Ha so Joanie took over this one shot so I hope you all like it. I'm working on the next one now to make up for the lack over the last few days of JoCroft. Urg. What else can you do when your cold turns into a chest cold? So umm yeah I'll stop talking now. We hit Reichenbach for them in the next prompt and then we have two others for the two month gap we see in TRS and then I have several other's which center in on their work during Reichenbach so Allons-y!
One thing that Mycroft and Joanna should have realized before it ever began was that they both were highly competitive. It started off innocently with Joanna challenging him to a game of Boggle he had left out on the coffee table after a day of intense cleaning to cope with his OCD. Joanna had come over for another night of wine and old movies, this time including some fine Italian takeout from a place they had discovered together at lunch one day at work. The night could have almost been constituted as a date, as could have many of the nights like it that Joanna spent in his company, but they weren't. The game of Boggle soon led to war. First Joanna won Boggle, then she won Scrabble and Monopoly. She was also first rate at Battleships, Connect Four, and Operation. He had tried Risk…an unfortunate decision on his part as Joanna had him beat in under an hour. It was more irritating play with her than it ever was playing with Sherlock. She was a strategist and she say moves that even he didn't see. He tried Checkers and she had won. He tried Chess which he had always excelled at, beaten Sherlock at, and had won awards for at boarding school and still she had beaten him. Joanna was a gracious winner however and she never even rubbed the fact that she kept beating him in his face, not even once. Sherlock would have loved it however and would have mocked him every chance he got. She simply would get up, touch his arm briefly or press a kiss to his cheek and then go off to make them both homemade hot chocolate. Those fleeting moments of contact with her left him nearly insane as the scent of almonds and vanilla overwhelmed his senses. She probably had no idea what affect her perfume had on him. She was like a temptress, one that cast him into his own personal Hell.
Mycroft was determined to find a game that Joanna couldn't win. It wasn't him acting childish, but some needed for a sense of accomplishment. It wounded his pride slightly that a woman much smaller than him was able to best him so easily. That was why he had spent some time doing research before he had gone out and purchased a gaming system with a few of the most popular competitive games on the market…well he had sent Anthea to purchase them. He had invited Joanna over on their day off after setting the system up the night before and she had come over with takeout Chinese from a little restaurant they had found near his house on one late night. When she stepped into his living room with the bag of take away she took one look at the gaming system he had set up, to his large flat screen, and then she had smirked at him before she had sauntered past him into his kitchen, bumping him slightly with her hip as she did so. They enjoyed a delicious dinner together at his dining table along with a glass of wine before they reconvened in the living room. Joanna carried her wine through with her, they were working through their second bottle of wine now, and Mycroft put the first game into the gaming system while Joanna picked up the game box as she sat down on the couch.
"Mario kart?" Joanna asked him, raising her eyebrow at him and smirking slightly as he took her wine from her and handed her over a controller instead.
"It's supposed to be popular," Mycroft told her with a slight shrug as he sat down beside her on the couch, instantly smelling almonds and vanilla and nearly groaning. "A racing game apparently," He informed her as the startup menu came on the screen and cheerful music came up. Mycroft grimaced slightly at the graphics and 3D images.
"Whatever floats your boat I guess," Joanna told him as she leaned her head back towards him so that her head nearly rested on his shoulder before she turned her attention back to the television screen. Mycroft went through the options and set up the first match for them as Joanna leaned forward and grabbed her wine glass and lazily sipped it.
"3…2…1...," The voice counted down as they sat shoulder to shoulder on the couch and Joanna put her wine down again and held the controller more firmly in her smaller hands. "Go!" The animated voice said and the game started. They both began the race by fumbling around and trying to get a hang of the controllers. Mycroft figured it out a few seconds before Joanna and he used his head start to his advantage. He quickly made it into the lead before he obtained some power up.
"You bastard!" Joanna shouted as he sent her spinning in circles and Mycroft smirked smugly as she fumbled around to recover. The game continued as Mycroft remained well into the lead. "What the fuck?! Why would you do that to me!?" Joanna shouted as he sent her spinning out of control again. By the third time he did it she was severely pissed off and her face was flushed slightly, her nose wrinkled up and her hair falling down around her shoulders since she had ripped it out of its ponytail. "Mycroft Fucking Holmes! I swear to every deity that you will not live to your next fucking birthday if you do that one more fucking time!" Joanna shouted at him as she smacked him roughly with one of his couch pillows before she swore again loudly and insulted someone's mother in Russian.
"Language," Mycroft chastised her once he was assured that she had no more pillows within reach.
"I'll say whatever the fuck I want thank you very much. I'm a grown woman," Joanna told him as she elbowed him slightly in the ribs and Mycroft let out a slight groan. It wasn't painful, just unexpected. Joanna swore even louder and probably insulted his own mother when he won their race.
"That's so unfair!" Joanna complained before she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted in an adorable way as she huffed and Mycroft smiled smugly at her.
