bakerstreet | The Family Meme

The Family Meme

The FAMILY Meme

How does it work? Simple! Choose a relationship (or roll for one, if it suits your fancy), and then RNG for a situation! That, or just go straight for whatever situation appeals to you. These are all fairly vague: just something to start you off!

Parent-Child

     1. Rock-a-Bye How do you get a fussy child to sleep? Read them a story, sing them a lullaby, or just let them stay up until they exhaust themselves? Whatever the choice, it is time for bed.

     2. For The First Time You've never met this person in your life, but it turns out they're one of the two reasons you exist. Maybe they walked out when you were young. Maybe they never knew you were born. Whatever the reason, it is now time to meet them.

     3. Past Midnight That curfew was set for a reason. Now it's two AM, and your kid is just now dragging in. Maybe they're drunk. Or got into a fight. Or just had way too much fun snogging their new love interest. It's time for them to face the music.

     4. New Home It's the first day of your new life together, as parent and child. Whether it's through adoption, a basket on the front steps, or a wish come true, both of you are going to have to learn to take your steps together.

     5. Holiday It could be Christmas, Easter, or just a birthday, but it is time to celebrate! Get together for some good old-fashioned family fun.

     6.Take To Work Day What your parents do for a living is the quickest thing that can turn a kid from boring to the coolest on the block. So whatever the job, from accountant to zookeeper, go to work!

     7. You're Not My Real Dad Being a step-parent (or step-child, for that matter) can be tough. Problem is, you're stuck with each other. So whether you're yelling or just having an awkward conversation, it is time to work things out.

     8. Unexpected Guardian So you're not the parenting type. Too bad. Situation calls for someone to step up to the plate and look out for this kid, and you're the only one near base. Have fun with that.

Siblings

     1. Protective Big Sibling Okay, look. No one gets to mess with your sibling but you. Your little brother or sister is in trouble; let them know you're going to be the one to take care of it.

     2. Ruining The Night So your sibling has a hot date. You know what that calls for? Making their lives a living hell.

     3. Newcomer Who is this new kid in your house? Your family has adopted, and now you have to call this stranger family. Welcome them into the house, or let them know how much they aren't wanted.

     4. Blood Brothers So maybe you aren't really related to this person. That doesn't matter. You're going to change that, right now. In this moment, you will become family. Nothing can break this bond.

     5. Middle of the Night It's the middle of the night. Your car is broken down, or you're drunk, or you need bailed out, or you just got beat up, or someone just broke up with you. Whatever just happened, it's time to call your sibling and hope they can bail you out.

     6. Sibling Rivalry Nobody understands what jerks siblings can be! Always in your stuff, messing up your relationships, getting in your way -- it's time for an all out brawl, whether that means yelling, pranking, or fists flying.

     7. Long-Lost Maybe you've heard of this person. Or maybe they are entirely new to you. However, you've gotten the information that you're more than strangers: you're family. Welcome to each other's lives.

     8. All Alone Once your family was whole. Or maybe it never truly was. Whatever the case, the world is a big, dangerous place, and you've only got one person left to rely on: your sibling.

Uncle/Aunt-Niece/Nephew

     1. Sent Away There's something bad going on at home, and you've been sent away to "safety." Problem is, how safe is this relative really? Are they the kooky, cool kind of Aunt, or are they a crazed Uncle after your fortune? Time to find out.

     2. Taking You In Something's happened to your niece/nephew's parents, and it's time to step up and do your family duty. They've got nowhere else to go, after all.

     3. The One We Don't Talk About So maybe the family is a little bit...ashamed of you. You're a bit mad, or you've done something they just don't like. Yet you want to be part of your niece/nephew's life, and whatever their parents say, you'll find a way.

     4. Grand Adventure Maybe you came out of nowhere, or maybe you've just been keeping secrets. But you aren't an ordinary aunt/uncle, and it's time to take your niece or nephew on a very wild ride.

     5. Like A Parent To Me Sure, you have parents, but this person is who your parents should be like -- or maybe who you feel should be your parent in the first place. Let them know how you feel about them.

     6. Don't Tell Mom Aunts and Uncles have special qualities. Like, sometimes, being a bit more lenient than Mom and Dad might be. So you have a, er, sensitive problem? It's time to run to them.

In A Relationship

     1. New Baby On The Way The panicking is already over, but there are still preparations to be made. Maybe you need to set up the nursery, or you've got the best idea for your soon-to-be child's name.

     2. Romeo & Juliet You love this person. Perhaps more than life itself. But it is time to break the bad news: your family will never approve.

     3. I Think I Might Be Pregnant Somehow, you are pregnant. And you think you know who the father is...time to break the news.

     4. While You Were Away You've been gone years, only to come back and find your beloved has a child...with your eyes.

Other
     Of course, you are free to make up your own scenario, or do a relationship not done here! "

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

((OOC: Oh god why))

[Irene leads a very complicated life, but certain things about her, Mycroft finds, are rather predictable. One, she can't stay out of trouble, and two, when things get a little hot to handle she and Arthur end up at Baker Street.

