They end up getting ice cream in a little place that Lestrade knows about, which really does have excellent ice cream. Even Mycroft gets some, though the only person not surprised about that is Sherlock, it seems. After the ice cream they do head back home, getting dinner and then the boys go upstairs to unpack their bags and change for bed.
When they're ready for bed, Lestrade comes up and leans against the door frame to their room. "Well, I'm off for the night, thought I'd come up and say goodnight." he says as he walks over to where the two are sitting on the couch. Well. John is sitting, Sherlock is sprawled out with his legs over John's lap, taking up the entire couch. Apparently he just likes couches.
Looking up from where he's sitting, John nods a little. "Goodnight, Greg." he says as he watches the older man. "Thanks for coming by today.." He says before he covers his mouth quickly as he gives a large yawn.
Opening his eyes from where he was laying back trying to enter his Mind Palace, Sherlock reaches up and grasps Lestrade's hand, giving it a little squeeze. "Yes, thank you. And thank you for the ice cream." He says quietly with a small nod, having always looked to Lestrade as more of a father figure anyway, since the Inspector would always check up on him after he had kicked his drug habit and such. So he's really had two father figures in his life and neither were his actual father.
Lestrade gives the smaller hand around his a small squeeze, then he nods. "You're welcome, Sherlock." he says as he looks at the young boy, before he reaches over to ruffle John's hair. "You two be good, I'll try and swing by tomorrow with some cold cases for you, Sherlock, and to check up on you." he says before he grins a bit. "Goodnight." he says with a small wave before heading out, having narrowly avoided kissing their foreheads goodnight like he might have his own children. He doesn't think that would go over well with either of them, since they aren't really children. Or at least that's what he keeps having to remind himself.
Once Lestrade is gone, John looks over at Sherlock. "That was nice." he says a he looks at the taller boy. And while he's annoyed to have legs in his lap, it's less annoying than having to sit on the floor because Sherlock took up the whole bloody couch.
"I am capable of kindness, John." Sherlock says dismissively, shifting a little to get more comfortable for a few moments. "It.. wasn't so bad, spending time with Mycroft and Lestrade today. Tomorrow, I should see if I can work on at least getting the same chemicals I was using during the experiment that caused this." He says quietly, glancing at John for a few moments. For some reason he's feeling uncertain about this proposal, it's only been a few days and there's a part of him that is enjoying being a kid and just spending time with his friend, something he could never really do before.
"I know you are, Sherlock. But you've always.. just had a certain disdain toward Lestrade before." John reassures as he pats Sherlock's leg then looks back at the tellie for a few moments. "If that's what you want to do, but it's not like we're being injured like this, and I'm sure Mycroft has his men working on it as well." He says as he watches Sherlock. "I'm sure you just want to play with your chemistry set." he teases with a little smirk.
Nodding a little as he considers it, Sherlock glances up at John. "Perhaps." he says quietly with a small shake of his head, before he closes his eyes and tries to go back to his mind palace. He's not sure how much time goes by while he's reorganizing his mind palace and putting it back into some sort of order, before he opens his eyes to John shaking his legs a little. "What is it, John?" he asks, a little irritably.
John sighs and rolls his eyes for a moment. "You looked like you were about to fall asleep, and I need to get up." he says simply, waiting for Sherlock to move his legs before he gets up and stretches, heading toward the bathroom.
A soft knock comes at the door before it opens, Mycroft in just his trousers and his dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, steps into the room. "I think it's time for you two to go to bed. It's late." He says in a firm tone as he looks around. "Where's John?" he asks as he looks at Sherlock.
"Loo." Sherlock says automatically before he gets up, sighing a little. "You do realize that I am not actually a child, Mycroft. I do not need a bedtime." He says, but he turns off the TV and trudge toward the bed anyway to pull down the covers on either side so John can get in as well, before he climbs up into it.
Coming out of the bathroom and stretching a little, John glances at Mycroft. "Bedtime?" He asks before he nods a little, covering a yawn with his hand as he walks toward the bed, seemingly half asleep already as he hops a little to get up into the bed. "This is a bloody ridiculous bed to have." he grumbles, since it's higher than normal off the ground and a thick mattress to begin with, which makes it hard for him to get up in, with his shorter stature.
