hadriel | Video 7 - Sewing Shop

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Video 7 - Sewing Shop

[the video opens on Margaery in the Sewing Shop, dressed of course to impress and show off her work. what is unusual is that she's holding a sword in her lap and that the Shop looks like it's been scrubbed from ceiling to floor and everything in between.

what may also be unusal to those who can notice such things, there have been magical wards placed around the Shop to deter violence and keep certain types of beings out.

Margaery smiles welcomingly at the camera, although those who know her well enough can tell that it's a little forced]

Hello, everyone! The Sewing Shop is open again to attend to your needs. Can you not find what you're looking for in the shops? Or are you just plain sick of wearing the same things day in, day out? Come in and request whatever you need. The only payment I require is a bolt of fabric from Tranquility.

I also give sewing lessons to those who wish to learn.

[to Washington and Kelson]

I have what you requested ready for you to pick up at any time. I hope to see you soon.

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[and she's still sniffling, so she's not likely to leave any time soon. and no one but another monarch can understand the pressures that come with wearing a crown]

Thank you. [under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be thrilled to know her mind was being read in a way, but now she'd be grateful that he believed her when she was telling the truth, that she was no longer the same fiercely ambitious young thing she'd been before her death]

Most people were kind to me. Just the one was cruel. And it was . . . nice seeing others as children and being able to compare it with who they are now.

[she's not getting rid of the sword]

I think around ten. Why?

[Kelson kept his arms wrapped around her, hoping it was comforting and made her feel safe as was his intention. One hand still wrapped itself in her hair, it was long and beautiful and soft, and he started to wonder if women in her world changed their hair styles when they got married. As for the magic, well, no one had yet told him that was impolite. He was so used to it being accepted, or at least he thought what people didn't know didn't hurt them.]

Ten years old. Not quite of age yet, but old enough to start royal page training at least. Old enough to know better.

[He paused.]

I'm sorry I made you cry.

[it is comforting and it does make her feel safe. she's had a hard time feeling safe these days. as for women changing their hair, Margaery hadn't. she usually just wore it down in curls if she worked at it, waves if she didn't with the sides pinned back. that might be one secret he might want to keep as it would prove itself very helpful]

Yes, I suppose so. I know the person as an adult, though, so I suppose I'm not surprised, looking back.

[she looks up at him]

It's all right.

[Kelson is quite enjoying having her in his arms, she feels good and soft and fits nicely around his arms. He played with the strands of her hair softly, letting them thread through his fingers, tips stroking her head.]

Is this an adult I should watch for?

[Kelson asked rather warily, not liking anyone who threatened nobility as children, he doubted they learned their lesson as adults.]

Are you alright?

[He wasn't letting go.]

[she burrows in a little closer. she really does enjoy having her hair played with and she's feeling nice and warm]

No. At least I don't think so. Our friendship has been--strained since the incident, but I don't think he means anyone any harm now. He's one of the healers at the Clinic.

[there are so many things to be wary of here. he shouldn't worry himself into making more of them]

I--I think so.

[she stays where she is]

[The clinic. Kelson hadn't even thought about that. He was so used to Morgan being able to heal any injuries he had now that he forgot that actual physicians are needed. Wait. She said healer. He kept his arms around her, sighing almost contentedly, fighting the part of him that wants to lift her head up and kiss those lips. Although he was quite sure that was taking emotional advantage of the woman and rather frowned upon. Forcing yourself upon a woman who you had just reduced to tears was not honorable.]

Healer? Or Physicians? Are there both here?

[This really wasn't the most honorable position to be in to begin with. Here he was, alone with the woman and holding her close, my god this was so improper. He traced his fingers along the small of her back.]

Good.

[and Margaery is too used to Maesters who study all subjects, not just medicine. she's still uncertain about modern medicine and psychotherapy, even if she really could use some of the latter. she stays where she is. she's a very tactile person, always taking the arm or hand of others or touching them in other ways. it's reassuring]

Both, I think? I've had no use of either as the only time I've been sick was the time the entire town was ill.

[quite improper. has she managed to seduce him by accident? if so, that would be a first]

Are you all right?

[Psychotherapy was something he was unfamiliar with as well, at least in its present form. In his experience, such things had always been relegated to the role of a confessor or priest. As for touching, Kelson was used to people touching him at home, he had his squires for regular occasions, multiple dressers for formal and state affairs. But touching other people? That got more complicated. He wasn't necessarily opposed to it, but there were the pesky issues of honor and chivalry to think about, not to mention potentially leaving a bunch of bastard children in his wake. It seemed easier, to, well, not too.

So for as much as Kelson wanted too, and he did want too, he forced himself to remove his hands and take a step back. Before his body and mind betrayed him.]

