The Christmas story I promised, just about in time. It’s easier to post a link to it than paste an 11k story into here. :) Here’s the summary, though:

“ It's December and Sherlock, who has developed feelings for his flatmate and is sure they're not reciprocated, is intent on ignoring everything to do with Christmas, including presents. But after Mycroft informs him that John has gone to great lengths to get a special present to say what he can't say, Sherlock decides to try and reciprocate with an equally special present for John, to communicate his feelings. It's not quite that easy, though, getting the perfect gift but Sherlock will try, no matter what it takes, to show John just what he means to him.”

OMG THIS AU!!!!!! YES SO MUCH YES!!!! IS THERE ANY FIC LIKE THIS???

Because I posted the link to the first story here, I thought I ought to post the link to the sequel, too, in time for Valentine’s.

So, I tried replying to @willowgrovecreates kind reply and it...didn’t work. So posting this instead, with the OP being here

Thank you! It’s very sweet of you to try and help me out here :D

I’ve been pondering this for a bit after posting and I think I may have come up with an answer. I was browsing around and came across silhouettes of both Sherlock and John and it kind of clicked.

They were both instantly recognizable and I asked myself ‘Why is that? What makes them so recognizable, even in silhouette? What distinguishes Sherlock? Why is this not Alan Turing or Vincent van Gogh or any other character Benedict has played? Or even any other tall, slim male in dress shoes, a coat and his arm crooked?’

The answer was, of course, that the collar and the bottom of the coat and the curly hair gave it away definitively. The angle of the silhouette didn’t make the scarf visible but it did capture the pose, a bit of a classic one for the character, given promotional material. It wasn’t anyone it could be but Sherlock.

Okay, so far, so good. Now to try and apply the same thing to the silhouette of John. His jumper isn’t visible, nor is his bomber jacket, not clearly. In fact, for all that is visible in the silhouette, he could wear a leather jacket and a pair of baggy tweed trousers. No facial details can be seen and there’s no accessories to be seen.

So, what makes it clear that it’s John and not some random person?

It suddenly clicked, then. it’s his pose that does it. You know it. Arms folded across his chest fairly loosely, body turned three quarters towards the camera, head tilted just so. John doesn’t need something to wear to make him recognizable. He manages that just by force of personality, by a very specific pose.

The fact that Sherlock is more readily recognized by something that he dons rather than something innate can probably be linked to a deeper character analysis but I am not going to try my hand at that. I majored in law and English so I shan’t try and play a tuppenny-ha’penny psychologist. This is just an observation.

All of this, though, doesn’t change the fact that I am still without iconic John-wear. You’re right, Willow, a teapot with a jumper looks silly (my step-gran would beg to differ but she knits cosies with cable-knit and roses on, so…) and the flower in the quills runs the risk of him just looking like a girl in the best Minnie Mouse tradition. What I could do was make another scarf in the colour of the oatmeal jumper and wrap it around his neck, let it tell its own story.

Warm hugs! You're awesome, whatever you decide to do or not to do.

Warm hugs! Do you have to speak, though? Is there a way you can stay more in the sidelines? Perhaps go in at the last minute? If it's a small class and you interact a lot, maybe tell you teacher that you're not feeling too well? You don't have to be social every day Idk if that's helpful at all, please disregard if not! My warmest sympathies in any case! I'll have to teach a class today and I know the feeling. You're not alone and you're loved! Take care of yourself! <3

Right, ‘All Laced Up’ is now all done and written. I’ve sent it to my darling sherlock-and-john-getting-it-on for her to check whether it works or not, so as soon as she has the time to look and say yay or nay, it will be posted. :)

Thank you to the people who liked the snippet I posted, really was a motivator to write more and quickly. :D

Just a small snippet of the story, because I’m evil and anxious at the same time. Yup:

It was full body, of course, and made of a mesh-like lace that gave just enough flexibility in the fabric for him to actually get It on without tearing anything. The pattern was understated but elegant, with swirls in the shape of an S running throughout. Two swirls on the chest would curl around the nipples, partially obscuring them, yet leaving them with just enough on display to titillate. A high neck put emphasis on the length of his throat.

Working his way along in examination, he saw that both sleeves and legs were not only snug, they ended in a triangle that extended over the hand and foot, secured by a ring around the middle finger or toe. The tightness and the fact that it was truly full body gave it a sinuous feel that would fit extremely well with his figure and was very much to his liking.

When he turned it over to inspect the back, he was in for something of a surprise. The majority of it resembled the front, but when it came to the rump...there was none.

That wasn’t quite true, but a good part of it was missing. The hole that had been made was rimmed with lace edging and in the shape of a heart. A strand of lace looped across the middle of it, as well.

It was not a thing that he had in any way specified and he suspected that she might have had a hand in that, but he could not honestly say that he minded. Quite the opposite, in fact.