Old Fires (Irene, Casual)

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

He was early, but that didn't matter.
At (almost) ten am, Bathesda Terrace was far past the point of purely glowing with the golden hue of sunlight that was lingering after a clear-skied morning. It was a beautiful scene, and made even more so simply by the lack of crowds milling around the fountain. Which was somewhat of a surprise, in honest truth, as the area was usually densely populated by tourists. Though the only people he had seen nearby were a few couples (both parties in two of which he deduced were, as it turned out, having seperate affairs) - it was St Valentine's Day, after all.

Sherlock hadn't noticed the date (in fact, he had still been relatively sure it was Januray) until earlier that morning. And, of course, he immediately wanted to contact Irene and think up some excuse for rescheduling, in case she got what he deemed the 'wrong idea'.
In the end, and under the assurance that Holmes honestly didn't care for such holidays, he didn't - and would simply choose to remain oblivious to the fact that it was the 14th.

So far, the consulting detective was easily able to do just that.

He sat on the low wall that ran around the perimeter of the lower level of the fountain - facing the terrace itself. At least it was an interesting thing to concentrate on, whilst he waited for The Woman to show up. He rather expected her to be late, anyway.
In all honesty, Sherlock wasn't entirely sure how she was going to act. Well, that wasn't quite true - it was Irene Adler, after all. He expected her usual behaviour, which wasn't at all out of the ordinary for either of them. Nevertheless, for some reason the detective found himself willing to put up with her trickery for today.
After all, he had been the one to suggest they meet.
He still wasn't sure why he had done that.

[IRENE ADLER]

With a halt to her car, she closed the door and started to walk towards the fountain. His shape sitting at a corner, as she nibbled on her bottom lip. The big bouquet of balloons held in one of her hands as she held in the other a new leather pouch. Whatever she had tried the day before to get for Sherlock , well she either knew that he would find them useless or actually give them away. Which she decided to chow down on them herself. Sitting down where he sat, she extended her hand out and hoped he would take the balloons.

She had enough in her hands to currently keep herself from falling and making everything fall to the ground. Leaving the box of chocolates on her side, she handed him the picture. It was a naked picture of her, she really did not know what to get but she guessed the leather pounch, and the naked picture were objects of Sherlock interest. Sighing, she turned to the man as she had still her hand extended out with the balloon string still in her hand. "Thank me"she whispered and started to grin. Her tongue poking out as she opened the pouch and started to set down the naked picture of her.

She did not mind public humiliation. That was her forte. Also she disliked how peoples attitude over her work could change any view of her. But if she remembered, he had started this subject in her text messages. Crossing her leg, she had a very short red dress with the back opened tied in ribbons. A big heart in the center colored black as she knew that it sort of went along with the day. "Yes this was a good day . "she expressed and played with a little bit of her hair fixing it in the process.

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

In all fairness, he'd brought it upon himself.
Why had he even contacted her in the first place?
Irrational, spur-of-the-moment... No, what was he thinking? He'd just been bored.
And then, this really is the most upsetting part, he had followed through with it.

So far, New York had made sure that Sherlock landed himself in much deeper water than he had expected when orginally laying out the base lines for his numerous plans. Perhaps it was the city itself that blessed (or cursed, depending on how it was looked upon) the consulting detective with such curious circumstances at every corner.
Or maybe it was the fact that, no matter how hard he tried (not that he was going to, mind), Holmes couldn't stay away from a good, complicated mess when it called out to him.

Such as this one, for example.

She was even wearing red.
Right. The text.

That thought alone somehow managed to cause the foundations of a smile to grace his lips. But then, of course, he noticed the present.
Oh blimey.

He frowned, turning his head slightly away as she presented (with what seemed to be pride, no less) the more... outlandish of gifts to him. Well, of course he wasn't going to accept that! But nor was he going to let her give him any of the others, to be honest.

