December 22:nd - Finally
Strange stood before his closet, feeling absolutely and utterly foolish. He had never used to be this nervous about this kind of thing. It was utterly unheard of that he would sweat over his clothes choises before a date, in his previous life anyway, yet here he was. It was agony.
He tried to tell himself that it had just been a very long time since he last was out on a date with anybody, that he had changed since then, that... the truth, of course, was that he really liked John.
They had mostly spent the tea drinking session (brits and tea!) in what he'd come to understand was John and his room-mate's (thought the brits called it flat-mate, it seemed flat was their word for apartment) apartment staring at each other and feeling awkward (at least, he certainly had, and John had been blushing almost constantly) while the Doctor and Mrs Hudson had spoken effortlessly about mostly nothing at all and plans for the upcoming holidays.
He could have kissed the motherly woman when she insisted that he and John meet up in London the following day for a date. John had looked like he wanted to object (hopefully against her intervention and not the date itself) so Stephen had hurried to accept. And now here he was, removing his robes for a black suit, trying to look normal for the first time... well, ever, really. He truly was nervous.
John fought not to squirm in his seat. Mostly for convenience, to settle things before he or Doctor Strange could object, he assumed, Mrs Hudson had decided they would meet at Speedy's. Not that Doctor Strange seemed to want to raise any objections; in fact, he answered in the affirmative so quickly that Mrs Hudson positively beamed at him. John hoped that was a good sign.
He had tried to reason with her afterwards, telling her that the former neurosurgeon couldn't possibly come to London again if he lived in New York City, but The Doctor had assured him that it was of no matter at all. Apparently that was more than an excuse, as he and his magical kidnapping box had still been there and Strange somehow managed to make his own way home anyway. Internally, the former army surgeon sighed.
The world was really becoming peculiar. Then he had started to tell Mrs Hudson that maybe they weren't a good match - but she had just cryptically said something about how he and Sherlock made such a pretty pair and how Doctor Strange was just that little bit more... well - she had used the term "batting for that team". It had just left John feeling confused. Sometimes Sherlock and Mrs Hudson was more alike than two people in no way related had any right to be.
He didn't know what he objected about, anyway. He really liked Doctor Strange. He just didn't like how high-handed everyone was being about them. (He really hoped there was a them.) Despite what everyone had always thought, he really wasn't ever attracted to Sherlock. He was like an innocent kid in so many ways, and while great friendship material, not the stuff boyfriends were made of. He was the sort you asked to be your best man, not the type you asked to marry you. So he'd just told everyone how he was not gay and hoped they'd let it go - continuing to do so way after it became obvious that they wouldn't ever quit. It was a truth with modifications anyway.
While he certainly wasn't gay, he had always been proud to be bi - until he'd started to use the not gay excuse to make people shut up about him and his probably asexual flatmate, anyway. He knew, in that way he just did sometimes when it came to the Consulting Detective, that his best friend appreciated the defence. Sherlock didn't want to date. He wanted to stay at home with his experiments, his violin and his magical carpet. And John would never stop defending him. Ever.
He was janked out of his musings and back into his nerves by the bell at the door ringing. It was not a busy time of the day, so it was likely his date. He swallowed, and then he looked over.
It was strange, now that they were finally here. As soon as their eyes met, all of John's nerves just disappeared. Curious - and very welcome. Strange smiled spontaneously, something John returned, and walked straight over. He wasn't wearing those robes which while peculiar looked so good on him, but John didn't care. He rose and greeted him with a slightly hoarse "Hi there". Strange grinned back and simply replied "Hi".
Dun Dunn DUNN!
I do not own anything you recognise - I don't even know where some of it is from!
TapTap
To the guest irene: I am glad to hear that! I hope the resolution will be to your liking! :)