Stepping over, Mycroft helps John up into the bed, "Well, it was designed for adults." He points out, holding the covers up and waiting for them to get comfortable before he tucks John in first, already being on that side of the bed. "Goodnight, John." He says with unusual fondness in his tone, hesitating before he brushes some of John's hair back from his face, then he walks around the bed and looks at Sherlock, tucking him in. It's clear that John is already asleep and snoring softly in a somewhat adorable way. "Well, that didn't take long. I'm afraid you wore him out, Sherlock." he says with a little chuckle as he watches the younger boy.
Sherlock settles down comfortably, not surprised at Mycroft's suddenly paternal attitude, since it's not like this is the first time he's experienced it. "Yes, John always has had a rather set bedtime and wake up time, when I don't keep him out all night on a case." He says quietly as he looks over at his friend, reaching out to brush some hair back and trail his fingers over the boy's cheek before he pulls his hand back, turning his head to look up at Mycroft. "You have people working on an antidote, I assume?" He asks slowly, not sure how to broach the subject.
Sensing that this might be more than a casual question, Mycroft sits down at the edge of the bed and he nods. "Yes. Your blood samples will be sent to them for testing. Some of course will be tested to make sure that you and John are both healthy." He says, resting his hand on Sherlock's arm gently, giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze. "I will do my best to sort this out, Sherlock." He says seriously.
A small nod is given from the detective, eyes drooping a little as he starts to feel sleepy. "John says we should enjoy our youth right now, in case we're stuck this way. I suggested earlier that I might try and get the things together tomorrow that I was using right before the accident.. but John seemed almost reluctant. I don't know if I should or not, now." He says with a little frown.
"I think that John is right. You never really had a childhood, Sherlock. Not a normal one. You didn't have friends, you didn't do things a normal kid would do because you had such a thirst for knowledge and you were more intelligent than your friends. Perhaps this is a second chance for you. I know my people probably will not come up with something as quickly as you might, but surely it wouldn't hurt to spend a few days, or weeks, being a normal child." He says quietly as he watches his brother, smiling softly, reaching out to gently brush Sherlock's hair back from his forehead. "You need a haircut." He says softly as he considers it. "Why don't you let the people I have working on it, have first crack at it. The list of chemicals you were working with would be appreciated, though." he says quietly. "Then, if they run into a problem, you can assist." he offers quietly.
Nodding slowly, Sherlock takes a deep breath before he watches his brother, who has always been more like a father figure to him anyway. "It.. has been nice. I suppose everyone important already knows of our transformation, but what about the Work?" he asks, not liking the idea that he won't be able to continue being a consulting detective, something he spent most of his adult life working toward.
"You can still do things that don't require you to be at the scene. Even Lestrade can bring things over for you to work on. We'll figure something out, Sherlock. For now, you need to get some rest." Mycroft insists with a small smile, tugging the blankets up a little around Sherlock, watching as his brother's eyes start to close, and he slowly leans down and kisses the side of his head. "Goodnight, Sherlock." he says quietly as he watches him.
It's true that he is very tired, so Sherlock goes without a fight, snuggling down into the blankets and turning on his side so he's facing John in what has become their customary sleeping position. "Goodnight, Dad.." he mumbles in a half asleep state, his mind obviously not engaged all the way, and a moment later he's out.
A little shocked at that, Mycroft carefully stands up from the bed as he looks at Sherlock for a few moments. He sighs and then turns out the lights as he heads to the door, hesitating to look at the two boys before he closes the door and goes to his own bedroom, thinking about how his life has changed in the last few days and how easily he's adapted to having two rambunctious boys in the house. And while he knows that mentally they are 35 and nearly 40 years of age, their physical appearance and the way they seem to act as much like children as they do adults - which he supposes is not unusual, they never acted their age when they WERE adults - makes him think of them more as children.
When he gets into his bedroom, he pauses to look at the mirror above his dresser, briefly going over everything that has happened in the last few days and the final words that Sherlock spoke to him.
"Well, that was rather unexpected."
AwwwWWWW! I couldn't resist, and I would like to thank mrscakeakajane for the request/inspiration for the last bit. Sorry, I just couldn't see a 12 year old Sherlock using 'daddy', so I hope this is close enough! I am dying of adorableness for this story. :D Hope you're all enjoying it!
Reviews/comments welcome!