Open: Sewing in the Great Hall (come bother Sansa!)

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Normally, Sansa kept to the Slytherin areas, her dorm or the common room, to do her sewing. Even back when she had still been at Winterfell, the women did their sewing in a room set aside for the purpose, not in Winterfell's great hall. But here... Sansa was always by herself.

Today, she'd decided that she'd rather not be alone. She'd taken the risk of being thought strange by the other castle denizens, and settled herself at a table in the Great Hall, with her sewing basket next to her and her current project in hand.

Comments

[makeminemayday.livejournal.com]

May comes into the Great Hall with a bulldog puppy in tow, shivering. She's wearing a windbreaker beneath her winter coat, but it doesn't entirely blunt the chill from the gaping hole she ripped in it the other day. (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1153801.html?thread=58471689#t58471689)

The puppy shakes herself and trots toward the stranger on her stubby legs, friendly and curious. "Alley, behave," May says as she takes off the outer coat, shaking it off at the door and inspecting the hole with a sigh. The puppy sits down near Sansa's feet, looking up at her with a friendly and tongue-lolling grin. "If she's bothering you, I'll get her upstairs post haste. She's a good girl usually, unless I'm trying to give her a bath."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Sansa smiled politely at the other girl, wishing for just a moment that her hands were free so she could pat the puppy on its oddly flat face. She was a Stark, even if not a very good one, and if she wasn't afraid of wolves, she would not worry about dogs. "I'm not bothered at all. She seems very friendly!"

Her eyes widened slightly when her glance found the torn coat. She was quite proud of the fact that women dressing like men no longer bothered her, but that was a massive tear. No blood, but all the same.... "What happened to your coat?"

[makeminemayday.livejournal.com]

May sets the coat down carefully and sits down at the table, reaching down to scratch Alley behind the ears and finally pulling the puppy into her lap - she's wearing her work jeans anyway, so dog hair isn't going to be an issue. "She's just an attention addict, that's what she is." Alley barks in response, leaning further into the head-scratching. "Well, at least you admit it!"

She grimaces. "A tree branch happened. It caught on a branch when I was trying to get down. Which wouldn't have happened if I'd been paying attention." To what she was doing and not to the moderately hot guy who was like an older version of JJ.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Sansa half-laughed at the puppy's barking, then twisted her needle and thread together and stuck it through the cloth to free her hands. "If you like, I can mend it. It would stop letting the wind in, at least, though I can't promise it won't look like a massive tear got stitched up." Most of her sewing was decorative, because she liked it, but Sansa could mend and do other practical sewing as well as anyone.

[makeminemayday.livejournal.com]

May looks up, surprised. "Seriously? You'd do that? I mean, that would be wonderful, but you've obviously got other things to work on."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Certainly, why not?" To make her point, Sansa set aside her project. "It wouldn't take more than a few minutes, if it's a clean tear. And really, I'm just picking out embroidery and redoing it differently as a means of amusing myself."

[makeminemayday.livejournal.com]

"Oh, wow. Thank you so much. Anything you can do would probably be better than my handiwork - I can handle small repairs, but nothing so major." Repairing small holes in spandex isn't quite the same.

"I'm May Parker, by the way. I don't think we've met."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Sansa picked up the coat and started investigating the tear, trying to fit the ends together to see if they matched up. They did - the tear was along the seam of the collar and down one sleeve, no fabric was missing. She smiled, relieved - it meant that she'd be able to hide the stitching inside if she didn't have a matching thread color, and it wouldn't bunch awkwardly - then looked at the other girl, still smiling. "I'm Sansa Stark. I don't believe we have... I'm pleased to meet you, though!"

[makeminemayday.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you, too." Satisfied that Alley is settling down and is not about to run around, or, Heaven forbid, shake herself again right next to Sansa's sewing, she looks at the embroidery curiously. "Can I ask what you were working on?"

