AN: Note, in the series, the skull isn't really called Humphrey. That's just head canon for a couple friends and me. I would be highly amused and wouldn't put it past Sherlock to give his replacement skull a name though. This series is going to be a collection of one-shots. Not quite sure when I'll update it, but more than likely they will revolve around Humphrey the skull.
Once again, he was in a taxi cab with Sherlock being dragged to a crime scene. Once again, John had no clue where the hell they were going. Once again, John simply sat there, attempting to refrain from fidgeting and sighing in slowly growing disbelief and anger over Sherlock's reticence on informing him of anything.
'Alright, out with it. I'm amazed that you were able to remain that quiet for this long. What is it?' Sherlock's voice cut through the silence and John felt his jaw clench as he inhaled and exhaled through his nose, retaining any form of patience in dealing with his new… acquaintance.
'Why can't you ever tell me where we're going?' he asked Sherlock softly, trying to keep any hint of anger out of his voice. It didn't work as well as he thought, apparently, as the edge of Sherlock's mouth twitched into a grin.
'I must have forgotten to tell you. You're so silent; it's like a grand gift. It reminds me of Humphrey and he never asks questions,' Sherlock said, pulling out his phone to send a quick text; whomever to, John had no idea.
He tried wrapping his mind around Sherlock's last statement. His eyes narrowed and he couldn't stop himself from facing Sherlock and asking, 'Humphrey?'
'Hm?' Sherlock's eyebrows rose as he turned towards John. 'Oh, right! Humphrey. The skull, John. Do keep up now.'
John simply blinked. 'You named your skull?'
He watched as Sherlock's face twisted into a grimace of slight anger over something stupid being asked. 'Not my skull, John. That would be quite beyond me. The skull. Humphrey, the skull.'
'Yes, THE skull! Your skull! The one Mrs Hudson took away. You named it?' John started getting animated, his right hand becoming part of the conversation; moving up and down to emphasise his point.
'No need to get upset. Mrs Hudson may have taken it away, but I know for a fact that she hid it in the back of her cupboard, behind the spice rack. She could never actually get rid of it since it is mine,' Sherlock frowned. 'Of course I named it! No need for me to appear more abnormal, simply talking to a skull and calling it 'Skull'. It had to be given a name, so I could address it.'
John huffed out a small laugh and shook his head. 'Believe me, you're anything but normal.' Sherlock gave a small smirk at that. 'Naming a skull so you could talk to it in public… Might it have occurred to you that naming the skull would be more abnormal than not?
Sherlock appeared to think about the question for a moment, before letting out a 'No.' and turning back to his phone. John had to smile, if only for a bit.
'Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?'
Sherlock simply smiled.