Fic: Tomatoes: G

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Title: Tomatoes
Rating: Gen
Length: 221b
Content Notes: Holmes/Watson; retirementlock; library renewal trope
Author's note: We end the month where we always end: Sussex. For the monthly prompt: renewal. Originally a three-sentence comment fic on fffc.


Watson sits.

His smile is as wide as the brim of a straw hat worn all summer long and as warm as the sun that beats down upon the gardener who wears it.

A proud smile, I know it well.

I wore it in the autumn when my hives’ first harvest graced our breakfast table. My offering was a single tiny jar of honey and a bit of comb, but I had not been more delighted in all my days of solving puzzles in London.

And the source of Watson’s pride is decidedly not tiny. They number six, plump red orbs divested of green caps. Their scent tickles my nose most agreeably as they rest cushioned between eggs and sausages and beans and toast on plates aside, yes, the best honey that the best bees in the land have every crafted.

"The full English seems somehow fuller, doesn't it?" says Watson.

Indeed it does.

“How well they turned out,” he continues. “And to think I haven’t been near a garden since I was a child!”

His eyes drift to the bookcase and his expression darkens.

I put my hand over his.

“I have made a donation to the local lending library, Watson. You may keep The Tomato Almanack in perpetuity.”

He sighs. “Good. After seven renewals, I’d been painted a blackguard.”

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Indeed a lovely way to end. And a delightful expansion of the original.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the original prompt! I felt like it deserved a slightly wider scene. It's sort of amazing the turn the prompt took this month took. Lord knows what May will bring: brushing teeth or kite-flying?

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Let's go fly a kite! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g89NxTTycxc)

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Heh, heh. That's fabulous!

[debriswoman]

I do like proud Watson:-)

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Yes, nothing like the pride of a new gardener with his first harvest!

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

That is a perfect ending and a perfect 'b' word ^___^

I love your description of the tomatoes, and the breakfast in general. So vivid.

I also loved your description of Watson's proud smile. And the idea of it as a separate physical entity that can be shared - sometimes Watson wears it, and sometimes Holmes does.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I imagine Watson's not returning a book all summer is quite a scandal in the village. Yes, there's nothing like the pride in a first harvest, something rural bested by two old city blokes :)

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

And thus we wave goodbye to all the fabulous library fic this month has graced us with!

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

Yes, thanks for starting us on the journey!