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“I can’t believe you noticed his lapel pin.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t. Actually, of course I can.”
“Yeah, cheers, alright.”
“We’ll have to take the tube home, cabs don’t normally…”
“Actually, I thought we could stay, for a bit. Look at the animals. Could be nice.”
“’Nice’?”
“I’d like to, Sherlock.”
“Why. No, don’t. I realize this is based on some sort of childhood experience that you feel a desire to recreate, but I can assure you, John, that the experience will be in no way comparable – you are now far larger in comparison to the animals, which will make them seem smaller than you remember, hand-feeding a so-called ‘wild’ animal is no longer a novel experience – never mind that they’re raised in captivity, for the most part, – and you will be required to walk the entire length of the zoo, though I suppose that, with your increased height – comparatively, that is, – the walk will not seem quite as long as it would to a child. Nevertheless, John, as an adult, you will not find the experience as awe-inspiring as you did as a child.”
“Sherlock.”
“Yes, John?”
“I’d like to go see the animals.”
“Of course you would.”
“It is commonly believed that seahorses mate for life – this is often not the case, although some species do. In most cases, they form bond pairs that last through the breeding season and occasionally continue on, in order to provide care for the young. There is a particularly low rate of survival for newborn seahorses, which makes pair guardianship advantageous. However, many species show no preference for one mate over another, and some breed in groups.”
“Yeah, alright. Look at that one, I think she’s pregnant.”
“Female seahorses do not, in fact, carry the young. Males do.”
“Yeah? Cool.”
“The Gharial population – Gavialis gangeticus – is thought to have declined almost 96% between the 1940’s and 1976. Between 1997 and 2007, the population is estimated to have gone from a touch over 400 breeding adults to 200. They are bred in captivity in Uttar Pradesh, and breeding pairs are kept in several zoos and reserves around the world. They are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.”
“What’s a Ghara…”
“Gharials are a species of crocodilian native to the Indian Subcontinent. They are so named due to the growth the males exhibit at the end of their snout, which closely resembles a ghara – an earthenware pot.”
“Oh.”
“Young Komodo dragons spend much of their first years in trees, as they are relatively defenseless until they reach maturity.”
“Yeah? What sort of animal eats a baby dragon?”
“Adult dragons. Juvenile Komodo dragons comprise roughly 10% of an adult’s diet.”
“Right. Tortoises next, then?”
“Tortoises, while less likely to die in infancy than sea turtles, die in large numbers due to the weather conditions surrounding their birth and the great number of predators they face in the wild and their relative lack of defense. The mother tortoise digs a hole in which to lay her eggs and covers it over to protect them – if there is either too much rainfall or too little, the babies will be buried alive or drowned at or directly after birth.”
“Sherlock.”
“Yes?”
“Stop it.”
“I’m not…”
“I know you don’t want to do this. You could go home, you know. But you’re not going to ruin this for me.”
“I’m not… I only thought you might like to know.”
“No, Sherlock, that’s not true. Don’t lie. You don’t want to be here, so you’re trying to make it unpleasant for me so I’ll decide I don’t want to be here, either. But I won’t. I want to look at the animals, and I’m going to. You can stay or go home, but I won’t have this.”
“I don’t want to go home.”
“Then stop trying to…”
“I don’t want to be here, either.”
“For Christ’s sake, Sherlock, what do you want, then?”
“To go home with you.”
“But you just said…”
“I don’t want to go home presently because you do not intend to go home yet. Were I to return home, I would have to stay there alone, without you, until you decided to come back. I don’t want that.”
“Yeah, alright, but you do realize that being an utter prick is not going to make me want to go home with you any sooner, right?”
“Well. Yes. But I don’t know what would.”
“What’s this? The great Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know something?”
“…will allowing you to tease me speed the process?”
“Might do, a bit.”