OPEN POST; [ HERLOCK SHOLMES / TGAA ]

[retroductions]

(( hold you in my dreams ))

Comments

[bestbuds]

[Iris, though her questions and wonderments are aplenty, would certainly not leave them all tea-less. She nods, holding up her small little shopping satchel.]

Of course. I've purchased a few new blends, too. Sprezzie, what sort of tea do you like the best?

[spelljam]

[ her gratitude wells up; had she her tail, it would wend its way around Sholmes' ankle in silent thanks. instead, she drifts one hand towards him and brushes the knuckles against his hip, where his little vials rest. ]

I like black, with spice. You are making your own?

[bestbuds]

[Sholmes gives her a fond, knowing smile, offered in the space between Iris moving to her side of the room, setting her things down, and remarking brightly-]

I have a whole collection of my own blends, some a bit more successful than others. But only the best for our guests; Hurley gets all the experimental ones.

[And he probably takes them proudly.]

[spelljam]

He does? I feel I am suddenly understanding him better, da?

[retroductions]

[Eheh, he slips an arm around her playfully as Iris sorts through her various tea blends on her side of the room.]

Meaning you admire my boldness? My willingness to experiment?

[spelljam]

Your lack of restraint.

[ touching his arm again as it loops around her. watching Iris work fills her with a sense of... not envy. not wonderment, either. somewhere in between. ]

1/2

[retroductions]

Oh, yes, I have hardly any of that!

[One should not declare that so easily and with pride; but no doubt this surprises no one, as he ushers her to sit on the settee next to him as Iris works to prepare the tea, humming the entire time.]

[bestbuds]

[Indeed, as she works-]

Oh, but I've never made you sip something as... interesting as your own concoctions, Hurley. Sprezzie, he's not made you drink anything that changes your hair color yet, has he?

[This might be a sneaky little segue into her human appearance vs tiefling appearance...]

[spelljam]

[ DON'T SOUND SO PLEASED WITH THAT, SHOLMES? ]

Hair colour...? No, no.

[ turns to look at him. questioningly. ]

He has not offered me anything to drink at all.

[ UNDER THE BUS WITH HIM ]

1/2

[bestbuds]

[AGHAST]

Hurley! Your own wife!

[retroductions]

[SPREZZATURA WHY-]

We... we were otherwise engaged, my dear!

[spelljam]

[ little spark in her chest hearing Iris call her his wife... ]

He gave me tour.

[bestbuds]

Oh? Did you venture into the attic? That’s where Runo and Susie used to stay! I really do miss them.

[yes, how thorough was your tour, Sprezzatura-]

[spelljam]

[ not familiar names. she files them away regardless. an attic...? that could be a good place for a living to be made. ]

No, he only shows me his room and then you arrived.

1/2

[bestbuds]

[Ohh, Hurley really is a terrible host, she thinks. Though it's not all that surprising — he's so easily swept away in the moment, and what a moment it must be, being reunited with his wife.

What a concept, too! Hurley falling in love and getting married... She really must know more about what kind of woman this Sprezzatura is.

A bit of clinking, the smell of fresh tea wafting, and Iris brings a steaming tea set over to them on a silver tray, which she sits down on the closed trunk that serves as a table in front of them.]

Then I'll show you the rest later! Maybe after you take a look at a few of my newest inventions — I'd love a second opinion.

[retroductions]

Oh, and what am I? [He jokes.] Chopped liver?

[He supposes his second opinion means nothing when Sprezzatura is among them, though of course he's hardly offended. He reaches forward to take a teacup on a saucer and offer it to Sprezzatura first.]

[spelljam]

[ her fingers brush his as she takes the teacup and saucer and brings it beneath her nose to smell. fresh and clean and bright. ]

Hmm. [ is this what it is meant to be like? for a child to look up to her with eagerness and a desire to share, to prove herself, and be regarded as an equal in turn? she's a wizard, not an inventor, not an artificer—but she wants so badly to be that which she never had herself. ] I could look. It will be layman's opinion, of course.

1/2

[retroductions]

[He chuckles as he takes his own saucer.]

Come now, no need for humility among the lot of us. Perhaps your specialties lie elsewhere, but an analytical, academic mind can be applied to a myriad of practices. A fresh perspective is always welcome.

[bestbuds]

[Iris settles herself in a chair opposite after taking her own saucer, too. Despite her expected childlike mannerisms—she still swings her legs, for example–she has the mien of an adult. Not so much that of a child forced to grow up quickly, but rather a young mind that's developed swiftly enough to outpace her age.

...But it's more her adolescent wonder that takes over right now. She nods, but shelves the notion for later with her words.]

What Hurley said. I'm still interested in the opinions of those from completely different worlds! But I don't mean to rush anyone, either; teatime is for proper introductions and stories, and-

[Leans forward.]

I want to hear about how the both of you met!

[She wants to hear it from Sprezzatura, anyway. It's more ~exciting~ than hearing it from Hurley for the nth time.]

[spelljam]

[ Herlock's child. the surprise has quickly worn away—after all, wouldn't Herlock Sholmes' daughter be this way? to think about it at all removes all doubt. yet the characteristics are there, as with Herlock himself, of someone predisposed to a sense of whimsy and joy, even as their analytical mind cannot be silenced. she really, really likes to see it. ]

Ha? We met... [ glances aside at him, and to bide for time, takes a slow sip of the tea. ] ...in prison.

[bestbuds]

[Sholmes hums amusement over the rip of his teacup when Sprezzatura tells Iris exactly the same as he told the hansom driver. Unlike that man, however, the young pink-haired girl hardly shows any sign of surprise — she's been told at length the marvels of Reverie (mostly the marvels; the horrors were quite truncated when spoken of) and their grand escape from it. She knows that Hurley, for a time, was trapped there — even if no such time passed in London, though that was likely for the best.

But no, it is the specifics that Iris wants to hear. The story. Every little girl wants to know how their "parents" met, right?]

Yes, yes, but how. Something about rabbits?

[spelljam]

[ if it feels like a test of her memory, perhaps it is. ]

Very quick, little rabbits, yes. I met your daddy as he is rushing past me, chasing after one. He called it... like Wonderland.

[bestbuds]

[Iris would not be so cruel as to "test" anything of hers. The player, however, might be.]

That comparison makes sense, even without the rabbits. Drawn into a strange new place, where things don't always make sense... overseen by a cruel ruler, or so I've been told.

[Though, of course, she has not been told the worst of it by a long shot. Sholmes has more sense than that.]

[spelljam]

[ nor would Sprezzatura ever tell her the atrocities they endured. she doesn't need such things to trouble her young mind.

but... the trouble is, so much of hers and Herlock's romance is tied up in that terrible awful. how does she talk about it while still excising the worst? ]

Bah! Do not speak of Warden.

1/3

[bestbuds]

Oh... I suppose it is an unpleasant topic, having been trapped there so long. I'm sorry, Sprezzie.