acuriousincident: (13)

[personal profile] acuriousincident 2019-09-25 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He pauses in the doorway, dragging the duvet on the floor. John asks him not to do that (sleep on the sofa, yes, good of him to clarify), then asks him to do - something (whatever needs doing, oh, for God's sake) - and come back.

Come back.

He stands completely still, muscles tense all the way from his feet to his neck. Whilst the dream has deserted him very efficiently, the traces of it linger - the smell of John (so much clearer this time which, no wonder, seeing as the man was right next to him oh god oh god), the touch of his fingers. The... rest. He grimaces, staring straight ahead, John's words hanging between them in the stillness. The trouble is, he thinks, he doesn't even know what he's just given up, unwillingly. He doesn't know how much, either. But to be fair, if he leaves for the sitting room, he'll probably just end up smoking half a pack of cigarettes, by himself, getting absolutely nowhere with his thoughts because this... isn't... his... area.

None of it, really.

He clears his throat. ]


All right.

[ Dropping the duvet without further ado, he shifts from foot to foot for a few seconds. Then, his brain takes the instinctual route and he's heading for the bathroom before he can properly think it over, slamming the door shut behind him and pulling off his pyjamas frantically. He more or less springs into the shower, turning on the water and letting it hit him, hard and fast and freezing cold. ]
acuriousincident: (9)

[personal profile] acuriousincident 2019-09-26 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ It takes him at least five minutes to properly return to himself and when he does, he immediately regrets it. So, now John knows. And in the worst way possible, too, considering. The man's in his bed and they don't even properly understand why - suddenly, Sherlock's body decides to make it 100 percent more complicated? He frowns, body trembling slightly from the cold. He should sleep on the sofa, really, and then tomorrow, they should re-establish John in the upstairs bedroom as has surely - surely - been the plan all along. Eventually. When they were... done, navigating this odd in-between, bridging before and onward.

The thought makes his stomach churn in all the wrong ways. He sighs. Turns off the water and dries off, glad that he won't have to be careful about the stitches on his back any longer. He throws a passing glance at his pyjamas and decides that putting them back on, potential wet spots be damned, far outranks going into his bedroom starkers, wearing nothing but a towel. Wouldn't want to... scare the man off. God, he's been managing not to do that since the day they met, since jumping off a root in front of him and now, this? How much more strain can John be expected to handle?

Getting dressed quickly, he stares at himself in the mirror for a moment (too pale, too many cigarettes, too little food and his hair's all over the place, nice) before shutting off the light and heading back to the bedroom. He picks up the duvet on the way, then pauses near the window (looking out, first, just checking, just being safe) before turning towards the bed. Then, he just. Stands there. Looks at John, feeling lost. ]


You - can we forget about that, please.
acuriousincident: (15)

[personal profile] acuriousincident 2019-09-27 11:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ Just get to bed says John, facing Sherlock's side of the bed and lying very much in the middle of everything. Despite his mortification, Sherlock can't help but note how John's being disgusted or freaked out seems very much contra-indicated by his actions. Had he been someone else, someone preoccupied with showing kindness or (worse) forbearance, perhaps it would have simply been an expression of polite acceptance. But John doesn't do those. He very simply doesn't. He'd sleep somewhere else if he didn't want to sleep next to Sherlock, that's that. And consequently, he must still want to.

Sherlock stares at him for a few seconds, expression blank. He doesn't know what's going on or why and he's freezing cold from the shower, muscles trembling lightly in his thighs and arms. There's a feeling of emptiness in his stomach, like he's been gutted and left with a giant hole for all to see; the thought makes him want to either run from the room or jump from the window (the latter option somewhat preferable mainly for the finality of it).

Instead, however, he shuffles back to his side of the bed and gets in, wrapping himself up in the duvet. He doesn't look at John, keeping his back to him. He wonders if perhaps he should... lie as close to the edge as possible, to give John enough room to -- but no, this is his bed and if John insists on staying despite Sherlock having wet dreams about him (oh god), he'll have to figure out his own rules of proximity in the face of it. Shutting his eyes firmly, Sherlock lies there, on his side, breathing too quickly still and shivering periodically. It's pretty pathetic, all around. ]