The Life Preserver
Prologue
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain
"Have you ever even been on a boat before, Sherlock?" John muttered apprehensively, casting his gaze towards the consulting detective turned boat passenger.
"Twice," Sherlock said idly, not looking away from the map he was holding. "Neither times were particularly memorable, nor particularly warranting me stepping foot back onto a ferry."
"So, why then?"
"Because I have a case, John," Sherlock replied curtly, in the tone that clearly stated that he was getting annoyed with John's inane questions.
John rolled his eyes, pacing along the dock.
It wasn't as if he hadn't been on a boat before. He'd been on a boat before. As it seemed to be the case with Sherlock, John hadn't had particularly memorable experiences and he didn't particularly like being on a boat. He wasn't afraid of sailing. He wasn't afraid of the open water. He wasn't afraid of stepping onto a ferry and watching the sights.
However, a ferry was a ferry. It provided little entertainment for people who wanted to keep themselves busy.
On top of dreading the handful of hours that they were going to have to spend on the sea, John was also dreading spending those handful of hours on the sea with Sherlock Holmes.
For a lack of wall to shoot, John figured that Sherlock might start shooting fish if he got bored, which he was likely to do.
"John."
John glanced up, looking back towards Sherlock. "Yeah?"
Sherlock looked down at him absently. Clearly his mind was somewhere else. "Did you bring my violin?"
John stared at him. "Your violin? What- why would I?"
Sherlock's gaze drifted away. "Shame."
"You panic if so much as breathe in the general direction of your precious piece of wood, Sherlock. Why would I bother to bring it?"
"It's not a piece of wood, John!" Sherlock retorted, his full attention suddenly on him again.
John shrugged, holding up his hands. They'd had arguments to this likeness before, about Sherlock's violin; John thought it was all rather funny when Sherlock got bothered over an insult to a violin. Non-sentimental? Yeah, right.
"I suppose your clarinet was just a piece of metal," Sherlock muttered, folding the map back up huffily.
John watched him for a moment before clearing his throat. Sherlock didn't look up. "Sherlock, you're crinkling the map."
Sherlock paused, looking at the map now as though seeing it for the first time. He sniffed and folded the map up neatly before striding away, disappearing into the cabin.
John grinned and, finally deciding to join Sherlock on the ferry, soon followed him thereafter.
Got a very weird idea earlier while half-watching a movie earlier. And, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that it might work. So, welcome to the prologue. It gets better. Won't give away the plot, but there's going to be illness, lots of h/c, quite possibly some angst and very probably some drama. Now what kind of drama, is the question?
Nonetheless, the dolphins have heard that Sherlock will be on the sea and decided that they ought to escape while they can. They said "So long, and thanks for all the fish". [Does anybody get it...? x'D]
Thanks!