It's So Elementary, It's Practically Kindergarten
 

Abigail checked her phone briefly, glancing at both her text messages and the time. She was supposed to meet up with a few people for a double-date, and she found herself a few minutes early. She was a bit anxious; she hadn't been on a date in a while and the man she was meeting seemed very nice and she wanted everything to go well.

Sherlock was stubbornly refusing to leave the apartment.

"I never agreed to this," he said, watching John get ready. "I see no point in this."

Elana ended up arriving only a minute or two after Abigail, and waved to her as she walked over.

"Evening," she greeted with a cheerful little grin. She'd changed into a nice skirt and top for the evening and had her hair pulled back. "You look a bit pale."

"Oh come on," John wheedled. "Going out once in a while won't kill you." He thought briefly about dragging Sherlock out of the flat (and not without some wistfulness).

"I look better than I feel, then," Abby said, grinning a bit and straightening the skirt of her dress. "I barely slept last night."

"You never know, it might," Sherlock replied. "And I 'go out', as you put it, plenty. I'm out of the flat nearly every day."

"Not dating for a while will do that to you," Elena teased. "Really, you do need to go out more, even if this doesn't pan out."

John sighed. "For me? How often do I ask you to do things for me? Just do this one little thing for me and then I'll let you go back to skulking around the flat."

"If this doesn't pan out, shouldn't that just be more proof that it's entirely the wrong course of action?" Abby pointed out. "None of my past dates went well, I don't know why I agreed to this one except he seemed nice."

Sherlock looked at him.

"I reserve the right to leave if this 'date' of yours is anything less than interesting," he said, getting his coat.

"I never said you need to date more," Elena pointed out. "Just that you need to get out more, which could mean going to the movies."

"Yes, fine," John agreed with a secret little grin, leading the way out of the apartment. "And thanks to you, we're late."

"I do go to the movies," Abby replied, grinning a bit. "I just went the other day, remember? That movie with the mechas and the giant monsters."

Sherlock didn't dignify that with an answer, just getting into a cab with John.

"Yes, but you went by yourself, you didn't even call me," Elena said with a grin. She was keeping an eye on the door, though.

John got out first and headed for the restaurant where they were meeting the ladies.

"Next time we'll go together, then," Abby said.

Sherlock got out of the cab as well and habitually swept his gaze around.

"That's your date," he said to John, nodding to where the girls were standing. "The one in the dress."

"Good." Elena looked over at the two men as they stepped out. "And, if I'm not much mistaken, there are our dates."

John thought about asking how Sherlock knew that, then decided against it. "Try to be nice," he pressed.

Abby looked over as well and nodded a bit.

"Yeah, that's them," she said. "The one with the light hair is John."

"Try not to be myself, you mean," Sherlock corrected as they walked over.

Elena nodded and watched them approach.

"Hi, sorry we're late," John said with a slightly nervous smile. "This is my friend, Sherlock."

"It's alright," Abby said. She smiled a bit, also nervous. "My friend, Elena."

Sherlock gave each girl a cursory glance, learning all of the immediate, pertinent details, before giving what he hoped was a smile and offering his hand to the second girl.

Elena shook his hand fearlessly with a winning smile of her own. She worked with people, after all.

"Nice to see you both," John said. "So, shall we?" He looked at the hostess, who nodded and picked up menus so they could go take their seats.

Abby nodded and followed the hostess to the table. She played with the strap of her purse nervously. She wanted this date to go well.

Sherlock followed as well, trying to ignore some of the whispers he was overhearing. Damn John and his blog for being so popular, and damn America for not being able to keep its nose out of other countries' business.

John sat across from Abby, leaving Sherlock to sit across from Elena. He ordered a beer and let the girls order whatever they wanted.

"So." John looked at the girls, trying to think of a good topic of conversation that didn't involve work. Or at least not Sherlock's work.

"I hear you're a doctor," Elena said smoothly.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I'm working at a children's center back in London," John said, grateful for the lack of awkwardness right then.

Abby grinned a bit.

"I'm guessing that it can get a bit crazy," she said.

The conversation was incredibly dull, to Sherlock's mind at least. Already he was praying for some sort of murder to distract him. Perhaps even his own.

"A bit," John agreed. "Some of the children are good, and some are... not."

Elena gave the two a few moments to get their own conversation going before she returned bright green eyes to Sherlock. "Well, Mr. Holmes, I'd say welcome to America, but I gather you've been here a few days and you don't look particularly happy to be here."

"I know how that is," Abby replied, nodding. "I work at a museum, kids can be grabby little demons."

"Ah, I should have known you would have read John's blog," Sherlock replied, wrinkling his nose a bit. "I find I don't much like being out of London. I find America to be rather shallow and superfluous."

"Sounds about right," John agreed with a little grin. "And noisy. Very noisy." Although he'd been known to sleep through tantrums before.

"Actually, I don't read his blog," Elena said with a shrug. "I've seen the news, of course, but I haven't read the blog. Sorry to disappoint."

"Definitely," Abby agreed, grinning a little.

"Disappointed? Not at all," Sherlock replied. Relieved, however, was not out of the question. "You had to have found my name somewhere, given that John would likely not have told your friend, considering the introductions earlier, and therefore you could not have possibly gotten it from her."

"Sometimes the parents are as bad as the children," John groused. "Some of the women that come in have no manners at all."

"As I said, I've seen the news, and the news does have footage and pictures of you," Elena pointed out. "Even without the hat, I could tell who you were. Your profile is rather distinctive, I must say."

"Some women have no idea how to control their spawn," Abby agreed. "I'm sorry, but you're not supposed to let your kids run wild through an exhibit. I refuse to follow around another hellchild with Windex because he's licking the glass cases."

"I hate that hat," Sherlock said vehemently.

"Oh god that's terrible," John agreed. "Licking the glass? Really? That's... incomprehensible." He shook his head a bit.

Elena snickered a bit. "But you look so good in it," she teased, her eyes glinting with humor at his expense.

"Handprints, faceprints, the whole nine yards," Abby confirmed, nodding. "It was horrible."

"I do not," Sherlock replied. "It is a ridiculous hat and I see no reason why the general populace finds it so appealing. There is absolutely no sense in that hat being appealing to anyone."