MM: get what you see

[isaysimplewords]

Today, Cal is vomit-free.

He has a small scarlet feather in his hair, though. He hasn't noticed it yet.

He's at a table with a cup of coffee, half-watching the crowd.

Comments

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"I'm just teasing," she admits, leaning back in her seat and brushing a strand of hair out of her face with her left hand.

Two mildly interesting things become apparent: a very expensive men's watch, and a wedding ring.

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The watch is the more interesting item - Cal recognizes the way she's dressed from the social circles he was in once upon a time, and he can't recall any women who would have openly worn an obviously masculine accessory like that.

(Anyone can be married.)

"Then who are you?" he asks. It's a little blunt, but her remark put him on his guard.

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"Your wife."

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Cal's eyebrows arch.

"You don't look like Deborah."

She's not even blonde.

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"I'm not Deborah," she says dryly.

"I'm James."

[isaysimplewords]

She's not blonde and she has a man's name. (Which does match the watch.)

Not a chance. Mother and Grahame would never have gone for it.

. . . on the other hand, not all the parallel worlds are necessarily the same. Cal doesn't actually have a lot of experience with his own doubles, or people who know them.

(Why can't he ever meet anyone from home?)

"Good to meet you, James," he says, on sheer social reflex.

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"I dyed my hair and went by Elizabeth," she explains, because it's excruciatingly obvious. "But your family's approval doesn't matter so much these days, so I'm back to brunette."

[isaysimplewords]

Now that has Cal's interest.

"Really," he says.

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"To the public I'm Elizabeth Chandler. To you I'm James Moriarty."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal is still not up-to-date, so to speak, on his Victorian lit.

But he did do some Googling at home after the meeting with Sherlock.

So, after looking startled for a second - he laughs.

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"Now that's familiar."

[isaysimplewords]

"Are they books on your world, too?" he asks, before he really thinks about it.

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"Of course. And when I told you, you laughed pretty much like that. It's worked out pretty well for us so far, though."

[isaysimplewords]

"Well, there's another world where I'm apparently basically John Watson, so."

He seems to feel that that sentence finishes itself.

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James cracks up.

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Cal laughs too.

"It gets better," he says. "He's a clone of this guy from a comic book movie, and he's like seventeen. And it's one of those worlds with vampires and things."

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"...Your Holmes," she fills in. "God, I love this bar."

[isaysimplewords]

"So do I."

He really, really does.

"I don't have a Holmes. Or a Moriarty. I'm starting to think I got ripped off."

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"Oh, you poor thing. I'd offer to fix that for you, but I'd need to ask my husband first."

[isaysimplewords]

Oh, Jesus, there's a world where he's monogamous? How depressing.

"You could tell him it doesn't count with doubles," he says, very seriously.

Or - very much like someone who lost his ability to keep a straight face somewhere along the way, at any rate.

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"Oh, don't get me wrong, he'll say yes. It's just polite to let him know."

[isaysimplewords]

Oh, good. That's much less depressing. Cal smiles.

"Is it?" he says. "Deborah and I never worried about it much."

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"I think we've already confirmed that I'm not Deborah. Communication is important in relationships, you know. Besides, you always know where to find the cute ones."

[isaysimplewords]

. . . Yeah. He definitely got ripped off.

"It's a skill."

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"Don't I know it."