Time crept by, and the day of the ball grew closer and closer. About two weeks before the day I was so very much looking forward to (and perhaps a little frightened of), our clothing was delivered.

The packages were so large that Gabriel had to help the two delivery boys bring them in. Thankfully he wasn’t out on his case just yet, and was around to help, unlike the last few weeks, during which he’d been gone quite often. I insisted that I needed to stay behind, as much as he insisted that I out to go with him, because someone needed to mind the house, and Mrs. Hudson was on her extended bit of leave, so it fell to me to get the cleaning and cooking done, neither of which could happen if I was gone as much as Gabriel was. But of course, this left me bored, and I found that I missed him terribly.

“Can I make them tea for their troubles, Gabriel?” I asked the detective once they’d gotten everything inside, and it was waiting to be opened in the parlor.

“I think that’s in order.” he nodded.

“Alright.” I made the two young men tea, which they were grateful for. I also put on some coffee for Gabriel. “Here’s coffee for you!” I said as I handed a cup to him.

“Oh, thank you, Joan.” He blinked, as if he were surprised that I’d thought to make him a cup of his favorite beverage.

“Certainly.” I nodded, and sipped my own cup of tea. Once the delivery boys had left, Gabriel used his magic and levitated the package, full of my dresses, upstairs. “I rarely see you use magic.”

“Well, you know the risks of using it…but I can risk it in my own home, it’s safe enough.” Gabriel smiled. I was glad to see his smile, I’d missed it of late, since he’d been gone so much, as he’d been preoccupied with an apparently difficult case.

“Of course.” I nodded, and then mused aloud, “I would imagine that you know far, far more magic than I do.”

“I should hope so, I am much older.” He smiled once more as he let the package down on the low table in my room. “There we are. I’m going to go make sure that everything is in order with my new suit. I suggest you take a good long while and inspect all of your new clothes, and put away your old ones.”

“I certainly will!” I was excited and a little anxious, and almost sad to see my old clothes go. I would keep them, in case I ever needed them for some heavy-duty cleaning, or if I needed to be inconspicuous for a case. But a thought occurred to me. “I was just thinking that I’d keep my old clothes, so that if I need to be inconspicuous for a case, I can be, but it’s possible to disguise yourself with magic, isn’t it? I mean, you had to have done it that day you were the old priest, and when you were the old sailor…”

Gabriel hesitated, and then answered, “Yes, it’s certainly possible to disguise yourself. I was wearing a glamour that day, but there are other, more permanent ways.”

“Well, you’ll have to teach me how to do one or the other sometime, in case I need to be disguised with you someday.” I told him.

“Let’s jump that hurdle when we get to it…I would rather not put you in a situation that you had to be disguised in.” he said, frowning a little. “But it’s no matter. Take your time with the clothes, I know you’ve been eagerly awaiting their arrival for some days now.”

I smiled, “Alright!” Though I hadn’t spoken of my excitement about getting the new clothes, he’d been able to tell. It was funny sometimes, he could tell that I was excited about getting new clothes without me even having to say anything, but there were far more obvious things that he missed on a daily basis. Gabriel continued to baffle me.

He left, and I heard his footsteps going up to his study on the third floor.

Taking my sewing scissors, I cut the string that kept the package tied together, and tore away the paper, then laid out each of the fifteen dresses, as well as the shoes, my new coats, chemises, scarves and hats.

There was, of course, a sixteenth dress that was packaged separately, and I knew that it was the ball gown, but I was so nervous about the whole thought of the ball by this point that I couldn’t bring myself to open it.

Since all the dresses looked perfectly fine to me, I picked one at random, a pale yellow one with little blue flowers that climbed along the hemline, the sleeves, and across the bodice, and slipped it on. It was comfortable, as Mrs. Widley had promised, but still flattering. I was almost beautiful…almost. No one could ever accuse me of being beautiful, but it was nice to know that I could almost be it…almost.

Sighing a little, I left, and went down the kitchen and cleared away the things from the tea and coffee, but left the coffee in the pot, so that if Gabriel wanted more, he could have it whenever, and started on the dishes that were left from our breakfast.

