Sherlock sat hunched at the table, staring intently at the screen before him. He dared not even blink, for he could not afford to miss anything. John looked over his shoulder quizzically at him. What could he possibly be on about? John thought. He's not on a case, and the wedding is still months away. Finally, John's curiosity got the better of him.
"What the bloody hell are you looking at?" he inquired. "I don't think you've peeled your eyes from that laptop-my laptop, in case you actually cared-since we got back."
Sherlock did not move from his previous position, but waved his hand in a stop talking you're annoying me gesture that John has grown all too familiar with. But John was adamant.
"Seriously, Sherlock, I thought you were going to help Mary and me with more of the wedding details today." Sherlock let out an exasperated sigh and slammed the laptop shut.
"YouTube," he said.
"Pardon?"
"I was on YouTube. Satisfied?"
He flopped down onto the couch and assumed his standard thinking position.
"What the bloody hell were you on YouTube for? I thought you said the whole site was full of rubbish."
"Serviettes, John. Serviettes."
Before John had time to question him, Sherlock exclaimed, "That'll be Mary. Looks like the postal service was out of wedding-themed stamps again, what a shame."
Mary burst in the door, panting slightly, and smiled at the two men.
"Sorry I'm late, boys. I had to make a quick stop at the post office, to get those cute flowered stamps we liked, but they were fresh out. Then I had to call a cab, and you know how infuriating the midday rush can get, and I-"
She continued on with her story and John shot Sherlock a disbelieving look. How did you possibly know about the stamps? his eyes inquired. She hadn't even walked in the bloody door. Sherlock simply smirked and returned John a look that clearly said, obvious, isn't it?
Suddenly Mary stopped talking, noticing the odd eye contact between her fiancé and his best mate.
"I've missed something, haven't I?" she observed.
"Oh, John and I were just discussing you when you walked in the door," Sherlock replied. "And he couldn't comprehend, yet again, how I managed to deduce everything about your situation without having been told anything." He turned to the soldier, "Honestly, John, you've lived with me long enough to expect such things. You don't have to be so impressed every time I do so much as say the alphabet in the correct order."
John's cheeks hid the slightest tint of pink in them as Sherlock began rattling off deductions.
"Mary said she would be at Baker Street by 3:30 p.m. today but didn't arrive until 4:15. Obviously, there was some sort of significant delay in her schedule. All there was left to do was narrow it down. Yesterday she mentioned the necessity to place an order for the flower arrangements, book a wedding photographer, and acquire all the stationary and stamps needed to send out invitations. Now, the delay was most likely caused by a shortage of an item we needed. The flowers and photographer wouldn't cause any significant delay to obtain, since the actual goods won't be needed until the wedding. Obvious. The only thing left to do was to determine which item caused the hold-up - the stationary or the stamps. Recalling our conversation from the other day, the stationary you chose was very plain, simple, and easy to come by. The stamps, however, were limited edition and personalized with sappy, cliché wedding quotes. Those would have been harder to find and all in all more likely to cause a delay. Obviously."
John rolled his eyes. "You must be so proud of yourself, being able to show off at all hours of the day. How'd you know she was coming in?"
The consulting detective stared blankly at his companion for a few moments, as if his question was the single most unintelligent thing ever uttered.
He exhaled loudly, and explained, "I am laying on the couch, facing the window. What can we deduce from this?"
John just shook his head.
"I saw her get out of a cab."
Mary giggled, and John turned a noticeably dark shade of fuschia.
"Yes, yes, of course, um, obviously, yes, um, wedding details! Let's talk about the wedding, shall we? Can't get married without preparation, am I right? Weddings, yes!"
Sherlock grinned, re-opened his (John's) laptop, and got to work. Wedding planning, after all, was a serious matter. It was to Sherlock, anyway.
