Not Knowing - Wholock

II • 2

Boring.
That was the only thought going through Sherlock's head as he sat across from his client, hands steepled, eyes drooping, trying desperately to focus his attention on the man in front of him. He felt like he needed a top up, but of course, Mrs Hudson had confiscated and destroyed his entire stash.
"Probably for the best." He murmured.
"What?" His client asked.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing."
"You said 'probably for the best.' You're not listening at all, are you?"
"Nope." He admitted, shamelessly.
There was a curious whooshing sound outside his window and he stood up and glanced out.
"Boring!" He told his client. "Oh but you- you're not boring at all." He smiled slowly as he addressed the blue telephone box that he'd just witnessed materialising outside his building.
Throwing open the door, he rushed downstairs, leaving a confused and slightly offended client alone in his sitting room.

***

Sherlock burst onto the pavement just as the door to the blue box opened. A young man with floppy brown hair stood there, wearing a tweed jacket and a red bow tie.
Sherlock stopped and stared at him for a long moment. It was the same man he'd run into earlier. Again, something in the back of his mind clicked- something he couldn't place.
Must be a mistake.
The strange man smiled warmly.
"Hello again. Get your coat and come in. We're going on an adventure." He smiled again, and despite him being a total stranger and a bit odd, Sherlock was intrigued and couldn't say no. He went back into the building and grabbed his coat from its hook by the door, then returned.
The man re-opened the door to his box and beckoned him. "Come in."
Sherlock stepped through, reluctantly.
An entire room, bigger even than his flat, greeted him as he stepped through the door.
Thousands of possibilities raced around his head as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.
"Don't bother, Sherlock." The man smirked, but there was kindness in his eyes. "It's incomprehensible by the human brain. Even one as clever as yours." He began flipping switches on the peculiar center control panel, but Sherlock ignored his actions and just studied him.
"How do you know who I am?" He asked, squinting at the stranger in the bow tie.
"Doesn't everybody know you?" He replied with a question of his own, still adjusting switches and dials.
"Only the stupid people who need help with their problems. And I can read you, you can fix your own problems. So how do you know me?" Sherlock questioned again, walking around him, trying to figure him out.
The man smiled, but still avoided the question. "I'm the Doctor. Welcome to the TARDIS." He gestured grandly at the room that seemed far too large for its quaint exterior.
"TARDIS." Sherlock said slowly, momentarily distracted. "Obviously an acronym, but for what?" He murmured this question, not expecting an answer.
"Time and relative dimension in space." The Doctor supplied, seeing his wheels turning as he tried to figure it out.
"Clever." He murmured, spinning around, taking in all he could.
Sherlock was silent for a long moment, walking around, absorbing every morsel of information he could pick up on. He wasn't used to being challenged like this.
"Doctor." He repeated, more to himself than to the curious stranger that stood in front of him.
The Doctor smiled. He knew what was coming.
"Doctor. Obviously not your real name, just a title, but considering that you act like you know me well and voluntarily introduce yourself, yet you don't give me a first name, I conclude that you don't give that information to anyone. Do you have anyone, Doctor? Or are you just a lonely man? No, not a man. I shouldn't have expected anything less from someone who is quite plainly not human." He spoke quickly, his sharp eyes narrowed as he spewed out all the information he'd collected.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, but smiled, silently imploring him to go on.
They stared at each other for a moment before Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Oh please. You said it yourself! 'It's incomprehensible by the human brain. Even one as clever as yours.'" He repeated word for word what the Doctor had said earlier. "You wouldn't have chosen those particular words if you were, in fact, human yourself."
The Doctor grinned now. "Very clever. Well done."
"It was obvious." He muttered.
"My turn." The Doctor looked him over. "You are lonely as well. Very lonely. Yet you choose to ignore that feeling and recede into yourself. You only come out when there's an interesting problem to solve. That is, in fact, the only reason you're here now. You may choose not to believe it, but you do have a heart. You do have feelings and fears and you know love and hate just like any other human. You just choose to hide. How am I doing so far?"
Sherlock straightened his posture and glared at the Doctor. "I'm not human. I'm a machine. At least that seems to be the popular opinion."
"Ah, but we both know that's not quite true."
Sherlock raised an eyebrow. "Do we?" He turned on his heel and headed for the door.
"I don't think you'll find what you're looking for out there." The Doctor warned.
Sherlock ignored him and flung open the door, then shut it again just as quickly, leaning against it, his eyes wide. The Doctor smirked. "I told you you wouldn't find what you were looking for."
"That's-" Sherlock stopped, took a deep breath. "That's space."
"Yes." The Doctor confirmed, smiling.
"Space." Sherlock repeated.
"Oh, I've seen this before. You'll get over it in a bit." The Doctor smirked again.
"Seen this before?" Sherlock asked, incredulously. "How many people have you taken up here without consultation?"
"Oh I don't know. I've been around awhile." He shrugged.
"You act like this is all well and good, Doctor, but I have fr-" He stopped himself mid word. "I have a home down there."
"Ah, don't worry. It's a time machine!" The Doctor announced, excitedly.
"That defies the laws of physics!" Sherlock countered, raising his voice.
"Exactly!" The Doctor grinned now. "That's the whole point, Sherlock."

Sherlock slid down to the ground, his back to the wall, looking defeated.
The Doctor sighed. "It's obvious to me that you don't actually want to go home. If you did, you could get up here and do it yourself, because I know for a fact that if you tried, you could figure these switches and buttons out in no time at all." He gestured to the mass of controls next to him.
"And yet you don't. You don't want to go back to boring old Baker Street, with nobody but your dull clients. You do want to be here, you just won't admit it." Despite what he was saying, his voice was kind.

Sherlock didn't acknowledge him, because he was right. He had no interest in going back to his flat when there was so much potential here with this strange man.
Finally, he stood up and faced the Doctor. "You're right." He managed, although he almost seemed to choke on the words. "My clients have been quite dull as of late. Maybe just for a day." A slow smile spread across his face and the Doctor grinned.
"In that case, pick a time, or a person or a place. Whatever you fancy."