*John*
"It's been nearly a week since we started dating, but I can't see her as often as I thought because of school and my internship; and don't even get me started on Mr. Shepherd's class right now, he just assigned another..."
John nods absently, gaze fixed on the scuffed counter below him as Molly rambles on about school and her latest date with Irene. How the two met is beyond him, Molly is always either at work or school and Irene travels almost enough to count as homeschooled at this point, but somehow the two hit it off one night when Irene came in for coffee after a photo shoot. Molly is over the moon, every other thing that comes out of her mouth something else about Irene, and John almost feels like he actually knows the girl. He's more focused on the events of the past few days than whatever they have going on at school lately, but he promised to keep Molly in the loop.
"John?"
"Hmmm?"
He looks up at her, finally noticing the bags under her eyes and the slight shake to her hands as she organises the sugar packets yet again.
"I asked how you were feeling. You know, with everything that's-"
The door opens, bell ringing to signal the end of their conversation for the time being, and Molly forces a smile back into her face as she turns to great the newcomers.
"Hi! Welcome to Serenity, what can I get started for you today?"
John goes back to his homework, brow knit in frustration as he realises Sherlock missed their last tutoring session and he doesn't quite understand how the equations work. He throws the chemistry binder back into his bag, opting instead for the anatomy textbooks and study guide for their test next week. It's an improvement for sure, and he feels himself relaxing at the prospect of being able to fill something out without too much effort. Molly makes her way back over, customers sent on their way with coffee and baked goods of some sort, and she settles back down in her chair across from him.
"Well?"
"I'm fine."
"Come on, you're not sleeping."
"Neither are you."
She ducks her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before leaning over to watch him work. John ignores her, for the most part, and is able to make it almost to the end of the first page before she speaks again.
"They found something you know."
"Who did?"
"Some of Mycroft's friends."
John drops his pen, full attention diverted back to Molly as she speaks.
"Lestrade's older brother works downtown, at Scotland Yard, and he was told that they found some drug lord or something a few blocks away from my house. He's got a kid too, they think it's that boy we saw in here the other day, but no one knows where he went off to. Lestrade said him and Sherlock used to be real close, like closer than the three of us, and he might know something about the dog, so they're looking for him right now but they don't want to put anything out to the public quite yet because Mycroft wants it all hushed up. Personally I think they should just release everything so they can find the kid, especially if he knows where the dog went, but that's just me."
He sits back in his chair, homework forgotten, as Molly rapidly switches to get another random and unrelated topic. She doesn't wait for a response, not that he has one for her, but he manages to find a break in her rambling to get a word or two in.
"I need to go, I'm going to be late for practice."
"I thought you just got back from there?"
She pouts slightly, glancing towards the back of the store where there's sure to be more than enough dishes to keep her occupied for a while, and John catches the hint that she wants him to stay.
"I've gotta help one of the boys with a new play, he's not quite getting the footwork involved and he needs to learn it before the game next week. I'll bring him by afterwards if you're not off by then?"
She nods, holding out a hand for his mug, and he slides it across the counter before grabbing his bag.
"I'll be back later I promise."
He runs out the door, not caring enough to go back in and grab his coat off the back of his chair, and makes a silent promise to himself to come back as soon as he's done.
