![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saki101Title: You Follow Me Down Other Roads
Author: Saki101
Genre: open to interpretation
Rating: PG
Length: ~500 words
Warning: Spoilers for second season.
Disclaimer: I don't own BBC's Sherlock and no money is being made.
Author's note: Episode-related, The Hounds of Baskerville.
(Link also posted on sherlockbbc and AO3.) You Follow Me Down Other Roads follows Zygomata.
Excerpt: “You can’t keep up with my mind,” Sherlock said. He glanced over his steepled fingers towards the armchair next to which John stood. “You are getting faster though.”
You Follow Me Down Other Roads
“You can’t keep up with my mind,” Sherlock said. He glanced over his steepled fingers towards the armchair next to which John stood. “You are getting faster though.”
John tilted his head, raised an eyebrow at that. The kettle switched off. He turned his back on Sherlock and walked into the kitchen. Knowing Sherlock had chosen to experiment upon him had left a deeper mark than the terror itself. Knowing John fought other terrors almost every night hadn’t stopped Sherlock. In the dark place where those realisations crouched, Sally’s scathing words echoed, He doesn’t have friends...stay away from Sherlock Holmes.
John took two mugs from the cupboard, checked inside them before setting them on the counter.
In the village churchyard, Sherlock had called after him. John listened even when Sherlock mumbled, drawn to his voice, rich in undertones, revelations. John always listened, even when he was trying not to.
I don’t have friends. I've just got one, Sherlock had admitted and the tone of his voice had hooked into John more than the words. It had made him hesitate.
John got out the milk, his eyes flicking towards the sitting room. Sherlock had fallen silent, gaze directed across the room, fingers pressed lightly against his lips.
John aimed the arcs of scalding water into the cups. He settled the kettle back on its base.
Sherlock spoke softly into his hands, “And you follow me down other roads...”
John put a steaming mug on the coffee table in front of Sherlock.
Sherlock’s voice dropped lower. “...that I don’t know so well.” Sherlock’s brows drew together. On the street outside, a motorcyclist gunned his engine, resentful of a stop light's authority.
Without flinching, John straightened up, moved back to the armchair and sat. He held his cup over his lap with both hands, let the steam warm his face, relax some of the tightness in the muscles there. The vapour swirled steadily upwards.
“And if I get lost,” Sherlock continued briskly, voice more conversational, eyebrows lifting, long arm reaching out for the tea.
John’s eyes stayed trained on Sherlock’s face.
Sherlock’s head turned. He looked at John over his raised cup, the corners of his lips quirking upwards. “You lead me back,” he concluded and took a sip of tea. It was precisely as he liked it. His smile broadened.
John held Sherlock’s eyes, remembering the dim laboratory, the stalking shadow, speaking to his tormentor from inside a metal cage. Even over a phone, the sound of Sherlock’s voice had reassured him, holding the terror at bay as Sherlock had known it would. Sherlock probably saw him remembering it now. Could it be you’ve chosen to trust Sherlock Holmes, of all people? John heard Mycroft's softly-spoken, ironic question again. The answer was short, but not easy to explain, even less so now. However, there was no one to whom John needed to explain, and it was hard not to be pleased that Sherlock had worked it out, about the leading and the following. John smiled back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next ficlet in the series may be found here.
Author: Saki101
Genre: open to interpretation
Rating: PG
Length: ~500 words
Warning: Spoilers for second season.
Disclaimer: I don't own BBC's Sherlock and no money is being made.
Author's note: Episode-related, The Hounds of Baskerville.
(Link also posted on sherlockbbc and AO3.) You Follow Me Down Other Roads follows Zygomata.
Excerpt: “You can’t keep up with my mind,” Sherlock said. He glanced over his steepled fingers towards the armchair next to which John stood. “You are getting faster though.”
“You can’t keep up with my mind,” Sherlock said. He glanced over his steepled fingers towards the armchair next to which John stood. “You are getting faster though.”
