Story: "Unbridled Scold" Part 1 of 2
Jan. 4th, 2013 01:34 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis story fills a square on my card for the ![[community profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
kink_bingo fest. This fest encourages people to push the limits of their comfort zone by creating erotica, pr0n, smut, and other sexy stuff in the many flavors of kinky, sensual, and otherwise exotic activities. I'm hoping to attract some new readers for my writing.
The following story belongs to Schrodinger's Heroes, featuring an apocryphal television show supported by an imaginary fandom. It's science fiction about quantum physics and saving the world from alternate dimensions. It features a very mixed cast in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation. This project developed with input from multiple people, and it's open for everyone to play in. You can read more about the background, the characters, and a bunch of assorted content on the menu page.
To see how these characters met, read "THE Woman." See also "Browser History," inspired by comments on "Unbridled Scold."
Fandoms: BBC Sherlock/Original (Schrodinger's Heroes)
Kink: Humiliation (verbal)
Medium: Fiction
Summary/Preview: Mycroft calls Alex to demand the return of Sherlock and John. This is a mistake.
Additional Information: Spoilers for "The Reichenbach Fall" and other episodes. Canonical asexual character (Ash). Canonical woman of color (Ash). Oblique references to abusive and manipulative behavior. Protective!Alex. Hacker!Ash. John and Sherlock are bemused. And haven't we all wanted to tell Mycroft where to get off.
"Unbridled Scold"
John had been anxiously waiting for the axe to fall, for days, because nothing good ever lasted without someone -- usually the same someone -- wrecking it. So when he heard Alex answer the phone, it came almost as a relief.
"Hello, Mycroft," she said, "we've been expecting to hear from you. Running a bit slow this week for some reason?" Her voice was sweet, with a hidden edge, like razor blades in honey. "Oh, of course we knew you'd call. Everyone understands why you feel compelled to meddle in other people's business."
Sherlock scrambled to sit upright on the couch where he had been lounging. He flapped his hands frantically at Alex in a gesture probably meant to convey "Don't antagonize the secret British government," or perhaps "Hang up at once."
"John and Sherlock are both here," Alex said, "they just don't want to talk to you. Frankly I'm not interested in anything you have to say either, but at least this way they don't have to put up with your abuse again. If you really cared about Sherlock, you would not have sabotaged the best relationship he's ever had."
John and Sherlock looked at each other. Abuse? Really? Sure, Mycroft could be a bit high-handed but ...
"Don't you even care that helping Sherlock fake his death damaged his connection with John for months?" Alex put the phone to her shoulder for a moment and said, "Ash, he doesn't get it. Send him the list with the relevant incidents checked off, would you?"
Ash tapped away at her laptop. "Done," she said.
John fiddled with the corners of the magazine he was reading. He'd said a few unkind things about Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock had too. What if Alex and Ash had gone and dug up more ...?
"I don't mind taking care of John and Sherlock. We're friends, and that's what friends are for," Alex said to Mycroft. "I do resent cleaning up after your mess, and I have no intention of letting you anywhere near them ever again, unless they explicitly invite the contact --"
John and Sherlock both shook their heads vigorously.
"-- and that's not happening," Alex said. "I don't stand by and let people hurt my friends. Especially not super-secret government agents with busy noses and delusions of competence. Even a rudimentary intellectual such as yourself should be able to figure that out."
John's eyebrows went up. Sherlock muffled a snicker behind his hand. Funny, yes, but somebody was about to get hurt, and they should probably intervene before it got too serious.
"Well, I wish her luck with Ash's firewalls," Alex said. "Meanwhile, enjoy your bricks." She tossed the phone onto the cushion beside her, then turned to Ash. "How long do you think it'll take him to reach a pay phone?"
"Couple of minutes," Ash said, "longer if he stops for a tantrum first."
"Five," Sherlock said instantly, leaning forward. "What did you do to him? My brother is not someone to trifle with."
"Ash just bricked all the phones in Mycroft's office building," Alex explained. When her phone rang again, she picked it up and said, "Don't be ridiculous, we wouldn't drag innocent bystanders into a petty family squabble. Some people know better than to hang dirty laundry in public. Now stop making effusive threats and agree to leave John and Sherlock alone, before this gets messy."
[To be concluded in Part 2 ...]
kink_bingo fest. This fest encourages people to push the limits of their comfort zone by creating erotica, pr0n, smut, and other sexy stuff in the many flavors of kinky, sensual, and otherwise exotic activities. I'm hoping to attract some new readers for my writing.The following story belongs to Schrodinger's Heroes, featuring an apocryphal television show supported by an imaginary fandom. It's science fiction about quantum physics and saving the world from alternate dimensions. It features a very mixed cast in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation. This project developed with input from multiple people, and it's open for everyone to play in. You can read more about the background, the characters, and a bunch of assorted content on the menu page.
To see how these characters met, read "THE Woman." See also "Browser History," inspired by comments on "Unbridled Scold."
Fandoms: BBC Sherlock/Original (Schrodinger's Heroes)
Kink: Humiliation (verbal)
Medium: Fiction
Summary/Preview: Mycroft calls Alex to demand the return of Sherlock and John. This is a mistake.
Additional Information: Spoilers for "The Reichenbach Fall" and other episodes. Canonical asexual character (Ash). Canonical woman of color (Ash). Oblique references to abusive and manipulative behavior. Protective!Alex. Hacker!Ash. John and Sherlock are bemused. And haven't we all wanted to tell Mycroft where to get off.
