Chapter Six: Pleasantries

Somehow, once again Basil found himself not in his favorite armchair, but instead leaning against it, sipping his earl gray quietly, enjoying the slight tang and sourness of the lemon Mrs. Judson had so kindly squeeze in for him, knowing that he preferred his earl gray with a little flavor to it. He also nibbled slightly moodily on his cheese crumpet, savoring the almost spicy taste and enjoying the way how it simply crumbled in his mouth. He wished to be in his chair, but the look of complete comfort on Olivia's face made him know that he would never be as rude as to ask a young lady to leave her seat, he was a gentleman after all.

She was chattering with Genevieve, or Genevieve was chattering while Olivia put in some input once in a while. She was such a quiet person, now that he thought about it, and only ever spoke when she felt the need. It was rather similar to the little girl all those years ago, he thought to himself, she had been quiet then too, and communicated more with her actions than words. It made him feel strangely relieved, that not everything had changed about her. He half listened to Genevieve Dawson's voice, raised in anger;

"OH! Now, my dear Miss. Flaversham, please you must understand, it is of the utmost importance that you understand! You must allow me to shop with you, I insistence that you let me take you out on the town! I know the loveliest little shop, with the most gorgeous hats-"

"No hats. I do not like hats Mrs. Dawson, I only own one, and it shall remain like that." interrupted Olivia, shaking her head firmly.

To Basil it looked as if Genevieve was on the edge of having some sort of mad fit, and her elegant long elegant fingers reached up to touch the large, violet hat that was perched on her head. It occurred to Basil, as he watched Genevieve look more and more appalled by Olivia's lack of adoration toward hats, that maybe they wouldn't be so fast friends after all. And that young Olivia could wind up pretty much anyone, with that sharp wit and sliver tongue of her's.

Dawson, he noted, was looking on at the pair of young woman with fondness, and he was sipping his own earl gray with peacefulness shining in his dark eyes. He had long known that Dawson had gotten deeply attached to Olivia, and he was not surprised by the large amount of delight that Dawson was radiating in the girl's presence. Mrs. Judson was simply over the moon, and even the ever snobbish Genevieve had taken a liking toward the girl. He had to admit, that he too, was delighted to have her around. And, as long as he was being honest to himself, there was a strange sense of rightness to see her in his parlor, sitting in his chair(though he thought she would look better in the green chair, not the red), and in his home having tea.

It was so odd, he mused after another deep sip of his tea, that after so many years, and after changing into this strange, yet familiar girl, Olivia Fafflehedd could fit into their lives so easily. Into his chaotic life so easily! It was as if... As if a special niche had formed for her the second that faithful case had been over. As if all of them had just been waiting for the chance for her to come back and fill it, the second she had left, all those years ago. He, unbeknownst to him, formed a very, soft, and unconscious smile, at the thought, being truly happy that she was back.

No one noticed this soft and gentle smile, so different from his usual sneers, forced and slightly manic smiles, save for Olivia, who saw it from the corner of her eyes. Everyone though, including the Basil, who was still trapped in the inner workings of his genius mind, noticed the equally gentle, equally soft, yet somehow more radiant answering smile that formed on Olivia's lips. She too, like Dawson, noticed Basil with a small start, looked at peace in his home. It made him feel incredibly warm at the thought.

Mrs. Judson came in some time later, her expression serene as she looked over the empty platter of crumpets, and the empty tea cups. Basil knew that she loved it when her food was consumed, and each time she saw the tea cups and plates empty, her always harassed face would look slightly more at peace. It was why he took great pains to eat as much as he could, and only broke this silent promise when he was on a case. He was torn out of his musing when Mrs. Judson tsked sharply, her head shaking slightly as she gathered the dishes, and dismissed Olivia's move to help her.

"Mr. Basil, what in heaven's name are you doing copped up, on a fine day, such as this?" Mrs. Judson inquired, her lips twitching downwards in displeasure.

Basil quirked his eyebrow at her, face slightly questioning her .

