Work Text:
The Fire Is So Delightful
By Joolz
They walked through the door and Sherlock bent forward and shook his head like a dog, flicking the water off and liberally splattering poor John who was standing right next to him.
"Sherlock! What do you think you're doing?"
"That's how Redbeard always did it."
"Forgive my possible ignorance but wasn't Redbeard your dog?"
"Your point being?"
John shook his head with a resigned sigh and a softly curling lip, "You're a child."
"Make your mind up, John, I can't be both a dog and a child."
"Most people you would say not, but clearly where you're concerned, you can."
John turned his face away quickly to hide his grin and to avoid another soaking as Sherlock did it again.
"For goodness sake, just come with me."
John dragged Sherlock along to the bathroom. He pulled off their coats and draped them both over the shower rail so they could drip dry without leaving big puddles on the floor. He took one of the big, fluffy towels that Sherlock favoured and got him to sit on the side of the bath so that he could reach to rub his hair dry.
John was well used to Sherlock's hair by this time so he didn't just leave it like that as he knew what having tangled hair did to his friend and how much it hurt when his fingers got caught in those luscious curls. John took a handful of the leave-in conditioner that Sherlock preferred and ran his fingers carefully through Sherlock's hair, loosening any potential knots before they could cause a problem. Only when he'd finished that did John rub his own hair as the short strands took only moments to dry compared to Sherlock's.
They had just finished a big case with the Yard ending with a mad dash through the city during a rare Christmas snowstorm to catch the killer. As picturesque as the snow had looked falling, it had made everything very wet and slippery and had melted on contact with their clothing so it hadn't taken long until they were soaked through.
John was tired but he had caught a few cat naps here and there over the last four days, including a whole four hours whilst Sherlock had been in full-on deduction mode last night so he wasn't as bad as he could have been. Sherlock had been going more or less non-stop, however, and John knew he was approaching the 'crash' stage. Sherlock could keep going as long as the case required providing he managed a thirty-minute power nap once every two days or so. When the case was finished, though, John just had to get him home before he would practically pass out and be incommunicado whilst he caught up on his lost sleep - sometimes sleeping the whole clock round.
John stripped them both down to their underwear, leaving the wet gear in the bath to be sorted later as he could feel the shivers radiating through Sherlock and had to clench his own teeth to stop them chattering. He towed Sherlock into their bedroom whilst he was still mobile and dressed them both in their warmest pyjamas and led the way back into the living room. Though he knew Sherlock wouldn't be awake much longer he knew he needed to get him in front of a fire first to warm him up before he put him to bed. Sherlock just stood swaying quietly where John had put him whilst he pulled the sofa forward so it was in front of the fireplace. He settled Sherlock in the centre and put one of the ubiquitous orange blankets over him whilst he bent down and started the fire.
As soon as he had the flames going John went into the kitchen and put the kettle on whilst he prepared two cups of tea. He only had a fifty percent chance of Sherlock lasting long enough to finish but even if he got a bit into him it should start warming him from the inside as well as the outside. John carried the drinks through and made sure his laptop, book, phone and the TV remote were also within reach. He turned off the room lights but turned on the Christmas tree lights before he settled on the sofa next to Sherlock.
Sherlock was still shivering though John could feel the heat from the fire was starting to permeate through the room. He pulled another orange blanket down off the back of the sofa and pulled half over himself and stretched the rest over Sherlock and rubbed his arms up and down Sherlock's own from beneath the cover. Sherlock's eyes were only half-lidded so John made the most of this last chance and held Sherlock's cup up to his lips for him to drink a little whilst he could.
Sherlock finished half of the drink before his head sank forward and John saw that his battle against consciousness was over. He smiled warmly and leant back into the corner of the sofa. He pulled Sherlock over so that he was resting against his chest, gently stroking his arm as he felt the shivering slowly stop. John would move them to the bedroom soon but he just wanted to stay in front of the fire for a while longer to make sure that they were both thoroughly dry and warmed after their wet jaunt.
