John watched as Sherlock walked back into the dining room, and took his seat at the table.
"What were you doing William?" Mr. Holmes said.
"Just straightening out the tea scenario." Sherlock answered, averting his eyes to the table.
Within a few minutes the same maid as well as a few others, cooks, John presumed, came out and set plates of food on the table in front of each of them.
It was fish. A fish that still looked a whole lot like a fish.
Might as well have just jumped out of the water and onto my plate. John thought.
"I hope you like Branzino." Mrs. Holmes said.
"I'm sure I'll love it." John said, eyeing the fish carefully.
Sherlock cleared his throat and John glanced over at him, catching his eye.
Sherlock made slightly exaggerated movements as he cut into his fish.
John watched carefully as he started to eat the roll and peas that had been served with the fish.
First Sherlock pulled off the back and belly side fin bones. Then he sliced near the collar bone and separated the fillet from the head.
John continued to watch as Sherlock cut his fish open, and when Sherlock started to eat it, John started trying to cut his.
He did exactly what Sherlock did, but hadn't had the practice Sherlock had.
When he had finished, he saw an unappealing, though edible, mushed up fillet.
John observed his work.
Not bad for my first try. John thought, then reconsidered. Who am I kidding, it looks horrible!
John hesitantly took a bite, and was surprised to find that it tasted good, despite his having destroyed the form of the fillet.
Sherlock wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin to hide his near chuckle when he saw the squishy glop that was John's fish.
Hey! It was my first time! John thought. Stop laughing.
Sherlock, seemingly reading John's thoughts, just tried to hide his smile.
I'm not laughing.
Yes, you are! Now stop it!
Mycroft glared at the both of them, aware of the telepathic banter that was taking place.
"Augustus doesn't know much about you, and since you will be keeping him for awhile, you probably ought to tell him a little about yourself." Mrs. Holmes said.
John sensed it was more of a command than a suggestion.
"Well, where to start?" Sherlock said.
John sensed that Sherlock had suddenly become nervous, and was watching his father out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm a consulting detective, I invented the job. When the police are out of their depth, which is quite often, just between you and me, they consult me, and I solve it for them." Sherlock said. "I'm John's flat mate, and I play the violin. That pretty much sums me up..." Sherlock trailed off.
"And what about you, Augustus?" Mrs. Holmes said. "Tell your brother a few things about yourself."
Augustus smiled sarcastically at Mrs. Holmes while saying "Yes ma'm." in a too sweet voice.
John was about to crack up, but then he turned and saw Sherlock's face go white.
Please don't. Sherlock mouthed, but it was imperceptible enough that John barely caught it, and he was looking straight at him.
Mrs. Holmes and Mr. Holmes seemed not to notice the tone Augustus had used.
"Well, I'm adopted, that much is obvious, I've been here 3 months, and I didn't know I had a second brother until yesterday. Thanks for warning me in advance Mom!"
Augustus was definitely the master of sarcasm.
"Augustus! That's quite disrespectful!" Mrs. Holmes said. "Apologize to your father and I."
Augustus shrugged.
Mr. Holmes glared at him, and Augustus just glared back.
Sherlock wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved. Augustus hadn't yet seen their father's wrath, that being obvious by the fact that he had the guts to glare at him, but he would soon, considering Mr. and Mrs. Holmes response.
"Apologize." Mr. Holmes ordered.
"Sorry." Augustus said, replicating the forceful tone his father had used.
"For what, dear?" Mrs. Holmes asked.
Augustus looked around the table.
"For being disrespectful."
"Alright then, now that that's over," Mrs. Holmes said. "When can finish eating. Then you will help Augustus pack, Sherlock."
The rest of the meal was relatively uneventful.
Augustus "accidentally" shot a couple peas onto Mycroft's lap, and Mycroft kicked Augustus's feet under the table in response, but that was about the extent of it.
After they had finished the meal, some chocolate cake was promptly brought out to serve as a desert.
August seemed to think that that was the best part of the meal. As did Mycroft.
Sherlock stared at the cake distastefully, having already eaten far more than he usually would, his stomach was quite full.
A glare from his father made him take a few bites. After those, he left it alone.