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it's nothing really. Picking out some embroidery on a wool dress so I can replace it with new. Just... entertainment, you know. Passing the time." Sansa retrieved black thread and a different needle from her basket and started sewing up the rip in the coat. She went slowly and carefully, with neat, strong stitches on the inside of the coat, so that the stitches would be on the inside and not the outside when she was done.

[makeminemayday.livejournal.com]

"I've been going a little stir crazy myself. You'd think that since this is a school, there'd be actual classes, but I haven't seen one since I got here. Is this typical? I was only sorted right before Christmas."

[mageofanima.livejournal.com]

*Erk has decided that some supper is probably in order, and has made his way down to the Great Hall to get it. Passing by with a plate of food, the mage catches sight of Sansa. He sets his plate down and takes a seat.* Mind if I sit here?

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Not at all. Please do, ser." This person was entirely unfamiliar to Sansa - she had no objection to speaking with new people, of course. It was part of the reason she'd come to the Great Hall in the first place.

[mageofanima.livejournal.com]

Thank you. *This in defiance of the fact that he's already seated.* Pleased to meet you. I am Erk.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Sansa Stark. I'm honored to meet you." She tilted her head, trying to work out whether or not she'd run across this one in the halls and simply not noticed before. "Are you newly arrived, ser?"

[mageofanima.livejournal.com]

Very much so, yes. I was just Sorted in the last few days.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Oh?" She didn't have to fake interest - the idea of putting people in Houses according to their personalities was still a fascinating one to her. It seemed much more reasonable than simply expecting everyone from the same bloodline to be alike. "Which one?"

[mageofanima.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, Gryffindor. I was expecting to be placed in Ravenclaw - of course, this was based on what a friend of mine said, and his advice tends to be erratic. He generally points others towards the goal that stands to gain him the most. Still, I wouldn't exactly call myself brave...

*Erk shakes his head.* I'm sorry. I'm babbling.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Sansa smiled slightly. "Oh, no. I understand precisely what you mean! I'm in Slytherin, myself, because it is my husband's House. My sister and a lady sworn to our lady mother are in Gryffindor. I don't think, though, that I really fit into any of the Houses here, so my lord's House suits me quite well."

[mageofanima.livejournal.com]

I see. I hope that doesn't always happen, because there's someone who, if she shows up, is almost certainly going to want to be in my House. I'd rather she wasn't; she seems to labor under the delusion that I am her personal servant. And she's incredibly fond of annoying nicknames.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Mmm. I half-think it is simply that husbands and wives get Sorted into the same House, nothing more. If this lady is a better fit for another House, I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about."

[mageofanima.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope so. To put it bluntly, the girl never stops talking. There is someone I wouldn't mind being in the same House as, but ... I'm not entirely certain she feels the same way yet.

I hope you don't mind me saying that this brings back a few memories... I used to talk to Lady Louise as she did her sewing in the evenings, when I was younger... *Which is not really that long ago, but Erk's old for his age.*

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

((Repost, because I do know how to close my tags, really))

Susan, continuing her mission to be more social (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1156800.html#comments) had made her way down to the Great Hall in the hope of finding food that wasn't some form of leftover take-away. (She'd inherited her grandfather's habits, though she didn't share his fondness for curry). As was the case everywhere she went, half the people were complete strangers, but that was all right...she'd been gone a while, and a recluse just as long.

She spotted a young girl sewing, and made her way over with a small plate of pudding. The girl wasn't a child, but she was younger than most Susan had seen here.

"What are you working on?" she asked, and she could feel her inner governess creeping forward.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Sansa glanced up at the woman, who seemed... well, just by her bearing, Sansa was tempted to compare her to Septa Mordane. Although this woman was less dead, of course.

"Oh, just... embroidery. Picking out some old, replacing it with new." A grey wool dress with lighter grey 'direwolves' embroidered on the bodice. She wasn't sure what she'd replace them with, since technically she shouldn't bear her father's arms anymore. Not lions, never lions, even if they were the symbol of her husband's House. Snowflakes, perhaps. Or silver leaves. Or both! That could be pretty.... "I'm not very good with books, so I tend to pick out and rework my stitches quite a lot, to keep myself occupied."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

Ah. Embroidery was an alien concept to Susan, though her mother had liked it. Still, this girl seemed quite good at it.

