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After that, there are two conversations Bella wants to have very possibly more than she has ever wanted a conversation in her life.

One of them is going to have to wait until Charlie gets home, and that will be hours yet. (It's also the one she wants to have the most, but there is very little she can or would do about that, so she is putting it very firmly aside for now. Just because she knows about vampires now doesn't mean Charlie is in any more danger than he has been every other night he's worked. There is no logical reason to try to drag him home now. She can and will wait.)

(She's always known his job was dangerous.)

Prior to Milliways showing up, Bella had just arrived home after dropping Sherlock off; giving him a ride from school when he wants one has become routine.

She jumps right back into her truck and very carefully does not speed on her way to the Stark residence.

The other conversation she wants, she can have right now.

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"A reasonable strategy in theory, but... somehow I doubt I could manage it, myself."

Bella isn't much surprised to hear that; she remembers the state he'd been in when he'd first told her about his encounter.

"You could consider it practice," she suggests. "Beginning to teach your subconscious that an entity that cannot physically harm you doesn't suddenly become dangerous just because your full awareness isn't focused on it."

A first step toward getting rid of that fear of being watched sleeping that he has.

"I see what you mean," he says. "I'll think about it. Or - whatever it is people say when they mean they are actually going to think about something. Perhaps there isn't such a phrase."

"I don't know if there is," Bella says, "but when you say it, I'm inclined to believe that you mean it."

He smiles at her.

And then -

"Did you have any further observations about my vampire double?"

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.

Edited 2016-10-26 22:08 (UTC)

"Hmm," muses Sherlock. "'In a manner of speaking'... there are a number of possibilities lurking behind that phrase and I am not at all sure which one is the reality. It could be that he feels more distant from the identity of Sherlock Holmes because he is not quite the same person who chose it; it could be a way of obliquely acknowledging that he doesn't think he's quite the Sherlock you're looking for; it could be some sort of private joke that I don't have enough context to fully pick up on; it could be any combination of those things."

"He was exactly the Sherlock I was looking for," Bella objects, "because he was the one I was speaking to."

Which she knows isn't quite what Sherlock meant, but - ugh. She hates not knowing things.

"I'll pay closer attention if I run into him again. At least I won't be distracted by any vampire-related revelations."

"Even distracted, your observations were useful," he says.

Bella relaxes, smiling a little.

"Thanks," she says, then,

"You are going to be very good for my observational skills."

She can only hone her skills by herself so much. Having someone to keep up with is going to be a whole different story.

He grins.

Bella grins back, and allows herself to enjoy the moment.

"So how did you get that scar?" Someone else would tack if you don't mind my asking onto that question; Bella doesn't bother. If he minds her asking, he won't be offended, he'll just tell her.

Bella understands the role and importance of niceties in society, but she's finding that she really enjoys having a friend she can just skip them all with.

"Ah."

He half-smiles.

"The short answer is, I fought some vampires and came closer than I'd like to losing. The longer answer - which I trust you to be discreet with - is that Reed Chandler did not die of a mysterious illness. He was abducted from Cal's birthday party and turned into a vampire. I tracked the vampires who did it. I found them. They objected to my interference. The vampire Reed attacked several members of his family, tried to turn Cal, failed, and died."

Failed, and died.

Bella's hand slips into the pocket where she put the UV laser that Sherlock just gave her.

Her estimation of this reality's Cal Chandler rises several notches.

(She does not think of Charlie.)

"I'll be discreet," she says.

". . . do you fight vampires often? Or was that a special occasion?" She didn't dislike Cal, just hadn't liked him as much as his double, and it was obvious how close he and Sherlock were. (Even if he hadn't reacted very - nicely - to the idea that they might be dating.

She wonders a little just how much the two Cals would like each other.)

It's very easy to imagine Sherlock grabbing a laser and taking off to fix things for his friend.

"I... have a bad habit of going out for long walks at night when I'm in a mood," he admits. "Or sometimes just for personal amusement."

". . . I hope you've been a little more careful since," Bella says.

She is not especially impressed with this revelation, but he obviously knows how to protect himself, so she's not quite as unimpressed as she could be.

"Oh, that's why he sent an entire gang."

She's still not impressed. But it will probably be Charlie she worries about more tonight.

"The average Sunnydale vampire is genuinely not a threat to me," he says. "Tony and I found out about vampires in the first place because one of them attacked me and I fought him off unarmed. But yes, I should take more care for my safety."

"Yes, you should."

She emphasizes the word just slightly to let him know that his word choice did not go unnoticed, but her tone is mild.

"The number of people who care about your safety keeps growing."

("She is my friend. I have two now.")

"Thank you," he says.

"I will take that into account."

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