Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I wonder if maybe they can help….
I can’t fail another one, I just can’t…

John Watson is an ordinary kid who’s trying his best at school, even with all the stress at home, he’s trying his best and most of the time it works, almost straight A’s at everything.

And when I say almost, I mean all of the subjects except chemistry

No matter how much time he dedicates to learn, no matter how many times Harry found him at 3 am with his nose in the textbook, no matter how much time he spent with his tutor. Nothing helped, he still failed every single test this semester.

Maybe they’ll know? I can only hope….

“What is he talking about?” you might wonder “who are they?”, “How could they help?”

Well, my dear friends, he is talking about his soul mate, the one person he is meant to be with.
In this universe, almost every human is one of a team, and you can communicate with them quite easily. Just write something on your body and it will appear on your soul mate.

John never really talked with them, he never really had a reason to. This ability is supposed to appear in 17 y/o, but at 14, he’s not supposed to be able to do it.

But it’s his last resort, he can’t fail another test, and unfortunately, he is taking one right now.

“why atomic radius decreases as you go across the periodic table?
A. Electronegativity is decreasing.
B. The mass increases.
C. Ionization energy increases.
D. The atomic number increases.

Please help me”

John writes quickly on his arm when the teacher turns her back, and now he waits.

*0o0o0*

Thirty seconds and no answer, maybe it’s not a really long time to wait, but for a kid who feels like he has false hope, it feels like an eternity.

*0o0o0*

Two minutes later he feels an itch on his arm.

He rolls his sleeve up and sees a red circle around the letter D.
He stares at the circle for a few moments before he can register that his soul mate is writing again “Way too easy, next”

Before he could react to the fact that he just talked with his soul mate, he feels more itches on the tips of his fingers, when he looks he sees on each individual finger A, B, C and D, and on his palm, he reads

“Write the questions on your arms and I’ll answer with a dot on the right answer.
Write it small and efficient with a pen you can erase, and please, nothing too boring”

A toothy grin broke John’s face as he went to work.

*0o0o0*

After he finished and submitted his test, he grabbed his backpack and ran outside in a beeline towards the quite spot under the tree, in the back of the school.

When he got there, he sat down and pulled out his pen

“Thank you so much,” he wrote

“No problem” appeared on his arm “it was quite tedious, but provided a welcome distraction”

“I’m glad to be of help,” he laughed “but if you don’t mind me asking, a distraction from what?” he wanted to more about the person who helped him without a question.

“life,” they wrote and John’s expression turned worried, but after a few moments, they continued “everything is so boring and I just finished my violin class and had nothing to do. Besides, it’s not every day that your soul mate is writing to you for the first time”

“you play the violin? That’s so cool! But actually, I wasn’t sure that you’ll actually answer me…  It was my last resort” he confessed

“Yes, I play for years now, but mummy and father insist that I’ll continue my classes, even though at this point I can teach my teacher.

But in fact, that’s quite interesting, how old are you? Based on your writing and the questions you wrote me, I’m guessing between 13 to 15.

Based on the fact that I am currently 10 years old, it should be impossible for us to communicate, but as we can see, it’s not impossible for soulmates under 17 to interact, it’s at least improbable.

Have you heard about people whose ability was developed this early?
I need to do some research, goodbye”

The words flew across his arm in a high speed and John couldn’t contain his amazement

How can one write in the speed of light, and keep his elegant cursive perfect? He thought with a smile

“That was amazing, you were right, I am 14, I don’t know how you could have guessed that from my handwriting, but okay. And are you seriously only 10? You don’t sound like one, you sound like a 30 y/o professor, but I believe you” he replied

Silence

“Wait, but how did you know all the answers to the questions that I wrote you? Did you search for the answers?”

Quiet

“I don’t even know your name”

John began to worry, what if it was a one-time thing? What if it was a fluke?

