Gaius and Mrs. Hudson were good friends. They met at a party for staff of the university they worked at. Gaius was the resident Chemistry professor, who also taught a History of Science and Technology class. Mrs. Hudson, meanwhile, was a retired English professor. When she retired from the school, however, she bought a house near the school and started renting the rooms to students who couldn’t afford residence fees. The two hit it off quite well, as they were some of the few people their age still working in connection with the school. Every Tuesday, the day Gaius only had one lecture; the two would get together in Mrs. Hudson’s flat in the house for tea and conversation. It was a lovely tradition which they worked to keep up. Socializing wasn’t all that common given their lives, after all, with families living in other cities and friends who traveled a lot with their retirement.
This was another such Tuesday, though it was a bit different. It was the winter holiday. Gaius didn’t have lectures and Mrs. Hudson’s renters were with their families for the few weeks. To be specific, it was Christmas day. Gaius was going to Christmas dinner with his family in the evening, and Mrs. Hudson had some family coming over the next day to have a day of celebration together. But, as always, the two upheld their tradition of tea and company.
“I’m glad you could make it. Gaius,” Mrs. Hudson greeted warmly upon answering the door, stepping aside to let the Gaius into her home. Gaius smiled in greeting and stepped inside, immediately greeted by the smell of something sweet baking in the oven.
“It has been a while,” Gaius replied, “Do forgive me. With finals there was a lot of grading to be done.”
“Of course, back in my day I had a number of essays to mark myself,” Mrs. Hudson knew all too well the horrors of marking. After some more pleasantries, and once Gaius had shed his outer wear, set down his briefcase, and toed out of his shoes, Gaius and Mrs. Hudson migrated to the main room in her apartment. The room consisted of a seating area along the far wall, and a dinner table set up near the small kitchen which was all but tucked away in the corner. Considering it was just Mrs. Hudson cooking in there, she really didn’t mind. After a few minutes of chatting, Mrs. Hudson excused herself to the kitchen to set the kettle and bring something out of the oven.
Gaius took the time to wander the familiar flat and look at the pictures. He had seen them all before, of course, but he still enjoyed scanning them. Mrs. Hudson with her nieces and nephews, a younger Mrs. Hudson with her parents and brother, Mrs. Hudson’s wedding picture (though, from what he heard, he never understood why that one was still up), and finally, a picture of her two current renters. Sherlock and John were sitting in front of Mrs. Hudson’s fireplace in that picture, John was smiling brightly with an arm around Sherlock’s shoulders, and Sherlock looked as though he were trying very hard to not smile, with his arms folded across his chest. That one always made Gaius smile. The image was all too familiar.
“I can never tell if you expect the pictures to change, or if you think you’ll spot one you’ve missed,” Mrs. Hudson teased when she came back into the room, carrying two mugs of tea. Gaius turned around to join her at the table again, accepting the tea with a smile.
“I know, I know. But they’re lovely pictures. Especially the one of your renters,” Gaius answered before taking a drink of the tea. Mrs. Hudson just sat down, her hand absently rubbing at her bad hip, and she laughed a little fondly.
“I do love that one. It took so much fuss to get Sherlock to sit for it, but it was worth it,” Mrs. Hudson was smiling, “I needed a picture of my boys. I’m sure you know how that is.”
“I will admit, I managed to sneak a photo of Merlin and Arthur onto my office desk,” Gaius laughed, “At Arthur’s last game, when his team won. Merlin is right there with him celebrating, of course, even though he is not on the team.”
“Of course he would be,” Mrs. Hudson nodded, “Whenever one of them does well, both of them are thrilled. It’s sweet, really.” It seemed as though she were about to speak up again, but a ding from the kitchen interrupted her. She stood for a moment, excusing herself politely. A few minutes later, she returned with a plate of scones and set them between her and Gaius on the table.
“You didn’t have to go to the trouble,” Gaius pointed out.
“I wanted to make them tomorrow for the family, I thought I might as well test them out on you first,” she teased.
“Well then, if a test subject is what you need,” Gaius picked one up, “I will gladly volunteer.” One very quickly finished scone later, Gaius offered a smile, “You have outdone yourself this time.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Mrs. Hudson replied, “And I’m glad you were able to come today. My usual baked good testers are sadly out of town.”
“You miss them, don’t you?”
“I do,” Mrs. Hudson confirmed, “It’s too quiet around here when they’re away. Most people would be glad not to have police officers coming in to lecture their renters about nicking another cold case, but I do.” Gaius shook his head and chuckled.
“It is understandable,” he agreed, “I miss seeing Merlin front and center in class. I swear he is the only person I have ever seen so enthusiastic about the History of Science course. And I even miss tutoring Arthur in chemistry, as trying as it can be.”
“We sound like a couple of parents who miss their children.”
“We may as well be.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Mrs. Hudson giggled, sipping at her previously forgotten tea, frowning at the fact that they had let their drinks go cold.
“Here, let me this time,” Gaius took their mugs to the kitchen, and proceeded to busy himself making another round of tea. Mrs. Hudson was glad for the break from her hip. When Gaius returned with their tea, he handed her the mug of warm tea before sitting across from her.
“So, I have to ask. Since it’s been a few weeks. Have Arthur and Merlin finally-”
“No, I am afraid not,” Gaius sighed, “Those two are different sides of the same coin, and everyone knows that but them, it seems.”
“What a shame,” Mrs. Hudson shook her head, “They’d be so much happier for saying something.”
“What about Sherlock and John?”
“No,” it was Mrs. Hudson’s turn to sigh, “Sherlock still carries on like his feelings don’t exist, and John seems to deny that he’s in love with another bloke.”
“I feel like we need to sit them down and explain what should be obvious to them.” Mrs. Hudson giggled at Gaius’ comment.
“Yes, I can see it now. ‘Arthur, Merlin, will the two of you stop being such clots and realize you love each other already,’” Mrs. Hudson lowered her voice in a horrible impression of Gaius.
“And your poor boys, ‘John, you’re in love with a bloke. Sherlock, you’re not a heartless robot. You love each other, now just admit it already or there’ll be no biscuits with tea tonight,’” he raised his voice a few octaves to try and sound feminine. The two of them burst out laughing just a few moments later. It took a few minutes before they could calm themselves.
“Lord knows we would tell them and they would still deny it,” Gaius finally pointed out.
“I know. I just want them to realize it before it’s too late.”
“I understand. But we can only do so much,” Gaius answered, “I am sure they will come around. Eventually.”
“You’re probably right, Gaius,” Mrs. Hudson replied, smiling before taking a sip of her own tea.
And the rest of their Christmas day continued much as usual. They consumed about three more mugs of tea each and polished off the scones while they chatted. They discussed a great deal of things, but it often came back to their boys. When they finally parted ways, Gaius promised to return the following Tuesday for tea, volunteering to supply the sweets to go with their tea. When Mrs. Hudson turned back into her flat, she saw a small wrapped gift sitting on the small table by the door where she set the bowl for her keys. She picked it up and smiled to herself, wondering how long it would be before Gaius discovered the small gift she had slipped into his briefcase while he had been distracted looking at her photos earlier.
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