It's Exactly as Nerdy as it Sounds
Who: Madelyn Cooper and Riley Bloodfeather
When: End of the school year and then sometime in July
Where: Dresden, Madelyn's House
What: Maddy inadvertently invites Riley to a reenactment over the summer.
Rating: SFW for now
Madelyn still couldn't explain what had possessed her. It seemed like a spirit of the moment thing.
She was blabbering on about her summer reenacting plans and Riley seemed mildly tolerant if only because it was something mainstream society frowned on and therefore he approved.
Before she'd finished (just before she'd run out of breath) she asked him to come with her. She grinned at him awkwardly after, a slight shrug to her thin shoulders. "You don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a bunch of dorks like me running around in antique clothes. Or reproductions." She let the shrug go and tried not to bite her lips. "I mean. It's probably very terribly boring to someone who's not interested in that sort of thing."
When: End of the school year and then sometime in July
Where: Dresden, Madelyn's House
What: Maddy inadvertently invites Riley to a reenactment over the summer.
Rating: SFW for now
Madelyn still couldn't explain what had possessed her. It seemed like a spirit of the moment thing.
She was blabbering on about her summer reenacting plans and Riley seemed mildly tolerant if only because it was something mainstream society frowned on and therefore he approved.
Before she'd finished (just before she'd run out of breath) she asked him to come with her. She grinned at him awkwardly after, a slight shrug to her thin shoulders. "You don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a bunch of dorks like me running around in antique clothes. Or reproductions." She let the shrug go and tried not to bite her lips. "I mean. It's probably very terribly boring to someone who's not interested in that sort of thing."
She swished her hand at him lightly. "Well, anyway. It's up to you if you want to come or not. The invitation's on the table, but I promise not to be disappointed if you decide not to come."
However, a few weeks later, he found himself accepting the invitation rather eagerly. Over time he'd found himself actually thinking about it, and his curiosity overwhelmed him.
He arrived at Maddy's house on a Friday afternoon, spending the night so that they could travel by portkey to the event very early on the Saturday morning. Maddy had told him that they were a weekend affair, and he wondered how they managed to keep themselves occupied the entire time.
If anything, he'd definitely be able to say he tried something new.
Madelyn spent the weeks leading up to the reenactment pouring over the histories of this particular period and paid very close attention to Elizabeth's important role in the events that played out. As far as she was concerned she had the part down pat.
Her excitement bubbled over as they walked to the portkey, located in a small wooded area not far from the Cooper's house. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper exchanged sly glances about their daughter and her companion, but beyond that they were very polite and welcoming to Riley.
Madelyn babbled on and on about the great historical events in 1857 and how it was such an honor to play them out and she wondered if Riley already knew about them, but then she wasn't going to tell him or remind him anyway, because wouldn't that just spoil the surprise? She came up for air just long enough to take the portkey to the reenactment site.
It was a large, secluded field in which a magical city had been erected in a day. Hundreds of witches and wizards wandered around in period dress while others in modern clothing mingled among them snapping photographs or asking questions. It was a living history exhibit on display.
Mr. and Mrs. Cooper bid farewell to Madelyn and Riley and stepped into the historically accurate replica of the city. Maddy beamed at Riley. "It's weird, right? But it's so cool at the same time. I hope you'll love it." She grabbed his hands for a little squeeze and then realized how weird that was and let him go. "Sorry. I'm just... Can't you just feel it? I'm so excited."
She turned around suddenly and grabbed his hands. Surprised by the movement, and thinking he'd been caught almost going to grab curiously at the back of her gigantic flouncy skirt, he blurted out "WHAT is under that?"
She looked at the crowd milling about the magical city, tempted to take his arm and steer him around. "What do you think?" she asked, though truthfully he hadn't seen much yet.
Finally, he managed to tear his eyes away from her lower half and raise them towards her face, at which point it registered that she was asking what he thought about everything else. He followed her gaze around the crowd quickly, trying to catch up and not make it completely obvious that his thoughts had been occupied by her clothing. "I mean..." His eyes narrowed. Very nearly everyone was dressed in period garb. The 'storefronts' were accurate, and the overall vibe was very authentic. "The toilets aren't Victorian, are they?"
"With the right spell I could turn this dress into a weapon." She grinned at the wild idea. "Though I'd be left in my underthings and they're not very... public appropriate." She had a tendency to wear exactly the sort of undergarments that would be worn in the time period she was depicting. There wasn't anything beneath her corset and below was her slightly inaccurate silky drawers. She liked the feeling of wearing them however and threw complete accuracy to the wind.