John sipped at his tea as he watched the orange of the firelight mix with the warm gold colour of the tree lights, nicely complementing each other. They usually kept them on a slow fade as Sherlock found the mad flashing too distracting and John couldn't argue as he wasn't overly keen on it himself either. He did like to have the lights on when possible, though, as they were only usually up for such a short time that he liked to make the most of them whilst he could.
Sherlock settled comfortably against John's chest, his head sinking slightly, meaning John's hand moved further up and he fingered through the curls which were drying nicely in front of the fire. He knew he had done a good job with the conditioner, even though it had taken a bit longer than it had to, as his fingers slid through easily without getting caught. John twirled the hair as he finished his tea, enjoying the simple moment.
He sometimes couldn't believe how lucky he was to have this amazing man in his life. He didn't take for granted that they were a couple as he knew Sherlock was absolutely gorgeous and could have anyone he wanted. For some crazy reason Sherlock didn't want anyone, though, he just wanted John so John made the most of his good fortune and enjoyed every moment he had with Sherlock.
Sherlock slid further forward, his forehead resting now on John's arm which was lying on the arm of the chair. Luckily John had finished the tea in the cup being held in that hand so he wouldn't need to lift his arm for a while, until it went numb at least. John's fingers brushed against metal and he saw the silver links of the chain at the base of Sherlock's neck. He smiled softly and bent forward, pressing a soft kiss against the place where the necklace closed. John had to admit to a little thrill of pride seeing it around Sherlock's neck.
They were his own dog tags and Sherlock had asked if he could wear them after they had been together about two months and he had spotted them when John had been moving some more of his things down to what was now their joint bedroom. John had seen the desire to have them in Sherlock's eyes and he knew that Sherlock had seen the reciprocating look of possession in John's own eyes at the thought of Sherlock wearing something so meaningful to him. He had sometimes worried that he could come off as a little too possessive with previous partners; never in a controlling way but he liked to know what was his.
There was no such concern with Sherlock, though, as he seemed to take pride in the fact that John considered him 'his' and he enjoyed seeing that little gleam in John's eye when he caught sight of those dog tags around his neck. In fact, he had been known to undo an extra button on his shirt when a certain mood took him to make sure that John saw the chain. He knew that soldier-John would leap to the fore and take great pleasure in adorning love bites along the length of Sherlock's neck leaving a trail of purple besides the silver. Sherlock and John were both happy to either top or bottom depending how the mood took them at any particular time, but Sherlock knew that John would definitely be in charge on a night like that and he took full advantage.
Sherlock's neck felt warm to the touch of John's lips so he decided they had both thawed out enough to head to bed. If they stayed on the sofa much longer then John would fall asleep too and he knew his shoulder would not thank him in the morning.
Sherlock was now fully asleep so John didn't have to worry too much about waking him as he carefully raised Sherlock's head and slid out from underneath before putting a pillow back in place to prop Sherlock up until he was ready to move him. John turned off the Christmas tree and raked the fire so it would safely go out when they left the room. He went into their room and pulled down the cover ready and popped to the loo before going back in to the living room.
John picked Sherlock up and carried him bridal style into the bedroom, laid him down in their bed and pulled the cover over him. He made sure everything was off in the rest of the house and the fire was out before going back and climbing in next to Sherlock. He pulled Sherlock back against his chest and put his arm comfortably around him to hold him safe. Sherlock must have subconsciously sensed him as he snuggled back into position so their bodies were closely aligned.
John sighed contentedly. He nuzzled into Sherlock's hair, placing his lips softly against him as he moved down to finish kissing Sherlock's neck again. They were both warm and safe together, they had caught the bad guy and had nowhere urgent to be in the morning as they were both off for Christmas - unless Lestrade called again, of course! John was a happy man and was exactly where he wanted to be. A Merry Christmas indeed.
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The End
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