sherlockbbc_fic | Prompting Part XXXVII

This is the new prompting post for the Sherlock Prompting Meme. Prompts from LJ can still be filled there with links here or filled here in the new overflow post.

GUIDELINES

Anon posting is not required, but most definitely allowed. If you think you recognise an anon, keep it to yourself and don’t out them. IP tracking is off, and will remain that way.

Multiple fills are encouraged, and all kinds of fills are accepted! Fic, art, vids, cosplay, interpretive dance — whatever. Go wild! :D

Please do not re-post prompts unless the last time they were prompted was on an older part. Simply put: ONE posting of each prompt per part.

RPF (real person fic, i.e. fic involving the actors themselves) is not supported at this meme.

Concrit is welcome but kinkshaming, hijacking, and flaming are not tolerated.

THE FILLED PROMPTS POST
When you fill a prompt, please use the appropriate Filled Prompts Post to archive your fill (there are instructions on the actual post).

If the part you wanted isn't up yet, just wait and one of the archivists will get to it, but please, once it is up, make sure you post your fills there according to the guidelines. DO NOT skip out on doing this because it seems like too much effort. If you want your fill to make it to the Delicious archive, that’s the way to do it.

Do not be afraid to ask questions about how it works if you are confused! The mods will be happy to explain.

WARNINGS/OFFENSIVE WORDING IN PROMPTS
Please consider warning for prompts that may trigger people (and also for fills, because some people read in flat view) and phrasing prompts in a manner that strives to be respectful.

Things which you might want to consider warning for include: Rape/Non-Con, Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Self-Harm, Underage Relationships, among others.

That being said, this is a kink meme. As such, there will be prompts that could offend you in a number of different ways. Not every prompt will have a trigger warning, and not every prompt will rub you the right way. If you have an issue with a specific prompt, feel free to bring it up in a discussion that takes place off the meme. However, flaming will not be tolerated regardless of origin.

You are highly encouraged to scroll past any prompt that you dislike.

Remember: be civil, be friendly, but don’t be shy!

THINGS THAT MAKE BROWSING THE MEME EASIER FOR EVERYONE
Please nest your fills. Doing so will make it easier for archivists to save your fills to the Delicious archive. Using subject lines will also help people reading the meme in flatview keep track of what’s happening. Finally, titling your fills (even if it’s something silly) will be helpful to those tracking a lot of prompts or scrolling through the meme.

PROMPT FREEZES
Depending on the rate of activity, there may or may not be a prompt freeze when a part reaches 2000 and 4500 comments. However, there will be one when it reaches 7000. After the 7000 comments freeze, a new part will be posted, and all prompting should happen on the new part.

CONTACTING MODS
Your mods for this meme are

ellie_hell,

charname,

anonspock and

anonbach. If you have any questions, concerns, comments about anything at all on the meme feel free to contact us via the Page-A-Mod post.

MEME LINKS
Pinboard Archive - Delicious Archive - Guide to the Archive
Filled Prompts Posts: Parts 1-23 - Parts 24-36 - Parts 37+ - Spoiler Free
The Glorious FAQ - Page-A-Mod

Flat View of This Page - Newest Page in Flatview - Newest Page of the Meme

Links to previous prompting parts - Overflow Post

OTHER LINKS AND AFFILIATES

sherlock_rants: A place to rant about or discuss anything with few to no restrictions.

sherlock_rpf: This is a kinkmeme for RPF about the show.

sherlockcrit: A multi-fandom betaing/concrit community, with a focus on BBC Sherlock.

sherlockbbc: A community dedicated to the BBC adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.
Useful resources for Sherlock and LiveJournal.
Sherlock screencaps.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Due to some traumatic event Sherlock becomes childlike, imagines himself to be a 5-year-old or something. His family and friends fuss around him, but it’s not much they can do. Mycroft doesn’t want his brother to end up in a mental ward and asks John to be Sherlock’s “babysitter”. A childlike Sherlock is very much like his usual self: he enjoys playing with a microscope and setting experiments, he has no social skills whatsoever, and he wishes John would stay with him forever.

“Shh, it’s all right, it’s just a scratch. Nothing serious, nothing to cry about.”

It’s not a reproach of course, just an awkward attempt at comforting. John’s voice is soft and soothing, merely a whisper into Sherlock’s hair. Sherlock wraps his hands tighter around John’s waist and tucks his tear-smeared face into the familiar warmth. He’s curled beside John on the sofa, his long legs drawn up tightly to his stomach as if it would make him appear smaller. He would have gladly shrunk, so that he could sit in John’s lap, wrapped up in his sympathy, breathing in the wooly scent of his jumper. But fairytale-ish transformations are something he’s never believed in, not even when he’d really been a child.

Something had happened. Something bad enough to make him regress to a childlike state, for a considerable period of time, in a sort of protective reaction, just like a computer returning to its basic settings. The vice versa change, so much hoped for by everyone—an effect of nourishment perhaps or just another cruel trick of his mind—had been as sudden and unexplainable. Having evaluated his current situation, very quickly considering his obvious confusion, Sherlock had decided that he didn’t want anyone to know about it. Especially John. Not just yet. It’s good that John is so unobservant.

