Work Text:
Sherlock had been trying to avoid attending the dinner for weeks. In the end Lestrade had promised him that he need only stay for a couple of hours, that he would find an excuse so that Sherlock could leave before the speeches and that he would ensure that Sherlock could sit at the end of one of the tables with someone opposite him who would have a modicum of intelligence.
The dinner was a fundraiser for a charity that provided for the families of police officers who had been injured in the course of their duty. Sherlock had no particular objections to the aims of the charity and had even tried to persuade Lestrade to let him buy a ticket but not actually attend.
In the end his attendance was due to Mycroft suddenly announcing that he and their parents were going to see “Cats” and would Sherlock like to join them? The date Mycroft mentioned seemed familiar and before Sherlock had time to think clearly, he had tendered his apologies and said he was attending a charity dinner that night. It was only when Lestrade came out of 221B’s kitchen, carrying two mugs of coffee that he realised he had been set up.
Lestrade had arranged to pick Sherlock up from the flat to ensure he made it to the dinner. They entered the hotel room where the pre-dinner reception was being held and Sherlock cast his eye around the room in order to choose the most suitable spot to hide until dinner was served. What he hadn’t expected was to see a tall man he didn’t recognise standing shyly by himself in a corner. Sherlock spent the next ten minutes while they waited for the dinner to be announced positioning himself to one side of Lestrade so that he could watch the man without making it obvious.
As they went into the dining room Sherlock tried to work out where this extremely attractive man was sitting and constructing various mental scenarios which would enable him to introduce himself part way through the meal, when he had reached the point of total boredom at his own table.
So he was surprised when the handsome man sat down in the seat opposite his, and Lestrade introduced him to Sherlock.
“Sherlock, this is Inspector Stanley Hopkins, just returned from secondment to Cardiff,” Lestrade said.
“I’m delighted to meet you,” Hopkins said. “I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
Normally, Sherlock would have instantly responded with his own deductions about Hopkins, but this time he could find nothing to say which adequately summed up his appreciation of the man.
Lestrade merely smirked. It was nice to know that even Sherlock could be struck dumb on occasion.