bakerstreet | the body swap meme

He's always nervous.

[No, no he wasn't, but this was Reid and Reid always made comments like that. Especially now when Gorman couldn't hear him.

He got out of the car now though, closing the door behind him before holding his hand out to Balfour. They'd make their way up to the house together. When they got to the front door he didn't even bother to knock, he just opened the door and peeked in.]

Gorman?

[When he got no answer, he shrugged and tugged Balfour inside with him.] Maybe he's sleeping. He is old, after all.

Don't insult the man!

_{[Balfour looks around, even more nervous as they begin to approach the house and go inside.]}

Do you want to get shot?

Oh, please, what's he going to do, yell at me? He's not going to shoot us.

[He looked one way and then the other once they were inside. When there was no sight of Gorman, Reid quickly led them towards the door to the basement. Though it was more of coven meeting place than an actual basement. Old stone and older books. There were candles scattered everywhere-candles that he couldn't Use to light because he didn't have his own Power or body right now. So he made due, squinting in the gloom while he went over to one of the bookshelves, pulling down the thick Book of Damnation.]

Do you have any matches?

_{[He looks around for a moment, fingers brushing the walls every five steps, then running his hands over some of the books on the shelves. So old, and yet, so lovely. He could almost feel the life running through them.

When Reid pulled down the Book of Damnation, it took almost no time for him to go over to it, drawing it to his body.]}

Oh....

[He almost started to protest when Balfour took the book, because no one outside of the covenant had touched it, but then again, he was in Reid's body, so technically... And either way, it left his hands free to get those matches and light some candles, because of course they had some down there.]

Don't tear any pages in that thing or else Caleb'll kill us, alright?

[Well, maybe killing them would be a bit extreme, but.

He went over to the shelf where the box of matches was and started lighting candles, so that they wouldn't have to squint through the dark forever and ruin their eyes or something.]

Tear--?!

_{[Reid, have a Very Offended Look. Balfour would not dare tear a page in such an old book. In fact, he's holding it very lovingly until he can sit down and spread the covers across his legs. And then, gently, he turns a page. Tear pages. Huff! Who did Reid think he was? He had books older than Reid! Older than himself! Huff!

Very. Offended. Look. Have it. Enjoy it.

Huff!!]}

Edited (and a case of wrong damn icon :I) 2013-07-08 03:03 (UTC)

[Well, hey! He was just making sure! That book was really important. It wasn't like he thought that Balfour would actually rip a page or something. Either way, he resisted the urge to laugh at that look. Laughing wouldn't help anything, he was sure.]

I'm just being careful, Balfour.

I have books older than you. I'm not going to tear it.

_{[But this is said softly and reassuringly, not huffy at all. And he's so careful as he turns the page.]}

I love old books. They have a lot of character.

Well, this one's older than both of us. [Combined and then some.] It's also got a lot of power.

[He came over to stand next to Balfour so that he could see the pages too.] It's got everything; the history of the coven.

Sit down.

_{[He looks up at Reid and then nods to the spot next to him. He should be able to see from sitting there, and Balfour wanted to lean against him as he took this book in, reading the words that were presented to him.]}

[Reid did as Balfour said, sitting down next to him. It was easier to read now, though the old fashioned scrawl on the pages still gave him a headache sometimes. He wasn't even sure if there was anything helpful here; it had been years since he'd read the Book. This might take a while, especially if Balfour wanted to actually read things, while Reid just skimmed. See, there we went already, reaching out to flip the page.]

_{[And though Balfour had leaned against Reid, he promptly slapped his hand when he went to flip the page. Nope, he wasn't done yet. He was reading every word like it was gold, in fact, and it was a couple more minutes before he flipped the page on his own.

He stayed like that for a while, until finally, he had to rub at his eyes. Ugh, all this reading in this dull light made his head hurt.]}

Your eyes are definitely not accustomed to reading in low light.

_{[Have a pout.]}

[Excuse you. Did you just slap his hand. Reid has a better chance of knowing around what section they could find something like accidentally changed bodies with someone than Balfour did. They'd be here all day, maybe all week if Balfour had to read every page like that.]

Why don't we take it upstairs then? There's better light there.

_{[Balfour is a bit particular when it comes to being bothered while reading. He has forgotten that they're looking for something and is, instead, reading the whole damn thing. So yes, hands will be slapped.

But at the idea of going upstairs where there was light had Balfour nodding and carefully marking his place before standing and holding the large book protectively to his chest.]

Yeah, let's do that.}

[Not like they had time to read the whole damn thing. Besides, a lot of it was kind of boring-at least in Reid's opinion. Or maybe it was just because the book was so personal in so many ways, and the information that it held wasn't nearly always pleasant. The witch hunts, the origins of the Covenant, the things that had been done three hundred and however many years ago. He didn't know it cover to cover like Caleb did, he almost didn't really want to.]

It's like that book's your grandmother or something.

[Reid would have just tucked it under his arm and carried it like that, but. Instead he just shrugged and led the way back upstairs, where he turned on one of the lamps in the living room.]

It's an old book. It needs to be treated carefully.

_{[Balfour sighed and shook his head, following Reid. Honestly, what did he have against old books, anyway? He was careful as he laid the book out onto a table and sat down by it, fingers moving carefully along the pages.]}

Well, yeah. I wasn't saying it shouldn't be, just that.

[He shrugged before sighing, and then sat down next to Balfour.]

We'll be here all year though if you have to read every single page.

I don't have to, but I'd like to. Still...

_{[He settles the book carefully on the table and slides it over to Reid.]}

Maybe you should find what you need first. Then I'll read everything.

That sounds like a better idea. You can take all the time you want to read the book after we figure out how to fix this.

[Gratefully, he took the book and started flipping through the pages-still careful, but faster than Balfour had been going through them.]

I mean, if there even is something here that'll help.

I certainly hope there is.

_{[Oh, and now that his hands are free, he's grabbing at the clothing he's wearing, messing with the edge of the slightly dressy shirt. He will not pay attention to how fast Reid is flipping through those pages. He doesn't want to think that he might rip them.]}

the body swap meme

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