The next letter John sends to Sherlock gets sent to his new address that the other man provided. He is worried that maybe it will arrive before Sherlock is moved in, but if the doctor sends it to the original address he has for his pen pal, it might not be received at all. John is tired when he writes, though at least it isn't because of long surgeries this time. Still, it takes him a few minutes to focus and his handwriting is not as neat or evenly spaced as it usually is.

~oOo~

Dear Sherlock,

I hope this letter finds you well, and that you are in your new flat by the time this gets to you. I would like to apologize ahead of time for my atrocious handwriting and any spelling mistakes, since I feel like I could fall asleep standing up. One of the other doctors came down with a rather nasty flu, which is dangerous out here because of possible dehydration. So I volunteered to take some of her shifts so she can focus on getting better. Some of her shifts were directly after mine though so I've been pulling doubles for a few days. But I'm not sure when I might get the chance to write again, so even if I am tired, I thought I should do it now.

I hope that moving back into your real flat gave you a break from your stalker. Hopefully she won't know where you went. Don't worry, I am sure you broke her heart by leaving so she won't try and chase after you. Although I find that to be a funny thought. Nothing wrong with having a crush or a relationship though.

Speaking of your new flat, I hope you are settling in well and you haven't driven your neighbors crazy yet with any odd smells from experiments. Walls can be awful thin sometimes, just remember that. And I hope you've been nice to your landlord. Even if you somehow don't approve of him or something like that. Just because you may not approve of social niceties does not mean you're exempt from them.

Bloody hell, I sound like a nagging aunt or something. I really must be tired. You're a grown man, I'm sure you can take care of these things by yourself, but it does seem as if you would forget things like that. Or rather, choose to ignore them because they're too bothersome or something of that sort.

We had some bad rains a few days ago, had to scramble to get some of the equipment up off the sand because of the way the rain was running and seeping into some of the tents. Of course, most everyone was rather happy about this even if they had us scrambling for a few minutes, especially if there were any electrical wires on the ground. We didn't think there would be enough rain for it to cause a problem, there never is, but it's better safe than sorry, right?

The only other interesting thing that happened is that we had a caracal that we kept seeing nearby for a few days. Seems it was curious about us. In case you don't know, a caracal is sort of a small wild cat. They sort of look like a big house cat, maybe 90-100 centimeters long. The head is similar looking to a common house cat, or maybe more like a Siamese cat, but they have huge ears. Still, even if they are cute, they are dangerous predators. Just not as dangerous as some of the others that are out here. We're not even sure why it was sticking around since we've seen them before but not more than them running for the mountains or something. Always seems more like they're migrating or moving hunting grounds. This one was more curious. The way it watched us and moved around the perimeter, actually made me think of you at one point.

And now I'm getting a little loopy from lack of sleep. Maybe that's my cue to put the pen down and get some rack time. Clearly my mind isn't working right. I think we'll be moving soon, but address will remain the same. Since the mail will still be coming from the same base, as it's still the closest.

I just nodded of. Right. Time for me to get some sleep. Hope things are going well for you, both on the apartment side and the fact that you're back in the real world now. Let me know when you get a phone, we should be moving closer to someplace where I might be able to actually use it.

Sincerely,

John

~oOo~

After reading the letter, Sherlock sits down at his laptop to look up caracals curiously, one eyebrow arching as he sees what they look like. He does open a window since he did start a rather odd experiment recently and he keeps in mind what John said about smells. He's never thought about those things before, but he does feel a bit chastised at what John writes to him, something that is unfamiliar for him. However, as far as the addiction is going he is fine at the moment even though he's been out of rehab for almost a month. Well, except for cigarettes. The one weakness he just can't quite kick. Sitting in his window seat with a cigarette, he starts to compose his reply a little while later.

Holy cow. 200 followers! O.O I am completely flabbergasted right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys are awesome!

Also.. I think Caracals are cool, and in my fantasy world, I would own one. Lol.

John trying to teach Sherlock some manners and social niceties kind of amuses me, because it's what John tries to do a little more subtly in the series. John just hasn't learned to be that subtle with Sherlock yet. I am sure he will learn soon enough. :)

Please let me know what you think! Reviews/Comments welcome!