Application for "He Waits Dreaming"

[substituteskull]

✢ The Player
Player Name: Jeni
Age: 29
LJ: NA
AIM / MSN / Y!M: Hookandoil (aim)
E-mail: jmullen521@gmail.com
Other Characters: Jack Harkness, Mohinder Suresh

✢ The Character
Character Name: Doctor John Watson
Fandom: BBC's Sherlock
Canon Point: Season One, end of episode three at the pool
Age: 39

Appearance: John has light brown/blondish hair that is worn cut short in a contemporary soldier's style. His eyes are a very dark blue that appear brown at a distance. He is short, 5'7", and fairly athletic for his age. He has an extensive scar on his left shoulder from where he was shot during his tour in Afghanistan and no other distinguishing marks. He dresses rather frumpish above his military issue boots: loose trousers and looser jumpers with dark collared shirts beneath.

Abilities / Powers: John is a trained medical and combat surgeon. He has a very steady hand and is an excellent shot.

Inventory: John will arrive with a vest full of Semtex, all of the wiring to make it a really nasty bomb, his ugly green winter coat, a cardigan, wrist watch, mostly empty wallet with ID, ticket stub and a medical license.

Personality:John is an adrenaline junky, having pursued two very high stress, high risk professions. As a man addicted to thrills, after being shot and sent home to England, John suffered through depression, keeping his Browning revolver in his desk drawer to potentially use on himself. Telling his therapist that 'nothing ever happens' to him proves just how deeply this depression and boredom took root in the months during his recovery. Having once been a skilled army surgeon, adept at battlefield triage, John is barely able to cope in civilian life. His need for dangerous situations makes him the ideal companion for Sherlock Holmes as he is not only capable of assisting him, but he also thoroughly enjoys and craves their mad adventures. John is so addicted to the danger that Sherlock's cases provide that after he lands a job at a surgery in London, he constantly falls asleep at his desk because of late nights running around the city solving mysteries.

John is incredibly smart, both academically and worldly, and has a heroic streak. He knows how to handle himself in highly stressful situations. Though he has nerves of steel, he also is exceptionally easy going and somewhat long suffering. He has a high moral standard, but he is not afraid to kill if he has to in order to protect people he cares about.

John his extremely expressive, finding it very hard to hide his emotions even if what shows on his face often conflicts with what he is feeling. Disappointment causes him to smile or laugh. His fascination with Sherlock often looks like worry. Though he is the sort of man to keep mum in most situations, when he is exceptionally annoyed or angry, he does speak up, often to apologize for shouted comments and his own frustration.

John is an 'everyman' sort of person. He is bland and completely typical in his outward appearance and the way he acts. Along with being addicted to dangerous situations, John may well be the only person alive that finds his flatmate, one Sherlock Holmes, to be absolutely astounding and fascinating. He has an uncanny patience for the other man, putting up with his antics when others usually flee (for instance, he barely reacts when he finds Sherlock shooting the walls or keeping a head in the fridge). John finds Sherlock marvellous and fantastic and is very much attached to him even if they have not known each other long.

John has been keeping an online blog about his adventures with Sherlock, and though he professes to have little skill in storytelling, it is obvious that he enjoys reliving each case as he documents them.

History: John Watson is a discharged British army doctor who was injured in a skirmish in Afghanistan and therefore, has been sent back to England. He army appointed therapist had believed him to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which caused him to be listless, unable to sleep and gave him a psychosomatic limp for which he needed to use a cane. Forced to live on an inadequate army pension, John could barely afford to continue living in London. He refused to ask for help from his estranged sister, Harriet, because he did not approve of her alcohol abuse or the way she treated her ex-wife, Clara. John kept his Browning revolver in his desk drawer, determined to use it on himself.

Luckily, he never got the chance to. The next day, he was was introduced to Sherlock Holmes after running into an old colleague and former classmate. Because Sherlock needed a flatmate and John needed a place to stay, they agreed to a flat-share at 221B Baker Street.

John was immediately taken in by Sherlock and was one of the first people in Sherlock's life to see the detective's gifts of deduction as "brilliant," "marvellous," and "fantastic." Despite what his therapist said about trust issues and believing him to be afraid of the dangers of everyday life due to PTSD, Sherlock realized that John, in fact, missed the dangerous lifestyle afforded to a soldier. Sherlock offered John a chance to act as his assistant to solve a serial murder, during which Sherlock found himself kidnapped by the killer. Without hesitating, John came to his rescue and shot the killer before he could kill his new flatmate. After a short period of time with Sherlock, John got over his limp and no longer used his cane.

John decided to no longer see his therapist and instead began to keep a blog of his adventures with Sherlock. These included a near death experience at the hands of the Triad (during which he met his girlfriend, Sarah, who works with him at a clinic in London), and playing a sadistic game with Jim Moriarty, who has become Sherlock's nemesis.

This last case leads up to the present day. John had been kidnapped by Moriarty and rigged with plastic explosive to lure Sherlock into a trap at an indoor swimming pool. After playing head games with Sherlock and allowing him to reunite with John, Moriarty returned to say that he changed his mind about letting them go. As snipers got into position, Sherlock aimed his gun at the plastic explosive and prepared himself to shoot--

First Person Sample:
All right, John. Wake up. Wakey wakey time. You've probably had some head trauma. You know how to handle this. Just close your eyes and breathe in deep. Lay back down if you need to.

Remember: You're at the pool. Sherlock's with you. He probably is going to need your help too after that explosion. Let's do this the way that they taught you in medical school...and cartoons. Ready? On the count of three: Wake. Up.

One. Two. Three....

[He wipes a hand down his face, holds his breath and--]

Damn it! Bloody hell! I have to be hallucinating this. Maybe this is part of Mr. Moriarty's game? I need to find Sherlock. That's all there is to it. Sherlock first. Killing Jim Moriarty second. Escape third. How's that for my one-two-threes?

Third Person Sample:
This was why John did the shopping. Sherlock was like a child, distracted by shiny objects or the occasionally badly timed murder. It had been three hours since the man went out and if he did make it to Tesco in that time, the eggs and butter John requested he "try to remember to bring back" were likely going spoiled by the side of the road somewhere.

He was attempting not to nag. Mrs. Hudson told him the day before that he and Sherlock always seemed to be having a bit of a domestic, but she could tell that John really did care for him. That alone had put a stopper on John's otherwise good mood. Sherlock was married to his work. John had a girlfriend. I should bring her around more...well. No, no, likely a bad idea, she'll never understand why there's eyes in the microwave again... John let his thoughts sweep him up.

He pulled out his hand-me-down mobile and sent a text to Sherlock, telling him not to worry about the shopping, that John would pick it up himself. There. No nagging, just a bit of a control issue. Smug, he was about to slip the mobile away again when the message was bounced back, unable to be sent. He tried twice more and finally gave up and tried to ring the man instead. "We're sorry, this line is no longer active, please--"

John frowned. He wasn't worried.

Sherlock is just fine, he told himself.

As he rushed out of 221B Baker Street to hail a cab, John flinched, nose banging right into a black coat covered chest. "Watch where you're--"

John never knew what Sherlock was thinking, not even when the man gazed at him full on with eyes that anyone else would have called 'creepy.' Sometimes John thought so as well. He spotted the new mobile in Sherlock's hand and sighed. Really. Worried for nothing. Of course, the new mobile was the only thing in Sherlock's hand. John sighed and moved passed him.

"I'll be back," he muttered, brushing the worry into annoyance. "Someone needs to do the shopping."