Call for a Truce

[rabidsamfan]

With a mouse trapped under his paw, and my careful ablutions satisfying his catlike love of cleanliness after a week of having his torso trapped within a suffocating pall of bandaging, Holmes was all but purring. At least so it seemed to me, although Collins might be forgiven for seeing nothing but the claws.

He squirmed in his chair like a schoolboy, but Holmes would not let go. "What are you after?" he hissed, trying to keep his mouth nearly closed.

"A temporary ceasefire," Holmes replied. "To give the noncombatants like the doctor and yourself time to clear the field."