For some reason, he had become Sherlock’s guardian and babysitter. Was it Mycroft’s doing or John’s own initiative?

There are still gaps in Sherlock’s memories. Why does John prefer coddling with him instead of being with his own child? Has something happened to them, to Mary and the baby? Sherlock isn’t sure he wants to be filled in on the matter. If something has happened, it must be his fault. He’d failed to defend John and his family, despite his melodramatic vow. No, it’s better not to think about it. The present is so much better than the past.

It’s been a few days of pretending, and Sherlock has been cherishing every minute. Why would he want to be a grown-up again? Why would anyone want him to be a grown-up?

He has a microscope and a “young scientist’s” chemistry kit and other toys to play with. He doesn’t need to be ashamed of the fact that he likes to fall asleep hugging an old veteran teddy bear. He doesn’t have to tough it out silently when it hurts or hold back when he’s happy. He still can make deductions, and everyone is much more tolerant when it’s a child who speaks the blunt truth, not a grown-up man who’s supposed to be social and keep some things to himself.

John scolds him sometimes, but it’s only when Sherlock deserves it: when he’s being rude and sulky or has scorched the kitchen table during some unseemly experiment. So it’s all right. Besides, John is generous with praises too, like he’s always been. For some reason, he’d been especially touched when he’d listened to Sherlock sharing what he’d learned about the solar system. Also, John always switches on the bedside lamp when Sherlock has nightmares and sits by his side until Sherlock dozes off again.

John had even promised to buy him a dog if he behaved. Sherlock hasn’t had a dog since…since a very long time. It could be fun. He wants an Irish Setter or a Border Collie.

Will anybody care what he wants if he declares that he’s cured now—not a child anymore but his real self? That’s rather unlikely.

There will be no more strolling through Regents Park with John, to the zoo and back, hand in hand. No more kisses good night and cuddles on the sofa because grown-ups don’t do such things unless they are lovers. No more reading “Winnie-the-Pooh” together and playing pirates…because even lovers don’t do that.

In short, no more John. For why would he stay?

Sherlock sobs into John’s shoulder, unable to control himself.

“It’s just a scratch,” John repeats helplessly.

If only Sherlock could explain that these pathetic, uncontrollable tears are shed not for the stupid scratch he’d obtained during another unsanctioned experiment, but for all the other times when it hurt and John wasn’t around—and for the future times when John will be away again.

Please, please, let him stay some more. If only for a short while.

If Mycroft were around, he would have noticed Sherlock’s deception right away, but Mycroft only comes now and then to play a game of Operation with his mentally sick brother and talk to John in a hushed voice—and thus considers his brotherly duty fulfilled. Until Mycroft appears on the scene again, Sherlock can still have John all to himself. He knows it’s cheating—and John will discover the truth some day, one way or another. But he’ll leave anyway, won’t he, now that Sherlock is able to cope on his own.

It’s such a devastating prospect, coping on his own.

If Sherlock could miraculously turn things back, he would have selfishly preferred to return to what he’d had just a few days ago. An eternal childhood with John by his side.

Sherlock has never thought that he’d want something like this, and so desperately, like his life will be dull and meaningless otherwise. When John leaves, he’ll have to fill his head with puzzles, lots and lots of them, in order to forget what he’d suddenly found and then lost: the feeling of being loved—not because he deserved it, not because he was bright and elegant and enigmatic, and also good at solving crimes, but for no reason at all. He’d felt enveloped in affection and cared for, but it had to come to an end sooner or later. Only children can have that. John must have found temporary oblivion in looking after him so devotedly, but it’s time for him to start his own life anew.

“John,” Sherlock mutters into the soft wool of John’s worn-out jumper.

“Hm?”

“It’s me. The real me.” And he adds hastily before the courage leaves him, “Since Friday. I’m sorry. I just… I just wanted you to stay.”

He pauses in horror, waiting for John to push him away, repulsed at the thought that he’s been listening to the wailing of a grown-up man, not a boy. Rationally, Sherlock knows that he should back off, give John some space, but his fingers dig into John’s jumper despite his will. He can’t let go. Just a few seconds more. Just a few seconds until he sees John’s face, angry, indignant.

It feels like an unexpected, undeserved bliss when he realizes that John’s hand continues stroking his tousled hair. “Shh, it’s all right,” John says. His voice is a bit shaky, like he’s fighting tears too. “It’s all right now. I’m here.”

Awwww... Poor Sherlock. But John is so good to him!
Great work!

so cute...

the first part is a little bit chilling, with the feeling of isolation it brings; great work, anon

Prompting Part XXXVII

Childlike Sherlock

Fill: Little Liar (1/2)

Fill: Little Liar (2/2)

Re: Fill: Little Liar (2/2)

Re: Fill: Little Liar (2/2)

Re: Fill: Little Liar (2/2)