Another Kid AU. Really, I do wonder how Sherlock was during his childhood. Was he just like now-cold, aloof, distant? Or was he actually normal, friendly even, then something made him become the man he is now? I like to think positive, so please don't curse at me cos I prefer the second choice…
"Hey, Sherlock?" Molly nudged the bony shoulder of the boy sitting beside her with her tiny finger. "Can we play something?"
"If you are suggesting cooking again, I will move miles away from you," Sherlock warned her, not looking up from the book he was reading.
"No, don't leave! I wasn't thinking of that at all!" she pleaded.
He turned his head to his left, eyes leaving the text to see her face, eyebrow raised.
"Okay. Maybe not 'at all'…" she conceded, then hurried when she saw his eyes returning to the book, "but another game? I'm bored, Sherlock."
"Go and read then if you're so bored," he suggested dismissively.
"I've already read Cinderella and Snow White," she whined.
"Not Little Red Riding Hood, you haven't."
"That's at home; it's not in my bag now. Oh please, can we play a game? Please, please, pweety puh-lease?"
Sherlock eventually became irritated at her whining and slammed shut his book. He faced her, grimacing at the puppy-eye look she was giving him. After a few seconds' worth of deliberating, he decided to give in and humour her. He would rather go through a few minutes of gameplay to a few hours of listening to her whine over and over again. "'Puh-lease' stop whining. What 'game' are you suggesting we play then?"
"Oh, oh, I play this game with my cousins all the time! Okay, now, you. You go and think of a number, and I'll gu-"
"Two hundred forty-eight thousand, five hundred twenty-three."
Molly gave him a glare. "I haven't finish! I'm suppose to guess your number! …although I don't think I'll ever get that…"
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, continue."
"You think of a number between 1 to 10 and I'll guess it."
He gave a withered look. "You call that a game?"
"But it's fun! …got a number yet?"
"…yes. Start guessing."
Molly rubbed her hands together and started. "Seven?"
"No."
"Ten?"
"No."
"Three?"
He considered this before answering, "Close."
"Hah!" her grin was wide, "four!"
"Nope."
"Two?"
"No."
Her grin faltered. "Huh? Those are the only numbers close to three!"
"There's pi. 3.14159."
Molly furrowed her eyebrows in recollection. "Never heard of a pie called 'three point one four…something something…'."
"Pi's a math symbol, Molly. Used to calculate the circumference or area of a circle."
"…did we learn that last week?" she asked, unsure and worried that she may have missed the lesson.
"Came from Brother Mycroft's textbook."
"Why'd you memorise it then?"
"Thought it'd come in useful soon," he shrugged.
"Useful to show off that is," Molly muttered under her breath, annoyed at Sherlock's tendency to bring in bombastic words or phrases that she could not even pronounce.
He heard her, though, and before he could defend himself, an idea came to him.
"I have something. Wanna try?" he asked her.
"Really, you have? Yes! I wanna try!" she eagerly replied, turning her whole body so she was sitting facing him.
"Okay. Think of a number between 1 to 10," he began.
"You have it?" She nodded; her number's 3, her favourite number. "Good. Now I want you to add 4 to the number."
3 plus 4 is 7.
"Multiply your answer by 2."
7 times 2 is 14.
"Then you subtract 6 from the product."
"Eh?"
"Answer minus 6," he simplified for her.
"Oh." 14 minus 6 is…8. 8, right?
"Do not have doubts!" he told her in response to the slightly lost expression she was wearing. "It'll affect the whole thing! Count again."
…yup, 8. Molly nodded her confirmation of her answer.
"Alright, divide your answer by 2 and subtract the number you've started with from it."
8 divided by 2 is 4, and 4 minus 3 is-
"Your answer's 1."
Molly stared agape at the boy in front of her, who was giving her a smirk in satisfaction at getting it correct. Of couse it's correct, it's supposed to be correct, he thought smugly.
"H-how'd you…" she asked in wonderment.
Sherlock stood up with his book in his right hand and gave her a wink as the bell rang, telling all kids to enter the building. "A magician never reveals his secret."
She watched his retreating form before calling out, "You're no magician! Where's your pointy hat?"
