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The seemingly fearless Captain John Watson didn’t regret much of anything within his life with Sherlock, but if he did regret one thing, agreeing to go on their first date at the carnival was that one thing. Yes, John had thought it was a tiny bit cliché, and wasn’t totally sure if he wanted to go for several reasons, but he didn’t want to discourage Sherlock by saying no and it was a cute idea coming from him. So, of course he had eventually agreed after a day of consideration.
John had greatly enjoyed their time together and most of the date but as of now was when he started to feel doubtful on his earlier agreement, as he was sitting at the top of a towering Ferris wheel, trying to remain calm and collected. John would rather die than let Sherlock know his fear. Well, maybe that was a bit extreme, but nevertheless he didn’t want Sherlock knowing or he would never hear the end of it. The light from the daytime had drained from the sky and now stars started to dot the sky with their shining light in daylight's absence. It was fairly warm and comfortable temperature since it was summer, but there was a breeze that was just enough to make their seat sway every so often, causing John minor spurts of panic, as it did just now.
“John?” A clear, deep voice asked, which belonged to no other than Sherlock Holmes, and caused a halt to John’s thoughts.
“Yes, Sherlock?”
“Are you alright?”
“Fine.” John looked over at Sherlock, giving him a reassuring smile to take him off John’s tracks. Apparently it was not convincing enough, as the corners of the detective’s mouth turned making a slight, unsatisfied frown. It was difficult to hide things from the all-seeing Consulting Detective, even for John who could keep a reasonably good neutral expression even in the most trying of moments. Evidently he wasn’t going to get away with it entirely tonight.
“Your knuckles are white. Tense, obviously. You’re oddly quiet and your body language says uncomfortable. So, what’s really wrong?” Sherlock asked, his face telling John he expected an answer. John on the other hand, looked down at his hands, finding Sherlock had been right after all, and slowly unclenched them from the metal bar that was holding the two of them into their Ferris wheel seat. “Is it something with…us?”
“No, no it’s not that.” John looked back over at him, smiling quickly to reassure him. “Really, I have enjoyed today. A lot.” He noticed Sherlock’s features relax and then scrunch back up again as quickly with confusion.
“Then what is it?”
“If I tell you, will you please not tease me about it?” John asked, biting his bottom lip. He knew Sherlock would press him until he gave the complete truth, so there was no point in prolonging it. Sherlock’s expression rapidly lit with curiosity, and he gave John a nod as his answer. “Promise?”
Sherlock sighed, rolling his eyes slightly at John’s ridiculousness. “Yes, I promise John. Now what is it?”
John licked his lips, he was prepared for and expected the worst. Which was an outburst of laughter and at least a week’s time of teasing, it made John want to cringe as he imagined the oncoming flood of taunting that John Watson, brave solider and all, was afraid of something as silly as a Ferris wheel.
“I’m sort of…freaked out…by...” John gestured to the Ferris wheel, finding it hard to clearly admit his fear. Sherlock raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding what John was getting at, or just deciding to play plain cruel.
“Mm, yes?”
John gave him a ‘do-I-have-to-spell-it-out’ look, which was something he did not want to have to do. Sherlock could solve the most challenging of cases yet he could not connect the dots of what John was trying to say. “You know what I’m trying to say.” John sighed.
Sherlock smiled, as if the pieces had connected. “Ah, so you mean you’re afraid?”
“No, absolutely not. Freaked out a bit and afraid are two different things.” John huffed, feeling the need to defend himself, and put on a brave face while puffing his chest up a little. John was afraid of being alone and more practical things, but not something as silly as a Ferris wheel. Well he was, but he wouldn’t let Sherlock know how much. But soon, a cheeky smirk spread across Sherlock’s lips and John instantly grew concerned. “What’s the look for?”
Sherlock disregarded John question and answered with his own. “So, you’re saying that you’re not afraid and it wouldn’t bother you if I did…this?” Sherlock’s smirk grew to a grin as he began to sway back and forth, his motion moving the seat with him. Panic instantly spread through John, his immediate response was to clutch to the seat but he couldn’t and wouldn’t give Sherlock that kind of satisfaction. He would put up a fight before letting Sherlock know.
“Nope, doesn’t...bother me at all.” John smiled, face growing the slightest bit pale, as Sherlock didn’t relent in moving the seat, and he felt his stomach knot and twist inside him.
“Oh, good. It always makes it more interesting, since I was getting impatient waiting up here anyways.” Sherlock said, smiling contently while John was quietly planning Sherlock’s murder.
John plastered a tight smile on his face, “Great, wouldn’t want you to be bored up here, would we?” John said, and almost immediately regretted it. He felt like he could nearly barf and hopefully he would miss any poor soul below them. John turned his head away from Sherlock and squeezed his eyes shut as the seat rocked back and forth, his stomach protesting against it and not in John’s favor. He took quiet, small breathes in and out; it was something his therapist told him would help that was actually somewhat decent advice. If he didn’t give Sherlock any reaction then Sherlock would soon stop, at least that’s what John hoped.
“How secure do you think these bolts are, John?” Sherlock asked, peering over the edge of the seat and looking at the metal structure of the Ferris wheel. John opened his eyes and looked over at Sherlock, the Ferris wheel lights flashing behind him in colorful arrangements, which caused a wave of queasiness to wash through him.
“You’re the genius.”