Your Grace, I apologize for my behavior. This is not height of propriety.

[Yes, poor boy was worried about your honor, Margaery. It was almost funny. As for seducing him? Kelson was an eighteen year old virgin. Seducing him probably wasn't that difficult. If you could get him to stop thinking.]

[in Westeros, such things weren't discussed at all. and of course Margaery was used to being touched by her handmaidens as they dressed or undressed her. she also experienced less gentle touches in her prison cell when she was held by the Faith. but she was used to friendly touching, taking the hand or the arm of a friend, giving them hugs, putting her arm around a waist. innocent or playful in intent.

she blinks as he lets her go and steps away. has she done something wrong?]

What? There was nothing wrong with what you did. I was--overwrought and you were comforting me.

[her honor is just fine. it endured taking a lover and living with a man who was not her husband here. and she honestly wouldn't mean to seduce him, that's the funny part]

[In Kelson's experience, such touch was usually done when people weren't looking (check), or in men and women of considerable less honor and virtue. But in many ways, Westeros was significantly less restrained than Gwynedd....not surprising considering how many of the Eleven Kingdoms consider Gwynedd occasionally backwards in some respects.]

There wasn't?

[Perhaps this was a cultural misunderstanding, as Kelson was sure he had put the lady's honor at risk. Maybe he should explain. And use proper titles.]

We are unchaperoned, alone in a building, Your Grace.

[Yes, he focused on that instead of other things. Like the curve of her breasts.]

[there are likely just as many in Essos and here (especially here) who feel the same about Westeros, that it's backwards and uncivilized. she tries to ignore such opinions. it bothers her too much otherwise]

No, absolutely not.

[Margaery has acclimated herself to Hadriel and its norms of behavior for the most part because she wants to go to 21st century Earth when she leaves. her honor is at no risk by those standards]

We are, but there was nothing wrong with what you did.

[hard to avoid noticing in that dress she wears]

[yes there were some he'd encountered here who were perplexed by his attitude, and thought Kelson quite confusing. Or confused. or just plain weird. Backwards.]

Are you not concerned for your honor?

[Kelson wasn't going to leave it that easily, he was also a little confused. Maybe it was different in her world? Either way, the boy was going to need it spelled out for him. As for her breasts, yes, her current clothing choice made the soft curve easily within view. Gwyneddian dress was a lot less close fitting and there was definitely more cloth. Margaery probably would not like it very much.]

[it never gets any easier, being considered backwards]

No. I've been wedded and bedded and now I'm a widow. None thought twice when I fell in love and lived with a man.

[she's going by Hadriel standards, not Westerosi standards. by Westerosi standards, she would be putting her honor at risk, but here it's not a concern. and no, she doesn't like clothing that's looser with more cloth to conceal. she had to wear it after her ordeal with the Faith and found it stifling]

[No it didn't. At least in Gwynedd he was gaining a reputation for trying to combat it. Here, well, he was up against 900 years of cultural progression. He was lucky he hadn't seen anyone in a bikini yet.

But hearing Margaery's tale of no one caring that she fell in love and lived with a man, unwedded, was bordering on horrifying. Although, as Kelson considered it, he saw little few options here, unless all the unmarried women lived together for security. There were enough here who did not believe in such things as well.]

It doesn't bother you?

[No, Margaery would not like Gwyneddian clothing. Margaery, Kelson noticed, enjoyed playing the cloth off her body. That was her weapon, just as much as the sword.]
]

[Westeros is peculiar. it can even be said to have backslid in terms of technology. after all, there are none alive in Westeros who could manage architectural feats like the Wall or Winterfell or Storm's End.

she's technically living with two other widows, Sansa and Daenerys, along with Jon Snow. and no, nobody cared that she lived with a man who was not her husband. most of those who knew her were happy for her, in fact]

No. Where I'm going, the rules of behavior are a lot more . . . forgiving. As they are here.

[it's what she'd been used to prior to her ordeal with the Faith, so after she could choose and make her own clothing again, she went with what she liked]

[Westeros and Gwynedd have that in common. Two centuries ago, Gwynedd had magic down to a science, schools and orders, lessons methodically planned out, magic and architecture feeding into eachother. Now, in Kelson's time, most didn't even know they could do magic, or if they could they were in hiding. The schools and orders had vanished, the books and teachings lost. If any,found the ruins of the magic infused architecture, they did not know what they were looking at, and if they did, no idea how to replicate it, or even what it was for. Most did not know the extent of what they could do, and those that had inklings did not share. ]

Perhaps I should try to adapt then as well.