“Can you please shut up?
I can’t research with this annoying tingling all over my arm”

Relief washed over John that this wasn’t a one-time thing, but he still felt a little bad for disturbing his soul mate

“I’m sorry, but you didn’t give me a chance you answer you”

“pointless if I already know that I’m correct. Now to answer your questions:
Yes, I am ten. Besides, I don’t guess, I saw, deduced. Like I can deduce that you’re a people person, outgoing, based on the size of your writing. And that you also enjoy a freedom and don’t like to be crowded based on the space between the letters. From the fact that you leave a larger margin on the right indicates that you’re constantly worried about the future, your ‘l’ is narrow, which means that you’re restricting yourself and based on your narrow ‘e’ tend to be skeptical of others, and by your ‘i’ I can see that you’re very organized and emphatic and because your ‘o’ is close, I can deduce that you’re private, introvert.

I can continue, but I think that you’ll hit me by now, so I’ll just stop”

John sat there opening and closing his mouth like a fish a few times, trying to be able to control his mind

“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” he wrote back because it’s the only thing he can say after all that he read

After a few bits of silence, he felt the other responses in a slow, unsure writing “really?”

“Of course, that was amazing and brilliant, you read my personality just from my handwriting, that was incredible!
wait
why did you say that I’ll hit you? Have people hurt you because of it? Give me names and I’ll hurt them”

“Thank you, but it’s okay now, I started homeschooling, so I’m fine.
Look, I need to go research about this, so for your last questions. I know the answers because I love chemistry, and I’ve learned it a few years back. And lastly, you can call me Sherlock”

“Sherlock? Quite the name, but I like it.
You’re really smart Sherlock, that’s amazing, I don’t think that I met someone as smart as you”

“Thank you”

“No need, I’m super happy that my soul mate is super smart.
btw, my name is John”

“Goodbye John”
“Goodbye Sherlock, talk to you tomorrow”

Chapter Text

John walked back home ecstatic

He just talked to his soul-mate, and they’re brilliant! So smart and talented!

They play the violin, they know chemistry, they’re super smart, he doesn’t know how lucky he is to get this kind of soul-mate.

The blond boy doesn’t even know if they’re a boy or a girl, even though he thinks they’re a boy, he can’t be sure.

It doesn’t really matter, he thought happily, but he still made a mental note to ask Sherlock when he’ll get home.

It’s quite a long walk to his house, at least 20 minutes if he walks quickly (which is a difficult thing to do considering his short legs), so he has some time to think about what just happened.

First of all, for the first time in his life, he cheated on a test. He, John Watson, cheated on a test, and he doesn’t even care, because the most wonderful thing came out of it.

Which is the second thing, he talked to Sherlock, his soul-mate, the most amazing person he ever met, it’s not even supposed to be possible, which adds to his excitement, they’re special, he just knows it, there’s something special about the two of them, something rare, unique. He just hopes Sherlock will find something because he has a feeling that Sherlock will not rest until he’ll get answers.

But then doubt entered his mind

Sherlock is amazing, smart and talented, what am I? I’m an ordinary kid, I’m nothing special… what can I do? I can’t pass even chemistry

He mentally shakes his head, No, No! I believe that the universe has a plan…

and besides… he adds with a cheeky smirk, If Sherlock’s my soul-mate, I guess I’m also special.

*0o0o0*

Later that day, at half-past two in the morning, John woke his pleasant sleep to the familiar prickling feeling.

Earlier that day, just as he set his foot in the house, he ran to his room and grabbed his new camera and snapped a photo of his arm, especially, a photo of the question that started their conversation. Afterward, he ran to the bathroom and cleaned his arm the best he could, he didn’t want anyone to know, he wanted a secret, something that was only his and Sherlock’s.

So, when he felt the itches, he knew that they have a clean canvas to start whatever they want.

Even though he preferred to talk to Sherlock at a reasonable hour, he couldn’t help but to leap out of the covers and grab the nearest pen.

He sat back on his bed, turned on his bedside lamp, rolled up his pajamas sleeve and began to laugh quietly (so he wouldn’t wake the rest of his family).

“John
John
John!”

With an eye-roll he replied

“Sherlock! Sherlock! Sherlock!!
What?”

