Into the Night - AU - Locked to seaweed_writes

[ihadabadday]

Sex sold. It could be seen in marketing for businesses across all sorts of industries.

And for John Watson, his business was booming.

He worked out of a club in London that catered to certain... Tastes. Men and women who looked to dominate someone sexually. Some would look down on a man having that job, scoffing. Sex work was legal though. But those who were interested in BDSM, found sex workers to be lacking.

John was sitting at a bar at the club he usually worked out of, nursing a soda. He rarely drank when he was working, preferring to stay sober.

He looked around the room, seeing if there was anyone who caught his interest tonight.

Comments

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock huffed in frustration and threw his head back onto the pillow, where he had been looking up and over at John. This was all intolerable, the waiting for what seemed like an eternity when all he wanted to do was go home.

He shrugged noncommittally at John. He wasn't mad at him, he was just made at this whole damnable situation.

[ihadabadday]

Soon enough the doctor did come and release Sherlock.

John was glad that they could get out of the hospital. But he was able to hail them a cab and then helped the man into the cab. He slid into him and looked at Sherlock. He let out a sigh and smiled softly. "I can have Mrs. Hudson make you those scones you like."

[seaweed_writes]

There was a tiny... TINY part of Sherlock that was glad that it was hospital policy to be wheeled to the exit. He wasn't sure if he could have endured, physically or mentally, maneuvering all the way there on crutches.

He held the damnable things across his lap as he was wheeled out to the entrance, where a line of cabs was always waiting to take people away. He awkwardly maneuvered his way into the cab, pulling those damn crutches after him, and waited for John to get in, giving the cabby the address.

He was beyond pissed right now. He was fucking helpless, embarrassed, humiliated. The great detective was a useless invalid.

He grumbled something incoherent towards John, keeping his eyes focused on London as it whizzed past them.

[ihadabadday]

"If you're going to be this grumpy while you're on crutches. I'm going to tie you to a chair and leave you be." John snapped at Sherlock. He didn't know if he could handle a cranky detective. But he would try his best. He knew Sherlock was upset and mad.

He wanted to be there for the detective.

[seaweed_writes]

Sherlock made a 'harrumph' sort of noise and very dramatically rolled his eyes, looking enough towards John that he would see it, before looking out the window again.

It was a rather awkward, quiet trip to Baker Street. When they arrived, Sherlock got himself out of the taxi and awkwardly got up the curb to the door, leaving John to lay the fare.

He frowned and looked at the straightened knocker, unstraightening it again. "Damnit." he grumbled. "Mycroft is here."

[ihadabadday]

John paid the fare without a complaint and slipped out of the cab. He watched Sherlock for a moment and then stepped over to open the door. "Well, we cannot stay here on the sidewalk all day. We either go inside and up to the flat. Or we hide out somewhere in the city."

The soldier in John was starting to leak out, spread and take over, replace the other facet of John. He was tired, having spent the time worried about Sherlock and hardly sleeping.

[seaweed_writes]

He shot John a look. He was not going to cower from his brother like some little wretch. He turned back to the door and managed to get it open.

It was very very slow going up the stairs. He almost lost his balance a couple of times. By the time he was at the top, he was sweating and panting and was in an even worse mood than before.

Sherlock 'kicked' open the door with one of his crutches, startling both Mycroft and Mrs. Hudson, who was serving him tea.

[ihadabadday]

John looked at the two in the flat. "It might be best if both of you come back at a later date." There was something in his voice that indicated that he really should be listened to.

Captain Watson was making an appearance after a while hidden away.

He was tired, he was cranky and he just wanted some peace without the bickering of the Holmes brothers.

[seaweed_writes]

Mrs. Hudson quickly made herself scarce after pouring the tea, she could feel the anxiousness in the room.

Mycroft took a sip of his tea, then set it down on the saucer. "Where are your manners, Doctor Watson?" He asked. "I just started my tea." And to emphasize the point, he took another sip, then put it to the side, standing up.

"What I have to say will be brief." He ignored John and looked over to John. "I have spoken with Detective Inspector Lestrade." He said to Sherlock. "I have informed him that until he is advised otherwise, that he is forbidden to ask you to assist him on any cases. You can bully and cajole him all you want, but he has been warned, on pain of his career, that he is to obey my commands."

Sherlock silently fumed, making his way over to his chair and collapsing down.

"Well, I should be off. Good day." He said to neither of them in particular, and then he was off.

[ihadabadday]

"Will you be fine on your own for say an hour?" John asked looking at Sherlock.

He was fidgeting and antsy. There was a lot of pent up energy and aggression in John Watson. He needed to go for a run, find a punching bag at a gym or have a good fuck. Since his partner was currently injured, he would probably do one of the first two options.

