"That's a skull"
"A friend of mine, well I say friend…"
In the first year of university Sherlock had expected that the people around him would be more open to his way of thinking and interests than the boys at high school, but once he arrived he found that most were just like the kids he used to have classes with. Mostly they would either give him a wide berth or give him that look which wasoften accompanied by a 'piss off'. It didn't matter, he liked being alone. But it did help him to talk out loud when doing his own experiments, however talking to himself often attracted attention.
Working back late in one of the labs one of his tutors, who he got on with better than most, had been cleaning out an old store room and had a pile of rubbish to go out. Most were out of date textbooks, piles of papers, folders and the like. But one box had some old animal skeletons and things.
"Staying back late again, Holmes?" Professor Menzies queried, brushing some dust from his tweed jacket.
"Yes, your lecture on the different uses of magnesium had me curious to see if I could develop any more. Or at least be able to find ways to use the alkaline metal in a more practical ways" he hadn't looked away from the test tube he was holding up high as he mixed in some clear liquid from a measured dropper.
The teacher had a strong look of pride on his face. "You do realise what the time is don't you?"
"Well I came in at eleven to…oh" he said in surprise, noticing it was almost eleven at night. "Time slipped away again, I-. That's a skull" he noted in reference to the object in his teachers arms.
"Yes, this one has been around the campus for years, we've got a few replacements so it's retirement time for him"
"It's hard to get real skulls" the thin man commented, sounding as though he knew from first hand experience. "I find them fascinating".
The ageing man seem to come to a conclusion. "You know, Holmes, it's a bit late for an old man like me to be here tonight. I think I'll clean the rest of things out in the morning". He placed the skull on the boxes facing Sherlock. "I'll just leave this guy here. I'll have to make a few calls in the morning to get it disposed of correctly. It's a shame it couldn't just…disappear. A lot less work for me" his eyes twinkled behind his glasses for a moment as his gave his student a meaningful look. "Well goodnight, Holmes. We have that test on Thursday so do try to get a good sleep tonight".
"Thank you, Sir. Goodnight". Once the door clicked shut, Sherlock's eyes snapped to the item on the box from the beaker in his right hand. He made his way over with purpose and bent at the waist, hands in pockets, so that he was eye level with the empty sockets and about four inches in front. "Hello" he said, as though the bone was expecting him to speak first and he was happy to oblige. "Pleased to meet you. I work better when I talk out loud and I'd appreciate it if you'd join me over this side of the room". He straightened and tucked his new friend under his right arm, looking down at it to continue. "I've made two remarkable findings when using magnesium in a way I don't think anyone has before, at least I haven't found any evidence of it in the eleven books I've read so far. Mrs. Dobson from the library said…"
A/N: I'd love to hear if you prefer this sort of format with dialogue or like the previous chapters without the dialogue. Thanks for reading :)