(See some kind of hybrids between bees and humans here (with big, stripped abdomens behind them, and such, but with faces and limbs at least close to human :P ) and their models of society. It can be similar to an A/B/O. Queens = Omegas (can be he or she), working bees = Betas (can be he or she and form a general population), drones = Alphas (can be he or she as well)).
The Queen dies/gets assassinated, so the colony needs a new one. They find all the virgin queens freely living in the colony (it's an AU ;)) to examine them. Sherlock is one of them. He's an adult, neither particularly young, nor old. To his horror, they choose him. The examination shows that he's the most fertile among the other virgin queens, also he's of noble upbringing (and blame Mycroft, who nearly runs the colony and his relatives are held in high regard). Maybe he also attracted too much attention to himself by solving the old Queen's murder (if she/he was murdered).
Sherlock is furious and doesn't want to become a breeding machine! He'd do much better as a solitary 'bee'. They take him away from home and bring him to the Queen's palace where he will live, mate and breed, surrounded by plenty of servants.
When it comes to mating, he won't let anybody near him. He stings his suitors, insults them, throws tantrums and tries to escape repeatedly. Somebody even suggests tying him up and letting him be taken against his will. But it's not how they do things and Mycroft would never allow that.
John comes back from war with another colony (of 'bees' like himself or with 'wasps') and learns that they have a new Queen. There are all sorts of rumours about the new Queen refusing to mate and generally being a pain in the arse. There are other queens in different parts of the colony who actually breed (call them duchesses or anything like that, if you must (Sherlock's and Mycroft's Mummy is/was one of them) :) ) to avoid inbreeding to at least some extent and to support the Queen's hard work. But it's not enough and they need the main, official Queen to do her/his job to keep their society properly populated. For weeks or even months since Sherlock's inauguration they've had no new Queen's brood. If they become weak and don't have enough people, other colonies can see them as weak and start wars.
Maybe Sherlock finally escapes and is in hiding and John accidentally finds him and somehow they make friends (I don't care if John recognises him as the Queen or thinks that Sherlock is just one of those rare free virgin queens, not fertile enough to become important), but later they are found.
Or maybe they meet when John is invited to get some kind of a reward for his military service.
I don't really care how, but they meet and take interest in each other. John is friendly and caring, impressed by Sherlock's personality and doesn't demand anything in return. He supports Sherlock's interests. He often brings him a cup of royal jelly or some kind of tea. What's not to love?
The colony is holding its breath and fingers crossed, in hope that, finally, their Queen is interested in a drone. But they've been just friends so far (even though they fall in love with each other).
John feels bad for Sherlock. They talk about it. John has fought for their colony and wants it to remain big and strong, but if Sherlock wants nothing to do with duties suddenly forced on him, John would help him to escape. He promises. Sherlock is really impressed. So impressed that they finally mate.
Sherlock's body stores and uses John's sperm to produce a huge amount of new 'bees'. The colony sighs in relief. It's not really enough, because more drones should be involved, but Sherlock agrees to a compromise: he won't mate with any other drone except for John, but agrees to an artificial insemination. John supports him in any way he can for Sherlock to keep having his hobbies despite being a breeding machine.
A few years later Sherlock (with John as his eyes and ears and/or his 'network'), while he's still relatively young, finds another suitable, perfectly fertile virgin queen, now old enough and happy to take Sherlock's position. Sherlock does whatever he can to convince others to let him retire. He and John leave to have their adventures together.
John/Sherlock. Queen Bee!Sherlock, Drone!John. Sort of forced breeding. AU
It can be similar to an A/B/O. Queens = Omegas (can be he or she), working bees = Betas (can be he or she and form a general population), drones = Alphas (can be he or she as well)).
The Queen dies/gets assassinated, so the colony needs a new one. They find all the virgin queens freely living in the colony (it's an AU ;)) to examine them. Sherlock is one of them. He's an adult, neither particularly young, nor old. To his horror, they choose him. The examination shows that he's the most fertile among the other virgin queens, also he's of noble upbringing (and blame Mycroft, who nearly runs the colony and his relatives are held in high regard). Maybe he also attracted too much attention to himself by solving the old Queen's murder (if she/he was murdered).
Sherlock is furious and doesn't want to become a breeding machine! He'd do much better as a solitary 'bee'. They take him away from home and bring him to the Queen's palace where he will live, mate and breed, surrounded by plenty of servants.
When it comes to mating, he won't let anybody near him. He stings his suitors, insults them, throws tantrums and tries to escape repeatedly. Somebody even suggests tying him up and letting him be taken against his will. But it's not how they do things and Mycroft would never allow that.
John comes back from war with another colony (of 'bees' like himself or with 'wasps') and learns that they have a new Queen. There are all sorts of rumours about the new Queen refusing to mate and generally being a pain in the arse. There are other queens in different parts of the colony who actually breed (call them duchesses or anything like that, if you must (Sherlock's and Mycroft's Mummy is/was one of them) :) ) to avoid inbreeding to at least some extent and to support the Queen's hard work. But it's not enough and they need the main, official Queen to do her/his job to keep their society properly populated. For weeks or even months since Sherlock's inauguration they've had no new Queen's brood. If they become weak and don't have enough people, other colonies can see them as weak and start wars.
Maybe Sherlock finally escapes and is in hiding and John accidentally finds him and somehow they make friends (I don't care if John recognises him as the Queen or thinks that Sherlock is just one of those rare free virgin queens, not fertile enough to become important), but later they are found.
Or maybe they meet when John is invited to get some kind of a reward for his military service.
I don't really care how, but they meet and take interest in each other. John is friendly and caring, impressed by Sherlock's personality and doesn't demand anything in return. He supports Sherlock's interests. He often brings him a cup of royal jelly or some kind of tea. What's not to love?
The colony is holding its breath and fingers crossed, in hope that, finally, their Queen is interested in a drone. But they've been just friends so far (even though they fall in love with each other).
John feels bad for Sherlock. They talk about it. John has fought for their colony and wants it to remain big and strong, but if Sherlock wants nothing to do with duties suddenly forced on him, John would help him to escape. He promises. Sherlock is really impressed. So impressed that they finally mate.
Sherlock's body stores and uses John's sperm to produce a huge amount of new 'bees'. The colony sighs in relief. It's not really enough, because more drones should be involved, but Sherlock agrees to a compromise: he won't mate with any other drone except for John, but agrees to an artificial insemination. John supports him in any way he can for Sherlock to keep having his hobbies despite being a breeding machine.
A few years later Sherlock (with John as his eyes and ears and/or his 'network'), while he's still relatively young, finds another suitable, perfectly fertile virgin queen, now old enough and happy to take Sherlock's position. Sherlock does whatever he can to convince others to let him retire. He and John leave to have their adventures together.