Work Text:
“Fish”
Sherlock Fanfiction
Johnlock
John Watson had seen a lot of things. He’d been to war and seen death and despair at every turn. He’d chased criminals all throughout the streets of London and watched all kinds of men and women confess to all kinds of crimes. He’d even seen his best friend die and then come back to life two years later. Needless to say, John was pretty used to taking ridiculous things in stride. In fact, John had become quite adept at just rolling with Sherlock’s experiments, and he was pretty proud that he could just find eyeballs in places and be like, “K.” and move on. When Sherlock blew up the kitchen, John had just suggested take out. When Sherlock drugged John’s food (again, that bugger), John just rolled his eyes and took a nap on the couch. Still, on occasion, there are things that surprise him.
For instance, when Sherlock had casually said, “I love you, John” while examining something in a microscope. John had dropped his cup of tea and gaped at his flatmate and lover in shock, It had taken 3 minutes for him to even process that Sherlock Holmes was in love with him, and another 3 before he could register that this was real life and he was supposed to respond.
So, yes, John was hard to get a rise out of, but Sherlock always managed it. He managed to do it by being the first of the two to say those 3 words despite being a self proclaimed sociopath, and he managed to do it on a Sunday when John came up the stairs with 10 bags of groceries in his hands (because John is an all in one trip kinda guy if I’ve ever seen one). Luckily, the door was open a crack so he could just push it open with is hip rather than fussing with the door. He closed it with his foot before looking up and gaping in equal parts shock and confusion.
“Wha… what is that?” he asked his roommate who was laying on the couch in his usual thinking pose.
“It’s clearly a fish tank John, don’t be stupid.”
John gave his genius a look. “Don’t make me kill you.”
Sherlock smirked and was about to launch into their usual bater, but John cut him off before he could begin. He needed to know why his insane and wonderful boyfriend had gone out and bought a wall to wall fish tank.
“Why?” He asked instead. “Why is there a giant fish tank in our living room?” It was honestly huge, and Sherlock had seemingly pushed all the furniture against the wall closest to the door. This forced John to have to drop the bags at the door and climb over a table to get to the couch where Sherlock was resting.
Sherlock watched, amused, as he did this. “John, be reasonable, it would be silly and cruel to have fish without a tank to put them in.”
John clenched his jaw to avoid smiling at the banter, but he was sure Sherlock saw his amusement anyway. “Sherlock.” He said, trying to sound annoyed rather than amused and infatuated. He failed.
Sherlock sprung up and easily walked over the clutter to stare into the filtered water. John followed much less easily due to his shorter stature, but he eventually stumbled to stand next to Sherlock. Sherlock stared intensely into the fish tank as he spoke. “This is an important step in furthering our relationship.”
John blinked rapidly, trying to put two and two together. “Fish? Fish is the next step?”
Sherlock rolled his eyes. “Obviously.”
John broke and started giggling. Sherlock tore his attention away from the tank to stare at the soldier who was grinning at him with adoration in his eyes. At least, he assumed it was adoration, but he wasn’t quite sure. John was the only person who looked at him with emotions like that and Sherlock hadn’t finished categorizing them yet.
“What?” He snapped.
John just smiled and shook his head before leaning forward to kiss Sherlock on the mouth. “You are in equal parts infuriating and adorable, you wonderful, insane man.”
Sherlock felt that warm, fuzzy feeling settled in his stomach and his heart felt tight in a good way… a really good way. He wasn’t good with anything related to feelings, especially expressing them in words, and he suddenly worried that John was expecting that right now.
Before Sherlock could try to stumble through an emotional… thing. John asked, “How are fish the next step in our relationship?”
Sherlock sighed, partially in relief that he didn’t have to express himself and partially in annoyance that he had to explain this to John even though John was supposed to be the expert. He reached over to snag the book he had hidden in the couch cushions.
John immediately didn’t like the look of the florescent pink book. Sherlock handed him the book and his fears were proved valid. “How to make him love you” was written in curly gold letters on the front. “Page 106.” Sherlock said, and John sighed as he flipped to the page.
He was easily able to spot the passage that had brought this on after skimming the words. “… Now that you’ve gotten him interested, and you know how to keep it that way, it’s time to find out if you two are really soul mates and whether or not you’ll survive the most important relationship milestones: marriage and children. There are many ways to find this out, but my personal favorite is getting a pet. If you can happily and easily take care of a pet together, you will be able to handle babies similarly. If you can’t handle it, then something has to change. If you can’t raise a dog together, how can you expect to raise your future babies together?” Yeah… This was bad.
John looked up to Sherlock who was bouncing nervously in place. Sherlock stilled when he met John’s eyes. “They suggested getting a dog but Mrs. Hudson wouldn’t appreciate the mess or the noise and, frankly, neither would we. I decided fish were quieter, cleaner, and more pleasing aesthetically. Also, fish have an array of scientific interest so they are clearly a better option.”
John couldn’t help smiling at his partner. “A couple of things. Firstly, this is for people who plan to have kids in the near future, so maybe it doesn’t really apply to us, unless you’re planning on getting me pregnant.” Sherlock rolled his eyes with a little blush and John laughed. “Also, please, don’t consult this book ever again. It is actually garbage. In fact, just delete the whole book, you can do that, right? Because, you do not need any tricks or steps to make me love you. You did that just by being your usual, insufferable self.”
Sherlock felt a grin forming and he didn’t fight it. Instead he moved to envelope his John in a tight hug.