This chapter is for ne-01 who wanted to see the two go shopping. Hope this lives up to expectations!

Hope you all enjoy it, I am now going to go fangirl over the NEW EPISODE! Which I just found online. Squee!

Reiews/comments welcome!


If he were honest with himself, John would say he was rather shocked that he got Sherlock to agree to do the shopping with him. But he wasn't about to question it, so he nods a little, moving back from Sherlock to let him move away from the wall, straightening Sherlock's coat for a moment before he reaches out and takes Sherlock's hand, leading him out of the alley. "How about we walk?" he offers as he looks at Sherlock, the day somewhat nice and John knows there is a relatively nice Tesco nearby, bigger than the one closer to their flat.

Pleased with the hand holding, Sherlock nods a little. "Very well." he says, feigning indifference, but not really minding as much as he thought he might. Especially since he gets to spend time with John, and John is now holding his hand in public. Maybe it is a juvenile response, but considering how many times John claimed he was 'not gay', the fact that he would do something like that for all the world to see makes Sherlock inordinately happy.

For his part, John smirks a little as he looks over at Sherlock, continuing to walk with him. When they get in front of Tesco's, he pauses outside, taking a deep breath before he looks up at the taller man. "Alright. I have a few things we need, but I want you to think about foods you like and will actually eat. Because so help me, I am going to put some weight on those bones of yours." The tone is still firm, but concerned as he looks the man over slowly. "Can you do that for me?" John asks as he watches the detective closely, wanting to make sure that he isn't lied to.

For a few moments, they lock gazes and there seems to be a battle of wills going on, but finally Sherlock sighs, looking away, and then back slowly. "Yes, John." He says reluctantly, pulling out his phone and starting to tap away on it, apparently intent on finding something, somehow unerringly following John into the store.

Even though he still feels reluctant about this, John heads inside and grabs himself a cart, heading over to the produce section first. He can sense Sherlock following along behind him, hear him tapping away on his phone and wondering what in the world he's doing. He's even more shocked when, one hand still tapping on his phone, he reaches out and puts a few things in the cart. Broccoli, spaghetti squash, tomatoes, and then wandering over to the fruits, picking out strawberries and black cherries.

And now John is starting to regret this because Sherlock doesn't seem to have any concept of how much some of this stuff costs, especially the fruit that's out of season. He sighs a little though, not sure what all this could be used for, though he suspects that the strawberries and cherries are just for eating. And that, John can't question or argue with because Sherlock snacking is even more rare than Sherlock eating regular meals. But when Sherlock grabs a second bag of cherries, he feels the need to say something. "Sherlock..." he begins slowly as he looks at him. "Just.. be careful, alright? We are on sort of a budget here." he notes as he watches him cautiously.

As if coming out of a bit of a trance, Sherlock looks up from his phone and blinks a few times at John, taking in what he's saying and then he gives that little 'I am being clever' smirk that always makes John's heart skip a beat, before he reaches into his jacket. "For emergencies." he says as he deftly pulls a black credit card from his wallet, holding it out to John.

Taking the card warily in order to look it over, John notices that it has the name Mycroft Holmes on it, and he starts chuckling a little, nodding and grinning. "Alright, you win. Mycroft worries about your health so much, surely he can't object to paying for our grocery bill." he says with a smirk, shaking his head as he hands it back to Sherlock, sharing a grin with his mad flatmate. "You really are a madman." he says affectionately before he grabs a few thing he was passing up because they were a bit too expensive, before he continues to follow Sherlock through the store.

"Do we have room in our fridge for all this, and your experiments?" John asks when they're further on in the store, since the detective has been grabbing seemingly random things that the doctor can't seem to connect into a recipe.

"Mmm. yes. I forgot. Your other Christmas present, I might as well just tell you at this point so you won't worry about it. I got a small fridge to keep all my experiments in, or at least most of them. It even has a small freezer, but of course anything that's over a certain size will still have to share our main refrigerator." Sherlock says casually as he goes back to tapping away on his phone.

That causes John to stop in his tracks, staring open-mouthed at the mad genius in front of him. "You. Bought a fridge. For your experiments." he says each statement carefully to make sure that he's understanding the other man correctly.

And there's that owlish look again as Sherlock looks up at John as if he just grew another head. "Yes. I did just say that, John. Is your hearing alright?" he asks in his usual derogatory tone.

"Sherlock." John says in a warning tone as he looks at him, some of the fuzzy feelings gone, trying to let the taller man know the doctor is not above taking him down a few notches right here in the middle of Tesco's.

Seeing the change in the soldier's stance and demeanor, Sherlock hesitates, then looks repentant, even if he doesn't outright apologize. "You always complain about my experiments in the fridge. I thought you would be pleased." He admits with a little insecurity in his tone.

Satisfied that his warning got through to Sherlock, John smiles softly. "I am pleased, Sherlock. That is definitely one of the most thoughtful things you have ever done for me." he says, glancing around for a moment before crooking his finger at Sherlock, rather than dragging him down to his level.

Sherlock smiles as he looks at his flatmate, also glancing around since neither of them are much for PDA, but seeing as they're in a deserted aisle, he leans down and gives the soldier what he wants: a soft, brief kiss. Straightening, he clears his throat a little. "Come on, let's finish this up." He says before he goes back to his phone and leads John through the rest of the store.

It's a good thing that they got lots of non-perishable things because the bill actually ends up being quite high. "Blimey, I hope you've got cash on you, Sherlock, we're definitely going to need a cab." John says as he sees the amount of bags they have, packed to optimum efficiency by Sherlock of course.

Looking over at the older man who has become such an important part of his life, Sherlock smiles softly and he nods. "Of course." he says casually, shrugging as he carries some of the bags out to the curb, raising his hand and as always, getting a cab to immediately pull over.

"I wish I knew how you did that.." John mutters as he watches Sherlock, getting into the cab with the bags, and then he looks at his detective. "Now will you tell me what you were doing on your phone this entire time?" he asks, arching an eyebrow.

A little surprised since he was sure that John had figured it out by then, Sherlock smirks a little and scoots just a bit closer to John on the seat so he can turn his phone toward John with a little smile.

"Recipes, John. How else am I to know what quantities of ingredients go into foods I like?"