After dinner, John was forced to sit by again as Sherlock took away the dishes and at least rinsed them off enough to put them in the dishwasher, before returning to the living room in order to hand John the remote to the television. After, the detective steps over to sit down at his desk to open his own laptop - for once - in order to check his blog and see if there are any small jobs he can do without leaving Baker Street. He is sure that if he leaves, John will take it upon himself to do what he needs to do, rather than asking for help or just waiting to do it later.

Watching the younger man for a few moments, John finally relaxes the best he can on the couch while still sitting up, not wanting to lay down again so soon because he knows he will end up falling asleep again in fairly short order if he does. And of course, despite their previous conversation, John does not want to be coddled and he does intend to push himself a little, but maybe not as much as he might have, had Sherlock not expressed worry over his well being. Then there was the cooking which was shocking but good. Sure, he might not have know the brunette for that long, but he keeps finding out new things about him that make the doctor re-evaluate what he knows about his flatmate.

Still, John knows that Sherlock means well about him taking it easy and as a doctor, he also knows the wisdom of resting, but the soldier in him does not want to be weak, and keeps wondering what will happen to a certain consulting detective if he doesn't get better soon. Considering that said detective is a brilliant madman. John can only hope that his injury and Sherlock's concern - as well as his guilt - will keep him from doing something extraordinarily guilty.

Aware that he is being watched by the doctor but deciding not to give anything away, Sherlock continues to look through his site, answering a few inquiries before he opens an email to one client requesting more information. Only after that is done does he risk a look over at John, who appears to be getting close to the point of drifting off. And that makes him consider the sleeping situation. John should not be climbing the stairs in his state, which means that there is only one logical choice.

"John. You need to rest, you can use my bed until you're healed, I can sleep on the couch if I need to. I sleep there more often than not anyway." Sherlock states as he gets up smoothly from his chair and steps over to where John is sitting on the couch, blinking up at him sleepily.

Shaking his head a little, John takes a deep breath which makes him wince. "No." He says firmly. "I am perfectly capable of climbing one flight of bloody stairs, Sherlock." He says as he wakes himself up a little more. "I am not taking over your room on top of everything else." He says quietly as he starts to lean forward to get up.

Grabbing him by the arm, Sherlock helps him to stand before he sighs. "John." He says in a firm tone, grabbing both of his arms and ducking down a little to get his attention. "Climbing the stairs will only aggravate your injuries. My bed is closer, and more comfortable. I only occasionally use it. When I do sleep, more often or not I sleep on the couch." He says as he looks as his doctor. "There is no reason for you to not use my room for at least a few days to see how you're feeling." He says as he squeezes John's arms gently to try and convey his seriousness.

Too tired to fight Sherlock at the moment, John nods quietly, lifting his hands and touching Sherlock's elbows gently. "Alright, alright… Christ, you are a mother hen." He mumbles softly, then adds, "I'm too tired to fight you, I'll fight you in the morning." He decides before he sighs a little. "And to add to your ego.. My ribs are killing me. Could you help me?" he asks as he motions toward the bedroom vaguely. "I can walk on my own. It's just the.. sitting down and stuff." He says awkwardly, wanting to make it quite clear that he is not a complete invalid. It's just sitting down and laying down take more abdominal muscles than you might think.

Relaxing a little now that John is accepting his help, Sherlock nods and he walks back to the bedroom, clearing up some papers and such that he had left along the floor. Besides those papers though, his room is very neat and clean, moreso than any other part of the flat. Of course, he said it himself, that he doesn't spend a lot of time in his bedroom so that may be the reason, but it may also be that this being his most private space he needs it organized to keep his mind straight.

At a slower pace, John follows, one hand cradled across his stomach before he stops in the doorway to the room, looking around. "Wow. That's a lot more neat than I was expecting." He says quietly as he walks over to the bed slowly, glad that he's already in his pajama pants and doesn't have to worry about changing. That is going to get annoying. And there is no way in hell that John is going to ask for help with that, so he'll just have to suck it up.

Walking over to the bed, Sherlock pulls back the covers before he steps in front of John. He's not exactly sure how to help without hurting John worse, so he just frowns a little. "How do I help?" He finally says as he holds his hands out toward John a little, frustrated at his lack of experience and lack of knowledge in this area.

John can't help but smile a little at Sherlock, chuckling lightly which makes him wince a little. "Ok.. just.. Try and hold up as much weight as you can.." he says as he takes Sherlock's hands and puts them beneath his arms, reaching out to grab Sherlock's arms in return, looking at him before he slowly lowers himself to the bed, letting out a relieved breath. "Yeah, that was easier.." he says with a nod of his head, then he sighs. "Same thing with laying down.. Put your arm behind my shoulders, it's the easiest way to support a person's weight." He offers as he looks up at the detective.

Slowly and awkwardly, Sherlock lowers John down to the bed, then he moves around and puts one arm behind John's shoulders, letting the doctor surrender his weight. Even though he's lean he's surprisingly strong, probably as evidenced by the fact that he even went to a mixed martial arts underground fighting in the first place, while coming back with only minimum injuries. So he's able to handle laying John back on the bed, then lifting his legs into the bed and pulling the blankets over him. For a moment, he perches on the edge of the bed as he watches the older man. "Is there anything you need?" He asks slowly, hovering a little maybe, but he wants to make sure his friend is comfortable before he leaves him to sleep. He still thinks it's his responsibility and that it's his fault for John getting hurt.