[seaweed_writes]

John didn't want to be here with him, that was painfully obvious to Sherlock from how the man was acting.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of my self, John. I am not a child." He said dismissively, waving his hands. "Go do whatever it is you need to do."

He made a spectacle of picking up a newspaper and putting it in front of his face so John couldn't see it any more.

[ihadabadday]

John did something that Sherlock may not have seen, or possibly suspected from him. He slammed his fist hard enough against the wall to crack the plaster. He stood there staring at Sherlock.

"Are you going to sulk over a god damn twisted ankle? You'll be fine. For fuck's sake. Is this because I told you how I felt? I thought you might feel the same. But if you're going to act like you don't want me anymore. Please, just tell me."

[seaweed_writes]

That made Sherlock jerk the paper down to search for the noise, which in this case was obviously from John. He really didn't care about how Mrs. Hudson was going to be pissed at the plaster right now, he was staring into the irate man's face.

He looked for a moment at John like he had two heads. "Obviously you have no idea how important The work is to me. And now I am going to be practically helpless for two weeks, and you expect me to be all sunshine and rainbows that it takes me half a bloody hour to get up the steps. I have to plan to go to the loo, because even that is a chore, and I haven't decided the best way to tackle a shower yet. "

"But, no, sulking about losing my source of income and my passion is obviously such a terrible disservice to you! Well, don't let me inconvenience you any more than I have to. Go. I'll be fine."

It was the most undignified retreat he had ever made, painfully and slowly getting to his feet, donning his crutches, and limping into the bedroom, slamming the door after him.

[ihadabadday]

John sighed and his shoulders slumped. Well, he had smartly fucked that one up.

So he left.

He wasn't sure if it was for good or for a few hours. But he needed to clear his head. He needed to get out of the flat.

He ended up in a park on the other end of the city, not realizing how far he walked. He slumped down onto the bench and sighed. He sat, exhausted and angry at himself.

[seaweed_writes]

God, this was intolerable.

Not only had he driven away the man he cared for, but he couldn't even take his aggression out anywhere. Walking around on the crutches was painful and slow. He couldn't just waltz out to the living room and do experiments or take a walk, or find someone to give him a 7% solution to get his mind off of everything.

"Auuuuughhh!" He tugged at his hair and threw himself down onto the bed. He was stuck in the flat and he wanted to be anywhere but where he was now. His hands and ankle were throbbing with pain, it was long past time for his paracetamol, but he didn't even wanted to be arsed to get up for that.

[ihadabadday]

John returned to the flat well after sundown. It had begun raining and he was soaked and freezing. Not that Sherlock would notice. He stepped into the foyer and stripped off his coat. He hung it up and toed off his shoes.

He sighed and made his way to the bathroom to take a hot shower. He turned on the water and let the steam fill the bathroom. John sat on the toilet, dropping his head into his hands.

What a mess.

[seaweed_writes]

Throughout the day Sherlock had puttered around the flat as best he could, managing to do some basic experiments on the kitchen table.

By the evening, he was exhausted from using the crutches, he had read in bed for a while and eventually drifted off into a light, still pained sleep.

[ihadabadday]

He finished his shower and then stepped into their shared room. He swallowed when he saw Sherlock. John stepped over the bed and then gently sat on the edge.

He touched Sherlock's mussed curls and gently stroked them. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. You're hurting and frustrated and it wasn't right of me to yell at you like that."

[seaweed_writes]

His eyes were still closed, but he moved closer to the warmth of John's body, curling himself around him. He didn't speak, just made a low rumbling noise that didn't really sound like anything at all. his breathing deepened and his body relaxed.

[ihadabadday]

John smiled and shifted a bit to lean back against the headboard. He carefully moved Sherlock to be comfortable. He didn't care that he was just in a towel. He settled back, closing his eyes.

[seaweed_writes]

As soon as John got into bed, Sherlock imitated an octopus and wrapped three of his four limbs around John, keeping his injured ankle straight and propped up on the pillow.

Finally... finally he was able to settle into a comfortable enough position with John close to him that he fell into a deep sleep that lasted through the night.

[ihadabadday]

John woke in the morning, feeling a touch sore. But he would have slept like that again for Sherlock. He smiled at the other man and stroked his hair.

It was a stupid fight and he hated that they did it.

[seaweed_writes]

"Mmmmmmm"' Sherlock was still mostly asleep, but he turned over towards John, a soft smile on his face.

[ihadabadday]

John leaned down and kissed his head. "I love you." He whispered to the man, "So much. I am glad we encountered each other."

[seaweed_writes]

" 'm youuu" Sherlock grumbled back, trying to scoot closer.

Unfortunately, Sherlock was too asleep to think about not moving his bad leg. He shifted it and immediately bolted up, yelping in pain.