Calvin was awoken in the middle of the night by music. And not just any music, Calvin regarded it as some of the most beautiful violin music she had ever heard. And it was coming from 221B, above her. She pressed a hand to her forehead and felt a sleepy smile form on her lips. She squinted against the light of her phone as she checked the time. It was 4:52 am.
Nonetheless, Calvin threw the covers off to go upstairs and investigate the music. She pulled on a sweatshirt that went almost to her knees because of stretching and wear, hiding her small shorts. She crossed her arms and headed up the stairs to 221B.
Calvin wasn't surprised to find the door open, and she walked slowly into the flat to see Sherlock staring out the window, violin in hand. She wasn't sure if he knew she was there.
She stared at him curiously, face void of the usual amusement it held. Her eyebrows knitted together and her lips were slightly apart as she watched him play. It was like a dance, his body moving with the bow. His whole body was the instrument.
He turned from the window, but his eyes were closed. Calvin realized that he had no idea she was present. She decided to keep it that way, as she enjoyed being able to see him in his element. She found it so very interesting to see him without his walls down.
He continued to play as he took a few more steps around the room, eyes still closed as he focused on the music. Calvin was almost mesmerized by the movements of his body.
His eyes opened and locked with hers. The music didn't stop for a few more moments... before his brain fully processed what it meant that she was there. Suddenly, his bow dropped from the strings and his eyes turned guarded.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded, setting the instrument down in its case on the desk. Calvin blinked before her normal smile graced her lips.
"You woke me up. You're very talented." she said from her place leaning against the wall.
Sherlock ignored the compliment. "Do you ever knock?" he asked, and Calvin wondered if he was embarrassed by the fact that she had seen him in such a different state. She wasn't sure if she could deem it a 'vulnerable' state, as Sherlock was never vulnerable. But maybe he considered it so. Or maybe he was embarrassed he didn't detect her sooner. Perhaps it was both.
"The door was open." Calvin said, shrugging. "Besides, I didn't want to interrupt you. Why are you playing so early?"
"It helps me think."
"Oh? At five in the morning? I'm sure John is thrilled by this habit." Calvin said slyly, swinging her arms behind her back and leaning on them. Sherlock snorted in irritation, and Calvin took a few steps closer to him. She was truly interested in this talent of his.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked, sitting down in one of the armchairs. He seemed irritated that she wasn't leaving automatically.
"The case, what else?"
"Perhaps my name, if I were to be completely conceited." Calvin teased, leaning back in the chair as she crossed her legs.
Sherlock scoffed. "The case is more important than the game you insist on playing." he told her, and Calvin supposed that she should be insulted by his tone, but she just found herself grinning wider. Nothing he said to her could possibly hurt her.
"Maybe I don't even have a reason." Calvin mused aloud, and Sherlock turned to stare at her. "Maybe I just like the name Calvin rather than my given name. Who knows."
Sherlock studied her for a moment. "I would know if that was the reason." he dismissed easily, crossing his arms. "You would have simply changed your name to 'Calvin' rather than simply asking others to address you as such. There is a specific reason."
Calvin cocked her head and tugged at the end of her dark hair. She 'hmm'd to herself, saying nothing else, but her eyes stayed locked on Sherlock's. He seemed to be trying to deduce something from her, but he didn't seem to be able to find what he was looking for.
"Would you play for me?" Calvin asked quietly, and Sherlock's eyebrows knitted together at the question. He seemed ready to refuse, when Calvin uittered another quiet syllable, "Please."
He was silent for a moment, before slowly reaching down and picking his violin back up, balancing it on his shoulder once more. He watched her curiously as his fingers and bow moved in tandem, knowing exactly what tune to play without much direct thought from the musician.
Calvin's eyes closed as she focused on the music, but Sherlock's stayed open this time. He surveyed the woman at his leisure, as she could not meet him with her infuriating gaze. She looked at peace, and as if she were truly enjoying what he was playing. It honestly surprised him that she was not angry to be awoken at such an hour by his violin. In fact, she'd seemed delighted by the talent she'd discovered.
Sherlock allowed himself to become immersed in his music once more, his thoughts directed to the case with its' tune. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but when his eyes opened once more the sun was shining brightly through the windows and Calvin was asleep in the chair.
He put his violin back down and collapsed in the chair opposite of Calvin, watching her again. Her face was completely innocent. He couldn't say that it was 'unguarded' now, because her face was never guarded. Any walls that she had were cleverly disguised as teasing and mirth. Sherlock had no idea what to make of the woman in his chair.