"Truce?" Mycroft asked her, holding his hand out to her and she grumbled, turning her head away from him and refusing to even look at him. He nudged her in the side and she finally looked over at him and sighed, rolling her eyes and smiling ever so slightly as she shook his hand. "Would you like to try something different?" Mycroft asked her and she shrugged at him.
"Might as well. Maybe something less rage inducing," She told him and Mycroft got up as she retrieved her wine glass and finished off the rest of her wine as he changed the game. This one was some sort of capture the flag game and they were put on separate teams. Mycroft should have known before he even put the game in that it was a bad one to play with Joanna. She fought dirty and this game was more natural for her. She killed him first and she laughed joyfully as she did so. It was slightly terrifying to see.
"Ha come at me bro!" Joanna told him and Mycroft looked over at her in confusion over the terminology. In what way was he supposed to come at her and how was he her "bro"? That was just the first in a very long kill streak for her and Mycroft could barely survive for longer than a few seconds. The longer they played this game the more he was getting frustrated. "Haha take that!" Joanna said as she killed him once again just as he was about to capture her flag. She had been nowhere near him and then she had just come out of nowhere and killed him.
"What the fuck was that?" Mycroft demanded of her and Joanna froze and stopped playing, Mycroft finally killing her for the first time. "What?" Mycroft asked her, frowning in confusion as he noticed that Joanna was staring at him in shock.
"You swore. That was the first time you've sworn," Joanna said in surprise as she pointed at him and Mycroft realized that she was right. He never used that kind of language and he had just sworn. "Ha! I've finally corrupted you!" Joanna crowed in triumph. "Watch out London! Mycroft Holmes is a badass," Joanna said before she dissolved into giggles beside him.
"Yes, how amusing," Mycroft told her before he got up and shut off that game.
"Aww," Joanna whined, making a little pouting face. "I liked that game. You were just mad that I was winning," Joanna accused him as Mycroft looked back at her.
"I'm more concerned with the foul language that it induced," Mycroft told her and Joanna huffed before she stood up and walked over to him.
"What other games do you have then?" She asked him as she bent down and looked through the small stack he had on the floor. "Oh my God! We are so playing this!" Joanna shouted excitedly as she pulled Guitar Hero from the stack.
"I don't know about that one. Anthea picked that one out," Mycroft told her, trying to disease her from choosing the only game that his P.A. and not he had picked.
"Nope, my turn to pick," Joanna told him stubbornly before she switched out the games and plugged the two guitar controllers in, handing one over to him. "And I say that we have a bit of fun," Joanna told him with a cheeky grin and he gulped.
They started off playing "I Love Rock 'n Roll" tighter and soon they good really good at the game. Mycroft grinned at Joanna as she started singing along with the songs. Her voice really was beautiful. Mycroft relaxed with her, losing his waist coat and unbuttoning his cuffs and the first few buttons on his dress shirt as he let himself let loose slightly. Joanna lost her shoes at some point and they started in on their third bottle of wine.
"Oh my God, this song!" Joanna said as she chose "Killer Queen" by Queen. "This is so your theme song," Joanna said as it started.
"In what way?" Mycroft asked her in confusion.
"Honey, you're a killer queen! A drama queen at least. Besides, you barely relax and let yourself not be the government," Joanna told him and Mycroft snorted at her.
"I am now," Mycroft pointed out to her and she smirked at him.
"True," She said and they went back to playing, enjoying the game a bit longer until Joanna challenged him to another race. That game ended with the same results as the first only with a lot more swearing on Joanna's part and Mycroft racing to his room as he got chased with one of the couch pillows. He managed to get into his room and lock the door before Joanna caught him but several moments later his door burst open and revealed Joanna holding up a hair pin. "Never run away from an intelligence agent honey," She told him as she stalked inside his room with the couch cushion before she threw it aside and tackled him.
She jumped on his back and they fell sideways onto his bed, Joanna landing right on top of him. It was an odd thing and very awkward for Mycroft as he hadn't had a woman in his room in the last few years or on top of him either, she giggled breathlessly on top of him as Mycroft froze underneath her, intoxicated by the scent of vanilla and almonds that were filling his senses. He lifted his head slightly at the same moment that she lowered her head and in that moment their lips met, a soft brushing only. Joanna stopped laughing instantly and pulled back slightly and their eyes met. Hers were widened in surprise and Mycroft was quite sure his were as well. She quickly scrambled upright and off of him, falling awkwardly beside him and then she let out a cry of surprise as she fell off of his bed.
"Joanna," Mycroft called as he sat up and he looked down to see Joanna looking slightly dazed on the floor and holding her head where she had no doubt hit it on his floorboards. "Are you alright?" He asked her worriedly as he slid off his bed and onto the floor beside her as he helped her sit up and she turned towards him slowly, wincing a bit.
"Um, yeah…sorry…not exactly the best reaction," Joanna said sheepishly as Mycroft shifted his leg so that he was leaning his back against his bed and his legs were folded in front of him near Joanna as she sat up facing him, her legs tucked under her.
"I apologize…it wasn't my intention to," Mycroft told her and she suddenly raised her finger to his lips and shushed him.
