there is room here to expand

[cross_and_bow]

When Juliet leaves the party, she goes to meet the new Jarvis.

She knocks, to be polite.

Comments

[cross_and_bow]

"How'd you settle on that identification system?"

[poeticterms]

"It's the most obvious one, if you're a Jarvis."

[cross_and_bow]

"Fair enough. So, welcome to Sunshine. And being alive. I'm sorry it took so long for it to occur to anyone that Downside might have caught you."

[poeticterms]

"I believe Sherlock is more upset about that than I am."

[cross_and_bow]

"Is he here or off somewhere else?"

[poeticterms]

"He is upstairs."

[cross_and_bow]

Bella decides to head upstairs.

[poeticterms]

Jarvis has no comment on this decision.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella wanders from room to room, learning her way around this old/new Jarvis and looking for her boyfriend.

[poeticterms]

It's a big house. It will take her some time to confirm that Sherlock is not on the second floor.

There's a third.

[cross_and_bow]

She heads up to look around that one.

[poeticterms]

It features many open doors, one leading to what was clearly once Tony's bedroom, and one closed one.

[cross_and_bow]

"Sherlock?" Bella asks the closed door.

[poeticterms]

It opens.

[eversomuchfun]

The room on the other side is sparsely populated with slightly shabby-looking furniture. Sherlock is sitting on a couch with a violin in his lap, motionless.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella sits next to him and leans her head on his shoulder.

"Hi," she murmurs.

[eversomuchfun]

He kisses the top of her head.

"Hello."

[cross_and_bow]

"What's having a daemon like?" she wonders softly.

[eversomuchfun]

"It does not easily submit to description," he says.

[cross_and_bow]

"I guess it wouldn't." She snuggles up. "I'm sorry she's sad. Amariah seems to think that's - really worrying."

[eversomuchfun]

"It's an accurate representation of what I used to be like," he says. "And apparently still am, underneath it all." He sighs. "Perhaps I shouldn't have merged my soul back in. I was getting along just fine without it."

[cross_and_bow]

"You were," agrees Juliet.

And:

"You could unstick it."

And:

"She's - if you really don't want her, if she doesn't really want her - she's probably not hooked into your torching."

[eversomuchfun]

"No," he agrees slowly, "I suppose she isn't."

[cross_and_bow]

"Seems sad, though," Juliet murmurs.

She sighs and adjusts her snuggling position and is silent for a bit, and then says, "I'm not planning to go get one, but I wonder what he'd be." She lets out a soft, brief chuckle. "I can guess what he'd do, though, if I had an independently ambulatory soul he'd go right up to you and want to be held."

[eversomuchfun]

Sherlock very carefully evicts the violin from his lap, and turns to Juliet, and hugs her.