A/N: 50 Sentences Challenge, where you write, well, fifty sentences based on prompts. Many thanks to the gracious and lovely Mira_Jade for giving me my prompts!
Enjoy!
Case Study
01. Gentleman
"All right, Mr Holmes," she says when he opens the door for her, "you're being blatantly nice today – what do you want?"
02. Gossamer
Sherlock thinks he has the answer – he can see it right there, in his mind's eye – but then someone comes barrelling up the stairs, his concentration snaps and the answer simply floats away, as if it was never there at all.
03. Enigma
"So," she says, smirking as she taps her fingers on the table, "if you're not interested in women and you're not gay, then what are you?"
04. Divinity
If there is such a thing as religion solely for detectives, then deduction would be its faith and Sherlock Holmes would be a god.
05. Insipid
The case file glares at him from across the room – until he has the brilliant idea of throwing a dart at it to quiet its complaints.
06. Ensnare
It has always been a game, right from the start: plan the perfect crime and wait for Sherlock Holmes to come calling because he just can't resist a good mystery.
07. Split
"You know, I thought I had the one perfect, simple answer to this until you come in here and throw a load of variables in my face and now I don't know what to think!"
08. Exist
For every clever crime that is committed, there will always be a genius (usually one Sherlock Holmes) working to unravel it – otherwise the delicate balance by which the world works would not exist.
09. Claim
"Ever since that thing with the shoe," Lestrade says gruffly, "I don't know if you're just making it up with a few lucky guesses or if I should just believe you, no matter how mad things get!"
10. Fugue
He's up at three o'clock in the morning playing the violin when he comes to the conclusion that in situations where the question is unavoidable, the fugue would be a good way to explain how his mind works.
11. Dry
"You do realise what it means for you if this ends up being dry?" Sherlock asks, casually smiling as he holds up his wine glass and clinks it with hers.
12. Intimacy
He has absolutely no desire to participate in society the way ordinary people do; however, that does not mean that he cannot understand it – it would be completely counter-productive not to have an intimate relationship with the world.
13. Fair
"Well… that's just… not… fair!" he splutters when John gives him the quick and easy solution to the problem Sherlock has been working on for an hour.
14. Flare
"Whatever you do," John says, watching Sherlock cautiously from a safe distance, "do not drop the match on that."
15. Task
The newspapers make his work easy – these days, he only has to glance at the front page and he has his next job.
16. Boulevard
There are many roads in life and some are much prettier than others; however, after seeing a particularly gruesome triple homicide take place on a rather lavish London boulevard, he thinks that some of society's typical metaphors are becoming wildly inaccurate.
17. Untold
Over years of interesting incidents that most would label either awkward or embarrassing, he's beginning to learn the value of not voicing every thought that passes through his remarkable mind.
18. Sultry
"I'm here to talk to you about Jordan Graham – and no, that is not going to work on me," he adds, casually raising an eyebrow at the suggestive dance moves the skimpily dressed girl was attempting to perform.
19. Dare
"This is the last time I'm ever taking you up on a dare," John mutters, soaked to the bone as he sits on the roof in the pouring rain.
20. Follow
"Oh!" he exclaims, his eyes lighting up as an idea occurs to him – but unfortunately, no one can follow.
21. Gamble
"Don't blame me for this," Sherlock snaps, "you have to take chances every now and then – besides, if you had gone left like I told you, then maybe you would have caught him!"
22. Solitude
Even though he is grateful for the chance to think, the silence in 221B Baker Street is nearly overwhelming and he finds himself hoping that John would come back soon.
23. Temperamental
"Isn't that a little childish of you?" John asks as Sherlock tramps around the flat in his pyjamas, mourning the lack of genius criminal activity.
24. Temptation
After ignoring the police for a week (they were getting on his nerves), he suddenly finds that he can't go five minutes without checking his phone for pleading messages from Lestrade – and then he has to remind himself why he's ignoring them in the first place.
25. Leave
"Fine," Sherlock says sharply, stalking away, "if you don't believe what I've said, then put your team together and see how far you can get without me!"
26. Fantasy
On comfortable afternoons, Molly sometimes finds herself with her head resting on her desk and a dreamy smile on her face – and then he comes striding purposefully into her office to ask for a favour and she remembers that it was strictly a dream.
27. Slay
The day they get caught by the gang they are tailing is the day John tells himself that jokes and homicides should not mix, despite their usual inclinations.
28. Sleigh
"I always knew Father Christmas wasn't real and I still fail to see why this myth continues to perpetuate itself around intelligent families," Sherlock says as he examines the blood-stained sleigh shoved into the snow bank.
29. Swimming
Being a friend of Sherlock Holmes is like swimming against a strong current – if you give up, you get swept away.
30. Daybreak
"Why does doing research for your bloody cases always make me late for work?" John groans as the sun shines through a gap in the drawing room curtains.
31. Nightfall
"This shouldn't take too long," Sherlock says, wheeling several large crates into the already crate-filled room, "but if it does, no matter – the night's only begun!"
32. Smother
As they walk down the busy street, John does his best to ignore Sherlock's ramblings, but it quickly becomes too much: "Look, can you just not talk for a moment, please?"
33. Burden
"Well, I can't say that we haven't had this happen before," John says as he and Sarah glance around the trashed flat.
34. Bashful
"Molly, I need to know if Marcus Walker is on your list for today – oh… I saw her five seconds ago, where did she disappear to?"
35. Cease
Lestrade snatches the phone from Donovan's hands and types in the message: STOP DOING THAT, SHERLOCK, OR I'LL ARREST YOU FOR HARRASSMENT AND WASTING POLICE TIME.
36. Tide
"There is a tide in the affairs of Sherlock Holmes," Moriarty murmurs, his eyes gleaming in the light of his computer screen.
37. Iris
"I can see you think it's very pretty," Sherlock says, taking the photo from her, "but I'm not particularly interested in rainbows – wait… oh… now that certainly has nothing to do with rainbows…"
38. Pout
"As always, your behaviour is most tiresome, Sherlock," Mycroft says, observing his glowering brother from his comfortable chair.
39. Tale
"… and that is why John's blogs are completely fictional," Sherlock finishes, finally drawing pausing to draw breath.
40. Twist
"Well, I can't say I saw that coming," John says, watching as his friend's photo was broadcasted all over the news.
41. Cinder
"I trust you'll remind your colleagues to never underestimate the power of a glass slipper again," Sherlock tells Lestrade as he snaps his torn and muddied copy of Cinderella shut.
42. Silhouette
"Well, there is something dreadfully odd about that," Sherlock says, frowning as he stares at the window with the person-shaped hole.
43. Sanction
"Please stop waving that paperwork in my face," he snaps, "I don't want to be assigned to a job, I do this for my own merit – why can't you ever understand that?"
44. Palm
John takes one look at the holes in the drawing room wall, glances at Sherlock's immobile form, and then slaps himself on the forehead.
45. Hush
"Sometimes I wish the world would stop thinking," he says, throwing himself into a chair, "because it can be bloody noisy some days!"
46. Sense
"I keep telling you there's nothing here," she says, folding her arms as she watches him examine the crime scene, "but I can see your deduction senses are tingling."
47. Spoils
"Now I understand why you need a flatmate," John grumbles, staring at the rotten food stuffed into all corners of the fridge, "because, obviously, there's no way you'll ever learn to look after yourself like a normal human being."
48. Fear
"You can't scare me," Sherlock scoffs at the looming figure in the dark, "fear is both entirely irrational and perfectly understandable – do you think I can be easily crippled by it?"
49. Entity
"You're not normal," the young man spits at Sherlock, struggling against the officers trying to handcuff him, "you're… you're a thing – has anyone told you that?"
50. Linger
He has reprimanded John so many times for chronicling their adventures online, but despite his dubious attitude towards the blogs, part of him delights in knowing that a record of his brilliance will live on in the Internet should something happen to him.
fin