“Don’t get sassy, it doesn’t suit you.

Listen, the only thing that I found is about Bonnie and Clyde.

From the sources I found, their ability first started when Bonnie was 15 and Clyde was 16, still not like ours, I’m aware. But They’re the only couple I found that could communicate with each other before celebrating 17.

Also, I found a research about soul-mates, written by a chemist called Bill Wiggins.

He says that the only reason he was able to find, is that the ability is appearing after 17 years only because a person at this age is supposed to be developed completely, mentally and physically.

Some people get this at a later age if their soul-mate is younger than them, but except Bonnie & Clyde (In which, Clyde was almost 17 when the ability appeared, but still, younger), and well… us. No one is recorded as being able to do that under 17 birthdays.”

“Well, I guess that makes us special, doesn’t it? :)”

“I guess it does but I’ll keep researching and experimenting

And… did you just drew a smiley face on me?”

“That’s fine by me :)

and yes :)”

“Stop it”

“No :)”

“John! Stop it! I don’t want smiley faces on my arm!”

“But why? :(“

“Because it’s childish and immature”

“… you’re ten”

“I’m aware, but age is only a number, and I won’t participate in this… juvenility”

He’ll kill me, I’m sure of it, He thought with a giggle, but I don’t care

he took a black marker and drew a big, toothy smiley on the back of his hand and waited in anticipation for the death threat he knew was about to come.

What he didn’t expect to see was a yellow color filling out one tooth, also that black dots would also pop up on his hand indicating a five o’clock shadow, and finally a black eye patch was added.

It’s a pirate! He realized, Sherlock continued my painting and drew a pirate!!

He looked at his arm and saw that they no longer had any place on this arm, so he wrote on a patch of clean skin “Let’s play a game”

He took the marker and rolled his other sleeve up to reveal a clean arm, and drew a flower

And waited

and waited

Until he felt he saw that Sherlock wrote something on the first arm

“That’s stupid”

“Come on, you already got yourself involved when you drew the pirate, humor me”

After a few bits of silence, he saw little bees being drawn around the flower.

And with a smile, he got back to work

*0o0o0*

He almost didn’t get any sleep that night, just what he got before Sherlock woke him.

and when the first sun rays brightened the world, he looked at himself. At some point during the night, they shed their clothes almost completely, only their pants stayed on them, their arms and legs were full of drawings, from little doodles to brilliant sketches that Sherlock drew of skulls and bees (Sherlock is an amazing artist, and apparently, he loves bees). And John shot a picture of every single one of them.

It was the best night of his life and he doesn’t want to forget any of it.

*0o0o0*

They started to exchange little works of art during the day and it made John happy every single time.

Most of the times, it was Sherlock who did the drawings (even though it was mostly just the word “bored” in different fonts, colors, and styles), and because he was homeschooled, and was free most of the time to terrorize John’s arm with pens and markers.

One time he drew a yellow smiley face, a gun and dotted the smiley, repeatedly, with a red marker. Underneath it, he wrote in bold characters, with the same red marker “BORED”.

(This one made John snort in the middle of class, and the teacher was not happy about it, and when he answered the question of “What did you find so funny?” with “My soul-mate” at the age of 14, no one took him seriously and with an eye roll the teacher continued the lesson)

Overall, they were happy, they talked and doodled, got to know each other, talked about their days, their hobbies, thoughts, everything.

John knows about Mycroft (or as Sherlock calls him, Piecroft), and that they’re, supposedly, despise each other (even though John can read between the lines that there’s a strong brotherly love bond between the two of them and that they love each other. But he already learned the hard way not to say that to Sherlock, he won’t repeat that again).

He also knows about Redbeard, his dog, and all about the crazy adventures they go to (for a 10 y/o, who doesn’t want anything to do with being a child, he’s got a wild imagination). About all the cases that Sherlock is solving (all are from the papers, and no one is listening to him. And the result is Sherlock taking his frustrations on John’s arm, and John going with long sleeves all the time. But John doesn’t mind, he finds it amusing to find Sherlock calling the entire Scotland Yard idiots).

