Work Text:
“I would like to kiss you but your mouth stinks,” the woman on the screen said, and Sherlock frowned. Women weren’t usually that blunt, were they? He paused the film and then looked around.
Oh. Molly wasn’t home. She was still at her post and he was...squatting? Catsitting? Bolthole stealing?
Terminology didn’t matter. He was in her flat by himself and she wasn’t there with him. Just Toby, sprawled across his midsection as he laid on the sofa, watching the insipid film Molly had left in her DVD player. He hadn’t meant to concentrate on it, wanting it on for background noise more than anything else, but Molly liked it, he supposed, and…
And what?
Molly liked it, so he wanted to see why? Find out if he could glean any more knowledge about her tastes and preferences? For what reason?
What reason indeed? the snide and smug inner voice in his head chimed on. Admit it. You fancy her and you want to know how to go about courting her. Because she’s different to you. She’s special
He scoffed out loud, loud enough to arouse Toby’s attention but not enough to get the cat to move. Not that he minded; if he brought wet food the cat tolerated his presence. “Toby, would Molly be so blunt as to refuse to kiss me because my breath wasn’t the freshest?” he asked, lifting his head up to looking at the cat as a sound came from the door. Good. Molly was home, he could just ask her instead of talking to her cat like he expected an answer.
The door opened and a foul odor emanated from the person standing there, and Molly had a grimace on her face, as though this had been the worst day of her life and she needed quite a bit to salvage anything at all from the day even though it was early morning now. Ignoring the odor, Sherlock moved Toby off his chest and got to work.
“Strip out of your clothes, Molly, and take a proper shower. No, a bath is better. Use the oils Mary gave you for Christmas, that should cover up the odor. I’ll try and make a baking powder paste of some sort you can set on your hair before you shampoo it. That should neutralize anything particularly offensive. I’ll call for coffee and takeaway. Scones? Eggs? Nevermind, I'll cook you breakfast. I will bring in a glass of wine and then leave the bottle.” He got behind her and nudged her towards the bathroom. “You can pull the curtain closed if you don’t want me to glimpse anything I shouldn’t, but we’ll make this day better, I promise.”
Molly sniffed, on the verge of tears. “Promise?”
He hesitated, then gently kissed her, something that surprised her. Apparently even if she stank he would kiss her. “Promise,” he said gently.
She gave him a small smile and then with one last encouraging nudge trudged off to the loo as he went about doing exactly what he promised her he would do. Yes, apparently Molly was special...and tonight he’d show her just how much.