Love this! So beautiful in its simplicity. Like the roses he has given her, this tale is perfect. I wouldn't change a thing :)

God, this is so beautifully written. I really see their friendship in it and I love the way you expressed that. The tone was so sweet and melancholy. Great job.

What a lovely short drabble you have written here!

I've read other Sherlock stories to get the characters, but not as much to understand the canonical approach behind Molly and Greg - if they're "official." Nonetheless, you did a fantastic job with describing their...whatever they're in.

I loved the roses; how they're introduced within the first few words, and the description is marvelous throughout! The way you paint a picture describing the roses overflowing the beaker is what I crave for in stories; kudos on that!

The dialogue was sweet; definitely love the approach of italics in lieu of quotation marks. When Molly stated that the roses aren't "the kind of flowers you'd give to your wife," I don't know, but I sense a bit of togetherness with that. And with Greg getting pricked with that dialogue, it seems as though they could be together.

The ending was magnificent! Molly thinks that the flowers look awful, yet Greg thinks they're perfect; again, more hints...and if they're not canon in the show, I can see them being together in this fic; kudos for that!

In terms of SPAG, no mistakes were spotted, so nice work there! Again, I enjoyed reading this lovely drabble, and I wish you all the best in your future writings! :)

I love how you made it seemed like it could be Greg flirting with Molly, but also that they could just be close friends. Greg and Molly are my secondary Sherlock ship, so I went with the first option.

It's accurate in the way Molly is so incredibly awkward. You've definitely nailed it. It's short and sweet, and the different way to show speech is intriguing!

Very nice work. :)

Ooh, this was soooooo cute! I loved it! Lestrade and Molly aren't people I'd think to pair together, but it really works here.

I like the little part where they have coffee. I thought it was really sweet. I love how you characterized Molly, because she was just like on the show.

I liked the ending, because it kind of sums up their relationship; they don't quite belong together, but they'restill perfect for each other. Kudos!

I really like the awkwardness in this. By using that technique it really showcases Molly's character and makes her come to life. It's wonderful. On the other end of the spectrum, I love how stable Greg is. It balances the piece quite nicely and adds a lot. Despite the fact it's short (and I was a bit sad there wasn't more) you really create an entire and beautiful scene.

I like that the roses are the main physical focus. It's cute that Molly puts them in a beaker and they don't fit. I also like how she comments they're flowers from a grandmother's garden and not something for a wife. You did a really great job with the way Molly looks at things.

In the paragraph with "It's awful coffee, she offers", was 'she offers' supposed to be italicized?

I love how it ends with Greg thinking they're perfect. It says a lot of things. The flowers are perfect, Molly is perfect, and with Molly it shows a lot about their friendship, but also that it could be more. I really liked this a lot. This was lovely!

This was very sweet. I am impressed at how much character and emotion you put into such a short piece.

[deep-dusk-red]
Eloquent, concise and poetic.

[Molly's lovely when her smile is so unguarded.]
I really like this sentence. It shows the core of their friendship: making one happy makes the other happy. It's also in-character for Molly's unguarded smile to be rare, as you've implied here.

[She stops, winces, the smile is gone]
Again, neatly showing Molly's character, specifically her nervousness.
Your use of the present tense lends this piece a feeling of immediacy.

[Coffee, yes, great.]
I can hear the characters speaking, especially Lestrade with this line.

[hesitates, bolts]
More Molly ICness.

[It's awful coffee, she offers, apologetic, but the tea is worse and the milk's off, so-]
"she offers, apologetic" was italicized, and an earlier dialogue tag between dialogue "she says" wasn't, which I found a tiny bit weird.
The dialogue itself is excellent, however.

[Greg's had worse]
Nice touch of humor here.

[deep-dusk ... roses ramble... white work-surface... fragrance, fill]
Effective alliteration.

[The roses ramble [...] Blooms overflow the edge]
Again, concise yet emotive description.

