Molly visited Sherlock again on Friday after class, under the excuse that they had to finish their project. She was thrilled with her conversations with bonds-companion. She hadn't said much about Sherlock yet. They were spending more time getting to know each other a bit. Molly found herself quite charmed by the boy and thought he'd be good for Sherlock. The problem was she was convinced that bonds-companion thought his anon was a girl. In Molly's opinion it was a minor error, but she wasn't sure if the boy would agree with that. She just hoped Sherlock's insistence to anonymity wouldn't blow up in their faces.
Molly was once again greeted at the door by Sherlock's brother, Mycroft. She barely spoke to him beyond 'thank you' before heading upstairs, both out of timidity and because Mycroft didn't really give her a chance to say more.
She knocked on the door softly and entered the room, smiling when she found him at his desk, once again on Tumblr. "bonds-companion?" She asked innocently. She glanced around the room looking for a seat, finding a chair hidden by clothes and other things, or at least she suspected there was a chair under there. "Oh… Do you mind if I…" Sherlock waved his arm in acquiescence without looking at her.
Molly stared at the chair for a moment, before hesitantly starting to pick pieces of clothes off the chair. Eventually she gave up and just shoved it all off onto the floor, deciding Sherlock didn't care much about it. Sure enough, Sherlock still didn't even look up. Molly brought the chair over toward him and sat. "So…" She started. "Any new developments?" She asked, trying to find a good way to approach the subjects.
Sherlock shrugged and typed out another answer to bonds-companion. Molly sighed softly. "Aren't you going to say anything. You have someone who understands and knows… things, and you don't even want to talk to about it? Surely you're dying to talk about him." She said, almost in defeat.
Sherlock paused for a moment, seemingly thinking over what she said. "I suppose…wait." He said before looking at her sharply. "What do you mean by knows things?" He asked, eyeing her intensely. He was well aware that she didn't just mean about the situation. "What do you know about bonds-companion?"
Molly had the decency to blush a bit. "Well.. I sort of.. I'm following him, that's all…" She said, not quite meeting his eye and instead looking at the blog Sherlock was on, bonds-companion's, of course.
Sherlock continued staring at her. "You've talked to him. But he hasn't posted it. He still doesn't know who I am." He said matter of fact-like. Molly shook her head. "No. He doesn't know who you are. Really we haven't talked much about you.. well.. we have, obviously we have. But.. I'm just learning about him, that's all. He's rather interesting actually." She started to sound almost defensive, afraid of Sherlock' reaction, but surprisingly Sherlock's eyes lit up at her words.
"What have you learned? Tell me." He demanded, leaning in toward her, making her eyes widen a bit. She shifted slightly, uncomfortable under the attention and proximity. "I… well.. not a lot… Mostly what you already knew. Though… he does think you're a girl." She added and watched him make a face, almost in disgust at the idea, which made her bite her lip to keep from laughing.
"Well it's good isn't it?" She said with a smile. "I mean… the way he talks about you. He definitely hopes you're a chick. I think that's rather telling, myself." She said, watching him with both curiosity and amusement. Sherlock frowned a bit before speaking. "I don't see how it's a good thing. If he's hoping I'm a girl, then he's not likely to be accepting of me being male. Well.. not in the way I'd want him to be." He murmured the last bit, making Molly lean in a bit in order to hear. She bit her lip again to hold back the grin.
"Oh? And how would you want him to be accepting of him?" She asked, forcing her voice to stay calm, though she was feeling rather giddy. It was like a fanfic acting out in front of her. Sherlock glanced at her quickly. "I don't. It's nothing." He said, or snapped more like, before glancing back at her computer. That only had Molly smiling more. "Alright." She said, knowingly.
Sherlock merely scoffed, not saying anything more, and soon they were blogging again, with Molly getting overly excited and Sherlock snapping at her inane comments on shipping and the like.
The Monday before, after Mycroft had finally turned the wifi back on, Sherlock was immensely relieved to see John's comment on his message. John was fine, and Sherlock h ad just over-reacted. He sat there staring at the message, letting himself fill with relief and happiness that the boy was alright. Then he had to spend another hour or so going over why it was that he cared so much. It shouldn't have taken so long, except that every time he came to the conclusion that he had feelings for the boy he had to dismiss it and try to find another explanation. However, when you have eliminated that which is impossible, whatever remains has to be the truth. It didn't make sense. How could he have feelings for someone he hadn't met? In fact… how could he have feelings? The Holmes family didn't do feelings, ever, and Sherlock had grown up with that, learned their ways, learned not to care. And yet he sat day after day conversing with a boy over the internet, grinning at his comments, feeling butterflies when he indirectly flirted with him, or when he complimented him.
He spent the rest of the week pondering his thoughts and how he could possibly be afflicted with such a disorder. In fact, on Friday, when he sat with Molly, the girl who had only been a better option of a project partner than the other idiots in their class, he realized he was rather fond of her as well.
He had almost been rude and indifferent to her but she pushed through, taking everything he threw at her, and he felt almost relieved. It was odd to think about, that he would be relieved someone wasn't running away from his insults or when they were immediately brushed off. He was almost glad they never actually finished their project before she went home. It meant she had to come again.