“Oh, I think I see a loose one. Perhaps if I swing us enough I can reach it.” Sherlock said, flashing a mischievous grin at John. John knew Sherlock was doing this just to get John to admit his fear and was playing one hell of a game. John’s face paled even more, the color draining from his face as Sherlock began to rock the seat even more. John’s palms were already becoming covered in a nervous sweat, and breathing in and out was not helping anymore.
“You don’t need the bloody bolt!” John yelled at Sherlock, wanting to make sure he was heard over the creaking and groaning of the seat. Why weren’t they moving yet? How long had they been up there? Out of all scenarios, was this how he was going to die with Sherlock Holmes? John groaned and wished he was at Baker Street with a nice cup of tea, and not clinging to the seat of a Ferris wheel at a grungy carnival. Sherlock still continued to swing, the Detective’s tongue sticking out in concentration as he reached for the bolt.
“Nearly got it John!” Sherlock said cheerfully as if he was oblivious to John’s obvious state of distress.
A loud squeak and shudder came from the Ferris wheel, pushing John into further panic. “Oh god, oh god.” He muttered to himself, nearly on the brink of a panic attack it seemed. His fear was far worse than any others he had. “Please Sherlock, please I beg you to stop.”
Sherlock laughed before looking over at John, his smile quickly fading. Sherlock had not realized how badly John was reacting to this. “John?” He asked, his eyes growing larger with alarm. Sherlock placed a hand firmly on John’s arm, who had his eyes sealed tight. “I stopped and the seat’s not moving. We’re alright.” Sherlock did his best to soothe John. He would have never expected this sort of reaction from John who always seemed so fearless.
John was taking deep breaths, inhaling in and out repeatedly. He opened his eyes and some color had seemed to return to his face. “Please, just get me off this thing.”
“You’re really afraid of this, aren’t you?” Sherlock asked softly, not doing this to rub it back in John’s face, but instead was naturally baffled.
John looked up at Sherlock, embarrassed. “Yeah, only a bit.” John said dryly.
Sherlock looked down at his other hand, biting his lip. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t tell you that I got the bolt and that just so happened to be when that extremely loud creaking noise happened...”
John’s eyes widened again. “What?”
Sherlock held up his hand, a bolt resting in his palm, and his bottom lip forming a slight pout and shaking his head.
“You’re kidding me?”
“Afraid not.”
“Shit.”
Sherlock pursed his lips before his cover finally cracked, beginning to chuckle to himself. John narrowed his eyes, confused. John blinked a few times before realization hit him, letting out a huge sigh.
“You utter dick.” John growled. “I told you and yet you still continued to toy with me.”
Sherlock smiled apologetically and opened his arms. “I’m sorry John, truly. How about we hug it out?”
John scowled at him. “Ha, no.” John would give Sherlock hell for this for at least a day or two.
Sherlock tilted his head to the side, wearing a cheeky smile. “Oh, come on. Even if I am a dick, I’m your dick John.” Sherlock said, beaming proudly like he was a fifth grader that had just won the science fair. Maybe Sherlock could get John to lighten up, he was only teasing him.
“Next time, I pick where we go.” John said, still not even close to being happy with Sherlock but he could use this situation to his advantage. Not that he would guilt trip Sherlock, just a onetime card in his deck of cards.
“So, there’s a next time?” Sherlock smirked, taking it as a promising sign.
“If I decide not to strangle you, yes.”
“Ah, fair enough.” Sherlock grinned, still holding his arms open, an invitation for John. John, who was still scowling at him, leaned towards him and accepted the invitation. Sherlock’s arms wrapped around him securely and even though he wasn’t thrilled that Sherlock teased him, John felt safer and more relaxed now that he was in Sherlock’s arms. He sighed, his anger ebbing away as he pressed his face to Sherlock’s chest, and breathed in his scent that John had always liked. He couldn’t quite place what Sherlock’s scent exactly was, but it was its own in a delightful way.
“Did you smell me?” Sherlock wasn’t accusing him, and John could hear the smile in his voice.
“Yeah, I did. Problem?”
Sherlock shook his head, and looked down at John an amused smile. “No. Surprised, actually.”
John leaned back enough to look up at Sherlock, flashing him his own smile. “I surprised Sherlock Holmes.” He said with a sense of victory.
Sherlock sniffed, only acting to be bothered by such a thing. “Well, it won’t happen again.”
John raised an eyebrow, taking this as a suggestion for competition. It felt good to show up Sherlock every once in a while, especially when he had just been a dick. “You sure about that?”
“Positive.” Sherlock replied, popping the ‘p’ and only making John want to prove him wrong even more. Before Sherlock could look away, John leaned up and pressed their lips together softly. Sherlock didn’t respond for a moment, which John assumed was caused by no other than surprise, before he kissed John back gently while raising his hand to cup John’s cheek. There were no sparks that lit up around them, nor sudden explosion of hungry passion, but there was something more significant in this small and tender kiss: the chance for both of these men to finally feel all the emotions that had been caged up inside one another, and to release it and turn it into the love that had been blossoming between them since the moment they had met. It was the perfect first kiss for them, and there was plenty enough time for them to do more things, but for now they would take it one step at a time.
Their lips parted slowly, both inhaling as they pulled back and gazed back at one other. A smile crept upon both of their faces, looking at each other as if the other was the greatest thing in the universe.
“Surprised?” John asked after a moment, breaking only the silence and not his glowing smile. Sherlock nodded, leaning down and pulling John closer to him for another kiss.
“Obviously.”