Author's Note:
Sorry about the wait. Not the greatest week. Anyhow, enjoy! (And if anyone else would be so kind as to review number 5? C'mon, it can't have been that terrible! ;D)
To my reviewer:
Shizuku Tsukishima749: Heh-heh, thank you, darling, although I think you got a leetle bit confused… *sheepish smile* (Biggest thing: you called Moriarty "Wiggins"…) What was going on with Holmes and Watson's chair, well: it was the original Watson's chair that Moriarty was sitting in. I'd imagine Holmes would have an emotional difficulty in seeing anyone, Moriarty especially, in that chair.
==5. A Gentleman Out of His Time==
Rating: T
Summary: Lestrade reflects on Holmes's chivalry. She likes it.
Pairing(s): possibly very slight H/L
Warnings: none
Word Count: 384
He pulled out the chair for me again. We were at a restaurant for lunch today, and he pulled the chair out for me again. Never mind that no other man on the planet pulls out chairs for women these days—Sherlock Holmes is Victorian, born and bred, and he couldn't stop being a gentleman if his life depended on it. I don't think it would ever occur to him not to act that way.
He holds the door open for me, too, when we come across old-fashioned doors with knobs or handles.
It's nice, in a weird kind of way. Like I said, nobody does that, anymore; nobody, that is, except for the Great Detective. But for all his professed dislike of women in the Canon (according to the original Dr. Watson, at any rate), he treats women with courtesy and respect. His attitude towards me is a bit different—we work together, after all—but he still pulls out chairs and opens doors.
It makes me feel special, even though he does it for other women, too. Victorian women couldn't do a fraction of the things women are allowed to do today, but, when I see Holmes being a gentleman, I can't help but think that maybe we females lost something with equal treatment, that there was a tradeoff. That we stepped down from our pedestal, of our own freewill, and now we can't get back up onto it.
Not unless someone like Holmes helps us back up.
I watch him when he sees something that's purely modern, very much beyond his time. He hates the modern state of, well, undress, and he very much disapproves of the way other men treat women like equals or like inferiors. Let me clarify that: he doesn't hold for women being treated equal to men—he holds that women should be treated above equal. Not that we should be treated like goddesses or anything, waited on hand and foot, but that we should be handled with gentleness and respect.
Yes, he really is like a knight in shining armor. Seriously now.
For all his sarcasm and arrogance, he can really be sweet, sometimes. I've seen him make street girls feel like ladies. He makes me feel like a lady, every now and then.
It's nice.
Author's Note:
My thoughts exactly, Beth. =) Btw, if you think I'm going overboard with chivalrous!Holmes, I swear I'm not. Just take a look at how he treats female clients, and compare that to how he treats male clients. Watson may be more attracted to the fairer sex, but I'm afraid Holmes has his own moments and that Watson is not the only chivalrous man in the partnership. Thanks go to Steven Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (fantastic book—go buy it! very much worth the money!) for drawing my attention to these interesting tidbits.
Next Monday, another Lestrade piece—this time, about Moriarty, Star Trek, Holmes, and sci-fi. Stay tuned!
Please review!
