Bella pauses for a second to reorganize her thoughts back in that direction.
"He didn't have that scar," she says, gesturing to her own neck, "which I take it means that it's a product of Sunnydale."
She will actually ask about it at some point, now that she has an idea of its origin, but not right this second. For now, she sticks with the topic at hand, admitting,
"I didn't look for other scars; it wasn't foremost on my mind. I didn't actually realize it wasn't there until I saw yours.
"He also dressed very differently. More" - she pauses to search her vocabulary; a lot of people would probably go with flamboyantly, but it isn't quite the word she wants - "dramatically. Like he didn't have to dress with practicality in mind, but didn't want to go full Creature of the Night, either. Black leather and purplish-grayish silk, tight jeans. Knee-high boots."
. . . which, come to think of it, she had really liked. She's never given knee-high boots much thought, but they wouldn't be nearly as terrible an idea in Sunnydale as they would in Phoenix, would they? She has a lot more sartorial options available to her now.
"He also . . ." There's something else, something intangible about the smile and the clothes and the way he'd confirmed his identity. "When I said who he was, he said, 'In a manner of speaking, yes.' He was - performative."
That's the word she wants, or if it isn't, then the word she wants either isn't in her vocabulary or just doesn't exist.
"He was performing Sherlock Holmes, but also - not. You don't perform Sherlock, you just are. Maybe that continuity you mentioned isn't as concrete as he'd like it to be."
She sighs a bit, because that still doesn't feel quite right. It's hard to analyze other people properly without her notebooks.
no subject
"He didn't have that scar," she says, gesturing to her own neck, "which I take it means that it's a product of Sunnydale."
She will actually ask about it at some point, now that she has an idea of its origin, but not right this second. For now, she sticks with the topic at hand, admitting,
"I didn't look for other scars; it wasn't foremost on my mind. I didn't actually realize it wasn't there until I saw yours.
"He also dressed very differently. More" - she pauses to search her vocabulary; a lot of people would probably go with flamboyantly, but it isn't quite the word she wants - "dramatically. Like he didn't have to dress with practicality in mind, but didn't want to go full Creature of the Night, either. Black leather and purplish-grayish silk, tight jeans. Knee-high boots."
. . . which, come to think of it, she had really liked. She's never given knee-high boots much thought, but they wouldn't be nearly as terrible an idea in Sunnydale as they would in Phoenix, would they? She has a lot more sartorial options available to her now.
"He also . . ." There's something else, something intangible about the smile and the clothes and the way he'd confirmed his identity. "When I said who he was, he said, 'In a manner of speaking, yes.' He was - performative."
That's the word she wants, or if it isn't, then the word she wants either isn't in her vocabulary or just doesn't exist.
"He was performing Sherlock Holmes, but also - not. You don't perform Sherlock, you just are. Maybe that continuity you mentioned isn't as concrete as he'd like it to be."
She sighs a bit, because that still doesn't feel quite right. It's hard to analyze other people properly without her notebooks.