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[talkstohats]

It may have been a while since Sophie entered the bar, Milliways-time, but for her it hasn't been long at all - although more than enough time in which to fret about her upcoming visit to the King, for a start.

Which may be one reason she's taken to the relative calm of Milliways (comparative to the castle and Howl's nonstop advice about 'delicate hints', at least) to do some more work on the blue-and-silver skirt she's crafting.

It's also possible that she'd rather Howl didn't see her working on it, considering it used to be one of his robes.

Comments

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

Cally slows as she comes upon Sophie and her sewing in her aimless walk about the bar. Partly because it is delightfully unexpected to see someone sewing in a bar and partly because she is admiring the fabric.

"That is lovely fabric," she says coming to a stop by Sophie. "May I ask what it is you are making?"

[talkstohats]

"Oh - certainly, young lady," Sophie says, startled, and looks up, with a friendly smile.

"I'm sewing myself a skirt; it's even beginning to look a little like one, I think," she adds, with a laugh, and holds up the fabric, so the girl can see.

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

"Very like one, I would say" Cally says with a grin as Sophie holds it up, now able to see the shape it is beginning to take. "You certainly sew very well."

Cally's hands unconciously smooth her own skirt, a simple a-line that took a great deal of concentration and patience and a long time studying the pattern.

[talkstohats]

Sophie is beginning to lose the habit of modesty. Living with Howl will do that to you.

"Well, I've always had something of a way with a needle - although a good deal of it's practice, too."

Her eyes drawn by the motion to Callie's outfit, Sophie says, "Your skirt is very lovely, too."

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

Cally looks surprised and then chuckles.

"Thank you. It's a very simple pattern though, and I had quite a time putting it together. My mother made sure I had all the basics down and a little more. I was just never terribly interested to learn anything further." She shrugs, modesty still a firmly instilled habit in Cally who is without the, er, benefit of living with Howl.

[talkstohats]

"My mother died when I was quite small - I suppose I taught myself, mostly."

Sophie grins, remembering back. "You learn fairly quickly when both your sisters are always tearing their skirts, though. It's either fix them, or lend them yours, and then yours come back in even worse shape."

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

Cally smiles softly. "I am lucky then, that my mother lived long enough to teach me."

She laughs at Sophie's description of her sisters. She wonders if Sophie is the oldest, and if not, just how old her sisters must be.

"I never had any siblings, but sisters like that would have certainly kept me in practice. I only had practice on my own torn skirts."

Though, truth be told, Cally was a fairly careful child despite all her playing and running about outside and didn't have to mend her clothes so very often.

[talkstohats]

"I've never been able to quite imagine being an only child," Sophie says, truthfully.

"Though I'm sure things would have been very different if I had been. It changes things, when you're the eldest."

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

Being the eldest would still make her sisters...very old.

"I was always imagining brothers and sisters to play with when I grew up," Cally says, remembering playing hide-and-seek with her invisible playmates among the trees in her yard.

"I imagine you were often left in charge of your sisters." It is a half question since Cally doesn't really know what it is to be an older sister.

All of her imaginary siblings did her bidding without question and were always ready to submit to playing the captive while Cally rescued them from the villain.

[talkstohats]

"My father and stepmother were often working in the shop," Sophie agrees - which means yes. (She has possibly, for the moment, rather forgotten about the fact that she looks about ninety years old.)

She laughs, suddenly. "I sometimes imagined better sisters - ones who weren't always squabbling, for a start. And of course always did exactly as I told them. But when all's said and done I'm quite fond of the ones I have."

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

"My pretend siblings always did what I wanted, but that's a luxury of having to imagine them: they are much less realistic." She chuckles.

"What kind of shop did your parents have?" Cally inquires.

[talkstohats]

"Oh, we kept a hat shop."

Sophie adjusts the sensible hat on her own head. A little wry: "It's not as exciting as it sounds."

[coming-west.livejournal.com]

"A hat shop," Cally repeats thoughtfully.

"They are not very common, I think, in my time and place. We have large stores that sell clothes and hats and jewelry all in one place. Which is even less exciting," she adds with a bit of a grin.

