At last Sherlock acknowledges him, Are you alright?
The slick voice is suddenly right behind John's head, a ghoul's whisper in the shadows of the collapsed mine, "You can talk, Johnny boy. Go on."
John gives only a nod. The man - Moriarty, he must give him his name, he is not a ghoul - is standing in front of John and speaking again. But his hands move too quickly, sliding as easily as silk over flesh, and John cannot keep up. Surely Moriarty did not learn this language solely for Sherlock's sake? Up until now, John had been childishly proud of his progress with signing. Sherlock can speak when he wants to, but these days he refuses to vocalise his deductions whenever John is there to interpret. It makes John feel special, the familiar swell of brotherly camaraderie, the knowledge that his presence is necessary for Sherlock's work. He likes being a tool for Sherlock to tinker with the world. And now he has suddenly become not only obsolete but visually deaf to the conversation.
He wants to cry. He wants to take Sherlock's wrists, quieten Sherlock's continued, one-handed responses. He wants to yell, "Stop it! Stop taunting him!" Because they must be taunts, mustn't they? What else could Moriarty possibly have to say? Yet behind the anger in his taut brow, Sherlock's attention is rapt and John can see he is curious, no, interested. He wants to see what Moriarty has to say.
At last Sherlock asks, What if I were to shoot you, right now?
Moriarty responds, in those flighty, smooth signs, and then - John’s gag reflex almost betrays him - the corner of Sherlock’s mouth twitches into a smile and gives the tiniest nod. As if in agreement to a silent proposition.
Moriarty turns and walks away. The gun in Sherlock's hand follows a fatal place in Moriarty's head, and then Sherlock flicks on the safety, shoves the gun into his waistband and rushes to touch John's shoulder, his face, spare his hands long enough for are you alright? before wrenching at the zip of the mountainous vest. John feels as if light has suddenly blossomed into his sealed cavern and crouches at once against the wall of the changing room.
Get out! Call the yard! Sherlock says. He is striding towards the double doors after Moriarty.
John's arms feel like concrete, but he manages to form, where are you going?
Sherlock does not answer. He looks back at John, and there is apology in that glance, and something like disappointment. Then he shoves open the doors and disappears.
Sherlock! John says uselessly, and then shouts it just as uselessly, "SHERLOCK!"
The doors swing in and out, thud, thud.
John feels the weight of the mountain return and the light shut off like awaking from a hallucination. And he somehow knows that whatever it was Moriarty said, John is never going to see Sherlock Holmes again.
Re: Syncretism (2/2)tawabidsMay 17 2011, 13:21:06 UTC
op again XD
and I said the word fill like three times in that comment, but that's okay! I'm definitely going to be reading this over and over again. :D If you ever write any more in this verse, I will be the first one there!
Re: Syncretism (2/2)tawabidsMay 27 2011, 04:05:47 UTC
Aw, the reason I normally don't read Moriarty/Sherlock is because it seems to me that John gets left in the cold. This was heartbreaking and sort of scary in that we don't even know what Jim said to convince Sherlock to follow him. Very beautiful fic, especially for its brevity.
Sherlock! John says uselessly
Utterly irrelevant, but I am burning with curiosity as to what Sherlock's name sign is. If it was ASL I would guess an S from the head for 'clever.'
Re: Syncretism (2/2)tawabidsJuly 27 2012, 05:53:14 UTC
BSL tends to use visual descriptors for the sign-names, rather than ASL's combinations. For example, my sign-name in ASL is "dizzy" in the kay handshape, for my initial. But in BSL I've been called "grey", for my eye colour.
Perhaps the sign for "scarf"? It's simple enough that it's not a problem to sign quickly, even for people who are inexperienced, and it's a sign that comes to mind quickly, thinking of his appearance. I do quite like the ASL version you've thought up, though.
Re: Syncretism (2/2)tawabidsMay 27 2011, 23:08:18 UTC
D: There's something very sad about John not being able to call after him. Kind of underlines how (in canon) John is never going to get into Sherlock's head the way Moriarty has done.
