"Collecting additional information?" John repeated.

"Yes. I don't see – "

"No, of course you don't see," John snapped. He covered his eyes with a hand, feeling a warning flash of pain when his fingers came in contact with the bruise. He dropped his hand away and sighed. "It probably seems perfectly logical to you. I mean, why should I be bothered that this young, gorgeous man finds –"

"Gorgeous?" Sherlock asked, cutting John off, looking genuinely puzzled.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice," John retorted. Sherlock folded his arms, giving John a long look.

"You find Jacob attractive and you're concerned about my reaction to him?"

"You kissed him!"

"John, he kissed me. I would appreciate if you listened to our conversation because I have been telling you that I did not enjoy it and you clearly heard me tell him not to do so again. Since I was not aware that you were there, I could not have been saying this for your benefit."

John hesitated, feeling even more off balance.

"You don't find Jacob attractive?" he asked.

"Tall, dark haired, exceptionally intelligent? Tell me, John, of the two of us, whose type is that?"

John swallowed on a snarl, setting his jaw, which sent a stab of pain through his temple.

"Admittedly, it appears that I am Jacob's type – however, this is not his choice. It is mine. And I have already made it. Why should I change my mind?"

"Oh, I don't know," John said sarcastically. "Because of additional information?"

"It was more than sufficient to prove to me that I was not interested."

"See, that's the problem, Sherlock. If you have to kiss everyone you find fascinating to know they don't live up to me –"

"John. I did not kiss him. Nor would I have thought to initiate it. I realise you don't want to speak about Sebastian, but he was my only other comparison." John opened his mouth to say something but Sherlock shook his head. "And as unpleasant as my sexual encounter was with him, I did enjoy kissing him."

"Brilliant, now you tell me," John muttered. "Because I need more reason to feel like crap about myself right now."

"Would you stop insisting that I am doing this to upset you?" Sherlock snapped. "I did not ask for Jacob to kiss me, I did not want him to, and I insisted he never do so again! Yes, I enjoyed kissing Sebastian but that was it – and certainly nowhere near as much as I enjoy kissing you. I have wondered if other experiences might be comparable to you but I have never conducted any tests. When the opportunity was forced upon me, I took it. And I am very satisfied that you are a superior partner."

"Oh, well, I'm glad you're happy," John snapped.

"I am not happy," Sherlock said, folding his arms. "Because this has clearly made you angry. You got into a pub fight and you seem quite seriously injured despite Harry's assurances that this is not the case. You've already had one ASBO, John. I don't want to have to go to Mycroft to clear a second one."

John stared at him for a moment.

"I don't want you working with him anymore, Sherlock."

"Nor do I want to," Sherlock replied. "He's clearly demonstrated that he cannot control his emotions."

"Right," John muttered. "His unnecessary emotions."

Sherlock sighed, looking far more annoyed than John thought he had any right to.

"Yes, his emotional reactions were unnecessary! We were working, John. There was no need to interfere with that. He was clearly misguided and had ulterior motives for wanting to work with me. And he badly misjudged my interest in him – which, I should point out, you did not."

"For someone who's not interested in him, you've spent more time with him in the past two weeks than you have with me," John countered.

"Interested in working with him, yes. He's highly intelligent and can get me access to bodies for continued experimentation."

John sighed and turned away, resting his elbows on the counter, pressing his hands very carefully against his face.

"If you would like me to be at home –"

"Sherlock, I want you to want to be at home," John sighed. "And I want you to understand the difference."

There was a long moment of silence and John raised his head to meet Sherlock's eyes.

"Then I will be at home in the evenings," he replied. John closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"And what happens when you decide you need more additional data to compare to me?"

Sherlock looked surprised and John felt a flash of irritation.

"I do not," he said. "I'm entirely satisfied that I do not want to be with anyone else."

John held Sherlock's gaze silently, long enough for discomfort to crease the detective's features and darken his grey eyes.

"Then you're going to have to prove that to me," he said.