[For John Watson] Catching up over beers

[cold_blueeyes]

The Cooler wasn't anything fancy, but it was clean, it had a decent food menu, and like any good sports bar it had several large television screens mounted throughout. Bobby grabbed a pint of beer and settled into a booth that had a good view of at least two of those screens, as well as the front door. He took the seat facing the entrance and

Comments

[nervesof_steel]

It wasn't long before John slid into the booth across from Bobby with a pint of beer for himself and his usual wry smile on his lips. John had found himself hanging out with the kid pretty regularly of late, usually to kick around a football or play rugby (it turned out that approaching middle age hadn't yet completely destroyed John's sporting ability, he was pleased to discover), but sometimes just to grab a pint and watch a game, maybe chat a bit. It didn't take a genius to see that Bobby was lonely, and that he tended to hold himself apart from the people around him, and honestly, that made John see a bit of himself in a kid. Without really meaning to, he'd taken on the job of looking after him.

Now, he sat back in the booth and absently scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Hey there, mate. Good to see you."

[cold_blueeyes]

"Hey!" Bobby sat up a little straighter as John joined him. "How've you been?"

[nervesof_steel]

"Oh, not bad." He shrugged amiably, leaving behind in those few words so much: Helena, Moriarty, the rest of it. "What about you? How's school?"

[cold_blueeyes]

"Starting back up next week," Bobby replied, taking a sip of beer. "I'm ready to go back, but...it's been a good summer." He grinned. It had been a very good summer, in at least one way.