John was worried. Not because he thought his plan might fail, but because he thought Sherlock wouldn't even notice the difference.

And what was the use in that then?

Complementing Sherlock was something that was almost natural for John; he didn't even have to think about it. No, whenever Sherlock said something brilliant, John just couldn't stop himself and telling Sherlock how amazing he found him. When Sherlock deduced the number of partners some has had just from the person's zipper, or when he could tell someone if they had been cheating just by the state of the ring, how could John stay indifferent?

The option of not telling Sherlock what he thought of him had never occurred to him. Of course that was the same in cases when he didn't agree with something Sherlock did or said, and that often resulted in John leaving to a pub and slamming doors and Sherlock torturing his fiddle.

Sometimes John and Sherlock were just so alike.

One night when he came home, he heard Sherlock play his fiddle.

Normally it wouldn't surprise him, since they were in the middle of a major case, but something was different. Instead of trying to find notes on his violin that don't normally exist, Sherlock was playing a real song. It was some symphony from some classical guy, whom John didn't know the name of, but the doctor knew it was a very complicated piece to play. And yet he saw Sherlock standing affront of the window, playing it with only a fraction of his mind involved, using most of his brain to solve the case.

Inside John's head some kind of voice began to shout: 'Complementing, complementing, complementing!' John smiled.

It was indeed a great time to test how Sherlock would react toward this new development. If he would appreciate it even when he was thinking, John had the green light to continue to do this whenever and wherever he wanted.

"So beautiful," he whispered loud enough to make sure Sherlock heard it, but not loud enough to let Sherlock know he was meant to hear it.

For a fraction of a second Sherlock's back went stiff, before he continued to play. Only this time he seemed to play more passionately. John smiled. Maybe his plan was working after all.

-xxx-

John couldn't help but stare at Sherlock. He had been staring at him for more than an hour.

They went out to ask the niece about how her aunt liked her eggs best. Sherlock had explained to him why it was important, but by then John was already lost in Sherlock. The niece was eighteen and very shy, so she wouldn't be very willing to talk.

Sherlock's solution?

Be even more irresistible than usual. And now they were sitting next to each other.

The plan had worked.

The niece had told everything Sherlock needed to know and so much more. John understood how she wasn't able to resist answering when Sherlock asked something. Sherlock was wearing his purple shirt again along with a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted on him. Sherlock's great bum (so maybe he was drooling a little and maybe he deliberately stayed one step behind Sherlock to watch) was accentuated all the more. Every muscle he had, which was surprisingly a lot, given how skinny he was, were visible moving underneath his clothes.

And there was the voice in John's head again telling him this was another great moment to put his plan in action. And who was John to contradict his own head.

"How do you manage to look that great without even trying?" John asked once they were outside, his voice filled with the wonder he had felt all afternoon.

Sherlock looked back at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, you know what I mean." John said bluntly, walking after the detective. "You dressed like that deliberately today to make the niece drool all over you so that along with the drool, at least some useful information would come out of her."

"Yes," Sherlock said rather simply, surprising John with the simplicity of the initial answer. "I know what you meant about looking me looking good. And I even know what you meant by me not trying, even though running around London 24/7 isn't really doing 'nothing'. No, what I meant was more, why do you ask me this? Are you looking for tips to pick up some ladies?"

"Almost," John murmured. After all, he was looking for some tips, just not with ladies. "No, I guess it was just my silly way of saying that you look good. Great actually."

Sherlock looked shocked, confused and flattered all at the same time. And if his eyes weren't cheating on him, which wasn't very possible giving he wasn't that old, Sherlock was…blushing.

It was the most adorable thing John had seen.

"Aren't you supposed to be straight?" Sherlock asked with a different kind of tone to his voice.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Straight men don't notice other men's looks."

"Sociopaths don't blush when someone notices their looks."

Sherlock's small flush seemed to redden and his eyes darkened into a glare. "I didn't blush."

John gave Sherlock a glare that said 'you did and there is no use in denying it, so don't be a dumbass and just say so.'

"Still," Sherlock said pointedly, "It's strange for a straight man to notice how I look." Sherlock said.

John smiled, in Sherlock's language that was him accepting that he had blushed. It was only a small victory, but it was one. Plus now they were on this subject, John could tell Sherlock something he had wanted to tell him for a long time.

Something that was super important for his plan to succeed.

"Well, I never denied being bi, now did I? I just said I'm not gay, which I'm not. I still like a woman, but I also can't refuse the charms of a firm body against mine." John said. Immediately, he felt that heavy burden was lifted of his shoulders. Now he just had to watch and see if Sherlock could already make the puzzle, or if he had to continue a little bit longer with his plan.

"Oh," was the only thing coming out of Sherlock's mouth. Apparently he hadn't seen that one coming.

John- 2

Sherlock- 0

They walked home in silence. Sherlock was puzzled by what John had said and the fact that he didn't see it coming. John was enjoying in the fact that he said something that was so surprising to Sherlock that he seemed to be completely forgotten about the fact that he had actually solved the case they were working on.

John definitely liked this part of the plan.