"You know, I would imagine you could find quite a bit of new work to do around here," she said, sitting on the bench beside her. "Most people here don't have the talent, or the patience, to do anything that intricate." The business with the books ought to be dealt with, she thought...and mentally kicked herself. She wasn't a governess here, but old habits died hard. "Do you not like to study?"

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Sansa blinked. She hadn't considered offering her skills more generally. Of course, there was a certain part of her that rebelled at the idea of becoming a seamstress, but... it would mean that she would have some method of making her own way, if she ever had to, instead of just relying on an endless series of rescues. Hmm. "I haven't seen a great deal of embroidery on clothing and such here, but... it may be for the reasons you say."

The question about studying made her cheeks redden. "I... have never been a great reader, my lady. Even less so, here." She'd picked up a very basic potions book in the library and tried to read it, but had had to give up before she'd got even halfway through. How were clocks supposed to be wise, and what did that have to do with anything? The books made her feel stupid. And yes, she was a stupid girl, but there was no reason she had to feel it. "I have no gift for books."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. She knew this syndrome: girls shouldn't be educated. She hadn't encountered it much in Ankh-Morpork, but she knew it was there.

"Perhaps you're not reading the right books," she said, wondering just how the poor girl had been brought up, and where. "Were you tutored much, before here?" Given the child's--and she had to use that in the loosest sense of the word--skills and preferences, Susan would guess she'd been raised to be a 'lady', i.e., domestic and ornamental. The mindset made her blood boil.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps so," Sansa agreed placidly. There was no harm in agreeing with the woman - there were a lot of books in the library at Hogwarts, surely at least one wouldn't cause her to put it back in frustration and confusion. "I know my letters and numbers well enough to manage a household of any size, I play the high harp and the bells, I know all my heraldry... not that that's terribly useful here." And she'd learned politics and how to lie, but that wasn't something to admit to anyone who seemed like Septa Mordane. "I would say I've had quite a lot of tutoring."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Well, running a household was, even she had to admit, a very useful skill--if she hadn't had people capable of that kind of thing at home, she'd never have been able to leave the estate after her parents died--but there was so much more to do here. And...well, Susan could read people; this girl had the look of someone who had not had an easy life. There was a timidity about her that Susan liked not at all--as though a girl who was naturally easy-going had somehow been cowed into taking up as little space as possible.

"Well, are there any subjects you'd be interested in? Charms would perhaps be a good one, and very useful for managing a household. Potions as well. You may just need someone to sit with you, and break it all down into manageable bits. It can be overwhelming, just attacking it head-on."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"I thought Potions, at first," Sansa admitted. She had a certain fondness for poisons, at least, once she'd gotten some time to reflect that yes, overall Joffrey's choking-to-death had been very satisfying. For all his threats to her, he was the one who ended up dead. Potions weren't poisons, but there was some kinship in the idea, at least. "I went to the library, and found the very simplest book I could, but...." She shook her head. "All I could do was get stuck thinking stupid questions. If I can't understand the simplest things, it's best I don't frustrate myself further."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

Well, that was a start, at least. It was amazing how Governess Mode seemed to turn itself on automatically.

"Well, to come into a subject with no prior experience is terribly frustrating, without help," she said firmly. "I was fortunate, in that I had friends with existing skills in that area. You just need someone to work you through the beginning." This was quite familiar territory. "Being frustrated doesn't mean you're stupid. It just means you don't know the right questions, which you're not going to know without help. You, my girl," she concluded, quite matter-of-factly, "need a tutor."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

Part of Sansa was curled up in shame; she knew that all the questions she'd had were ones everyone already had answers to, everyone except her. Another part of her was annoyed at this woman telling her what she did and did not need, but that was a very small part trapped underneath the curled-up part. The rest of her was... amused. A sort of grim amusement, but amusement nonetheless. Any tutor would be horribly, horribly frustrated with her, and then there would be two. "If you say so, my lady."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"Call me Susan," she said. "Let me guess--you don't know what half this stuff is, do you? Even learning the lingual patterns here is a challenge. Even I haven't mastered all of them yet, and I've been here..." Gods, how long had she been here? Damnable memory "...a while. I imagine if you had someone to explain all those things, it would be a great deal easier."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"I'm Sansa." She tilted her head thoughtfully, not even covering the moment with sewing, to indicate to the woman Susan that she was in fact thinking.