And John told Sherlock about himself (even though there’s not a lot to talk about, and that in John’s opinion, that it’s not very interesting). He told him about his family, Harry, his mother’s drinking problem and how he fears that Harry is going down the same way, about his thoughts to join the rugby team next year, he shared his dream of becoming a surgeon in the future.

He told him things that he never told anyone, he felt like himself while talking to him.

John Watson felt free with Sherlock Holmes.

Chapter Text

“I’m bored”

“Aren’t you usually?”

“I'm BORED”

“What about a case? Something interesting caught your eye recently?”

“No, everything is too quiet. No homicides, no thefts, nothing.
I’m bored”

“And Mycroft? He came back this weekend from boarding school, maybe something with him?”

“I’m bored, not mental”

“Redbeard?”

“Sleeping”

“Experiments?”

“Need to wait for results”

“Homework?”

“Dull”

“Violin?”

“Not in the mood”

“Then I’m out of ideas”

“Let’s meet”

 “What?”

“You know how I hate to repeat myself, just read it again if you have to”

“Seriously?”

“Why not? It makes sense
1. We both live in the same region
2. We talk to each other every day, almost all day long, for almost two and a half years now
3. I’m bored
4. You are too (And don’t tell me you’re not, or that you have homework to do, you’ve already done them yesterday)
5. We’re soul-mates
6. I want to officially meet my best friend”

“I am your best friend?”

“Obviously
…
Am I not yours?”

“Of course, you are, you git. Okay, let’s meet!”

*0o0o0*

John is a nervous mess by the time he gets to the destined place where Sherlock told him to meet (At the playground near the school). He got there a little earlier than the time they set (they [Sherlock] said they’ll meet at 3 pm, but John arrived at half past two, just in case) and sat on the swings to wait for his soul-mate to appear.

John thought dangerous thoughts

What if he won’t like me?

What if he imagined someone else?
Someone brave, smart, good looking. I am nothing of those things…

What if I won’t meet his expectations?
I’m just an ordinary kid, he deserves someone amazing

Is it even possible for soul-mates to reject each other?
But he’s also my best friend, what will happen when he decides that I’m not worth it?!

I can’t do this, I can’t lose him

With a shake of his head, he stood up and walked away.

*0o0o0*

He decided to take the long route back home, the one that crossed the park, in order to try and clean his mind.

I’m such a coward, what will I say to Sherlock? He’s a bloody genius, he’ll see right through me, what will I do? I can’t just not answer him, it will kill me. Will he ever forgive me that I ditched him? I don’t know what to do, I do not deserve him, I’m just a stupid, ugly, self-

“John? John Watson?!”

The voice shook him out of his venomous mind and he turned around to face the person who called his name.

“Mike? Mike Stamford, I just moved back last week, we were in the same class in until 3^rd grade”

“Oh yes, I’m sorry, Mike of course” He actually does remember Mike, he was that nice, funny kid in the front. He thinks that they even were in some sleepovers together.

“What happened to you? It looks like someone ran over you?”

John laughed nervously “Nothing, just thinking”

“Do you want to come with me? I need to go to school, I forgot something in my locker” Mike suggested with a small smile

John answered with a small smile and a nod and followed Mike towards the school.

*0o0o0*

When they got to the school, they laughed like old buddies, Mike with full body laugh and John with fake ones. It’s not that he didn’t find the stories funny, he just wasn’t in the right mood to laugh, but every distraction right now is welcome.

Just as they were about to round the next turn in the hall, they heard a clanging voice and a curse (at the sound, a shiver went down John’s spine) And they moved cautiously toward the noise (which was near the school laboratories). As they turn the corner, John saw a small skinny kid crouching down to pick… lockpicks, apparently. His head’s full of black curls that covers his entire face, and a dark coat that drapes dramatically around him.

As if on instinct, he moved next to the kid and helped him to pick all of the lock picks

“Thanks…” the kid said, not meeting John’s eyes, and his voice ran another shiver through him.

