a crummy world of plot holes and spelling errors

[bossymarmalade]

I wanted a drabble about Amy Abbott from rachel_wilder, so that means I have to do the meme myself, apparently.

The first TEN people to comment in this post get to request that I write a drabble of any pairing/character of their choosing. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level. (Some other equivalent gift, like icons or mini-fanmixes or quickie meta, would make sense for people who don't write fic themselves.)

1. bayliss & pembleton, and hear the good news
2.
3. uhura/spock, my sign is vital
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. holmes & watson, the sun never sets
9. titus pullo, antevorta
10. uhura & sulu, the enterprise supper club, invitation only (er, plz excuse my dodgy science)

Offered fandoms: Homicide, Star Trek Reboot, The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, Rome, Futurama, Merlin, Sherlock Holmes, popslash, X-Men (only the regular continuity 'verse, y'all), or, uh, something else as long as I know it. Also, it will probably be a wee bit longer than a drabble.

Comments

[bossymarmalade]

the sun never sets


Sitting back-to-back in a pitch black cellar, as it turned out, was even more dull in practice than it was in theory. If it weren't for the pressure of Holmes' tense spine against his, Watson wasn't entirely sure that he would've remained awake and upright; his ability to spend long periods on the alert had been rattled and reduced dreadfully after he'd been wounded in Afghanistan.

"Steady on, old boy," Holmes murmured, and Watson realized he'd sighed aloud for possibly the third time in as many minutes. The crack of faint light in the floor that he was monitoring hadn't changed since he'd begun monitoring it, but at this point he was so bored and tired that he was starting to see flickers where none existed.

"Perhaps you miscalculated this time," he suggested, pitching his voice low. "Perhaps they won't actually make any attempt to enter these premises tonight."

Holmes' voice was smooth and unruffled when he replied, "Nonsense. To postpone their entry till tomorrow night would mean adding one extra day to an already time-sensitive operation and greatly multiply their chances of being discovered by the residents; they *must* make their move tonight, or forfeit entirely." His shoulders squared against Watson's, making the doctor unconsciously mirror the movement so they remained matched in pressure and frame. "I do apologize," Holmes continued, his voice taking on a decidedly unctuous tone, "if I am taking you from any husbandly duties you would rather be pursuing."

Watson had, as a matter of course, just at that moment been thinking wistfully of his bed and a hot water bottle taking the persistent cold from his ankles, Mary sitting to unpin her hair and shake it out with the sudden waft of lilacs. It was far beyond Watson's mental acuities at the moment to attempt retracing whatever it was that had alerted Holmes to this line of thought -- he'd shifted his hips to one side, perhaps, or snuffled when he might have sniffed -- but it was desperately unfair that even in the darkness, his friend was able to bring him up unawares.

"Mary knows that you need my assistance from time to time," Watson said, as blandly as he was able. "And she gives her blessing each time I mention it to her, as I routinely do. We keep nothing from each other." Holmes made no acknowledgement of this piece of information, either verbally or physically, and Watson felt a perverse pleasure in the silence.

After a few moments, however, Holmes remarked in a colourless tone, "Rather unusual for a young married couple to be so transparent with each other," and Watson smiled in the darkness as there was no-one to see it.

"It is, I suppose," he said. "But I adhere to an invaluable piece of advice passed on to me by my nani, a singular woman of great wisdom and fortitude; she told me to never conceal anything important from my wife, but even more than that, to never conceal anything trivial."

"A pithy enough -- if rather flannelly -- homily, Watson," Holmes said. "You've never mentioned this nanny before, however, and I find it peculiar that you should have had one at all, given what I know of your upbringing."

Watson gingerly shifted his game leg before answering, the pain making him rather more brusque than he intended: "I learned not to mention her, as I grew quite tired of chaps referring to me as having a touch of the tar brush." Holmes' head shifted at this statement, his hair trailing against the back of Watson's neck and breath suddenly much closer to Watson's ear as he continued, "I referred not to an English 'nanny', I'm afraid, but 'nani', as one's maternal grandmother is referred to in the Hindi language."

Holmes turned his head back and his shoulder blades knifed against Watson as he digested this new revelation. "My dear Watson," he said finally, voice soft as breadcrumbs, "just when I start to believe that I have every inch of you figured out."

"All the available evidence suggests that I'm closer to saying that about *you* than for it to hold true the other way 'round," Watson pointed out, and for once, Holmes was inclined to agree.

[thingswithwings]

oooooh, this is lovely, thank you! Excellent tension and banter - the character voices are spot-on - and I love the idea that Watson isn't as white as he's always presumed to be. What a lovely little snapshot.

[bossymarmalade]

I got that idea in my head and it WOULDN'T LET GO, so thank you a zillion times for giving me a reason to write it!

[torachan]

Ooh, I really love this! ♥

[bossymarmalade]

eee, thank you so much for this comment and for the rec!! I am thrilled!!

[sara]

Oh, I like that. Thanks.

[bossymarmalade]

Thank *you* for letting me know you liked it!

[telesilla]

Oh, what a lovely little revelatory moment!

[bossymarmalade]

Thank you so much! I'm very glad you enjoyed it!

[secondsilk]

Oh, yes. I like the important/trivial things homily. And the complete lack of fanfare from Watson in presenting information outside of the box he knows he's in. And the last sentence: so true.

[bossymarmalade]

Thank you so much for this! I'm glad that you think Watson being low-key about revealing his background works; I always saw him as less prone to dramatics, heh. And apologies for the lateness of my reply!

[dhobikikutti]

Hah! Eeeenteresting. :)

(I suspect he would call it Hindoostani at the time, though.)

ps - did you get my email with the address?

[bossymarmalade]

omg you're so right! I will change the reference on the AO3 version.

I did get the address, thank you -- I'll probably mail out by the end of the week, as I just want to keep the book long enough to make sure the interview questions I'm generating make sense. *g*

[quinara]

Just followed a little chain of links from remixers_lounge and found this - wanted to say that I really enjoyed it. I haven't really been reading Holmes fic, but this completely hits the spot.

[zulu]

Very cool! Here from...er...dark_agenda, I think? I'm glad I found the link.

[lady_ganesh]

Absolutely wonderful, especially that last line.

[deelaundry]

Wonderful! So exactly them. Have you written any more along these lines, with Watson revealing more about his nani and other family?

[beatrice_otter]

Beautiful! I'd love to read more of this: how this has affected Watson's life, how he and Holmes relate following this revelation, etc.

[sirdrakesheir]

COOLEST IDEA EVER

[espreite]

:DDD This story makes my life. *wants more please*

[happydork]

Oh, yay! A compelling idea, really well executed. I think this is going to be part of my personal canon from now on.

[sheafrotherdon]

Oh, this is so great! I love the subtlety of what it leads up to, and the way Holmes assimilates the information. It's such a great deepening of the whole story in such a compact fic.

(glass_icarus just linked over to it amid a discussion on my journal about someone asking for Holmes!Pocahontas and Watson!Smith at the HW kink meme. Aaaaagh.)

[perspi]

This is utterly fantastic, and I'm not even in the fandom--this might perhaps be my first Holmes fic! I've not even seen the new movie yet!--but I adored the sense of place and the revelation and the way Watson can hear Holmes thinking and YES. :)

In sum, I liked it a lot.

[livrelibre]

Here from sheafotherdon's post and I like this a lot!

[beatrice_otter]

Just came back to re-read this; it's a lovely short piece, you really capture them and their relationship (and what a fascinating idea for an AU!)