Fic Rec: High Stakes

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Title: High Stakes
Author: tinzelda
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Length: 28,233
Rating: NC-17
Verse: ACD canon

Author's summary: Based on the canon story A Study in Scarlet. Holmes and Watson meet, move into their rooms on Baker Street, and solve their first case together. (No spoilers though - I don't reveal the solution to the original story's mystery.)

Reccer's comments: A slashy re-imagining (or, if you prefer: the true, untold story) of Holmes' and Watson's early days together. Tinzelda's portrayal of the characters is perfect. Her Holmes is brilliant, manipulative, a bit of a jerk, and very sexual. He is perfectly countered and complemented by an intelligent, calm-but-not-taking-any-bullshit Watson struggling with his recovery from the war, insecurities, and gambling habit. It builds up to a gorgeous dynamic where they both alternate between carefully circling each other and crashing into each other, slowly figuring each other out and being perpetually surprised along the way.

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