Work Text:
“You are ridiculously comfortable,” Sherlock said, settling into a position that suited him. This whole case of theirs had been one disaster after another, but they’d managed to make it work out in some measure. The hole in the cabin’s roof had been patched, though how Sherlock had managed it she wasn’t sure. The lack of edible food had been very vexing but the fact he knew how to hunt hadn’t really surprised her, considering she knew the scars on his back had come from time in the forests in Serbia, times he rarely talked about, but the fact she was so damn good at rabbit snares had quite surprised him.
But there had been a functional bed, and an ax with a sharp blade, and they were willing to work hard and wait it out until they were rescued.
Which, with the blizzard currently raging outside, could be quite some time.
“You may have to make do with resting your head on my tiny bosom because I’m laying claim to the only good pillow in a nine hundred kilometer radius,” she said with a chuckle. She had been surprised there were so many quilts in this abandoned cabin, and they’d only needed a minor airing. They’d laid one out on the floor in front of the fireplace and she had another folded more tightly under her as a sort of padding, and she was lying on her back with Sherlock’s head on her stomach as she played with his hair. They’d managed a decent stew with edible herbs and mushrooms found about, and she thanked her lucky stars she’d studied so much on poisonous digestives in the course of her career. So now was a time to relax to the sound of the wind howling outside and the fire crackling inside.
“Mmm, I may keep you from using that pillow by offering my chest for you to rest your head on,” he said.
“You wouldn’t dare!” she said, tugging on his curls a bit. “After you made me skin those rabbits and trim all the meat.”
He lifted his head up and rolled onto his stomach, and now his head was near hers. “I suppose you can convince me to be benevolent.”
“I can keep the bed all to myself if you’re going to be a prat,” she said, giving him a glare.
“But then you’ll get cold, and I’ll get cold, and we’ll both be lonely,” he said, settling his hand under her jumper and her shirt, letting his fingers splay against the skin on her stomach for a moment before curling his hand on his waist.
“For a decent pillow I may just toss you a few quilts and wish you the best of luck,” she said, but she was smiling now.
“You wouldn’t,” he said, leaning in.
“Mmm, maybe,” she murmured, reaching up to pull him in for a kiss. It wasn’t anything rushed or exuberant, just slow and steady, the same way their relationship was. It had been six months now and while she had very strong feelings towards him, and she was quite sure he had strong feelings towards her, those three little words hadn’t been said between them. She wasn’t sure they would, to be honest, but she could wait, and if they never were, she would live with that. It was what she had expected when she had agreed to begin a relationship with Sherlock Holmes.
After a time he pulled away and then looked down at her. “I have a riddle for you, Molly,” he said.
“Well, that’s a good way to pass the time,” she said, reaching up to cup the side of his face. “Alright, Sherlock. See if you can stump me.”
He licked his lips for a moment, looking at her in a way he hadn’t before. "I was standing at the second letter of the alphabet, looking for the ring that fell at the middle of the river. At the end of the lake and the end of the day, the ring was found before you."
She gave him a confused look as she ran it through in her head. “I...and then l, I suppose, and then v for river? End of lake is e….and then you...” And then her eyes widened and she sat up so quickly she nearly hit Sherlock’s head with her own. “The ring is o. I L-O-V-E You. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said, giving her a small smile. She couldn’t help it then, bursting into laughter and throwing her arms around his neck. He embraced her back, pulling her into his lap when he sat up straighter. She shifted so she was straddling him and when she pulled back she framed his face with her hands and kissed him deeply for quite some time before nudging him onto his back onto the blanket. “I did well?” he asked when she pulled away to reach for the hem of the jumper she’d convinced him to wear.
She nodded. “Oh, you certainly did,” she said.
“Even in this time and place?”
“Even so.” She gave up on the shirt for a moment and leaned in, her lips hovering above his. “Just so you know, I may even give you the pillow tonight.” And when he grinned, she knew this would definitely be a story to tell their friends.