Work Text:
Molly bustled about her flat, finalising the arrangements for the hen poker session she’d been roped into hosting. Former assassin Mary Watson, intrepid detective sergeant Sally Donovan, ex-drug cartel leader Mrs. Hudson, mysterious Anthea Holmes and Mary’s mother-in-law, Annette, whom Molly had been warned runs a senior citizen’s weekend fencing club, were to be in attendance. The pathologist didn’t much fancy her chances, even before her sometimes lodger, Sherlock Holmes, commented ‘you’ll be the most honest at the table, Molly. You don’t stand a chance.’
He was sitting on her sofa now, bored out of his mind and absently stroking her dozing cat from where he rested on the detective’s lap. He watched Molly throw a Texas flag tablecloth over her shabby dining table and proceeded to bring forth extravagant Tex-Mex foods.
“Is that necessary?”
Molly smiled down at her hard work, her hands on her hips, “of course. We’re playing Texas Hold ‘Em. I think they’ll appreciate it.”
“Mmm,” Sherlock stood up, effectively sending the tabby cat flying across the room after a series of displeased mewls. He picked up the deck of cards and nodded, “teach me to play.”
“You want to learn how to play poker?”
She may have sounded amused but she could imagine how stressful it would be to teach a genius something he had no idea what to do. Sherlock just shrugged, tossing the pack of cards in the air before catching them neatly.
“Why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.”
She shrugged, “alright. They won’t be here for another hour anyway.”
As the minutes rolled by, Molly was pleasantly surprised she’d been wrong about Sherlock. He was rather pleasant to teach. He was a fast learner and picked upon the rules rather quickly, keen to demonstrate his knowledge. The pathologist couldn’t help but wonder what he’d deleted in order to store this new information.
“Right,” Sherlock murmured, his eyes fixed on the cards in his hands. He glanced up, his eyes narrowed, “as I understand…firstly, you are dealt your hole cards followed by a round of betting and the players remaining see a flop. Another round of betting, then a turn card. Another round of betting, a final river card. Then one more round of betting and the best five card hand wins.”
Molly nodded proudly, impressed he had memorised the slang terms, “yeah, that’s it.”
“And when do we take our clothes off?”
Molly almost dropped the glass of water she was sipping from. After a moment of careful thinking, she chuckled, waving a hand dismissively, “oh, no. That’s strip poker.”
Sherlock looked at his cards then back up at Molly. He furrowed his brow in confusion, “isn’t that what we’re playing?”
“N-no,” Molly replied nervously, biting her lip. Honestly, where did he get that idea? Had she been unintentionally misleading? Was it because she had chosen to wear an oversized American football jersey over her underwear? She gestured at her cards, “we’re playing Texas Hold ‘Em
“Oh.”
The next few minutes passed by awkwardly and Molly wanted nothing more than to drown in her glass of water. Sherlock was busy shuffling and reshuffling the deck of cards, occasionally looking up at her. Finally, he set the cards down and leaned across the table, smirking.
“Could we?”
If Mary Watson was surprised to find her best mate and best man sitting at the dining table half-naked upon her arrival twenty minutes later, she didn’t say so. As they scrambled about for their clothes, she simply strolled into the kitchen to text her husband.
Told you it would work. MWx