As always, dedicated to my dear Sherlock ADD buddy. People dressed in tree costumes chasing other people down the street are the best. XD
DAY SEVEN CHALLENGE: COSPLAYING
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
It was for a case.
Well, of course it was. Sherlock never would have done anything so ridiculous for any other reason.
And honestly, it was ridiculous. Dressing up and acting like your favorite fictional characters? Didn't these people who "cosplayed", as they called it, have anything better to do? Sherlock certainly did. Experiments to perform, crimes to solve, things to deduce, people to piss off... He was a busy man.
If it hadn't been for the case, Sherlock never even would have known what cosplaying was. A serial killer was traversing the UK, going to conventions, selecting victims and killing them. The only thing the victims had in common is that they were all cosplaying at the time. Other than that, there were no similarities between them- some were teenagers, some were in their forties and fifties, some where male and some where female- there wasn't even any correlating ethnicities. They all just appeared to be random victims of a killer.
The police were baffled. They usually were, of course, but even more so than usual now. Sherlock was called in. He immediately knew a lit of information about the killer, but had no idea who it was. It was the that Sherlock had the brilliant idea of going undercover as cosplayers. Not that he wanted to, of course, but it was the quickest way to find the murderer. Which was how they found themselves in this mess.
Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect.
John had thought it was a perfectly good thing to cosplay as, if they were going to have to- no elaborate get-up, no complicated explanations required, and best of all, the only description ever given of the two in the books was that Arthur wore a bathrobe and Ford had wiry ginger hair brushed back from the temples and slightly too-wide smile, which often gave the impression he was about to go in for the neck. There were other minor details, of course, but those were the main things. John could be Arthur, Sherlock Ford.
It should have been simple.
Sherlock had a conniption fit when he saw the wig.
"NO, John, I am NOT wearing that monstrosity!"
"Sherlock, it's just a bloody wig! Not like it's anything elaborate or something like that. Just try it on!"
"NO!" came the indignified, if slightly muffled, response. Sherlock was currently laying face down on the couch as if to hide from the wig currently in John's hands. John sighed, and set down the wig. "Sherlock, you don't have to wear it if you don't want to. I just got it to help improve the accuracy of your costume." He put his fingers to the bridge if his nose, and sat down on his chair. "I'm just as unenthusiastic about this as you are."
"Really? Are you really, John? Because it seems as if-"
"Yes, Sherlock, I am. May I remind you, this was your idea. You were the one that said it was the fastest way to get to the murderer."
"And it is. But I am doing it with great reluctance. You, on the other hand, seem to be enjoying this."
"Well, believe me, Sherlock, I'm not. The convention's tomorrow. Hopefully we can go there, no one will recognize us, we'll catch the murderer, and we can go home and put this behind us." Standing up, he walked over to where Sherlock was laying on the couch. Bending over, he turned the grumpy detective over and placed kiss on his still-frowning lips. "I'm going to bed. We can figure this out in the morning. Come on, Sher." He pulled on the detective's arm and dragged him to bed.
"NO, JOHN!"
"Dammit, Sherlock! Just put on the tie!"
"No! This is ridiculous! I'm already-"
"Put. It. On." John's voice came out low and dangerous as he spoke through his teeth. Sherlock's eyes widened as the doctor grabbed him from behind and wrapped the scarf around his neck. Spluttering, he turned around so John could tie it without strangling him. Once the knot had been tied (a little more forcefully than necessary), Sherlock growled at John. John smiled in return. "Now see," he said, "that wasn't so bad now, was it?" He pulled the grumpy detective down for a kiss.
Sherlock examined his lover as he pulled away. John's hair, normally neatly combed, was unbrushed, and he currently had quite the bedhead. He was still in his pyjamas and had a green bathrobe on. Sherlock felt uncomfortable. He his normal dress pants and shirt on, but the strange vest and tie were new additions. That, and John had insisted that if he wouldn't wear the wig he brush his hair back. In short, neither of them looked like themselves. Sherlock supposed that was rather the point, but it didn't make him any more comfortable.
As they left the flat and hailed a cab, Sherlock almost prayed that the cabbie that picked them up would be someone who didn't recognize them. He groaned as the cabbie that picked them up most regularly pulled up. "Sherlock, John," he greeted them with a nod. He then choked when he saw what they were wearing. "'Scuse me for asking, but what the 'ell are you wearing?" he asked, laughing. Sherlock seethed while John pulled out cash. "We'll give you extra if you don't mention this to anyone," he said, blushing furiously. The cabbie, still laughing, waved them in. "Of course, of course."
Sherlock was considering murdering the murderer when he found him. Sure, disguising themselves had been his idea, but he was beginning to seriously regret even taking the case. Groaning, he leaned his head back into the seat and hoped they caught the killer quickly.
They had managed to make it into the convention without incidence. No one recognized them, which Sherlock and John were eternally grateful for. Once they were inside, they actually began to relax a little. A lot of people were also cosplaying, so they didn't stand out. Some people even complimented them. Sherlock and John were in their element. Sure, they were dressed strangely, in the middle of a convention, but this was what they did best- catching criminals and solving crimes.
And the criminal was proving very difficult to catch. Even Sherlock and his amazing deductive skills couldn't find anyone who looked like he (or she, but really, a male was statistically more likely) might be a murderer. He narrowed the list down some, though.
He had begun to question some people who he assumed were dressed as characters from some classic fantasy book series (Lord of the Rings, he'd thought he'd heard John say- whatever that meant) when he saw them.
And "they" were Sergeants Anderson and Donovan.
Who were also cosplaying.
And dressed in Star Fleet uniforms.
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, but probably only lasted a few seconds. Sherlock, for once in his life, felt his mind go blank from shock. Sally's mouth was wide open with shock and Anderson's eyes seemed as if they would pop out of his skull.
