milliways_bar | (no subject)

Elizabeth sedately walks into the bar via the portrait hole. She spent much of the previous night isolated in the House of Arch, but is still rather emotionally worn after the events of the past few days. She has decided to make her way into the bar early today, so that she might perhaps avoid the evening chaos later.

She steps to the bar and requests a cup of tea and a roll. As her order appears, she notices Ulfin a few seats down from her. She smiles over at him and calls, "Good morning to you."

Ulfin looks up and smiles back.

"Good morning. I don't think we've met before, have we? I'm Ulfin."

Liz nods her head in acknowledgment and greeting. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ulfin. You are correct - I do not believe we have met previously. My name is Elizabeth Bennet, although many here call me Liz. You may call me whichever you please.

"And how does this morning find you, Ulfin?"

"Very well, thank you, Miss Bennet", Ulfin replies, assessing her quietly and deciding she's nobility - or the closest thing to it he's yet found in Milliways. "And you?"

Liz takes a sip of her tea and smiles. "I am well, I thank you. But I must insist that you address me as Elizabeth or Liz rather than 'Miss Bennet'. That manner of address still rightfully belongs to my elder sister, and even if it did not, such formality has little use in such a place as Milliways, at least where speaking to me is concerned."

Ulfin nods, making a note of it. "Elizabeth, then. May I ask how long you've been visiting Milliways, Elizabeth?"

"Oh, heaven!" Liz thinks carefully. "I first came here a little over a month ago, as time passes in this place. I returned home after several weeks to attend to some personal matters, and have been back in the environs of Milliways for not quite two weeks at this time."

She breaks her roll, and butters a small portion of it.

"And what of you, Ulfin? How long have you been at Milliways?" she asks before taking a small bite of bread.

"Just under a week", comes the answer. "I had only intended to stay a night or two, but it seems it may make very little difference how long I stay, as time may not be passing at home while I'm here. So I stayed a little longer."

Liz finishes chewing her bread and swallows before she answers. "It is difficult to say how time may be passing in your world. For some, it passes normally. Others may stay here for months, only to find that but a day has gone by back at home. I, when I ventured back to my world, found that time had indeed stood still. I do not know, however, if it would be such when next I return there."

Ulfin nods. "I suppose I should think about returning home soon, in case time is passing as usual there. I've already stayed longer than I should have, in that case. But I've enjoyed my time here."

Liz smiles at Ulfin's avowal of his enjoyment. "Indeed, Milliways is truly a most unusual place. I have never seen any of its kind before, and I daresay I shall not once I depart. I would not trade the experience for any kind of boon imaginable.

"Tell me, Ulfin, where is home for you?"

"I travel the country on the king's business", he tells her. "But I suppose you could say home, when I return to it, is Caer Camel. You would know it as Camelot."

Liz's eyes widen with surprise. "Camelot!" she says incredulously. "Then it was indeed an actual place?"