cypress-tree asked prettyarbitrary:

Sherlock/John, first meeting at a masquerade

Two for this one, as I wanted to do it from both their POVs. ^_^

The tall man is a raven, until you look in his eyes.  John doesn’t know what has eyes like that, but it’s nothing from this world.  He feels like he’s stumbled into one of those fairy tales he read as a kid, where someone goes to a masquerade ball and meets the king of the fairies there and loses their soul to him.

The short man is dressed as an officer, but despite the tight white breeches and tall black boots of another era, on him it’s not a disguise.  He carries himself like someone who’s walked through storms of sand and lightning and metal and brought people out the other side.  Sherlock slips up beside him and bends down to say in his ear, “Do you know how to use that sword…?”