“No problem” John answered, and watched as the kid tensed, and he thought that maybe he felt the same thing.
Then he remembered how Sherlock told him that sometimes when he feels needs to be alone, he sometimes breaks into the school’s labs. At that his head shot up and stared at the kid next to him, still not moving his head up. Maybe?

“Sherlock! What are you doing here? I thought that you don’t learn here” Oh, Mike is here, wait, did he just say Sherlock?! “oh I’m sorry, John this is Sherlock Holmes, I moved next door to his family. Sherlock, this is John Watson, he’s an old friend of mine”

“John?”

At the timid voice, John realized that he looked up at mike and moved his head back, only to see the set of the most magnificent set of eyes he has ever seen, but he couldn’t speak, not one sound could escape his mouth, so he pulled out a pen that he always carried around with him and rolled his sleeve up, not taking his eyes off Sherlock (Sherlock… wow) and started to write

“Hi”

Sherlock’s eyes widened and he rolled his own sleeve to look at his arm. John couldn’t see from his angle anything, except the boney pale hand twitch under the kid’s intense gaze upon it. A slow smile crossed his face as he raised his arm to John’s eye level to reveal the message written there.

“Hello John”

And with the happiest smile in his life, he replied “Hello Sherlock”

Chapter Text

“Do you know each other?” Mike asked excitedly

Silence

“Umm… guys? What’s with all the staring?”

Nothing

“Helloooooo….? Guys, what’s got into yo-” That’s when he noticed their arms.
His eyes widened as he realized what is happening.

“OMG!” he shouted and finally got their attention “Are you two soul-mate?! How is that even possible?! John, you’re 16! And Sherlock! You’re just 12!”

“13 next week…” John heard Sherlock mumble, but that didn’t stop Mike’s enthusiasm

“…That’s so awesome! How long did it happen?!!! I’ve never heard of this before, that’s amazing! Do you think that we all can do it, or is it something only for the two of you? How did you discover it? How long did you two talk? Is that why you were sad before? How does it work? You two can be famous! You two would be such a cute couple! Mayb-“

“Mike”

“Double date, or… wait, who else knows about it? Am I the only one?! Did you two meet because of me?!”

“Mike!”

“That’s brilliant! I’m the matchmaker! Unbelievable! May I be a groomsman at the wedding? I want to help plan! May I help you?! Please! Pleasepleaseplease! I imagine a fall wedding, it will be a small one, I can’t see that each of you will want a lot of people there, it will be outside, the ceremony will be near the river, under a tree, maybe a willow, that will be beautiful. We’ll do it in the evening, so fairy lights! Lots and lots of fairy lights! And you John! Will put a dark blue tie, maybe with white dots on it, the blue will compliment your eyes, oh you’ll be so handsome, I imagine you with a three-piece suit, white shirt, grey vest and navy-blue jacket on top, oh, so lovely”

“Stamford!” Sherlock tried but to no avail. John turned to face him and saw Sherlock with a red face, and he wouldn’t meet his eyes.

This whole situation is ridiculous, this morning his plans were just to do his homework in history and afterward maybe talk Sherlock, or to catch up on Doctor Who. But then he was on his way to the playing ground that he hasn’t set his foot on for at least for ten years, to meet his soul-mate. But then he turned tail and ran away only to come across Mike, an old lad who he hadn’t talked to in years, who just happened to be back in town, who just happened to start living next door to the Holmes’s, and who just happened to be going to the same place that Sherlock just happen to be in. and now here he is, in school after hours, with his soul-mate that not even half an hour ago, was too afraid to meet, whose red in the face because his old mate is now talking about their wedding, and! Wait

Wait

“Sherlock?”

“What?” he asks shyly with adorable crimson cheeks, and made eye contact with him, and… wow

Those eyes are… amazing

He didn’t appreciate them before, not properly, it’s not one color, it’s grey and blue and green and gold and…. wow, just, wow. But now it’s not the time, now he has a question he needs to ask. So, he cleared his throat and continued “What are you doing here?”

