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Herlock Sholmes is an odd man. This is obvious to anyone who knows him, in fact, this is obvious to anyone at all. Throughout my ongoing time in England, I have examined much of the way he acts. The way he carries himself. The way he talks. The way he... is. The following will be a description of exactly how odd he is, and nothing more.
For one, his physical appearance is unlike the average Londoner. He stands at at around 6 feet tall, already making him stand out in a crowd. At least this makes it easier for me to find him when we lose each other in the busy streets of London, which is often, as he seems to find joy in running off somewhere and making me worried sick.
His skinny body only makes him appear taller. At first I was concerned that he was not eating properly, but he'd told me he has simply always been so thin. I didn't believe him, so he reluctantly pulled out childhood photos, and sure enough, he looked scarily underweight in all of them. ...though, I am still sure part of the problem is his irregular eating habits.
Another thing to point out would be his hair. I often find myself wondering how he gets it to be so voluminous. Or maybe it is naturally that way? It is rather curly after all. But I would like to focus moreso on the colour of his locks. Bright platinum blonde, so blonde that in certain lighting his hair looks completely white. I have only seen a couple of other Londoners with such a colour. He had explained to me once that it is very common for children to have a hair colour like his, however as they age, the hair darkens and turns into a mousy brown. It never happened to him, though. I imagine he has some sort of Scandinavian in him.
Something that has always intrigued me is the way that he talks. His speech depends on how he is feeling, much like any other man, however he is just... different. I could not place a word on it. He will stutter over some words for an unusal amount of time, particularly when he is excited or nervous (the latter happens very infrequently, however). Sometimes he will pause with seemingly no reason, before continuing as normal. But what really confuses me is the tone in which he speaks. He will put an emphasis on unusual syllables and his pitch will unnaturally rise and fall with every word. Sometimes I wonder if he does this on purpose, or if he doesn't notice it at all. I would not be surprised by either option.
And when he is in one of his depressive fits, he prefers to talk very little, if at all. Unusally, I find myself liking this version of Sholmes the least. His long ramblings about whatever he's become interested in for the week may be irritating when I'm trying to work, but I much prefer that to the strange silence that fills our living room when he is in an episode. The house doesn't feel like ours without the annoying rambling.
As mentioned before, Sholmes is a lanky man. As I have already commented on his physical appearance, I shall do no more, however I feel the need to discuss how he walks. Sometimes he will prance. Sometimes he will slump and moan about having to move at all. But when he is walking normally - well, as normal as he can get - he leans forward slightly and has this strange spring in his step. Even if he is in a neutral mood (again, not often does this happen) he will still walk in such a joyful way. I don't know how he has it in him.
And there's the small things that do not fit into one paragraph of their own. The way he fiddles with anything he can get his hands on, and when there is nothing to get his hands on he will just fiddle with the fabric of his clothes. How his hands are always chemical stained, and very slender and boney too. How he appears to have some sort of birthmark on his right side, though it is rather small and covered by clothes most of the time. The only reason why I know of its existence is because he was drunk one night with only a nightgown on, and it had started to fall off (I, of course, fixed it right away). The way he looks at me. He looks at no one else that way. The way often comes to my bedroom and asks to lay next to me, seemingly for no reason, until he falls asleep and I have to carry him back to his room. The way that he is so handsy with everyone, but particularly me.
Herlock Sholmes is an odd man, a statement everyone can agree on. But I don't believe being odd has to be a negative thing. At the end of the day, isn't it just a describing word? He is odd. That is accurate. But I still like - no - love him despite that. And I will love every single eccentricy that comes with him, even if he doesn't know it.