Fic: 221B - Brothers in arms
Title: Brothers in arms
Words: a 221B has 221 words and ends with a b-word
Rating: PG-13
Pairings : Sherlock/John
Warnings: eating disorders
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: ‘365 days of 221Bs’ challenge: a prompt a day, given by atlinmerrick.
Previous 221b: Close encounters of the third kind
Today's prompt: weight
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Brothers in arms
No one else would ever understand. Not even John. But that’s fine, because no one else needs to understand. Not even John. Not this.
***
When Mycroft was a teenager, he was overweight. Since he was already mocked for being precocious and too intelligent, it was an easy step for his peers to pick on him for his looks as well.
Sherlock responded to these experiences, albeit second-hand, by refusing to eat. It did not help because it just made him look like a stork.
On his sixteenth birthday Luisa, the girl Mycroft had fancied for months, told him very publicly that he was not only boring and a swot but also fat. It was the only time Sherlock ever witnessed his brother cry. That night the two boys sat in the attic (their usual hiding place from the world) and made a pact.
Since they’d always and inevitably stand out because of their intellect, they would at least adapt by looking ‘normal’. One brother started to eat, the other controlled what he ate. It is a war they will be fighting for the rest of their lives.
***
So when Sherlock says, “Putting on weight again?” and Mycroft responds, “Losing it, actually”, it’s not two siblings bickering, it’s the very Holmesian way of caring. It means ‘Remember and be careful, brother.’
Next 221b: Easy Rider
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AN:
Today's prompt was 'weight'.
.