Hyperspace Engineering Tour (Open to all who want to see Slarti's factory)

[world-builder.livejournal.com]

Starting at five o’clock, Slartibartfast ambled around to each of the common rooms, pasting instructions for the tour onto each board. He’d realized he’d neglected to specify a meeting place, so, in addition to strongly advising good coats and sturdy shoes, he let everyone know that they were to meet in the Great Hall at six.

He killed the remaining hour by hunting for lint and examining the stones that made up the school building--whoever had been making granite in this area had done a bang-up job of it. He might not know a great deal about Earthman society, but he did know good craftsmanship, and whoever had been in charge of this part of the world had clearly known what they were doing.

Come six o’clock he wandered down to the Great Hall, a small red square on a gold chain dangling from his fingers.

“All, all, all right, if everyone, ah, could kindly hop into the car--” he indicated an aircar that looked suspiciously like a minibus, hovering several feet above the floor “--and, and, and buckle up, we can, ah, we can be, well, we can be off.”

((Repost to correct mun idiocy))

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[world-builder.livejournal.com]

Slartibartfast, who was quite relieved there were two doctors along, turned to Jack.

"Well, you know, when we, that is, when we designed them, we didn't know there were going to be sailors," he said. "The clients who requested the Earth wanted, wanted certain features, and fjords happened to be, you see, be my specialty." He glanced at Stephen and Christine. "Good grief, what, ah, what is she wearing? I mean, is it, is it some kind of torture device?"

[slothbefouler.livejournal.com]

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped." Nevertheless, Jack continued to look askance at Slartibartfast. Were it not for the treacherous coastline off the coast of Brittany, the Ariel would not have been wrecked, and he and Stephen would not have been taken prisoner by the French. He wondered if Slartibartfast was responsible for designing that part of the world as well.

"She is wearing stays," he added, his gaze lingering not on the corsets but on Christine's shapely bosom. "Women wear 'em to look shapely. They always seemed damned uncomfortable to me, though. Unhealthy, too."

[world-builder.livejournal.com]

"I, I should think so," Slartibartfast said, quirking an eyebrow. "They, they wear them voluntarily?" Admittedly he didn't get out much, and thus knew little about the costuming habits of the various races, but none of the women who worked for Hyperspace wore anything like that--they'd never get anything done if they did. "I, that is, I'm amazed she could breathe at all."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

((ooc; reposted to make Christine speak more intelligibly.))

Christine, staring at the ground in her own little bubble of mortification, became vaguely cognizant of the conversation taking place next to her. It appeared to concern her corset. She didn't look up from the ground, but flushed uneasily and cleared her throat.

"It's a corset," she murmured, tugging the aforementioned garment up and attempting to lace it. Since the ribbon was in the back, she was experiencing considerable difficultly. "It's not a torture device, it's an undergarment. It’s perfectly alright when you get used to it, and if you didn’t wear one you’d never fit into any clothes at all. No dresses, at least. Oh, dear. You must think me very immodest and immoral, though."

It wasn't terribly immodest, since Christine was wearing a chemise under her corset, but both the chemise and the corset were rather low-cut, and she was terrified that one (or both) would slide down and, so to speak, expose her to public ridicule.

[world-builder.livejournal.com]

((Reposted to make the thread not go all wonky))

Oh dear. Slartibartfast honestly couldn't see why she was embarrassed--even her supposed underwear was prudish by galactic fashion--but she obviously was.

"Ah, I mean, here," he said, struggling out of the furry coat and kneeling to hand it to Christine. "Though I, I, I really can't see how you could, you know, stand that." He still wasn't entirely convinced it wasn't some kind of evil device of punishment, but hey, to each their own. Afte all, his coat was hardly the height of fashion.

He'd caught Jack eying Christine, and with a slightly knowing glint in his eye said, "Captain Aubrey, maybe you could, you know, make her some kind of, of, of a screen, maybe?"

[slothbefouler.livejournal.com]

"Certainly," said Jack. He thought about it, then took off his peacoat and held it like a curtain, blocking Christine off from the other passengers. He could still see her, of course, and to his credit he did make an attempt at modestly averting his eyes. He only peeked a little bit.

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," Christine said gratefully, with complete trust in both Jack and Slartibartfast. It never occurred to her that there was anything at all appealing about a pretty woman in a corset; she thought of it merely as an uncomfortable and embarrassing faux-pas, like a more severe form of wearing black bombazine or crepe when one was not in mourning, or like wearing a ball gown to an afternoon tea.

She managed to loosely re-tie her corset (namely, she tied a rather awkward bow in the back and hoped for the best) and pulled her dress back up over her shoulders. As several buttons had come off in her rescuer’s haste to help her regain consciousness, the front of her dress flapped open. Christine, face pink from embarrassment, put on Slartibartfast's much larger coat and held it closed at the throat. She looked up and smiled timidly, looking rather small inside the the yards of cloth and fur. "Thank you very much, Monsieur Slartibartfast, and... Monsieur...?"

