Fic: Breeches Role: G

[dustbunny105]

Title: Breeches Role
Form: Drabble
Characters/Pairings: Irene Adler and some crowd filler OCs, no pairings
Rating: G
Warnings/Content: Implied harassment and period-typical sexism
Author's Notes: Mods, can I please get a tag for Irene Adler?


"Pardon me, sir," a maid chirps as she bustles around a corner.

Irene is at first startled, then amused, then... curious. The maid may not have recognized Irene, but Irene remembers her. She remembers, especially, the things the maid had muttered about her the last they'd seen each other.

Rather than change into her own clothes, Irene takes a firmer grip on her walking stick and sets out of the theater and into the evening still in costume. A group of men nod politely, then return to their conversation-- no whistles, no slurs.

A lady could get used to this.

Comments

[smallhobbit]

A lady could make good use of this too!

Character and Author tags have been added for you.

[dustbunny105]

That she could!

Thank you :D

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Aw. Excellent! I love this!

[dustbunny105]

Thank you very much :D

[debriswoman]

Neatly done:-)

[dustbunny105]

Why, thank you :)

[scfrankles]

This is such an interesting moment to focus in on - Irene's first time out in the real world in her "walking-clothes". And an insightful reminder from you that the associated "freedom" she refers to in SCAN is really an escape from other people's expectations and unpleasant behaviour.

[dustbunny105]

Thank you very much! It struck me to wonder what might've prompted her to go out in her "walking-clothes" for the first time and what it might've been like for her. I toyed with the idea of it being a decision based on her own observations of society and curiosity to see if she could get away with it but ended up more interested in the possibility that she was inspired to act by someone misreading her and so turned that misunderstanding to her advantage.

[gardnerhill]

A major bonus to being able to pass in male dress! And I can just imagine the maid, prim and religious, appalled (and jealous) of the libertine for whom she works.

I wrote a short SH story on this very theme myself, featuring a different person's revelation: Bonus.

[dustbunny105]

Ohh, thank you for linking! Such a fun little story, especially the end :D

[gardnerhill]

Thanks yourself!