"Human Oblivion" - a Sherlock ficlet
"There will come a time when all of us are dead," Sherlock proclaimed one night, lounging lazily in his chair while reading a book.
John glanced away from his computer screen for a moment, somewhat surprised at the sudden revelation. "So?" John asked.
"So?" Sherlock replied sarcastically. "Do you not see what this means?" He paused, as if giving John the time to reply, before continuing, "John, this means that all of my accomplishments will one day be forgotten by all human minds, that every case I ever solved and every criminal that I ever caught will have been forgotten as history with no one left to remember it."
"Forgotten history?" John asked, smiling. "Why are you suddenly getting all worked up about this?"
There was silence. Sherlock started to slightly hide his face into his book, pretending that the conversation was over.
"Sherlock," John paused, trying to reword his inquiry delicately, "are you worried about being forgotten? After the fiasco with Moriarty?"
More silence, then very, very small chain of mumbling began from the detective that John didn't even care to try and decipher.
"Sherlock," he interrupted, "I hope you realize that human oblivion is years and years away. But even if it worries you, rest assured, you'll never be forgotten. I would know." Sherlock opened his mouth to speak, but John shushed him, "One day, Sherlock, people might even write books about you or the cases you solved. One day people will look back at your brilliant mind and your fantastic brain and wonder how you did it. There is no way in hell you'll ever be forgotten."
"Bu-"
"And if," John interrupted again, "if everyone else truly forgot you and all the amazing things that you did, then rest assured that I will never forget you."
Sherlock started at him, thinking, then resumed his reading. John sighed; he was expecting a much larger reaction, but then again it was Sherlock he was talking about.
A few quiet moments later, when their tea has sufficiently been cooled past the point of consumption and John was just about to leave, Sherlock spoke again. "Thank you for believing in me."
John smiled fondly at his companion, picked up the mugs, and left.
A/N: Inspired by The Fault in Our Stars by John Green