"I'm not wearing that."

"Yes you are. It's for a case, John!"

John looks at the outfit Sherlock had laid out for him on their bed.

"You really can't expect me to wear this. In public," he rubs his face and groans.

Sherlock walks through the door of the bedroom wearing a purple top, red scarf and tan jacket, "I am, I see no reason why you shouldn't. Where we're going, we'll blend right in."

John's jaw drops, "is that—"

"Shut up."

"Merlin?"

"Quiet."

"That explains the armour. So you have been paying attention to my shows."

Sherlock huffs quietly, "of course I know about popular media, John. I'm not oblivious to everything, you know."

John raises his eyebrows and eyes the costume again, "so, where exactly are we going?"

Sherlock searches his outfit for a place to put his phone, "the Excel centre at Custom House. We'll take the tube. Apparently there's some kind of expo going on. I was hired to return something to a girl, who I'm told is going to be there all day."

John sighs and starts putting on the costume, "you seriously owe me for this."

[][][]

John gawps when they get off the tube. There are literally hundreds of people in costumes bustling around the train platform, "how do they get through London with those weapons without getting arrested?"

"Quite easily, the police are alerted and keep a close eye on them, just in case someone tries anything funny," the corner of his mouth quirks, "very few are real though, all extremely impressive replicas."

"You're impressed by some of them, aren't you?"

Sherlock snorts, "you wouldn't believe the work that goes into a lot of these, John. Now come, we have a girl to find."

They follow the crowd to the main plaza. Sherlock finds the highest place on the steps and turns his attention to the crowd, clearly looking for someone specific. John shuffles his feet awkwardly, trying to avoid the gazes of people walking past. Some of them stop and point their cameras towards them, occasionally shouting "I love you!" in their direction.

Sherlock suddenly points to a girl wearing a very short skirt and a long turquoise wig, talking animatedly to a group of people similarly dressed, "her."

John pulls at his armour to make it more comfortable, "okay, now what?"

Sherlock pulls a phone out of his jacket, "I have to return this."

He sets off at a fast walk, John clumsily following.

Sherlock taps her shoulder. She turns and eyes them curiously before grinning, "ohmigosh I love your cosplays! That's one of my favourite shows!"

Sherlock gets straight to the point, "I'd like to return your phone. It was handed in to the police last week and they asked me to return it to you. Afternoon." He turns quickly and marches away before she can reply.

John nods at her and runs to catch up, the costume not helping, "so we came here, in these outfits, for that?"

Sherlock grins and pulls off his red scarf, "not quite. I was actually hired to return the phone. The costumes weren't entirely necessary though; I just wanted to see you in that armour."