, but only just, and she was almost bankrupt as well.

John was down to his shirt and pants. Greg was sitting there in just his boxers. Both of them had slightly more cash and properties than Anderson and Donovan, but not by much. Sherlock had turned out to be a very astute and cunning Monopoly player.

Anderson and Donovan radiated mortification. Greg was mildly drunk and well disposed to all the world. It had, in his opinion, been a bloody good evening. He couldn't remember a time when he'd had so much simple fun. Greg couldn't help but regard Sherlock fondly as the younger man demonstrated so much enjoyment. He'd never seen Sherlock so relaxed and happy. Sherlock was basking in John's praise and congratulations for having played the game so well.

The players gathered up their discarded clothes and got dressed. Donovan smiled reluctantly at John. "You know, this actually did turn out to be fun, even if it didn't turn out the way any of us expected."

John chuckled. "When you're dealing with Sherlock you never get what you expect."

"That's true." Donovan looked over to where Sherlock was listening to Greg Lestrade and obviously asking questions about something. He shot a look at John that Donovan thought she could read, and she smiled wickedly. Sally turned back to John, "I could be wrong about Sherlock."

"Could be?"

"Probably am. He's not a complete freak after all."

Sally was almost blinded by the smile John turned her way. Now I understand why Holmes keeps him around, Sally thought. That's a smile that changes the shape of your day. Lucky bastard!

Still beaming, John joined Sherlock, and together they left Greg's home.

THREE DAYS LATER

John came home from the clinic to find a brand new Monopoly set sitting on the table in the living room. He grinned at the sight of it, then he jumped, as Sherlock's warm breath ghosted over his neck.

"Sherlock…what?"

Warm arms wrapped around his waist, drawing him back against their owner. Sherlock purred in his ear, "Lestrade explained to me some very interesting variations that he and his wife used with Strip Monopoly. They involved some very sexy forfeits. I've come up with a few we could use." One slender hand slid down over John's hip, just as his lips skimmed down John's neck, leaving John in no doubt as to what variations Sherlock had come up with.

John pressed back against his flat mate, friend, and yes, he could admit it to himself, his lover.

The dark velvet voice trickled into his ear. "Fancy a game?"

"Oh, God, yes!"