Disclaimer: settings and characters as depicted in BBC series not mine. No money being made. Plot is mine.
A short lull in the workload
A/N – very slight mention of slash
Sherlock was away for a week, though it only took three days to settle their 'client' in his new identity. The man was a complete bore and Sherlock was more than glad to see the back of him. He'd done an especially good job on the client's new background and so forth: provided the man didn't do anything truly stupid he would be untraceable to Scotland Yard.
On his way back, it was politic to visit Mummy. After all, she was providing his alibi in a way, and she was always on at Mycroft to get Sherlock to visit more often. Sherlock took the opportunity to furnish her with pictures of his Heart and Mrs Hudson and she was pleased to send Martha a canister of her specially blended coffee and a handwritten note. Mummy had of course understood that Martha took very good care of him, which pleased her immensely.
Mummy sent John a small, hand-carved box, made from polished rosewood. She made Sherlock promise not to open it, something that he gave her very reluctantly. He'd never broken a promise to Mummy in his life, not even when he was very small, and wasn't about to start now, which meant he'd have to wait until he was back with John in Baker Street.
Mummy had these gifts to hand already, which meant that Mycroft had been telling tales again. Sherlock didn't like that, but kept it to himself as Mummy got upset when her sons 'had a little tiff'.
The rest of their four day visit was spent in various galleries and boutiques. Mummy liked to shop and Sherlock took the opportunity to pick out a few items that he wanted to see John in, though none of them suits. His family only wore suits from Mycroft's tailor, which meant that John had a short shopping trip in his future should the veteran doctor ever be required to wear one. Sherlock's shopping was more about cashmere jumpers and a better coat.
Of course, he didn't get to see the jumpers on John, nor the contents of the wooden box straight away. From the state of the flat, things had been busy. John was out, which Sherlock didn't like at all, but Mrs Hudson had been very happy to see him.
"Scotland Yard have been very persistent in their inquiries for you and John has been called down tot heir offices again this morning," Mrs Hudson warned him as he handed over her tea from Mummy, "Thank you dearie. I'll send your mother a little note."
"As you like," Sherlock replied, bounding back upstairs to see if he could deduce why John had been called to the Yard. The note on the fridge helped.
'Yard wants me to take a look at a body for identification purposes. Back by eight at the latest – John.'
Sherlock tutted and pulled out his phone, firing off a curt text.
Give me back my blogger – SH
It was half five, so Sherlock ordered them some dinner from the local Indian place, glancing at his phone when it chirped at him.
On my way home – need anything? Thanks for the text to L – JW
I ordered dinner – SH was the short reply and Sherlock checked on his blog with a sense of having done something Good. John liked it when Sherlock remembered to do little things like this, which meant that hopefully he'd be in a good mood when he got back and Sherlock could redeem his Promise, whatever that entailed.
John arrived just after the food did, and given his pale appearance, Sherlock judged it best that the man eat something first.
"What did the Yard want?" Sherlock asked, "I assume it was Lestrade?"
"Dimmock, actually," John sighed, sopping up some tikka with naan bread, "The little twerp caught a missing person case – some financier who disappeared after a work do just after you went to see Mummy."
Sherlock smirked at his Heart, who was clearly telling him the story he'd been maintaining with the Yard. It was quite entertaining to see John lie, not because he was bad at it, but because Sherlock knew that the real story was and liked to see how John wove truth into his falsehoods. John grinned back and stole some cauliflower off Sherlock's plate.
"He's convinced that there is foul play involved and insisted that Anderson go through all the John Doe's in the morgues around the place to see if anyone matching his missing man has turned up. Anderson threw his toys out of the pram and Lestrade suggested that I help Dimmock out instead – the bugger," John scowled, "Dimmock had been harping on about how he's perfectly capable of solving cases without you and I very nearly told him what to do with himself yesterday."
