OPEN POST; [ HERLOCK SHOLMES / TGAA ]

[retroductions]

(( hold you in my dreams ))

Comments

[velluminous]

[ the sound of the lock sends a prickle down her neck, makes her want, badly, to say, "Don't call me that."

but she's got will enough to hold it in, and instead presses her fingers very hard to her temples until the pressure allieves some of the ache, then sniffles, once, then pulls her hair over one shoulder and pulls on what remains of the plait. a heavy sigh, full of resignation and weight. ]

Tea is good.

[retroductions]

[She’s the very image of stressed and harried. He thinks, perhaps, if she was more honest with him, it would alleviate some of that anxiety.]

Very well.

[He will gather up… all that’s needed, here and there, crossing about the flat. Rustling, rustling.]

Perhaps it’s time for a proper introduction, as well. I’d not call our meeting very ordinary.

[velluminous]

[ she wishes he would leave the room. his sleeping quarters are too far away for her to steal into unawares. but what man in his right mind would leave a woman like her alone in his flat? of course he wouldn't. he might even suspect her of a desire for theft.

it isn't as though he's made it hard to steal from him... ]

I told you my name.

[retroductions]

Ha, but I did not offer mine, did I?

[Honestly, what could she steal that he’d miss or could not eventually replace with ambivalence? His violin, maybe — but that would require her to sneak out into public, something she’s afraid of doing. No, he doesn’t think her a thief.]

Herlock Sholmes, at your service.

[No proud attachment of profession to that name, though.]

[velluminous]

[ only his name alone. sets her thumb between her front teeth and bites down lightly, that little divot in the nail which never heals from this habit. ]

How old are you, Herlock?

[retroductions]

[H-Herlock? SO INFORMAL... THEY JUST MET...]

Er.

Eighteen.

[a grown-ass man, clearly]

Why do you ask?

[velluminous]

[ just. closes her eyes. brings her other hand to brace at her chin, as well, and for a long moment she says nothing else. ]

I don't know.

[ it comes out like the sigh of an old dog seeking a comfortable place to sleep. ]

[retroductions]

[Hm. It feels, somehow, like another dangling piece of a connection that he merely needs to find the other end of, but for now, he fusses with getting the tea ready. It's more trouble than it needs to be, especially with how efficient she'll remember Iris being, but eventually... with some clinking and seeking and making sure certain cups are clean enough, the scent of tea seeping begins to overtake the tobacco scent of the room.]

I assure you that my age has no relation to my ability to help you find where you need to go. However, that does rely upon some amount of trust on your part.

[velluminous]

[ every clink and rattle of china feels like a needle in her back.

beginning to think... that this was terribly unwise of her. to come here, with him, and expose herself to the lightning mind that lives beneath. of course he would not leave things be without unraveling them. it would have been easier to find an icy river and jump in. but Sprezzatura Vaux would never do such a thing, only think about it when the anger and fear smothers in.

she opens her eyes again and turns to watch him work. his lithe frame, now that he's shed of his coat, is particularly easy to watch, even now. ]

Nothing I say will mean anything to you. I sound like raving woman.

[retroductions]

[The tea steeps and Sholmes wastes no time in seeking out his pipe in the meanwhile. It's resting atop the fireplace, easily picked up and put between his lips as he finds a match next.]

Ms Sapione, should I present the current situation to you once again? You are a blue-skinned, horned, tailed woman with a Russian accent seated in my flat as a guest. Someone who I assume has some measure of belonging in this world, dare I say this city, but is for some reason hesitant to provide more detail. At this rate, I am eager to hear more from you, whether or not it sounds delusional.

What might you plan on doing otherwise? Sit here and hope a solution falls into your lap?

[velluminous]

[ oh, yes, he can list the facts off very well, knowing that should all else be shorn away, what remains before him—no matter how otherworldly—must be the truth. he can't argue her away, because she is here. ]

I am from Toril. I do not belong here.

[retroductions]

[A match is found and a flame is struck. He lights his pipe, reusing what remains of the packed tobacco from the day before.]

Mm. Toril. Where those who look like you are not an uncommon sight, am I correct in saying so?

[velluminous]

[ with true bitterness: ] Perhaps do. We are yet reviled for it.

[retroductions]

[With a tone like that? He’s apt to believe it.]

But you hardly walk the streets with the same amount of fear as you did today, I imagine?

[velluminous]

[ ... she turns her face into the collar of his coat, not answering. yet her tail, having coiled about an ankle, squeezes visibly. ]

[retroductions]

[Hm. Seems answer enough.

Sholmes puffs a plume of smoke and returns to the tea. He pours her a cup and walks to the chaise, offering it. It’s strong, and dark.]

Were you displaced for very long before I, ah… found you?

[He seeks contradictions.]

[velluminous]

[ if she takes the cup, is it going to rattle on the saucer? yes.

so... concentrating on quelling that ]

I say once already. I was asleep. Then hiding in alley. Then you.

[retroductions]

[Maybe he shouldn’t loom. Will that ease her nerves a little?

So, he… plunks down on the chaise next to her.]

So, you may hail from Toril, but you have enough familiarity with London itself to know that you cannot even be glimpsed at, looking as you do, for fear of facing immediate bodily harm. You’ve stayed some measure of time here before, somewhere, surely — I just cannot understand why you choose not to tell me. Are you trying to protect something?

[velluminous]

[ aaaa. the scent of him so close again... it nearly brings frustrated tears to her eyes.

he won't give up. he's a dog with a bone—or a hound with a throat. her only recourse as the abysmal liar she is is to lie by technicality. something with more truth than falsity. ]

You can list all you like. I am trying to protect you.

[retroductions]

[This is the most interesting thing that’s happened to him in ages! Why would he give up? And there’s something missing in this tale, something he feels is critical, and it bothers him to no end.

Leans forward, brow furrowed and pipe eking smoke.]

Protect me? From what, the truth? There is nothing more compelling to me than that, Ms Sapione. I can take care of myself, as I have been.

[so says the young man living in disordered chaos]

[velluminous]

[ it would be so narratively satisfying for her to finally, finally admit that living like this is not emblematic of a healthy mind. but the reality is, she's not going to. she doesn't self-reflect like that. to her, he has taken care of himself as well as she has taken care of herself. this is not the part of his argument she means to refute.

for an instant. her eyes flit down to the pipe in his mouth. ]

And what if I do not wish to speak of it? What if truth pains me?

[retroductions]

[Oh, there’s nothing wrong with living like this. Best for the mind to redirect to more important things than spatial organization. Probably!!

He catches the glance at his pipe. As always, such looks give little secrets away, but this one does baffle him. Is it familiar to her? Is… more of this familiar to her than she’s letting on?

He offers the pipe to her.]

And do you believe that just because the truth is painful that it must never be brought to light?

[velluminous]

Sometimes.

[ oh, yes. sometimes.

her dark eyes are very dark indeed, fixed upon the offered pipe. her entire body aches for a pull.

so, in the end, she accepts, and sets the pipe unsteadily between her teeth. ]

[retroductions]

[He wonders if he could ever find it in himself to agree with that.

He watches as she takes a drag from his pipe. Maybe it'll help calm her nerves, help her think, much like it does for him.]

Even if that's the case, I only want to help you. I wish you wouldn't worry about me in such a way.

[It's a roadblock in unraveling just what is going on here.]

[velluminous]

[ the first inhale—short, stressed—coats her lungs and weighs down her limbs. the second is much slower. her lashes fall low. ]

I want to see your room.