"Sherlock, John." Lestrade greeted them both with a nod, "You two clean up quite nicely."

In truth, Sherlock looked almost exactly the same as usual, his nod towards propriety being that Talis had forced him into a tie.

"I fail to understand why this was necessary." He grumbled, referring to both the tie and the fact he'd been talking into attending this bizarre spectacle.

"That's the trouble with being a hero, Sherlock. People keep wanting to thank you. Now straighten up your tie and try not to... speak, for the next hour or so, hmm?" Lestrade looked around. "Where's miss Williams?"

"She had to finish something at the museum and then change. Mrs Hudson gave me to understand the changing might take some time."

"She's at the museum... with that museum guy...?" Lestrade asked carefully.

"Hmm? Yes, yes, the one with the teeth." Sherlock clacked his teeth together twice and continued to fuss with his tie. "He's insisting on checking everything from the box again, just in case..."

"He's insisting..." Lestrade looked at John who simply shrugged. "And you're OK with that?"

"Well I'd hardly say I'm alright with it. It's a complete waste of time, which quite frankly she could be better using to finish this ridiculous dissertation. It'll be impossible to get anything useful out of her until it's finished." He stopped and looked at them both. "What?"

"You do know that Patrick is totally in love with her, don't you?" Lestrade asked delicately.

"It would seem so, yes."

"And that's fine... that she's there, with him, rather than here, with you."

"Who's where with whom?" Donovan asked. She'd smothed her hair down considerably and was wearing a classic 'little black dress'.

"Nothing," Lestrade tried to say, but Sherlock ignored him.

"Lestrade is insinuating I should be jealous because Talis is working with an over-compensating flex-head who happens to be in love with her." Sherlock shrugged. "He's vile, and she can't stand him. She is however the soul of diplomacy... most of the time anyway. If he wants to check the stupid things another dozen times I'm sure she'll accommodate him, even if just on the off chance they find a gem among the trash."

"Wait... you have a date?" She looked at him incredulously. "With a woman?"

Very calmly, Sherlock pulled a noise-maker out of his jacket pocket, pointed it at Donovan and pressed the button producing and ear-splitting honk. "What the hell?" She gasped, stumbling back.

"That was hurtful." Sherlock told her calmly.

"What the hell is that about?" Lestrade asked, hiding his smirk.

"Talis' idea. She thinks if he's more forthcoming about things that are hurtful or upsetting to him, people will start treating him differently, and he'll be able to interact better." John explained. "I looked up all the research and it seems quite sound... from a medical stand point."

"She's trying to fix you? Have you been honest with this woman?" Donovan demanded, only to get blasted with the horn again.

"That was hurtful." Sherlock said with a slight grin. "This is actually quite fun." He said to John.

"Fun is a kind of emotion..."

"Well there you go, it's working already." Sherlock looked up as the lift door opened. "Ah, there you are." he tucked his noise-maker back into his pocket and went to meet Talis, offering her his arm to lead her from the lift. She wore a white silk slip with ruffle bodice covered in very light gauzy purple fabric that floated around her legs as she moved. Sherlock went to take a few steps but she stopped and looked up at him expectantly. He stared back, perplexed.

John coughed and gestured to her dress and Sherlock nodded. "Ah, right. Ahem, you look lovely. Purple has always been your colour."

Talis smiled and started moving again. "Thank you Sherly."

"Sherly?" Donovan got honked at again while Lestrade kissed Talis hand.

"You must be Donovan." Talis looked at the other woman who was seething and turning pink.

"Shall we go?" Sherlock asked. "Lestrade says we only have to stay a couple of hours, if we can find someone from Cambridge down there for you to pick a fight with that should fill most of the time."

"I'm telling you, he picked a fight with me!" Talis protested as he led her back to the elevator. "Can you imagine? 'Shakespeare was black', what a stupid, American idea!"

"Of course," Sherlock agreed calmly. "Everyone knows it was Francis Bacon."

As the doors closed Talis punched him quite hard in the stomach and he doubled over half coughing half laughing.

"That is the cutest and most disturbing couple I've ever seen." Lestrade confessed once the doors were safely closed.

"She's good for him," John said with a smile. "She wont take any of his nonsense."

"Do you really think that honking thing will work?"

"No, not really, but he's having fun with it and when he's in a good mood everything works better." John said. "I don't really think she expects it to work either, but it gives them a sense that they're doing something."

"What about..." Lestrade coughed delicately.

"... It's a work in progress." John scratched his temple and shook his head. "I caught him looking up kara sutra the other day." Both men laughed. "I told him he might be getting a bit ahead of himself, and for the moment he should just do what the rest of us do..."

"And what's that?" Lestrade asked, half fearing the answer.

"Whatever we're told!"

They both laughed.