Day 7 (Day 5): Kissing
They get downstairs to the ballroom and Sherlock stops at the door. He peeks through before entering.
"John," Sherlock whispers. "Come here."
John looks over at him, confused. "What?"
"Over here, to me," Sherlock says again. He looks back at John and holds his hand out. "Take my hand."
"For…"
Sherlock lets go of the door and it slowly shuts. "We are undercover. We need to pretend to be together."
"Why?"
"Because it'll be easier to be in with the party full of couples, John. Take my hand."
John nervously swallows. "Alright, Sherlock. If you say so."
John takes his hand and Sherlock doesn't waste any time before he emerges from the hall into the large ballroom.
They get to a crowd of people surrounding a table, so they have to split to get passed them. Sherlock gets go of John's hand and instead places his hand at the small of John's back.
"After you," he whispers, just like anyone intimately would.
It makes John shiver. It's clear quickly that he's going to see a different side to Sherlock tonight. That the side he's to see is entirely acting…doesn't quite sit well with John.
They get to the bar and John orders a glass of scotch while Sherlock gets white wine. They step away from the bar and look around for empty seats.
"What's this party for again?" John asks.
"Bankers. Our subject is right over there."
John looks to where Sherlock is pointing and sees their guy, along with his wife.
"His wife is here," John observes.
"Yup."
"And we think he's going to murder someone with his wife here?"
"Who do you think lures the victims out of the room?"
John chokes on his scotch. "You mean she's—"
"Yes, of course. Now, if anyone asks, and they will because we're two men; we met through work two years ago. We haven't gotten married yet, obviously, we don't have rings. We're from London, but we came for the party." Sherlock tells John which bank they 'work' at, and tells him to stay close all night.
"You brought your gun, right?"
John nods.
"Great," Sherlock says, then places his hand on John's back again. "To our seats, then?"
John leads Sherlock over to two empty seats, and two women approach them quickly.
They introduce themselves and the ladies give them name tags, then the women (who are clearly giddy to meet two "gay" men) ask them a million questions about their relationship. The details Sherlock gave John pay off, because they ask the same things they went over.
Finally, the ladies leave, and Sherlock relocates the suspect and his wife.
"So he's an assassin?" John asks.
"Yes. For a drug lord. We need to know who that is."
"Yes, I remember."
"He's mainly located in England, but he's here on assignment. His next victim is in this room."
"How do you know?"
Sherlock looks at him. "Why else would he be here?"
"Oh…"
Sherlock shakes his head and takes a sip of his wine.
"So where is he?" John asks.
"Who?"
"The next victim."
Sherlock looks around. "Well," he says, "Look around. Observe, John. Think. This is a room full of bankers, everyone is paid very, very well. But-"
"But a drug dealer will be making a little bit more, so..."
Sherlock smiles. "Exactly, right, John."
John begins to search for someone who looks just a little bit more well off than their colleagues.
"And he, or she, will be a foreigner."
"How do you know?"
"If they were British, we wouldn't have needed to come to France."
John nods. "Well done."
Sherlock gives him an appreciative smile, then goes on looking through the people.
Their table-mates arrive minutes later and dinner is served. Over dinner, there's a few long speeches given about the company and the employees.
After dinner, they stand to mingle. What they're really doing is staying a few feet behind the suspect as he moves, but the man never notices.
Eventually, the wife of the suspect slips out of the room.
Sherlock leans in close to John. "She's making her move."
"We need to get out of here."
Sherlock looks like he's thinking of a plan, thinking of a way to get them away from the group they're talking to, thinking of a way to get them out of the party early. John notices the murderer looking over towards them, then Sherlock suddenly takes his face and leans in.
John stands completely still as Sherlock's lips meet his.
Sherlock pulls away, his face not even half as stunned as John's is. Then, it's John's turn to start the kiss.
He places a hand on Sherlock's jaw and pulls him in again, this time pushing the kiss a little further. His tongue traces Sherlock's hot bottom lip, seeking Sherlock's even hotter tongue. Sherlock lets him in, letting John pull him closer and closer until they're both battling to control this sweet kiss.
Sherlock pulls away first this time, and he does look stunned. His cheeks are tinged with pink, his eyebrows are furrowed as if trying to figure out a puzzle. He doesn't break eye contact with John, and his face slowly grows softer.
John notices that the murderer is gone.
"Let's get out of here," Sherlock says, loud enough for other people to hear him.
John eagerly nods, stepping back and taking Sherlock's hand.
"See you two later!" a lady from when they first arrived calls to them as they walk out.
Once in the hall, John opens his arms to embrace Sherlock, but Sherlock visibly slips away from the character he was playing in the ballroom with John.
"We need to find them," he says, darting away down the hall.
John frowns, unsure of anything that just happened. It takes him a few more minutes to follow Sherlock, but finally he suppresses his feelings and runs after his flatmate.