bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

the lyric prompt meme

HOW TO PLAY:

♪ Comment with your characters.
♪ Post to other characters with lyric prompts and, optionally, a picture to go with it.
♪ The lyrics can come from any song you like, or, hell, you can just link some instrumental music as well. Just so long as there's a song.
♪ Threads happen! Tears are shed.

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It isn't what Joan was expecting, no, but it also doesn't surprise her. She knows Moriarty will be manipulative, that she won't give straight answers, or expected answers. So Joan remains placid, her face expressionless.

"I wouldn't let you have a pen, either. A crayon, maybe." She tilts her head. "I get you a sketchbook and watercolors, and convince the warden to let you keep them. What do I get in return?"

"You flatter me far too much," Moriarty croons at the distrust of her handling basic objects, finds it amusing that everyone's too suspicious to give her even the smallest allowance. Entirely justified as it is. The more they deny her, the more empowering it is, feeds her ego by being too dangerous for them to handle without the highest precautions.

She's not going to promise full cooperation- only wants to be as helpful enough to require Joan to keep coming back for more, but not unhelpful enough that it's no longer worth the trouble. "An exchange of information, isn't that what you want? The more details you provide to me, the more I'll offer in exchange," she negotiates the terms calmly, doesn't want to show just how eager she is for involvement. "I was rather pleased with your work on the previous case I had you pursue." She says you to avoid saying Sherlock's name still, and it's probably more revealing.

She knows that Moriarty is pointedly excising Sherlock from her conversation, and Joan is fine with that. She'll gladly do likewise.

"I doubt that," she answers. "If you had been pleased with my work, you might not be here right now." She wouldn't have underestimated her, and would have been that much harder to ensnare.

"A sketchbook and watercolors, information, and my company." Because that hasn't escaped her notice either. "And you'll give me the answers I'm looking for. "That's fair. it's also fair that I tell you that if I get the least bit of suspicion that you're not keeping up your end of the bargain, I will have the sketchbook confiscated and you won't see me again."

"Apparently you know everything about me, what makes me tick." Yet Moriarty still knows very little about Watson, doesn't quite understand the way she sees the world, wants to pry and choke the answers out of her. It's as frustrating as it is intriguing. In a way Watson is a far more interesting opponent. After all, Sherlock wouldn't have managed to catch her alone, she still considers him a game won. "So tell me, what would I possibly have to gain from lying?"

Moriarty's not even the least bit embarrassed about being called out for wanting the woman's company, has never bothered to hide her desires. "Traditionally deals end with a handshake, but," Moriarty indicates her condition with a shrug of her shoulders, "you'll just have to scrape the barrel and take my word." She can imagine precisely how good her word is to Watson, but enjoys that she's come to her anyway. How long had they held off before it was deemed necessary?

"I know enough," Joan says. She really doesn't know everything, and doubts that she ever will. She doesn't deny that Moriarty is brilliant, that her mind is complex in its depths. She was just able to recognize the woman's weakness. That she would take a chance, expose herself to swoop in and save Sherlock when he was at his weakest.

"I don't expect you to lie to me. I do expect you to try to manipulate me. I don't blame you for trying. I'm just telling you now, it won't work."

She looks up at the man guarding them. "Maybe next time they can handcuff you to the table, and then we can shake on it. For now your word is good enough." As much as that means. She doesn't trust Moriarty as far as she can spit her, but if she can help them save lives, then she'll give this a try.

"Manipulate you?" Moriarty's smile is completely sincere in its insincerity. "If there was anything else that I wanted, I would have asked for it." Or at least nothing that wouldn't have been shot down before she'd finished saying it, and she suspects that list is quite short.

"But I'm not answering any of your questions until you make good on your end of the bargain." She's not worried that any of this will redeem her, but who would have guessed that saving lives would be the least boring part of her day?

"I'll have the materials to you by tomorrow morning, and we'll talk again tomorrow night."

She nods to the guard who has been standing silently by the door. "I think we're done here."

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