(no subject)

[talkstohats]

Howl is sneezing all over the place, and visiting Miss Angorian in a charmed suit instead of doing anything helpful; Michael is terrified both of the Witch and of the idea that they might move away from Martha-Lettie; Calcifer is hissing angrily at everyone due to the wet; and Sophie is in urgent need of a place to sit and sew triangles of suit back together in peace.

Sometimes Milliways really is a blessing.

"People who run away from everything," Sophie mutters to the triangles as she sews them, "deserve everything they get."

She's feeling rather tempted to charm the suit into being particularly susceptible to colds, or moths, or something; only the fact that the suit by necessity needs to last Howl rathera long time keeps her from doing so.

Comments

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

And as she walks by, the girl pauses, hearing the mutter. And she sniffs. And she smiles.

"Why, hello there grandmother."

[talkstohats]

Sophie raises her eyebrows, looking up.

"I'm fairly certain that I'm not anybody's grandmother."

Or even old mother. Not today. NOT EVER AGAIN.

"So I'm quite sure I would remember if I were yours, young lady."

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

The girl laughs, a light, airy sound. And a not a sound one is actually used to hearing. The poets speak of girls with tinkling laughter, but it's not supposed to actually exist.

"I meant only respect, dear lady. By the old way, all women of maturity are grandmother, a term of respect to their wisdom."

She tilts her head at the sowing.

"An interesting project."

[talkstohats]

Sophie's nerves tend to be set on edge by tinkling laughter, lately - but she tells herself to calm and be polite, with something of an effort.

This girl isn't the Witch. Sophie would know her anywhere.

"It's a suit," she says shortly, looking down at the triangles, and then back at the girl.

"Or it will be, when it's done. I'm - er - remaking it."

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

"Whoever would cut up such a nice suit?"

She's leading, leading, trying to figure out what power this old woman has. The scent of sorcery in the air is instantly recogniseable, if not what kind.

[talkstohats]

"It was ruined," Sophie says, with dignity. "Er - stained. Accidentally."

Her hand tightens on the sewing needle, working its steady way through the tiny triangles of fabric.

"You know how these things happen, I'm sure."

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

"Not really."

Despite the ragged state of her clothing, there are no stains on them.

"So, do you weave magic into the stitch?"

[talkstohats]

Sophie startles, peering at the girl with a gaze that's surprisingly sharp for one so old.

Sharply: "There's no magic in this suit - nothing but the powder used to dry it."

And Sophie is going to make very sure it remains that way.

"So if you thought you saw a spell on it, young lady, I'm sure you must be mistaken. It would be terribly irresponsible to cast spells on someone else's suit, after all."

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

"But it is around you."

She smiles.

"So wonderful, so much variety."

[talkstohats]

Sophie's hackles are up now, and it shows.

"I live in a wizard's castle," she retorts, busily sewing away. "I'm sure some things do rub off. Goodness only knows he wastes it on enough frivolous things that there's variety aplenty."

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

Maeve pulls up a chair, straddling it backwards.

"Intereesting. And what wizard do you serve?"

[talkstohats]

"Oh, none that you would have heard of, I'm sure."

The girl's not the Witch, but she's reminding Sophie of her more and more, and she doesn't like it.

(Besides, she feels rather like slandering Howl's name, at present.)

"There are so many different worlds, I can't imagine you would have. What did you say your name was, again?"

[winterladym.livejournal.com]

"I didn't. But you may call me Maeve."

It's a name she's gotten used to using.

"And you never know. I have my contacts, in many worlds."

She says it like she means it, but she doesn't.

[nottwinkletoes.livejournal.com]

He happened to be walking by when he heard her muttering, and he froze in mid-step. Literally froze for a second, leg still lifted.

Then he slumped in a meek expression, looked at the ceiling and everywhere but the old lady and said, "But what if someone has a really, really good reason for running away from something?"

[talkstohats]

"- it depends, I would say," Sophie says, peering over her sewing, "at what that really good reason is, and on what they do once they've run away from it."

For example: gadding about to see Welsh schoolteachers? Not acceptable.

[nottwinkletoes.livejournal.com]

Aang nodded, then trotted over to see what she was doing.

"What are you making?"

[talkstohats]

"Oh - I'm remaking a suit," Sophie says, and lifts up the sewn-together blue-and-silver triangles to show him.

She is also trying not to look shifty, as confessing that she cut up the suit in a fit of pique is probably not the best example to set for a child.

"By sewing the triangles back together." She glances at the boy. "I'm Sophie, by the by."

[nottwinkletoes.livejournal.com]

"I'm Aang," he said cheerfully.

"If you're remaking it, how'd it get unmade?" he asked, curious.

[talkstohats]

". . . some green slime got on it and stained it," Sophie says, firmly.

It was all Howl's fault. Yes.

"So I'm remaking it in a different style, to work around the stain - and you see? It'll be good as new."

She looks down at the fragment of sewn-together triangles in her hands, which does not look quite - or anywhere near - large enough to be a suit.

[nottwinkletoes.livejournal.com]

He liked that attitude. Fixing things and making them good as new.

"I know how to sew! Only a little bit though." The female monks usually made the clothes, but for normal wear and tear he'd been expected to mend his own clothes. "My friend Katara is better at it."

[talkstohats]

"It's a useful thing to know."

Sophie looks at him with new approval; she's not met many young boys who could. Or young girls, for that matter. There's a reason she ended up fixing all of Lettie and Martha's clothing.

"And if you practice, of course, you'll get better at it - and the thing about knowing how to sew," she adds, with a chuckle, "is that there are always about a hundred opportunities to practice. There's always something that's torn."

Sophie's got a fair amount of experience with clothes, and she can see that Aang's have been through some wear and tear. Nodding at his outfit: "Did you do any of those yourself?"

[nottwinkletoes.livejournal.com]

"Um, I did all the ones on my pants, but Katara fixed my shirt," he said. "I tear my clothes a lot."

[talkstohats]

"I'd never have guessed," says Sophie, with a straight face.

She doesn't think she's ever seen a pair of pants mended quite so often as that, and curiosity is beginning to get the better of her.

"I don't suppose you got all of those just from playing too hard, young man."

[nottwinkletoes.livejournal.com]

Aang shook his head.

"Fighting. Firebenders try to set me on fire a lot."

[talkstohats]

". . . Firebenders?"

Sophie's eyes widen, a little.

"You mean, fire demons?" she asks, cautiously.

She can't - well, all right, she can imagine Calcifer setting a little boy's clothes on fire. But only on a very bad day.