"No don't. Don't apologize or deny that you've been wanting to do that for a while," Joanna said and Mycroft swallowed thickly. This was the part where she told him that they were never going to be anything more than friends. "You…you're not the only one," Joanna said suddenly before she leaned in closer to him, looking up at his eyes and Mycroft's eyes widened in surprise as he realized what she was doing. She leaned in even closer, seemingly looking for any hesitation from him before she titled her head up and her lips connected with his again.
This time it was not just a simple brushing of their lips. It was a lot more firm and Joanna's warm hand slid up this cheek and cupped it as she drew him closer to her. Mycroft brought his hand up and wrapped it around her waist as the smell of almonds and vanilla overwhelmed him. Mycroft made a surprised sound as Joanna slipped her tongue into his mouth and tangled it with his own. She hummed out a sound that Mycroft registered was a moan after a second and Mycroft reacted on an instinctual level and drew her closer to him so that she was actually sitting in his lap. She brought both of her arms up around his neck and her chest fell flush against him as his arms tightened around her waist. They broke apart from their kiss finally when the need for oxygen finally got to be too much. Mycroft rested his forehead against Joanna's as she had her eyes closed and then she opened them, her blue eyes meeting his grey.
"That was…," Joanna said and Mycroft hummed in agreement, still speechless. He still felt a bit self-conscious and awkward about this entire situation. "Does that mean we can continue this?" Joanna asked him suddenly and Mycroft snapped out of his stupor. She wanted to kiss him? She raised her eyebrow at him, waiting for a response.
"You would like to kiss me?" Mycroft asked her and she nodded at him.
"Kind of the point of the question love," Joanna told him as she watched him and Mycroft was hit with another stab of shock at the term of endearment.
"Why?" Mycroft asked her and in that moment he was completely vulnerable, a position he never allowed himself to be in.
"Because I find myself strongly attracted to you...," Joanna told him as she leaned in closer to his face and bit her already swollen lip in an enticing way and Mycroft swallowed thickly. "And I would very much like to snog you right now," Joanna told him bluntly before she waited. Mycroft realized that she was giving him a choice. She was waiting for him to say yes or no.
The rational half of his brain told him this wasn't a good idea and to just tell her no, that there was no possibly of any relations with him. He was married to his work and he had no need for any sort of companionship. Then the other half of his brain that was newly less logical was screaming at him to say yes. A rather beautiful woman, if Mycroft was being honest, wanted to snog him and was sitting on his lap. This was the most amount of human contact he had had in years. He hadn't had a relationship, even just a sexual one, in five years. Joanna was interested in him of all people and she wanted to kiss him. Yes, it might be considered unprofessional as they worked together but she had captured his attention and was driving him insane nearly every day with her smiles and her divine smell. Before either half of his brain could formulate a response Mycroft found himself nodding numbly. Suddenly Joanna's lips were crashing down onto his own again. He let out a sound which he realized was his own moan and he nearly froze but then he felt Joanna's hands running through his hair as she shifted on his lap to straddle his waist. He moved his hands to her waist and gripped it tightly as she thoroughly explored his mouth with her tongue and when they broke apart they were both breathing heavily. Mycroft had kissed women before but he never knew it to be as pleasurable as this. Rationally he told himself he should end this but the rational part of his brain was no longer in control. Joanna put both of her hands on his chest to steady herself as she put her forehead on his again and Mycroft saw her grin as he looked at her swollen lips with a bit of a smug look on his face. Joanna ran her fingers through his hair again and scratched his scalp in a pleasant way and Mycroft let out a low growl before pushing his lips up to Joanna's in a fierce kiss. They continued in this manner for several more minutes before breaking apart again.
"Well?" Joanna asked him as she pulled back to look in his eyes and she raised her eyebrow at him with a slight smirk on her face.
"Pleasant," Mycroft told her in contentment before he brought one of his hands up from her waist and experimentally rubbed one of her curls through his fingers. They were even softer than they looked and when he moved them he caught the scent of cherry blossoms.
"It'll do for now," Joanna told him cheekily with a little chuckled before she kissed his forehead, a hint of a promise in her eyes. Mycroft swallowed nervously and Joanna winked at him as she got to her feet before reaching out a hand to him to help him up. He accepted it and let her pull him to his feet, surprised when she was able to pull him to his feet without any issues. She grinned at him cheekily and he felt the blood run to his cheeks as she leaned up on tip toe before frowning as she realized she still couldn't reach his lips. Mycroft obliged her by stooping down and she pressed a light kiss to his lips, this one not heated or passionate, but tender and affectionate. "Night love," She told him before she left him in his room alone and he heard her slip into the room across the hall and close the door. Mycroft shook his head for a moment before he started to get undressed and ready for bed, picking up his couch cushion and smiling at it ruefully as he set it on his chair in the corner of his room. He could worry about the state of his house in the morning. As he fell into bed with a grin on his face Mycroft realized that a less rational part of his brain was taking over his actions but he couldn't be completely frightened by it because what had happened with Joanna had felt completely right. Dare he say it? Could it be love?