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Sympathy Spaghetti Part 3/3 sursum_ursa January 6 2012, 09:46:42 UTC
A/N: It's been a long time coming, but it's here!

Part 3

Angelo is a man of fairly simple tastes. He likes large plates of pasta, anything with a tomato-based sauce, beer, football, beautiful women...and ice skating.

Several people have commented adversely on this interest in the past.

All have lived to regret it. (As did the man who scoffed at his niece's desire to be an astrophysicist, but that's another story.)

Skating, Angelo has found, concentrates the mind wonderfully. Especially for beginners, and people with no innate sense of balance. Molly Hooper he pegs as a beginner from the look she gives him when they arrive at their destination. It's Friday evening. It's chilly inside the rink, and there's loud pop music playing and disco lights flashing in a frankly demented fashion.

But that's all right.

After all, unless you want to shout yourself hoarse, you have to speak directly into the ear of anyone you're trying to hold a conversation with.

Not a bad thing at all.

Molly laces up her rented skates (which are blue and red and altogether gaudy, but she doesn't seem to mind) and pauses at the entrance, unsure.

Angelo smiles, and decides courtesy is always the better part of valour. He slips easily onto the ice, does a half turn, and extends a hand.

'Trust me, Doctor Hooper?' He attempts to make it sound teasing. Not easy at seventy-five decibels, but he's trying.

Molly smiles, takes his hand, steps onto the ice...

And slips. It's almost comical: one foot out in front, the other sliding behind, the 'oh' of surprise and the squeak of indignation...

But before she can fall, Angelo grabs her under the arms and hauls her upright. They stand, frozen in tableau, breathing hard, before he gently sets her back onto her feet, resisting the urge to make a joke about women falling at his feet.

'Don't worry,' he says encouragingly. 'I'm right here. And falling's not so bad anyway.'

They stay for an hour, Molly taking her first hesitant steps around the rink with Angelo holding one hand and the other hand on the barrier. She slips eighteen times: Angelo catches her eight times, she prevents herself from falling five times, she hits the ice four times, and on one occasion she and Angelo both end up in a tangle of limbs on a wet and chilly surface.

They laugh and she squeaks with cold and indignation, Angelo hauls himself up and offers her a hand, and they carry on.

By the end of the hour Molly is pretty convinced she could make it without holding hands.

But why on earth would she want to do that?

They go to a cafe afterwards and drink huge steaming mugs of hot chocolate, laced with real whipped cream, pink and white marshmallows and chocolate powder. Angelo gets cream on his nose; Molly gets cream on her eyebrow.

They spend the walk to the Tube station discussing how this feat is physically possible and giggling like teenagers.

Sherlock still comes to Angelo's, and Angelo still gives him (or at least his flatmate) a free dinner...at least until one April afternoon when Molly, drenched from the rain, comes in sniffling and complaining vociferously about his treatment of her.

The next morning, Sherlock gets a house call from an irritated Angelo.

Who explains in no uncertain terms about the favours and free food he can not expect to receive if his girlfriend is upset.

After an hour-long argument with John (principal words: "Sherlock, you were an arse. Suck it up, apologise, and let me have my arrabiata!") and a three-hour consideration of the relative cost-benefit ratio of various courses of action, Sherlock apologises to Molly.

Because of the cost-benefit analysis, obviously. Not because it would make John happy.

And when, a year down the line, staff at the Bart's Christmas party ask how Molly met Angelo...she smiles and says,

'He just...swept me off my feet.'

*fin*

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Re: Sympathy Spaghetti Part 3/3 thesmallhobbit January 6 2012, 17:32:30 UTC
This is lovely. And Molly has found someone who can stick up for her in a way that actually has an effect on Sherlock!

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Re: Sympathy Spaghetti Part 3/3 sursum_ursa January 6 2012, 21:20:46 UTC
Thanks!

Though Angelo theatening lack of food/favours = fairly minor inconvenience (though being punched in the face would be tiresome), JOHN being upset by lack of free food = asdfghjklApologise!

Mwahahahaaa.

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Re: Sympathy Spaghetti Part 3/3 sursum_ursa January 8 2012, 13:22:31 UTC
Dawww, simply so cute <3 I hope that they make this cannon in some way (it's going in my head cannon now at least ;))

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Re: Sympathy Spaghetti Part 3/3 sursum_ursa January 8 2012, 17:53:03 UTC
:D

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