Since he doesn't get to see enough of his nephew, when news of a major jewel heist in the east filters into his office in mid-December later that year, he heads over to Sherlock and John's in the early, early morning and lets himself in. The household, minus the child, are still asleep.

He puts on toast, cocoa and settles down to help pour through the I Spy book of Christmas pictures. The book is only barely a match for Arthur, and only thanks to his age, it won't be the remotest bit of distraction for long, but it is sparking a rather interesting conversation about Christmas trees and what goes on them, and other holiday traditions. In particular, Mycroft is listening patiently to a dramatic retelling of Arthur's understanding of the story of the Nutcracker, between sips of his own tea.]

[Baker Street is a constant in a life severely lacking in constants. And the late Irene Adler is both intelligent and sentimental enough to recognize that the boy could benefit from a little consistancy.

The fact that said consistency inevitably came with a side of ugly jumpers was a price Arthur could pay when he got older.

The boy, is, in fact, wearing an absolutely garish Christmas jumper with a blinking red reindeer nose as he relates to Mycroft the battle between Clara and the Rat King for the Nutcracker Prince (with a rambling aside speculating on the cause of the Rat King's limp). Irene isn't certain yet whether the housekeeper or John Watson is to blame, but she's certain it's one of them.

She smiles inwardly at Arthur's reinterpretation of the ballet as she enters the living room, Sherlock's best dressing gown belted around her waist.]

A few months ago he was trying to figure out the best way to fit that book into his mouth.

And now, all we need to do is find a 'nutty brown mouse' and this page will be won for the ages.

[Mycroft informs her, dropping down to press a kiss to the top of his chattering nephew's head. The jumper is ghastly, true, and Mycroft rather fears his own version is waiting under the tree this year, courtesy of Mrs Hudson, but he can fight that battle the morning of the 25th.]

Precocious child. You'll have your hands full when he becomes a teenager. I'm not sure whether Sherlock or I were worse, from the perspective of a mother.

[She studies Mycroft for a moment, then glances down at her son. She's sentimental, yes, but there's also a very real sense of curiosity about what the boy currently scouring the book's colourful pages would become in a few years.

Her own trouble making tendencies, after all, had begun young. And been spectacular.]

That's one case in which ignorance is very much bliss, if mine were any judge. Good thing boarding school headmasters have no shortage of that. [She's fully aware that when the boy is older that boarding school will have to be the solution. Sometimes, she's almost relieved.]

Don't worry, Arthur, we'll teach you how to fight before that happens. Like Clara with the Rat King.

[He promises, wishing very much he could spare him the pains of that part of the world. Boarding school is not good to strange young men, especially not ones like Sherlock, and Mycroft only marginally less so.]

I hope you know that any institution that interests you will, of course, find whatever space in their classrooms or scholarships as might be necessary.

[Mycroft will see to that.]

[The prospect of learning to fight is enough to draw Arthur's gleeful attention away from the book, and, at least for the moment, Mycroft Holmes is the boy's favourite person in the world. This impression no doubt reinforced by his mother's muttered sigh about boys and fists.

Of course, by the time the boy is old enough to be sent off to boarding school, the odds that he's learned from his mother all the means of finding his own protection are very very high.

The tacit, almost delicately put offer provokes a smile from Irene.]

Why do you think I'm mentioning it now? There's going to be a lot of colourful history to gloss over, Mr. Holmes.

[Mycroft delicately steers him to the mouse, and then flips the page on over. An entirely new series of objects and clues to find. He reads out for him;]

I spy a clock, a bumpy green pickle, Santa on a sleigh and a face on a nickel; a frog on a leaf, a chubby teddy bear, black and white keys and a yellow-red pear.

[This page is a lush spread of ornaments, a little more shadowed than the other pages, a tiny bit more challenging.]

Anything either of you need will be arranged.

[No, not just Arthur. He isn't petty enough that the boy's future will be put in a trust not for his mother to touch until his eighteenth birthday. She has proven perfectly capable of providing for him all along, but Mycroft thinks she ought to know what precisely is at their disposal.]

[Arthur's expression is torn in the way that only the young and innocent can be, between the prospect of doing something adventurous that his mother clearly disapproves of and that of a brand new puzzle to solve.

It's a hint of things to come, no doubt.

Irene does look surprised at the offer, but she hides it behind a raised eyebrow, behind the expression of arch amusement that irritates Sherlock so much.]

Clearly shouldn't have gone after royalty last time.

[Not that she'd accept that now. She doesn't need it, not yet. But it was good to have the knowledge that she and Arthur will have that protection when they needed it. There's no if about that.]

And what, gone directly after Sherlock? That might not have been particularly effective.

[He reminds her. She knows his brother better than most; he responds to puzzles much better than he responds to seduction. She'd gotten so far under his skin because she'd been so difficult.]

[That makes her laugh. And Irene slips into the kitchen for a cup of tea. Taking his mother's laughter as a change in approval, Arthur turns his attention back to the puzzle, jabbing his fingers at the mentioned teddy bear almost immediately.

