Story Notes:
This is the 250 members celebration fic I wrote off of this request:
endgegnor: I was just thinking about something like this:
Watson, in uniform (after he finished becoming a military doctor but just before he goes off to India/Afghanistan) is somewhere in London and a young SH who is in London as well at the time (maybe visiting brother Mycroft, I don't know) notices Watson who stands out in the crowd. A drabble-ish thing from Holmes pov.
It's short but people seemed to like it so I'll post it here.
Bart
Observations on a Spring Day
Holmes sat with his lunch on a bench just down from Piccadilly. If you wanted to watch the populace you needed a wide variety or you would soon be bored. Tourists were his favorite prey and this was a high traffic area, similar to a water hole on the Serengeti.
He had been stuck in the laboratory at St. Barts all morning, he needed some air. So he was indulging his favourite hobby, honing his most important skill.
In detective work the success or failure would depend upon his ability to judge even the smallest detail.
He took a bite of his corned beef as he eyed a woman making her way down the sidewalk by.
Female, twenty-two years old, librarian by trade from her satchel and page calluses, single but looking, just ate chips from a vendor down street, still has some grease on her fingers…she's going to mark a page before she realizes. No crime here unless she steals a scone from the tea carts…YAAAAWN!
He was already done with her so he moved on to an older corpulent man who was weaving his way the opposite direction.
Male, forty-five years old but not living too much longer from the pulse at his temples, well dressed, Saville Row from the cut, the way he is self aware of his wallet, banker? Obviously criminal, but unfortunately his thievery is considered legal…moving on!
He felt so complacent about that subject that he barely stifled a yawn. He focused on a young man dressed in an army uniform making his way up street that looked promising.
Soldier, twenty-six, fresh out of training, medical corps bound from the markings, athletic, just grown the moustache recently, probably tired of being labelled younger than his years, determination in his gait, quick eyes, smarter than he looks. He just said good day to a lady, his accent, northern but not quite north, Northumberland, probably headed into the fusiliers. Stalwart…Upright…Steady…Booooooooring! Next!
His eyes found another man, dark complexion, with a scar on his chin, skulking past the soldier, scoping out the crowd.
Aha! This one is promising!
Fine
Extra Thought:
I have often wondered if someone I have already met is going to change my life later. Sometimes destiny brushes up against your leg a few times before it is fullfilled, at this moment in Holmes's life he is focused entirely on his mission to the exclusion of all else, so don't be too hard on the chap.
Bart