Fiction: Capture and Keep
Title: Capture and Keep
Rating: PG
Pairings: John/Sherlock
Warnings: Mild spoiler for Season 2, The Reichenbach Fall.
Word Count: 221
Summary: A story written in the 221b format: 221 words, the last word beginning with the letter "b". Sherlock's hands, John's hands, and a little Reichenbach angst thrown in.
Capture and Keep
Although Sherlock could wrap his hand around John's, covering it completely, he's never done so. He's thought about it though, how his hand, his right hand, his dominant one, could do that. He's thought about how it would feel to envelope John's hand, to take it for his own, for a moment, maybe longer. Another's hand, Sherlock knew, was something he couldn't control, couldn't own. But, perhaps, he could make John's still for a while, make it feel safe in the firmness of his grasp. Would John let his hand be caged? Sherlock didn't know.
John's hands are much smaller than Sherlock's; short but delicate fingers and broad sturdy palms. Sherlock's felt them pressed lightly, politely against the back of his shirt, felt them skip across his skin while attending his wounds; so nimble, clever, and kind. John's hands are warmer than most. True, the hands Sherlock usually touches belong to corpses, but he does press the flesh when necessary. Still, only John's trusted, familiar hands are intrinsic to Sherlock.
Sherlock's playing dead-has to if John's to live. John wraps his hand, his left hand, his dominant one, around Sherlock's wrist, taking his pulse. Helplessness and desperation are seeping through John's callouses, but Sherlock cannot move, cannot take John's hand. Then suddenly it's gone, escaped, flown off like a bird.