Prompting Part XXIX
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IMPORTANT! Spoilers for aired episodes are now being allowed on this area of the meme, without warning. If you do not want to encounter spoilers, please prompt at our Spoiler-Free Prompt Post.
( Read more... )
Arguing over mangos, Sherlock sniffs. Dull. Boring. Chemical defect.
That's when he hears it. That's when everything changes, and the grey filter over him lifts.
“Harry,” John says. He frowns, shakes his head, says, “Harry, we can't afford two, and a basket of strawberries and a bottle of Italian wine and... and that.”
“For God's sake, John,” the woman - Harry, John's sister Harry. John's sister - scoffs. “I'm paying for it. And it's cheese!”
“That is not cheese! Cheese is that big block of orange stuff. That is bird shit.”
Sherlock's heart hammers in his chest. He looks around, tries to find a good spot. Somewhere to hide, or somewhere to be out in the open, he doesn't know. Somewhere to hide in plain sight, somewhere to be easily accessible. His fingers itch to reach out, to touch, to grab John and hold him and refuse to let him go.
There's a table outside a nearby coffee shop a few feet away. Sherlock grabs a chair and plunks down into it, fingers flying over his phone in a message to Mycroft, demanding John's mobile number. Of course, leave it to Mycroft to give him the landline - Harry's landline. It's all so obvious now, Sherlock thinks. John staying with his sister, trying to get her sober while she tries to help him out, help him get over Sherlock's death. Obvious, obvious, obvious. And here Sherlock was thinking - here he was thinking that John had actually gone out and found someone, found a girl that Sherlock couldn't chase off (delete, delete, delete.)
Mycroft's message arrives while Harry turns back to her basket of strawberries, sighing unhappily as she places it back on the table. From where he's sitting, Sherlock can just make out the edge of John as he continues to fondle mangos.
Call #148, London
One year, ten months, one day After Death
The phone rings in Sherlock's ear once, then starts on a second time just as John's mobile rings in his pocket, loud and clear. Harry ignores it and John frowns down at it, clearly not expecting a call. Day off work, Sherlock thinks - booked it off. Something to do with Harry. AA meeting? A quick glance-over confirms this.
Sherlock watches as John digs his phone out of his pocket, turns it the right way round and then looks at the number.
John blinks, mouth tightening at the corners.
Then he frowns. Swallows. Stares. Licks his lips. Blinks again.
“Pick up,” Sherlock whispers. “Pick up, pick up, pick up.”
“Aren't you going to answer it?” Harry asks. Sherlock could kiss her.
“I-” John starts, then shakes his head. “I don't... I think it's just... someone prank calling me.”
Harry doesn't appear to be listening. John ends the ringing. Sherlock huffs, presses the redial button. He watches as John jumps at his phone ringing again, all but yanks it out of his pocket and glares down at the number. Sets his jaw, squares his shoulders. Yes, Sherlock thinks, yes. Answer it.
John moves away from Harry, rounds the booth so he's out of her line of vision. It puts him directly into Sherlock's, and he fights back the giddy flutter in his chest as he watches John tap the screen of his phone, put it to his ear and bare his teeth.
“Listen here, you little - whoever the fuck you are - this isn't-”
“John,” Sherlock says. His voice comes out steady. Slow. Strong and sturdy, just like his old self. Good.
John stops abruptly. Sherlock swallows, sits up a little straighter in his chair.
“Look up.”
John visibly hesitates, seeming as though he'd rather do anything but. Looking as though he'd rather turn tail and run, screaming, in the opposite direction. Away from Sherlock's voice. Away from Harry and her cheese that apparently looks like bird shit. But John doesn't. He takes in a shaking breath, raises his head and looks up. Their eyes lock from across the street.
Sherlock smiles and ends the call.
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This is a heck of a lot happier than what I was thinking, but that's no bad thing. I like the fake-out with Harry (I was sure it'd be Mary) and the fact that John's message changes in response to Sherlock's mysterious calls. Even from such a distance, Sherlock has a little influence on John's life.
Thank you!
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