A/N: Two oneshots I wrote for tumblr showcasing the brotherly bond between Holmes and Watson. Enjoy!
Once in a Lifetime
There was always something about 221b that redefined the meaning of uniqueness. It was unusual, it did not fit into the work that was detection. The whole of England-nay-the world could have been repeatedly shocked by one Mr. Sherlock Holmes and his legendary adventures, but to say that there wasn't that single, elusive quality of normalcy in that simple apartment would be a lie. For all intents and purposes, this odd feeling that pervaded every nook and cranny of the place was never out of reach of either of the two famous tenants on Baker Street.
The late night dinners, cold, yet welcoming in the aftermath of a cracked case. The pair of gloved hands sliding quietly up the banister so as not to disrupt Mrs. Hudson's gentle snores. Shared smirks of triumph. Rejoicement at safety, comforting words or flicks of fingers, small gestures that meant everything and nothing. These were things that no one ever saw or thought about.
Social norms were volatile, present one second and the next, seemingly gone from the realm of existence. The essence of the vapors that bloomed from the end of Holmes' pipe or the fickle chemical nature of his vast experiments accounted for such. It quantified just how little spoken words meant in comparison to the connection they shared.
Though regular, this resounding peculiarity of 'normal' was not monotony. It was not the endless weeks of boredom, not the Morocco case nor the persian slipper. Loathe as Holmes was to admit it, it was not even a product of Watson's romanticism.
It was home.
The youthful friendship and understanding born of days long past kindled a partnership unprecedented by any other. Time flows and seasons fade, but that singular pact of loyalty between two men of opposing dispositions extended beyond any constraints of the mortal world. That was their definition of glory, their key to success and to each other. It was how they swept the audience of foreign shores off their feet and made the sky fall to its knees.
It was a pact of brotherhood that lasted a lifetime.