She returns with the cup of tea and a piece of buttered toast that she hands Arthur before taking a seat. There's something surprisingly frank in her voice despite the amusement that lurks under the surface.]

If I were still after blackmail? Hardly. I'd go after you.

[The 'if' is genuine. Things have become far too complicated for something as simple as blackmail now.]

[Mycroft's turn to snort, and to glance up at her in amusement. Aside from her being his brother's- well, whatever on earth she is, ergo completely off limits. But that is enough to make him laugh.]

No, my dear, I'm quite sure that wouldn't have been entirely successful.

[Ruffling his nephew's hair again, moving the book out of crumb-range.]

[They are The Consulting Detective and The Woman. Any other description would be too simplistic.

Irene doesn't bother correcting him. Blackmail was no longer on the table, no matter what form it took. And they all needed their little fictions. One of Irene's was that she could choose not to come back every time she left Baker Street. Just like one of Sherlock's was that he wasn't expecting her.

Still, she will agree on one thing.]

Wouldn't have been near as interesting. [Arthur is examining his toast with the sort of concentration most adults applied to mathematical problems, and Irene sips at her tea.] The question is, Mr. Holmes, who is this Aunt Agnes I keep hearing John mutter at Sherlock about when he doesn't think I'm listening?

We'll discuss the specifics when there aren't younger ears in the room.

[He informs her politely, before sipping his tea again.]

Aunt Agnes is our great aunt, and would be Arthur's great, great aunt. There is a certain kind of elderly English woman, generally in gloves and a small hat, who rules her family and nephews with an iron fist.

[She rolls her eyes at that. Really, Mycroft, she
isn't going to shield the boy from the less savory bits of life, why should you. Meanwhile, Arthur continues to contemplate his toast, then begins to nibble at it in a very precise manner.

Irene smiles at the description of Aunt Agnes, though.]

That explains the terror in his voice.

She's very disappointed that neither of us ever married.

[He admits quietly.]

Nor shall we ever, I'd imagine, though for very different reasons. If she were to meet you and Arthur, she would have concerns about breeding and lineage, and the scandal.

[And that would explain Sherlock's look. She glances over at Arthur, whose piece of buttered toast is starting to resemble a buttered brontosaurus, and there is something undeniably fond in her expression. She's not maternal, not in the least, but there is too much history, too much sentiment, that led to the boy that she cannot deny.

Mycroft, on the other hand, gets a Look.]

Be careful what you say, Mr. Holmes. You know how much I enjoy causing scandal.

She would try her very best to hurt you, and him, and she would use every weapon available to do so.

[A gentle inclination of his head towards the child.]

And yes, you would perhaps succeed at besting her in return, but not before damage had been done. Damage I should very much like to avoid. Go visit her with my brother, be an illicit mistress if you like-

[But keep Arthur away from Aunt Agnes. That's his only advice.]

[Arthur remains blissfully unaware of the conversation going on about him, instead scrutinizing the toy he's turned his breakfast into, marching it bravely along through some invisible jungle in the air.

While his mother watches his uncle with a careful consideration.]

Then it's a good thing I have a babysitter.

A trip to the London Zoo, perhaps.

[Mycroft decides, offering his nephew a second piece of toast to turn into a tyrannosaurus, should he need to.

He glances back up at Irene.]

Although, there is the off chance you will impress her. She does have a bit of a contrary streak to her... though I think she'll be disappointed Sherlock hasn't married John.

[Toast dinosaurs are not a balanced breakfast, but Arthur merely looks delighted at the prospect. It will at least keep him occupied until he realizes the potential of a hot cocoa tar pit.

Irene laughs, though, at the comment. She is surprisingly relaxed, given who she's talking to. Normally her interactions with the elder Holmes are politely antagonistic, but Arthur's presence is a truce of sorts, an unspoken, mutual agreement that no harm will come to the boy, though of course their definitions of 'real harm' sometimes diverged.]

That's the beauty of illicit mistresses, isn't it? The man in question is always free to marry someone else.

[No doubt, in the other room, an inexplicable chill is running down John Watson's spine.]

I doubt very much my brother would see it that way.

[He sips his tea again, reaching up unconsciously to ruffle his nephew's curls again. Mycroft eases when he's around Arthur, in ways that make him far more human.]

But you can try to prompt him into it if you'd like.

[Another shrug, and for a moment Irene concerns herself with nothing more than a sip of tea and watching Arthur nibble the other piece of toast into a crude dinosaur. Crude, by most standards, but quite precise for being done by a three-year-old boy. A three year old boy who is also making 'rar!' sounds under his breath.]

You've never tried to take him. [A nod at Arthur.]

Take him where?

[To the zoo, or out of her hands, he has to wonder. He hardly isn't going to react to the second without being sure it's the real question she's asking.]

[An arched eyebrow, and a look that clearly conveys 'You know what I'm talking about.']

You can't believe my lifestyle is conducive to raising a rabbit, much less a child.

Irene Adler || BBC Sherlock

other, of course

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject