John returns home from work to a surprise and a good laugh:
John was slowly making his way towards 221B Bakerstreet with his arms full of groceries bags. It was relatively late as work had dragged out at the surgery "Damn paperwork" John thought angrily. Then he had to rush to the store before closing time, as the majority of the content in their fridge, kudos to Sherlock and his constant need for gore filled experiments, was severed limps and organs. By now John was tired and exhausted after a long day and finally making it home should have been a relief, but John found himself already dreading what state the flat might be in after Sherlock had been alone the entire day, once again the shooting 'accident' came to mind. The doctor had texted Sherlock earlier in the day, informing that he would be late from being hold up at work and Sherlock had texted him repeatedly during the rest of his shift, complaining that he was bored, that there was no interesting murders to occupy his mind and that John should just ditch work and come home early. The texts however had stopped approximately 2 hour ago and even though should be relieved that he could finish his work without any more interruptions it only fuelled his worry even more as it could only mean one thing, Sherlock had found an outlet for his boredom. John just prayed in didn't involve another kitchen explosion as the mere thought of having to clean up before having to make dinner and then persuade Sherlock to actually eat something was almost enough to give him a headache.
Finally John reached his destination and, with practiced ease, opened the door with his elbow and let himself inside. Immediately as he entered John's soldier instinct told him that something was wrong. It wasn't a feeling of danger it was more like a feeling of unbalance.. Like something was out of place. Taking note of his surroundings John first realised that Mrs. Hudson's flat was completely silent and the lights were out. That's funny, their landlady was usually home by this hour and more often than not came out and greeted John warmly when coming home from work, especially when he was late, with a motherhen look in her eyes and a reminder for him not to work himself too hard. The second thing he noticed was the silence.. No sound of gunshots, or of the violin or of Sherlock loudly complaining to his skull of the plain and stupid normality of the world. Sherlock rarely suffered of boredom in silence.
Curious and maybe even a bit more worried than before, John quickly made his way up the stairs with the bags and struggled a bit with the door on the top, which also for some reason had been closed. When he finally succeeded in turning the handle and opening the door he was immediately greeted by soothing warmth coming from the burning fireplace as well as an overwhelming delicious odour flowing from the kitchen and as he looked around he found to his surprise and delight that the entire flat was neat and particularly spotless! John couldn't help but pinch himself just to check if he was really awake.
Just then Mrs. Hudson exited the kitchen, wearing a pink apron adorned with a vivid flower print and wiping her hands off in a tea towel, as she saw John her smile widened.
"Oh John there you are dearie, welcome home." The elderly woman said warmly and threw her arms out as she walked closer to embrace the good doctor.
John, though still confused, quickly put down the bags and returned the soft embrace before asking.
"Hello Mrs. Hudson.. Err, not to sound rude or ungrateful, but what in the world..?" John started, but didn't even get to finish his question before Mrs. Hudson answered.
"Oh Sherlock told me you were working late again dear and you always work so very hard both here and at the hospital. Sherlock and I thought you deserved a little brake so we got busy as you can see." The cherry landlady said fondly.
"Indeed, really.. Wow Mrs. Hudson, that's so thoughtful I don't even know how to thank you enough." John Said gratefully with a soft smile on his lips.
"So where's Sherlock now?" John then asked, not seeing his detective roommate anywhere.
"Oh he's in the kitchen finishing dinner, I hope you're hungry dear." Mrs. Hudson chimed cheerfully.
"Sherlock cooking?! That I've got to see!" John laughed slightly as he quickly pulled of his jacket and made his way towards the kitchen, but before he made it all the way Sherlock emerged.
"Mrs. Hudson the sauce is boiling, should I add the cream now? Oh.. John.. Hello, welcome home." Sherlock said a bit bewildered since he had actually been so engaged in this cooking ordeal that he hadn't even registered John's arrival. His curly hair was slightly ruffled and he had a bit of flour on his right cheek, but that wasn't the reason as to why John Watson immediately broke into a laughing fit so intense that he had to take to his sides and bend forward from laughing so hard when he saw Sherlock's appearance.
Sherlock was wearing a bright pink apron with heart print and white fringes on the edges.
Sherlock's cheeks quickly turned bright red in embarrassment. He hadn't meant for John to actually see him wearing the damn thing.
"What?! It was the only one Mrs. Hudson had left! This is an Armani shirt John, I'm not going to sacrifice it just for the sake of making you a hot meal!" Sherlock tried to defend himself, but still not able to suppress the flush of embarrassment to spread to his ears and neck.
Suddenly there was a flash that momentarily blinded him, when he looked back towards John he saw to his horror that the doctor was holding up his camera phone, grinning like an idiot.
"Oh I'm going to treasure this forever." John gasped between breaths and fits of laughter.
"John.." Sherlock said in a warning tone.
"Wonder what Lestrade will think about this?" John continued to tease. Of course he had no intension of sending the picture to anyone. No it was to be his own private pleasure, plus it could be used as blackmail to make the man eat once in a while.
Sherlock's eyes widened.
"John don't you dare! I will never hear the end of it!" Sherlock exclaimed and then jumped forward to try and take away John's phone to delete the evidence.
"Give it here!"
But John was too fast and immediately ran off the phone still in his hands.
"Not a chance Sherlock, it's mine now, better get used to it."
Mrs. Hudson watched with feigned dismay as her boys chased each other around the living room of 221B and couldn't suppress her giggle when Sherlock threw John's union Jack pillow at the doctor who had taken refuge behind the sofa.
After a while things settled down once again. Sherlock had reluctantly allowed John to keep the picture as long as he didn't share it with anyone. Mrs. Hudson finished their dinner and all 3 sat together at the table to eat and chat. Sherlock even ate without any complaints and John couldn't help smiling brightly through the whole dinner.