The door opened, “Come now, turn around and let me see,” was his quiet request.

I laughed, dried my hands, and took off my apron, turning around as he’d asked. “It’s just a dress.”

“A very nice dress.” He said in a kind voice that was almost uncharacteristic of him. Coming and standing close to me, Gabriel picked up a dish towel and began to dry the dishes that I was cleaning. I quickly put my apron back on, and started washing again. “Were they up to your expectations?”

“And more, I shouldn’t think.” I told him, inwardly surprised that he’d stuck around, and was helping me do the dishes, he’d never done that before, but I suspected that with Mrs. Hudson gone, he felt like I needed the company, and I did, especially his company.

“How about the ball gown?”

“I didn’t have the guts to try on…I’ll wait until the day of the ball, and let it be a surprise.”

“Are you sure? What if it doesn’t fit?”

“It’ll fit, I trust Mrs. Widley more than that.” I laughed.

“Alright, suit yourself.”

“Speaking of suits, how was your new one?”

“Up to standards…but merely clothing.” He shrugged.

“It wasn’t nice?”

“It was perfectly alright, but like I said, just clothing.”

“For that matter, my ball gown is only clothing as well.”

“Yes, but I’ve learned that girls tend to have more of an affinity with clothing, and hold it in higher significance, if I understand you lot correctly.” He bumped me playfully with his elbow, letting me know that he was only joking.

I smiled, “I guess so.” I heard him chuckle. It was quiet as we washed the dishes for a little while. After a bit, I heard him gasp a little, and pause from drying, reaching up and rubbing his neck. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine…must have slept funny.” He muttered, and then shrugged it off, and changed the topic before I could offer to try and use my magic and ease his pain, need be. “You’re nervous about it, aren’t you?”

“About the ball? Yes.”

“How come?”

“I’ve never been in proper high society before.”

“I’m not proper high society?” I could hear the smile on his face, and looked up to see it, as it was something that I was dreadfully fond of. To my pleasure, he was gazing down at me, his grin in my direction, and a fondness in his eyes that I cherished immensely.

“Of course not. You’re anything but proper.” I snorted.

He rolled his eyes, “I do try. Why would I want to be proper when I can be improper? It’s a lot more fun that way, Joan.”

I felt my face flush, “Oh stop it, you’re making me turn red!” I protested.

A knock on the door caused Gabriel to dry his hands. “I’ll get it.” He sighed. Perhaps it was my imagination, but his tone seemed very annoyed, like he hadn’t wanted our banter to be interrupted.

Part of me was glad, as it was most improper that we should be so familiar with each other, and yet, the other part of me was sad we’d been interrupted…It had…been sort of…flirtatious…or it had seemed so to me. Maybe I was reading too much into it. I probably was.

When he returned, much to my surprise, I saw that Myles was with him. “Sir.” I curtseyed.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Doctor.” Myles nodded at me.

“Shall I leave you be?” I asked Gabriel.

He shook his head. “No, we’re going to head up to the study, I was merely coming in here to request that you bring up some coffee and nibbles.”

“Nibbles?” I burst into laughter, and then quickly covered my mouth, trying to stifle my giggles upon seeing the annoyed look on Myles’ face, and the crestfallen look on Gabriel’s “Yes, certainly, I can bring up coffee and nibbles…Do you want coffee, Sir Locke?” I was addressing Myles, in this case, “Or tea? Or perhaps something stronger, I know where Gabriel hides his gin and brandy…”

Myles wasn’t nearly as frightening to me as he’d been the first time I’d met him, as he’d come around several times since his first visit, and I’d grown far more used to his solemn, slightly intimidating air. His persona now simply seemed detached and uninterested rather than scary, he was still a little intimidating, but he was Gabriel’s brother still, and that helped to combat the austere feeling he brought to the room, at least for me, anyways.

“Tea is fine, doctor. Now come, Gabriel, I want to start going over the security, and the schedule for the ball.” Myles said, leading the way from the kitchen, and thus missing the long-suffering look that Gabriel shot me.

