consulting detective

░▐ ☾ ★ ☽ ;;

           As  of  recent,  it  had  become  more  truth than it was a mask. She is one            who has seen much ( some might argue and say she has seen too much )            and  surprising  her would be a feat in itself. His  behaviour is one she has            encountered   before   —   near  daily  (  from  young  upstarts  to  petulant            thousand  year  old  aliens  ) —  and  dark  eyes  roll  easily,  as  if it were a            practised  response  turned  natural  reaction.  She pockets her hands and            takes a slow turn about the room, looking about with quiet curiosity.

               ❝ No. ❞

                                ❝ Just going by the state of this place, ❞                      ❝ keeping house isn’t exactly in your skill set. ❞

                                                      ❝ —— Which is sort of why I’m here. ❞                                           ❝ Because clearly, you kind of do. ❞

       His  apparent disinterest of her — and rather ubiquitous lack of social grace       —  do  not  surprise  her  either.  She  has  been  sufficiently  briefed  by  her        ”employer”  on  the  task at hand and she had been made  aware of Sherlock        Holmes’ temperament  before  she  even  accepted  the role. That and it was        her grandmother who had recommended her services to Mrs Hudson. Clara        very  well  can’t  disappoint  her  gran,  now could she? Besides, after all the        universe’s impossibilities?                          She could use a bit of a challenge.

                 ❝ I don’t doubt your capabilities, mate, ❞                             ❝ but I don’t reckon you’ve made a lot of friends ❞                      ❝ in your line of work, yeah ? ❞

                             ❝ I’m here to make sure you don’t get murdered, really. ❞                                                 ❝ Or blow Baker Street to high heavens. ❞

     && there it is, an expression other than amusement at       his jabbering on, though it isn't exactly one of vexation as       he's accustomed to. it's... unimpressed. 

                   really? 

                                         he's sherlock holmes, how could anyone be unimpressed                                          around him? at least, in his own mind, he's the most brilliant                                          thing on the planet. he raises an eyebrow as she surveys the                                          room, finally using skills of observation every godforsaken                                          human being possesses but generally dismisses.

                ❝ i am just amazed by your powers of observation. ❞

                              the detective doesn't even attempt to mask the scorn.

                                             ❝ and no, i really don't. ❞

      if acting as a nanny is seriously her only purpose in being here, she'll       likely be disappointed by the lack of things she's able to do. and if she       tries to clean up his 'mess,' oh, he'll be furious. it might not be the       neatest of places, but he knows where everything is. it all has its own       spot — and if she touches his skull, well... he wouldn't resort to murder,       no, but he'd much rather she kept her hands to herself in his flat.

        ❝ friends? who has time for friends, really? ❞

                                          ❝ i've got a colleague and my work,                                                                                      that's all i need. ❞

                      ❝ sentiment leads to distractions, things                                  that i don't need, nor want. ❞

           ❝ make sure i don't get murdered, really? i'd love to see how                                           you'd try to prohibit that from happening. ❞

                                                                                      ❝ it's already been blown to high                                                                              heavens, a while back now. not my doing,                                                                       but definitely exciting, wasn't it? ❞

     ❝I’ll have to say, I’m quite flattered.❞

                            this isn’t said with any indication of sarcasm.                             she’s not blind, and although this is the first                             time she’s met the man, she knows he isn’t                             one for being courtesy to people, nonetheless                             she wouldn’t be an exception unless she had                             something definable to her person. let’s see                             if her past life achieves her any types of benefits. 

             ❝It seems your information is reliable, &                      accurate. I am capable of disposing of my                      problems, however, that is why I am here.                      It would be obvious that it was my doing,                      so I need someone else to help me out,                      someone who knows what they’re doing.❞

                                                        a small smile graces red lips, and she’s                                                         actually starting to take a liking to him. it’s                                                         mostly from the comments he makes.                                                         they’re akin to things she’d say, if she had                                                         the chance.

       words earnest. she clearly knows he isn't one to hand        those sorts of statements over to just anyone. and of        course, it is given her past, skill and cleverness all        adding up to the woman before him. someone, for once,        who is worth his time.

             seems? no, it's rather guaranteed,              and he rolls his eyes a bit. 

                                     ❝ of course, it's accurate. anyway. someone who knows                                          what they're doing? definitely come to the right place then.                                          can hardly think of anyone else who'd be able to do...                                          whatever it is you want to —— which, by the way, i could                                          refuse. better be intriguing. somehow, with you, i don't think                                          that'll be a problem. ❞

            ah, yes; that sort of expression crossing her face — well,             it's not the usual one he gets when prattling on. they're             usually looks of annoyance, but she's rather enjoying this.             eyes narrow as they take in her features, and they return to             their normal state, satisfied with what he sees. 

He really doesn’t want to admit it,

but he could use a little assistance.

“I was told that finding people

that don’t want to be found was one of your

       It's a reluctant statement,        but one he expects.

                ❝ More or less. ❞

         Not his most impressive area of          expertise, but one of them, nevertheless.

       ❝ —— … … ❞              ❝ —— ❞

         A beat. A breath. A pause, nothing more.          Her   eyebrows  furrow  and  one  lifts  in          questioning as bow lips purse.