John tilted his head, raised an eyebrow at that. The kettle switched off. He turned his back on Sherlock and walked into the kitchen. Knowing Sherlock had chosen to experiment upon him had left a deeper mark than the terror itself. Knowing John fought other terrors almost every night hadn’t stopped Sherlock. In the dark place where those realisations crouched, Sally’s scathing words echoed, He doesn’t have friends...stay away from Sherlock Holmes.
John took two mugs from the cupboard, checked inside them before setting them on the counter.
In the village churchyard, Sherlock had called after him. John listened even when Sherlock mumbled, drawn to his voice, rich in undertones, revelations. John always listened, even when he was trying not to.
I don’t have friends. I've just got one, Sherlock had admitted and the tone of his voice had hooked into John more than the words. It had made him hesitate.
John got out the milk, his eyes flicking towards the sitting room. Sherlock had fallen silent, gaze directed across the room, fingers pressed lightly against his lips.
John aimed the arcs of scalding water into the cups. He settled the kettle back on its base.
Sherlock spoke softly into his hands, “And you follow me down other roads...”
John put a steaming mug on the coffee table in front of Sherlock.
Sherlock’s voice dropped lower. “...that I don’t know so well.” Sherlock’s brows drew together. On the street outside, a motorcyclist gunned his engine, resentful of a stop light's authority.
Without flinching, John straightened up, moved back to the armchair and sat. He held his cup over his lap with both hands, let the steam warm his face, relax some of the tightness in the muscles there. The vapour swirled steadily upwards.
“And if I get lost,” Sherlock continued briskly, voice more conversational, eyebrows lifting, long arm reaching out for the tea.
John’s eyes stayed trained on Sherlock’s face.
Sherlock’s head turned. He looked at John over his raised cup, the corners of his lips quirking upwards. “You lead me back,” he concluded and took a sip of tea. It was precisely as he liked it. His smile broadened.
John held Sherlock’s eyes, remembering the dim laboratory, the stalking shadow, speaking to his tormentor from inside a metal cage. Even over a phone, the sound of Sherlock’s voice had reassured him, holding the terror at bay as Sherlock had known it would. Sherlock probably saw him remembering it now. Could it be you’ve chosen to trust Sherlock Holmes, of all people? John heard Mycroft's softly-spoken, ironic question again. The answer was short, but not easy to explain, even less so now. However, there was no one to whom John needed to explain, and it was hard not to be pleased that Sherlock had worked it out, about the leading and the following. John smiled back.
The next ficlet in the series may be found here.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-01-18 04:28 pm (UTC)This is good--I like the thought and the conflict over the issue. I'm glad that at the end John has chosen to trust him, although the reasons are complicated...
What does Sherlock mean about leading him back? In general, or in the context of this episode?
no subject
Date: 2012-01-18 09:35 pm (UTC)I was picturing it as both. Generally, John helps Sherlock with the nuances of emotions and by doing that consistently (usually), has allowed Sherlock to become more comfortable with exploring those paths than he had been in the past. And Sherlock is acknowledging that if he gets lost when he's down one of those roads, he knows John will help him find his way back. Generally, that's what we've been seeing John do, but in this episode John only did it when Sherlock was being insensitive to others. He failed Sherlock twice when Sherlock was experiencing strong emotions, in the tavern and in the cemetery. In the graveyard, John was walking off again after Sherlock admitted how troubled he was by experiencing doubt of his own senses. As it happens Sherlock has an idea right after that which cheers him up and he is the one that saves that situation emotionally between them, I feel.
John didn't seem at his most equitable in this episode and is still angry until near the very end when Sherlock tells him it won't happen again. That seemed to me to show that Sherlock had heeded John's emotional lessons and was motivated by his concern for John to put them into practice. So then there was the question as to why John wasn't his usual self which led to the other fic! It was tough that they were both having emotional challenges at the same time.
Were you thinking that John might be leading Sherlock back to a detached attitude when he becomes emotional because John isn't ready/able to cope with an emotional Sherlock? Is having trouble with his own emotions in various ways and prefers a detached Sherlock?