"I must state in advance that I honestly wasn't aware of the date today, and you really must know that if I had have been, I would certainly have waited at least a few weeks before contacting you." Sherlock spoke bluntly, raising one eyebrow lightly as he ignored both of her comments.

[IRENE ADLER]

She waved her hand as she walked over towards that man, her hands sliding along his collar bone as she snatched one of his locks of hair and smelled it. Her hands running across her bra as she hid it for safe keeping. But when he frowned, she just let go of the objects in her possesion and the balloons and sighed. " Do you think you can be a little less harsh... besides it is not a date, who said it was a date. "she flatly spoke, and rolled her eyes. Honestly , he could be very charmig and all of a sudden poof he is gone. She had her methods of attracting attention, but she was not going to use them now.

"How have you been , I heard you tried to kill yourself" she spoke out loud as she sat down, and grabbed the boxes of chocolates and sucked and nibbled on their sweetness. She was ignoring the man , and then she wanted to ask if she could at least text him from off and again. But yet why was she the one worried. But she was also considering matters of the heart so she stayed in silence and stared at him. "Well shall we have lunch" she asked as she was not sure if she had said the ideal thing.

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

Despite being Irene Adler (and her actions were pretty much a given with her reputation) she was acting rather... odd. Smelling his hair, for example. That was just downright weird, excuses be damned.
Fortunately she seemed to understand what he had implied, however, and didn't force the ridiculous gifts upon him any longer.

"Do you think you can be a little less harsh... besides it is not a date, who said it was a date?"
Somewhat of a mental sigh of relief was breathed as she stated this. He hadn't even considered the fact that she wouldn't consider their meeting to be something it wasn't - most likely because he had, of course, being previously distracted by the items she brought along.

"How have you been , I heard you tried to kill yourself."
Other than narrowing his eyes, Holmes chose to simply ignore the comment, staying silent as he kept his gaze firmly fixed on the woman. The Woman. He didn't need reminding how she had earned that title.
Thankfully, however, she changed the subject.
"Well shall we have lunch?"
Sherlock glanced around, as if he hadn't realized where they were. If he was to be honest, he had, in actual fact, seemed to forget for a brief moment.

"Yes, I don't see why not."
Well. There were a number of reasons why not. Number one probably being the fact that he didn't make a regular habit of eating. But, then again, that didn't mean to say that he couldn't take her to lunch. There was a small restaurant he had heard of just a short while away in the park.

Sherlock stood, offering his arm to Irene as he waited for her to do the same.

[IRENE ADLER]

She smiled as she noticed him avoiding the subject of his killing. Her wrist opening where the gash was as she herself had tried to many years ago. So she knew how it was , what was the process. Oh if this man only knew, her gun shoot would prove to be an idea of what she had gone through.

But at the end of the day there was nothing to be said. When she saw that he offered his arm to her she started to poke it and looked at him , then at the arm again and back at him. Her arm tangled with his as she wrapped her arm around his and started to hug it.

The comfortable squeeze made her feel happy for a little bit of a time. She searched around with her eyes where they could maybe find a nice quiet spot to actually sit down and have some normal talk like to consenting adults. But she was not one to hold back, and just like that she kissed his cheek.

A chuckle escaped her as she started to pull him with her in to to some form of food and beverage place. If there was one man who could actually hold himself composed when she was around it was him. Oh yes she knew how to press the lucky buttons that was her lover boys and yet nothing had come out of it.

Nothing to far. " Am I still bothersome to you dear" she said and started to curl her fingers around his chest. The close touch was making her wild wanting more

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

Sherlock was not alarmed when the woman kissed him on the cheek. He had, in actual fact, been expecting something of the sort for the past few minutes. The man simply raised a single eyebrow in return, walking alongside her quietly as she led the two of them in the direction of a small restaurant some way away.

"Am I still bothersome to you dear?" Irene asked as they walked, trying far too hard to prove her point through the increase of physical contact. It was rather sad to him that she seemed to feel the only way to persuade him so was through touch. But then again, that was how the majority of the human race worked.

