Fic: Soft Sea of Sound: G

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Title: Soft Sea of Sound
Rating: Gen
Length: 500
Content Notes: Related to my WW fic Lieder
Summary: Holmes POV of the 'playinig violin so Watson can sleep' scene in The Sign of Four
Author's Note: Inspired by gardnerhill's limerick of last week. For the August prompt: relaxation.


I have noted your fatigue on four separate occasions since this case began, Watson. Work took priority earlier, but now I sense there will be a lull.

Time, then, for a lullaby.

“Lie down there on the sofa and see if I can put you to sleep.”

You comply at once, stretching yourself out.

I take up my violin from the corner and launch into a melody of my own composition.  You may later suspect that it is an improvisation.

Not an improvisation, my dear man, but very much an equation, and one calculated with as much precision as any of the experiments that have littered the tables and chairs, and, in rare instances, curtains and rugs, of our shared rooms.

Since the beginning, I have played for you, to entertain, yes, but, more importantly, to ease the suffering of your body and mind. In the very early days, I even hosted casual breakfast table tutorials, where we discussed music, composers, and interpretations, over tea and toast. From your reactions and questions, I formed a picture of your intellectual musical taste, that is, what you perceived as pleasing. I coupled that picture with the one observed, watching your body in various stages of relaxation as you listened to my playing.

I have experimented with style and volume and even the movement of my own body as I pace, turn, and sway.

Every domestic recital is a source of data, and I carefully alter the template based on the success and failure of previous encounters.

This morning’s objective is to send you floating in dreamland as swiftly and surely as possible and to keep you there for as long as your body wills it, that you sleep soundly and awake strengthened and refreshed. There have been other prizes: in the early days, it was to rid you of nightmares or distract you from the aches and pains of your injuries as well as to ward off any despondency at your limitations.

Your eyelids droop. You may have a vague remembrance of my limbs, my face, the rise and fall of my bow, no more. When your eyes finally close, my visage will, no doubt, be replaced with that of another.

“What a very attractive woman!”
“Is she? I did not observe.”

Absurd and false. I observed her attractiveness, of course, not directly, but rather reflected in your own expressions and gestures of overt gentility.

But no matter, let her fill your mind, populate your dreams, as you drift off.

I will take your body. Its relaxation. The way your muscles loosen, your brow unfolds. The way your skin falls smooth and slack. The gentle snoring that will fill the air in nineteen to twenty-three minutes if I continue at this tempo.

I note that the tonic has had its effect on man and beast. Toby is also off to dreamland, curled beneath the table. And I do not lower the instrument until Wiggins arrives with his report.

Comments

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this excellent writing. Thoughtful and moving, and very convincing Holmes pov.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. Glad you liked it.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Lovely. It's a very gentle version of Holmes, which I like very much. And I also like the observation of Toby asleep too.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's a nice moment for them. I realized that Toby was still there, so I thought I'd throw him in, too.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I like: Work took priority earlier, but now I sense there will be a lull. Time, then, for a lullaby. ^^

And I love your idea that Holmes has, by experiment, carefully built up his knowledge of exactly what music to play for Watson in a given situation - I don't think I've come across that idea ever before but it makes so much sense for Holmes. Not an improvisation, my dear man, but very much an equation...

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Not quite a pun, maybe a near pun. I like unspoken means of communication. I like to think that Holmes uses music as a bridge and a means of showing his concern for Watson.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Beautifully done. And I'm honored that one of my works helped inspire this!

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Thanks. You were right. The moment was so lovely, I thought it merited more words.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I went to transfer it to AO3 and realized it wasn't the 60, it was the last line of the limerick! Ah well. I knew it was yours! And everybody who read this knew what I meant. I changed it here and there.