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"He's better than me, I suspect."

He pauses in thought. It had been far too long.

"Miss Adler. I'm glad you're still around."

"Doctor." Her face lights in a smile. "I'm glad to see you as well. How have you been?"

"Fine. And you?"

Because fine is easier to answer at this point.

"Well, besides still texting your not-boyfriend and him not usually replying."

Told you he would.

[Took a while though, didn't it? Sherlock can be so obtuse.]

"Yes, well, Sherlock Holmes is a particular sort of man."

She moves to sit, but stops before she reaches the sofa.

"Tea? I want to hear about where you've gone."

You genius men can be something else.

"Don't go out of your way for it. But I'll always have tea."

He blows a bit of a raspberry at the last comment.

"Nowhere terribly exciting. I think you might have had more exciting adventures this go."

Did you start them with "hi" before?

I was bored.

[He wasn't.]

Irene nods and moves to the hallway.

"Margret, a pot of tea, please."

She returns and takes her seat.

"I finally found a good assistant. It might not have been an exciting location, but I'm sure there was some sort of alien there."

You know 'hi' just never occurred to me. The most recent was 'Happy Birthday'.

It's always a shame when you are bored. That brilliant mind left unoccupied.

It's a serious problem.

I know. That's why I'm here. I wouldn't want you to be too bored for too long.

[Yes, that's entirely the reason, not because she wanted to see him]

He raises an eyebrow, but more in amusement.

"Oh, that must make things far easier for you."

He offers a bit of a grin at her last comment. His tone is somewhat over-enthusiastic.

"Yes. Me."

"It does." She laughs.

"And what a strange alien you are."

"Well, yes. I am. But, you... Still haven't given up. It's Interesting..."

And makes him the slightest bit jealous, all things considered.

"Surely I'm not the first to have not given up."

A tray of tea is carefully placed on the table between them by an attractive blonde who leaves without a word.

"Thank you, Margret."

He calls after the woman. More to show that he does sometimes have manners than anything.

"True. But time passes for everyone.... Question is, are you 'not giving up' or are you simply 'not accepting'."

He really has no way to know without asking and there are differences.

Margret is very aware of how Irene appreciates her.

She shrugs a shoulder. "I don't think I would ever truly give up. I'm happy and things are going well, but I do always hope you will show up, it lingers somewhere in the back of my existence, that I hope you don't just forget about me."

But there's a calmness about her, she's obviously far more relaxed about the whole situation between them.

Good. That's very good. He's not anxious either. But there's some lingering sadness, just beneath the surface.

"Well, you're a very hard woman to forget. As illustrated by... anyone who knows Sherlock Holmes."

"Well, I do try to make an impression."

She sips her tea with a smile. There will always be a candle held for him, the Doctor is something very incredible.

"You seem calmer today."

"I would say you succeed..."

He finally picks up his own tea and takes a sip. Not bad...

"Calmer? Well, a bit older, certainly. I suppose that could lead to being calm."

He doesn't feel calm.

Edited 2017-01-09 15:34 (UTC)

You know, I actually was somewhat surprised that you ended up developing real feelings towards him.

[But not too much, in hindsight. The three of them do have a lot in common.]

"Thank you."

From him, she imagines that's a compliment.

"How much older? It's always surprising how slowly you age."