Dancing Queen... and King

"Janine," Sherlock greeted, stopping in front of her.

"Wonderful music, Sherlock!" she yelled over the music thumping in the background. "You didn't tell me that you could play."

Sherlock tilted his head. "Didn't I? Huh."

He watched for a moment as Janine danced about on the spot, looking vaguely awkward but having fun nonetheless.

"I think my ship's come in," he said.

"What?" she asked loudly.

"Dancing," Sherlock said, raising his voice. "I said I was waiting for the perfect case and John's wedding is a pretty good excuse."

"Are you asking me to dance?" Janine replied.

Sherlock smiled. "I think I am. But can we move away from the speakers? Our ears are going to be throbbing by night-end." He offered his arm, smile widening when Janine slipped her arm through his.

He wasn't sure why he was doing this. Associating with people, much less people of the opposite sex, was not his cup of tea. But... something about Janine. She kept up. She was entertaining. Almost as entertaining as The Woman had been. No one could be as interesting as The Woman, but Janine was interesting. She wasn't boring. And she had asked if he had a vacancy. And he did.

"Where are we going?" Janine asked.

"Back to the room we were practicing in," he said, sighing as they stepped out of the ballroom. "Rubbish music. I told him that I didn't like it."

"Why not? Too peppy for you?" Janine asked.

Sherlock frowned down at her. "Hardly. You doubt my dancing skills, Janine. You should never doubt me."

"Oh, I don't doubt you, Sherlock Holmes."

A jolt of something identifiable shot through Sherlock's veins at that and the smile that lit up his face was something that rarely presented itself in the face of strangers.

"Come on," he said, offering his hands to Janine. "Let's dance."

"The song's almost over," Janine protested.

"So?" Sherlock took his corsage from Janine's hand, leaning close to slip the pin through the smooth fabric of her dress, pinning it just at the top of her bust line. "Dance with me."

Janine laughed. "You're bold. I like you."

"Oh, I know you do," Sherlock replied, taking her hands without waiting and whisking her into a dance to the ending beats of Oh, What a Night in the background.

"Sherlock!" Janine protested, although she was smiling.

"You're rubbish at this," Sherlock retorted. He, too, hadn't lost the smile from before. He felt like an idiot, but they were alone. Only she could see him and he'd already made an idiot of himself with the spin and twirl earlier. He was strangely at ease with her.

"Well, dancing isn't exactly in my repertoire!" Janine retorted.

"Just let me guide you," Sherlock replied, placing his hand against the small of her back and drawing her closer. "Don't trip," he whispered into her ear.

It was inevitable, really, but Janine was laughing and she did end up tripping, stepping on Sherlock's foot with her high heel.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Sherlock laughed quietly. "No worries. I'm wearing shoes, after all. And I have quite the remarkable pain tolerance."

"I bet you do," Janine replied.

Sherlock was again seized with the remarkable feeling from before, a rush of something that made him ponder the question What is this?! without being able to come up with a real answer. The song trailed off and Sherlock took the moment to spin Janine around.

"Woah- Sherlock!"

Sherlock laughed again, drawing her back against his chest. "What? Didn't like it?"

Janine simply laughed and snaked her arms around his neck.

Sherlock slipped his hands down to her waist automatically as the music shifted into a song suitable for a slow dance. They were quiet for a few minutes. Sherlock was somewhat surprised when Janine placed her head against his chest and left it there. He sighed pleasantly, tightening his grip around her as they swayed to the music.

"Maybe weddings aren't so bad," Janine said after a while.

Sherlock flicked his gaze to the top of her head. "Perhaps not. But this is John's wedding. The attempted murder did help to break the monotony."

Janine laughed quietly, raising her head to look up at him.

Sherlock offered another smile. "They're going to play another fast song after this o-"

He was abruptly cut off as Janine pressed her lips against his.

Sherlock's brain short-circuited.

He had no other way of describing it. Everything went blank. It was like white noise, but it blocked out all his senses. The music was gone, the dancing didn't matter, feeling like an idiot didn't apply. Pleasure shot through his blood, straight from the nerve-endings on his lips and throughout his entire body. Emotion swelled up in an uncontrollable surge; he couldn't squelch it. He slid his hand to the back of her neck and kissed her back.

He'd never been kissed. He'd never kissed anyone, either.

It was a new experience and he was trying to catalogue every detail, but there was so much in such a simple motion that he couldn't possible get it all on the first try-

Janine pulled away and smiled. "Call me, Sherlock. I'll be waiting."

Sherlock stood in shock for a long moment, only turning around as Janine walked out of the room. "But I don't have your number!" he called.

"That won't stop you, will it, Sherlock?" Janine called, grinning over her shoulder.

In the next moment, she was gone, leaving Sherlock wide-eyed and staring at the empty doorway, nerves buzzing with stimulation of a kind for, all of his genius, he had never expected.

He was going to have to find her number.


I don't know how this happened. I had meant to write Sherlock and Janine dancing because, you know, this was his one chance to show off his skills, and then... well, no matter. I ship this. At least I ship it a little bit. Without knowing anything about it, I ship it. There. xD

I don't own Sherlock or the songs mentioned in this piece. All rights to their owners. :)