Sherlock decided to stop thinking about it. Thinking about these new realizations, these new afflictions, was only making things worse, making him more aware when he spoke to either bonds-companion or to Molly. He preferred to ignore it all and pretend like he was as indifferent as ever. Surely, that was the best way to handle these new circumstances.
The week was looking up for John. He found every day better than the last. He was sure he'd convince Greg to get his own tumblr by the next week at least, and Greg had even begun calling John's anon a girl and almost encouraging John to talk to her. John gave up all pretense of calling his anon by anything other than a girl. He was convinced it had to be a girl, if only by his growing feelings for the girl.
His black eye was steadily fading into a lesser bruise and he was glad for that. It definitely drew less attention to him. He even felt himself getting more on track with his homework. He felt lighter, happier than he had in years, and he knew it was mostly due to the anon along with his finally letting Greg into his secret online life. He was closer to Greg than he had ever been and it felt good. It felt good to finally be able to discuss things with Greg. And he had to admit, it felt nice to have the attentions of the anon. He was vaguely wary about it being some sort of online predator, but then that was fading with every conversation they held.
John also found that his blog was gaining more attention, which he thought odd, but he knew had to do with the anon. He was getting asks from both anonymous and known blogs.
Things such as:
Anonymous:
Seriously, That anon and you. When's the wedding?
Anonymous:
What is up with the two of you? I can feel the sexual tension through my computer screen.
woman-versus-world:
Oh my god! I don't usually ship things. But blimey the two of you are possibly the cutest thing I've seen. Besides the fact that you're polar opposites. But something about opposites attract right?
That last one was a usual. It started off with that, and continued with more asks. She started almost adding into John and the anon's conversations though John only posted some of her asks, only the ones he felt like he could or should answer.
He wondered how the anon felt about this attention. He knew he blushed at some of the comments. He didn't post most of them, filtering through the ones he actually felt okay to answer. And then there was Greg, who had dismissed the anon when John first mentioned him, and was now encouraging the others' comments. He even whistled at some of the more graphic ones.
John was even impressed by a fanart that had been submitted by someone, of the anon and him. He wasn't sure which of them was supposed to be which. He posted it though, a picture of a blonde girl and a tall brunette man. And after that he got another, of two girls. It was an interesting thought, and made him a bit more aware that he wasn't at all sure of the other's gender, though he didn't let it bug him for long before he blushed at another comment and continued.
He realized at one point that it was easy to pick out /his/ anon. And not just because the others were usually something about shipping the two of them, but also just the way she wrote, it was definitely different than most.
By the end of the week he found himself wondering more and more about whether or not he'd ever actually meet her. He was hoping he would. He didn't know how long he could go on like this without meeting her. He was becoming more and more attached as it was.
Anonymous:
I don't understand all the pointless drivel about two people conversing. And I'm not even sure which person is supposed to be which in any of those drawings. I can assure you and them that I look like none of them and that they should find a better use of their time.
bonds-companion:
I actually find it amusing. And the art is quite good actually. Despite us not looking like any of them. They're still fascinating. Though I will put out there for future reference that I am in fact male, for anyone who cares.
woman-versus-world:
Oh anon, get over yourself. It's all in fun and games. Besides, I'm sure you're just hiding behind that outer shell of yours. You're probably flattered and just don't want bonds-companion to know about it. ;)
bonds-companion:
I honestly have no answer to that, but I thought it deserved a post, just for the anon to see if nothing else. Not that I think…. Anyway.
Anonymous:
Of course you don't think. I'm starting to see that no one has the ability to think. Me, flattered? I can assure you I'm not. You do realize you're playing with people's lives do you not? And I don't get flattered by people 'shipping' me with someone.
bonds-companion:
I'm not sure whether or not to be offended. I think she's right about the hiding part. You are getting rather defensive. It's just a bit of fun. No one's trying to play with your life. What happens here is honestly only up to the two of us.
Other Anonymous:
It's alright anon. Don't get upset. bonds-companion is obviously here for you, no matter what anyone else says, and that's all you want isn't it?
bonds-companion:
Can't tell if that's innocent or not… but I thought I'd post it anyway.
[sent privately]:
cutesy-cats-loves:
You're getting quite the publicity. How's that for you? I can tell you you're right about your anon. They don't seem all that upset about it. I mean, they pretend to be, even in front of me. And they definitely seem put out about certain comments, especially the drawings. You should have seen their face when they saw the one of you two as an otter and a hedgehog. I think my life is now complete for just having seen that.
bonds-companion:
I don't mind the publicity. I mean, it's nice to be noticed, I guess. I'm getting some comments about my blog as well, which is nice and I don't mind being shipped with the anon.
I'm honestly jealous you get to see their face at all. Don't tell them I said that. But I can definitely imagine that a put out expression would be their forte. I actually quite enjoyed that drawing, as amusing as it was. I think I do actually look similar to that hedgehog. Tell me, do they remind you of an otter at all?