Two Simple Sentences

Sorry this is so short and for the delay, too many things getting complicated at once. Next chapter should be up in the next day or so. It was going to be all one update but it was taking too long to edit and I wanted to get something posted in case more interruptions happen.

Also I wanted to say thank you for continuing to read and I hope you enjoy it.

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Taking a breaking from his game of solitaire, John got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen to make himself dinner. Not too surprisingly, Sherlock didn't look up from the mess he was tinkering with at the table while he passed through. Pausing briefly, John leaned down and placed a light kiss to the back of his neck getting only a pleasant 'mmm' in response. Oh yeah, Sherlock was still keeping up the pretense of deep concentration.

Letting Sherlock carry on with his little game, John continued on to the fridge see what it might hold for a possible meal. After a minute of staring at nothing that seems appealing, his search for food was interrupted. Sherlock's illusion of being too overly preoccupied with re-taking apart their broken toaster oven to speak finally ended when he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Getting something to eat."

"Hmm."

He suspected Sherlock was up to something and as soon as he went back to debating on what to eat his suspicions were confirmed.

"Want to go out for dinner?"

John stopping perusing the mostly empty fridge to glance back at Sherlock. "What?"

Sherlock was still putting on his show, having turned away just enough in the chair so that his face was mostly hidden while using a screwdriver to remove the door on the toaster over. He was trying far too hard to appear as if he wasn't up to something devious by adding an annoyed sigh at having to repeat himself. "Let's go out for dinner."

It had been two days since John had taunted Sherlock about them being tied, two days of acting like he had forgotten all about it. But John knew by now that Sherlock would never be able to let that tease slide and his new-found interest in their long ago broken toaster oven, that had been lying in a heap for almost a year, was a very good sign he had been putting up appearances while plotting. This unexpected mention of dinner in the middle of an experiment was a neon blinking light of a sign that a plan had been formed.

Even if it was some game, the idea of going out for dinner sounded appealing as John scanned the contents of the fridge again; left over carry-out, left over Sheppard's pie or the unknown contents of a box labeled bio-hazard. His choices were staying in for an unappealing meal or going out and most likely having Sherlock try to embarrass the hell out of him yet again in public. The choice wasn't a difficult one to make; there really wasn't much left for Sherlock do to that would embarrass him that he hadn't already done before.

But he wasn't about to let Sherlock think he was so easily fooled by this overdone performance from the past two day. John closed the fridge, leaned against it and crossed his arms. "Why do you want to go out?"

Sherlock hadn't stopped laboring at his current task, working one more screw off the door, persisting in this masquerade. "Because I'm also hungry."

With a chuckle John answered back, "No you're not."

"I'm not?"

"No. You're not. It's only Thursday."

A hint of a smile started to show at the corner of Sherlock's lips but quickly disappeared. He put down his screwdriver and sighed, trying to sound annoyed. "Well I could use a break."

But that small crack of a smile was just enough to show John that his scheming detective appreciated that he hadn't been so easily misled and there was indeed something brewing in that cunning brain. He would never get it out of him, and John was now far too curious as to what he had come up with to ruin his game.

However, before agreeing to dinner out, he was going to have a little fun of his own first, so he pushed on. "If you need a break I'll just heat something up and we can watch some telly."

In an attempt to hide any further breaks in his façade of annoyance Sherlock turned his face away even more, feigning interest in small bracket laying on the table to his right. "I'd like to get out of the flat for a while. Is that a problem?"

"Just want to get out for a bit?"

"Yes."

"Why don't I believe you."

"Really John, you're being ridiculous."

And since Sherlock still hadn't turned around, John purposely made the unmistakable sound of choking back laughter, getting Sherlock to the state John had been hoping for. "Am I now?"

Sherlock was now in that perfect frame of mind, a perfect combination of enjoying John's pestering too much and trying to keep up his performance, a combination that tended to cause the genius to not be much of a genius. With a theatrical huff Sherlock got up and walked out of the kitchen into the sitting room. "Well I'm going out for dinner, if you want to stop being ridiculous you can join me."

He could picture Sherlock all smug getting his coat, waiting for him to follow. Oh hell, he was going to pay for this but it was too good to pass up. Still leaning against the fridge he called out, "Sherlock?"

"What?"

"Are you putting on your coat?"

"Yes, I did say I was going out didn't I?"

"You do know you're still in your pajamas right?"

There was a short silence, and then loudly Sherlock swore, "Oh for god's sake."

Sherlock stomped back through the kitchen, growling when John burst out laughing. Just before slamming bedroom door closed for added emphasis, he hollered, "Not another word, and get us a damn cab while I change."

After another wave of laughter, John wiped a tear from his eye and went to get his coat. Whatever embarrassing stunt Sherlock had planned would at least be worth it now. And after he learned what Sherlock had devised to break their tie, John was not only glad he had gotten a chance to harass his wicked partner but also exceptionally grateful that Sherlock had picked a restaurant for them to dine at that they really didn't care for all that much, as they were never allowed to return there again.