Re: Syncretism (2/2)soulfightersuJune 7 2012, 20:16:02 UTC
This actually hit me like a punch to the gut, and I feel so sad alongside John. And I'm really wondering why Sherlock seemed disappointed with John. Was he not interesting enough? I know the short length of this helps make it so emotionally powerful, but I want to know more about Sherlock's POV, or even Moriarty's.
The slick voice is suddenly right behind John's head, a ghoul's whisper in the shadows of the collapsed mine, "You can talk, Johnny boy. Go on."
John gives only a nod. The man - Moriarty, he must give him his name, he is not a ghoul - is standing in front of John and speaking again. But his hands move too quickly, sliding as easily as silk over flesh, and John cannot keep up. Surely Moriarty did not learn this language solely for Sherlock's sake? Up until now, John had been childishly proud of his progress with signing. Sherlock can speak when he wants to, but these days he refuses to vocalise his deductions whenever John is there to interpret. It makes John feel special, the familiar swell of brotherly camaraderie, the knowledge that his presence is necessary for Sherlock's work. He likes being a tool for Sherlock to tinker with the world. And now he has suddenly become not only obsolete but visually deaf to the conversation.
He wants to cry. He wants to take Sherlock's wrists, quieten Sherlock's continued, one-handed responses. He wants to yell, "Stop it! Stop taunting him!" Because they must be taunts, mustn't they? What else could Moriarty possibly have to say? Yet behind the anger in his taut brow, Sherlock's attention is rapt and John can see he is curious, no, interested. He wants to see what Moriarty has to say.
At last Sherlock asks, What if I were to shoot you, right now?
Moriarty responds, in those flighty, smooth signs, and then - John’s gag reflex almost betrays him - the corner of Sherlock’s mouth twitches into a smile and gives the tiniest nod. As if in agreement to a silent proposition.
Moriarty turns and walks away. The gun in Sherlock's hand follows a fatal place in Moriarty's head, and then Sherlock flicks on the safety, shoves the gun into his waistband and rushes to touch John's shoulder, his face, spare his hands long enough for are you alright? before wrenching at the zip of the mountainous vest. John feels as if light has suddenly blossomed into his sealed cavern and crouches at once against the wall of the changing room.
Get out! Call the yard! Sherlock says. He is striding towards the double doors after Moriarty.
John's arms feel like concrete, but he manages to form, where are you going?
Sherlock does not answer. He looks back at John, and there is apology in that glance, and something like disappointment. Then he shoves open the doors and disappears.
Sherlock! John says uselessly, and then shouts it just as uselessly, "SHERLOCK!"
The doors swing in and out, thud, thud.
John feels the weight of the mountain return and the light shut off like awaking from a hallucination. And he somehow knows that whatever it was Moriarty said, John is never going to see Sherlock Holmes again.
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This is an amazing fill! I didn't even dare hope someone would fill my prompt as Sherlock/Moriarty, but you did and it's wonderful!
John's POV is really great here, and your Moriarty is fantastic.
Thank you so much for the fill!
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and I said the word fill like three times in that comment, but that's okay!
I'm definitely going to be reading this over and over again. :D If you ever write any more in this verse, I will be the first one there!
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Sherlock! John says uselessly
Utterly irrelevant, but I am burning with curiosity as to what Sherlock's name sign is. If it was ASL I would guess an S from the head for 'clever.'
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Perhaps the sign for "scarf"? It's simple enough that it's not a problem to sign quickly, even for people who are inexperienced, and it's a sign that comes to mind quickly, thinking of his appearance. I do quite like the ASL version you've thought up, though.
//end year-late ramble of a Deaf girl
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And I'm really wondering why Sherlock seemed disappointed with John. Was he not interesting enough? I know the short length of this helps make it so emotionally powerful, but I want to know more about Sherlock's POV, or even Moriarty's.
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