"Morning." John's voice murmured from behind him. Sherlock murmured a similar greeting back without turning to look at him.
John took a few more steps and stopped. "Is that a woman in the chair?" he asked, unable to see Calvin's face from his angle.
"Not a woman, the woman. Calvin." Sherlock told him.
"Oh." John said, turning to go into the kitchen to make the morning tea. It was around eight in the morning. "And why is she in our chair, then?"
"She fell asleep there, John, for god's sake."
"Yeah I get that. But why?"
"She heard me playing last night, came up to bother me, then insisted that I play for her. She fell asleep." Sherlock explained in a more bored tone, as if the encounter last night did not intrigue him as it did. John accepted the explanation and set the kettle to boil.
"What time does she have work?" John asked, debating whether he should wake her up or not.
"She mentioned that her Wednesday class is at 11am once last week." Sherlock mumbled, his face looking far-off now.
John didn't answer and went to see to the kettle as it whistled. Calvin was startled out of her sleep by the high-pitched sound and her head popped up from against her arm. She looked as disheveled as a teenager as she pushed her hair back from her face and looked around, barely coherent.
Her eyes zeroed in on Sherlock and she remembered. "Good morning, Sherlock." she said as her mind and body began waking up rapidly. She turned and her eyes fell on John. "Good morning, John."
"'Morning, Calvin. Tea?" John asked from the kitchen, pulling cups from the cabinet. She nodded and yawned, and he poured a third cup for her. "Anything in it?"
"Black." Sherlock answered before Calvin could even collect her thoughts. She cocked her head at him and smiled.
"My, I'd be flattered by you remembering my preference but I know you'd simply be irritated with me." Calvin teased, accepting the cup of tea from John and taking a long sip. Sherlock scoffed and Calvin smiled into her cup of tea.
"Any leads on the case since yesterday, then?" Calvin asked, breaking the silence of the room. John shook his head.
"None. I think you're right, the murderer is experienced. He covers his tracks well." John answered, and then trotted down the stairs to retrieve the morning paper to read.
"It's a serial killer. They always make one mistake." Sherlock called, not even looking up. He was staring at a crack in the floor, presumably lost in his thoughts about the case Calvin and John were currently discussing out loud.
"Are we sure it's one person, though?" Calvin asked, looking at Sherlock now.
"The victims all had the same kind of 'mistakes' on them." John offered.
"That doesn't necessarily mea that it's the same person every time. Perhaps it's their orders to make the same type of mistakes..." Calvin mused, her eyes turning to the ceiling with thought.
Sherlock shook his head. "No it is one person..." he murmured. "But they are all so unconnected. The most recent man did not work at the school with the others. He was a lawyer... completely unconnected."
Calvin thought for a moment, but was unable to come up with anything of worth to contribute to the conversation concerning the case. She, as strange as it seemed to her, began to doubt herself. She had been wrong once. Calvin did not want to be wrong a second time in the same case.
The room was silent, though not uncomfortably so. "I have to get ready for my class." Calvin said after a bit, rising and setting her cup on the table. "Thank you, John. I'll see you later." With that, she headed down the stairs to her own flat. Mrs. Hudson had gone to the market earlier that morning.
Entering her flat, Calvin found herself face-to-face with a gun. Surprised but not fearful, she tilted her head to the side to see a man dressed in a fine suit and a fedora holding the gun.
"I get it." she exclaimed, delighted, into the barrel of the gun. "Oh that's interesting." The gun was fired.
OoOoOoOoOoO
CLIFFFFFFF HAAAAANGER HANGING FROM A CLIIIIIIFFFFFF. AND THAT'S WHY HE'S CALLED CLIFFHANGER.
Wow I am so sorry to have kept you waiting so long for a shitty chapter, guys. I was really busy and tired the past few days. But I MADE MYSELF stay up to finally finish this chapter. Cause that's how determined I was.
So next chapter we find out what happens to Calvin AND the case is solved. Finally. And then we move on to the events of The Great Game. O shit. Moriarty. I fucking LOOOOOVE Moriarty. Though Calvin won't be very invested in the plot of that case... as of yet. I haven't really planned it out all that well.
Okay I'm like exhausted. New chapter tomorrow most likely. Good night, ya'll! Love you! Don't forget to review and let me know how I'm doing!
Jess