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[searchingfordistraction]

Jim is . . . more or less himself today. He could easily drop into character if necessary, but he's recognizable enough to anyone who knows him.

In front of him on his table is a deceptively dated-looking laptop, with a small box of chocolates perched on top of it.

He might be waiting for someone. There's no guarantee, but Milliways tends to be good about these sorts of things.

Comments

[missnicegirl]

Matilda walks in the front door, spots him, and waves happily.

It takes her a minute or two to get across the bar to within easy speaking distance.

[searchingfordistraction]

He sees her as soon as she comes in and slips fully into himself, smiling a greeting.

[missnicegirl]

"Hi Jim! You're really Jim and not fake Jim, right?"

The computer in front of him strongly implies the former, but it's good to check.

[searchingfordistraction]

. . . ah. Sounds like someone took the job.

"I'm really Jim," he confirms.

[missnicegirl]

"I met a fake Jim. He's really good at pretending to be you, but he's not smart like we are. I asked him x-squared equals eighty-four and he just looked at me funny. So I taught him quadratic equations."

[searchingfordistraction]

"I'm sure he'll find that very helpful."

Especially if he persists in practicing his role in Milliways.

(Jim wonders briefly if he should warn Richard about the situation with the cut-rate Sherlock.

. . . nah. A black eye from John Watson won't kill him and Sherringford Holmes will probably notice the difference in time. He'll be fine.)

[missnicegirl]

"He thought so too!"

She beams.

"And, I asked Jenny and she says you can come visit as long as she gets to meet you first thing."

[searchingfordistraction]

He brightens.

"Glad to hear it. Now these" - he taps the box of chocolates - "won't go to waste. Assuming she likes cherry cordials, anyway."

An assortment seemed a bit too obvious; chocolate-covered cherries were the safely generic second choice.

[missnicegirl]

"Well, I know she likes chocolate. You're probably safe," Matilda predicts.

[searchingfordistraction]

"Good."

He moves the chocolates so he can pick up the laptop to present it to Matilda.

"And this is yours. The casing will blend into your time period, but the technology is as up-to-date as I could make it."

Which, Jim being who he is, means Matilda's laptop surpasses the most sophisticated laptops currently available on the market in Jim's 2010. By far.

[missnicegirl]

She grins, accepts the laptop, looks conflicted for a very brief moment, and then hugs him.

"Thank you!"

[searchingfordistraction]

Jim, for an equally brief moment, looks surprised.

(Though, fortunately for all involved, not surprised enough for his defensive instincts to awaken.)

Then, for a decidedly less brief moment, he looks pleased and hugs her back.


"Mind you don't drop it, now."

[missnicegirl]

"I won't," she assures him seriously, stepping back. "I'll take very good care of it, I promise."

[searchingfordistraction]

"I know you will," he says. "I wouldn't have spent the time on it if I didn't."

He would have treated his very own computer with a care beyond reverence if he could have had one when he was young, so he knows she'll do the same. Especially a computer like this one.

"It's got those lottery numbers you wanted on it," he adds. "I'll show you how to delete them so they can't be recovered when you need to."

Just in case anyone other than himself or Matilda who might have access to it could actually get into the harddrive to retrieve them. Which they couldn't. But it's best for her to learn early about covering her tracks.

[missnicegirl]

Matilda beams.

"You're the best bad guy."

[searchingfordistraction]

"Of course I am," he says, with some cheer.

"Shall we, then?" He nods toward the Door.

[missnicegirl]

"Okay!"

Hugging the laptop close to her, the way she would a particularly precious book, she sets off.

[searchingfordistraction]

Jim follows close behind, with the chocolates for Jennifer Honey in hand.

[missnicegirl]

The door opens into a front hall that Jim might find familiar. Not that Matilda knows that.

"Hello Jenny," she calls as soon as she shuts the door. "I brought Jim!"

After a few seconds of silence, Miss Honey appears from the direction of the kitchen.

...If she were going to be perfectly honest, she would have to admit that she didn't fully expect there to be a Jim. It shows in the way she looks at him at first—with some of the same scrutiny she gave the floating water jug—before she smiles in welcome.

"Hello, Matilda. And... hello, Jim."

[searchingfordistraction]

It does look familiar. Not that you'd know it from the way Jim stands, in the slightly awkward manner of one who knows one's presence is - not unwelcome, necessarily, but unexpected.

(But only slightly awkward - he can't lay it on too thick with Matilda around, and Miss Honey doesn't bend as easily as you'd think on first glance. Some delicacy is required.)

"Miss Honey," he says politely, smiling. "Thank you for the permission to visit."

[missnicegirl]

"I told you he wasn't made up," Matilda announces.

"Yes you did," Jenny admits, smiling ruefully. "And now here he is. Oh—come in, come in," she adds with a beckoning wave. "I'm sorry, I'm still not used to this house. We don't often have guests who are more than eight years old."

[searchingfordistraction]

"That's all right." Jim closes the door behind him. "I think you're allowed a few extra seconds to adjust, under the circumstances."

What with the visitor coming through from the pandimensional bar and all.

[missnicegirl]

"...Oh," says Matilda, "I forgot to ask about the lottery numbers."

Jenny pauses, slightly derailed from whatever she was about to say.

"I want to measure how close our universe is to Jim's so I asked him for winning lottery numbers from this year. It's not completely cheating if we buy those numbers because we don't know for sure yet if they work. And it's for science," she adds, winningly.

...Jenny laughs. All of a sudden, making Jim welcome in her home is just slightly less important than giving Matilda a hug.

"Yes, all right," she says. "But first, if you're staying, why don't we all sit down in the living room."

Matilda glances to Jim to ascertain his opinion on this subject.

[searchingfordistraction]

He looks entirely amenable to any and all living room-related plans.

[missnicegirl]

In which case, Matilda leads the way again, setting the laptop down on a side table with exquisite care and then bounding over to the comfiest corner of the comfiest couch.

Jenny follows somewhat more sedately. "And do you have any more surprises for me?" she asks, glancing between the pair of them as she nudges the coffee table out a little and takes a seat beside Matilda. (Jim is left with a wide selection of armchairs orbiting the same table.)