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Sherlock Holmes had often been described as feline in many of his habits. From the way he walked to the way he walked to the way he zeroed in on something like a cat with prey.Or as John would often mention the way he had nine lives concerning the many dangerous situations he was put in or put himself in.
But this.. this was beyond any improbable possibility he could have imagined. He had ears! Cat ears! And while all his faculties were still functioning, he noticed certain lapses in attention. He was at a loss in terms of what to do, so as a last resort he called Mycroft.
~*~*~
When Mycroft arrived he glanced at Sherlock and from the very start noticed the ears and the one thing Sherlock had not: His tail. He found it unusual that Sherlock could have so obviously missed something of that much importance to his physical appearance. But he said nothing of it, rather concerned by Sherlock's apparent amusement with the shadows on the wall.
"So what have you done this time?"
"What have *I* done?" Sherlock's chocolate tail fuzzed in agitation" I've done nothing, I woke this way!"
"Sherlock you can't possibly mean this happened overnight?"
"Apparently it did Mycroft" Sherlock sneered revealing slightly sharper canines.
"Well let's hope the effects are temporary then" Mycroft sighed.
"Hope?!" You mean you're not going to fix this?"
"Quite simply, no I'm not"
"I can't let John see me like this!"
" He won't be frightened of you Sherlock" Mycroft chuckled.
"That's what I'm worried about!" Sherlock hissed.
"Ah, so let's think then, what happened last night?" Mycroft mused.
Sherlock mentally catalogued everything that had happened the previosu night. When he considered something from a very recent past encounter may have helped initiate his unique circumstances. Which brought him to the quick conclusion that the source of his problems were in fact right in front of him.
"The cat bit me while we were playing last night and there's a high possibility that I was in contact with something in Baskerville that could have helped it along."
"Hmm perhaps if it is from Baskerville then it will likely be temporary"
"Oh.. right, good" Sherlock calmed some, then suddenly leapt on Mycroft knocking him down. " You did it! Didn't you?!"
"Sherlock I did nothing of the sort." But the smirk told another tale.
At that moment the cat walked past eyeing Mycroft with no small amount of disdain. Sherlock snatched her up and put her on Mycroft. She however was more interested in the new appendages attached to her playmate. Sherlock put her attention back on Mycroft.
"Bite him!" Sherlock commanded imperiously
She looked at Sherlock like he was insane, hopped off of Mycroft's shoulder, sniffed and walked away with her tail in the air.Sherlock sighed the cat never listened, too much like her owner.
"Fine do the dirty work myself" Sherlock huffed and promptly bit Mycroft on the hand.
Mycroft sprung backwards looking at his little brother in horror. It took less than half an hour for Mycroft's ears and tail to appear.Sherlock pinned his chocolate colored ears and growled. Mycroft did the same his new tail twitching in agitation.
~*~*~
This was how John found them when he returned home a few moments later. Both glaring at each other, tails thrashing in agitation,ears pinned and a chorus of growls from either of them. Sherlock's was a high warning growl and Mycroft was clearly not impressed if his threatening one was anything to go by.
"Sherlock? What's going on?"
"My brother used me as an experiment, revenge for sneaking into Baskerville" Sherlock growled.
John tried to muffle his chuckle, but he failed miserably.Of course Sherlock wouldn't like having the tables turned on him. He watched as Sherlock huffed and turned his back on him.
"Aw,come on Sherlock I'm sorry" John chuckled draping his arms around Sherlock's waist lightly.
Sherlock's ears perked up a bit at the soft touch and a low rumble escaped him. Mycroft's ears perked at the sound and a smirk appeared on his face, his little brother hid emotions well but as a cat he was horrible at hiding them. John guided Sherlock to the couch, scratching softly behind dark ears, earning even more enthusiastic purring from him.
Mycroft growled looking all the more forlorn that he had no one to pay attention to him. John smirked and text Lestrade to come over, sending a picture of Mycroft to explain the circumstances.
