Pretty major spoilers for Sherlock s3x02 and x03

[clever_boy]

I was a Good Dog.

I had a soft Coat and a cold Nose. My Tail was long and my Paws were steady. I almost never had Fleas. I almost always ate from my own Dish and not People Food at the Table.

I was a Clever Dog. I knew many Tricks. I could Sit Up and Beg and Come. I knew that Bang means fall down and show my Belly because it will get rubbed. I knew how to Point and how to find Dead Things and Rabbit Holes.

I had Good Humans. They all loved me. Mummy loved me, and Dad, and Mycroft and all the others. But the best was my Master. That is what a Master is for: to be loved best of all by a Dog.

We were Pups together. Master was very, very Clever. He knew more Tricks than I could ever know. Still I protected him. I showed my Teeth to Boys who barked at him too loud. I made sure he did not sleep alone. When he was sad I cleaned the salt off his face. We had Adventures. He gave me bits of Sausage. And he loved me, even when Mummy said I was a Bad Dog.

We got older together. Except he got stronger, and began to become a Man, and I got Sick. It was hard to eat. My Legs were stiff. I couldn't go on Adventures anymore. I had to eat medicine, but sometimes it didn't help. After a while I couldn't even eat that anymore.

Dad said I had to be Put Down.

Master held me, and he was so sad, so much sadder than he had ever been. I tried to clean the salt off his face but it just kept coming. Then there was a sting, and I fell asleep.

I live in a Palace now. I have my own Room. It smells good and I am strong enough to run, and I remember all my Tricks. Master is nearby, always, though I do not see him. I know he keeps me here. He keeps other things, too. Facts and Numbers and Tricks and things I don't understand.

(Deep down, far far below me, he keeps a Man who smells like Fear and Blood.)

He doesn't visit me often. But I'm never sad. I know we will see each other. He comes to me when he is hurt, and sometimes when he sleeps, and I am always here. I will never leave him. This is the first Duty of all Dogs, which we are born knowing and which we hold most dear even when our Bodies are only Bones. We cannot talk to our Humans, but the Clever ones will figure it out, and though Master is very busy he is very, very Clever. He will figure it out.

A Good Dog does not die.

A Good Dog Stays.

Comments

[womanwhobeatyou]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Even his dog has to have the last word.

((ooc: That was lovely, btw))

[clever_boy]

You're the Woman! You have a Room here too. I'm not allowed to go in. But it's all right. I know he still loves me best.



((ooc: thank you! <3))

[womanwhobeatyou]

[She laughs, and reaches down to scratch him behind the ears with long nailed fingers. Redbeard may not be allowed into her wing of Sherlock's mind palace, but she walks it with impunity. He's never been able to stop her worming her way into places she shouldn't be, after all.]

Of all the things he keeps here, you really are the most interesting.

[clever_boy]

[Oh, he loves having his ears scratched. He presses into her hand, sniffing and then licking at her wrist, long tail wagging.]

I am very Clever! I remember all my Tricks!

[He lifts his head to give her an eager, open-mouthed grin.]

[womanwhobeatyou]

Let's see those tricks.

[She says with a smile and produces a familiar looking ball. It may or may not be the one Sherlock claims to have used to stop his pulse when he fell from St. Bart's. Irene bounces it twice. She offers it to him to sniff before tossing it down the hall.]

[seesobserves]

Yes, surely that was the point.

[Whoops, someone's prickly.]

[womanwhobeatyou]

[Smiiiiiiiiirk.]

Oh there are plenty of points to be made here. Would you rather I chose the one about how of all the things you keep in here, your childhood dog is one in all his vivid detail?

[seesobserves]

Don't suppose there's any stopping you.

[clever_boy]

Master! You're here!

[Prickly or not, Redbeard's ecstatic to see you, Sherlock.]

[womanwhobeatyou]

Tsk tsk. Resigned to your inevitable fate already?

[myblogwonabafta]

Thank you.

For being there for him.

[clever_boy]

A Good Dog never leaves a Master who loves him. Because a Good Dog is a Friend.

We help to clean off the salt. You too.

[myblogwonabafta]

Yes. Well. Perhaps not in the same way, but...

Yes. I'm his friend.

[clever_boy]

Then you are Good, and will Stay with Master too. Like me. If he loves us, we Stay. And he loves us very much.

[myblogwonabafta]

You have a very direct way of putting things, Redbeard. It's refreshing.

[highfunctioning_sociopath]

[Excuse Sherlock and his writer as they cry reading these thoughts. The writer had to 'bridge' a pup 1.5 years ago.]

[Sherlock's tears are more grateful and almost happy. He kneels down and calls to his beloved pup.]

Redbeard. Come here, boy.

[clever_boy]

Master!

[Redbeard knows that command best. He bounds over, mouth stretching into a huge dog grin, ears flopping. If Master is sad he'll make it better; if Master is happy he'll share in it. Always.]

[Mun's had a fair share of pet goodbyes on this end too, and offers hugs.]

This was brilliantly written, thank you! Also, I don't have redbeard icons yet - still spoilery

[highfunctioning_sociopath]

[And that makes Sherlock beam - this visit is much better than last time he came here. Dying was an experience he would like to not experience again for a good long while.]

Hello, boy.

[He scratches behind Redbeard's ears in just that spot.]

Good boy!

[And if it goes from scratching into a hug, well who would ever deny that from either a boy or his beloved pet?]

fghksiwf thank you <3

[clever_boy]

[Oh, he is so grateful that Sherlock knows where to pet him, so happy to be near that familiar presence. And even though they're no longer quite the right sizes for Redbeard to knock him over, well, he's not staying at a polite distance.]

Yes! Yes, I am a Good Boy. And I love you. See how well I Stayed? Just like you taught me!

[highfunctioning_sociopath]

Yes. You did very, very well! I am very pleased to see you, Redbeard.

[Sherlock reaches into his pocket - he's pulling out a bit of sausage.]

I have a treat. Do you want a treat?

[Sherlock gives a look of expectation.]

You must sit.

[Because with the Holmes family, of course Redbeard would understand full sentences.]

[you_dont_work_alone]

A dog? Perhaps Sherlock could use a dog.

Not that I mean you're replaceable! I just mean a companion might be good.

[clever_boy]

He is a Good Master. Everyone should love him.

Do they not?

[you_dont_work_alone]

Oh, um, yes, of course they do!

[He can't tell the dog.]

[clever_boy]

Good! I will love him best always, but I know the other Humans loved him too. And some of the ones who live here in the Palace with me.

[He wouldn't really believe it anyway. Disillusionment is slightly too complex for his dog brain.]

[you_dont_work_alone]

[That makes John smile.]

His friends love him very much.