I didn't expect to get any reviews or any follows or any likes or anything so it's wonderful to know people are reading and enjoying. This is a huge thank youuuuuand now back to our regularly scheduled program.
Chapter 2~~
Hamish dressed as fast as he could and ran back into the hallway, peeking his head around the doorframe to watch Sherlock and John get dressed. He wasn't planning on eavesdropping but he had stopped outside the door just as Sherlock was complaining about having to go along on the outing. John hushed him immediately and gave him a look that ended all the arguments, but it was obvious to Hamish that his father would not be enjoyable on this trip. He vowed to himself to be on his absolute best behavior and to make this trip as fun for his father as it would be for himself. He knew that his father had a soft spot for him, especially when Hamish was happy and laughing. Sometimes he thought the same things that he sees as sweet as being annoying, though and Hamish didn't know exactly which one of these it would be today.
He snuck away from the door before either of his fathers noticed he'd been standing there and walked over to the chair he had sat in since they'd arrived, cracking open another book. Just as he began reading, John walked by and ruffled his hair, then grabbed the house key from the hook.
"Come along, Hamish!" He grinned down at his son, holding out Hamish's jacket so he could slip his arms into it. "It'll be a bit cold down by the beach." John explained as he put on his own coat.
"Is father coming?" Hamish asked worridley, looking up at John with big doe eyes.
"Yes, of course he is, Hamish." John stepped into the hallway and sighed loudly. "Let's go, Sherlock!" He yelled, then reached for Hamish's hand and walked out the door. Sherlock followed along like a shadow, brooding and dark.
Once they arrived at the actual boardwalk, Hamish was bursting with energy and ready to go on all the rides. They got in line for a ticket booth all together, but John excused himself to the restroom, leaving just Sherlock and Hamish. It was their turn next, and Sherlock really did not want to talk, especially not to some knowledge lacking teenager who was ripping tickets for a job. He stepped up to the counter nonetheless and was prepared to smile and play nice until he realized how similar the woman looked to Sargent Donovan. It wasn't her of course, but the resemblance was enough to push Sherlock's annoyance over the edge.
"One unlimited ride wristband for the boy. And twenty extra tickets please," Sherlock said. The woman smiled and typed into a computer to print out a receipt and the band.
"That'll be 51 dollars and 47 cents, please," she announced much too cheerily. Sherlock handed over some bills and waited for her to make the change. He had not expected for her to attempt to make conversation as well. "So you aren't from here?" She asked.
Sherlock raised his eyebrow and was about to launch into a much more clever and interesting deduction than the one she had made when John returned from the restroom and cut him off. He thanked the lady, secured the band on Hamish's wrist and pocketed the tickets before pulling Sherlock aside.
"Please, Sherlock, do not do any of that deduction stuff today. Please." John whispered angrily. The only response this produced from Sherlock was an angry glare and a slight nod before a sarcastic smile spread across his face. "Yes alright, whatever that smile means it won't be good for us in the future but for right now please just play nice even though you don't want to be here," John continued. Sherlock nodded again. "Now Hamish, where would you like to go first?"
Hamish grinned and shrugged. "Let's start at that end and work our way across?" he suggested, pointing to the end of the boardwalk closest to them. John smiled in agreement and the trio took off to begin the fun.
"I don't want to ride that one," Hamish announced, pointing to the haunted house ride. They'd already completed the first half of the boardwalk and John was enjoying a deep-fried Twinkie as Hamish pulled on his hands to lead him forward and away from the menacing gargoyles outside the ride.
Sherlock thought otherwise. "Why are you afraid Hamish? Gargoyles and haunted houses are highly irrational. You might even get a bit of fun out of it. I'm sure John would have fun pointing out all of the things that can't actually be real. In fact I'm sure you would show him up on such a competition."
John shrugged his shoulders and licked the Twinkie cream off his fingers. "I'll go with you, would that make it okay?" Hamish looked back and forth between the ride and his father and seemed to decide that Sherlock's disappointment was scarier than the ride.
"Alright, let's go!" Hamish smiled widely then stepped over to give Sherlock a hug. Sherlock wrapped one arm around his son, then patted his back when he'd felt he'd had enough. Hamish retreated to go stand in line with John while Sherlock sat down on a bench at the edge of the boardwalk to wait.
John and Hamish sat down in the coffin themed ride seats and pushed the handlebar down. Organ music was playing and fake spiderwebs adorned the wall. To John's left a part of the wall was shaking and fake plastic chains knocked together. The person running the ride helped the people behind them out of their buggy and Hamish listened carefully to what they were saying. They sounded happy and like they had fun and Hamish was ready to play the game Sherlock had suggested. The ride runner walked over to Hamish and John's seat and made sure the handlebar was down before giving an eerie speech about ride etiquette.
The seat spun around backwards so Hamish and John were looking at everyone getting on and off the ride before they went in. Everything went dark suddenly and the air was cold and wet. Hamish took a deep breath in and started to immediately point out the rides falsities. John was trying to cheat, turning around in the seat to see what was ahead of him. After a particularly fake looking knight in armor jumped out at them, John realized that Hamish wasn't speaking anymore. He turned his head, laughing as he thought he'd won the game and his son no longer had anything to point out, but he slowly realized that he was alone in the buggy. Hamish was gone.