John savored the small cherries, which had been folded into the cake batter before it had been baked. He ate the chocolate cake around them before taking his time with the cherries, eating them one by one.
Then they were finished.
"Go pack now Augustus." she said. "William will help you get it done faster."
Augustus sighed, and looked up at Sherlock who was just looking at him.
"Alright." They said in unison.
The excused themselves and left to Augustus's room.
Augustus watched as Sherlock seemed to know exactly where his room was.
They walked in and Sherlock breathed out as he looked around.
Skate boarding posters covered the walls, and the desk held stacks of unfinished schoolwork, as well as a laptop computer, and some small metal parts such as gears, batteries, springs, and other such items.
"It looks much different than when it was mine." Sherlock commented.
"This used to be your room?" Augustus asked.
Sherlock nodded.
"She probably cleaned it out as soon as I left though." Sherlock said.
Sherlock turned to Augustus.
"So, what is your actual name then?" He asked.
"How did you know-?" Augustus asked.
"Doesn't matter, but I'd like to be able to address you correctly, at least when we're alone." Sherlock said.
"Jayden." Augustus said.
"Jayden..." Sherlock said. "Call me Sherlock."
"William is your middle name?" Jayden asked.
"No, I just never liked it. Sherlock is my middle name." Sherlock explained.
"So... You're normal then?" Jayden asked. "What you did in there, it was just a show, right? I have a normal brother?"
"No, I'm not exactly normal per say, but you were right about one thing." Sherlock said, "I'm not exactly a big fan of being forced to be what I'm not. However, in the case of our parents, it might be wiser to do so in the future."
"Why?" Jayden asked. "Why should we listen to them?"
"Because..." Sherlock hesitated. He didn't want Jayden to think even more poorly of their parents than he already did, and he definitely didn't want Jayden to be afraid of them.
"Because they're our parents, and we're in their house. Once we're out, things will change quite drastically. I'm afraid I'm not nearly as strict as my parent's, but I don't think you'll mind too much though, will you?"
"Less rules?" Jayden said, "I'm in no way objecting to that. I'm nearly positive that everything I do here breaks some sort of rule."
"Seems that way, doesn't it?" Sherlock said. He had sounded quite somber as he said that, Jayden noticed.
"Anyway, now that we've been antiquated for real, we probably ought to get on with the packing." Sherlock said, forcing a entirely unenthusiastic smile.
Jayden sighed and nodded. "Could you grab my books?"
Sherlock nodded, and began carefully packing them into a bag.
Jayden set about packing his clothes.
"Don't worry about bringing much, just for a few days. We'll go to the store and pick up some more comfortable ones." Sherlock said. "Does she make you wear the blue jumper?"
"Ugh, yes. The thing feels like sandpaper!" Jayden said.
"It does. She had one made by the same seamstress for Mycroft and I every year." Sherlock said. "They were for family pictures. I despised it."
"Good to finally be on your own now then, isn't it?" Jayden said.
"It is indeed." Sherlock agreed.
After a few minutes, they seemed to have gotten everything necessary.
"Is that all?" Sherlock asked.
"I sure hope so." Jayden said exasperatedly. He stood there, looking down at the pile which consisted of 1 large suit case and 2 large bags.
"Time to put it in the car then..." Sherlock said. He grabbed the suit case and one of the bags, leaving the other for Jayden to carry.
They walked out of the mansion and put the things in the trunk before going back.
"Your flat mate, John, he's normal too." Jayden commented.
"If you call a retired army doctor who went to Afghanistan and got shot in the shoulder, then was invalided back to London with PTSD, a psychosomatic limp, and an addiction to danger normal, then yes, John is perfectly normal."
"Wow, is anyone in London normal?" Jayden asked.
"Likely not anyone you're going to meet." Sherlock said. "Most mean 'the same' when they say 'normal'. Everyone's got their quirks, everyone's different. Well, most everyone. Not Anderson though, but he's an idiot."
"Anderson?" Jayden asked, now thoroughly interested.
"He works for Scotland Yard, but he shouldn't be, he's entirely incompetent."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this, and thank you for all those awesome reviews! Keep reading!