(no subject)

[if_inconvenient]

One entirely innocuous afternoon, Sherlock places a call through Jarvis to Cal's cellphone.

Comments

[if_inconvenient]

"The plane landed half an hour ago."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

Cal taps his fingers on the table, wishing he'd thought to grab his cigarettes. (In the absence of his daily pot-smoking ritual, that particular habit is taking hold quite nicely.)

"Sometimes when I leave the state, I tell people."

[if_inconvenient]

"But I did tell you," he points out quite reasonably. "I am telling you now."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"I tell people before I do it," he corrects himself.

. . . although considering that two of the people he spends the most time with these days are Sherlock Holmes and Peter Beardsley, he probably wouldn't have to.

[if_inconvenient]

"And where is the fun in that?"

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"For you or for them?" Cal asks dryly.

[if_inconvenient]

"Practically speaking, what is the difference between calling you when I leave and calling you when I arrive? Besides that the latter is infinitely more entertaining."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal rolls his eyes.

"Anything else?"

[if_inconvenient]

"If you would rather I let you know beforehand, I will keep that in mind for next time."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal relaxes and exhales a little.

"Thanks," he says.

Taking off without saying anything is . . . something he's going to have a problem with for a while. Maybe for a long while.

[if_inconvenient]

Lightly: "Think nothing of it."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal closes his eyes and thinks for a moment, trying to remember why a trip to New York sounds familiar.

"This is the, uh - investigation thing, right?"

[if_inconvenient]

"Indeed it is."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"In the city?"

Cal had vaguely pictured some suburban road somewhere.

[if_inconvenient]

"Near the city. Well, near enough."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

Cal nods, as he tends to do during phone conversations.

"How long do you think you'll be there?"

[if_inconvenient]

"Not long. I don't expect to take more than a few days. Shall I call you again before I come home?"

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

Cal snorts a little.

"If you want," he says, but the annoyance of before doesn't resurface.

[if_inconvenient]

"I seem to have a perverse urge not to report my movements until after the fact. I will, however, certainly let you know if anything interesting happens."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"You are perverse," Cal says.

Surely Sherlock wasn't expecting any other response.

[if_inconvenient]

"Granted."

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"Just try to resist."

Being perverse.

Or disappearing without warning.

Whichever.

[if_inconvenient]

"Only where necessary."

Not making Cal worry is, of course, necessary.

[americas-son.livejournal.com]

"I dunno if I trust your definition of necessary."

Sometimes Sherlock defines things differently from the way other people do. Cal has noticed this. Frequently.

[if_inconvenient]

"It is necessary to keep one's promises."