Fic Rec: Due Diligence

[brighteyed-jill.livejournal.com]

Title: Due Diligence
Author: PrettyArbitrary (arbitrary_fic)
Pairing: Lestrade/John
Length: ~4000 words
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No standard warnings
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: A bloke built up frustrations, dealing with the sort of nuttery that Sherlock Holmes brought to the job. Which was why Greg liked to ask John over to his place at the close of a Holmes-populated case. The stacks of closing paperwork cleared out a lot easier with memories of John moaning in knots of rope to keep him company.
Reccer's comments:

PrettyArbitrary's work is a treasure trove of nuclear-level smut, and this piece is a fine example. There's not much Lestrade/John fic out there, but this little treat does both characters a good turn as it explores how they both unwind after a case. It touches on how events during a case (in this instance, John withholding information from Lestrade) might affect their romantic life. And of course, gloriously kinky sex follows.

What sets this apart from your run-of-the-mill guilty pleasure kink fic is:
a) the quality of the writing. On a sentence-to-sentence level, this work is both beautiful and fun to read
b) realistic, well-thought-out sex. Partners communicate, people have issues that are acknowledged, regular precautions are taken, and the author demonstrates an understanding of the limits and foibles of the human body.
b) characterization that carries through the smut. These aren't just random body parts smooching together. John and Lestrade both react to each other's actions in ways that are delightfully in character for the story.

Here's a taste:

“You know what I’ve been thinking about all evening?” he said casually over his shoulder. Too casually, maybe, because John’s shoulders stiffened instantly. Greg shrugged mentally and rounded on him, wolfish grin blooming at the way John backed up at his advance, cool and wary. John didn’t believe in going down without a fight.

“I’ve been thinking,” he continued when John’s back hit the wall, “about how you lied to me.”

“It’s not-” John cut off when his hands were pinned next to his head.

Greg leaned in to keep them there with his weight. “I know it wasn’t your idea,” he answered silkily. “But you know better than to withhold evidence. I should run you in for it, god knows. But instead, tonight you’re getting an object lesson in proper procedure. Turn around, and put your hands behind your back.”

John didn’t obey immediately, even after Greg released his hands. He gave John the moment. It wasn’t insolence; John was sorting something in his head. He had issues, did his John. They’d talked before, drowsy in bed with their barriers down, about the lives they’d lived and the scars they’d taken, and how it twisted up what they thought they wanted and what they thought they could bear. Giving him time paid off for both of them.

Sure enough, it only took a few seconds before John sighed quietly, his shoulders settling with the exhale, and turned to press his chest against the wall.


Read Due Diligence on AO3 or on Livejournal.