chaletian: (sherlock 221b)
chaletian ([personal profile] chaletian) wrote2010-07-28 08:28 pm
Entry tags:

[Sherlock] London Calling :: PG :: Gen ::1/1

Title: London Calling
Author: [livejournal.com profile] chaletian
Fandom(s): Sherlock
Rating: PG
Summary: Sherlock uses him as his own personal texting machine; John goes along with it when it's summoning serial killers, and even when it's sending pithy little comments to Lestrade's phone ("He keeps trying to block my number," Sherlock complains, almost surprised), but balks when Sherlock can't be arsed to text in a takeaway order himself.





John hasn't bothered with a mobile phone in years, so it feels odd, initially: the weight of Harry's cast-off in his pocket. Sleek and futuristic, it's light years away from the clunky plastic Nokia he had before Afghanistan, and every time he takes it out and slides up the screen, it feels like he's in a pretentiously low-key phone advert.

To begin with, it doesn't see a lot of action. Texts and missed calls from Harry, of course - Harry, who seems desperate to keep in touch, even though John can't cope with her at the moment (struggling to cope with himself); Ella, confirming his appointments (or, God knows, making sure he hasn't topped himself); occasional Army administrators setting up his pension or sorting out his medical treatment. He even gets the occasional call from friends, though each conversation feels disconnected from reality, like John's just playing a part, and he rings off as soon as possible.

And then John Watson meets Sherlock Holmes, and his phone is being used to summon serial killers. Which is strange.

Next, of course, he moves in, and ends up in what seems like an incredibly bad sitcom (He's a high-functioning sociopath! He's a wounded ex-Army doctor! Together they fight crime!), and his phone is filled with endless messages from Sherlock. How long would a 180lb man take to bleed to death at 28 degrees with 79% humidity? is a fairly typical request. Why is everyone so stupid? can be expected every time he works on a case; also Come to flat immediately!, usually followed by Now! and, if Sherlock is particularly excited, If you don't get here in ten minutes, hundreds of people could die!. More often, it's Buy bread and Buy nicer bread and Where did Mrs H put my laundry? I have no socks.

But at least that's normal, for a phone. Messages for him. The thing is, John's phone is apparently no longer just his. Sherlock uses him as his own personal texting machine; John goes along with it when it's summoning serial killers, and even when it's sending pithy little comments to Lestrade's phone ("He keeps trying to block my number," Sherlock complains, almost surprised), but balks when Sherlock can't be arsed to text in a takeaway order himself.

Also, this sort of thing happens with increasing frequency:

It's bright and chilly and John's walking down Charing Cross Road, looking in book shop windows. His phone beeps. It's Lestrade - Have u seen him? No, John thinks, he hasn't, which is as well, because Sherlock was sawing away on his bloody violin at two o'clock that morning, and if John sees his flatmate, he might punch him in the face. Sorry, not today, he texts back.

And this:

He's sitting in St Paul's, head tilted back, staring at the architectural enormity of the place, wondering if he ever believed in a god, when his phone rings. It's Mrs Hudson, alarmed and voluble, and he stands up and shoulders his way past the tourists, making for the exit and trying to understand what she's banging on about and why Sherlock would have tried to dangle out of their living room window.

Also:

He's in the V&A bar with Clara, oppressed by William Morris tiles, tears (her), sympathy (him) and she's got a problem (both of them). The phone rings. "Come and get your psychopath out of here!" someone shouts. "I'm warning you, Watson, if you d-- OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP THAT!" John grins, suddenly, involuntarily. "Anderson?" He shrugs helplessly at Clara, fishes out a tenner, kisses her on the cheek, and leaves (gratefully). "Anderson, is that you? What's he doing?"

And very occasionally:

The weather's warmer, and he cuts through Regent's Park from the flat to Camden where a recently discharged colleague has moved in with her boyfriend. He sighs as his phone beeps, and checks the message. How stands the wax on Icarus' wings? It's at this point that John does contemplate throwing the arsing thing in the duck pond and/or suggesting that Sherlock's brother get a therapist himself. He's fine, he texts back. We had cocopops for breakfast. Your code is ridiculous.

oOo

More than once (a lot more than once) John takes Harry's old phone out of his pocket, taps it thoughtfully in his palm, and considers tossing it in the bin. He never does. Ho goes home, where Sherlock can inevitably be found haranguing Mrs Hudson, or engaging in a scientific experiment with last week's milk, or lying on the sofa, hands pressed together, a supplicant at the altar of logic, and says, "Why can't people just phone you?" And Sherlock will come out with some unfeasibly brilliant insight, or (alternatively) say that he dropped his phone in a sewer whilst following a suspect, or (once), "Rationally, alien intelligence must exist," at which point "Why can't people just phone you?" becomes a pretty redundant question, and John sighs, and feels a bit exasperated and (depending on how exasperated) a bit affectionate, and plugs in the phone charger.

