strange behaviour

[bitofafiction]

Characters: Sherlock Holmes and YOU
Format: prose preferred, please ♥
This log is: open!
Location: Out and about on the grounds
Summary: Sherry Holmes counts trees.
Warnings: none at the time of posting

He starts by the main entrance, at the southernmost point of the elongated hexagon that makes up the grounds, and moves clockwise. Every time he sees a tree, he not only notes it down in his pocket notebook but walks up to it and puts his hand against the trunk, as though to confirm it is real.

Last night he slept reasonably well on the roof of White dorm. He knows he can't count on that, but for now he is grateful not to have started back down the inevitable spiral of sleep deprivation and paranoia just yet. He looks serene and well-rested, which only invites the question of what the hell he is doing to all those trees.

Comments

hellooooo 8D

[bitofafiction]

When Sherlock catches sight of Reid, he stops in his tracks. Fascinating.

Still, that's a tree he is leaning against, and it needs to be counted the same as any of them. Sherlock steps up beside him and examines the pattern of the bark, looking for something he can use to distinguish this particular birch from the rest.

Re: hellooooo 8D

[eidetic]

Reid glances up briefly to the young man, then back to his book. "Am I in your way?" he asked, stepping aside. When he moved, there was a place where the tree was still healing from having lost a branch somewhere around where his head had been. The wood swelled around the broken stump, though it would be several years before it completely covered it.

[bitofafiction]

"Only slightly."

He studies the missing branch for a few seconds and then opens his notebook and records the existence of tree number thirty-one. "Thank you," he adds as he closes it again.

[eidetic]

"Cataloging the trees?" he asked curiously. He didn't close the book, but he did have his focus drawn from it successfully.

[bitofafiction]

"Yes. Thirty-one of them, so far. And you? Memorizing the rulebook?"

[eidetic]

"Yes, though it's not like I have a choice in the matter," he said. "I have an eidetic memory.

"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid," he said simply. Since he didn't have his credentials, he would leave out the FBI part for now.

[bitofafiction]

"Of course you do. It is the likeliest explanation for why you read faster than I do."

He smiles.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dr. Reid. I am Sherlock Holmes."

[eidetic]

The look on Reid's face was clearly one of recognition, but he didn't say anything. "The pleasure's mine, I"m sure," was the most he'd give away. He seemed a bit young. Maybe he was just playing a prank.

"What is your goal with the trees, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked, curiously.

[bitofafiction]

"Oh, I am trying to establish a baseline so that I have a chance of catching any surreptitious changes to the physical reality of this place later on. Trees are easy to count and relatively immutable; they seemed the place to start."

It's a pity that the only evidence he sees on Dr. Reid leads to trivial conclusions. He has an urge to demonstrate his deductive faculties just now.

[eidetic]

Reid nodded, and became a bit more animated. "That makes sense. If the holographic projections are as realistic as they claim, then it would be very easy to change anything. Have you been mapping them as well? Any possible patterns in movement, size, or shape could signal something to us." What an interesting problem he's discovered.

[bitofafiction]

"Only on the most rudimentary level, I'm afraid. I would be glad of your assistance if the project interests you."

[eidetic]

"Maps are a hobby of mine. I could absolutely create one. I'm sure there's a campus map in here..." he flipped to one of the first pages of the manual, and there it was. It was rather broad, but it gave him a good jumping-off point. He needed to make it bigger, though. "Yes, here we are. I can start with this."

[bitofafiction]

Sherlock smiles.

"Excellent. Thank you very much."