After getting off the phone with John, Sherlock sits down true to his word and pulls over some paper, the last two letters from John, his sketchbook and the photos that John sent him, in order to make sure he can give the older man a proper reply to the letters and also to give him a present as the rest of an apology. It might not be much, but when John was talking about what Florida looked like, it gave him the idea for something that he could do.
~oOo~
Dear John,
I am glad to hear that you either got over your cold or it never developed fully, you sounded in perfect health on the phone when we spoke. There are details in the pictures you sent me that led me to believe you were the one, besides the RAMC tattoo. I can see slight calluses on your hands both from writing and from your constant use of medical instruments. You were the only one in the pictures who matched your physical age, as well. Which was my main indicator. Your tan lines indicate you've been in that climate for some time, as does the bleaching of your hair on top.
The young man in the photos with you is too shifty, too nervous in his body posture to have been there long, he will jump at every sound, and probably won't survive. And then there is this Adam. He isn't smiling and laughing with you, he's not even looking at you, but something off camera. His eyes are pinched around the edges, he's calculating, thinking. He has a list of numbers in one hand which I have yet to glean the purpose of. He's not wearing ID tags, or at the very least he doesn't have them around his neck. That alone marks him as somewhat suspicious.
No, you did not tell me you had a sister, or if you did, it is not information that I chose to retain. I suppose it is good that she has found someone to be happy with. At least that's what people tell me, that it is good when people find others to be happy with.
I'm glad you are choosing to come back to London for Christmas this year. You will not have to spend it alone. Though Christmas is a consumerist holiday which forces you to spend time with family you may rather wish to avoid. Having you here would not only be interested in general, but it will give me a good excuse to avoid my family. Though I'm afraid now there will be no escaping meeting Mycroft. He's aware of you now, of our friendship, no doubt he will be quite curious. And seeing as he's the British Government, he will no doubt be doing an in-depth background check and biography on you, if he hasn't already. I apologize for that, and for whatever he might do when you finally do meet him. Hopefully he will at least wait until you're in London.
You asked what it was like in Florida, and also said you hoped that I hadn't abandoned my drawing abilities. Well, I have included some pictures that I hope satisfies both of those curiosities. Since I promised you this would be in the post by morning, I had better start on those drawings.
We do have a friendship, John. You are my only friend, perhaps the only one that I have ever had. I would not abandon that, and I will strive to be a better caretaker of it.
Sincerely,
Sherlock.
~oOo~
For a few moments, John stares at the letter when he receives it, laying in the near darkness of the tent, listening to the rain. He has never expected Sherlock to be emotional, especially after the first few letters, but it seems that something John said in his letters or on the phone struck a chord with him. Opening the envelope again, he pulls out the sketches and looks at them, a perfectly drawn sunset over a marina, a view of the everglades and one long road that seems to go straight through them, as well as the Miami skyline at night. Only the three drawings, but they are done as well as the ones from London, surprising John since he knows it's all done from memory, and of a place that presumably Sherlock has only been once. These are not put up on the wall however, these are too personal, and would raise too many questions, so he merely tucks them away and puts them in his foot locker with his other things, making sure they are tucked away safely before he lays back to digest and consider what to write next.
Hope you all enjoy! Bit of a shorter chapter, but there is emotional stuff to come. I love having Sherlock do more sketches. If he remembered those things he must have thought about drawing them at one point or another, simce otherwise it would be deleted. :) Anyway, hope you enjoy it!
Reviews/Comments welcome!