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Gabbi kicked Toni's door as she passed, because between towelling her hair dry and smothering a yawn she didn't have a hand free to knock, and it wasn't likely to wake the lazy arse anyway. Her dad's door was still shut, too, which promised at least half an hour of dancing around the kitchen to KPop before she had to share it. So she was a bit surprised when she walked into the kitchen and found a complete stranger sitting at the kitchen table. He looked at her with very wide, worried eyes and, in a moment of heroic restraint she didn't scream, run away, or even look down to check she was wearing shorts.
She was, but they were very short.
He looked a lot more worried than she was, though, and a delightful realisation was starting to dawn through the caffeine deprivation. Her dad. Had brought someone home. Had brought a bloke home. It was three years since her mum had finally moved out, to Bristol of all places, and in all those years he had never brought anyone home.
Not even Sherlock, and at one point they couldn't get rid of him.
She gave him her brightest, most welcoming smile and carried on towelling her hair like everything was normal. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't realise anyone was up. You alright there?"
The stranger blinked at her. "Um…"
"I'm Gabbi. You want a brew?"
“I have been supplied, thank you." He indicated the steaming mug in front of him, one of the nice ones. Her dad must be up then, somewhere. The stranger caught her curious look and inclined his head. "I'm Mycroft."
She almost dropped her towel as she whipped around to stare at him. "Oh my god. You're Mycroft Holmes?"
He sighed. "Sherlock's brother, yes."
"Not the way Dad tells it," she assured him, reaching for a second mug so she had an excuse to dash upstairs and wake Toni. "He's talked about you loads. How come we've not met you before anyway?"
Mycroft looked surprised. "He… has?"
"God yeh. You've known each other like ten years, right?" She counted back. "Fu… shi… it is, isn't it?"
He chuckled at her stumbling attempts to moderate her language. "Around that, I suppose."
Gabbi tried not to grin, willed the kettle to boil faster, and combed her fingers through her messy curls to try and tidy them at least a little. "And in all that time, you've never even been over for Monopoly."
"Is that… something that happens often?"
"God yeah. Toni is vicious." The kettle boiled at last and she grabbed the mugs. "Speaking of, I'd better go wake her. Back in a minute!"
She made it upstairs as quickly as she could without scalding herself, and now she was listening for it she could hear the shower in her dad's en suite draining slowly. The day he got around to fixing that she'd be in trouble. Before he could find her on the landing and wonder what she'd done to be on tea duty, she barged Toni's door open with her elbow on the door handle and made sure it was closed firmly behind her with her heel. A shock of purple hair sticking out from under the duvet was the only sign Toni was still there. She whined when Gabbi dragged the duvet down and tried to fight her for it.
"Give over," Gabbi hissed. "There's a bloke in the kitchen."
Toni blinked stupidly. "Is he fit?"
"Uh… not answering that." She climbed into Toni's bed and leaned in to whisper, "It's Mycroft Holmes, and I'm pretty sure Dad brought him home."
That got a reaction, alright. "The Mycroft Holmes?"
"I can't imagine there's two Mycrofts. And yes, Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes."
Toni grinned at her. "Get in, Dad."
"Right? Not…" They froze as their dad's bedroom door opened and waited for his heavy tread to cross the landing, for him to knock on Toni's door, and for him to get safely halfway downstairs before Gabbi dragged on the duvet again and this time got it onto the floor. "Come on. I'm borrowing your jeans."
"What? You're such a cow!"
Gabbi won, so she didn't have to dive back into her room to get dressed. Then they ambled, at speed but as casually as they could, to the kitchen, where the conversation stopped abruptly just as they got within earshot. Their dad gave them a stern look, and Gabbi did her best to look the right sort of suspicious as she sauntered towards her stash. "Morning, Dad. Mycroft, this is Toni. Toni, told you Mycroft was real."
"Never doubted it, honest."
Their dad sighed. "Girls…"
"Dad." Gabbi gave him her best smile. "Coco Pops, Tone?"
"Alright, now I know you're up to something."
She shrugged. "I owe her. You two want some?"
"You know what? We'll go out for breakfast," their dad said firmly. "You two do… whatever you're up to."
Mycroft looked more than relieved, and the two of them had made their escape before Gabbi had even got the milk out. Toni shook her head. "Don't put my milk in yet! I'm going to check the spare room."
It hadn't been used. It was right next to Gabbi's room, and she would definitely have heard. A minute later Toni was back downstairs and grinning. "Not even made up," she crowed. "Get in, Dad!"
"You have to let him win Monopoly once," Gabbi warned her, "or he won't come back."
Toni got that bargaining look. "I'll let him win if you do your chicken capsilla."
They shook hands, deal made, and Gabbi grabbed her phone to text their dad with the plan. "Monopoly night. I'm cooking for 4, bring your bf. PS, he seems nice!"
He'd obviously been expecting it, because he replied less than a minute later. "Thanks love, can't wait. PS, he is."