bright college days

12

John brought his and Sherlock's luggage into the cabin, while Greg brought in his and Mycroft's. John was surprised to find Sherlock in the bedroom, lighting the fire.

"Hey," said John. "Need any help?"

"No, I can manage."

"All right."

Mycroft entered the entryway. A porter was with him, carrying an extra duvet and two extra pillows.

"Go put those in the bedroom; we'll arrange them ourselves."

"Yes sir."

After discarding his outerwear, Mycroft entered the cabin proper.

"Has everything been brought in?"

"Yep," said Greg.

"Did Sherlock help?"

"He lit the fireplace in the bedroom," said John.

"Ah, good."

"Did you get everything settled?" John asked.

"I did," Mycroft replied. "And speaking of that..." Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a stack of pound notes. He gave John two twenties and a ten, and handed the same out to Greg and Sherlock. "Compensation for the inconvenience."

"Oh, great!" said Greg. He took his cash and took out his wallet to put it in.

"Yeah, cool," said John. "Thanks."

Sherlock accepted his money quietly, slipping it into his jacket.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," said Greg, "but I'm knackered. I'm gonna get ready for bed."

"Uh," said John, "are we really all just going to... well... sleep on the same bed?"

"Why not?" said Mycroft. "We've practically all slept together, anyway."

"You guys figure it out," muttered Greg, disappearing into the bedroom. By now, the porter had come and gone.

"I get the shower next," said Sherlock, also going into the bedroom.

Mycroft looked at John. John shrugged. "I'll go last."

John was reading on the couch when Sherlock came out into the living room.

"It's your turn to take a shower."

"Thanks," said John.

John went into the bedroom to find that the guys had set the bed up rather differently than it was probably intended. While one side of the bed had two pillows at the head of the bed, the other side had two pillows on the foot of the bed. The two duvets were next to the other, separating the two sections of the bed.

"Oh, I see, we'll sleep head-to-foot... sort of."

"Yeah," said Greg, "You're going to sleep next to me."

"Okay," said John.

After his shower, John came out into the bedroom. Sherlock was sitting on the bed reading. Greg and Mycroft were lying with their heads at the foot of the bed. Greg was resting against Mycroft, who had his arm wrapped loosely around him.

Sherlock got up and John got into bed. Setting his book on the nightstand, Sherlock got in after him.

John was used to having Sherlock sleeping with him, but having someone on either side of him was odd. Then something even odder occurred to him: He could actually feel the arm Mycroft had wrapped around Greg's chest. He let out a laugh.

"What's so amusing?" Mycroft asked.

"I'm a straight man, in bed with three other men."

"You think that's odd?" said Mycroft. "I'm an asexual man in bed with three other men, one of whom is my little brother."

Greg laughed. "I think he's got you beat, mate."

John laughed. "Fair enough."

"Just relax and go to sleep, John," said Sherlock.

"Okay, okay..."

After shifting around a bit, John got comfortable. Sherlock waited until he was still, then snuggled against him. He rested his hand on John's side, his fingers subconsciously gripping John's nightshirt. John rubbed Sherlock's arm, then slid his hand around, resting it on his back.

Normally he would talk to Sherlock; or Sherlock might start a quiet, sometimes personal, conversation. But with two other people in the room, and so close to them, neither of them spoke; they simply fell asleep in each other's arms.

"Time to get up," said Mycroft in an imperious voice.

"Ugh..."

"It's not that early," Mycroft replied. "And I don't know about you, but I'd rather like to take advantage of the complimentary breakfast."

Sherlock smirked. "You could stand to skip a breakfast or two..."

Mycroft glared at his younger brother.

"C'mon, Sherlock," John said, "Just this once, come eat with the rest of us."

Sherlock groaned, but sat up. "Fine."

After breakfast, John went shopping and got some food and supplies for the week. He was amused at how, even on vacation, he was the designated food shopper for the "house".

Despite that, Inverness was a lot of fun. John did a little shopping--both Christmas and general--and enjoyed the snow. It was also nice not to have to worry about schoolwork for a while, and just enjoy being idle if he wanted to be.