#no beta wie die like (wo)men

[meetinginsamarra]

mayprompts2024 #3, familiar

Read part one (using the prompt "box") here

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The Perfect Place - Part Two

Sherlock should have listened to John’s expertly recited explanations about the important boxspring bed features like the firmness of the mattress, the springiness of the boxsprings, the delightful cooling effect of premium silk coverings and what must have been a million more obviously vital-for-buying-a-bed things that had to be considered.

Sherlock briefly wondered how John was able to remember such a boatload of utterly boring nonsensical dull facts. Could it be that John had a similar construction in his brain like Sherlock’s mind palace?

(John had not, of course. As a former student of medicine, he was pretty well used to memorize tons of facts with questionable usefulness in a short amount of time in order to pass his exams.)

But then Sherlock focused on watching John Watson’s body language change while he advertised the bed and it was utterly fascinating. Sherlock was absolutely pleased with himself to find out that all the deductions he had made about John Watson over the past two days when he had stalked him had been correct.

Now, Sherlock saw John Watson transform into the man who was familiar with walking the battlefields, was no stranger to keeping calm in the face of volence and was accustomed to dangerous situations and people.

The immediate danger of getting fired if he did not sell this bed had already changed John’s posture into standing more erect and he was safely using his bad leg whithout the walking cane that leant forgotten against the counter. John’s eyes had become bright and alert, losing their dull sheen of desperation and boredom and when he pointed with his hand at various parts of the bed it had become steady and showed no signs of its previously intermittent tremor.

When Sherlock had first laid his eyes upon John, he had immediately deduced the man’s history. Doctor, soldier, invalided home. Once an acclaimed hero and saver-of-lives, now a depressed suicidal reject with no perspective in life.

How could this Bernie person have hired John as a shop assistant and been convinced that this was a good idea? It was blaringly obvious that John did not belong into this place and would be a terrible salesman on top. Was Bernie blind?

Forcing John to work here was like confining a majestic Bengal tiger in a cage and watch him pacing to and fro, going slowly mad and starting to gnaw on his leg while banging his head repeatedly against the iron bars. Maybe Bernie was just cruel on purpose.

(Bernie was not. Either. But he had been smoking weed before the job interview with John and found his supposedly customer-friendly smile charming. When the psychedelic effects had worn off, Bernie realized what mistake he had made but it had been too late and he had to stick to employing John for the four-week trial period.)

“… and that’s basically all there is to know about the ‘Royal Metropolis Deluxe’ boxspring bed,” John ended his advertising monologue. “What do you think?”

“Awesome.” Sherlock breathed, thrown back into reality. (Meaning John, not the bed.)

“I’m very glad to hear this,” replied John. (Wishing the client had said that about him instead of the stupid bed.)

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Sorry, that's all I could manage today. Possibly typos in there but it's late and I am very tired. The Bed Shop AU will continue tomorrow!

tagging some people (tagging on desktop seems to work) (I hope) @calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @peanitbear @raina-at @lisbeth-kk

#mayprompts2024 #my Sherlock ficlets #calaisreno #prompt number 3 familiar #no beta wie die like (wo)men