A/n: A touch OOC, perhaps--but terribly fun! XD
"You're still keeping that beetle, Holmes?" I asked in surprise, shedding my coat and glancing at my latest purchase once more before pocketing it.
"No, it's a different one." He turned his glass to get a better view. "I never realized what interesting creatures they can be, really."
The beetle traipsed across the desk, antennae wiggling busily.
"Holmes, I've been getting a suspicion, and when you say a 'different one,' it only strengthens it. Are we getting a beetle infestation?"
He put his eye closer to the glass.
"Holmes?"
"…'fraid so, old boy. I didn't tell you because…well…" he lay his index finger on the desktop and waited patiently for the beetle to climb up. "I fancied you'd go and buy beetle-wafers."
"Why would that be such a bad thing?"
"Well—" Holmes squirmed. "They're dangerous--terribly dangerous, Watson, you know that! A child might see it on the floor and eat it. What then? We'd have some pretty problems of our own!"
I was going to point out that, yes, this would be a problem if tiny children frequently crawled about our sitting-room--but something made me stop.
I quietly dropped my new package in the rubbish bin. "We'll find another way."
Holmes nodded, brushing the beetle off his finger-tip and into a flask, followed by a crumb of bread.
A/n: I found the word "beetle-wafers" to be absolutely hilarious. Apparently they were wafers made with "red-lead" and were bought to kill beetles during Victorian times.