“Umm I-I…” he shook his hand and cleared his throat “I can ask you the same thing”

“Touché” he replied with an easy laugh, that was shared with Sherlock “what are we going to do with him?” he mentioned towards Mike with a tilt of his head, and now noticed that Mike isn’t even looking at them, he’s waving his hands and debating with himself what colors will compliment Sherlock’s skin (Purple will look magnificent on him, John answered in his mind, which made him blush and Sherlock smile smugly)

“Let’s just go, he won’t even know we’re not here until he’ll ask us about the honeymoon”
at the mention of honeymoons, he managed to blush even more

He’s adorable like this John thought fondly

“Mike Stanford!” he hears Sherlock roars, and he snorted at the surprised look on Mike’s face as he finally shut his mouth.

“Okay, so if we’ll answer your questions, will you finally shut up?”

Mike confirmed with a quick nod and with a shit eating grin.

“Good.
Yes, we know each other; we are soul-mates; we don’t know how it’s possible for us to communicate; It’s going on for about two years now; we like to think that we are somehow special; we discovered it when John was about to fail his chemistry test and needed help, it was a bet, but a good one; again, two years; I guess that I was the reason why he was bitter earlier, so, yes; It works as expected, you write something and it appears on the other’s arm; yes, you’re the only one that knows, so please, don’t tell anyone; No, you will not be a groomsman; yes, blue will complement John’s eyes; No, we will- What?”

John couldn’t hold it any longer, he started to laugh

Sherlock gave him a quizzical look which made John laugh even harder.

“What?” asked Sherlock

“I’-I hav..” John tried explaining, but the laughter made it so much more difficult

“Take a few breaths mate, and try again” said Mike, laughing as well

Doing as he’s told, he tried again “I’ve never h-heard someone c-complimenting my eyes s-so seriously”

“Oh…” was Sherlock’s answer as his blush deepened and he tried to curl into himself

“Mike, didn’t you have to go somewhere?” John asked

“OH, yes! Yes, of course, yes, I have to…” and with that, he went away.

*0o0o0*

“So… Let’s start over, I’m John and I guess that I’m your soul-mate” he said as he held out his hand to shake, and just as he hoped, it made the other snicker. Sherlock pulled his head up a little, and with a twinkle in his eyes answered

“Sherlock Holmes, soul-mate, glad to finally meet you” and finally took his hand.

The moment their hands touched they felt an electric shock going through their veins. But it wasn’t painful, it was… comforting, it felt good, like coming home.

Chapter Text

John doesn’t know how long they sat there on the floor outside the laboratories holding hands, maybe a few hours, maybe less than 10 seconds, but when they heard Mike giggles behind the lockers they drew apart and John felt that it wasn’t enough, like he could stay in that moment for the rest of his life, just sitting there, holding hands and stare into each other's eyes, it will be spectacular.

“Mike, go away” he heard Sherlock say in an annoyed tone as he got up and stood above him with a smirk and a waiting hand.

“Fine, fine. I’m going, and I won’t tell anyone, but! Just let me say, groomsman, not even the best man! Just a- “and he vanished just as Sherlock threw his shoe in Mike’s direction. They could hear Mike’s giggles echo through the halls until they disappeared.

And just then they allowed themselves to start laughing. They just couldn’t stop. Tears streaming down their faces, they doubled over as their stomachs clenched and hurt, and the muscles in their faces ached from smiling so much.

I don’t believe that just happened, John thought as he wiped the tears that rolled down, quite pointlessly actually, since they’re just got replaced with new ones, this is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous

Sherlock started to calm down first, so he picked up his lockpicks and started again to pick the labs door

“What are you doing’?” John tried to ask between taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

“I still want to get in” he stated matter-of-factly, and John giggled

“Okay then,” he got up and stood behind him “Do you need any help?” he asked with a smirk as he watched Sherlock Shake from their close proximity.

“Yes actually, move away. I need to concentrate” he… gently asked him, at John who just giggled and took a step back.

After a minute or so the door finally opened and Sherlock strode in like he owned the place, and John slid in behind him.

