Sherlock and John managed to tolerate the rest of the visit, though John could tell that Sherlock was anxious to leave.
Finally, it had been determined the visit was over.
"Good bye Augustus." Mrs. Holmes said. "Be good for your brother."
Then the door closed.
That was it.
Sherlock, John, and Jayden climbed into the car, and Sherlock drove off.
They all sat in silence for several minutes.
"Well that was sudden." Jayden said, breaking the ice.
"Very much, yes." John agreed.
Sherlock nodded.
"So eh-"John searched his mind for conversation starters. "How old are you?"
"14." Jayden said.
"Okay..." John had no idea where to carry on from there. Fortunately, Jayden did.
"So you both live together?" Jayden asked.
"Yes, we're flat mates." John said.
"You live here in London?" Jayden asked.
"Yes." John answered. "221b Baker street."
"Who lives in 221A?" Jayden asked.
"No one, right now." John said. "Mrs. Hudson, our land lady, lives in 221c."
"Hmm..."
John chuckled.
"What?" Jayden frowned.
"Nothing, it's just- he does that too." John said, pointing at Sherlock.
"Does what?" Sherlock asked.
"The 'Hmm...' thing." John said.
"The 'Hmm...' thing?" Sherlock repeated, making it sound far more ridiculous than it actually was.
"Yeah, the 'Hmm...' thing." John said. "It's where you basically hum in response to every single thing I say. You do it a lot when you're bored."
"No, I don't." Sherlock disagreed.
"You do." John confirmed.
"Hmm..."
"See, you did it right there!" John said.
Jayden peaked his head up from the back seat.
"Do you guys always fight like this?" Jayden asked, a grin on his face.
"No."
"Yes."
These responses were given at exactly the same time, the 'nay' having been given by John, and the 'yea' Sherlock.
"Okay then..." Jayden said, raising his eyebrows.
"You're from the United States." Sherlock commented, changing the subject.
"Yeah, I'm from Sacramento, actually."
"Where?" John asked.
"The capital of California." Sherlock clarified.
"And you would know that because...?" John asked.
"I don't remember. Must have deleted it." Sherlock muttered.
"Deleted it?"Jayden asked, confused.
"I'm going to let you explain this." John sighed.
"I have a Mind palace, it's where I store information I want to remember, and-"
"Oh, so you use the method of Loci?" Jayden asked.
"He knows it. I can't believe he knows it." John said to himself, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Yes, very good." Sherlock said. "Do you use it too?"
"I tried for awhile after I heard about it, but I never got very good at it." Jayden said.
A few more conversations started as they drove on.
Sherlock rounded a corner then pulled up to Baker street.
"And here we are." John said.
They all climbed out, and entered the flat.
"Neither of us are much good at house keeping, I'm afraid." John said.
John unlocked the door and they walked in.
Jayden sat his stuff on the floor; he looked around.
"What's her name?" He asked, pointing to the skull.
"His, not her, and Billy." Sherlock said. "He was my flat mate before John was."
John rolled his eyes.
"Not while he was alive." John clarified.
Jayden walked closer to it, and ran a finger across the jaw bone.
"How'd he die?" Jayden asked.
"Blunt trauma to the head." Sherlock said. "It wasn't all that hard, but it caused bleeding in the brain which was not caught in time."
Jayden rotated the skull in his hands.
"Oh yeah, I see that now." Jayden said. "There's an indentation on the occipital bone. He fell or something..."
Jayden squinted at the dent.
"No, the angle, probably wasn't a fall. To get that, he would have had to been pushed into something. It was murder."
"Correct." Sherlock said, turning his head to look at him. "You're the first person I've met who came to the same conclusion so quickly. Very impressive."
"I used to like forensics when I was younger." Jayden shrugged sheepishly. "Engineering is more my thing now."
"Interesting..." Sherlock said.
"I'm going to run down to Mrs. Hudson's to see about that room upstairs." John said. "I'll be right back. Try to behave yourself, Sherlock."
Sherlock plopped himself down in his chair.
"You're a consulting detective?" Jayden said, trying to make conversation.
"Yes." Sherlock said.
Jayden looked over at the scientific instruments.
"And a chemist." He said, more as a statement than a question.
"In my free time." Sherlock answered.
"There are eye balls on the table." Jayden said.
"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious." Sherlock said, passively.
"What experiment are you doing with them?"
"Nothing, yet. I'm going to test how the moisture is affected after remaining in the freezer for different periods of time."
"Interesting." Jayden said. He looked at the Punnett square Sherlock had taped to the wall for the purpose of his previous case.
"You really have diverse interests..." Jayden said. "Forensics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics, Pathology..."
"I know what is necessary to do well for my job." Sherlock said. Jayden sensed a slightly defensive tone.
"That's really cool." Jayden said. "The only thing Mycroft was interested in was how to run the British government, and how much cake can be eaten without exploding. He's smart, but not innovative like you."
"I can't deny that, nor would I want to." Sherlock said.
"I take it you don't like him either?"
"Not in the slightest."
It was silent for awhile, Jayden exploring and Sherlock thinking.
"Do you have a case now?" Jayden asked.
"No, not at the moment." Sherlock said. "Why?"
"Just curious."
They both heard footsteps coming back up the stairs.
John opened the door and walked in.
"You can take your stuff upstairs, your bedroom is on the left." John said. "Just in case you were wondering, mine's on the right and Sherlock's is just off the hall in here. The bathroom is across from his room."
"Thanks." Jayden picked two of his bags and hauled them upstairs.
"So uh- you two had a little brotherly bonding time, then?" John asked, as he put the kettle on for tea.
"Yes." Sherlock said.
"And how'd it go?" John asked.
"As well as can be expected for two people who don't know anything about each other."
John sighed and blinked his eyes with a half roll in annoyance.
He seems to have perfected that expression, I wish he'd move to another one... Sherlock thought.
"Don't give me that, Sherlock." John said. "I know you can read every detail about him."
"I try not to deduce people that I plan on attempting to care about, John." Sherlock said.
A/N: So, there's for the nervously hilarious attempt to break the awkwardness in the car, and a little bit of bonding time for the two Holmes. We also get a good view of Sherlock and John's friendship. I want to explain something too. Sherlock didn't plan to care about John. It just sort of happened. He didn't try to care about him, in fact, he tried not to. He soon found that it was impossible for him not to care about John Watson. Impossible. And Sherlock Holmes does not use that word lightly. Anyway, I hope you like it, and please review, because it encourages me to update faster. Just a hint. ;)