[world-builder.livejournal.com]

Much as he knew he shouldn't, Slartibartfast couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her in his coat--he was at least a foot taller than Christine, and it made her look like a little girl playing dress-up.

"Not, er, not a problem, young lady," he said. "Though, though I'm afraid it might, you know, make it hard to walk." She really was a rather adorable young woman--he didn't wonder why Captain Aubrey seemed interested in her. He shook his head--young people. They were entertaining to watch, that was for sure.

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Stephen, having done his medical duty and having been satisfied to see that the young woman had revived, had meanwhile wandered off to look at the fjord. This spared everyone the uncomfortable (and somewhat hypocritical) scene that might have ensued had Stephen detected Jack's ulterior motives in assisting Christine's re-robing.

[slothbefouler.livejournal.com]

"Captain Jack Aubrey, at your service, miss," said Jack, bowing slightly. She was even more attractive when blushing. On the whole he did not think much of women who were given to vapours and swooning, but she certainly was pretty to look at.

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Captain?" Christine asked, with a hint of her usual animation. "Are you in the Navy, then? My friend Raoul is, and he has only good things to say about it. Well, apart from being away from everyone for months, and for the food. I'm sure I don't know much about that, but I do think sailors are some of the bravest people in the world." She beamed at him, and attempted to give him her hand, but, as the coat was too large, she ended up flapping a sleeve in his direction instead. "Christine Daae, Captain. A pleasure to meet you."

[slothbefouler.livejournal.com]

Jack made an effort to shake Christine's hand, but ended up shaking her sleeve instead. "A pleasure to meet you too, Miss Daae. And yes, I am in the Navy - the British Navy, that is. Is your friend in the French Navy? Damned good fighters, the French, and good sailors too." Though Jack spent much of his time attempting to blow the French to kingdom come, he did have respect for their skills.

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine laughed and tilted her head to the side. "Raoul's a midshipman or something of the sort in the French Navy, though he's going on an exploration to the South Pole at the end of his leave of absence, and he thinks he might be promoted to a captain once that's done with. Oh, the English have the best Navy in Europe, don't they? I should take your comment as a great compliment, then." Christine smiled up at him before turning to Slartibartfast with a somewhat more rueful smile. "I imagine I must look quite a sight, mustn't I? I wouldn't worry though. I've had to move in costumes with far longer trains before. Thank you very much. It was very kind of you to allow me the use of your coat."

[world-builder.livejournal.com]

"Don't, don't worry, young lady," he replied, highly amused by her exchange with Jack. "It suits you rather better than, than it suits me, after all." He had no idea what a 'navy' was, beyond something that went to sea, but apparently they both found it quite interesting. Feeling he had best leave the two of them to their own devices, he ambled over to Dawn, who was gazing around at the fjord.

[slothbefouler.livejournal.com]

"Well, if promotions are as hard to come by in the French Navy as they are in the British Navy, I wish your friend the best of luck. And I daresay we are one of the best navies in Europe, along with the French and the Dutch, I should say." Jack didn't want to think about the recent (in his timeline) series of British defeats at the hands of the Americans, so he didn't say anything about that. He gazed out at the fjord thoughtfully. "Lovely, ain't it? Lovely to look at, anyway - not to sail in."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine turned her attention towards the fjord. With all the... excitement... surrounding her faint and then her undergarments, she'd failed to pay attention to her surroundings. She stood, though she wobbled a bit more than was entirely comfortable, and examined the view. "Oh, it is lovely. It reminds me of home, a little." She surveyed the scenery in silent contemplation until she felt a bit steadier on her feet. "Were you stationed in the North, then? It must have been rather dangerous in the winter."

She tried to take a step forward and nearly fell over. "Oh, do excuse me Captain, but may I borrow your arm until I regain my balance? I'm terribly sorry to inconvenience you so, and to ask at all. I don't make a habit of fainting, and I find it rather disorienting." She smiled uneasily, and pressed her free hand, or rather her hand within the sleeve, to her flushed face.

[slothbefouler.livejournal.com]

"Why, certainly," said Jack with great pleasure, and offered his arm to the attractive young lady, pleased to be of manly service again. "I was not stationed in the North, but have been on several missions to the Baltic. Once I brought back a narwhal horn - tusk - for my friend Stephen, there." He nodded at Stephen. "Are you from that part of the world, then? I thought you was French."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine took his arm gratefully. "Thank you Monsieur. I was actually born just outside of Uppsala, in Sweden, but I've lived in France ever since I was nine years old. My father always told me that no matter where we lived, Sweden would be home, and so it is and shall be for me."

She smiled up at Jack briefly, then returned her gaze the the fjord. Rather pensively, she added, "He didn't like Paris, truth be told. He always longed for Scandinavian skies." Christine shrugged, causing her blonde curls to ripple back over her shoulders, and smiled again. "I've been told I'm quite Parisian, though. I don't think anyone would think of me as Swedish."