Sherlock scowled and snapped a heated text off to Lestrade about the proper way to treat John – which meant Not Loaning Him Out As If He Was A Library Book. John tried to sneak a look at the text but Sherlock evaded him, which led to a short chase, a brief bout of wrestling and John finally knocking him flat onto Sherlock's bed and Touching him.
Touching his genitals, in fact, with his hand, while his mouth nibbled Sherlock's neck and ear and said some really intriguing things, all of which led to Sherlock needing to eventually catch his breath and have a shower. He changed into pyjamas and his robe and came out to find that John had washed up and was curled on the couch with the telly on. Sherlock joined him at once, cuddling close, secure in the knowledge that he was welcome.
"Mummy sent you a present," Sherlock informed his Heart, drawing the box from where he'd stashed it in the pocket of his robe; "She made me promise not to open it."
"How was she?" John asked, accepting the box and turning it in his hands. It was carved in a geometric pattern, the texture silky smooth from the careful polish that had been lovingly maintained. Sherlock craned his head back a bit from where it was resting on John's good shoulder to look at his Heart's profile. John was serious in his question, which was generous of him. He'd never met Mummy, though he would soon enough. Now that she knew about him, Mummy would invite John to visit her within the next few months.
She never came back to England after the Divorce, so John would have to brush up on his French.
"She has a new beau," Sherlock sighed, "He's some sort of artist – she was his patron at first and then he did her portrait."
"Did he do a good job?" John seemed to want to really know, but Sherlock was impatient to see what Mummy had sent.
"I don't know: I haven't seen it – or him before you ask. I never bother to meet them, it's simply too hard to keep up. Mummy likes variety," Sherlock shrugged. He never cared about his mother's suitors, as she never kept them long enough to make meeting them worthwhile, "Are you going to open that or are you going to torture me?"
"Haven't you deduced the contents?" John sounded amused and pressed a kiss to Sherlock's hairline, "Weighed it, shaken it…"
"I promised to let you open it," Sherlock protested. He knew himself well enough to leave the box entirely alone if he wanted to be able to keep his promise. If he'd tried to deduce the contents he'd have had to open it to see if he was right.
John chuckled, amused, but ran his thumbnail around the seam of the box before carefully pulling the top off. Inside, there was a piece of black velvet, clearly wrapped around something else. John took the velvet out, replaced the lid on the box and then carefully unwrapped the material. His breath caught and Sherlock felt himself tense.
In the palm of John's hand rested a signet ring with the Vernet family device clearly stamped upon it. Mummy was a Vernet, so this was her great grandfather's signet ring. To send a gift such as that meant that she clearly understood the significance of John in Sherlock's life – this was her way of telling her son that she approved of his choice whole-heartedly. It would also send a very strong message to Mycroft, especially as Mummy had never sent a family heirloom to Mycroft's lover at all. Of course, she was a complete secret that would never be seen in public with Mycroft, but that was beside the point.
"Sherlock, I can't …" John sounded shocked: clearly he understood the import of this gift. Sherlock twisted around and closed his hands over John's, peering into his face intently. John fell silent and let him look, obviously more comfortable letting Sherlock deduce his thoughts than trying to say them out loud.
He felt unworthy of such a gift, which meant he was insecure in their relationship because Sherlock simply didn't provide the reinforcements that more mundane people would. He wanted to wear the ring, simply because it would clarify things between them, but was uncertain that Sherlock understood the full emotional ramifications that putting the ring on would bring about.
Sherlock kissed the hands he held lightly and tugged the ring out from between John's palms. He smiled at his Heart and slipped the ring onto John's left pinkie.
"It's the Vernet family seal," Sherlock explained, "Mummy has had it for a long time. She never gave Mycroft's partner anything like this, though I think she sends the odd knickknack."
John was quiet, looking down at their joined hands, his breathing a little fast. When he looked up Sherlock flushed and tugged his Heart quickly from the couch to the bedroom, mentally sending Mummy a heartfelt thank you.