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ACD: Fanfic: Voice

  • Feb. 11th, 2016 at 9:38 PM

Title: Voice

Fandom: ACD

Rating: Gen

Word Count: 467

Content notes: Holmes/Watson (one-sided); POV Holmes; angst; references to “The Three Garridebs”

Summary: Sixty seconds of “The Illustrious Client.” Watson visits Holmes after his attack.


Murmurs in the hall.

“…quiet is essential...”

On the contrary, it is not quiet that is essential, but rather sound. One sound, the sound of the arrival of the essential. Other sounds, of the street and the dwelling and the humans and beasts therein, are not injurious, but simply immaterial. Essentially unessential.

The essential has arrived. Finally. I might’ve counted the passing hours but for the unconsciousness and the morphine veil that is descending, muffling Oakshott’s hushed, courteous farewell.

How we dance, Watson!

Together, apart, together. Spin, twirl. Lead, follow. Hand touching hand until…

You’re not hurt, Watson? For God’s sake, say that you are not hurt!

I know wounds. Your scratch healed well and in no little time. It will not scar. The wound between us, however, has been left to fester, un-cauterised, for far too long.

I wince. Pain is in the memory, within the skull, not upon it.

“…you would not have got out of this room alive.”

Ridiculous! A statement that might, upon finding its way into an excellent periodical, have resulted in poorly cooked breakfast eggs about the metropolis!

I showed my hand, my heart, every bodily organ, save my brain!

I followed boldness with cowardice. Seeking to put distance between us, I set about making you the most sought-after physician in all of London. Your quiet surgery flooded; your collegial opinion pursued night and day.

My indirect methods proved not indirect enough. An icy silence descended upon the rooms, only broken by your curt announcement of forwarding address, Queen Anne Street.

The first Thursday of the month found me where it always did and, to my joy, not alone. Our standing appointment at the Northumberland Avenue establishment still stood, like a monument to an ancient god surviving the conquerors’ sack. Amidst the steam and the towels and the tile and the silence of the upper room, you asked,

“Anything stirring?”

I was ready.

And now here you are, in the doorway, letting your eyes adjust to the shadows. The one slant of daylight that allows you to study the bandages and the bruises allows me to study you.

I read your face, the only part of you that matters in this moment. I read your shock, your fear, your guilt, and your anger. Oh, that anger! There will be an offer of vengeful hide-thrashing or I am not Sherlock Holmes.

I am not Sherlock Holmes.

In this careful minute, I am simply a friend asking for forgiveness from a friend.

How does one break silence? With a single-stick? Or with a word. A word that will never find its way into black upon yellow, even if we are victorious against this formidable foe, even if the supreme moment of my career is close at hand. It is a hoarse whisper.

“John.”

Comments

[identity profile] laurose8.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 12th, 2016 03:55 am (UTC)
Thanks for givng us this excellent fic. A strong start, and the fic strengthens throughout to that great finish.
ext_1789368: okapi (Okapi)
[identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 12th, 2016 12:51 pm (UTC)
Thank you!
ancientreader: sebastian stan as bucky looking pensive (Default)
[personal profile] ancientreader wrote:
Feb. 12th, 2016 03:03 pm (UTC)
So painful, so well done.
ext_1789368: okapi (Okapi)
[identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 12th, 2016 03:49 pm (UTC)
Thank you! I originally tagged it h/c but realized there was no c.
ext_1620665: knight on horseback (Default)
[identity profile] scfrankles.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 12th, 2016 10:05 pm (UTC)
That's wonderful and heartbreaking ^^" Your writing is so beautiful - this is like a prose poem. I admire the delicacy and subtlety of it.

I love A statement that might, upon finding its way into an excellent periodical, have resulted in poorly cooked breakfast eggs about the metropolis! I mean, a lesser writer might just have said "an overly romantic statement" but you give that little nod to THOR and then expand upon it - it's just so satisfying.
ext_1789368: okapi (Okapi)
[identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 12th, 2016 10:23 pm (UTC)
Thank you, thank you! You can see the fruits of a lot of Sunday 60 reading showing up here and there.
[identity profile] godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 13th, 2016 07:32 pm (UTC)
OMG.... this is fabulous. Haunting and rich and evocative and wow and thingummy....
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
[identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 13th, 2016 08:10 pm (UTC)
Thank you! Now that I speak Jooster, I understand the last bit...
[identity profile] godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 13th, 2016 10:11 pm (UTC)
Just reinforcing the newness.
[identity profile] thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 14th, 2016 09:20 pm (UTC)
Oh wonderful! So many background references - and the eggs :)
ext_1789368: okapi (Default)
[identity profile] okapi1895.livejournal.com wrote:
Feb. 14th, 2016 09:24 pm (UTC)
Thank you! Glad you like it. My Sunday reading is showing.

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