Oh look, up until 1am writing again. Mostly I just wanted an excuse to write John Watson chopping wood:

Alone in the Woods – On orders to take some time away from London, Sherlock finds out the best part of camping.

Teaser below the cut:

There were many times Sherlock Holmes observed John Watson. Oftentimes John was unaware. This was one of those times as Sherlock lounged against a tree with a book in his hands, secretly watching as the smaller man swung an axe over and over again, splitting firewood. This was all John’s fault, after all. There had been yet another close brush with death and danger and Mycroft demanding they take a break and get out of London for a bit and John had suggested they go caravanning. So now Sherlock was pretending to read while a shirtless John Watson grunted with each fall of the axe.

The sun shone through his blond hair. His compact muscles rippled under his skin.  Sherlock was well aware of the effect watching John was having on him, but fortunately the man was completely focused on his task. He set a final log on the stump and brought the axe down with a satisfying sense of finality. “There, that should be enough wood for the weekend.”

“What was that?” Sherlock put the book down as if he hadn’t been paying any attention.  John wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm, giving Sherlock a marvelous view of his chest. “I said, I think that’s enough wood for the weekend.”

“You would know,” Sherlock set the book down, watching him.

John chuckled. “Yes, I can’t imagine the Holmes family did much caravanning.” He picked up a bottle of water and Sherlock watched him swallow, a trickle of water running loose down his chin. Sherlock swallowed as John brought it down again and wiped the water away. “Want some?”