"I dare say Mrs. Judson, I am, in all accounts I have just finished with my lovely morning tea, and ready to have small talk with my companions. What do you propose, my dear Mrs. Judson, we do instead, on as you say, a fine day such as this?" Basil asked her, voice slightly curious.

Mrs. Judson seemed pleased by his question, and gestured toward the door with a pointed look on her face.

"Go for a walk, it's a fine summer day, and I dare say that Olivia must feel a little lost in London now? It has been eight years since she's been here, why don't you all go for a little stroll and get her re-familiarized with city?" retorted Mrs. Judson, a slight smug smile on her lips.

Basil frowned a little at her tone, and had the sneaking suspicion that Mrs. Judson just wanted them out of the house, so she could clean his parlor, as she always did when he left the house in a none case matter. As much as he hated to admit, he knew that he was a bit of a slob, at least when it came to his parlor. It was his work space after all, and he liked it the way it was. He knew where everything was. Unfortunately for him, Dawson answered Mrs. Judson question:

"Splendid idea Mrs. Judson! Splendid! What do you say Gene? Up for a little stroll around London?" said Dawson happily, turning to his wife.

Genevieve seemed to think for a moment, before she turned to her husband with an sinister gleam in her eye.

"A wonderful idea, I shall take Miss. Flaversham to that hat shop, it will simply won't due for her to own one!" she said happily to her husband, already plotting to what Olivia would buy, or if she refused, she would buy for her.

Olivia felt the blood leave her face at the look in Genevieve Dawson's eye. She groaned and her head dropped into her hands, because she knew that look. She had seen it many of times on her friend Lenora's face. She wondered briefly if it wasn't to late to go back to Scotland and simply doge the bullet of getting a hat. It wasn't her fault that she disliked them, she just did! They always got in the way, and she had already gotten in plenty of trouble for wearing them in her earlier detective days. She didn't care if they were popular, those damn things had almost cost her her life more than once! Though, if she was honest to herself, she would not mind getting a hat like Basil's... She wondered what he would think of that...Olivia sat up straighter as she felt something, or really someone pat her back. She took her head out of her hands to see Basil looking down at her with a smile.

"Don't worry Miss. Flafferheffer, we'll escape Genevieve and run off on our own before we get to that blasted hat shop. Last time she dragged Dawson and I there we had been stuck there for hours... I shall not let you live that horror..." he whispered to her out of the corner of his mouth, giving her a quick wink.

Olivia laughed, eyes sparkling with mischievous. She mouthed a quick thank you, and Flaversham toward Basil, making sure not to alert the still chattering away Genevieve, as she knew if she got any indication of this plan she would not be very pleased at all. Maybe a little stroll would not be to terrible if she got to run off with her hero. She turned toward the Dawsons, and decided to voice her consent:

"I rather like to have a little walk around London. It's a very good idea to get me more familiarized with the city again." she said with a smile.

Genevieve beamed, while Doctor Dawson smiled gently, and Mrs. Judson got a strange and frantic gleam in her eye. Basil, though wary of Mrs. Judson plans, decided to go ahead with the whole thing. If he and Olivia did indeed run off together to escape the rather horrid hat shop, that meant that he had the perfect opportunity to question her further on her dealings as a detective. He, if he was perfectly honest with himself, wanted to compare notes on being a detective at such a young age.

He had started when he was fifteen himself, when his then friend Ratigan, had gone through that fateful turn to the evil side of things. He had sought tirelessly for three long years against him, trying to get him back. If he was honest, after the second year, in which Ratigan had murdered his parents, he had given up on just simply getting back a friend. The last year of seeking had been a bitter way of avenging his parents deaths. But, at the age of eighteen... Well, a little annoying girl had come and bothered him, hadn't she? Wanting him to find her father... He smiled a fondly at the though, because of that little girl he had made sure his parent's death hadn't gone unanswered...

"Er, Basil?" asked a feminine voice drenched in a musical Scottish lit.