" So you have feline..uh.. attributes, is there anything else?" John wondered.
"My focus is a bit off" Sherlock answered sleepily.
"Like you're distracted?" John murmured leaning to retrieve a piece of string.
"Very much, the slightest movement derails my train of.." Sherlock saw the string and zeroed in on it, after a bit he shook his head to clear it but kept his eyes on the string " John stop that.. it's..it's distracting" He hissed glaring at John.
"I can't help it, it's rather cute" John smirked dangling the string in front of Sherlock.
"Do it to Mycroft then!"
" I suggest you do nothing of the sort" Mycroft huffed staring at the string intently.
Lestrade used that opportunity to sneak up behind Mycroft and dangle some yarn in front of his face. Mycroft was caught by surprise and swatted at the yarn with a delighted look. Lestrade chuckled and Mycroft turned to glare at him imperiously.
"Oops, noticed that did you?" He smirked.
" You are not going to do that again Gregory!" Mycroft hissed.
"Oh shut up Mycroft" Sherlock growled "You were the one looking all forlorn earlier"
"I'll do no such.." Mycroft started on a tirade only to pause when Greg scratched behind dark ears, the pause lengthened into a low rumble.
Sherlock smirked looking very satisfied that Greg had proven his point for him. Mycroft glared at his brother sullenly but the purring never ceased. Greg chuckled and wrapped an arm around Mycroft's shoulders turning him towards the door.
" Come on then My, let's get you home and tucked away, can't have a cat running the government" He chuckled.
Mycroft's tail batted against Greg's thigh the sign of irritation was quite clear. Sherlock opened one eye to watch Greg coax his brother to go home. Which of course Mycroft had to make an issue of regardless of how simple it was.
" I'll not have need of a sitter" Mycroft huffed.
"I'm not a sitter My, just come home and we'll get settled" Greg murmured.
Mycroft's ears perked up at that idea and he turned to follow Greg with a dignified stride.Nose and tail in the air every bit as proud as Sherlock's feline companion.Sherlock chuckled waving when Lestrade tossed a quick goodbye their way to keep up with the fleeing form of Mycroft.
~*~*~
By eleven in the evening Sherlock's ears and tail had faded away completely, much to John's dismay. Mycroft however was not so lucky as he'd only just been bitten courtesy of his brother.Even as he and John lay curled side by side in bed, John running his fingers through dark curls gently, he had to remark on the subject.
" So..What shall we call this case then?"
"You are not writing about this John!" Sherlock warned
"Fine then, but I do miss those ears and tail" John chuckled.
"Why?They were pesky." Sherlock huffed.
"They were adorable" John murmured rubbing softly at the spot where the ears had been in the dark curls.
"Mmph, they were not" Sherlock's protest came out as a yawn.
"They were" John smiled still stroking dark hair gently " Go to sleep Sherlock"
Sherlock gave a muffled response, but he was well on his way to sleep.John kept up the gentle attention until he was sure Sherlock was sleeping well enough for him to slip away. Once he was sure he slipped into the living room and settled in front of his laptop to begin his writing.
~*~*~
When Sherlock woke in the morning and realized John was missing he padded out of his room to find John still typing away on his laptop. Curiosity was in his nature when it came to John, so he made his way over to peer at what John was writing. He peered at the title for a moment before he made to cuff John upside the head. This was dodged and John ran past with Sherlock in hot pursuit.
"John Watson I warned you!" Sherlock roared.
"Didn't say anything about typing!" John laughed.
"You know what I meant!" Sherlock growled tackling John to the bed.
"No!Sherlock don't you dare.." John squirmed
"Punishment John..punishment" Sherlock smirked.
Sherlock attacked going for all the soft spots he knew John had, just from harmless exploration of course. John was left breathless with laughter rolling about on the bed trying to knock Sherlock off so he could get away. The blog was left momentarily forgotten with the cursor still blinking in the title margin, it read:
The Case of the Kitty Conundrum