“Pack your things, Watson. You’re going on a trip.”
A heated, but short argument later, it was established that Watson was to fill the familiar position of bodyguard for two days before Holmes could join him in the mansion. Watson had to mind to admit it, but he disliked it when their adventured separated them for any length of time. Holmes knew that, of course, and, just as he often played a small selection of his friend’s favourite melodies after particularly tedious wanderings on the violin, it was understood that he was sorry when he fixed Watson with an intense look from his warm, brown eyes and explained that there was simply no other way of approaching the situation. Watson relented, but warned that the daily reports he would undoubtedly be asked to send would turn out to be very caustic in tone if Holmes were to delay any longer than the agreed two days. The detective stepped up to where Watson had been standing during their discussion and gave him a lingering, but chaste kiss—in deference to the unlocked door and Mrs Hudson’s impeccable timing—which appeased Watson’s apprehension a great deal more than, again, he would have cared to admit. But then, he wouldn’t have had to, because it was all too keenly observed by Holmes in the way his grip on his cane relaxed slightly, and the furrow of his brow eased.
“There you are,” Holmes whispered, still firmly ensconced in Watson’s personal space.
“I’d better get my things, then,” Watson answered, quickly leaning in to steal another kiss, then setting off in the direction of his room, leaving Holmes to ponder their latest mystery.
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