Chapter Text
Sherlock carried the two pints over to the table and set them down and then returned for his whiskey. This wasn't what he had in mind when John suggested a celebratory drink on their last night in Dartmoor. He thought it'd be him and John, but it turned out John wanted Lestrade in on their celebration as well. So he'd spent the last hour listening to them discussing the women and meals on their various holidays and then, even worse, an analysis of the rugby team's recent successes. It was all incredibly boring to Sherlock.
He slid back into his chair and waited for what seemed like a break in the conversation and said, "Will you have anything for me to work on when we get back to London?"
Greg took a big sip from his glass and said, "No shop talk tonight, Sherlock. It's a celebration and technically I'm still on holiday -- this should be fun." He leaned over and clinked his glass against John's.
"Yes, that's what I'd thought," Sherlock mumbled. "But I'm still waiting for that to happen." He stared into his glass.
John was feeling good now that this case was finally over. This had been one of the most intense cases they had worked so far, not only because of the trauma he’d been through but the stress Sherlock had been under as well when he thought his mind was failing him. It had been a bumpy couple of days, but they pulled through like always and now he was very much enjoying celebrating the end of it. John nudged Sherlock's arm at the comment he’d made before going back to the fun talk with Greg. He led the stories around to Sherlock's poisoning him and attempting to scare him to death, all for an experiment. That got a bit of talking out of him, but Greg steered the conversation away again, really not eager to talk about work-related things. John easily dropped the subject as well, not wishing to linger on that terrifying moment.
Sherlock watched as the words flew between John and Lestrade. It wasn't quite fair really. This was supposed to be about solving a case -- a case Sherlock had solved -- but the only time his name was mentioned was a little dig from John about the stupid incident in the lab. And soon enough, not only were they no longer talking about him or the case, but the conversation turned again to something from which Sherlock was actively excluded.
"I'll get another round," he said grumpily, though the effort was wasted. He moved to the bar and watched them. Not only had they not heard what he'd said or how he'd said it, they didn't even appear to notice he'd gone.
"Who's the good looking one?"
Sherlock turned around and saw Billy and Gary behind the bar. He presumed they were speaking to him, but he didn't quite understand the question. "John?" he asked.
"No, the silver one," Billy said. He raised his eyebrows and playfully nudged Gary, who turned to Sherlock and asked, "He an old friend of your bloke then?"
Sherlock still didn't quite understand what was happening. "We work with him," he said flatly.
"I see. . ." Gary said, topping up Sherlock's glass as Billy filled the pint glasses.
Did everyone in the room have to be so irritating? Sherlock thought. He took his glass and John's pint back to the table. "Yours is up there," he said to Lestrade and motioned with his hand.
"Fair enough," Greg said, smiling. "I need the toilet anyway," he added, heading there first.
"This is boring," Sherlock said to John.
"I'm sorry," John said. "But it's good to unwind after a case. And I didn't know how much fun Greg is," he smiled.
"Yeah, he's great, he's the greatest man in the world," Sherlock said sarcastically. "That's why he solved the case. I can see why you love him."
John chuckled softly and drank a bit of his lager, watching as Greg made his way back to the table. "You're brilliant, of course," he told Sherlock before Greg returned.
"Yeah right," Sherlock said. He watched Lestrade come back to the table before standing up. "I'm going outside for a cigarette."
He left his glass on the table and walked outside. He took a few steps away from the door, looking around, before lighting up a cigarette.
"Hey you," a voice behind said.
He turned around and saw Gary who was carrying a glass of whiskey which he handed to Sherlock. He smiled sympathetically.
"Thanks," Sherlock said.
Gary lit a cigarette. "Tough night?" he asked.
"No," Sherlock said.
"Oh, all right," Gary said. He stood silently for a few moments before adding, "Your man John . . . you've been together a long time?"
"A while," Sherlock said. He wasn't quite sure what the purpose of this conversation was.
"The other guy . . . he knew John before?" Gary asked.
"No," Sherlock said.
"Oh," Gary said, his voice a bit lighter. "Well, that's all right then . . . nothing to worry about." He took a long drag of his cigarette.
"I wasn't worried," Sherlock said.
"Of course not," Gary said. "You're having the time of your life tonight, obviously."
Sherlock took a drink. "It was supposed to be a celebration," he mumbled a little.
"Cheer up, love," Gary said. "I think you'll be okay once the two of you are on your own."
Sherlock finished his cigarette. "Thanks for the drink," he said, nodding at Gary. He walked back to John and Greg. "I think I'll go up to the room now," he said. He put some money down on the table.
"Oh no, stay and celebrate," John said, already knowing that Sherlock wouldn't do that.
"I'm a bit tired and we've got to be up early tomorrow," Sherlock said. "You two enjoy yourselves." He headed up to the room. He turned on the light but it seemed quite bright, so he turned it off. He had a little bit of a headache. He lay down on his bed. It wasn't very comfortable. Tonight had not been fun at all.
At first John wasn't sure what to make of Sherlock's leaving, but by the time Greg had brought another lager, it was already out of his mind. He now used Sherlock's absence to try to learn more about him -- despite living with him, he felt like he hardly knew the man. Greg, it turned out, was no help at all. Greg had no idea about any relationships Sherlock might have had and stuck to the belief that he wouldn't have one anyway. He did admit, however, that he had never seen Sherlock take to anyone the way he had taken to John. That made John feel rather proud.
The conversation eventually shifted to their past, and John talked about the army a bit, but he avoided anything too heavy so that he wouldn't have nightmares. Greg told John about his own training and about his first case, and then his first case with Sherlock. John was having such a good time that he bought one last round. Finally, after finishing that one in near silence, it seemed they had exhausted all topics and they finally went to bed. John slowly made his way to the room he was sharing with Sherlock, slightly tipsy and smiling stupidly.