Holmes simply shot her a pointed look.
"Never think so little of yourself to believe that you are not," he murmured, somewhat tiring of the pace at which they were currently walking (he had shortened his own stride to match hers - common courtesy that even he was capable of understanding), "Irene Adler, you shall always be the only woman to be 'bothersome' in my life."

The consulting detective smirked lightly, taking the lead as they neared the little restaurant. He pulled her arm in order to lead her to a table just outside of the doors, before drifting away to pull back a chair for her.
However much many people liked to believe that Sherlock was incapable of social niceties, he was still an English gentleman, born and bred.

[IRENE ADLER]

She halted her path and looked at the man, her body close to his as she traced the outline of his jacket. "Well well.. that is kind of surprising my darling." she said poking his nose and digging her fingers in his hair and ripping a piece of lock away from his pretty head. She smelled it and sighed as she quickened her pace. Her eyes locked in a table as she sat down on the next restaurant where there very hardly any people left. The perfect setting for her and her toy. Well at least her lover of sorts. How far would Sherlock go with her, how far would he let her push his buttons. She had her means and her measures.

They needed some spirits. Clicking her fingers she found a waiter walk up to her as she was a regular client here. Turning at the little boy she licked her fingers as she rubbed her hands. " A mean spirit please ." she asked as she never spoke in true words what she wanted to order. By a mean spirit there was only one drink that she could point out , strong enough for her. Absinthe. Oh yes the lucky fairy would be on her side tonight. But like a wanting child she wanted more. Taking out her lipstick she smudged some on and stared at the man.

" Your a very hard man to actually understand , but I appreciate you being here with me" she said and started to stare at her hands not making eye contact with him.

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

Sherlock tried his hardest to ignore her obviously typical behaviour, until they were both seated at the table. He did, however, find it difficult not to gasp lightly and move a hand to his head when she positively plucked away a part of his hair. It was fortunate he had so much of it.
Honestly, the woman was dangerous. But then, that was probably the main reason Holmes was so fascinated by her.

The consulting detective raised an eyebrow at her drinks request to the waiter. It was no difficult feat to decipher 'mean spirit' as absinthe, considering her tendency to label it such in the past. They had spent many a time sharing the drink before, explaining how Irene was aware of his favour for it.
"You're a very hard man to actually understand, but I appreciate you being here with me."

Holmes ignored her words, aware that she would know that he agreed with the statement that he was difficult to understand. He was so even to himself, at times. Instead, the man pinned Adler with a lopsided smirk.
"It's ten o'clock in the morning and already you've advanced to the fairy. I dread to think what you drank before you came to meet me."

[IRENE ADLER]

She gave a lopsided smirk and started to lean into the man as she had her face mere inches from his. " Oh want to find out? Besides life is no fun without a little bit of a game plan. After all you know me very well I live dangerously. " she said and started to look at the bottle and take out the cork. Her hands serving the two glasses as she was not afraid to actually live a little dangerously. Sitting back in her chair she pushed her hair back as she smelled again his hair and tucked it under her breast. "For safe keeping" she said and started to smile and form circles in her place mat. "

Why does a recognized detective drink then at 10 in the morning answer me that" she posed the question and found the bread sticks along with fresh bread and garlic butter served before them. " Hungry " she asked as she would be paying or was this a date and he would pay. Either way she would wait for his reaction. " Hows business? " she asked and started to move her hand to his cheek and shot down her first glass. Her cuts visible as she bit down on her lip and wondered if he would notice. She was distracting him with to many questions so that he would not ask her his fair share of questions.

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

Judging by her words, Irene had most likely drunk something not very much weaker than the absinthe she was then uncorking. Then again, the woman was remarkably capable of holding her drink. And, as they were both rather strange creatures anyway, it didn't really matter at all that they not follow convention.

