For Sherlock of some flavor or another

[tofightinjustice]

There's a heavy bag hung up on one of the trees at the edge of the Milliways forest. It's a little off the beaten path, which is nice, and Bryce finds that working in the cool not-Scottish air is a lot less dehydrating than working in the California sun.

For her size (she's middling tall but not very bulky), she's giving the bag a fairly thorough beating.

Comments

[tofightinjustice]

She eyes Sherlock closely.

[sicaria]

"...Yes?"

[tofightinjustice]

"Is all of that true?"

[sicaria]

Puzzled: "Yes?"

[tofightinjustice]

"You're turned on by fighting but not killing?"

[sicaria]

"...Yes. More or less," she says.

She's not turned on by all non-lethal fighting; in fact she isn't turned on by most of it. And she still occasionally has a moment thinking about Jim's kills, but that's a special case.

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce relaxes, fractionally.

She doesn't really know what to think, though.

(She imagines fighting Sherlock again, knowing this, and has two simultaneous reactions: I could use that to my advantage, and a warm tingle down her spine.

Only one of those reactions makes sense.)

[sicaria]

"Attraction is a fundamentally nonsensical subject, anyway," she says, unintentionally echoing Bryce's thoughts. "I can recognize the patterns, but there's not really a reason for them."

[tofightinjustice]

". . . If you say so," Bryce says, uncertain.

[sicaria]

"Well, how else would you categorize this sort of thing?"

She is open to suggestions!

[tofightinjustice]

"Nonsensical," she admits. "But I guess it's important. Significant, anyway."

[sicaria]

"Depending on context, yes."

[tofightinjustice]

A frown.

"Meaning what? It affects how people behave, one way or another. That makes all contexts significant."

[sicaria]

"It affects different people to different degrees."

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce shrugs.

Cosmo sure seems to assign a lot of significance to attraction, but she knows that's not the most credible source of data.

[sicaria]

"And it's hard to rely on as a predictor of behaviour," she murmurs.

[tofightinjustice]

"Yeah, true. Unfortunately."

[sicaria]

She wonders why on Earth she is now thinking about Obadiah Stane.

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce feels like she ought to be saying something to let Sherlock down gently, or something, about how she doesn't like girls or whatever. But she's not clear on exactly what to say, or why she should say it. Whatever "it" is.

[sicaria]

Sherlock is completely oblivious to this. It has not occurred to her that Bryce might have any sort of input.

[tofightinjustice]

So they're just going to . . . sit here awkwardly, then?

Great.

Seriously, now what?

When the awkward silence starts to be too much to bear, Bryce stands up and starts dusting dirt off of her clothes.



"It was a good fight," she offers.

"I wouldn't mind doing it again."

[sicaria]

"I wouldn't either," Sherlock agrees. "I learned a lot."

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce quirks a smile at her, small and wry but genuine, and extends a hand.

"See you later, then."

[sicaria]

She shakes Bryce's hand firmly.

"See you," she echoes.