His Favorite Melody

Having a Row

Here we go, kids! The first chapter of The Blind Banker! I hope you all enjoy!

Melody sat quietly in John's chair in 221B Baker Street, reading a book to herself. Sherlock was doing the same in his own chair across from her, both enjoying the calm and silence of the morning. John had popped off to Tesco to do a bit of shopping, and Mrs. Hudson was off doing the same across town, leaving the two of them to their own devices. The sound of a creak on the steps alerted the pair to another presence in the flat.

"Mum? John, is that you?" Melody called.

No answer. Mel looked over to Sherlock who was now standing.

"Melody, please make your way into the kitchen. I believe that our visitor is here about the diamond case that we declined." Sherlock said, walking towards the entryway.

"Right then." She replied, standing and scurrying to the kitchen to stay out of the way.

No sooner did she make it over to the cabinets to grab some coffee, did a loud grunt sound from the living area. She turned to see Sherlock locked in hand to hand combat with a six-foot Sikh warrior in a turban and full traditional battle dress. The Sikh lunged at him with a lethal-looking blade, but Sherlock jumped back to avoid the blow. Rather than get in the way, she continued to work on the coffee.

The fighting duo landed on the table, the sword precariously pressed against Sherlock's neck. It was at that point that Melody began to mildly panic. She took a nearby coffee mug and smashed it against the warrior's head, stunning him enough for Sherlock to roll away just in time before the knife landed - gashing Mrs. Hudson's finest teak. Mel sighed in relief before turning back to the coffee. Once it was finished, she turned to see Sherlock dusting himself off as he glanced down at the now unconscious warrior.

"You dispose of that, and I'll clean up. Then we'll have a cuppa." She said, giving a small nod. The shattered mug was easy enough to sweep up, but she had no idea how to fix the table. "Oh, mum is gonna be miffed about that one." She muttered before pulling out two clean mugs and pouring their coffees. They both drank their coffee black with sugar, which made it rather simple to make.

She turned and carried the coffees into the room, hand Sherlock's off to him before taking a seat in John's chair with her own. They both gave each other a warm smile before going back to reading. After a few moments, she looked back up at him and raised an eyebrow. "You know mum is gonna be livid when she sees the giant scratch on her finest teakwood."

Sherlock simply smiled and chuckled at her words. "You're probably right. No matter, I think it gives it a certain character." He teased.

"Yeah, along with all the chemical stains and eyeballs we constantly have there. Not exactly your average table decorations, but they're certainly conversation pieces." She laughed.

His deep baritone laugh and her own light soprano one filled the room, echoing around them. It was the first time in a while they had gotten a chance to relax, so it was nice to finally get that chance again. Once their laughter finally settled down, they were left simply smiling at one another. It was a comfortable silence, on that gave her peace and warmth inside.

John suddenly entered, clearly hassled by something.

Sherlock and Melody both turned their attention to him before the former spoke. "You took your time."

"Err ... I didn't get the shopping." John admitted.

"What? Why not?"

"I had a row in the shop. With the chip and pin machine."

Melody snorted and looked up at him with raised brows. "You had a row with a machine?"

"Well, sort of. It sat there, and I shouted abuse. Have you got cash?" He asked, turning to look at Sherlock.

The man nodded at the table with a small smirk. "Take my card."

John dug in Sherlock's wallet and found his debit card. "You could always go yourself, you know. You've been sitting there all morning - you two haven't moved since I went out."

Sherlock totally blanked on him, while Melody looked at her jumper-clad friend in mock insult. "I'll have you know, I made coffee just a bit ago." She informed him.

John rolled his eyes and looked back at Sherlock. "What happened about that case you were offered? The Jaria diamond."

"Not interested." Sherlock deadpanned. "I sent them a message."

Melody gives sherlock a pointed look, panning down to the sword beneath Sherlock's chair. He not-so-subtly kicked the blade under the sofa with a nod of thanks.

John exited the flat with a tut, leaving Mel and Sherlock alone once again.

He looked at her and smiled. "Could you get me John's laptop?" he asked, to which she smiled back and dashed up to John's room to retrieve it. This was a common occurrence, them taking John's laptop and seeing how quickly they could crack his passwords.

It was only about fifteen minutes later, when John entered again, laden with groceries. He dumped the bags on the counter with a bang. Mel moved from behind Sherlock and made her way over to help put away the groceries.

"Is that my computer?" John asked, looking over at Sherlock.

"Of course." The man replies, causing Mel to snicker.

John was taken aback. "What?"

"Mine is in the bedroom."

"And you couldn't be bothered to get up."

"In all fairness, I went and got yours." She admitted.

"It's password protected." John argued.

"In a manner of speaking. Took me less than a minute to guess yours. Not exactly Fort Knox." Sherlock snarked.

"You guessed my password!?"

"Not like it was bloody difficult, John. I mean, c'mon, "Jumpers"? "Jumpers", John, really?" she asked incredulously.

"Stupid. Better change it." John muttered.

"There's no point." Sherlock assured him.

"No. I suppose."

Mel flit about the kitchen, putting things away as best as possible around the human remains and experiments that Sherlock had floating around.

John snatched the computer away and snapped it shut, causing melody to jump slightly. He collapsed in his chair and examined the day's mail. "I need to get a job."

"Oh. Dull!" Sherlock grumbled.

"Yeah. But necessary. If we want to eat actual food this month." He thumbed through a whole stack of red bills, then discarded them. "If you could see your way to lending me some... Sherlock? Did you hear what I said?"

Sherlock jumped up and looked at the pair across the room. "I need to go to the bank."

John and Mel exchanged a look before grabbing their jackets, following closely behind their detective.