Victorian London

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A gender bend cuz I'm craving some good lesbian romance set in London 1860s. This idea is very loosely based on a play my school is doing, but I've had this idea before. I have the great honor of playing Sherlock! All my fangirl dreams come true!

"Charlotte, there's a guest for you!" Mrs. Hudson called up the stairs to my flat.

"Just send them up," I yelled back, keeping my focus on the microscope slide in front of me. This tobacco ash would only be used by someone who is a newer smoker. So that narrows it down to -

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I sighed in frustration. "Come in!" I heard the door open from my spot at the dining table.

"Um, hello?" a young woman's voice called.

"In here."

"Oh, there you are. Pleasure to meet you Miss..."

"Holmes, Charlotte Holmes," I finally glanced up from my work and gave the short, curvy blonde woman my attention. "You must be Miss Watson. Shame you can only settle for a nurse, you would make an excellent doctor. But that is the way of the world." I paused for only a moment before continuing. "I play the violin at ungodly hours and sometimes don't talk for days at a time. I do hope that wouldn't upset you?"

"No, no I quite like the violin. But what does your playing, Miss Holmes, have to do with me?" She shifted from one foot to the other, clearly completely lost in the conversation.

"You need a place to live, just the other day Miss Hooper from the hospital mentioned it. And previous to that, I had mentioned that the rent of this flat is getting far too expensive to keep it on my own. Clearly she took it upon herself to get us both settled. On your salary you should manage your half of the rent. Your room is upstairs. There probably isn't much to eat in the icebox, I regularly skip meals." I paused for a breath and gave the nurse a brief smile. "And please, call me Charlotte. We are going to be living together, aren't we?"

"Wait, I never said yes! And how do you know all this? Did Molly speak to you earlier today?"

"No, it's just quite plain to observe. As you will see, Miss Watson -"

"Just Johanna or I prefer Jo," Miss Watson smiled and gestured to the chair opposite of me. I nodded my head and she sat.

"Well, Jo," I went through the signs that showed she was a nurse but strove to be a doctor. Her brother is an abusive alcoholic, hence why she left home. A home without parents because her mother died and her father is off fighting. "Satisfied?" I questioned.

"That was spectacular! Where did you learn all that?" She asked with excitement in her pale blue eyes.

"Oh, well thank you," I blushed. "My brother taught me. Although normally people don't react so positively."

She chuckled, "How do they normally react?"

I met her eyes and gave a mischievous smirk. "They normally tell me to piss off." Jo erupted with laughter. My heart stuttered at the sound. It was a very beautiful sound and her eyes lit up as she made it. I determined I would try to do whatever I could to hear that sound again. The conversation returned to our living arrangements and we settled when she would move in. It turns out tonight was convenient for the both of us, so she returned to her house to retrieve her things.

"It was wonderful meeting you, Charlotte. I do believe we will become good friends," Jo grasped my hand tightly before leaving for her belongings. I felt my heart stutter at the contact and avoided her beautiful eyes. Damn it Lottie! Keep your head on. She's going to be your flatmate, so don't mess this up! You know how it went with the last girl...

I returned to my work and began testing multiple chemicals to see which acids may have been at the crime scene and reacted the strongest. Apparently I had worked quite longer than I thought, for when I glanced out the window the streetlamps were already lit. Oh, Jo should be here soon. I decided it would be best to clean up the various acids from the table we would be eating at. I want to make a somewhat good first impression. It would be inconvenient for my flatmate to dislike me. Soft, unfamiliar footsteps on the stairs shook me from my thoughts and I quickly determined it was Jo. I could hear the falter in her steps that comes with holding heavy boxes. I rushed over to the door and opened it, just in time to catch a box slipping from her arms.

"Thank you! I knew I should have taken more than one trip, but I just wanted to be done," Jo laughed. 

"Not a problem. I'll help take these to your room." I led her to her bedroom then gave a brief tour of the small flat. We soon arrived in the kitchen and I began setting the table for the both of us. "I do hope you don't mind a simple dinner tonight, like I said, there isn't much in the icebox," I mentioned, slightly embarrassed.

"No, that's fine. That's about what I normally have. But you know that as a nurse I'll make sure that you eat proper meals," Jo joked but with a threatening but friendly look. She took her place at the table.

"Well you can certainly try," I smirked. We dug into our meal and got better acquainted. I found Jo to be quite good company, with sharp wit and slightly above average intelligence. Conversing with her was much more engrossing than any interactions I'd had with the Scotland Yarders.

"Oh," I exclaimed. "I suppose I should let you know that officers of the Yard come here quite frequently on business calls. So don't worry yourself about their presence."

Jo looked taken aback. "What could officers want with you?" I tried not to be offended by her statement, for mine was a unique circumstance.

"I'm a consulting detective. When the police have no answers, which is more often than not, they come to me. I've solved a handful of cases already," I added, proud of my accomplishments.

"They hire you, a young woman?" Jo asked, astonished.

"Yes. And I would greatly appreciate your help on some of the cases, for I could use a medical eye. Dr. Anderson of the Yard is not willing to work with me," I held my breath, waiting for her answer.

"Well I suppose I could if it would be alright with the police and it wouldn't interfere with my work," Jo agreed after a long moment of silence. "It does sound terribly exciting," She added in a hushed tone and grinned at me. The look once again brought a warmth from deep in my abdomen and I immediately worked to suppress it. But as Jo continued babbling along about her work, the feeling only spread to my chest. Damn sentiment! 

Once she finished with her stories, I stood and cleared the table. "I think I will retire for the night, if that is alright with you?" She nodded her head and rose to assist in cleaning the plates. "If you need anything, you know where my room is. I normally have issues sleeping so if you need me, I'll most likely be awake."

Jo gave me a fleeting smile and shook her head softly. "You really don't take care of yourself do you?"

"No, my body is just transport. It's what's up here," I pointed to my forehead, "that really matters."

"Well you can't very well think if you don't receive the proper nourishment and rest! I'll just have to take you on as another patient, I can't have my flatmate withering away on me. How else could I afford the rent?" She smiled and took my hands in hers. My heart beat quickly against my ribcage. "Goodnight Charlotte, I do hope you sleep well." Jo leaned forward and gave me a friendly kiss on the cheek before making her way upstairs.

I was rooted to my spot, hands still in the air where her hands once were. I swallowed the emotions down, shook my head, and forced myself to retire to my bedroom.


So I think this is all I'm going to write about this for now even though it's not much. If you want to see a 2nd part just me know, or whatever :) And know that I would love to hear from anyone reading this, feedback is always appreciated!  

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