Sherlock stepped out of the cab and left Joan to pay like any other time before. He strode towards the door, making Joan pick up her pace to catch the door he'd opened and left to swing shut behind him, not bothering to hold it. She didn't mind much- it's not like it was unusual.
She reached up to tug at the bun she'd pulled her hair up into, tightening it while accidentally letting a few strands fall out to frame her face faintly. She sat down and shrugged the coat off her shoulders with ease, happy to be rid of the camp piece of cloth. She stared out the window into the ever-darkening sky, the rain coming down harder than when they'd gotten into the cab. She sighed softly, unaware of the studying eyes of her flatmate as he tried to memorize each soft detail his own life severely lacked.
They didn't speak other than ordering, and even then Joan had to prod Sherlock to get something. She won the argument and he got something small, proceeding to eat a smaller portion of it. Joan didn't comment, deciding that was fine.
"So, how was the case with Lestrade today?" Joan had long ago given up on referring to Lestrade with his first name. That only got her a confused look and an avoided topic.
"Boring." He declared,"Lestrade was staring at the blatantly obvious. He misled me with what he considered a five."
Joan smiled briefly, fondly,"Should I expect some sort of strop when we get home?"
Sherlocks eyes narrowed at her and he bit back a snide retort as the waitress came by to clean off the table and get them the check. Minutes later they were outside in the rain again. Joan waited by as Sherlock attempted to wave down a cab, and quick as ever, he did.
"You're a life saver, you know." Joan beamed, settling into the backseat next to Sherlock.
Sherlock stayed silent and looked at her from the side as she told the cabbie where to go.
"You say that rather often,"He finally hummed, turning his head towards her slightly.
"What? 'You're a lifesaver'?" She replied with a soft sigh behind the words.
"Not exactly." Sherlock corrected,"Referring to me with positive adjectives. 'Fantastic' and 'Brilliant' seem to be your favourites as of late."
"Are you complaining? You are brilliant, Sherlock. And fantastic- when there's nothing suspect in the kettle boiling, of course." She concluded.
"I simply live in a world of average IQs and happen to have one of the higher ones. Nothing special. There's probably someone else with the same level as I have whom you've never met yet you seem to assume I'm worthy of praise. Why?"
The innocents and...well, just the statement had Joan's heart tight in her chest. Why? God! There were so many reasons!
"Because even if I did meet another man or woman like you, you were the first. You decided I was interesting enough to invite me to live with you without a second thought- or maybe every deduction was weighing pros and cons privately, who knows. But to be frank, I probably wouldn't even be alive today to say any of this had you not come along. I had nothing before you." Her voice had grown softer as she spoke, but everything she'd said was just beating around the same bush she always had.
"You've saved me in more ways than one, Sherlock. I think I can put up with a few snide remarks about my own intelligence and a couple badly timed experiments if it means living with you and having that thrill."
Sherlock's gaze was void of emotion and his eyes ran over her for a moment without speaking.
Suddenly Joan felt like she'd made a mess of herself and cleared her throat, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear.
"I don't...Sorry, I don't know where all that came from. I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry." She stammered, turning her eyes to her shoes.
Sherlock made a low sound to acknowledge her statement but otherwise stayed silent. Joan swallowed under his gaze and the next few minutes were not comfortable for her.
When the cab arrived to 221B, she practically jumped out of the cab and paused to pull out her wallet to pay the cabbie when Sherlock's knuckles rapping on the top of the car paused her. By the time she realized he was paying, the man had already started pulling back onto the road.
Sherlock turned and walked into the flat without another word, leaving Joan to stand and worry about what she'd said, and flat out stress about what Sherlock had really heard her saying.
