[ tilting his chin back up to look around the neighbourhood with faint interest, john listens to him with a ghost of a smile plays on his lips and a small chuckle. regardless of the effort they make to surprise them, women are always keenly aware of what their other half is planning for them. mary knew of his intention on proposing to her at the land mark hotel on the evening sherlock returned and fluffed everything up. does john share that piece of information with will? of course not. it's a learning curve every husband must experience for themselves. ]

I don't know. Rick was married, but I don't think his wife ever came here. They were, uh, estranged and from the sound of it, it wasn't very pleasant. They had two little girls caught up in it too. Twins. [ john casts his gaze back down and he pushes a small, dissatisfied huff through his nostrils as the cloud above passes and the neighbourhood is bathed in sunlight again. ] He was ported out ages ago anyway. Even if there were other people like us here, they'd have probably would have gone home by now as well.

[ a note of bitterness accompanies that statement which john saturates with another sip of beer. does john feel like he's lucked out? certainly not. it seems like everyone he has been remotely close to him has been leaving recently while he remains, his isolation growing by the day. nose wiggling with a hardened sniff, he looks back over at will. ]

I never would've put the two of you together. I'm glad it's working out.