Fic: Mother Tongue: Gen
Feb. 10th, 2019 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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holmes_minorTitle: Mother Tongue
Rating: Gen
Length: 500
Pairing: Lestrade/Lomax the sublibrarian
Summary: Lestrade seeks assistance.
Notes: Spanish translation below. For the monthly prompt & my Fluff Bingo square N-1: Reverent.
“…a la orilla del estanque en la tarde invernal
contando los grises innumerables del lienzo
y yo soy el patito que hace cabriolas a lo largo de la línea
donde el agua congelado besa las olas…”
Lomax might have been startled if the figure he discovered behind him hadn’t been standing hat in hand and wearing the reverent, closed-lidded expression of one listening to an especially poignant sermon. He got to his feet and greeted the interloper.
“Inspector Lestrade.”
“Mister Lomax. I apologise for interrupting. Your colleague said that I’d find you down here.”
“You are a very good detective to have done so. The trail is not an easy one. Welcome to the catacombs,” Lomax said with a smile and a wave of the hand at the dark and dusty shelves, “but don’t worry, all the bodies are accounted for.”
“Good to know. By the way, I was enjoying your recitation. That’s why I didn’t make my presence known sooner.”
“And I was enjoying it, too. That’s why I was foolish enough to be caught unawares by one of Scotland Yard’s finest.”
Lestrade’s cheeks flushed. “Wasn’t English, was it?”
“No, Spanish.”
“Ah. You read it well.”
“Spanish is my mother tongue.”
“That so?”
“Yes, Inspector.” Lomax met the searching glance with a click of his heels and a slight bow. “Francisco Lomax de Serrano, at your service. English father, Spanish mother.”
“G. Lestrade, at yours. And the G stands for G because my very English mother was very tired of many things, including my very English father, by the time I came along.” Lestrade coughed and glanced down at the note-book on the ground. “Poetry?”
“Yes, my own.”
“Lovely! Don’t understand a word, but lovely.”
“Thank you.” Lomax waited but when Lestrade simply returned his smile, he prompted, “Do you require assistance, Inspector?”
“Oh, heaven’s, yes! That’s why I came down here. But it’s not a professional matter. I found something. I like finding old things in unusual places. And I was wondering just how old it was.” He fished a handkerchief wrapped bundle out of his pocket and unfurled it before Lomax’s eyes.
It was a bowl.
Lomax bent to study it and nodded and when he spoke it was almost reverently,
“It might be very old, indeed, Inspector.”
---
Many weeks later, Lestrade slid an envelope across a luncheon table.
Lomax opened it. His eyebrows rose.
“Your half of the spoils.”
“Inspector!”
“‘Lestrade,’ please.”
“Lestrade!”
“I expect that’ll keep you in ink and nibs for a while.”
“And books,” added Lomax dreamily.
“Put my half on a little cottage for when I’m too old to catch crooks.”
“I’ve something for you, not as generous, but…”
Lomax pulled a small note-book from his satchel.
“Caballero, como los de antiguidad bien enterrados,
disfrazado en piel del lobo, en pelaje llanoso
buscando tesoro
buscando belleza y historia
con olfato salvaje, corazón noble,
y roces tan delicados…”
When Lomax had finished, Lestrade wiped his eyes. “You’re wrong, Lomax. It’s just as generous.”
---
...at the edge of the pond on an wintery afternoon
counting the innumerable greys filling the canvas
and I am the little duck prancing along the line
where the frozen water kisses the waves...
---
Knight, like those of old well-buried,
disguised in wolf's clothing, in shaggy fur,
seeking treasure,
seeking beauty and history
with wild instinct, noble heart,
and very delicate touch...
Rating: Gen
Length: 500
Pairing: Lestrade/Lomax the sublibrarian
Summary: Lestrade seeks assistance.
Notes: Spanish translation below. For the monthly prompt & my Fluff Bingo square N-1: Reverent.
“…a la orilla del estanque en la tarde invernal
contando los grises innumerables del lienzo
y yo soy el patito que hace cabriolas a lo largo de la línea
donde el agua congelado besa las olas…”
Lomax might have been startled if the figure he discovered behind him hadn’t been standing hat in hand and wearing the reverent, closed-lidded expression of one listening to an especially poignant sermon. He got to his feet and greeted the interloper.