"Unbridled Scold"
John had been anxiously waiting for the axe to fall, for days, because nothing good ever lasted without someone -- usually the same someone -- wrecking it. So when he heard Alex answer the phone, it came almost as a relief.
"Hello, Mycroft," she said, "we've been expecting to hear from you. Running a bit slow this week for some reason?" Her voice was sweet, with a hidden edge, like razor blades in honey. "Oh, of course we knew you'd call. Everyone understands why you feel compelled to meddle in other people's business."
Sherlock scrambled to sit upright on the couch where he had been lounging. He flapped his hands frantically at Alex in a gesture probably meant to convey "Don't antagonize the secret British government," or perhaps "Hang up at once."
"John and Sherlock are both here," Alex said, "they just don't want to talk to you. Frankly I'm not interested in anything you have to say either, but at least this way they don't have to put up with your abuse again. If you really cared about Sherlock, you would not have sabotaged the best relationship he's ever had."
John and Sherlock looked at each other. Abuse? Really? Sure, Mycroft could be a bit high-handed but ...
"Don't you even care that helping Sherlock fake his death damaged his connection with John for months?" Alex put the phone to her shoulder for a moment and said, "Ash, he doesn't get it. Send him the list with the relevant incidents checked off, would you?"
Ash tapped away at her laptop. "Done," she said.
John fiddled with the corners of the magazine he was reading. He'd said a few unkind things about Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock had too. What if Alex and Ash had gone and dug up more ...?
"I don't mind taking care of John and Sherlock. We're friends, and that's what friends are for," Alex said to Mycroft. "I do resent cleaning up after your mess, and I have no intention of letting you anywhere near them ever again, unless they explicitly invite the contact --"
John and Sherlock both shook their heads vigorously.
"-- and that's not happening," Alex said. "I don't stand by and let people hurt my friends. Especially not super-secret government agents with busy noses and delusions of competence. Even a rudimentary intellectual such as yourself should be able to figure that out."
John's eyebrows went up. Sherlock muffled a snicker behind his hand. Funny, yes, but somebody was about to get hurt, and they should probably intervene before it got too serious.
"Well, I wish her luck with Ash's firewalls," Alex said. "Meanwhile, enjoy your bricks." She tossed the phone onto the cushion beside her, then turned to Ash. "How long do you think it'll take him to reach a pay phone?"
"Couple of minutes," Ash said, "longer if he stops for a tantrum first."
"Five," Sherlock said instantly, leaning forward. "What did you do to him? My brother is not someone to trifle with."
"Ash just bricked all the phones in Mycroft's office building," Alex explained. When her phone rang again, she picked it up and said, "Don't be ridiculous, we wouldn't drag innocent bystanders into a petty family squabble. Some people know better than to hang dirty laundry in public. Now stop making effusive threats and agree to leave John and Sherlock alone, before this gets messy."
[To be concluded in Part 2 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-04 11:46 am (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-04 06:26 pm (UTC)I'm glad you like this.
>>I've always thought that modern Mycroft was more of an abusive jerk with controlling tendencies than anything. I mean, look at the way he just walks all over privacy laws and so on...<<
It's not just privacy; Sherlock demonstrates that the Holmes family doesn't seem to see those lines. It's the verbal abuse and the manipulation that do more direct damage. Sherlock has perfect confidence in himself but zero in other people, which means nobody ever took him seriously growing up; he routinely expects other people to ignore and mistreat him. And Mycroft also pushed John around badly enough to knock a soldier's danger-sense out of alignment enough for Adler to kidnap him. Not to mention an airplane full of dead people.
This Mycroft is better at manipulating people than Sherlock is ... but I don't think he's smarter. He has an overinflated sense of his own abilities.
>> [and I feel sorry for his secretary/girl Friday, there's probably a reason she escapes into her online world so much.] <<
Watching the series, I just took her for a cyber-native, someone who naturally gravitates toward online reality and only keeps a toehold in meatspace out of obligation.
But in the context of Herolock, it's easy to interpret that in a slightly different direction: there is an old slave's trick of ignoring almost everything and requiring the master to give orders every step of the way. It drives an efficient person nuts ... but a control freak will fall for it every single time, and it's a constant drag on actually accomplishing things. Maximum effort for minimum return, but Mycroft would keep doing it because it feels good.
In this exact context, Anthea probably comes out with most of the collateral damage. She's used to being the most tech-savvy person around. Ash is probably the most tech-savvy person on the planet. Ouchie.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-04 09:09 pm (UTC)Hmm... did you touch on that sort of relationship in any of your works yet? I don't recollect. [I blame the grand clear-up I'm in the middle of, it's taking up most of my brain space organising it.]
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-05 02:50 am (UTC)"Rich Fantasy Lives"
Words by Rob Balder
Music by Tom Smith (play)
(Which I have filked as "Rich Fantasy Lives (In Which I Rob Balder)".)
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-05 03:13 am (UTC)Now you have me imagining that, instead of micromanaging Britain and global affairs, Anthea is playing Farmville and Kingdom of Loathing and downloading porn and writing fanfic.
And Mycroft doesn't know.
I'm never going to be able to unthink that now.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-05 04:01 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-05 04:16 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2013-01-05 06:11 pm (UTC)