,so he’s incredibly earnest and at no point am I going to stop yelling about the scene in the lab with the shoes
Sherlock asks John to make some deductions and John is completely opposed to the idea he wants nothing to do with it he’s absolutely not going to do it “I’m not going to stand here so you can humiliate me – ” and in swoops Sherlock, tells him it would be useful to him, really, and just looks at him imploringly and waits for him and John can’t stand against that, can never say no to being of value to Sherlock Holmes, so he picks up the shoe. They’re just a pair of shoes – trainers – and Sherlock takes the opportunity to praise him. The tiniest, most obvious statement and Sherlock’s response isn’t remotely patronising, not a sickly congratulation or any trace of mockery, it’s just an encouragement. Good, meaning that’s right, on you go, because he’s heard John tell him he doesn’t want to suffer his scorn and while he doesn’t actually need to hear John’s thoughts on the shoe at all what he does want is to see exactly how far John’s been paying attention, how much he’s learned, he wants that opportunity to observe John, so he’s incredibly earnest and careful in his handling of him. We’ve seen how brutal Sherlock can be literally moments before and it contrasts vividly against his gentleness and precision in the way he guides John onward through the deduction process. And John responds wonderfully to it – the encouragement and the apparent drift of Sherlock’s attention back to his experiment and his phone gives John room to slow down, take his time, and as he gets out of the nervous stumble of that first attempt to find something to say he finds his rhythm and his discoveries grow of their own accord and Sherlock gives him encouragement where it’s deserved (You’re on sparkling form, what else?), prompts him when he needs to, “but…” and John takes that and runs with it again, finds new details, elaborates on a thought he considered finished until he takes it through to its conclusion and Sherlock’s fixing him with this secret, hidden sort of smile because it’s satisfying, incredibly gratifying to know John’s been absorbing what he’s observed, and so when John finally grinds to a halt Sherlock gives him an Excellent,
a proper congratulation, and when John asks for feedback he’s tactful but ultimately honest: well, John, really well…. I mean you missed nearly everything of importance but –
John sighs, looks put out, hands over the shoe with a resigned huff, but it really doesn’t matter. He’s not hurt. And Sherlock’s about to reward him with something they both love: his being clever.
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1MexViE