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And the last one from Act IV, with a surprise
“Bit of business, I’m afraid,” Mycroft says, pulling out one of his ubiquitous files. He opens it on his knee. “I’m not sure whether you’ve heard, but the body of Janine Riordan was discovered a few days ago. Almost certainly the work of Magnussen’s men. Cause of death was poison; Ms Hooper has the autopsy report should you wish to see it. I don’t know whether you actually considered yourself legally engaged to her, but she evidently considered it legally binding. Obviously the ring she wore should by all rights be returned to you, and in addition to that, it seems she had recently purchased some property. As the purchase was made after she became engaged, it is therefore considered half yours and upon her death it passes to you.”
“Property,” I repeat, frowning at him. “What are you talking about? And why? My name wouldn’t have been on the deed.”
“Nonetheless,” Mycroft says. “Unless you want a longwinded speech on estate law in Great Britain – ”
“We don’t,” John puts in.
“ – then I suggest you simply accept that I know whereof I speak and leave it,” Mycroft finishes seamlessly. He reaches into his briefcase and withdraws both the ring box and a legal-sized envelope containing several thick sheets of A4. Without looking at them, he passes both items over.
“Sussex Downs,” he says.
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This is lovely.
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Silent Auror: The King is Dead
Both scenes at the kitchen table in 221B, after John had learnt unpleasant news about Mary and left her.
It feels like old times, just being home at Baker Street, passing the butter and jam and milk for the tea with Sherlock the way they always used to. Sherlock is particular about putting the sugar in his tea before the milk (he claims that the sugar doesn’t dissolve properly otherwise, which John thinks is a load of tosh, but it amuses him) and so they developed a certain routine. Sherlock adds sugar while John adds milk to his own tea, then he passes Sherlock the milk and Sherlock gives him his spoon to stir it, taking it back after to stir his own. Why dirty more than one spoon, he would have said in the old days.
John’s voice is neutral, the words driven out by force of will only. “Apparently Mary is definitely still working. Seems she used to work with Moriarty. Whom she used to fancy. And who was Janine’s brother.”
“Her brother!” Sherlock actually sounds shocked. He puts his chopsticks down and picks up his wineglass instead and takes a long swallow. It seems he’s properly taken aback. His eyes come back to John’s after a moment. “Eat,” he orders. “You’ve had a shock. You’ll need it.”
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Silent Auror does it again - few sentences and I positively know I would read the story ASAP.
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That one is a very mean story - I enjoyed it
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Why mean?
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The story line about Mary assumes probably the worst imaginable about her
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Wow, I definitely must read it.
For science, of course.
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LOL, of course!
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The King is Dead - Silent Auror
With his own clothes still in the suburban flat, John needs Sherlock to lend him some of his:
And last but not least a Silent Auror special tropeOnce he’s stepped out, John towels off and looks at the pile of neatly-folded clothes in curiosity to see what Sherlock’s chosen for him. There’s a pair of plain black socks, a pair of underwear which appear to be made of satin or silk or something slippery that feels expensive and luxurious in his fingers, and a navy-blue cashmere jumper. John’s brain has got snagged on the pants, though. He’s stuck where he’s standing, holding a pair of Sherlock’s underwear and feeling the material like he’s a teenager touching a pair of girl’s knickers for the first time. This is ridiculous. It’s just underwear. Trust Sherlock to have such ridiculous, expensive, poncy pants. He steps into them and can’t help but notice how they feel on his skin, cupping his arse and bits with a whisper of material like a breath. He looks at himself in the mirror and thinks they look rather good on him, too. He also notices that his face is flushed and that he’s sporting a bit of wood. Oh, perfect. Fantastic. John takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself, putting on the borrowed socks and his own jeans. The jumper is last and it feels almost as nice on as the pants do, the cashmere finely-knit and very soft. The shade of blue brings out his eyes and makes them look bluer rather than the grey they can be sometimes. The jumper fits him perfectly, only it’s nicer than most of his jumpers and he immediately loves it. Sherlock never wears jumpers – perhaps he’ll let John keep it. Though, given what he now knows about Sherlock, he’s not sure that asking him for presents is precisely the right way to go about handling this whole thing. Really better just to not say anything at all. Right. That’s what he’d decided last night already, wasn’t it?
“I’ve – I’ve never done this,” John pants as Sherlock presses himself into John, both finally nude, Sherlock’s cock pushing into his stomach. “Not with a bloke, I mean.”
“I know that, idiot,” Sherlock murmurs, attaching his mouth to John’s ear. “I hardly think it’s rocket science. I’ve done my research. You’ll be fine.”
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Quite warm in here.
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Do you need an Ice Bucket?
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Yes, please.
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?
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Harriet wrote:
?
Ok, that was rather lovely.
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I came across this little gem from a great story called Bloody But Unbowed from BeautifulFiction.
Not sure how to use spoiler tags here, so SPOILER ALERT:
John is in hospital, but wants to leave before the doctors think he's ready. And he says this:
'There's no point in me staying,' he said, perhaps trying to defuse any protest Sherlock might conjure. 'They'll stick me on a ward and leave me to rot until it becomes obvious I'm not going to keel over."
From someone who has spent way too much time in hospitals herself, let me tell you how much that remark hit home. That's EXACTLY how it feels! Well spotted!
Last edited by Vhanja (January 19, 2015 12:38 pm)
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Sometimes a search helps:
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I love when authors are able to catch the essense of a character with only a line or two, when it shows how utterly and completely they understand the person they are writing. In the story "State of Flux" by Atiki there is this gem:
"John seems to struggle with himself for a bit. Sherlock wonders if John Watson has ever been in a state of not-struggling with himself."
Last edited by Vhanja (June 13, 2015 3:45 pm)
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I'm beginning to see that my literary tastes seem to be quite different from those of many other people here. Here's some of my favourite quotes so far:
From Jolie_Black's "Under the Radar" )
JOHN (returning the phone): Ah. And I thought I’d just witnessed another brilliant deduction.
SHERLOCK (in a surprisingly irritable tone): Excuse me? You have. (He holds up the phone.) Or what else would you call this? Just because it wasn’t me doesn’t mean it can’t be brilliant, you know.
AJHal "Rigging screws, size 1 3/8 inch, galvanised" ( )
"... Noah & Sons, the only boatyard in history who ever finished a job against the clock."
Sherlock's sexuality in a nutshell, from The Seduction of John S. Willoughby by tepidspongebath ( ):
"I told you, I don't like thinking about it. One way or the other." Sherlock waved a hand vaguely at the ceiling. "Though if you must know, so far I have preferred men. But it's possible that that's because I haven't met the woman yet. I don't have the data."
And I think that I'll adopt the Met's inofficial motto from Jolie_Black's "Aiding and Abetting" ( ) for my own:
‘We try. We fail. We carry on.’
(Btw, one of the few stories I got interested in when reading the quotes is Albion and the Woodsman - is that still anywhere on the internet?)
Last edited by Kittyhawk (June 13, 2015 3:35 pm)
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How to create a spoiler tag: