Chapter Text
Greg curses Sherlock as he walks into his flat. The consulting detective had been extra annoying, which meant that Greg is getting out of work almost an hour later than he had hoped, meaning that he is going to have to rush to get ready for his date. That makes Greg suspect that Sherlock delayed him on purpose - not that he cares about Greg’s personal life per say, but Sherlock does seem hellbent against his brother having one and given that Greg’s date is with Mycroft, that makes him collateral damage in whatever is going on between the two brothers.
Checking the clock, he finds himself grateful that he does still have enough time for a shower, given that a good part of his day was spent chasing after first Sherlock and then his suspect. If he were going to the pub, he might be able to forgo, but when one is dating Mycroft Holmes, you don’t go to pubs and not reeking of sweat is definitely a prerequisite for wherever the other man is taking him. Given that the relationship is still in its early days, Greg isn’t sure whether or not he can refer to Mycroft as his boyfriend, especially given that it’s a discussion they have not yet had.
As he showers, Greg does ponder on how unlikely this relationship is. Not because Mycroft was another man - Greg had a number of both boyfriends and girlfriends before his marriage to his ex-wife - but because they come from such different worlds. He doesn’t need to know details of the Holmes brothers upbringing to know that it was fairly posh and upper-class. And Greg, no matter how much he loves his job, if he’d had such an upbringing, he probably wouldn’t have become a copper.
As he steps out of the shower, his phone chimes as he gets out of the shower, and he starts thinking about who he’s going to hold responsible for ruining his evening - probably Sherlock. Instead it’s Mycroft checking in to see if their plans needed to be adjusted due to Greg’s late departure from work. With anyone else, he would find that a violation of his privacy, but Mycroft is Mycroft, and Greg knows it’s a side effect of the other man needing to keep tabs on his brother. And given that Sherlock is the only reason the two men ever met, it’s a quirk that Greg is willing to overlook. Greg assures Mycroft that no change in plans is needed, and sets about deciding what to wear.
Putting this much effort into his appearance is also something new. He and his ex-wife had given up on trying to impress each other years ago, and even then Greg hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into his wardrobe besides making sure everything was clean. But with Mycroft, not only is Greg trying to impress him, he’s also trying to avoid embarrassing him given that he travels in circles that Greg knows he’s in no way qualified to be a part of. He puts on a nicer suit, spending five minutes hemming and hawing over whether to wear a tie, before ultimately deciding against it. While he knows they’re going somewhere fancier than he would ever pick if left to his own devices, he also trusts that Mycroft would let him know if it was somewhere that a tie was mandatory.
After taming his hair - not that it takes much - he finds himself ready with five minutes to spare. While he knows that he’ll receive a text when the car - which may or may not have Mycroft inside - arrives to pick him up, but he decides that since it’s a nice evening, he’ll wait for it outside.