#221bday

[sherlockismydivision]

what is 221bday??

please explain me why i didn’t know about this

[fleetwoodmouse]

Happy 221Bday!

Happy birthday, bottomlock5eva​! Your prompt, “steamy”, got away from me so I added a second ficlet to make up for the birthday-inappropriate content. Hope you’re having a great day! (read on AO3 for author notes)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two short words. Seven little letters.

NOT DEAD

It would have been so simple.

He’d thought about it, he had—he’d lingered in the humidity, scowling at his reflection, contemplating John’s routine, the rate of condensation, knowing it was safe. He’d imagined John’s open face, how his eyes shift, how his voice creaks over lies. He’d imagined John’s skull cracked, eyes dark and opaque as blood and brain on the pavement, and he’d bit his tongue and wiped the steam away.

Now, he thinks of nothing but time lost, trust broken. The flat emptiness in John’s voice when they talk of Mary, the disk and the baby, the future.

He wrenches the faucet right and thinks of nothing and lets it burn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John wakes with a pit in his stomach and a panic that means Sherlock. He can hear the water running. His feet are on the stairs before he’s thinking.

When he opens the door, he’s blinded by a wall of steam so thick and hot he can’t breathe. The shower curtain is torn and Sherlock is curled in a ball beneath the spray.

“Hey,” says John, and he’s taking off his jumper, stepping into the bath to grab Sherlock under the arms. “Hey, what…”

Sherlock turns and presses his face into John’s thighs. His bandages are soaked and dangling, his chest seeping pink. His fingers are digging in to the curve of John’s arse and he is trembling, rubbing his face against the placket of John’s trousers.

“Please.” He’s tugging at John’s hips, exposing skin and mouthing blindly. “Please, John, I’m sorry.”

John pulls Sherlock up to his height, steadies him against the wall. “Sherlock, you’re bleed—”

“Please,” he says.

So John takes him to bed. It’s a terrible idea, terrible timing, but oh, it’s sublime to spread Sherlock out, finally, to peel off his clothes and all those layers of hurt, to taste his skin and his sweat and the words that fall unbidden from his lips. To breathe from his lungs, to curl sated around him, souls laid bare.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[free-martinis]

Martin Freeman Twitter Movie Marathon Hi FreeMartinis! Martin’s Birthday is gettin’ closer (8th September). So it’s time to get ready for the Martin Freeman Twitter Movie Marathon. - See more at: http://martinfreeman.info/2013/08/29/martin-freeman-twitter-movie-marathon/#sthash.aSyYocvS.dpuf