Basil was jerked out his remembrances as Olivia placed a hand on his shoulder. He was quite surprised to find that she had her hat on her head, and that both the Dawsons were already at the door, one of them tapping her high healed boot rather impatiently, the other waited quite patiently, as they were a little more used to his occasional drifting away. He smiled a little embarrassingly at Olivia, as well, she surly wasn't use to his rather strange behavior as much as Dawson, or as much as Genevieve should be use to it. To his surprise she smiled back, and linked her arm through his.

"We should be heading out shouldn't we? You have to show me how much my dear London has changed in the past eight years." said Olivia pleasantly seemingly not at all bothered by his behavior.

Basil simply nodded his consent. He lead Olivia to his hook, slipped out of his home coat, and into a coat that he did not use for his detective cases, a black one that fit him rather well if he was honest to himself. He also slipped on a black top hat, knowing that his deerstalker would not be the best for a simple stroll around London. He re-offered his arm to Olivia, as he was the only one around to do so, and she accepted it without a thought. Linked together by their arms, they stepped up to the door, following Genevieve and Dawson outside.

"Goodbye Mrs. Judson!" called out Olivia, waving with her spare hand toward the motherly mouse.

Mrs. Judson waved as well, a smile on her harassed face, and a still sinister gleam in her eyes. Basil, terrified at what state he would find his parlor in before he came back, decided to make sure it would stay the way it was:

"Do not clean the parlor Mrs. Judson, that's an order!" he said somewhat squeakily toward the woman that had been by his side since childhood.

Mrs. Judson gave a small huff, and shut the door. The party outside still heard her mutter somewhat disappointingly behind the door:

"Oh bugger... I hoped he forget to say that..."

They all laughed, Olivia the most of all. Basil caught the rather joyful expression on her face, and blinked as he felt the oddest sensation hit him, a warm tingling sensation that started in his toes, and traveled all the way up his body. He felt unbelievably warm, and he knew somewhere in his mind that it had nothing to do with the warm day. He, unbeknownst to himself, was flushed, and grinning like a mad man at Olivia, as she was happy. He didn't know that that fact made him happy as well.

~()~

The figure, as it turned out, had spent the night in the bushes of Baker street. As always, he felt stiff, but less stiff than what he had felt when he had spent his days in the sewers. He caught a glimpse of the party of four, and smiled thinly at the objects of his revenge. The looked... Oh. So. Happy. They laughed and chatted walking away from the flat. He had heard every word they had spoken just moments before inside, as he had been near one of the open windows, crouched down. He smiled, this time wider as he waited for the group of idiots to leave, as he couldn't very well leave himself with them here, though he supposed the look on their faces would be rather delicious, indeed. But, he had planned and perfected the night before, and he knew exactly what he was going to do to Basil... And the girl, while he was at it. The girl...

He frowned slightly. He hadn't seen the girl properly the night before, and seeing her now, he felt faint regret. She was rather pretty, and it was a shame that he had to mar that pretty little face. But.. He suppose maybe he didn't have to, that maybe he could find something else to do to her... But, then he caught the look on Basil's face. He was looking directly at the girl, with the most gentlest, and the most damnable look on his face that it took all the figure's will power not to laugh. It seemed that he hadn't been the only one to notice the girl's beauty as well. Hmm... He knew that he could use that to his advantage. He smirked at the thought, and mused that he just loved the way his wicked mind worked. It had just gave him good wicked thought after wicked thought...

As the party of unknowing imbeciles left, the figure stood up, and decided to go visit a dear old friend of Basil, deciding not to do anything about the girl just yet, and to stick to his plan. He could fit her into his scream any time, at the moment he needed to find a Mister Johnathan Taylor.

AN: Okay, okay, I first like to say I'm sooooo sorry that I didn't update in...TWO MONTHS, Oh, holy mother of cow I'M SORRY! … If anyone of you are wondering I just checked it... Hhehe. Anyway, I hope you all like it, and I'm sorry if this chapter was kinda dry, but, well, I needed it to be a kinda filler before the good stuff comes out. I have to say that I'm not sure when I will update, as well, I have like ten other fics to worry about... But, I'll try to update as soon as possible. And I'm soo sorry this is pretty short... Oh and I don't own this, no matter how much I'd love review if you can bring yourself to do so!