Title: Invitation, Ch. 2
Language: English
Characters: Sherlock / John
Type: Adventure / Romance (perhaps, someday)
I met with him to go see the flat at 221B. Mrs. Hudson, the landlady (not housekeeper), seemed nice. However, the place was a mess, which I didn't hesitate to point out.
As Holmes flits about making a token effort to tidy up the place, I sigh to myself. I realize the wink was just an invitation to be a flatmate, and only a flatmate, from someone who has limited social skills. He must not have known about the other definitions of a wink. No flirting or messaging intended. Pity.
He and Mrs. Hudson squabble a bit about the landlady vs. housekeeper issue, then she mentions a rash of recent suicides and goes on about what is the world coming to. Then, he gets a visitor. A man named Lestrade, a DI from Scotland Yard, asks him to come with him to a recent crime scene. He says he'll go on his own, gets ready, and leaves.
I sit down, and suddenly my disappointment at misreading his intention, my irritation with my leg, and my frustration at being left behind make me yell out loud. Mrs. Hudson tries to commiserate, but she doesn't get the whole picture, and I don't illustrate it for her. No need to get more out of sorts than I did when she asked about separate bedrooms.
Then, he's back. He looks right at me and makes another invitation; it is one that anyone else but him would judge me for, but he doesn't even blink. I'm not stupid, so I don't hesitate. It isn't the invitation I had been hoping for yesterday, but it is an invitation that I need all the same.
I was right. This has proven to be interesting. I can't wait to see what happens next.