The Baker's Detective

| The Favor and the Coronet |

Lily opens her mouth to answer him, but she doesn't know what to say. She wants to go, but he's caught her at a bad moment, and she looks far too awful to go see an important banker, no matter what the situation is that he's in. Not to mention Sherlock seeing her looking a mess for the third time now. What he must think of her!

His brows furrow at her lack of answer. "Did you change your mind about going?"

"You're not going?" John cuts in, walking over from 221A after dropping off Rosie.

"Well- Well, yes-" Lily starts, and the smile returns to Sherlock's face.

"Good; then, let's go," he says, turning and walking off.

"I can't go now," Lily manages, and he turns around, confused.

"Why not?" So he hadn't even noticed she looks a mess, as he probably wasn't even paying any mind to her dress. But she'll have to call it to his attention now.

"I can't go out like this." She gestures to herself. "Especially not to see someone as important as Mr. Holder."

He looks at her clothes and her hair, and he still seems confused. "What's wrong with your outfit?"

"Sherlock, it-" John starts, but he obviously doesn't know how to word the explanation without sounding rude.

Lily finishes his statement. "It's for gardening. I look like a wreck."

Sherlock shrugs. "I think you look fine."

"I-" Lily starts, cutting herself off, her mind half-muddled, and she doesn't know what to say. "I'm going to go change. I'll be out in as fast as I can." The garden will just have to wait.

"Alright, then," Sherlock says with a light sigh.

"Take your time," John adds with a smile, and Lily nods at him before turning to go, feeling a bit bad for making them wait and possibly irritating Sherlock.

"Oh, you can come in if you want. Make yourselves at home," she says, glancing back at them as she goes down the stairs. John thanks her as he and Sherlock enter the flat. She hears a disgruntled noise as she hurries to her room and remembers how low the ivy plant up there is. Sherlock definitely ran into it. She pushes that from her mind to pick out something decent but comfortable enough for a case, which so far has involved a bit of acting, running, and being scared out of her wits.

She grabs her pink dress with red and white flowers on it — one she's often worn to work for Valentine's Day, so she knows she can move in it if need be. It ends at her knees, and the sleeves come down to an inch or so above her elbows. She then gets some ruffled socks, all the while wondering if she should be putting on pantyhose instead. Then, she runs over to her dresser to her antique jewelry box (a birthday present from Liam a few years ago) and grabs her gold bracelet that she's had probably since she started teaching. She almost gets the matching necklace, too, but then thinks it would be a bit difficult to run with a necklace on — in case they'd need to run, for whatever reason. Then, she grabs her pink purse from the closet and drops her phone and wallet in it, lastly heading to the bathroom to calm her hair. She tries everything readily available to get the frizz to go down. She settles it a bit with a dressier headband that matches her dress well enough. Finally, she walks back out, her ankle boots she's planning to wear being at the bottom of the stairs.

John is sitting on the couch, looking at her knickknacks, and Sherlock is standing in the kitchen, looking at the planter box and flowers Lily planted in the window. She looks at them both, then grabs the bottom of her skirt as if to display it. "What do you think? Is this good enough to go see an important banker?"