[He did not want to adapt, but Kelson was clearly going to have to make some sacrifices if he was going to keep seeing women walking around in pants and some articles he wasn't even sure were actually clothing.]

[such terrible losses in knowledge and history. she's not sure what caused the decline in Westeros, other than perhaps once there was a time with giants of knowledge, all dwindled down to the brown mice known as Maesters. she would be curious to know what caused Gwynedd's fall, though]

Perhaps a little? But not too much. You don't have the option of going to another world. Your own world needs you.

[Margaery can understand why women wear pants here, but she's going to cleave to her dresses]

[Kelson would have been interested to compare what happened between their two lands. He knew exactly what happened to cause all the lack of knowledge. Prejudice, bigotry and wide spread slaughter. He'd love to tell her all about Gwynedd's history. It was something he was most passionate about. After all, he couldn't fix it without knowing what had happened before.]

No, I don't think Gwynedd could handle it if I did not return. I certainly could not handle it. I'm as much wed to my kingdom as I would any bride.

[He took a breath.]

I shall try to bend. Slightly.

[she would love to hear it. history is something she's genuinely interested in. and she would share Westeros' history in return]

You are a true king. [she considers for a moment] I love Westeros. I love its people. But I know there's no going back.

[she looks concerned] You shouldn't force yourself to change for the comfort of others.

[He would love to hear Westeros' history and the history of the different houses. Had they made some of the same mistakes Gwynedd had? What precipitated different chains of events?

Kelson gave her a small smile]

Death I'm afraid is rather permanent. As for changing, I've been ....moderating who I am for others my entire reign.

[so much of Westerosi history falls somewhere in between truth and legend. like the White Walkers, the Children of the Forest, warging. and it's likely that Westeros made many of the same mistakes Gwynedd had and still more of its own.

she smiles back]

It is. In a way. And, you have? How have you been doing so?

[One day maybe they'll find out. Kelson makes a decision and creates a small crimson ball of handfire, and lets it float above his hand, sending it upward.]

Most of my subjects know I have some abilities. My family has been attributing it to divine right for centuries. But it's not a comfortable subject. It's a fine line between using everything I have at my disposal and not spooking those I protect and creating more riots and rebellions. My mere existence has created ....problems.

Gwynedd is just recovering from Deryni despots who used their powers abhorrently.

[Imre and Ariella would have been right at home with Joffrey, if Joffrey had been allowed to do whatever he wanted. Joffrey and the Mad King, if they had been given unfettered rule for 80 years.]

[she doesn't even react to the magic other than to think it looks rather pretty, floating there in midair]

So you've been trying to walk the line between either extreme, I take it? Enough power to keep them safe, but not so much that they'd rebel.

And you wish to what? Slowly acclimate them to your gifts?

[for the most part, Joffrey was allowed to do anything he wanted to whomever he wanted. the only one Margaery knows to have stood in his way was Tyrion Lannister, and look what became of him]

[Kelson had been here two months and he still wasn't used to the non reaction from those who couldn't use magic. It was still mind boggling. He was still expecting gasping and cringing and people backing away. Or screams of heresy and devils and people with drugged wine and stakes with chains. He would have been glad that she thought it was pretty.]

Yes. It's that exactly. Some I can pass off as my ancestors did as divine right, the abilities they'd expect a Haldane king to have. Like the ability to read the truth.

[He made a face.] Others I confess I use to keep them in line. [He let his deryni aura flare a little, so it looked almost like a crimson halo. If he had been wearing a crown, it might look like a glint of sunlight hitting it. A subtle yet effective means of keeping a god-fearing people in line. Of course, being from Westeros the connotations were probably lost on Margaery.]

What I tend not to use? If I'm away and not expected back for a few days, I'm certainly not going to use magic to return suddenly. There would be no way to explain how I suddenly arrived days early and without my entourage. Even that little trick I did [Kelson motioned and the light wiggled] would send people into apoplectic fits.

Edited (icon!) 2018-05-31 22:25 (UTC)

[magic is unheard of in Westeros, so she finds it to be delightful. though, perhaps that's due to her time here. she can imagine the Westerosi smallfolk reacting with fear to magic]

You can read the truth? That must be terribly useful in your role as king. People must still try to trick you, though, it's only human nature.

It's only sensible to do so. The smallfolk need to be led by its rulers. If not, they fall into making mischief or worse. [no, they have nothing like halos in any of the Westeosi religions.

she nods] That's unfortunate, but sensible. However, you should be free to be able to be yourself. Your full self, including magic. But I can understand your desire for restraint, given what you've said about rulers of the past. [the light wiggling makes her laugh brightly] Now that I cannot understand. It's just a little bit of fire and it's so pretty!

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