Sherlock regained his ability to speak a few seconds after, and strode over to meet them. John, still slightly shocked, followed shortly behind.
"Anderson. Fancy seeing you here. And Sally, please do close your mouth. You'll catch flies."
Sally shut her mouth with a snap. "What do you want, freak?" Anderson growled. Sherlock grinned smugly. "We're here for a case- you know, catching a murderer and all. A case, if I remember correctly, you two are both on. Pray tell, what are you doing here?"
"Listen," Anderson sneered, "What exactly are you implying?"
"Oh, nothing really. I'm sure the others at the yard would be thrilled to know about this little hobby of yours, however."
Anderson appeared to be too furious for words. Sally, however, finally spoke up. "Fine. Fine. You know what? You can threaten us all you want, but you don't realize that most of the yard already knows. And guess what? They don't care. That's right. They. Don't. Care. Some of them even come with us sometimes. I think that they'd love to hear about you, though."
Sherlock was now audibly growling. John, sensing how quickly this situation was going downhill, and interrupted before things could get any more out of hand.
"Oi! All of you! Shut up and listen!"
They all bit their tongues and turned their heads to look at the army doctor. He seemed to emanate a certain force which made it impossible for them to turn away.
"Right. Now, we're here to catch a murderer. I don't know why you two are here, but I'm going to assume that you are here for the same reason. Since all four of us are here, why don't we try to find him and then we can go our separate ways, and never mention this again. Agreed?"
Sherlock was about to protest when he saw the look on John's face. Grudgingly, he muttered through his teeth, "Agreed." Anderson and Sally did the same.
John smiled, stepped back, and clapped his hands. "Now, have you seen anyone suspicious while you've been here?"
Catching the killer didn't take too long afterwards. Sherlock spotted him growing closer and closer to the four of them. He silently pointed him out to the other three, and then led the group to a place where they could easily capture the killer.
The people at the convention would speak for years about the time Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Lieutenant Uhura, and Captain Kirk all arrested a murderer at the same time. And the YouTube video got hundreds of thousands of hits.
Sherlock and John enjoyed a well deserved laugh on the way back to 221B. The excitement eventually died down, and they were back to lounging around lazily, John typing up a blog post about their adventure and Sherlock reading the personals of a woman's magazine. Suddenly, Sherlock turned his head towards John.
"John?"
"Yes?" John looked up from his typing to look at the detective.
"Today was a success." No hesitation in his voice, just straight up facts.
"Yes, I would say so. Why?" John leaned back, putting his hands behind his head and stretching his back, before yawning and looking at the detective again.
"Say another case like this ever came up again..."
John raised an eyebrow.
"How would you feel about going as characters from those Bond movies you made me watch?"
John laughed and stood up. He placed a kiss on the top of Sherlock's curly head. "That would be absolutely fine. I love you, you know."
"But it would only be for a case. Of course."
John sat down next to the detective, smiling and wrapping a hand around his middle.
"Of course."
They had a "case" similar to that one once a year from then on.
A/N: Heyyy! I'm not gonna lie, this chapter was an absolute BITCH to write. I literally started and scrapped three different stories for this prompt before I started this one. I thought I had a plan. And then I discovered I didn't. Then I tried filling Star Trekker 13's suggestion, which was for a nearby cinema to be having a Bond night, and Sherlock and John go dressed as Bond characters. This is a brilliant prompt, but I quickly realized it couldn't be filled by me... mostly because I've never actually seen any James Bond movies. I still managed to find a way to include it, though. I'm sorry I couldn't fill it any more than that.
Anyways, again, this challenge was HELL for me to write. Not only did I struggle with writer's block all day (it took me all day to write this), but I had to fight to keep the characters in-character (still not entirely sure how well I succeeded) and make this not so... weird and boring to read. Hopefully tomorrow's should be easier to write. I'm sorry if this sucks and you hate it. I hope I didn't ruin this story for you with this chapter.
Also, I have decided to post my plans for the next 23 days, more or less (these are subject to change). Here you go.
08 - Shopping
09 - Hanging out with friends
10 - With animal ears
11 - ? (I didn't like this day's challenge, and have yet to come up with a replacement. Actually, if anyone has any suggestions... please tell me. I need a prompt for this.)
12 - Making out
13 - Eating icecream
14 - Genderswapped
15 - In a different clothing style
16 - During their morning ritual(s)
17 - Spooning
18 - Doing something together
19 - In formal wear
20 - Dancing
21 - Cooking/baking
22 - In battle, side-by-side
23 - Arguing
24 - Making up afterwards
25 - Celebrating Christmas
26 - Gazing into each other's eyes
27 - On one of their birthdays
28 - Doing something ridiculous
29 - Doing something sweet
30 - Getting married
So, yeah. If any of those prompts don't appeal to you, just don't read on those days.
And holy crap, you guys! It's been one week since I started this fic, but it feels like forever. I can't thank all of you enough for reading this. Your support means so much, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
I still am listening to Hug Air A' Bhonaid Mhoir. Seriously, that song is so catchy and addicting.
Please, please, pleeeaassseeee leave me a review! I'll love you forever if you do. *puppy eyes* pleeeaaassseee? They are to me what triple homicides and John wrapped up in a fuzzy jumper are to Sherlock- beautiful and amazing and all that is good in life.
*pleading intensifies*
Thank you so much!
To another week's worth of stories. *raises toast*
Goodnight (or good morning)!
Also, one last thing. I hope I didn't offend anyone with the cosplaying jokes I threw around in this fic. I cosplay myself, and I was careful to not include anything people might take offense to, but just in case I failed- I'm sorry. I still love you all.
Love, RainyDays-and-DayDreams
*aggressively headbangs to classical music* *hits head on wall accidently*
