A Study in Miscommunication

Chapter 2

—-Sherlock's POV—-

-Do you think I should ask Molly to be my flatmate? -SH

After some time I received a response. -I don't know. I'll see if I can help you find someone. -MS

Mike was married, quite happily. I knew his remaining interest in Molly wasn't completely sexual. He'd noticed her because he'd found her attractive. Since he was married he'd kept a professional friendship with her because she was smart. Mike wouldn't want me living with her; he'd housed me (briefly) and knew it wouldn't work. Then she'd blame him for my presence.

-You're number three; I must be a difficult man to find a flatmate for. -SH

Pinning my hopes on Mike wasn't the best plan I'd ever conceived but I had backups if needed.

—-

I'd gotten in far too deep thinking about John Watson and the ping of a desperate email from Lestrade provided me with some relief.

I decided to extract some revenge during his press conference. Plotting that helped the headache subside.

—-

-This is a bad idea, brother mine. MH -Fatty

He'd resorted to texting since I refused to take his calls.

-You leave him alone. You wanted me to get a flatmate so I am. Stay out of this Mycroft. -SH

- Mike's waiting for him now. -A

-I do hope you know what you're doing. MH -Fatty

—-

I had slides to examine and substances to identify but couldn't focus. I needed an outlet for my frustration. Everything I'd planned assumed John was different; that he would accept me. I was in far too deep already and if he hated me like everyone else did, if he called me a freak...

A text from Molly provided me with the perfect channel for my excess energy. I couldn't clout Mycroft but I could picture him instead of the cadaver.

—-

"I knew him; he was nice."

Irrelevant information. But, I could use it to my advantage. Seeing me beat a nice colleague with an implement that alarmed her should temper her annoying flirtations. "Fine. We'll start with the riding crop." I arranged my face into the smile that put people off.

—-

Molly re-entered the mortuary and I ceased my actions. My emotions were getting the better of me and if I continued I'd ruin the experiment. As it was I'd broken the skin- hardly conductive to bruising patterns.

"Bad day was it?"

I really hope not. I reminded myself to be civil. Thankfully I'd calmed down enough to go analyze my slides. Molly was more than competent enough to relay the pertinent information and I instructed her to do so via my preferred method.

She took a deep breath. "Listen, I was wondering, maybe later-"

I glanced at her, how were my instructions unclear? I had to look again when I noticed the lipstick. Oh, if this was what I thought it was it would get uncomfortable. "Are you wearing lipstick? You weren't wearing lipstick before." She responded awkwardly and my suspicions were confirmed. This needed to be handled carefully if I wished to retain her cooperation. Molly was only mildly irritating and quite useful. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to have coffee."

Ah, this was easy. If I responded as if I was unaware of her intentions eventually she'd give up. "Black, two sugars, please. I'll be upstairs." I exited before the situation could become more strained. I made a note to check the results of the experiment myself.