I giggled at him, and waved him off, “Go on, I’ll have your coffee and nibbles up there soon enough!”

My friend scowled jokingly at me, and then disappeared out the door, wincing a little and gingerly rubbing his hands together…he was probably alright.

--

The day of the ball rolled around. My hands were shaking as I tried to pour my tea that morning. “You’re shaking.” Gabriel took the teapot from me, poured it, and then handed me the teacup. “There…now tell me, what’s the matter?” I looked up at him, feeling scared, and saw the deep concern in his voice echoed in his expression.

“I-I’m just a little nervous thinking about the ball.” I stammered.

“I’m sorry. It’ll be fine…probably a little boring, even.”

“I’ve just never been to one before.” I shrugged, sipping my tea, feeling timid.

“Well, you’ll have a nice lovely day full of relaxing and getting ready at the salon. I’ll take you over right after breakfast.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that. Alright…is there anything you want me to do around here before I’m gone all day?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Okay.”

We fell quiet for a little while.

Gabriel grimaced, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “Ah…”

“Are you quite alright?”

“It seems I slept curled up in a ball again, my back always hurts when I do that.” He said, but his face remained in a grimace for a little while.

“Do you want me to have a go at it with magic?” I asked, “I’m proficient with soothing pain, after all.”

“No, it’s going away.” Gabriel waved away my offer, “But thank you, Joan.” I noticed that he remained tense, even after insisting that he was alright.

But I let the matter drop. “Okay, so long as you’re feeling well.”

“I am perfectly fine, Joan, thank you for worrying.” He smiled at me.

A thought occurred to me as we continued to eat. “Gabriel?”

“Yes?”

“You said that you’d need me to keep an eye out for trouble, but what kind of trouble did you mean?”

“Well, we’ve gotten even more specific information, Myles told me when he visited, forgive me for not passing it on to you, my mind was busy, and it slipped from my priorities.” Gabriel said apologetically. “When he asked for our help that first day, he mentioned a situation with a vampire.”

“I remember that.” I nodded.

“Good.” Gabriel said approvingly, “Because the information that he received, and passed on to me, was that there is a possibility that a vampire, or vampires, could show up at the Coronation Ball.”

“Vampires?” I shuddered.

“I’m afraid so.” He frowned.

“Very nice.” I muttered.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not as if you can help it.” I laughed. “Like you said ages ago, crime doesn’t sleep…and I’m certain that it doesn’t bend to our whims.”

“Although I’ve noticed lately it certainly is bending to the mysterious M’s whims…” He sighed, clearly lost in thought for a moment.

“Is that where you’ve been going so much lately? Looking into this M person?”

Gabriel nodded, “Yes. I can’t leave Myles to do all the work, despite what he would say. I need to hear things for myself, to make my own discoveries, second-hand information is one thing, and is safe, but I don’t need safe, I need accurate. As accurate as possible, and as current as possible.”

“But you’re being safe, right?” His words made me anxious.

My friend blinked, “What? Of course. They don’t know that it’s me…I didn't mean to frighten you, Joan, forgive me.” His long fingers patted my hand gently, “But don’t be anxious for me, okay? I’m no stranger to peril.”

“That doesn’t comfort me.” I frowned, “Promise that you’re being careful.”

“I promise.” His voice was assuring, and his dark eyes were unwavering.

“Okay.” I hated to admit it to myself, but the thought of anything happening to him terrified me. It was quiet for a little while. “Gabriel?”

“Yes.”

“Myles said for you to be on the lookout for vampires, right?”

“That’s correct.” He nodded, taking a bite of a scone.

“If I’m to be of any use, I need to know what they look like, since I’ve never seen one before, thankfully.”

He blinked. “Oh, good thought. I didn’t think about that…But you will need to know.”

“Well you can’t think of everything all the time.” I teased him.

“I can try.” He grinned.