“Inspector Lestrade.”
“Mister Lomax. I apologise for interrupting. Your colleague said that I’d find you down here.”
“You are a very good detective to have done so. The trail is not an easy one. Welcome to the catacombs,” Lomax said with a smile and a wave of the hand at the dark and dusty shelves, “but don’t worry, all the bodies are accounted for.”
“Good to know. By the way, I was enjoying your recitation. That’s why I didn’t make my presence known sooner.”
“And I was enjoying it, too. That’s why I was foolish enough to be caught unawares by one of Scotland Yard’s finest.”
Lestrade’s cheeks flushed. “Wasn’t English, was it?”
“No, Spanish.”
“Ah. You read it well.”
“Spanish is my mother tongue.”
“That so?”
“Yes, Inspector.” Lomax met the searching glance with a click of his heels and a slight bow. “Francisco Lomax de Serrano, at your service. English father, Spanish mother.”
“G. Lestrade, at yours. And the G stands for G because my very English mother was very tired of many things, including my very English father, by the time I came along.” Lestrade coughed and glanced down at the note-book on the ground. “Poetry?”
“Yes, my own.”
“Lovely! Don’t understand a word, but lovely.”
“Thank you.” Lomax waited but when Lestrade simply returned his smile, he prompted, “Do you require assistance, Inspector?”
“Oh, heaven’s, yes! That’s why I came down here. But it’s not a professional matter. I found something. I like finding old things in unusual places. And I was wondering just how old it was.” He fished a handkerchief wrapped bundle out of his pocket and unfurled it before Lomax’s eyes.
It was a bowl.
Lomax bent to study it and nodded and when he spoke it was almost reverently,
“It might be very old, indeed, Inspector.”
---
Many weeks later, Lestrade slid an envelope across a luncheon table.
Lomax opened it. His eyebrows rose.
“Your half of the spoils.”
“Inspector!”
“‘Lestrade,’ please.”
“Lestrade!”
“I expect that’ll keep you in ink and nibs for a while.”
“And books,” added Lomax dreamily.
“Put my half on a little cottage for when I’m too old to catch crooks.”
“I’ve something for you, not as generous, but…”
Lomax pulled a small note-book from his satchel.
“Caballero, como los de antiguidad bien enterrados,
disfrazado en piel del lobo, en pelaje llanoso
buscando tesoro
buscando belleza y historia
con olfato salvaje, corazón noble,
y roces tan delicados…”
When Lomax had finished, Lestrade wiped his eyes. “You’re wrong, Lomax. It’s just as generous.”
---
...at the edge of the pond on an wintery afternoon
counting the innumerable greys filling the canvas
and I am the little duck prancing along the line
where the frozen water kisses the waves...
---
Knight, like those of old well-buried,
disguised in wolf's clothing, in shaggy fur,
seeking treasure,
seeking beauty and history
with wild instinct, noble heart,
and very delicate touch...
no subject
Date: 2019-02-10 06:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-10 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-10 10:15 pm (UTC)“And I was enjoying it, too. That’s why I was foolish enough to be caught unawares by one of Scotland Yard’s finest.” Lestrade’s cheeks flushed. “Wasn’t English, was it?”
“Lovely! Don’t understand a word, but lovely.” “Thank you.” Lomax waited but when Lestrade simply returned his smile, he prompted, “Do you require assistance, Inspector?”
Like Lestrade, my Spanish is pretty much non-existent but I did love the concept of the innumerable greys filling the canvas and I am the little duck prancing along the line/ where the frozen water kisses the waves. And seeking beauty and history/ with wild instinct, noble heart,/ and very delicate touch...
I would imagine Lestrade will now be taking up the study of Spanish ^__^
no subject
Date: 2019-02-10 10:44 pm (UTC)I like to think Lestrade between the first meeting and the second has started a study of it and perhaps can gather enough to get a sense of how flattering it is.
Thank you very much! It is an interesting prompt and a challenging one. I liked it a lot.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-14 01:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-14 01:56 pm (UTC)I have done a short mid-month Poet's Corner [https://stonepicnicking-okapi.dreamwidth.org/14329.html] talking about the send up I did of Cargoes, too.