"Both." John reciprocates with blunt honesty, a small smile tugging on his tense lips and tension ebbing away from his shoulders. Everyone knows that lying has never been John's particular forte. When Mycroft told him about what happened to Irene Adler, he blundered his way through the story they fabricated downstairs with little conviction. She would be very happy establishing a new life in America in a witness protection program... unless she bartered the wrong people again. John sincerely hoped she wouldn't: Sherlock's relationship with 'The Woman' was a mystery to him, but the desolate period between Christmas and New Year is not something John wants to re-experience ever again.

"Think I'll leave it for today, then. Whatever you've got in there, it's nothing compared to what I imagine it to be: the Taj Mahal meets Alice and Wonderland." He hastily pops a cupcake into his mouth as an old memory resurfaces, sending shivers up and down his spine while he chews in trepidation. Of course, he is curious about what else Sherlock has committed to his memory, but it isn't the sort of thing you ask when you come over to make peace.