Hello!

This is Lex, presenting you with a little series of snippets that I put together based on Emcee Frodis' MARVELOUS story: "Full House".

I approached her with just a little bit of commentary about crack!thoughts I had about her characters...and then was shameless enough to ask if I could write about them.

She was kind and gracious enough not only to let me have pretty much free reign with her ficverse, but even to beta this story. So, hats off to you, my darling (new) friend!

NOTE: There are SERIOUS spoilers for her story in all of this, so if you're not caught up, leave here and go read it (story # 7895293).

This chapter is taking place in the context of Ch. 6.

DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely nothing but the bad grammar.

HOOPER HOUSE RULES

A Need for Rules

Molly only vaguely remembered the first time she'd seen Irene naked. It had been shocking- had been meant to shock- but it still wasn't exactly clear just which one of them it was meant to be affecting.

Molly had been a tad bit surprised when she realized just how much it irritated Sherlock. She worked with naked-albeit dead-bodies for a living, so she had mastered the technique of discreetly keeping her eyes focused elsewhere. But it was evident that it was grating on Sherlock's nerves and Irene was relishing in it.

It wasn't until she walked into her flat after a particularly long day to find both Irene and Sherlock sitting in her living room- naked as the day they were born and glaring daggers at each other in some sort of twisted battle of wills- that Molly decided something had to be done.

"Molly!" Sherlock drawled in an overly casual voice, never once removing his glare from the other woman. "Welcome home. How was your day?"

"W-w-what the HELL is going on?" Molly stuttered, her eyes flying between the two occupants in the room, not sure when exactly this had become her life or what she had done to deserve the punishment.

Irene coolly ran a finger across the edge of the sofa. "Hello, Doctor Hooper. I'm afraid you've found us in the middle of a little game. One that Mister Holmes stupidly believes he can win."

Sherlock's eyebrow twitched for a second but otherwise showed nothing but cool indifference as he smiled tightly at Irene. "I can beat Mycroft; I can beat anyone."

It was Irene's turn to smile. "I seem to recall that I've beaten you before." She leaned forward, and her smile grew wicked. "Would you like a reenactment?"

"Enough!" Molly cried out, finally having had the last straw with these two. "Now, this my flat, and you can't just go around...naked because you feel like you need to prove something!"

Molly turned on her heel, grabbing a notepad from the little desk by the phone and scribbling something on it. She tore off the page and turned to face her stunned flatmates.

"If we're going to carry on like this, then there need to be rules," she said, waving around the sheet of paper in her hand. "Okay? You'll need to follow them or get out. And the first one: you need to wear clothes."

She was met by silence and two steely blue gazes, but for once she wasn't going to let them intimidate her. "Really, it's not hygienic. Toby's everywhere in this flat and if the two of you carry on like this, it will not end well. Now- please- go and put something on. You can find another way to play your...games or whatever it is you're doing."

To her surprise, Sherlock looked properly rebuffed and even Irene appeared a bit sheepish. Molly felt a swell of pride. Sherlock stood up then, making his way to the bedroom, hopefully to get dressed. Irene picked up a dressing gown that had been draped over the sofa and wrapped it around herself, a genuine smile on her face.

"I'm, um, I'll just-go and put this up where we can all see," Molly said, some of the fire from her earlier outburst having fizzled out. She moved into the kitchen, stopping at the refrigerator and grabbing one of her kitten magnets. She tacked the sheet of lavender paper speckled with daisies, her handwriting neat across the top, the letters quick and forceful.

"HOOPER HOUSE RULES

Applicable to all who live in the flat. No exceptions.

# 1: Please wear clothing at all times."

She frowned a bit. Even when angry, she was still polite.

"Surely, you don't mean at all times."

Sherlock's voice over her shoulder made her jump in surprise, nearly knocking into him as he read her list.

"Not while in the shower, obviously," he went on, and caught her eye as she turned to look at him. His lips twitched up in a small smirk and she felt a blush creep up. She thought she saw something else there too... Something akin to respect.

"No, I guess not," she agreed and Sherlock took a step back, dressed as immaculately as ever, walking back into the living room and picking up his violin. She heard Irene make some sort of remark to which he replied with a very high pitched and grating note. That would be something to address later.

Molly looked at her list again, worrying her bottom lip. Something about seeing it there, much like one she remembered from her childhood home, made her feel something she hadn't in a long long time: the warmth of family.

She picked up the pen again and carefully punctuated with a small smiley face. Smiling to herself, she went about seeing what kind of food she could throw together for dinner.

"#1: Please wear clothing at all times. Except in the shower. That would be messy :-)"

Thanks for stopping by.

cheers.

-Lex