Sherlock X Reader One Shots || 𝐹𝐿𝑈𝐹𝐹 + 𝑆𝑀𝑈𝑇

There's A Dog In This One (Part 2)

They'd bundled up in warm clothes, clipped Basil's lead to his bright red collar and set off into the night. There's always something...aesthetic about central London at night, something you can't truly understand unless you've been there, your shoes sounding on the often-uneven cobble of the streets. It had stopped snowing now, although it had barely been snowing in the first place, the ground slick and shining orange with the street lamps. Despite the cold, people were still everywhere, travelling in little clumps in and out of bars, restaurants, homes, all aglow with friendly, inviting chatter. That was one of the many wonderful things about London, Y/N pondered; one never feels alone. Even if you're not with anyone at the time you always know---can always feel---that there's life; someone pottering around the apartment to your left or your right, a shop still open at two in the morning somewhere, a long, people sitting in winding tube train sliding unnoticed below the surface of the city.

Sherlock's features had softened too, Y/N noticed in the corner of her eye, and she wondered if he was thinking the same thing. Or maybe he'd just been watching Basil trot along cheerfully in front of them, his long fur swaying with each step, giving him a jaunty swagger. The effect was mesmerising and Y/N blinked a few times when she realised Sherlock was saying something whilst frowning at his coat sleeve.

"We've looked after Basil for not even a day and I'm already covered in fur," He didn't sound angry, though. More fondly irritated, like a father whose child had drawn on the walls but it was a nice drawing so he didn't really mind.

"See!" Y/N exclaimed, stepping over a large puddle. "That's why I don't understand your deduction thing. If you looked at us, right now, you'd guess we own this dog. You wouldn't even need to see the dog, you'd just notice the fur on our clothes and guess we have a dog. Or, like, you'll see someone with faded jewellery and guess they've worn it for ages, it's a gift from a deceased relative and they don't take it off out of respect---or something. But in actuality that jewellery is second hand and has no emotional value to the person whatsoever. You're just saying things that could be true."

Sherlock fractionally inclined his broad shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. "Exactly. I guess. That's all it is, guessing. But the people paying me don't know that, for all they know I'm correct in my assumptions and that's all that matters."

Y/N almost stopped in surprise. "But---you say it all so confidently."

"I have to. Most of my job is just acting like you know things when really you don't know anything, not for sure."

Y/N didn't know whether she admired him for his performance, or felt horribly cheated. "So you just lie?"

"No. Well maybe sometimes accidentally when I'm wrong. But I'm not usually wrong so it doesn't matter. You didn't really believe everything I said when I deduced people, right?"

They'd come to a halt so Basil coils sniff a clump of dandelions that had broken free from the road verge, stuffing his nose into their yellow heads until he snorted a loud sneeze. Sherlock had turned to Y/N with a small hint of a smug smirk twitching at the corner of his handsome mouth.

Y/N's cheeks coloured, although she didn't know why. "No. Occasionally."

"I'm disappointed in you, Y/N," Sherlock teased, nudging her in her side with his pointy elbow. "I rather thought you were cleverer than that."

"So it's all just a trick?"

"It's not a trick. It's just guessing, then judging which is the most likely circumstance. Like that lady there." He tilted his head to a middle-aged woman across the street, exiting the driver's side of a red Volvo. "See how the front seat she just got out of is farther back than it should be for someone of her height? That suggests the car belongs to someone taller than her who usually has the seat farther back. She's wearing a wedding band and the car is a family-friendly model so we can make an educated guess that that's her husband's car and she's borrowing it for a short errand."