Ava Telling Tales (tittle_tattle) wrote in theunboundic, @ 2020-06-09 23:28:00 |
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Well, this was not ideal. No, leaving the Rosier Manor in the heat of the day to meet an intimidating, alarming-looking man about some comment he'd made in passing was far from her idea of an ideal afternoon. Ava had never sweat so much in her entire life, and it didn't help that she hadn't exactly owned many dresses that suited the weather. As Lady Viola's Handmaid, she did get hand-me-downs, and luckily, one of those dresses was plain white, realtively short-sleeved and a lighter fabric, so that she didn't 1) faint from heatstroke, or 2) stand out like a sore thumb, as her first trip into town had gone. Not that she particularly wanted to blend in with the Aurellians, of course, but perhaps it would bring less attention to her. Ava arrived early, because of course she did, and at first, took a table near the window so as to be visible. After a minute's consideration, however, the sun's glare was not only too much, but she wasn't particularly keen on being seen with the man with a thousand tattoos by just any passersby in the town square. Then, she moved to the table furthest in the back, hidden away and much cooler from the distance away from the door and window, but was it too far, perhaps? She frowned over her espresso -- no milk in her coffee in the afternoon, thank you, she wasn't an animal -- and gathered her cup, saucer, and croissant on a tiny plate, ready to move to a table near the middle of the cafe. But a couple took the table she meant to take. When had it gotten so busy? There was a line, now, and when she'd walked away from the back table, someone else had swooped in and stolen that one, too! All to say, she sat at the table directly by the window (the only free seat left that wasn't outside, which was absolutely not happening). Waiting for the scary man whose time she might be wasting (not to mention her own, goodness). Eating her almond croissant, even though it was between lunch and tea, how very rebellious of her. Meawhile, an Aurellian woman approached her table, smiled, and set a hand on the free chair. "Is anyone sitting here? May we use this seat?" She started pulling it away without really waiting, however. "Oh!" Ava's eyes went wide with slight, momentary panic. If this were the Rosier Manor, and one of the (lower-ranking) staff were to try that, she would put a stop to it immediately. "Well. That's. Actually, I'm." "Thanks," the chair-stealing woman said, actively stealing the chair meant for Mr. Henri. The shock of it! That would never happen back home! And what if Mr. Henri was as raucous and dangerous as Major Auster said he was? What if arriving to find no chair for him to sit set him off? "Actually! Ma'am!" Ava raised her voice a little, but it was too little, too late. "That chair's... for...." |