Sherlock finds John's presence calming.
Like an antidote for the poison that no longer runs through his veins.
A poison he no longer needs; no longer wants
Not now that he has John.
John becomes his blogger. The voice of 221B.
The voice of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective.
John immerses himself in work and Sherlock.
He tried dating. There was Jeanette and Sarah and a few others but really, there's only Sherlock.
Sherlock and his experiments; his habits; his whirlwind temperament; the Belstaff; the deer-stalker; that purple shirt.
John and Sherlock. Sherlock and John.
Flatmates; friends; partners in fighting crime.
Lestrade sees it first.
The change.
He remembers the Sherlock who went in to rehab, and he saw the Sherlock who came out.
Then he looks at the Sherlock before him now.
Calmer; more tempered. Still brilliant but more focused.
He knows it is John.
He looks at them and he sees two friends who need each other.
More than either of them realises.
They are the missing half of each other's whole.
Mycroft notices it too.
Sherlock has always been petulant; arrogant; impulsive.
But lately, his brother thinks before speaking; before deducing; before unraveling people's lives.
He sees Sherlock look at John for approval, and he witnesses John, time and time again, giving it to him.
"Incredible!"
"Amazing!"
"Fantastic!"
"Brilliant!"
