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Mycroft felt himself getting more and more nervous as his black SUV neared Molly’s flat. He kept reminding himself that he was Mycroft Albert Holmes, and that Holmes did not get nervous. He and Molly had been dating for almost six months and it was working out wondrously. She accepted his odd hours and awkwardness and he had never loved a woman like he loved Molly Hooper. He was just hoping that this surprise date he had planned would go over as well as he’d hoped. When the car finally stopped in front of Molly’s modest apartment building, Mycroft righted himself and stepped out of the car.
Molly lived up exactly 68 steps from the front of her apartment building. Mycroft counted every time he made his way up to her apartment, counting and calculating how many calories he would burn on the way up to the apartment and how many he would probably burn once he finally got there. Mycroft knocked on apartment 416’s door and waited for Molly to answer. Her flat was small and cozy; Mycroft enjoyed this based on the fact that he had been raised in a completely opposite environment. Every Holmes family home was expansive and cold, but Molly’s had mismatched furniture and framed paintings of cats and posters of real masterpieces. He loved that she kept plants in every extra square inch of her flat and that her flat consistently smelled of vanilla and cinnamon with a faint twinge of cat.
Molly opened the door looking stunning as usual, “Hi Myc,” a smile spreading across her face. Mycroft leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. She was wearing their normal date attire, a slinky number that hugged every curve that Mycroft loved, topped with a pair of five inch stilettos. “Hello, Love. You look beautiful” Mycroft flashed her a shy smile, but quickly focused on the task at hand, “You look lovely, but a change in plans, I need you to change into something more comfortable and then put this on.” Mycroft showed her a blindfold. Molly looked at him skeptically, “I swear to God Myc, if you take me to a surprise parliamentary meeting again I am not going to be happy.” Mycroft chuckled to himself. Molly had been bugging him about what he actually did for a living and he had decided to show her, to the best of his abilities, of course. She couldn't know where the meeting place was or who it really involved and it had all been conducted in Russian, a language he was certain she hadn't studied. Along with the language change, Mycroft also thought up the blindfold idea, a plan that he had thought would have been the perfect solution. She had sat with a blindfold behind a two way mirror, but what Mycroft hadn't expected was the meeting to last as long as it had. She had sat there for nearly an hour before she had gotten restless and called for Anthea to take her home. She hadn't been mad, but she did stop asking about his line of work.
“No, not this time my dear, but I do hope you find this more enjoyable.” Molly pursed her lips and looked at him, “at least I will. Go! Get changed!” He had added to convince her further. As she turned he swatted her bottom and watched her as she giggled and the tips of her ears turned red. After about ten minutes, Molly returned sans stilettos and slinky number. She had pulled her hair up into a messy bun and pulled on her favorite jeans (they were Mycroft’s favorites too- they made her bum look amazing) and had pulled on one of her signature kitten cardigans. Molly wished Toby a good night and finally made her way to the black SUV that was waiting for them. Mycroft made her put on the blindfold and then ushered the driver to take them to the secret location.
They arrived at Mycroft’s favorite roller rink in the London area. He helped Molly out of the car and removed the blindfold, which she had complained about the entire drive there. She looked up and the sign and then over at Mycroft, shooting him one puzzled look after another. So he grabbed her hand and grinned at her as he pulled her into the building.
The roller rink was just like the ones out of the movies, there was a large skating rink in the middle with shellacked wood floors. There were lines of lockers along the walls surrounding the rink and finally a place to check out roller skates. The only difference from the movies was the fact that there were no people there- just Mycroft and Molly.
“Myc? This is a skating rink- you know that don’t you?” A twinge of concern creeping into her voice. Molly sat on one of the benches provided for putting on skates.
“Of course, Molly! I thought I would show you one of my favorite past times!” Mycroft grinned at her like a little boy- beaming and happy. Easily the most at ease he had ever looked while outside of either of their apartments. He walked to the roller skate check out and picked up her size and then pulled out his own set of roller skates from what looked to be his gym bag. He handed the skates to Molly and leaned down to slip off her shoes.
“I’m sorry, but I am having a hard time grasping what you are telling me. You skate?” Molly raised her eyebrows at him and then continued, “Skate enough to have your own pair of skates and to rent out a roller rink?” Mycroft just nodded as he worked the skate onto her foot and tied them up. “So… you skate? Secretly? Does Sherlock skate or is this an only- Holmes- in-the–world-that-does-this kind of thing?” Mycroft looked at her and smiled.
“Yes, Miss Hooper.” He grabbed her hands and brought her to her feet, “I skate and enjoyed the lessons enough as a child to continue doing so. Sherlock, of course, knows how to skate, but deems it, how would he put it? Utterly dull.” Molly laughed and he winked at her taking her place on the bench and working on his own skates, tying them carefully.
“You had to take lessons?”
“Yes, I did.”
“But…Why? Wouldn't your parents have considered this sport pedestrian?”
Mycroft whole-heartedly laughed at the look of astonishment on Molly’s face. “They did considered it pedestrian, but considering how haphazard I was as child and teen, the instructor for my ballroom dancing class suggested me learning to skate, for balance and such. It helped me learn balance, rhythm, and grace. That’s why I am such a skilled ballroom dancer.”
“Hmmm… You are going to have to show me those skills you keep raving on about one of these days” Molly winked at him and he helped her totter to the rink.
Molly clung on the wall while Mycroft showed her how to propel herself forward on the skates. Then suddenly everything flowed, they were playing the hits of the seventies and eighties and Molly eased her way around the rink, watching Mycroft as she went. He swayed and snapped his fingers and nodded his head to the different songs. As her continued to pass her, she caught him singing “Thriller” quietly to himself, causing Molly to topple over with laughter. He helped her up and held her hand as the completed the rest of the rink.
“Here I thought you only listened to Bach and Vivaldi!” Molly teased.
“Molly, Bach and Vivaldi are not the only composers to have graced us with their fine works! I am a large fan of the Beatles and may I dare say that I have a fondness for Lady Gaga?” Molly stared at him, eyebrows raised and mouth agape.
“That’s it! I am never letting you change the radio station ever again! You complained about Katy Perry!” Molly laughed and smiled at him.
“I said that I like some current artists, Katy Perry happens to be not one of them!” Before he could protest anymore, Molly pulled him into a kiss. “Myc, show me some of your best moves and I might just let you come home with me tonight,” and with that, Mycroft was off.
He skated with natural ease, Molly watching in amazement. He snapped his fingers and skated on one roller skate and even backwards to the song. When he finally reached Molly after completing his round around the rink, he grabbed her hand and led her around the rink. They skated around the rink so many times you would have thought they would have been dizzy.
Mycroft showed her how to skate on one skate and how to cross one leg over while skating. The music changed from fast to slow, playing “At last” by Etta James. Mycroft pulled Molly close and they swayed to the music that fit their relationship so well. He held her close to his chest and kissed her gently. How he had ever been so lucky to meet Molly Hooper, he would never know.