"Ms. Aria."
His voice was just as smooth as it had ever been, all silk and sin that caressed her senses. She had missed this, this odd aura that surrounded him, laced with pleasure and mischief and child-like wonder. Toby waggled himself through the door behind Kairi and made his way over to Sherlock with bounding steps.
She saw Sherlock smile then, kneeling to pet Toby and rub his fingers along the dog's jowls and scratch behind his ears. It hurt Kairi to see him be so affectionate towards Toby when he had always given Appa such a cold reception. She was frowning when Sherlock looked back up at her with a wide grin on his face. The grin was beautiful and unfiltered, a rare one she had been lucky to see only a few times during their previous encounters. Though today, it stung her.
He noticed her frown quickly and stood, clearing his throat and straightening to a more regal posture while Toby trotted away to sniff around the flat. Kairi was slightly irritated at him now, and then she was upset with the fact that after an entire year of them being apart, of so many nights wishing she'd wake up to him, she was pissed at him over a dog — even if the dog had been her very best friend. It seemed childish, but she couldn't help it. Everything in this moment was raw and confusing. She didn't know how to rein it all in and process it.
He cleared his throat again and motioned towards the chairs, John's red patterned and Sherlock's black leather still facing one another just outside the fire's glow. "Please..." He left his invitation unfinished, looking terribly uncomfortable.
Kairi nodded and sat in John's chair, hugging the Union Jack pillow as she got situated, with her legs bunched beneath her. It was a defensive posture that Sherlock was sure to notice and comment on. She watched him carefully as he moved through his steps with perfection and grace. He moved like a specter, flowing, yet deliberate, always with purpose and delight.
He sat in his usual manner, his back rigid and his face emotionless as he looked at her. They stayed in silence for a few moments, Kairi refusing to hide her frown and Sherlock desperately trying to maintain control of the situation in his stoic way. A full year apart had left them both so very unsure. Interactions usually filled with stubborn, fiery, and impassioned actions now seemed too foreign. It felt like a lifetime since they were both in front of one another. Since their parting, they had each become a fantastical obsession to the other; something that you wanted so badly, despite the fact that if you got your hands on it, you'd have no idea what to do with it. This moment could never be so perfectly described as two children faced with their wildest dreams and staring back in utter vacillation.
After a few minutes of tense silence, Sherlock finally sighed, "I know you are upset about Toby."
Kairi raised an eyebrow at him and replied, a little bit snitty, "Do you?"
He shot her a dark look, because of her tone, but responded anyway, "You're upset with me because I showed the animal affection, despite how cold I was to your previous pet." Kairi glared at him and he tried not to smile. The familiar crinkle of her nose and the narrowing of her eyes, her body curled around a cushion like a child having a fit. Just looking at her brought back memories that he'd displaced many months ago. Like most everyone he met, her anger was amusing, but to him, he felt it oddly resonate in his chest. He thought it was endearing.
He shook his head, refocusing on the fact that she was actually cross with him and deduced her easily, like always, "It is not that I disliked Appa. He was a decent and well-mannered beast, far more likable than any other creature I've come to know since childhood. I refrained from forming an attachment to him because that is what I do." He leveled her with a narrowed stare that seemed to make Kairi cringe inwardly, he sighed at his own impudence and continued, "It is not in my nature to attach myself to meaningless things: people, items, and pets." He waved his hand at the aforementioned, watching as Kairi seemed to stiffen again, anger no doubt bubbling because of the implication of Appa being meaningless, "However," He added with a weighty voice, "Much has changed within the last ten or so years of my life and I've come to regret that I was not as friendly to an animal who was so clearly deserving of your adoration."