He did, however, quirk an eyebrow when she placed the lock of his hair away for 'safe keeping', as she had stated. It was quite unsettling, in all honesty, that she had that much of a fixation with it. It was only hair, after all.
Sherlock took note of her questions, rather than answering them. Her hand soon drifted once again to his face (it seemed to do that a lot, and he again blamed the odd fixation), and he followed suit by downing his own glass.

The shot of absinthe did not, however, affect his observation skills in any way. And so, it was with narrowed eyes and lips pressed into a straight line that he quickly grabbed her hand (carefully, mind, he didn't want to hurt her), and found himself staring at an assortment of cuts. It didn't take long for him to notice how she had gained them.
"Really, darling, you must stop breaking glasses over me."

[IRENE ADLER]

She choked on her own words.Staring at the man as she sulked and let her hair fall to the side " I was with Lestrade... poor man" she said behind her curtain of protection. " I sewed the stitches my self" she said and inspected her hand . Well she could flex it, but some nerves where damaged so no harm done. " You should answer your messages.. " she said a little more seriously as she was not smiling. She really cared about him, why she could not understand but it was a feeling like she had never felt before in her life. Her work everything sort of made her compelled to actually be with him. But did he have those feelings. Serving another shot, she downed it and gasped. She was not amused, and she was flustered that he had figured out. Moving a little forward she continued to deny him looking at her face as she rubbed her wounded hand.

She had missed him and with a flair she grabbed his hand and started to guided it towards her face. " Why are we so total opposites and yet at the same time we can't stand being away from one another" she joked and started to move his hand away and tap the table. She was hiding, she was hiding her emotions very carefully.

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

Sherlock frowned a little as she began to try to explain. She should know that she never had to, and it rather frustrating him that she didn't seem to notice that.
"You should answer your messages..."
Holmes grimaced slightly, thinking back to when he had last checked his mobile for messages from Irene. From what he could gather, it had probably been whilst he was in the middle of a case.
"I imagine I was most likely a little tied up at that moment. Quite literally. The criminal classes are rather demanding recently."

Though the woman then downed another shot of absinthe, Holmes decided not to follow her lead that time. Alcohol didn't have the effect on him that it had most people. His sight or stability was never affected, but rather it weakened the barriers he worked hard to create for his mind and actions. At that particular moment, he didn't much feel like letting those go.
Though she quickly let go of his hand, he soon after responded by covering her hand on the table with his, ducking his head in order to gain eye contact, however much she didn't want it.
"Because we are both extraordinary people, and not being awkward is far too boring." Sherlock shot her a grin as he spoke. It was something he was fairly sure he had said to her before.

[IRENE ADLER]

She grinned back and stared at him now. Her eyes slowly staring deep into his eyes as she never in her days had imagined that she would actually show that she was so much in love as this moment. Though she would never express it she had one chance to. " Your a wuss " she said as she started to serve him another shot. " You owe me two or are you not man enough my extraordinary companion" she said and held up her glass as she was not sure what she was doing. A gut feeling overcame her and she was just following pure instict , a calling was knocking on her door. Making her feel like the whole world was spinning and it was jabbing her poking her to actually do something about this.

Poking out of her bag, she started to roll a cigar as she took a puff and smiled at Sherlock. " Where do you live so that I can poke around naked " she asked and laughed. She was feeling confident.She quickly curled her hand around his and tightened her grip. Well they were advancing at least.

[SHERLOCK HOLMES]

" You owe me two or are you not man enough my extraordinary companion."
Sherlock raised an eyebrow, reaching out his other hand to drink what was in the glass, before filling it again and doing the same. Thus downing two in a row and, effectively, 'catching up'

" Where do you live so that I can poke around naked."
Holmes chuckled, tilting his head as he stared at the woman.
"I'm hardly going to tell you that, now am I? Else you'll turn up at my flat and stride around naked and, good lord, I'd never be rid of you." He commented with a smirk and a mock gasp of horror, head still tipped slightly to one side.

He noted her growing confidence as her hand tightened on his. That was when he should watch out, because you could never be too careful around a confident Irene Adler. Dangerous, after all.