IC Inbox (v2.0)

[jumpthegun]

You've reached Dr. John Watson. Please leave a message.

Comments

[jumpthegun]

I'm concerned you're gonna say something that'll set him off, and I'll wind up having to pull the pair of you apart.

[howdull]

You'll be there, and he evidently listens to you.

[He doesn't sound at all worried about pissing off an expert assassin.]

If he decides to kill me, I'll just point out the flaws in his logic again, it worked last time. He's not particularly dedicated for an assassin.

[jumpthegun]

[John sighs heavily.]

If he's not with someone else, we can join up with him.

[howdull]

Don't be so petulant, John, I'm just thinking of an added layer of physical protection from the Joker.

[Now that John has angered him. Not that he minds, he likes a good criminal challenge, but the protection is only good sense in this case.]

[jumpthegun]

Yeah, yeah.

[John's going to at least contact Bucky to see what he thinks about it. Sherlock's version of events with other people can sometimes be... skewed.]

[howdull]

[Sherlock will retreat while the message is being sent, focus on tuning his violin instead of the loss of two important people.]

[jumpthegun]

[After the conversation with Bucky, John turns his attention on Sherlock again with an annoyed frown.]

What exactly was the point of lying about Bucky?

[howdull]

Hm?

[He tilts his head to John, face a picture of innocence.]

I didn't.

[jumpthegun]

Sherlock, I've just texted with him and he says he's never met you. Or even spoken to you.

[howdull]

And you automatically assume that I'm the one who's lying?

[Just a moment's pause.]

Good guess, but incorrect on this occasion.

[jumpthegun]

[He stares at Sherlock for a long moment and then flicks a look of uncertainty down at his tablet. Could Bucky have forgotten? No. No, that doesn't make sense. Maybe once, but not multiple times. There is another thought, though.]

Sherlock, what does Bucky look like?

[howdull]

Conspicuous, for an assassin.

[Honestly, he'd expected something a lot subtler.]

Tall, fairly defined musculature, long white hair.

[jumpthegun]

Tall, yes. Long, white hair? No. He's got brown hair, shoulder-length. [Ish.] And he's built like a bloody tank.

[howdull]

He introduced himself as Bucky.

[No, he really didn't. But Sherlock was so sure of his deduction that his memory might have filled in the gaps a bit.]

[jumpthegun]

[Long white hair describes only one of the men John knows here. It takes a moment for him to pull up one of Squalo's video messages and flip it for Sherlock to see.]

Was this the man you saw?

[howdull]

That's him, that's Bucky Barnes.

[Why are they even going through this? He's not lying this time!]

[jumpthegun]

Squalo. That's Squalo Superbi.

Bucky Barnes is @bucky, and they are literally nothing alike! Did he seriously tell you he was Bucky? What the hell?

[howdull]

[Did he say that? Or had Sherlock deduced it and then it had become cemented in his head as fact?]

Of course he did, why else would I tell you that was him? I've not met him before thanks to your ridiculous rule that I can't interact with him.

[A sensible rule.]

[jumpthegun]

Okay... [John's pinching the bridge of his nose now.] I'm apparently going to find out why Squalo is lying. He's not Bucky, though. We're not having Bucky join us.

[howdull]

Off you go, then.

[He's going to do something more interesting, let John worry about the thread of lies if he wants.]