John groaned as he heaved his body up the stairs at 221B Baker Street. His day had been terrible. For one, all his patients at the clinic had been impossible to please, blaming him for their flu vaccines not working, cursing him for touching the tender spots that they had come in to get checked; there was just no way for him to win. Now he had to go face Sherlock and make sure his flatmate had eaten something that day, it was these moments that made John question if he was a fellow flatmate or a father.
Reluctantly, John pushed open the front door and went to take off his jacket. Unsurprisingly, Sherlock was sitting hunched over his microscope, genuinely oblivious to John's presence. John sighed and went straight to boil a pot of tea.
Sherlock finally noticed John when the man crossed the threshold into the kitchen and began to make a cup of tea. Sherlock frowned into his microscope as he tried to figure out why John was upset. John's footsteps were louder than usual, he hadn't greeted Sherlock like he usually did, and he now tapped his fingers on his pants as he waited for the water to boil. Sherlock thought that he should say something, maybe ask if John was alright or something else to convey his sentiment. However, by the time Sherlock had started to search for something appropriate to say, John was already walking back to his chair, tea in hand. It was then that Sherlock realized what he could do.
Standing up, Sherlock quickly went to his room and grabbed the worn chess set out of his closet. The detective proceeded to walk back into the living room and place the chess set on the table, simultaneously pulling the table so that it sat in between the two men's chairs.
John looked up wearily and said, "Sherlock, I'm really not in the mood to feel stupid right now."
John had never, ever, one a chess match against Sherlock. To be honest, John had never won anything against Sherlock. The detective was one of the most competitive men John had ever met, outside of Mycroft that is.
"John, how many times must I tell you? You are above average compared to your goldfish-like peers. Now, lets play."
John decided to take that last comment as a compliment and resigned himself to just get the game over with.
"Fine, Sherlock. Let's play."
Sherlock went on placing all the game pieces in their correct area and, once satisfied with their placement, he looked up at John and said, "Let the game begin."
John smirked, causing Sherlock to smile for getting the reaction he wanted.
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It was only three moves into the match when John noticed that something was up. Sherlock always won in three moves, it was that fact that made the game so infuriating. Yet, here they both were, already on move four, and John was still in good standing.
"Sherlock, you know you don't have to let me win," John said a bit amused.
Sherlock faked surprised and said, "I'm doing no such thing! It is only statistically probable that you would have improved by now, we play often enough. I am trying my best, John."
Sure, John thought. He honestly couldn't believe that Sherlock was actually letting him win. Sherlock never let John win anything, purposely or not. Sherlock detested losing in any form.
Two moves later, Sherlock had, without trying, put John into check. Immediately realizing his mistake, Sherlock pretended to look shocked at the door causing John, ever watchful, to turn and see what Sherlock was looking at. Sherlock took this opportunity to quickly move back his pieces and play a less intelligent move.
John knew that Sherlock had changed the pieces, he was just having too much fun watching Sherlock analyzing his moves in an effort to make John win that he didn't want to ruin it by exposing the man. By the time John had won the match, his sour mood was all but gone and he was laughing at the relieved look on Sherlock's face as he had finally finished losing.
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Long after Sherlock had cleaned up the chess game, John got up and went to head to his room to sleep. He stopped in front of Sherlock, who was furiously typing away on John's laptop, and said,
"I know you let me win,"
Sherlock immediately went to interject, but John continued,
"Thank you."
Sherlock stared at the doctor trying to decide on a response, before simply nodded his head once and returned to his typing.
John gave a small smile and shook his head as he went to his bed. That night, he was able to sleep peacefully knowing that his best friend was in the other room.
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Thanks so much for reading! So, as I'm sure you've noticed, I have not been updating on time the past few weeks. Saturday is really just a rough day that I strive for, however, I also have a crazy schedule every week. Also, if I have writer's block, I'm not just going to type up some quick story I'm not proud of just to update. My motto is quality over quantity. Now that thats done, thank you so much for reading! The support has been amazing and you guys are just brilliant. If you have a minute, please review! You're feedback really helps me :) Have a great week and just a little teaser here, I am currently working on two other Sherlock stories that I will publish once they are further along, so I'll let you know when those are up! Stay awesome :)