“You can sit over there,” Sherlock points at a stool near a table “I’ll fetch the equipment” and with that, he walked into the lab closet.

“Yeah, okay.” John said as he made his way to the stool, “What are you going to do?” he asked with a huge grin as he sat down and looked around “It’s so weird” he mumbled under his breath.

“I wanted to see how the human eyeball would react to being microwaved, But now! Because you’re here, I want to check a something” he exclaimed with an enthusiastic smile.

“And what’s that?” John asked with a smile, but still, with caution, he knows the kinds of experiments Sherlock is performing, and if he’s sure of one thing. He does NOT want to be on the other side of the microscope.

“Oh, don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything,” Sherlock said with a dismissive hand motion, clearly, he was trying to make John calm, he did not succeed.

“Okay…”

“Oh, for the love of... calm down, just sit there” he snapped with an annoyed tone. He sat down on a stool next to John after he finished organizing the equipment on the table.
He took out a pen, uncapped it and drew a square on his arm and filled it. John can fill it being created on his own arm, so he rolled his sleeve up and looked it mesmerized as the square was being filled with black ink. After that Sherlock pulled out a Q-tip and grabbed John’s arm gently, he dabbed the tip gently on John’s skin, at the square of color he created on himself, until he swiped a little ink from it. And now John realized what he wants to check, he wants to see if it’s the same ink is transformed from one to the other, he must admit that the thought about the subject did not cross his mind, he just accepted it as is, but of course that Sherlock wants to do experiments on the subject.

He’s adorable he thinks fondly as he watches Sherlock bends over the microscope with a little smile on his lips.

*0o0o0*

They spent the rest of the day in the school labs together.

The first hours were spent in quiet, Sherlock in his mind and John watching him fondly.
After about an hour and a half, Sherlock suddenly broke the comforting silence with the declaration that it IS, in fact, the same ink, and that he wants to do more experiments on the subject. And he looked so happy and free while he talked about it that John could not stop himself from smiling a huge toothy smile at it

It’s amazing to see someone so passionate about something

It’s amazing to finally SEE Sherlock being so passionate about something

That’s how they spent the rest of the time, with Sherlock talking animatedly about all the things he wants to discover, and with John listening with a blinding smile on his face.

And if they noticed Mike hiding on the doorway, with a grin and a small camera, taking pictures of the two. None of them mention it.

Chapter Text

One week later

*0o0o0*

‘Trrrr’

‘Trrrrrrrr’

‘Trrrrrrrrrrrr’

“JOHN WATSON!  I SWEAR TO GOD! IF YOU WON’T TURN OFF YOUR BLOODY ALARM, I’LL COME THERE MYSELF AND SMASH YOUR STUPID HEAD ON IT!!”

“SORRY HARRY!”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU SET YOUR ALARM TO HALF PAST FIVE IN THE BLOODY MORNING?!?!”

“BE QUIET HARRY!”

“TELL JOHN TO NOT SET HIS ALARM TO FIVE THIRTY IN THE MORNING DAD, DON’T BLAME ME!”

“HARRIET FENELLA WATSON! BE QUIET!! AND JOHN HAMISH WATSON!”

“YES, MOM?!”

“THROW THAT ALARM OUT OF THE BLOODY WINDOW!”

“BUT I ALREADY TURNED IT OFF AFTER THE FIRST YELL!”

“ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME?”

“NO!”

“THEN WHY ARE WE STILL YELLING?!”

“I DON’T KNOW!!”

“EVERYONE! JUST SHUT UP!!!!”

“OKAY GRANDMA” “SORRY GRANDMA!” “GO BACK TO SLEEP MOM” “SORRY EMMA!”

“Bloody children, all of them” Emma, the grandma grumbled as she opened John’s door the reveal her 16 years old grandson scribbling something on his arm under the bedside lamp.
“What are you doing Johnny?” she asked as she made her way t seat beside him on the bed.

