I'm not a Goldfish, Mycroft Holmes

I Mean It

"So wait, you slept with Mycroft?" John asked, a little to loudly for Alice's taste, she bent forward and shushed him and sighed, leaning back she picked her coffee up off the table. "Yes, I did."
"And then you told him you loved him?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
She stared at the dark contents of her cup with furrowed eyebrows, "nothing really, he just kind of...stared at me. Like he didn't understand what I had said." She sat forward again, "and I didn't mean to say it, it just...slipped out."
"Did you mean it?"
"Huh?"
"Well did you mean what you said?"
Alice blinked, "yes, yes of course I meant it, I just never expected too...not like that at least." She sipped her coffee and watched a barista take a man's order.
"What happened after?"
"We just...went to bed like we normally did, we went to work, we came home, had a drink. The usual stuff."
"And he never brought it up?"
"No, I think he's forgotten by now." Sighing she changed the subject. "So, tell me about Mary. I want to know everything."
"Well we met at the clinic..."
Alice listened to him talk about Mary, nodding every so often, smiling when it was called for, the usual "I'm sort of paying attention, but my mind is elsewhere". She was trying to come up with a solution to her problem, she's only said I love you to three people in her life; her mother, her father and her brother. She's never really cared about anyone else enough to say it before. Sherlock could've helped her, but he wasn't here right now and they didn't know where he was, Mycroft probably knew, she could ask him but there would probably be no way to contact him since he's off the grid. She had a feeling that the best way to combat this would be to just, come out with it and tell him in a less post-orgasmic state. Taking a deep breath she smiled flatly at John and looked at her watch. "I should go, I have class." She said.
"Right, right, yeah." John cleared his throat, putting the lid back on his cup. "So we'll talk later?"
"Yes, later." She gathered her things and said goodbye before jumping in her car.

When she arrived at work the sun had come out snd the clouds had disappeared, this gave her an idea.
"Why don't we have class outside today?" She asked, smiling a little and their excitement.
They found a nice spot of grass under a large tree which provided enough shade. They sat in a circle with their books on their laps.
"If you could turn your textbooks to page...274, we'll get started on Biodiversity."
Someone rose their hand, "yes, Cassie?"
"Could I use the bathroom?"
"Make it quick, copy off of Summer when you get back."
The tall blonde stood up from the ground, wiping the grass off her knees and took the pass that Alice brought down with her, smiling Alice got comfortable before she spoke.
"To put it simply, Biodiversity is is the variety of life. With over 14 million species found from mountaintop to deep-sea vent. In reality, it is much more than that. Species engage in complex interactions within a diverse array of habitats creating functioning ecosystems. Biodiversity provides ecological services such as: oxygen production, pollination, water filtration and storage, pest control, food production, carbon storage and erosion control. Biodiversity drives much of our economy and without biodiversity, nature's life support system would fail. Our survival depends upon Biodiversity..."

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When she reached the house, it was empty and quiet, Mycroft was probably still at work or blowing off steam at the Diogenes Club, and the staff had probably left for the day. In the kitchen was dinner ready for the both of them, just a simple stew and fixings that could be heated and on a cake stand covered by a glass dome was a chocolate raspberry cake, a personal favourite of hers.
Smiling she placed her bag down and decided to shower.

"Alice?" Mycroft called when he opened the door, his home was mostly silent, he could hear muffled noise near the back of the house, Alice's bag sat in the kitchen and he knew she was home. "Alice," he tried again a little louder. His ears picked up the shuffle of slippered feet as she made her way into the kitchen. She was dressed in her lounge clothes, joggers and a baggy shirt that feel off her shoulder, her blonde hair was braided and she appeared to have taken out her contacts in favour of her glasses.
"Your home," she said with a smile.
"What were you getting into?" He quipped, raising an eyebrow.
"I was just in the theatre room, watching a rerun of The Tudors and grading marked tests." She opened the fridge and took out a bottle of orange juice. "The staff made dinner by the way," she said, "I can just reheat it."
Mycroft nodded, "I'll be in my study."
"Okay."

Dinner was relatively quiet, small things were said, he asked about her day and she complied, talking about how some of her students, she refuses to name, won't listen to her, some that cause trouble and are very loud.
"I've resulted to collecting phones at the beginning of class, they just won't stay off of them, its insane. I grew up without a cellphone, and they can he without it for a little while anyway, its not the end of the world, but of course they treat it that way."
"They're children, darling."
"They're sixteen, they're hardly children."
Mycroft smiled a little and rolled his drink in his hand.
"I didn't take them today however I decided that we'd have class outside."
"Why? What's wrong with a classroom?"
"Nothing, though admittedly it can get a little dismal and boring, besides the sun was out and of was lovely."
Realizing he cant postpone the conversation forever he sighs deeply and sits up straight. "Alice, my dear, I think we should have a little chat, about...the other night."
Lowering her gaze she picked up her almost empty glass and wrapped both hands around it. "I'm sorry, I was caught up in the moment, and it sort of just slipped out...had I realized at the time that it would have made you uncomfortable, I would've...not...said it." She refused to meet his gaze, staring down at the light yellow contents of her glass.
"Did you mean it?" Mycroft asked softly.
"Huh?"
"Did you mean it, when you said you love me?"
"Yes," she said awkwardly, "but I realize that its too soon for that and I don't expect you to reciprocate but yes, I meant it, I love you."