Born in Black and White

Chapter 34

Kairi woke up, warm and comfortable. She rolled over, a little sorely and saw Appa lying in Sherlock's place and she snickered. He would not be pleased to see Appa sleeping in his spot. She stretched leisurely and rolled on to her back, staring up at the sparse ceiling belonging to Sherlock's room and she sighed dreamily. They had quite a lovely Christmas together. She smiled wide and tried not to laugh at herself for feeling so absolutely giddy. She felt like a child with a school girl crush: soppy and romantic and longing. She should have felt disgusted with herself - Sherlock absolutely would - but she was allowing herself a smidgen of normality in her otherwise odd life.

She slowly got up, placing her feet on the cold floor of Sherlock's room and padded over to his closet and pulled out one of his many dressing gowns. It only hit her now how odd it was for a man to own so many different dressing gowns. He barely had as many shirts as he did dressing gowns. It was extremely amusing. She wanted to finger her way through the closet, looking for ascots and pipes and monocles, but thought better of it. Sherlock deserved to have his privacy and she wasn't going to take it away. Even if he did secretly dress like a 19th century Lord.

She cinched a red one around her waist, not bothering to put anything beneath it since she'd be in to shower after starting coffee for the house. She chose the red one specifically, knowing how Sherlock seemed to enjoy the color now. She tried not to giggle as she adjusted it alluringly on her body. Sherlock was probably experimenting or researching and he had an odd habit of only making enough coffee for two, despite the fact that Kairi and Molly usually had some in the morning as well. It was probably a habit left over from years of living with only John. Sherlock never reacted well to change.

Her hair was fluffy and crazed so she ran her fingers through the mess as she exited his room, yawning loudly, and stretching as she padded out to the lounge with a dopey smile on her face.

As she stood in the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes blissfully closed as she remembered some of the more acrobatic moments of the night previous, she reached up and made a tiny squeal as her muscles stretched and her shoulders popped with a glorious relief.

Someone cleared their throat and Kairi's eyes flew open. It did not sound like Sherlock.

Faced with a room full of people, she let out an inhuman groan of absolute embarrassment. As she looked through all the faces, some more familiar than others, but no less disturbing, she felt absolutely sick. All eyes on her, blown wide, shocked, and staring at her, taking in the fact that she was obviously wearing nothing but Sherlock's silken house coat and looking thoroughly fucked.

She smiled awkwardly, giving a tiny finger wave, "Hello!" She tried to sound less desperate to flee than she was. She shouldn't be ashamed of a very human need and interaction between two consulting adults, but God was this uncomfortable. She looked down at her cleavage and cleared her throat as she adjusted the dressing gown to cover just a bit more of her exposed frame.

John and Molly were sitting next to one another, eyes wide and trying not to laugh. Lestrade had Anderson and Donovan on either side of him, all six eyes on her. Lestrade was looking a bit lecherous, licking his lip tentatively, as his eyes raked over her curvy body only hidden by a painfully thin piece of material. Anderson had a very similar look on his face, but it was more shocked, well to be honest, it was absolutely horrified, the implication of a half-naked, wild-haired woman standing in Sherlock's home in only his robe seared permanently into his mind. Donovan just looked pained and embarrassed. Next to them was Mycroft, leaning on a door jamb, looking amused.

It was then, the body closest to her turned and Sherlock's eyes met hers. Her mouth dropped open, looking for something to say, but there was nothing in her mind. She was rooted to the spot and she felt herself flush just about everywhere. It was an inconvenience that her nipples hardened beneath the robe, the damned silkiness so soft, her body automatically heating up and reacting to the frantic adrenaline that surged through her, she couldn't help the odd reaction! Kairi grimaced when she heard a small gasp escape either Lestrade or Anderson's lips. Sherlock's eyes widened, he had enough tact to look embarrassed, swallowing back some emotion as his eyes flicked over her quickly. He raced towards her and grabbed her arm, yanking her back into the kitchen and towards his room, away from the snickers and whispers of someone having a domestic.