Author: Ariane DeVere
Word count: 221 (plus the obligatory 221B Author’s Note)
Rating: PG
Warning: No specific spoilers for Series 3, but be wary of readers’ Comments posted underneath, which might contain spoilers.
Summary: Sherlock misses his violin. A pre-series 3 ficlet. A 221B story with the mother of all DeVereian twists.
Waltz
Since faking his death and leaving London, Sherlock has missed his violin very much. Some nights, as he tries to settle into yet another bedsit, or hotel, or abandoned building during his interminable quest to bring down Moriarty’s network, the ache of being without his violin is almost unbearable.
He misses his main incentive to play. It was a few months after John moved into the flat that Sherlock began to recognise an occasional tightness in John’s face which heralded a bad night’s sleep. Not long afterwards he found that if he played gentle, soothing, lullaby-like tunes before John went to bed, John slept peacefully and wouldn’t be found pacing the living room in the early hours after a nightmare.
If only Sherlock could play such music for himself right now. But it’s not worth buying a new violin – all too frequently he has to leave a place in a hurry, unable even to go and collect his few possessions.
In a hovel on the outskirts of Jagodina he finds a pad of large white plain paper in a drawer.
Two nights later, when the loneliness becomes too much, he draws several rows of music staves onto the paper. Then he settles down, and begins to compose.
Author’s Note:
So, figure this one out. A 221B fic which ends with a word beginning with ‘c’. And it only has 207 words.
Why is that maniac DeVere claiming it’s a 221B fic? Has typing the transcripts made her lose the few marbles that she had?
Well, you see, the picture underneath the story is of that music (being vague to keep it Season 3 spoiler-free).
It’s the first 14 notes.
207 + 14 = 221.
And the 14th note?
It’s a B.
I believe that makes the story a 221B, your honour.
Spoilers for season 3 follow, so read on only under advisement.
My heartfelt thanks go to David Arnold and Michael Price for writing the tune in the key of C so that no pedantic musician would feel obliged to point out, “Actually I think you’ll find that’s a B♭”!
Can I just add that I wasn’t thinking that Sherlock was composing a wedding waltz – he was simply composing something gentle that he might have played on one of John’s bad nights. It was only after he came back that he remembered the tune and used it for
Actually, maybe unstrike that struck-out bit.