She laughed at his query on the toilets. "There are some real classy port-o-johns just outside town." She nodded in the general direction where they were usually set up, thankfully downwind. "But you're on your own in that regard." The re-enactors set up accurate outhouses on the actual grounds; she'd never live it down if she tried to pull her crinoline into a modern outhouse.
"Okay, Liz. Take me where the action is." Despite himself, he was very curious to see what went on at this sort of event.
She winked at him and started off in the direction of the milling crowds and the central area between the magically placed buildings. The action wouldn't start for another 45 minutes and Maddy didn't need to check in; she'd already been seen by the event organizer on their way into town.
She was fairly close to her opening mark and could mill about with Riley and enjoy some of the morning without scripted lines.
He pouted mildly. "Know any good Victorian swears?"
"I'd say By George really loudly. Or I say, as if you were saying how dare you get stuck in my finger you rotten splinter!" Then she giggled because picturing Riley saying any such thing was completely ridiculous.
"Need help getting that out?" She knew some good healing spells, certainly ones that were in use in the Victorian age.
"Um. If you would, sweet... woman?"
She took his hand gingerly and removed her wand from the pouch hanging from the bottom of her corset. She touched the tip to his finger and whispered a quick incantation that would pull the splinter to the surface and another that would heal the tiny puncture wound.
"All better," she said almost slipping out of character in the process, but enjoying the fact that Riley was actually playing along. "Shall we stroll along the promenade?"
She might have rolled her eyes at him, but other people were nearby and she really had to stay in character now. Riley was going to get the full show from this point forward.
"Have the time, fair lady? I think I left my pocketwatch in my other pantaloons."
"Will I... reserve us a place of eating... in the establishment? My lady?" Do you want a table? He could manage a table. He thought.
She headed off to her exact mark and waited until her cue. The performance was over quickly enough, but had drawn a respectable crowd. Madelyn was notoriously pleased with her part in it. She made her way back to the cafe with a proud grin and an extra skip to her step.
Anyway. Misunderstandings aside, whatever had happened had resulted in him being dragged out into the street by his collar by some twat in tight pants and a fancy waistcoat, hollering on about how he'd impugned his lady's honor. My Floppy Hair had demanded satisfaction, which had Riley laughing so hard he was almost in tears, until he found himself hauled up, wand out, to stand back to back with this idiot as someone else shouted the 'rules' to the gathering crowd.
"Wait, are you NUTS?"
"Gentleman, is there some way that I can alleviate the frustrations that have brought you to this duel?" She wasn't sure she could smooth the ruffled feathers here. Undoubtedly if she couldn't they'd have to duel and she didn't know if Riley was entirely untested in that arena.
"What the fuck? Dude, Maddy. I just said her ass-padding wasn't as good as yours! That's all!"
She was pulling it out quick and laying it on thick. She made sure to put herself directly between Riley and the floppy haired gentleman of question. "In fact I think your lady's gown is falling quite nicely, but it could use a little more lift in the back. Just as my companion said in his foreign speech." She turned to the lady and offered her a genuinely sweet smile. "You'll have to excuse him. He's Canadian."
Riley was all set to get up in her face about how Canada was a hell of a lot closer to her beloved Mother Britain than her stupid Californian tan, but the Maddy's crippling grip on his arm told him to do anything but that. "Yeah," he muttered. "I'm like a vintage Tim Gunn."
With that she dragged Riley from the scene directly toward the darkest corner of the cafe, the furthest away from any other people. She smiled at him as if everything was perfectly fine, but then she started speaking to him through gritted teeth.
"Riley, sunshine. Your best behavior looks a bit like Ryder Balston had a love child with Hawthorne Nikitin and went to Miss Cinnamyn Thompson's finishing school for delinquent boys." She tried not to dig in with her nails where they sat still wrapped tightly around his wrist, but she was having such a good morning until this. "Are you trying to test the limits of my re-enacting sanity?"
"That was your fault."
Not that she wanted to send Riley back to her house without her, but she was in enough of a mood now that she didn't even want to deal with him.
"That guy was being a dick," he added, as if that were a defense for his behavior. The douchebag should have seen he wasn't dressed up and was just asking a damn question about the dress. Trying to learn and shit.
A waiter in a waistcoat came over to take their orders. Madelyn hadn't even looked at the menu. "I'll have a mince pie and a flagon of butter beer."
She was thankful at least for the momentary distraction.
"Her ass-padding wasn't as good as yours," he muttered as he righted the salt and the candlestick, which was about as close to an apology as he was going to come.