In which Sherlock and John stumble upon Tumblr. Post-Reichenbach
updated AN: Even though I only made two very minor mistakes, I just couldn't have this posted with them! Thanks so much for the reviews- they're lovely :)
John hadn't meant to keep scrolling along the page after he'd found it. In fact, he had immediately slid his index finger along the touchpad of his cherry red laptop to exit the window when he first happened upon...Whatever the hell this was. But some unknown force kept him from double-clicking on the small 'x' in the upper-hand right corner that would make the website disappear, and he found himself slowly glancing towards the screen. Maybe just a quick look...
"Interesting," breathed a voice directly behind his left ear.
"Jesus, Sherlock!" John said, quickly, and a bit reluctantly, closing his laptop.
The world's only consulting detective blinked a few times and swiftly took the folded red device from his flatmate, "Manners, John. I wasn't finished just yet."
John blushed, "There's nothing to be finished with!" He made to retrieve his laptop, but Sherlock simply held it high above his head, his grey-like eyes practically smirking for him, "Honestly Sherlock, stop behaving like a child!"
Sherlock ignored the shorter man and grinned, "Honestly Watson, stop behaving like an adolescent teenager: Hiding what you look up on the internet, erasing your search history, changing your password every week; which by the way doesn't do any good, I'm assuming it's still 'George Harrison'?"
"How-"
"You change your password every Wednesday, not sure why, but it may be subconscious since that's the day I first-"
John jutted out his lower lip much like a child would and crossed his arms, "Never mind- no deductions. Just give it here."
"Uhm, no," Sherlock said, then retreated to his room, leaving a disgruntled John to grumble to himself as he readjusted his favourite jumper.
John sighed in defeat and fixed himself a cup of tea, waiting for the explosion soon to come. Sherlock didn't like when photos of himself were taken, let alone having them posted all over the internet. John thought back to the whole 'Hat-Man and Robin' phase and shuttered. Not five minutes later and Sherlock had emerged from his room, his face straight and unreadable as always.
He set the now closed laptop on the desk and sat down at his usual chair, settling his hands just under his chin, "Mmm..."
John stared, unsure of just how much Sherlock had seen. He cautiously took the seat across from the detective, and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead it was a grunt that sounded very much like, "Erhmk". They stayed like that for what seemed like forever; Sherlock surely in his Mind Palace and John awkwardly awaiting what he had to say when he was finished thinking. And then-
"What the hell was that?" Sherlock finally shouted, ruffling his curls angrily in the process.
"I dunno! Nothing, it's nothing- Just a website I found."
"'Nothing'," Sherlock leaned forward and stared with such intensity, John had to try not to flinch, "This is not 'nothing', John! These people are making a mockery of my brilliance!"
John gave a tentative smile, "I thought the GIFs were rather," he paused, and settled on an adjective that may not suit Sherlock's liking, "Amusing."
Sherlock gritted his teeth, "They are going to regret this."
The army doctor shrugged, "It was flattering, I think. They seem to really like us."
"Oh, don't tell me you enjoy this!" John shifted in his seat, and his silence confirmed Sherlock's question, "You do- you like the attention. Remind me, John, who was it that constantly reminded me of keeping a low profile, hmm?"
"They're not reporters though, Sherlock," He defended. Because yes, he admitted, he did in fact appreciate the attention, "They're just fans. Lots of the captions really were lovely, and the pictures of us were very nice. You even said you found it interesting!" John paused, and realisation slowly dawned upon him, "Hang on a minute- You're telling me that you, you, the fantastic Sherlock Holmes who shows off at every opportunity he gets, is opposed to all of this?"
Sherlock sighed and sucked in a breath, ready to retaliate, but suddenly closed his mouth, crossing his legs and leaning back casually, "You're right. Let's forget about this- is the tea still warm?"
John stared curiously at the taller man, for if he hated anything more than the ignorance of those who surrounded him, it was when he was wrong. He glanced at his laptop, still on the desk, then at Sherlock, who was reheating the tea. With a careful huff he strode over to the laptop and opened it, surprised when he saw that Sherlock had not erased the History inbox. He clicked on the first one he saw listed and nearly choked over the sip of tea he was about to swallow. There on the blue 'dashboard' was a photoshopped picture depicting Sherlock and himself as, er, well, partners, for lack of a better term. Over 2,000 people had reblogged it, and John felt a lump rise in his throat as he clicked on each link, the pictures becoming stranger and stranger as he scrolled down, the word 'Johnlock' on nearly every single one of them...
"I told you," John heard behind his ear once again.
John immediately closed the laptop and stared at the man before him, and he couldn't stop the pink from flooding his cheeks and nose. Not after seeing those photos, at least. "I, uh..."
"Let's not speak of this Tumblr again, John," he straightened his collar then added, "Or should I say, lover."
John was almost sure he caught a hint of a breathless smile and the faintest blush as the consulting detective turned back to return to his tea, but being Sherlock, a breathless smile could mean just about anything.