OPEN POST; [ HERLOCK SHOLMES / TGAA ]

[retroductions]

(( hold you in my dreams ))

Comments

[velluminous]

What you are doing right now, she does this also.

[ and she mimics it, too, because the mimicry makes it incongruently easier to express: ] What wonderful job you have done, papa.

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[He’s never seen her mimic him like that before, and it draws out a delighted laugh.]

And who ever thought that I would make a halfway decent father? A fact not nearly surprising as your clear capacity to be a wonderful mother, hm?

[velluminous]

So you, too, did not believe it?

[retroductions]

[He laughs at her indignant look.]

I meant as you believed it! Such uncertainty you showed me earlier, as you’ll recall.

[velluminous]

Yes, Herlock, because I am not accustomed to having good mother, never minding being her!

[retroductions]

And yet more often than not, we try particularly hard to not be like our parents. Thus, the outcome for you was quite predictable.

/2

[velluminous]

[ could he not have told her that?! ]

[velluminous]

Dance with me, Herlock.

[retroductions]

[ :))) ]

Oh? Shall I put on a record?

[velluminous]

No.

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[Beckons her into his arms, then.]

Come here, then, dear girl.

[velluminous]

[ she sinks into him with a laugh. never can stay annoyed at him for long. ]

I like it when you call me this.

[retroductions]

[Smiling, he holds her close enough for a very casual yet intimate sort of dance.]

Do you? And what else do you like for me to call you, so that I might always please your ears?

[velluminous]

[ in the quiet of the room, swaying gently ]

That is enough.

[retroductions]

Very well.

[Ehe. In his head, it’s a slow and gentle melody. Led by a violin, of course.]

My dear, dear girl.

[velluminous]

I love you.

[ comeing out fast and soft, as though rushed by Sholmes' words. suddenly she feels near tears, aching and naked under his perception. ]

I am thankful every day that I was taken to that awful place.

[retroductions]

One or two good things did come from all the toils, I’d say.

[Lightly, gently, contrasted to her own changing demeanor. He sways with her, and offers her a warm, fond kiss atop her forehead.]

Our love makes the top of the list.

[I love you, too.]

[velluminous]

[ she lifts her face into it as a flower turning towards the sun. his kiss lingers at the peak of her forehead, just between the starting jut of her horns. it feels incredibly tender.

breathed, again, ] I love you... I love her...

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[It is incredibly that: tender. Sholmes saves a joke about loving Wagahai, too, for another day.

Instead he gently extends an arm to give her a slow twirl.]

Simply imagine how you’ll feel once you get to know her even better.

[velluminous]

[ she twirls, but keeps her tail looped about him so that she wraps herself in it on the way. ]

This is good side of you.

[retroductions]

[Always connected. How envious he is of her, that she was born with a tail like that!]

Oh, as opposed to...?

[He laughs and brings her back in closer.]

[velluminous]

Typhon side of you...?

[retroductions]

Ah, well. [Ahem.] I would hardly call that me at all, would I?

[velluminous]

[ she gentles. pulls back in from the spin with her tail about his waist and lays her cheek on his chest.

his heartbeat... ah, she's become so sentimental. ]

I am so lucky woman.

[retroductions]

[Huffs, an arm around her to hold her close. The dance is but an afterthought amid all the sentiment, which is more than welcome after her being gone for so long.]

And yet not as lucky as I. What do I have to my name now, after all? A record of remarkable solved cases to my name, a loving daughter and wife, living in a time of great change within one of the most interesting cities in the world. I cannot possibly ask for more. No, you must allow me a bit of saccharine for all the gifts I have been blessed with.