S2 finale spoilers in-thread

[searchingfordistraction]

The key to Jim's room in Milliways seems to have disappeared.

Curious, that.



[OOC: Warnings for drug addiction and abuse, consent issues, and talk of suicide.]

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[consulting_detective]

"Mmm."

Where the hell did Jim put it? He leans over him to check along the other side of the bed.

[searchingfordistraction]

"Lose something?"

Jim watches him, unmoving.

[consulting_detective]

"No. Yes. Where'd you put it?"

He's about five seconds away from searching Jim.

[searchingfordistraction]

He smiles.

"It's no fun if I tell you."

[consulting_detective]

It takes Sherlock a moment to work out all the possible meanings of this sentence.

He settles on the meaning that could be taken in a sexual context, since it's the sort he hears most often, and goes for Jim's trousers.

[searchingfordistraction]

It's in his left pocket.

No one ever said anything about a particularly unusual or creative hiding place.

[consulting_detective]

Sherlock is prepared to, well, blow Jim for more blow if he has to. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Come on," he says playfully. "Or are you going to make me find it?"

[searchingfordistraction]

"You could start with the pockets," he suggests. He hasn't moved much from his position before - on his back, hands behind his head. His tone is matter-of-fact amusement, but the faint curve to his mouth doesn't quite match.

Again: mixed messages.

[consulting_detective]

Another suspicious stare from Sherlock, but he goes for the pockets anyway. What sort of weird game is this guy playing?

Still, he finds what he's looking for, and after reaching for the mirror and playing card, he sits up on the bed.

[searchingfordistraction]

"That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Jim murmurs.

[consulting_detective]

"I forget. You don't play by the rules."

He puts a small measure of powder on the mirror and starts cutting it with the card.

"I am skint, though. I know you said what you did. About this being a gift, but I still can't afford this."

[searchingfordistraction]

"I was bored," Jim says. "Now I'm not. You know what that's worth."

Far more than a little bag of powder.

The price will go up, of course. Eventually. Keeping Jim entertained isn't easy. But he's confident Sherlock will pay.

[consulting_detective]

"Sounds like I'm the one getting paid in this deal," Sherlock says.

He finds the rolled-up note and snorts another line, once again offering the second to Jim.

[searchingfordistraction]

Again, Jim turns him down.

"Does it? Relative value, I suppose. I never found much of it in drugs." Other than market value, of course, and even that only means anything in business transactions.

[consulting_detective]

Sherlock shrugs and does the second line as well.

And then he goes to lean back, and falls off the bed. At least he's enjoying himself?

[searchingfordistraction]

Jim laughs at him.

It almost sounds friendly.

[consulting_detective]

"I'm... fine."

He doesn't get up. He starts looking for something interesting under the bed, instead.

[searchingfordistraction]

"I know."

If it had been a bad landing, he would have heard the difference. He might even be considering doing something about it.

Under the bed are a few random objects that have skittered or rolled there from Sherlock's earlier ransacking search.

[consulting_detective]

Indeed. Under the bed is boring.

Sherlock does find a pen, though. Felt tip. Great for writing on the carpet with!

[searchingfordistraction]

He's going to have to remember to salt a few more interesting items around the room for next time. Entertaining as it is to watch Sherlock search for ways to keep himself occupied, it will dull upon repetition like anything else.

[consulting_detective]

Sherlock spends about three hours on the floor, and only gets back up when his pen runs dry. When he comes back up, he's positively smeared with ink, and the floor has now been decorated with some sort of monster eating a man from the inside out.

[searchingfordistraction]

Watching Sherlock, Jim makes a mental note to leave something for the cleaning staff by way of apology. Everyone who comes to Milliways for long enough hears stories about what happens when the cleaning staff have been angered.

No one is exempt.

"You can stay off the bed," he says, "I'd rather not have the duvet stained."

[consulting_detective]

He frowns. "That's not fair. Then you come down here with me."

He's trembling slightly with more energy than he knows what to do with. He wants to do something, and sitting in this room is getting boring.

[searchingfordistraction]

Jim is unmoved.

"There is an entire bar downstairs if you need somewhere to play," he points out.

[consulting_detective]

He looks over his shoulder at the door. John might be down there. What if John sees him like this?

There's only one solution to this problem, clearly. He reaches out and tugs on Jim's hand.

"Come with me."