She still thought Susan was wrong. If it was such a common problem for people not to know things that were so simple they weren't thought to need explanations, WHY were those things still never explained? That was just... just ridiculous. On the other hand, doing and redoing embroidery would get old eventually, and it wasn't like any part of her tiny household really needed managing. "Some things seem like they would be obvious - a toenail is a toenail even if I don't know what sort of creature it's talking about. Other things are just... clocks being foolish."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"Very pleased to meet you, Sansa."

Clocks being wise... Susan turned that one over a moment, and then said, "Ah. Clockwise. That's not such an odd mistake, really, if you come from a place that hasn't got clocks. The trouble is, all these books--and a great many other things--were designed for this world, by people who live in this world. I don't think they had this kind of situation in mind."

She fell silent, considering. "The problem is, so many things that are taken for granted here are not taken for granted elsewhere. I think, perhaps, that you need someone to sit down with you, and answer questions about the things you find bewildering. I rather think a great many people would benefit from that."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

That was a little encouraging. A little. If it was really just ignorance, and not stupidity, that could be fixed. At least a little bit, anyway, to the limits of her ability.

"Perhaps so," she allowed, "though I think it would be very frustrating for any such someone."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"Well, Sansa, I used to be a governess--believe me, we are impossible to frustrate." Well, that wasn't strictly true, but she never ever let on if she was. "Would you care to try, at least, and see if it helps you at all?" She had a hunch Sansa would be quite good at some things, if only she had help at the start.

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

She thought a moment, then nodded slowly. "I think I would, my... Susan." Narrow miss on the 'my lady' there. "Eventually even needlework will become boring, so I need to find something to do. If I can learn anything, so much the better."

[usethepoker.livejournal.com]

"Well, we can certainly work on that," Susan said, pleased. "Start small, with the little things you don't understand, and work up from there."

[fine-eyes-lizzy.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth walked into the Great Hall, cheeks flushed from her walk around the grounds. There really was nothing to improve one's spirits like breaking into a rather unlady-like run when no one could see you.

She glanced over at Sansa as she unwound her muffler and began unbuttoning her long green pelisse. "Forgive the intrusion, but are you embroidering? I commend you for your patience in such a task; I can never sit long at my needlework without growing frustrated."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"It's very relaxing for me - it keeps my hands busy and leaves the rest of me free to... to think or watch people or talk." Sansa held up the grey fabric. "I'm actually picking out these wolves, you see, in the lighter color? Then I'll replace them with, oh... leaves or snowflakes, perhaps. Really, I'm just amusing myself."

[fine-eyes-lizzy.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth looked over at the dress. "May I compliment your skill with a needle? I have never been talented enough at embroidery to successfully talk and sew something so complex at the same time. I may be witty and cross-stitch at the same time, but as soon as you give me something more complex I am lost." She smiled at Sansa. "I believe that we met at your Sorting? I am Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

[castleinthesnow.livejournal.com]

"It's just practice really," Sansa demurred, though with a pleased smile for the compliment. "I used to spend a portion of every day sewing with the other ladies of Winterfell, so I had quite a lot of time to focus." She thought for a moment, remembering, then her smile brightened. "Yes, I do remember, my lady. We talked a little of your sister (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/985485.html?thread=48958605#t48958605), I think."

[fine-eyes-lizzy.livejournal.com]

"Yes, we did!" Lizzy replied, smiling. "Please- do call me Lizzy. You reside in Slytherin now, I think? Have you found anyone to sew with there?"