BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Would you have dinner with me?

**Posted by lorraine_t** February 13, 2013 8:52 pm

Does dinner really mean...? alright... of course he had known and he will never ever reply. haha.

**Posted by Mary Me** February 13, 2013 9:06 pm

lorraine_t wrote:
Does dinner really mean...? alright... of course he had known and he will never ever reply. haha.

Not in his lifetime

**Posted by lorraine_t** February 15, 2013 9:07 pm

yeah, not in his lifetime, haha! and I just like the fact that he won't.

**Posted by Sherlockismyfix** July 26, 2014 10:31 pm

Going against the tide here, but I think he would have if Mrs. Hudson hadn't turned up. He was fascinated by her. He was, as I think we agree, a virgin, possibly because not many women (or men either) meet his standards. Irene does: 'Brainy is the new sexy.' She fascinates him.

Although he likely identifies as asexual, I think he would have been curious for the experience, as data if nothing else, and as she was his equal, he would have felt comfortable enough to proceed. I'm not sure they would have 'gone all the way', but I definitely got the impression that things would have gone further if they had not been interrupted.

**Posted by Liberty** July 27, 2014 8:28 am

I agree that he was fascinated and attracted. And I don't think he's actually asexual - he chooses not to indulge. For data? I don't think so. He could have got that at any time, and hadn't chosen to (if he's a virgin). And I'm not sure they'd be looking at straightforward sex either. Their other interactions imply something much darker and possibly more interesting.

Taking Irene's pulse seems cold, but isn't necessarily. It could be a way of seeing her cards in the game (and that's the effect it has, in the end). But it could also be because he is thinking of doing something with her and wants to know that it's not an act on her part.

I still haven't made my mind up. But I think the attraction is real on both sides.

**Posted by Sherlockismyfix** July 27, 2014 11:59 am

Liberty, I agree with you. I too think the attraction was real on both sides, and I agree that is the reason he took her pulse. She certainly did get to him, as his brother points out, one lonely man desperate to show off, and a woman clever enough to make him dance.

I do think he's a virgin at this point, if only because earlier in the show, Mycroft says in regards to sex:
"How would you know?", and Sherlock, uncharacteristically, has no comeback. I also don't think he's had a lot of opportunities to explore sexually because of what an odd duck he is. "Not really my area," he tells John in ASIP. It's not that women don't find him attractive, but rather that he's not interested in most women; they don't capture his imagination. I really do think brainy=sexy is the key here to his fascination with Irene.

My headcannon also has him hooking up with Irene during his two years away playing dead. I think that by the time we see him again in TEH, he has aged and matured in many respects. He now understands loneliness, as shown by his conversation with Mycroft in that episode, and his ease in developing a relationship with Janine in HLV is otherwise unexplained.

**Posted by JNinSoCal** July 27, 2014 4:57 pm

Sherlockismyfix wrote:
....and his ease in developing a relationship with Janine in HLV is otherwise unexplained.

Sherlock's relationship with Janine is explained by his crafty manipulation of her to assist him in entering Magnussen's office. It was "human error" on Janine's part to trust Sherlock and fall for his ruse( (if, indeed she did.) The no sex part might have tipped her off to his scheme but Sherlock is a genius at getting others to provide him with exactly what he wants.

**Posted by dexter.lei** August 12, 2014 11:13 pm

I would like he would say yes. But surely I don't think he would.