The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

THIS WAS NOT QUITE how Miss Elizabeth Bennet had anticipated spending her morning; the church had been nearly empty, and the coffee shop had supplied her with a mug, a saucer, a small pitcher of boiling water, and a paper bag. In place of milk, the young girl at the counter had handed her small plastic containers which had some mixture inside calling itself 'half-and-half.' She didn't dare ask which half was what. Did no one brew tea properly in the future?

She could only be grateful that Lady Atreides had lent her some of this strange-looking currency, and shown her how to count it properly. She had already been rather heavily indebted to Lady Atreides for allowing her room in her ladyship's suite, and for rescuing her from the carriage that would not arrive; she hated to impose further on the woman's kindness, but there had not seemed to be much of an alternative.

Eliza Bennet filled her mug with boiling water and dipped her tea ... bag into it, stirring cautiously and wondering how to explain her absence to her Aunt and Uncle, who must, by now, be quite worried indeed. Dear Aunt Gardiner, you have my sincerest apologies. I seem to have been waylaid nearly two hundred years. Will return when temporal forces allow.

The Perk was very open, and Miss Bennet was distractedly watching all who came and went.

(open!)

Comments

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"I'm a gentlewoman, at the moment," she smiled. "I'm hoping to return home as soon as whatever whim placed me here sees fit to allow me to return once more."

[tyler_gone]

"So you weren't planning to come here?" Tyler asked, more interested. "I was, I just thought it was 2018." He shrugged. "Apparently time moves differently in this dimension."

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"I was displaced the other direction," she admitted. "By a slightly higher amount. My carriage left me here; its replacement never arrived. It seems such circumstances aren't unusual, on this particular island."

[tyler_gone]

"Not unusual, but not fun," Tyler decided. "Are you doing okay for money and a place to stay, all of that?"

He'd slept under a park bench once. He wouldn't wish it on others.

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"I've borrowed both from a Lady Atreides, at the moment," she said. "She allowed me lodging in her suite, last evening, and she has generously lent me money for a few days. I shall hope that I can be imposing her kindness for only a short time, as I've not much else in the meantime."

[tyler_gone]

Tyler tried to tell himself this wasn't his problem. He really, really did, because it wasn't.

But she sounded desperate, and they certainly had the space. "I own a house," he reported. "With extra rooms."

It wasn't quite an offer; he wanted to see if she'd pick up on the possibility.

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"You do?" Eliza said, looking up hopefully. "Are they for let, or do you ..."

She flushed suddenly, and violently. "Excuse me. Mr. Durden. If this is some sort of ... offer, then I must tell you that I'm a proper young woman and I can't have any part of such ... activities."

[tyler_gone]

"For rent," Tyler said blankly. And then took a moment to get what she was implying. "No, seriously, in the last week I got divorced and two women I cared about took off. I'm not asking you over to be molested." It actually seemed entirely possible he'd never have sex again.

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Now she was flushing, just as badly, for worse reasons. "I assure you I meant no disparagement on your character," she said quickly. "Only that the society here seems more informal and I wished to be clear, if this was perhaps in any small way improper, that we weren't miscommunicating in some manner. I would certainly never dream of implying that you were less than meticulous in your own conduct."

If the ground could possibly swallow her whole, at this moment, it would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps it could expel her somewhere near her own timeline?

[tyler_gone]

Tyler looked deeply amused at that. "It's not easy to offend me," he assured her. "You're young, you're new in town, this guy you've known 30 seconds is asking you to live with him. I get why it sounded improper."

He considered. "There's a basement apartment," he said. "Private entrance, your own bathroom, teeny kitchen, all of that. Much less like living with us."

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"That would be quite kind of you," she said, color still returning slowly to its proper shade. "I suppose I must be looking for employment in some manner, if I'm to be staying here overlong. Everyone I speak with seems to believe I should prepare against that possibility."

At least, everyone she spoke to seemed skeptical that she would find her way home in the immediate future, which amounted to the same thing. Though how she was to face her family if they learned she'd been living by herself, possibly working for money, she couldn't say.

[tyler_gone]

"The school's always hiring," Tyler told her, instincts warning him she wouldn't quite fit in Faith's old job. "Or the hotel."

He handed her a soap company business card. "Here, this has my phone number and address on it. Handwavily come by tomorrow and I'll show you the place?"

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"That sounds lovely, I thank you," she said, taking his card and looking at the address. "I shall inquire at the school, as well, though I never fancied myself a governess, much less a professor."

[tyler_gone]

"I was surprised when I ended up doing it too," Tyler said. "It's not easy, but most of the kids are all right. Most."

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"I shall endeavor to be on my guard against those who aren't," she smiled. "It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Durden."

[tyler_gone]

He managed to look dashing. "The honor is mine, Miss Bennet."