milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Behrooz is sitting at the piano again.

He doesn't particularly want to leave again, but being at the piano is probably a sign that he's at least unconsciously resigned to doing so soon, and so was taking advantage of this while he could. Somehow, visualizing the notes in his mind when bored just isn't really the same.

At the moment, he's just playing through scales, and there's some sheet music from the Bar open in front of him.

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Sophie listens to the piano playing with a good deal of interest, as she works industriously at her mending.

"That's very pretty, young man," she offers, after a moment.

It's a moment before he looks up, as he falls back to do.

"Oh, um, thanks," he says, quietly. "I was - just practicing."

"It's refreshing to see such industry in a young man."

Unlike some people Sophie could name.

He blinks, then shrugs slightly.

"There's not a lot -"

Wait. Probably a better way to phrase this to this woman. "- it's good to be... doing something, here."

"Here?" Sophie echoes, wrinkles in her forehead (already rather pronounced) deepening further.

"This is a bar, young man; I would think most people come here to be idle."

No one's explained the concept of Binding to her, yet.

"You don't really get to - choose to come here, or when you can leave sometimes, though," he says. And he can't really think of Milliways as a ... hang-out place or something, even if most of his time here is probably spent doing that.

Sophie casts a startled glance at the door, and then back at the young man.

"How can it keep you? There's a door right there."

"It doesn't open sometimes," he says. "Or ... isn't there. When you're Bound. And I - don't always mean to come here."

Magic, Sophie decides, is very puzzling.

"I'm sorry, young man," she says, rather apologetically. "That can't be convenient for you. Do you mean that you're unable to go home, once you're here?"

"Um - sometimes," he's says, carefully. "I can... right now, but sometimes I'm - stuck here, for a while."

"If you're stuck here," Sophie asks, honestly curious, "why do you come back, instead of simply going home whenever you can?"

There's a pause, and then, with a shrug and a tone that sounds falsely nonchalant, "I don't always want to."

This is followed somewhat quickly by, "I'm - Behrooz."

"My name is Sophie," Sophie says, and nods, graciously; it's easy enough to see that this particular discussion is difficult for him, and she feels rather sorry for this awkward boy.

"Pleased to meet you."

And, changing the subject, tactfully: "There seem to be a good many people here. Is it always so crowded?"

He glances around, having not really been paying attention to the other patrons for a while.

"Doesn't really ... look more crowded than it usually is," he says, once his eyes return to her. "Maybe... more people that I haven't seen here before."

Sophie looks around, also.

Rather ruefully: "I suppose I've spent so much time in the castle recently that I'm not accustomed to crowds. When you're my age, you don't get about as much as you used to."

Nevermind the fact that when she was Behrooz's age, she spent most of her days shut up in a hat shop; this is entirely besides the point.

"If you - stay here a while, you get kind of used to it," he murmurs. It's... sort of true. He's rarely, at least, surprised by much of what he encounters here anymore.

"Where - are you from?"

He'll follow up with the 'when' if she doesn't seem to know about this, either.

"Market Chipping," Sophie answers, automatically, before remembering that - well, she isn't anymore.

Hastily: "You'll forgive an old lady; we tend to forget things. I mean, I used to live in Market Chipping. I work for the Wizard Howl now, in his castle on the hills."

Beat.

"In Ingary."

The boy certainly doesn't look like he comes from Ingary; more likely one of the eastern kingdoms across the desert.

And... Behrooz doesn't understand much of that, but that's not really anything new.

"I think ... you're probably from a different world than mine..."

If 'Ingary' wasn't unrecognizable enough, 'Wizard' likely meant it was somewhere with magic.

- Sophie always forgets this aspect.

"I suppose that might be true," she agrees, rather startled.

Sheepish: "The concept does take some getitng used to."

He nods. "Well, they don't - really have wizards, in my world."

Sophie snorts, at that.

"Count yourself lucky, young man. Witches and wizards only cause trouble - especially when you get mixed up in their affairs."

"I probably - get enough of it here," he says, a little uncertainly. He knew witches and wizards here, and they could... vary greatly in the trouble they caused.

. . . oh dear.

"Are there a great many witches and wizards here, then?" Sophie asks, and tries not to look nervous.

After all, what has she got to be afraid of, at her age?

His eyes go down uncomfortably. He wasn't - well - even if he could - er, right.

"I'm not - really sure. There are some. They don't... all call themselves that. But they can... do things that - people can't in my world."

[OOC: Not at all. Thanks for thread!]

"- what sort of things can't people in your world do?" Sophie asks, cautiously.

It would be rather foolish to get herself into a tizzy over - over knitting, or something equally ridiculous.

Knitting seems to be something that's ~~evil~~ present in most worlds.

He pauses, and says, "Just - making things appear, like the Bar does, or -"

Talking to animals? Mind control??

"- just healing people."

"It sounds like wizard's work to me," Sophie admits.

"Though of course some wizards can be quite helpful, in their way. They say Wizard Suliman served the king well - even if he was terribly stubborn."

"Um."

Well, Behrooz can't comment on that, so instead just says, "A lot of them here - are... nice, anyway."

Or sometimes at least not menacingly evil.

"I expect a bar that runs on magic must have a good many witches and wizards to run it," Sophie murmurs - more to herself than Behrooz.

"Not to mention whoever makes the door work, or however it is."

Behrooz has never really heard about the mythical Landlord, and remarks sheepishly, "I - kind of just stopped thinking about it I guess. I just - end up here, anyway."

Rather startled: "I think, if someone were casting enchantments on me, I should at least like to know who it was."

Not that it helps much, in Sophie's case - but at least it's someone to blame.

He shrugs. "I don't think it would... make anything different, if I knew. And I don't mind coming here, even if it's... kind of inconvenient, sometimes."

Goodness, Sophie thinks, he does take it calmly!

Curious: "What do you do when you're not in the bar, young man?"

He hesitates, but his eyes don't go the floor. "I'm a - college student."

It's a lie, isn't it? But even he'd like to pretend it's not.

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