johnlockchallenges on tumblr is a godsend. Just saying. They just started, but they are doing a phenomenal job of motivating me. This month's gift exchange has me writing a topic I've never written before, you'll see it in about a month, and this month's challenge gave me this idea. Out of five prompts, I used thunderstorm, pyjamas, and counting. This is what came about. It starts of kid!lock and then evolves into present-day Johnlock.
Title- Heroes Can Weather Any Storm
Author- Phoenix Foxfire
Rating- K
John lay awake in bed next to Sherlock. The boy had been invited to have a sleepover at the Holmes Mansion, but the night was not turning out as he expected. There was a thunderstorm raging outside, and six-year-old John just did not like thunderstorms.
No, no, he most definitely was not scared.
Flash!Crack!
John jumped. Alright, maybe he was a little bit scared.
The small blonde sat up in bed, pulling his pyjama-clad knees up to his chest and hugging them tightly. Sherlock, sensing the movement, woke up.
"John? What's wrong?" he asked.
John didn't answer. He merely buried his face into his knees as the next roaring boom! sounded.
"John, are you frightened?" Sherlock asked with a slight grin on his lips, amused at his friend's antics.
John shook his head, lifting it from his knees, but another crash of thunder made him jump, hunching his shoulders as if it would protect him.
"Hunched shoulders, curled up in a ball, shaking body, not even speaking. Oh, John, you are frightened."
John turned his head to glare at his friend. "Fine. I'm scared."
Sherlock giggled, but his expression turned to one of concern as thunder sounded once again and tears threatened to spill from John's eyes. Quickly he sat up, reaching out towards his friend to pull the boy into a tight embrace. Trying to comfort the blonde, he began to talk.
"Here, John, I know a way to find out how far away a thunderstorm is," he said.
John looked up at Sherlock. "You do?"
"Yes," the curly-haired boy replied. "It's quite simple, really. First, you watch for lightening. Then, once you see it, you start counting the seconds. For every five seconds you count, the storm is one mile away. This way, we can tell when the storm is leaving."
John gulped a little bit before saying, "Ok."
Just then, a bolt of lightening flashed. Sherlock hadn't even finished counting the first second when thunder immediately followed. John jumped again.
"That means the storm is right here!" He began to cry a bit, even more frightened than before.
"John, I'm right here, don't worry. It can't harm you."
John merely wrapped his arms around his friend, squeezing his eyes shut tight.
After a few moments, there was another flash of lightening. Sherlock counted.
"One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand-" Crack!
"See?" he said to John. "It's getting a little bit further away already."
John merely nodded his head, arms still clenched tightly around Sherlock.
Another bolt of lightening, and Sherlock got all the way to five this time, drumming his fingers in time with his counting on John's back.
"It's already a mile away, John. That's not so bad, right?"
"No…" came the reply in a small voice.
At the next flash of lightening, John began counting softly with Sherlock. Eventually it got to the point where the thunder became a dull drumbeat, and then they couldn't hear it at all.
"It's gone, John," Sherlock said, releasing his other boy looked at him for a moment before leaning over and kissing him lightly on the cheek.
"Thank you, Sherlock. You're my hero," John said.
As they both lay down to sleep, little Sherlock was glad that the dark of the room hid his blush.
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Years later, John was sitting in his armchair at 221B Baker St. while Sherlock worked on an experiment in the kitchen. There was a thunderstorm raging outside, although neither man paid any heed to it.
Suddenly, Sherlock stopped as he remembered a sleepover from many years before. He walked over to John, wrapping his arms around his partner's neck from behind. John relaxed into the embrace, nuzzling his cheek against Sherlock's.
"What is it, love?" he asked.
"Do you remember when you were afraid of storms, John?"
John chuckled. "Yes I do. You always helped me through them. We would count the seconds to see how far away it was. You were my hero."
Sherlock kissed John lightly before the other man pulled back, looking him in the eyes.
"You still are, actually," John said with a soft smile gracing his features.
Sherlock smiled back before kissing John again, and both men knew that no matter how hard the storm raged, they could weather it together.
*finis*