"Four Score," July 2023 Holmes Minor Monthly Prompt

[gardnerhill]

Title: Four Score
Author: gardnerhill
Fandom: ACD
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Word Count: 221b
Rating: G
Warning: Unadulterated mush.
Summary: Four separate and very meaningful definitions.
Author's Notes: Written for the July 2023 Holmes Minor monthly prompt, " Score."

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Story on Dreamwidth
Story on AO3



The musicians played the Strauss score flawlessly as the two men swept each other around the room. They could have been by themselves for all the notice they took of the other pairs of men dancing all around them in this Parisian nightclub. They were no longer young but looked forward to welcoming the new century in the prime of life, secure in each others' company.

When they returned to their hotel room afterward, they undressed. Hands mottled and blotched with acid, arms marked with (thankfully) old needle punctures; a puckered ugly bullet-score across a shoulder and another across the thigh. In this room every blemish and gray hair and paunch was laid bare. All either middle-aged man saw was the handsome young chemist and the dashing former soldier they had been those years ago.

Midnight. In lieu of fireworks and boisterous outdoor celebrations held in other countries, the French sensibly observed the New Year with a kiss under mistletoe. Both Englishmen did so. "It's 1901, darling." Sherlock Holmes beamed at the other man. "Twenty years to the day that we were introduced to each other."

Watson's moustache was sprinkled with grey now, but it curled around his own smile as charmingly as ever. "The day Cupid scored his greatest victory. How odd that he should resemble a dresser at Bart's."

Comments

[debriswoman]

An elegant and clever response :-)

[gardnerhill]

Thank you! I like seeing how many definitions of the prompt word I can tuck into my offerings.

[smallhobbit]

A lovely view of their celebration.

[gardnerhill]

Thank you.