"Oh. Oh! I see!" Elena sighed. "I missed that one. Damn."

"He doesn't normally get on so well with people," John said, blinking. "But you're right. It is like a train wreck."

"It would not have been hard to miss," Sherlock said, somehow managing to exclude himself, nonverbally, from that statement. He really was trying to be nice, though. Or as nice as it was possible for him to be.

"It may or may not have been a mistake to introduce those two," Abby commented as she watched Sherlock and Elena.

"For everyone not a genius trained to see these things?" Elena grinned. She knew what he meant. "Well, I'll just have to do better."

"That is quite possible," John agreed, watching almost nervously. So far, there had been only one woman to pop up on Sherlock's radar who wasn't a lesser being, inferior in every way, or Mrs. Hudson. And John wasn't sure where Elena would fall.

Sherlock studied her a bit. She hadn't taken offense like he'd expected her to. He'd learned that some people took offense to him whether he meant them to or not, and she just... hadn't. Intriguing.

Abby watched as well.

"This could be interesting," she said, grinning a bit.

Elena looked at him and grinned. "Really, Mr. Holmes, that is far from the worst thing someone has said to me," she said, not unkindly. "Working in a lawyer's office, I hear all sorts of things, and many of them aren't exactly complimentary."

"Very interesting indeed," John agreed in a murmur. "I don't think he knows what to do with her."

"A law office?" Sherlock asked, raising an eyebrow. "You work in a library." He gave her an 'I'm not fooled' look.

Abby grinned when she heard the two talking.

"Oh this will be interesting," she murmured, grinning to John. "He's not entirely right."

"I work part-time in a law library, yes," Elena agreed with a grin. "But my full-time job is assistant to the head lawyer in the law office a few floors above the law library."

"Oh dear," John said, though he was grinning. "He's not wrong often."

Sherlock blinked once or twice, his jaw working as he tried to reconcile his own deductions with Elena's words. It wasn't working.

"It feels like we're witnessing history being made," Abby said quietly to John, watching the spectacle.

Elena just grinned, enjoying his discomfiture. It was a nice change.

"We are," John said quietly, blinking. "I have never seen him speechless."

"I wasn't wrong," Sherlock finally said, stubbornly. His pale face flushed ever so slightly.

"No," Elena agreed with a wicked little grin. "Not wrong. But not entirely right, either."

Sherlock didn't grace that with a reply. He wasn't wrong, that was what was important. And, perhaps, he might have been slightly ashamed of himself for not catching every detail this time.

Elena relented a bit. "I did work the library today," she said, leaning back in her seat. "My boss is off for another two weeks, he's already been gone one week."

"I see," Sherlock said. And he did, to an extent. Her makeup was fresh, so she likely hadn't been expecting to interact with people for at least a few days, indicating the seemingly-full-time library job. It was a little fuzzy, since she was dressed for a date and the shirt wasn't her own, but he'd seen that much.

"Ah, mixed signals," Elena said with a wry little grin. "How I hate them." And not just mixed signals in clothing and job indicators, either.

"Indeed," Sherlock murmured in agreement.

"I feel like that was something mere mortals were not meant to witness," Abby joked to John after a moment.

Elena grinned. "Well, Mr. Holmes, now that I've temporarily proven you not quite right, can I buy you another drink?"

John laughed quietly. "I know the feeling," he agreed with a little grin.

"If you feel you must," Sherlock replied. He wasn't going to flat-out say yes, but he wasn't refusing, either.

Abby grinned. She felt like her date with John was going well, so she was pleased.

By the end of the evening, Elena had bought Sherlock another drink, and they'd chatted some more. She had a good time, although she wasn't entirely sure about him.

John, on the other hand, had a great time and thought he got on very well with Abby, so he gave her his number.

Sherlock was surprised that the evening was going better than he thought it would. Elena was surprisingly interesting to interact with. It didn't occur to him to give her his number, however.

Abby was pleased with how the date went, and blushed slightly in pleasure when John gave her his number. Quickly, she wrote her own on a slip of paper and handed it to him.

Elena ended up not giving him her number, because she didn't see the point in it, as she figured he wouldn't text her.

John saw the girls off before he went about getting a cab for him and Sherlock to head back to their hotel.

Sherlock sat in the cab quietly, although it wasn't his usual kind of brooding quiet. He glanced at John once or twice.

"You seemed to hit it off with that girl," he commented.

"Abby," John reminded him. "And I did. I'd like to see her again sometime." He glanced at Sherlock. "Elena didn't try to hit you, that's a good start."

"Indeed," Sherlock replied. "Highly unusual."

John gave up at that and got out once the cabbie pulled over. He did try one more time as they headed up to their room, though.

"So are you going to see her again?"