                      She  blinks.  She  blinks again. She tilts her head to the side                       as if she were a bystander and he the local monkey in a zoo                       and he’d just done a trick.

                               ❝ —— Yeah, they said you’d be like that too. ❞                   ❝ Actually, I’m here to help out your landlady. ❞                             ❝ She’s a good friend of my gran’s. ❞

                                         ❝ She’s out for the weekend so I’m around. ❞                                   ❝ Keeping house, like you do. ❞                                                 ❝ Said to check on you every now and again, ❞

               It's not uncommon for Sherlock to render another speechless,                he tends to have that... effect on people. Mostly because he's a                lot to take in, rambling on and generally being rash. 

                    This woman is having a difficult time determining how to                     respond and for a moment he's amused before he turns                     back to his computer. Well, it's actually John's, and he's                     out for the time being, so him swooping in and taking it                     from him is highly unlikely. 

                                         ❝ Did they? Not surprised. ❞

                               ❝ Mrs. Hudson, yes. ❞

            ❝ Oh, keeping house. You actually think I do that,                 when it's so... dull? Have you actually looked                 around? No, of course you haven't. You see,                 but you don't observe.❞

                                                                     ❝ I hardly need a nanny. ❞

                     ❝ And alright, I made a small explosive device once.                         Should have seen her face when she saw me                         working on it. ❞

                                 ❝ Murdering someone isn't high on my to-do list,                                      though I'm very capable of doing that. And not                                      getting caught, I'll add. But I'll leave that to                                      someone else. ❞

                 He hasn't looked up from the laptop since shifting his attention                  away from her. Fingers continue to fly over the keys and eyes                  are unblinking due to complete concentration, save for                  conversation.

「♔」                               Jim grinned, eyes alight with                          the anticipation of the dance.                          Sherlock Holmes was one of                          his favourite partners—the only                          one who could match him, step                          for step.

                     He proceeded to wipe the length of his                      bow with a cloth just to occupy his hands. 

                                        "So I figured."

      Returning that statement wasn't on his agenda, though       he'd by lying if he said he was finished playing games       with his counterpart. London had been rather boring       without him — mediocre cases too simple to solve       handed over to him, not even enough multiple nicotine       patches at once to make an appearance. His brain       starved for something more, and perhaps with the return       of the consulting criminal, that hunger would be sated.       No, not perhaps — it was guaranteed.

              "That all I owe the pleasure to, then?                 Pining for my company? Not much                 of a reunion without tea, but if you                 want it you can get it yourself. Bit busy."

           & she would be caught off guard by the                    abruptness of his comment, a stricken look                    ghosting across her features. despite her want                    to dismiss it, her silence speaks volumes of                    which she is painfully aware. delicate fingers                    retrieve the borrowed object before she breaks                    her accursed silence, voice rich with a mixture                    of suspicion & curiosity.

          { offhand comments like this are his specialty. can't help but           say those sorts of things. his mind is a lot of things, but           having a regard for others is not one of them. a filter for how           words escape his mouth is one of the very few things — in           his mind, at least — that he lacks. 

                            a smirk tugs at just one corner of his mouth                             and he inhales deeply. }

                 ’ Two serial killers, just to be clear.                    They’re teamin’ up, makin’ it look                    like it’s one person, easier for ‘em                    to hide, but they’re not that smart. ‘

            he wouldn’t have come across the ocean if he             didn’t need serious help. like he said before, the             police are useless, and even then, would they             be able to handle knowing that the serial killer             isn’t human? more than likely he’d be sent to a             nut house for even breathing a word of the truth,             but he’s always been good at forming his words             correctly.

                                              dean’s one hell of a liar.

                                                                           an eyebrow is arched in the detective’s direction                                                                            and dean doesn’t know what he expected. maybe                                                                            he should have listened to his brother when he                                                                            told him that this man wasn’t like any others.

                      smart, but obnoxious.

                                      good, but childish. 

               two ? if sherlock wasn't listening before, he sure is now. cases have                been slow lately, proven by a few more bullet holes in the wall,                much to mrs. hudson's displeasure. and john's. he wasn't exactly                grateful to be woken up by that early in the morning. and there's                still probably a casing lying around that sherlock doesn't care                about enough to search. maybe if he's lucky john'll trip on it and                he'll be able to study contusions on a live subject other than                himself, and instead of one he's beat with a riding crop in the                morgue. 

                                anyway, his mind is racing ahead of itself.                                        two serial killers means it'll be twice as interesting.

                           as is the other's reaction to his showing off. he'd almost expected                            a little more frustration — but no, this man has a pretty good cap                            on his emotions. lets them out through his work and otherwise                            keeps them bottled up inside. though they do affect judgment,                            from time to time. he'd normally continue and have no concern                            for the reaction of the other, but so far, this case sounds to be an                            intriguing one, that might — at least, for a while — keep him busy. 

                                                              "Yes, that much was obvious                                                                 from the moment you walked in."

                                      sherlock isn't about to agree to the case so easily,                                       though. the other is desperate and hardly any                                       details are known. 

        "So what has you so convinced I'll take up this case of yours?"

                 he doesn't let any expression grace his face save for a slight clench                  of his jaw. he might be, as the other has admitted, the only one who                  can help — and the detective had been adamant about proving                  that — but he likes to play with his clients a bit. so sue him.