Three Weeks until Christmas

For the next week John tries to see the positive aspects of the mass spectrometer debacle. He has left his mobile number if the shop should miraculously receive some more items (they haven't been very encouraging in this regard). And he starts looking online if something similar turns up. At least he has some idea what to get Sherlock, now it's simply a question of logistics.

But logistics doesn't seem to be his strong suit because all of the websites simply offer machines that are too outdated, too big or simply too expensive. Since most of these offers are also from the US, which makes an arrival in time at least questionable (especially regarding custom clearance), he decides to abandon the idea and keep it in mind for the next year. Although it means he is more or less in the same position he was a week ago (only with less time at hand): He has no idea what to get the man he loves.

Even worse, Sherlock's business is literally blooming. Between the surgery and some precious hours of sleep, John finds himself dragged all around town without a chance to sneak secretly away. All he can do is some online research in his lunch break, and even those are almost always interrupted by a flood of patients with running noses and sprained ankles because winter decided to make an early and cold appearance in London.

It is quite by accident that he finds an auction for a rare First Edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The History of Spiritualism', since he clicked on something entirely else. He suspects Mycroft's involvement, but decides to ignore it. (His biggest problem with asking Mycroft for help on that matter, is the strange fact that it felt like cheating.) The book is actually affordable and he knows that Sherlock quite likes works the Scottish Author and his scientific approach. So John happily joins the auction and keeps a close eye on it for the next days.

The auction ends on Thursday evening, which worries John bit. Sherlock is currently working on a smuggling case and keeps them both more out on the street than anywhere else. But on Wednesday evening the detective finds the last clue, the smugglers are arrested on Thursday morning and on midday they both stumble in their flat. They celebrate the end of another successful case with lots of ordered Indian food, a nice handjob in the shower before Sherlock collapses on their bed and is lost to the world.

Although it is more than tempting to simply lie down beside his mad genius, John carefully extricates himself from the detective and puts on a fresh sweater and trousers. The auction ends in one hour and he wants to make sure that he is the highest bidder. He settles down at their desk with a fresh cup of tea, starting to write down his notes on the latest case and regularly checks the auction. The countdown is down to five minutes and he is in the progress of elevating his bid just to be on the safe side, when the doorbell rings.

His internal fight whether to ignore it or try to get rid of the unwelcome visitors is quickly decided when he hears a noise from the bedroom. He doesn't want Sherlock to wake up again, so he rushes down the stairs and opens the door. A choir of Carol Singers is greeting him and starts singing almost immediately. All his protests are in vain and he is subjected to three Christmas songs all the while his mind is still on the open page on his laptop (and cursing his mother for his upbringing, he has no doubt Sherlock would just have closed the door). When the children finally stop singing, he gets back in the flat to retrieve his wallet. A glance at the monitor shows that the auction has ended and someone else has now Sherlock's Christmas present. His donation to the Carol Singers is not as generous as it could have been, but some of the kids are quite impressed with his string of curses.