I’m going to babble at you. I also love this whole scene between john and mycroft and he keeps not meeting Mycroft’s eyes. That soldiers way of looking just over a shoulder. Not submissive in any way, more of a “I don’t know who the hell you are or what you want but I am listening.” Pretty much the opposite of his introduction to Sherlock, then again, flair for the dramatic and all

willietheplaidjacket:

The Mycroft scene is one of my favourites. Not only because the first time you see the episode you think it’s Moriarty, but John is at maximum BAMF level. Mycroft’s intimidating, but John’s the scary one. That determined look in his eyes, his rigid stance, the way he doesn’t want Mycroft touching him, how angry he gets when he realises Mycroft knows his most private secrets.

That scene is about five minutes long and is nothing but dialogue, but it is so tense and so well played and you are learning so much about who John really is (because a John under pressure is the real John) that it may as well be a car chase for the way is holds you.

And you’re right, it’s completely different from when he met Sherlock. With Sherlock, he was solid but not rigid, he wasn’t afraid of close proximity, he avoided his eye and ducked his head in a more submissive way. You can see that trust immediately.