Sheldon had been eager for the business trip his company would be taking to the science con held in London, England this year. He was anticipating the world's most recent technology and new scientific theories which he knew he could debunk or further expand with his superior intelligence. He would brag his knowledge to his fellow scientific man and rival the smartest minds in the building..but first he had to sit in the waiting room of a dentist's office and wait for his colleague.

Lord knows why this local London man decided to schedule it an hour before the con. He had all year, but the man insisted on telling Sheldon, he had kept 'putting it off' and that now his molars pained him something 'bloody awful', just his luck. Sheldon would have left his colleague to his dental hygiene and went straight to the con but unfortunately this man was his ride there. Sheldon dreaded driving more than he dreaded sitting in a disinfectant-smelling waiting room with month old magazines. Sheldon rifled through pages of an old science magazine, chuckling every now and then at an outdated theory.

Just then the banal quietness of the room was broken by the receptionist who said "Sherlock, John should be done in just about a minute, they are finishing up now. Though when it comes to him it might take a while"

Sherlock gave little response but a simple nod and a "Yes. Thank you". For the first time Sheldon noticed a man sitting two seats away from him. The man seemed to be staring at the wall but Sheldon knew better. He'd heard of this man before, he is a rising celebrity in these parts for his cunning in solving high-profile cases.

Sheldon pensively studied the dark-curled, scarf-wearing man, imagining the benefits he could reap with knowing this genius personally. His study in friendship had been a fluke with Kripke but if he could hone his new skills he could use Sherlock to his advantage. Sheldon remembered from extrapolating information from children's picture books and using them accordingly that mutual interests would be his greatest tactic. He leaned closer to the stoic man.

"Oh, you must be the great Sherlock that I've heard about. I believe that you as a man of science, and likewise I as a man of science, that we do share similar interests". Sheldon smirked inwardly, his delivery was straight and to the point; no beating around the bush, as the figure of speech goes.

Sherlock barely bat an eyelash at this man, detecting a hint of smugness in his voice. "Flattery will get you nowhere" Sheldon replied "Ah, but that is not flattery, but truth. I was making an obvious observation."

Sherlock rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe he was stuck here with a man who thinks he can buy his friendship by flaunting his intellectual similarities, as if there was one. He was hoping the trip to the waiting room would be uneventful at worst and a crime scene at best. John, for some reason, insisted he come to the dentist with him for "moral support", you think a war veteran would be able to face the dreaded root canal on his own. Sherlock sighed, he had grown soft since he knew John and had relented, and it was quite a weakness in his opinion.

As Sherlock complained in his mind, this man Sheldon had rambled on about his own feats of intellect, he tuned out all of it. Sherlock was rather uninterested in his occupation as a theoretical physicist and his vast knowledge of the universe, it was all irrelevant to him. "…so you see that is one of my most recent discoveries, it's only a matter of time before I receive reverence for my work".

Sherlock finally gave Sheldon a slight glance, "Are you really insinuating that we are within the same sphere of intelligence?" Sheldon thought about his answer carefully, saying his next words would make or break his masterfully crafted plan for friendship. Sheldon pushed away the urge to declare that indeed he was more superior to this detective that wore silly hats, instead he said "It was a simple observation. As two great minds we would be the perfect allies". Sherlock glared at Sheldon, this man was clearly trying to equalize himself with him by using the word "observation", but it was clear he only wanted to brag his own intelligence, and there was a hint of his ego showing in the conversation, evidence that this man held a false opinion the he was not just equal, but greater than him.

Sherlock looked at this man for the first time, he began his routine deduction and would give Sheldon Cooper a "simple observation". He opened his mouth to speak, "Judging by the accent you are from the United States your birthplace being Texas to be more precise You're currently live in California with a roommate who you dictate many rules for You have at least three other friends you congregate with on a regular basis and your interactions with them are similar to your interactions with your roommate You are a mysophobe and you dislike not having objects or situations within your order the neat arrangement of magazines that you made on the table to name one Along with your scientific interests you also embrace fantasy and science fiction endeavours judging by the superhero logo shirt with the lightning bolt It appears to be well worn which indicates sentimental value its material appears to be made in America so it must have been purchased in a specialty store by who I'm guessing is a close relative who you call by some childish nickname and she has gifted it to you even though you find the concept of gift giving rather pointless but you accepted that gift regardless However judging by the fact that she ignores your intellectual quirk she and your other family that hails from Texas are quite different in intelligence from you and also very religious but they indeed are a simpleton civilian people"

Sheldon wasn't prepared for Sherlock to suddenly pinpoint every detail of his life and he would be lying if he said he wasn't stunned. All Sheldon could think to say in reply was to blurt out "Don't talk about Meemaw like that! She may be dumber than a box o' rocks, but she ain't a simpleton nor a civilian!" He huffed angrily.

Sheldon took a deep breath, this man tried to one-up him with his own prowess, this attempted relationship was heading downhill. He came up with another attempt in which he would also boast as well "Yeah well, slight family shaming aside, that was rather impressive. I myself know quite a bit though, not some of the things you do, but I have received my PhD at age 16 and a second one at age 20. I recently came up with a new concept for string theory that could impact the scientific community as we know it. You see-"

Sherlock cut in before he could continue about his achievements in that rubbish science. He decided, for once in this conversation to be as blunt as Sheldon was from the beginning "Sheldon, I am far superior to you. I know more than you, I know you, and anything that you know that I don't is dull, useless information to me." Sherlock glanced slightly to his left to see Sheldon's eyes and face twitching in an irritated fashion.

Sheldon was aghast, furious that this man believed himself to be better than him, and then having the gall to call his knowledge dull and useless. He couldn't understand why meeting a man nearly like he was could devolve into a bad relationship. In the back of his mind he could hear Leonard's spiteful, mocking voice of if Sheldon ever met a clone of himself he would annoy himself so much and get a taste of his own medicine.

Sheldon pointed an angry finger at Sherlock "You sir, are an egotistical, narcissistic pedantic who thinks they are superior to everyone, better than ME even; and then showing off for everyone, well I won't have it! From this day forth, Sherlock Holmes is my nemesis!".

Sherlock shrugged, but had some minor amusement by his antics "I have enough Nemeses, you are hardly worth my consideration". Sheldon glared at him and was about to fire off again when the receptionist called out "Settle down, guys!" Sheldon wanted to complain about this man to the lady, but instead decided to sit back down and angrily flip pages of the magazines. The sound of pages flipping filled the room along with Sheldon's bitter grumbling. Sherlock resumed staring at the wall, calculating in his mind and started the countdown at 350 seconds until John would walk out and they could leave. They sat in awkward silence for the rest of their time there.