Sighing a little, John reaches out and puts his hand over one of Sherlock's, giving him a little smile. "A glass of water would be nice, but otherwise I'm fine, Sherlock.." He reassures with a little smile, giving his hand a little squeeze. "You don't have to worry so much. I'll be fine. There's no danger now, I just need to heal. So stop hovering." He says, sounding a little annoyed, but it's counteracted by the smile on his face. "Just try to keep the music down, hm?" He offers with another little smirk. The last thing he needs is a midnight serenade, or Sherlock making his violin sound like he's killing a cat.

A small nod is given, and Sherlock looks down at John's hand on his, turning his hand over and giving John's hand a proper squeeze. "I'll do my best." He says with a faint smile before he gets up swiftly and strides out of the room, coming back a few minutes later with a glass of water which he puts down on the bedside table, within easy reach of John. "Sleep well." He says after a moment, turning off the lights before he walks back into the living room, closing the door behind him. He then looks down at his hand that John had taken a hold of, rubbing his thumb along his fingertips for a few moments before he heads over to the couch, rearranging some cushions before he lays down and folds his hands under his chin to visit his mind palace and figure out what's going on, why he is having so many issues with his emotions when he's had a good hold on them for so long.

When he arrives in the entrance to his Mind Palace, Sherlock looks up at the stone building in front of him, taking a deep breath and giving his arms and shoulders a little shake to settle himself before he puts his hands on the large wooden doors and pushes them open. For a moment he looks around and then starts wandering through the building, which has various different schemes. Some of it looks medieval, some of it looks like an industrial building, other hallways look almost like an upscale hotel. It all depends on what part of his life it was created in. For now he heads to the second level and down one of the hotel hallways, a 'softer' part of the palace where anything remotely emotional gets stored. What he finds there however is somewhat of a shock to him, and makes him stop in his tracks.

John, or at least a representation of him, is leaning with his back against one of the walls, wearing his boots, jeans and a jumper over a button-up shirt. His hands are in the pockets of his jeans, thumbs hanging over the edges. And for a moment he stares at the ground in front of his feet, one leg bent with his foot flat against the wall behind him. When Sherlock gets closer, he looks up and gives his close-lipped smile. "Sherlock. There you are. Quite a place you've got here." He says as he looks around for a few moments, pushing away from the wall to walk over toward the detective.

This is not the first time he's had a representation of someone he knows wandering around his Mind Palace. They are usually contained to their own special rooms however. Mrs. Hudson is confined to a wing that looks much like 221B, Lestrade mans the room that has all his cold or unsolved cases, Mycroft holds court over childhood memories. Only once or twice has he ever had someone wandering around his Mind Palace in general, and never has he had someone who he did not specifically create, wandering around. This is a new development, something that his mind has done without his permission and that is downright worrying for the detective. His mind is something he has always had control over, and always been able to keep orderly, even if nothing else in his life was orderly.

"John. What are you doing here?" Sherlock asks, quite frankly confused, and he doesn't like that feeling at all. Slowly, he looks the doctor over, but everything is very typical about him. His clothes, his stance, his hair, it's all something that he could see on any given day when he looks at the older man.

"Exploring a bit." John says vaguely as he looks around for a few moments, then he turns his attention back to the detective, nodding a little as he takes in the general look of the man. "Right. You're not used to this, are you?" he asks with a little chuckle. "Think of me as your subconscious, Sherlock." He says with a little smile as he watches the younger man. "You've been ignoring some things for far too long." He states as he looks Sherlock over for a few moments. "And I represent everything that you've been holding back, suppressing, and denying yourself. Natural things. Things that, believe it or not, you need and you want." He says as he reaches out and he takes Sherlock's hand the way he had in reality not too long ago, demonstrating his point before he drops his hand. "Think of me as your mind's own psychiatrist." He offers, walking down the hallway a bit to look out one of the windows.

Intrigued but confused, Sherlock rubs his thumb along his fingers again for a moment before he follows this figment of his imagination. "You are saying that my subconscious mind created you in order to help me deal with what brought me here in the first place." He says slowly as he approaches the older man, clasping his hands behind his back as he continues to watch him.

The figment-John looks up and over at Sherlock, smiling a little and nodding as he tilts his head up a little in order to look into Sherlock's eyes. After a moment, he gives a cheeky smile.

"And you got it in one. No wonder people say you're a genius."


Ok.. This came out of nowhere. But I am very interested to seeing where it's going! :D Hope you guys enjoy where this is going as well! Also, I am sooooo sorry for not updating sooner! Longer days at work mean that I can't update all of my stories as quickly as I want. I'm a little disappointed in myself. Especially since I have had an idea for yet a different Sherlock story, lol. Not sure if I will post it or not, though. Next week I have vacation though, so I should be able to get lots of writing done! :D Thanks to everyone who is sticking with my erratic posting patterns. :D

Reviews/comments welcome!