frith_in_thorns: (Writing - Universe)
Frith ([personal profile] frith_in_thorns) wrote2011-08-29 11:19 am

[fic: sherlock] In Dusk and Dark

Title: In Dusk and Dark
Pairing: Sherlock/John
Rating: PG13
Word count: 600
Warnings: None

Summary: Written for this prompt on the meme: Sherlock is a faerie that lures John under the hill.




“Come away,” Sherlock says, the dusky twilight in his eyes.

John shifts his feet, hesitant. They are alone on the ferny hillside beneath the darkening purple sky. He is wearing green in the gloaming; he should have known better.

Sherlock smiles, as if he knows all of John’s thoughts before they have time to fully form. He extends an elegant hand. John draws back, and Sherlock’s eyebrows rise. “We’re bound by words, not gestures,” he says. “You know that.”

John does, although he’d forgotten. Now he feels ashamed of his lack of trust, and reaches out.

The long white fingers he takes are cold as stones beneath a stream. Yet they feel right, as real and alive as any human hand. They send a tremor through him; a feeling that the summer stars have shifted.

“I can show you so much,” Sherlock says. “Come with me.”

“I barely know you.” The phrase sounds too mundane and clumsy.

Sherlock points to his hazel walking stick. “You won’t need that when you’re with me.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“You never asked a question.”

Dew pearls on John’s woollen sleeves. He keeps his weight on the stick, mindful of the stiffness in his leg. But as always it’s the wounds inside he notices more, the scars where the war burrowed inside him only to be ripped abruptly away, leaving a brokenness and a hollowness which sometimes feels like it will never cease to ache.

“I can heal that too,” Sherlock says.

“I didn’t ask a question then, either.”

“Mortals are simple.” Sherlock gives John no time to take offense. “You aren’t happy in your dull little world. So why stay?”

Night is falling. An owl calls somewhere, the sound soft with distance. John has stood here for hours, since he met Sherlock in the windless afternoon. He thinks of the cheerless cottage he is renting and his barren place in London, of a life filled with grey rooms and cooling mugs of tea, of dull people with dull stories who rush past him while he is left behind.

“If I come with you,” he says slowly, “What will there be?”

“Danger,” Sherlock says, and his lips are cool against John’s.

The kiss is gentle and possessive, beautiful and frightening. It brings the touch and smell of leaves turning to the sun, of the arrow-flight of a falcon, of the secrets known by roots deep beneath the earth. The woods and the waters and the wild.

Sherlock steps away at last and the feel of the Fae world recedes, leaving John bereft. His heart is pounding and his senses have awoken, returning him to the heightened state he’s missed so sorely these past months.

“We have to leave before the moon rises.” His voice is moth-wing soft.

There is a silvery hue to the sky in the East.

John frowns. “I haven’t said I’ll come.”

Sherlock pulls the stout stick from John’s unresisting fingers and lets it fall to the ground. John hardly notices its loss. “You will, though.”

There is still not the least stir of a breeze. John finds himself holding his breath, and lets it go. “Yes.”

Sherlock’s smile is delighted, satisfied. His eyes are dark now, and there is a suggestion of stars within them. Or gems, hidden in deep caverns. “Come with me now, then,” he says.

John comes, still holding Sherlock’s bone-cold hand. There is a narrow path through the bracken, winding across the hillside, and then there is a threshold.

The moon is about to rise, and the land is dark and still. In the woods below a vixen screams, and the owl calls again. John turns to bid farewell to the mortal world, but it’s already unimportant and half-forgotten.

He walks with Sherlock into the dark of the hill.

[identity profile] calicortina.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 11:08 am (UTC)(link)
So. Perfect.
OMG. What a lovely fic to go to bed to. <3
You had me at "faerie" (i.e. proper spelling).

And then upspake the Faerie Queen:
"Tam Lin, if I had known,
I would have ta'en out both your e'en
And gie you e'en of stone..."

[identity profile] calicortina.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
And I. Most of the original fic I've ever written has been based on British/ Irish/ Scots folklore and faerielore. Thank you for this fic, it was gorgeous. :-)

[identity profile] talimenios79.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
This was lovely. I absolutely loved it.

[identity profile] melodywilde.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
What a brilliant and beautifully-written AU take on the Sherlock/John meeting! ::much applause::

[identity profile] sabrinaphynn.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Very nicely done. I had a teacher who used to tell us stories like this - she became a professional storyteller. Nice to visit to visit the land under the hill yet again.
:)

[identity profile] doves-wing.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Come away, O human child, through the waters and the wild...

Yay, faerie fic! Well-done, too.

[identity profile] sostrangechild.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 01:29 pm (UTC)(link)
That was creepy cool. Reminds me of the stories of the faery folk I used to read when I was little - chilling and ethereal and exciting but scary. Absolute gem of a story!
innie_darling: (smiling at a killer)

[personal profile] innie_darling 2011-08-29 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, that's beautiful.
ext_24392: (Dark Fae Girl)

[identity profile] random-nexus.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Ohhhh...... Beautiful. And, yes, magical. This is so very well done I can't even say. Already in memories!

*curtseys to the awesome*

[identity profile] livia-carica.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, that really is just beautiful.

"The long white fingers he takes are cold as stones beneath a stream." I can almost feel them.

Gorgeous.

[identity profile] imhit.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, this is beautiful; you've a lovely way with words. Gorgeous!

[identity profile] kristinaa1.livejournal.com 2011-08-29 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Beautifully described atmosphere. Just love your description of S too
disassembly_rsn: Run over by a UFO (Sherlock & John stargazing - moon detail)

Re: In Dusk and Dark

[personal profile] disassembly_rsn 2011-08-30 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
John *would* be tempted by an offer like that after the war - whatever war in whatever time period this would be. It certainly won't be boring.

Beautifully done. I'd like to know what might happen next, but the story doesn't *need* a sequel to be complete.

[identity profile] zephyr-macabee.livejournal.com 2011-08-30 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
What a lovely atmosphere your writing evokes.

[identity profile] taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com 2011-08-30 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
That was fantastic. Gorgeous writing.

[identity profile] f-m-r-l.livejournal.com 2011-08-31 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Beautiful. I loved the atmosphere and the telling details that flesh out a world. Stories of lovely and dangerous temptations make me smile, and you have shaped yours delightfully.

[identity profile] michelel72.livejournal.com 2011-09-01 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, wow, such luscious imagery.