The Body Worlds exhibition is a real thing. It's fascinating but not for the squeamish. All of the bodies were donated to science. There have been fashion designers that were inspired by human anatomy, particularly muscles. That said, if you are sensitive to the topic of anatomy as art, you may want to skip this chapter.
It was telling that one of the few dates that did not end with Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper on the wrong side of the police barrier was a date that Molly planned. Granted, given the nature of the date, there were those who would not see that as much comfort. It did, after all, still involve bloody corpses.
Well, not actual bloody corpses (much to Sherlock's disappointment) but quite realistic representations of corpses all the same. So accurate that after a few moments, Sherlock was able to ignore the fact that it was fake. The color, texture, drape- it all gave the impression of a cadaver laid bare and the pieces used to create something new. Frankenstein's monster meets haute couture. Sherlock was pleasantly surprised to find that this date was shaping up to be quite amusing.
Molly seemed enthralled,too, but she was the one to suggest the activity and acquire the tickets. He had only to once again gain access to Mycroft's private jet. Molly, still under the impression that Mycroft had allowed them use of the jet the first time, had simply asked if Sherlock could borrow it again. He smiled and agreed, glad that she wasn't averse to taking advantage of his brother's position and wealth to make the date possible. She certainly couldn't have afforded to hire a private jet and he certainly wasn't going to fly commercial. He was glad it hand't come to that because he wouldn't have missed this for the world.
And that was how Sherlock Holmes found himself attending one of the most gruesome fashion shows in Parisian history. He and Molly were VIP's no less, thanks in part to her connection to the designer's assistant, an old classmate from St. Bart's. Having the assistance of a medical school graduate had certainly proved useful to the unique designer, Sherlock mused as he watched a bone-thin model glide down the runway wearing a body suit covered in anatomically correct muscle groupings. She was followed by an equally thin model wearing only strategically placed tendons and sheets of subcutaneous fat.
It shouldn't have been a surprise that Molly would want to attend something of this sort. How many times (individually and together) had they attended the Body Worlds exhibit? They had even spent a pleasant Saturday afternoon in a seminar led by Dr. Gunther von Hagens himself about the plastination process. He was surprised that he hadn't resisted the idea of attending this event during Fashion Week in Paris. Everything about that phrase had filled him with cold dread until Molly rushed to add the bit about the fashions being made of anatomically correct fake body parts.
At the reception which followed, they were served hors d'oeuvres by wait staff dressed in body suits depicting human musculature. Both he and Molly were rather fascinated by the lifelike (so to speak) quality of the suits and delayed every server as they passed so they could have a closer look. There was an awkward moment when Sherlock suddenly realized he was watching his girlfriend poke at the serratus anterior muscle of a rather well-built male server, but he shooed the man away quickly enough and redirected Molly's attention with a lingering kiss. They didn't often show affection in public, so it when Sherlock initiated a kiss in a crowd, it always captured Molly's full attention.
That it completely captured his attention, too, was beside the point.
All in all, it was an interesting evening. He learned quite a bit about relaxing and having fun, something John had been trying to teach him for years. Perhaps it just took the right partner in the right setting? Corpses on a Paris runway (there was a metaphor in that, but he would consider it later) and a happy Molly on his arm made for a perfect date as far as Sherlock Holmes could tell.