The blond boy jumped as he heard her question, apparently, he didn’t hear her coming in, Weird, she thought, John is very observant, I wonder what keeps his mind away.
 “Oh,” he said as he blushed as he looked at her. Her fair skin looks worm in the yellow light; her light blue nightgown in wrinkled just as her wrinkly skin; her updo, that she styles every night before bed, is now messy, with grey hairs sticking out from here and there. It’s clear that she just woke up. But he doesn’t know how to answer her, he doesn’t know if he could tell her the truth, but her bright blue eyes are filled with understanding, and as the silence continues floating in the air while waiting for his answer he realizes that she averted her eyes to his arm, that’s currently is covered with half-finished birthday wishes and drawings of bees, of skulls with candles on them and of smileys  “umm, sorry grandma that I woke you, it won’t happen again” he says sheepishly as he tries to cover his arm with his rolled pajama sleeve.

“Don’t apologize, Johnny, I would never be mad at you for wanting to say happy birthday for your soul-mate.” Emma said with a knowing smirk as she grabbed his arm gently and rolled back the sleeve to see his creation “It’s very good, but such an interesting combination, bees, skulls, and smileys. Must be an interesting person”, she passed his arm back, and a mischievous look twinkled in her eyes. “I only wish that you have told me, but I guess that I understand that, you wanted to keep it to yourself as long as you could”

He tried to say something, anything! But nothing comes out. “Oh, stop gaping John, you look like a fish, it doesn’t suit you,” she says with a frown that’s not going to convince anyone.
“Just tell me one thing,” she said, suddenly serious.

Here we go, he thought grimly, going through the possible questions in his head, all the questions that he doesn’t have the answer to.

John’s grandmother didn’t talk right away, she first learned to him, and rested her head on the palm of her hand as she raised a brow and the corner of her mouth quirked up, and a dreamy sigh escaped her lips.

What the…

“Are they cute?”

… that… I did not expect

“Umm…”

“It’s not a hard question, are they cute? Adorable, charming, delightful, precious, loveable, perky, sexy,” Emma said as she wiggled her brows, and John turned another shade of red darker “well?”

“What?”

“Are they sexy?”

“Grandma!”

“OH, shush! I’m an old fossil with nothing interesting in her life, give me something to work with! But do it while you finish your arm, we don’t want your betrothed to wake only half painted. But tell me about them, you know you want to” the corners of his eyes crinkled as she gave him a warm and encouraging smile, and he knew that she was right, he really wants to brag about Sherlock.

And he realizes that he completely forgot his arm and continued to work, while he decided to answer his grandma (not that he has a choice on the subject), and actually, he finds that doing something in this awkward conversation is helping him to calm down.

*0o0o0*

Emma didn’t talk when John answered her question, because she was right, he did want to talk about him, and apparently, he has a lot to talk about. She learned that her grandchild’s soul-mate is a he, and his name is Sherlock. He told her about his black curly hair, fair skin and about his amazing kaleidoscope eyes. She now knows how they first met, about his obsession with bees and gore, his experiments and everything that John could think about. Her heart warmed at the sight of her grandson’s face when he talked about his soul-mate (and best friend, as she learned), his whole face lit up when he says his name. Her eyes were glossy, she had never seen John like this, she wants to go to Sherlock and thank him so much for making her grandson this happy. She suspected from the start that there was something different about their bond, because of course, she noticed that her 16 years old grandson is talking with a 13 years old boy, it should be impossible, but somehow it happened, and by the way that John is speaking animatedly, she couldn’t be happier.

The universe has a plan for this two, something big is waiting for them. He decided that they are worthy of more time together. They are special, John and Sherlock. Emma thought as wiped the tears that were able to escape. I can’t wait to meet him.

 *0o0o0*

John stopped talking when he noticed that his grandma had shed tears. After a lot of convincing that they were happy tears, Emma decided that she’ll leave for now, mostly because she has a feeling that Sherlock will respond soon. But not before taking John’s arm and leaving a note of her own.

John couldn’t realize why she’s drawing another bee until she finished, and then she left John giggling on his bed. Emma never felt this good in a long time.

Happy Bee-Day Sherlock!

From Grandma Emma