*Is* this how it happens?

[for_tradition]

There's a woman in the Bar proper. She's commandeered a medium-ish sized table and covered it with things: books, pieces of parchment, notes. There's a plate of biscuits and a pot of tea. She has one pair of glasses tucked on her shining brown hair, and she's wearing another, and she's humming to herself.

She is also, as a certain cavalier might say, mega-dead... but she doesn't seem at all perturbed by it.

Comments

[riddleofthebelow]

Thank goodness! No hexes today.

He takes her hand in greeting and replies, “Tom Riddle, Lord Ostium of the House of Arch. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Fifth House, penta meaning five, ah! This pleasant woman is lacking in skeletal adornment, which Tom assumes must be de riguer for the necromantic Houses of Harrow’s world, though, so he won’t ask about connections quite yet.

“Milliways can be an excellent place to work on a research project - or to distracted momentarily from one.”

[for_tradition]

"Delighted, Lord Ostium."

Her handshake is firm but her hands are soft; she is not a woman accustomed to any sort of hard labor. When she releases his hand, she gesture politely at the empty seat across from her own. "Would you care to join me for tea, sir? I've more than enough to share, as you can see."

[riddleofthebelow]

“I should like that very much, Lady Pent,” he says, settling into the proffered chair. His hands are likewise smooth and not work worn.

“Although we don’t usually stand on ceremony here, and you’re welcome to call me Tom.”

[for_tradition]

"Then you must call me Abigail," she says, smiling. The tea set which came with her order is simple and lovely, bone china that would cost a fortune on the Fifth brewing a variety of tea that has not been seen in Dominicus for a myriad. (It's Darjeeling. And delicious.)

She pours him a cup, sets a ginger biscuit on the side of the saucer, and passes it over with a nod for him to help himself to the creamer and sugar bowl. "The House of Arch...oh, and you are Lord Ostium, that's very clever. I take it you know this place well, then? You speak as though you are quite familiar with it."

[riddleofthebelow]

“I do,” he says, thoroughly charmed. He takes his tea without cream or sugar, but the ginger biscuit is just to his taste.

“I’ve been a patron here for many years, although not nearly as frequently in the past years as when I first arrived. Are you newly arrived or have we simply not crossed paths?”

[for_tradition]

"Newly arrived," she tells him, topping off her own cup and delicately breaking a piece off a biscuit of her own. "Although it is a bit difficult to get my bearings on how time works here... still, I should say I arrived only a day ago or so. I think it's absolutely fascinating."

She smiles at him; Abigail Pent is pretty well charmed, herself. What a polite man! "You must have a wealth of stories from your time here. Could I coax one or two favorites from you?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“Only a day? I’d say you’re adjusting remarkably well, madam. I thought perhaps you’d have your own anecdotes to share.”

He sips his tea, which is, indeed, delicious, and considers what to tell her. “I suppose my favorite story is that I met my wife here, and we spoke only in haiku - a form of poetry - for our first exchanges of words.”

[for_tradition]

"Well, I have already spoken with the King Undying, the Emperor, our Kindly Prince: the man who became God and the God who became man," she says, thoughtfully, "but it's early days yet."

Shocking no one: Abigail loves a love story. "Oh, that's sweet," she says, warmly. "Were the haikus on purpose or was there some sort of dare involved?"

[riddleofthebelow]

Ah. That's... a title.

"Everyone was speaking in haiku whether we wished to or not. It was a whim of Milliways. I'd say the Bar, but this was before she became sentient."

[for_tradition]

"Sentience? I suppose that explains the tea. May I ask, how exactly does a bar attain sentience?"

[riddleofthebelow]

He grins. “It started with a magical serving spell, one from my birth world, but greater powers were at work, I believe, to create the Bar we know today. Milliways is an exceedingly magical - and inscrutable - place.”

[for_tradition]

"So your world has magic, also?" says Abigail, delighted. "And with a spell that resulted in sentience – I doubt very much that would be possible with necromancy. Not true sentience, anyhow."

[riddleofthebelow]

"Indeed it does. And if I may be so bold as to inquire, your world with its Fifth House wouldn't happen to have a Ninth, would it? Because if so, I believe I've met two patrons from there."