Imagines and Preferences: Book 1

Preference: Mini Golfing | Sherlock

Wow isn't this concept a throw back

Summary: Mini golfing with your favorite Sherlock characters.

QOTP: Which Sherlock character would you rather mini golf with?

Word Count: 1119

Jim -
Jim, actually, hates mini golf. He found that out when you thought it'd be cute to go together as a date. You were enthusiastic about it, and he'd never actually mini golfed before, so he figured, why not?

He soon found out.

After literally renting out the entire course in advance so you wouldn't get stuck behind or annoyed by anybody, you showed up and picked out your clubs and golf balls. Then, you hit the course.

You went first, seeing as he didn't really know what he was doing. It was the first hole, so it was fairly easy. You got it in three strokes. Jim got it in five.

"Why is this so difficult?" he asked as you moved on. "It's golf, but it's mini. It should be simple."

"You would think," you replied, setting your ball down on the fake grass, "but mini golf involves a lot of hills and twists and obstacles. And rigging."

"Are you serious?"

You swing, then watch as your ball hits the back barrier and rolls closer to the hole. "Yep. Sometimes the hole has ridges or jumps around it you can't really see until your ball actually rolls onto one."

"Then why in the world do you find this game enjoyable?" he asked, watching as you managed to get the ball in in two strokes.

You shrugged. "I don't know. It's just fun. And sometimes you get lucky and get a hole in one."

Jim, however, did not get lucky.

It took him five strokes again on that hole, then four on the next one. In the whole eighteen hole course, he never got lower than three — and the three was a lucky break.

He just got more frustrated as the game went on. You reminded him it was just a stupid game, and even screwed up on some holes on purpose so he wouldn't feel so bad. Still, to this day, he absolutely abhors the game, and you haven't asked him to play it since.

John -
John mostly suggested going because he knew Sherlock wouldn't want to. A lot of the time — especially now that you've been dating for a while and because Sherlock doesn't understand social cues — John will tell Sherlock you and he are going on a date, and if it's dinner at a place he likes or a museum or something like that, Sherlock will want to tag along. You always tell him he can, not letting John get a word in beforehand because you know he'll tell him he can't.

So, John found a way to avoid that.

When he told Sherlock where you were going, he scrunched his nose up at the mere thought. "You have fun with that."

And, actually, you did.

Neither of you were very good at it, but you playfully taunted the other as you went. John kept score as you didn't want to carry the card and pencil around, and he would joke he was going to put higher numbers in your column and lower ones in his.

"Three!" you called back happily from the other side of the hole.

John cupped his ear, pretending not to have heard you clearly. "Five, you say?!"

"Three!"

"Seven?!"

"John Hamish Watson!"

He laughed, writing down three. A few holes later, it took him a grand total of eight — yes, eight — strokes to get the ball in the hole. As you laughed, he went to write down his number. "That was a solid two," he said.

"If that was two, Sherlock Holmes has high emotional intelligence."

John snorted.

In the end, you beat him (probably due to that eight), and you both decided you should do it again some time.

"Maybe we could bring Sherlock along, too," you suggested.

John chuckled. "Could you imagine him playing mini golf?"

Sherlock -
Out of all of your dates, it was probably the worst one you'd ever been on.

Firstly, it was your idea, and you practically had to beg him to go. He finally went, but he wasn't happy about it at all. Then, you actually started playing.

You went first, and you were decent at the game, so you got the ball in in two strokes. Sherlock, understanding the game more, stood there for about a minute.

"Are you gonna go or what?" you'd asked. In response, he very carefully placed his ball on the ground, then took about thirty seconds to line up his club. Finally, he hit the ball.

Hole in one.

He smiled cheekily as he grabbed his ball and you wrote down one in his column on the score card. "Beginner's luck," you'd said.

But he did it again on the next hole. Then the next, then the next. He was becoming so smug, you were getting angry — at him, but mostly at the game itself. Your anger caused you to do even worse. There was absolutely no way you could beat him.

Eventually, about halfway through the course, you said, "Okay, you're going first now. I need all the advantage I can get."

He chuckled. "Well, you're certainly right about that."

He did his usual ritual, somehow doing calculations or something in his head in about a minute, then actually setting up his swing. This time, due to the typical rigged nature of mini golf courses, he got the ball in in two.

You sighed with relief, then put your hands together, closed your eyes and whispered, "Sweet, sweet victory."

Sherlock rolled his eyes, grabbing his ball. "You're still miles behind me. There's no way you can win."

"But your streak is broken, and the universe is once again at balance."

"How?" he asked. "When was it ever out of balance?"

By this time, you were hitting your ball. "When you got nine hole-in-ones in a row at a mini golf course."

He ended that game with two more two-stroke holes, then one three that happened when he unfortunately stumbled (like an idiot) in the middle of his first swing. The ball nearly went off the course altogether.

You, of course, lost.

After turning in your balls and pencil, Sherlock took your hand as you walked out. "Do you want to stop at that bakery you like on the way back?"

You immediately brightened, and nodded. "Yeah." He smiled.

It was the worst date you'd been on, but it still — especially after the mini golf — wasn't that bad. And that's only a testament to what your other dates are like, especially when he wants to be romantic.