As much as I hated to break off halfway into what I could foresee turning into a flirtatious banter session with him, I tapped his hand gently, feeling that it was important that I knew what they looked like. “Vampires, Gabriel, vampires.”

“Oh, right.” My friend and employer shook himself. Getting up, he disappeared for a moment, and then returned carrying a book. After leafing through it for a moment, he handed it to me, open to a specific page, which was full of diagrams and pictures. “They are very pale, and have hypnotic red eyes. They can combat the paleness with makeup, and the red eyes with the special glass lenses that they just invented a few years ago, to fix your vision or make your eyes look another color. Some of them are even ancient enough that they’ve learned black magic, and can disguise themselves with that. They have fangs that only appear when they are about to feed. They’re typically very attractive, it’s how they get their prey to approach them.”

“How am I not to confuse them with elves then?” I laughed, very well aware that the fabled elves were also referred to as the fair folk.

Gabriel blinked, frowning a little, “It’s a different kind of attraction, I would imagine, like…more unwholesome.”

But now I was in a whimsical mood, “But don’t elves supposedly have fangs?”

“Yes, they supposedly do, but they aren’t retractable…for that matter, they also supposedly have wings and claws, if we’re going to talk about elves instead of vampires.” He was getting a bit impatient.

“Sorry, off topic. Please continue.” I said, allowing him to continue. I’d never before heard that elves had wings or claws, but he knew all sorts of little tidbits of information.

“Anyways, a vampire’s gaze is hypnotic, but as a magician, you will be able to resist it.”

“You’ve dealt with vampires before?”

He was quiet for a moment, “Once, a very long time ago. I only hope that Myles’ information is wrong.”

“It’ll be alright, I’m sure. They’ll have plenty of guards there.”

“But the guards will be of no use once they look into the eyes of a vampire, they will be under its spell, and will do as told.”

“How do you get rid of the spell?”

“You kill the vampire.”

“Sounds fun.” I said, a little alarmed.

“Indeed.” I’d rarely seen Gabriel so serious. “Now you understand why my brother wanted my help, and he didn’t know it yet, but your help will be invaluable as well. It would make the number of people able to avoid vampiric hypnosis from one to three…although he doesn’t know you’re a mage, I should probably tell him.”

“Wait, Myles is a mage as well?” This baffled me, as Myles was clearly older than Gabriel. I’d wondered about how it was possible that Gabriel had an older brother, after saying he himself was pretty old, and given how rare human magic users were. I also hadn’t questioned it, but now I was finding that I had more questions than I had when I’d first met Myles.

Gabriel shrugged, “You could say it…runs in the family.”

“I was the only mage in my family…” I frowned. “I…I didn’t think it ran along family lines?” There were some discrepancies in what he was saying, or…something off, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. He could explain it all better than he currently was…but at the moment, something just wasn’t quite adding up.

“It’s…hard to explain, Joan. I will try someday, but not today.” He assured me, patting my hand, hesitantly, then saying, “Now, please eat, it’s going to be a long day and night.”

I put aside my confusion and misgivings about his family and magic, and sighed,“I’ve no doubt!” I was feeling even more nervous than I had before about the ball.

We finished our breakfast, and I was soon headed to the salon with him in a carriage, my ball gown, still in its wrappings, tucked beneath my arm. Gabriel got out, and escorted me into the salon, making sure that I got checked in. “Alright, dear Joan, I will see you tonight, then, I suppose.” He said, almost sounding mournful.

“Don’t sound so happy, sir, I might think you won’t miss me at all.” I laughed, trying not to let my nerves show.

“But I will.” He smiled, taking my hand, and to my very great surprise, brushing his somewhat lips lightly against it. “You will hurry back to me, Watson, won’t you?”

“O-of course.” I whispered, feeling breathless, my fears momentarily forgotten.

“Good.” He smiled brightly, and then almost immediately grimaced, shuddering a little. “Ah…”

“Are you alright?” The sudden show of pain alarmed me a little.

He shook his head, waving away my concern. “I’m fine, my neck just popped.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Farewell, Joan.”

“Bye!” I called as one of the attendants led me into the salon.