[overflow the edge, as if astonished.]
I was a bit confused by this. I don't usually associate "overflowing" with "astonished."

Nice ending, I leave the piece thinking, "They're so sweet."

This is such a pretty piece! Wow!

First: I am mostly fandom blind. I have read one or two Sherlock cases, but I have no idea who Lestrade is, much less Molly. I was, however, able to follow it very well.

The description of the roses is amazing. My favorite line is the first one, because you made the roses seem so beautiful, in only seven words.

Molly's awkwardness is quite cute. I like how she accidentally gets tangled up in her own description. It was cute, even if it did make things awkward. In fact, Molly's commentary on the roses matched the feel I got from the description in the first line.

Teensey weensey edit: "she offers, apologetic," is italicized, even though I'm pretty sure Molly didn't say that. But while we're on the subject, I really liked the nice touch it added to italicize the quotes, instead of using quotation marks.

I like how you describe the roses being too big for the beaker. "Blooms overflow the edge, as if astonished." Such a cute little way to describe them! I love that.

The visit was really awkward, but it didn't seem to matter, because it had a soft loving feel to the whole thing.

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Keep up the amazing work! :)

What I like best about this piece is that you manage to get so much characterization and description across in just a few words. It also flows really well, and I enjoyed your word choice throughout.

I really liked your description of the roses. / soft blown-open ones, deep-dusk-red. / That gave me an image of roses after they’ve been blooming for a while (compared to rosebuds) and look kind of “soft”.

I think you showed Molly’s awkwardness well with her dialogue: / They're not the kind of flowers you'd give your wife/

It’s kind of awkward for both of them after that, with Molly apologizing for terrible coffee, and Greg thinking that it’s bad, but drinking the coffee anyway.

And the image of the roses not quite fitting into the vase and overflowing almost seems like a metaphor for their relationship; they’re both kind of awkward together, but like Greg says, that doesn’t really matter: “they’re perfect.”

The use of italics for quotes adds to the dreamlike air of the piece, as does the lack of periods. The ever-changing metaphor of the roses kept the "point" of the piece strangely unclear, yet at the same time obvious. I would note that "she offers" doesn't seem to fall under the category of things you're italicizing as a rule. That said, the clear scene floating from image to idea to image works perfectly, especially at the end.

I really love this. I don't even really ship Molly/Lestrade, and I love this. :) There are so many lovely little details in this!

I love the description of the roses as being "soft blown-open" - I don't know if I've ever seen roses described that way, but it puts a very clear mental image in my head.

Poor Molly! She's so endearing when she's saying the completely wrong thing and making everything awkward. :/

And of course she apologizes for the coffee (and the fact that the milk's gone bad). I love how Greg thinks that he's had worse; he's not denying that the coffee's bad, but he's being fair here. It seems the coffee might not be as bad as Molly thinks.

I love how she puts the roses in a beaker and they don't quite fit; that's just so lovely, especially when Greg says they're perfect. Because that's about as good as real life ever gets; maybe things don't quite "fit" in the way we think they should, but they're beautiful anyway. The roses in a beaker suit Molly so well; I can see why Greg would say they're perfect! :)

Oh this was such a sweet, sweet little drabble piece. I love the imagery that you use throughout the story; it is flowing and not so overly detailed as to be obnoxious. I also really like the way you highlight dialogue without expressing that it is dialogue. ((I like them)) is clearly a case of dialogue, but the way you italicize the phrase rather than use punctuation gives me a sense that this entire scene is being witnessed by an omniscient narrator type who can see everything going on because they are essentially detached from the scene. I think that having this dialogue highlighted in this way also allows for the piece to not be waxing poetic. You don’t need to couple the dialogue with needless movements and internalized thoughts. You are making a statement that Lestrade is bringing these roses to Molly in hopes of pleasing her so much that it earns him a smile. You don’t need anything more to show that, you accomplish it wonderfully. So great job!