THE END

[identity profile] kathrynw.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Hurrah, you've finally written a fandom that I understand (with the obvious exception). I love the image of them having cocopops for breakfast. I would like to see more like this please thank you.

[identity profile] katernater.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, oh, oh. This is absolutely terrific. You've got the brilliance of the relationship expressed quite nicely here, and I love the cleverness of the dialogue. It feels completely in-character (which is difficult to do, seeing that it's Moffat piled on Conan Doyle -- which should really be a supergroup, or a pair of superheroes, or something) and I found myself laughing out loud on quite a few lines.

Please write more in this fandom.

[identity profile] azure-horizon.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
LOL, lovely. Lovely nice piece of work. I liked Mycroft's text - splitting the fee, are they? :D

[identity profile] ingridmatthews.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Adorable!

[identity profile] suzvoy.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I absolutely LOVED IT <3

[identity profile] dunderklumpen.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:50 pm (UTC)(link)
OMG! You wrote "Sherlock"-fic! I love you for that! I'm really excited about it because I always enjoy your fics (if they are in one of my fandoms) immensely and this one is no exception. I had fun reading it and hope there will be more. I mean... seriously... Sherlock and Watson cry for fanfiction:D

[identity profile] littlemissstars.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
(He's a high-functioning sociopath! He's a wounded ex-Army doctor! Together they fight crime!)

^^^ THIS. This should be the tagline for this ENTIRE SERIES.

In other news, this fic is FANTASTIC and I can't wait to see what you'll write next!

[identity profile] trillianastra.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww, poor John.

This is great. I especially love Mycroft's text. It sounds so pretentiously HIM.


(....me = Mycroft fangirl. Yeahhh...)

[identity profile] rj-anderson.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Genfic! Genfic in this fandom! I would be delighted by that alone, but it's really GOOD genfic on top of it. I love how clearly this shows the madness that John's life has become since he met Sherlock, and the combination of exasperation and grudging fondness with which he deals with Sherlock's irritating habits, and all the ways you suggest Sherlock getting into various infinite amounts of trouble with just a couple of lines of text or a voice call.

And this: More often, it's Buy bread and Buy nicer bread and Where did Mrs H put my laundry? I have no socks. cracked me up completely.

Lovely work! I hope you will write more genfic!

ext_1798: (Default)

[identity profile] wildestranger.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee. Their interaction is utterly delightful.

[identity profile] alittlebrighter.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Love this, really cute snapshot and a lovely way to look in on their relationship ^_^

Also, fellow athiest? YAY!!! *hugs* :D xxx

[identity profile] seramercury.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! Sherlock fic! I loved it! I was quite amused. :)
ext_6373: A swan and a ballerina from an old children's book about ballet, captioned SWAN! (Hot Fuzz want monkey want monkey)

[identity profile] annlarimer.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
This is excellent!

Hee. Cocopops.

(Anonymous) 2010-07-28 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I love this - so funny! "He's a high-functioning sociopath! He's a wounded ex-Army doctor! Together they fight crime!" That is a sitcom I would watch! XD

[identity profile] funkyinfishnet.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
A really awesome look into the changes in John's life after meeting Sherlock. Love it! This really made me smile. Awesome insights and wonderful images, love Sherlock dangling himself out of the window for some inexplicable reason. So very him :)

[identity profile] nellikins.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Fabulous - you are a genius! Love it!

[identity profile] miki-moo.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Wonderful!

[identity profile] na-shao.livejournal.com 2010-07-28 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
What a fabulous fanfic ! I love the idea. Brilliant job. <3

[identity profile] sonicbookmark.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
PERFECT.
Loved it. :D
ext_8734: (Jack Harkness loves hot lesbian sex.)

[identity profile] bethan-b-bad.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
This. Is. AWESOME.

It's so them! You have their dialogue and their thought processes down perfectly, and just. Yes.

*adds to memories!*

[identity profile] lady-with-cats.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
This made me laugh almost constantly. Mycroft especially; his text was perfectly halfway between campy spy-ness and the subtle undercutting tones of worry, to make it perfect.

Also, nicer bread. Also, Anderson, you daft plodder. ♥

(Anonymous) 2010-07-29 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
この花って、黒や赤や、ゴールド、シルバーに合わせると、
zenぽいムードもある。
ゴールドとコーディねーとしちゃおうか?

[identity profile] rivana.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
I can almost see that phone getting more action than John. lol It's a social butterfly all on its own.
ext_30599: (Holmes: BBC Sherlock & John)

[identity profile] yan-tan-tether.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 10:09 am (UTC)(link)
Oh my god, I love this so much!

All the texts are perfect and made me smile a lot.

I love that in canon Holmes is always getting Watson to read things out to him, and in Moff's version it's texting - it's brilliant.

[identity profile] the24thkey.livejournal.com 2010-07-29 12:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I really, really enjoyed this! Loved the Come to flat immediately!, usually followed by Now! and, if Sherlock is particularly excited, If you don't get here in ten minutes, hundreds of people could die! line. And everything else, basically. <3

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