I Can See You

case

John sits in his usual chair.

He does not stare out the usual window. Nor does he have his usual half filled cup of tea.

Instead he has his hands on his knees and is studying the face of a man he thought had been buried in the ground.

John's eyes scan Sherlock's. Then his other facial features. Sherlock has slight scrapes on his cheeks and edges of his chin, probably from shaving. John's eyes squint slightly.

Sherlock's eyes move quickly around the room, not stopping on one thing for too long. His long, spindly fingers are placed on either side of his chair. "I see you haven't changed the place much."

John's mouth quirks up. "Nope."

Sherlock turns his gaze back to John's. "Why not?"

One of John's eyebrows twitch. "You know why."

"Well of course I do, but I know how much it annoys you when I deduce you. So why don't you tell me and I'll pretend not to know."

"It doesn't annoy me."

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't. It's fascinating."

Sherlock nods. "So you don't mind?"

"No of course not, go ahead."

Sherlock slows his nodding and brings his hands together under his chin. John watches him intently to see if Sherlock honestly knows why he didn't change the flat around.

"The refrigerator doors haven't been opened for a few months, which explains the faint smell-"

"What smell?" John's eyes widen. "I don't smell anything."

Sherlock rolls his eyes. "Well of course you don't. You're in here everyday."

"Oh."

"Shall I continue?"

"Yes, yes. Please do."

"You haven't realized that I left a horrific experiment in the refrigerator before I left and you haven't opened it because you know the kinds of stuff I used to have in there. None of the chairs at the table have been touched, except for Mrs. Hudson's dusting once in a while. All of my equipment is still lying there like-" Sherlock trails off but shakes his head and picks back up after a moment. "The kettle on the stove has been used so much that you leave the tea packages directly beside it." Sherlock points to the bedroom area. "Your door hasn't been opened for ages, and neither has mine, so you must be washing and wearing only a certain pair of clothes." He directs his attention to the bathroom. "You don't use this bathroom considering it's so dusty back there, so you must use someone else's. And you must sleep in this chair because you haven't gone anywhere except for the kitchen."

John's mouth is slightly ajar. He shakes his head. "That still doesn't explain why I haven't changed anything."

Sherlock's eyes widen. "Isn't it so obvious? You don't even see?"

John shakes his head slowly, his eyebrows narrowing.

"John. You were grieving. You were in a stage of depression."