This was a wonderful way to describe the roses: ((soft blown-open ones, deep-dusk-red.)). The significance of the color is not lost upon me. They are the color most commonly associated with deep affection/love. That they are (soft blown-open) is unique in my mind because most people give roses when they are still tight little buds. This makes them seem more intimate in my mind, and
While not a waxing poetic of how or why, I thought this line: ((Molly’s lovely when her smile is so unguarded.)) was really wonderful at revealing Lestrade’s thoughts about Molly after she receives her gift. Again, the use of the narrator in this story really makes this work for me because it is an ambiguous enough observation that it doesn’t fall flat or feel stale. It just is the observation going on.

Now this short little description here: ((velvet petal)) is absolutely my most favorite. It makes me think of fingers gliding over flesh, soft and gentle, like (velvet). It’s very sensual in its simplicity because it makes me imagine softness and tenderness, that hint of care which goes into touching that you find precious and would not wish to harm, hurt or destroy with your touch. This is absolutely the best line here in my mind because of the way that you metaphorically connect the flower’s petal with human flesh.

Again, the simplicity of this piece is just fantastic. You’ve taken something as simple as a gift given out of love and affection in order to inspire a smile that breaks through a mask and makes someone smile and turned into a really wonderful little piece. Fantastic job!

I like this. :) Its slightly funny but kinda sad for Greg that she doesn't get the symbolism of the roses.

In this story its great how you put the contrast between the awful coffee and fragrant roses. And also l like how you put those two lines at the end. About how they don't fit and how they are perfect. It is a great short story!

. Story of the Week at the Reviews Lounge, Too . . Fandom-blind .

The calmness imagery is nice- I like the soft sounds of 'soft blown-open ones', and the 'deep dusk red' implies a beautiful, placid evening scene. I think the way it reminds her of family works nicely too, suggesting comforting memories of happy times- although she seems to associate it with family, so sees it odd as a gift meant in a romantic way. The awkwardness implied in 'I-I mean. Um. Coffee?' is great, implying that she might have hit a touchy spot with the other man, or has maybe said something embarrassing. I loved the ending to this one; it seems that, although the roses are beautiful, they don't quite fit the vase, and I'm wondering if that's a symbol that Molly isn't quite perfect. She doesn't make the perfect coffee, she doesn't fit the idea of beauty that everyone else has- but it seems like imperfection is perfection for Greg. Very sweet. I have no concrit for this; a cute piece! Keep it up! :D

Okay, so after reading this twice, I wanted to look up the meaning of red roses - I've always appreciated the meanings/symbolism of flowers though have never been one to understand them unless I'm looking something up for a story. The characterization of Molly is perfection wrapped up in 147 words; in so few words, there is so much said and not said at the same time.

Interestingly, Molly says that the roses are the kind that you get from your grandma's garden, not the kind you give your wife. She's such an awkward character. Haha. Now, I did wonder if she said that to diffuse the idea of romance because of her response after, asking whether he'd want coffee after embarrassingly saying that. At that moment, there gave me an impression that she may've understood just a little too late.

Red roses are the traditional symbol for love and romance, and a time-honored way to say "I love you." The red rose has long symbolized beauty and perfection. A bouquet of red roses is the perfect way to express your deep feelings for someone special.

I love the description of the roses afterwards, especially calling them "heady." Nice word choice... the smell being intoxicating, even after that awkward exchange, the rose's scent seem to ramble on the table, as if to tell them to remember them after releasing that breath that is laced into the air. Just a beautiful idea and thoughts here.

My favorite part thought was how awkward the roses were in the beaker and Greg calling it perfect. It perfectly symbolized how he feels about Molly. To him, despite being awkward and not the type to usually fit in, she's beautiful and perfect to him.

Awesome job,
Until Next Time,
Neo

Congratulations on getting the Story of the Week in the RLt forum.