Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.
-Anthony Burgess
(Zoe's POV)
The rest of the night is spent in my room, doing school work to the sound of my record player.
I enjoyed the classics, and those mixed with the sound of the record player, was like heaven. The popping and crackling have an age and beauty you couldn't get on digital.
When I had finished, I put on a few of my favorites, mouthing the words, and danced around quietly. I would never do this if I knew someone was watching, or could hear me. But, I needed something to remind me of home and an impromptu dance session was just that. Homey.
~
After a while, mom calls me down for dinner, some Chinese she had ordered from a place down the street.
She set up my wanton soup and egg rolls at my seat, knowing that was what I use to (and still do) love.
"So," Mom starts, starting on her own meal. "How did your day go?"
"Fine, nothing new," I shrug, picking at my food with my chopsticks.
She nods and looks down at the table, catching sight of my hand. "That's nothing?!" She says quickly, slightly angry.
I sigh and look down at my hand. Crap. I forgot to cover the bruising.
"I got in a fight," I say finally.
"What was it this time?" She asks, arms crossed.
"A guy liked me," I mumble. "And he tried to touch me, so, I punched him."
My mother looked at me, a bit dumbfounded. "He liked you, so you punched him?!"
"He was an ass!" I groan, putting down my chopsticks. "He had nothing going on in his head, and kept making passes at me. I didn't like it, so I punched him."
"You don't punch people because they do something you don't like," She sighed, insisting that this was wrong.
"Trust me, I know," I mumble. I'd be punching people left and right if that was the case. "I only did it because he made me uncomfortable, mom," I lie, knowing she's pity that.
She sighs and nods. "Okay, but next time, just walk away and tell someone," she says softly.
I nod and pick at the food presented to me and go back to my room. Why did she need to stress about everything? This wasn't even a big deal.
I go into my bathroom, taking out my contacts so I didn't fall asleep in them, putting my glasses on instead. I wash my face and pull up my hair into a bun, then go out onto the fire escape, dangling my legs off the side.
The city was so bright and loud. The melody of honks, and screeches, mixed with the sound of busses stopping and people bustling about in the late hours. It was peaceful.
After a while of just existing on the fire escape, I go back inside. I brush my teeth and crawl into bed, actually trying to sleep tonight. I deserved it. Besides, I might want to dream of that Sherlock, try and examine him more.
(Sherlocks POV)
Back in my room, I stay at my desk, reading over some cases the police are trying to solve from the paper, sighing as I find the culprit so easily from just the pictures and testimonies alone.
But, the police never listen to me. Said something about being "too young to help". Or that I was just a pest and shouldn't be trying to solve such gruesome cases.
They never understood that I enjoy it. I like solving these cases. They entertained my brain.
I stay focused like that till I hear a scratching at my door and turn around to go open it, already knowing who it was.
The old dog padded into my room jumping onto my bed happily, almost like the puppy I remember.
"Hello Redbeard," I say, sitting next to him, petting his head happily.
The dog pants happily, moving into my touch, liking the attention.
"You like me," I says, scratching under his chin. "And you know I'm a good person. You're my friend, and that's good. I don't really need anyone else, but if she wants to be my friend, I won't deny her that," I ramble, knowing he didn't understand me. But, he still gave me that sort of dog smile he always gave me when he was happy.
"Good boy Redbeard," I says softly, kissing his head softly.
I get up and pull on a t-shirt that didn't fit right yet ('You'll grow into it,' my mother insisted), and a pair of flannel bottoms.
"You gonna stay in here all night, boy?" I ask, looking to the door.
Redbeard made no effort to move from the end of the bed which I took as a sign of contentment.
I slide under the covers and turn off my lamp, getting comfortable. I feel a shift in weight, along with the springs in my mattress compressing as the old dog moved to lay next to me. I smile and
relax, petting him until I fell asleep.
{oh my god! I haven't updated in about a year! What the hell?! I promise I'll update more often, I still have an end in mind! Hope this is a nice surprise to the two of you who read this 😅}