[gondolin-noble.livejournal.com]

And yet, even here, she is plagued by blond, beautiful men.

Except, to be quite honest, the fellow in cream hose and a dark green tunic picked out in silver who is headed past Sophie towards the Bar isn't a man at all.

For one thing, his singing voice is entirely to pretty for that.

Gotta admire a guy who doesn't care at all who's listening to him sing.

[talkstohats]

Sophie's automatic response to blonde, beautiful, well-dressed young men these days is a rather cross scowl. Can't she have a moment's peace?

Still, the singing, she has to admit, isn't bad. Nonetheless, that voice certainly isn't unaugmented.

"Dratted wizards," she mutters, to herself - or possibly to the fabric. "Wandering all over the place, showing off -"

[gondolin-noble.livejournal.com]

The man (or wizard, or none of the above) continues on without pause, evidently too caught up in either his song or some daydream to give notice to her mutinous muttering.

A few minutes later, a cup of tea arrives.

With honey cakes on the side.

Sophie may or may not notice but the singer has found himself a new song.

"Bothered, bewildered, and busy,
The lady is in quite of a tizzy,
Wizards old and gruff,
have put her in a huff,
Don't they know she has no time for play?

Hungry, tired, and thirsty,
She's taken to scolding her work, see?
For she longs to be free,
Just like you, or like me,
Why doesn't she decide that she may?

[talkstohats]

Sophie most certainly does notice, thank you very much.

"I may be old," she snaps, glowering over her work at the impudent child, "but I'm not deaf, young man."

[gondolin-noble.livejournal.com]

Since he has not been young to anyone but a very select few for some millenia now, Glorfindel cheefully ignores her scolding and sings on. Bar obligingly gives him the wine he ordered earlier.

"Perhaps it is is long ingrained habit,
That makes her so hunched, like a rabbit,
But there's beauty that's fair,
In that lass over there,
But who'd see it, I just couldn't say."

[talkstohats]

Sophie's scowl is growing more and more ferocious. She is not going to sit there and take this - this cheek!

"Didn't anyone ever teach you respect for other people?" she demands, rising up from her seat and shaking her needle in front of her like a weapon - or a teacher's blackboard pointer.

"It's rude enough to - to saunter into places and start singing about people you've never met, without doing it right in their face!"

[gondolin-noble.livejournal.com]

Glorfindel turns to pick up his drink, cradling the bulb of the glass in one hand. Then he bows to Sophie, in a gloriously complicated fashion that is one part acknowledgement and four parts showing off.
"Does the lady recognize herself in the song? Curious, for I did not mention names, nor wave my arms incriminatingly." He muses, and his speaking voice is just as gorgeous as his singing voice. Still, lurking in the bright blue eyes that twinkle at Sophie over the rim of his wineglass, there is something undeniably ancient.

[talkstohats]

Ancient or not, he looks young - and, as far as Sophie knows, function tends to follow form.

"Don't you start," she snaps. "You know perfectly well there's only one woman who could even begin to qualify as working busily around here right about now. And I'm in no mood to put up with it!"

[gondolin-noble.livejournal.com]

"No shabby tiger to match? Mmm. Perhaps not all is lost after all. Just... misplaced. Did the lady not like her tea?" He asks, cryptically, and seemingly not at all abashed at her scolding.

[talkstohats]

"The lady is not in the habit of accepting tea from strangers," says Sophie, haughtily - perhaps extra-haughtily, to cover her alarm at the comment about things being misplaced. (This is, in fact, a total and absolute lie.)

"Or at least strangers who have been rude and failed to introduce themselves. And I haven't the least idea what you mean about tigers."

[gondolin-noble.livejournal.com]

"Did I not? How very remiss of me." Gently he sets the wineglass down on the bar and bows again, this time a bit less showy. "Glorfindel of Imladris, at the lady's service." Then he looks up, still terribly merry. "Though it does seem a pity that I do not know her name."

[talkstohats]

"Sophie," Sophie says, shortly. "Hatter."

Glorfindel of Imladris. Typical flashiness, Sophie thinks, and sniffs.

"And you have a very odd way of showing your service, young man."