At Charges For A Looking Glass|INACTIVE

[RICHARD PLANTAGENET]

Richard Plantagenet was having a bad day. It wasn't one of his usual bad days, where he monologued to himself under his breath, cursed everyone in sight and ground his teeth so much it was wonder they didn't crumble to dust.

No, this was an entirely different bad day altogether. Richard was excited, eagerly anticipating Edward's coming party. Not for the festivities of course, but for another reason entirely. The problem was, when Richard was excited about something, he generally grew impatient. And Edward's dinner party was still a couple of days away.

Richard wasn't sure he could bear two more days of waiting. It was like Christmas. Only slightly more macabre. Scratch the slightly.

Having had enough of work for the afternoon, Richard was finding it difficult to employ himself at any given task as his excitement got the better of him. He'd read the Times (and scribbled over the parts he didn't like), sent a few e-mails and had even entertained the idea of playing Solitaire on his computer. He had just been about to set up a game when one of his assistants, William Catesby, entered the room, looking rather smug.

"Mr. Plantagenet sir? I think I may have solved your problem."

Richard looked up from Solitaire in surprise. Catesby had found a cure for impatience? But he wasn't even to know Richard was so eager for the party, not to mention why...

"To what problem are you reffering Catesby?" Richard said, somewhat stiffly, exiting the game as he deigned it necessary to give the man his full attention.

It was Catesby's turn to appear surprised.

"The problem you've been having with your tailors of course!" he said, eyebrows raised. "You know you fired the last chap for charging too much for that suit jacket that started to fall apart after a week?"

Ah. That problem. Richard had indeed been having what he not so fondly reffered to as 'tailor troubles' as of late; either they asked too much or their garments didn't quite suit him, or fell apart due to being clumsily made or all three. One would have thought Richard Plantagenet, of all people. would have been able to find and employ a good tailor, particularly with the amount of money he had at his disposal. But one would be wrong.

"Yes, I know that Catesby," Richard snapped, recalling the man in question all too well. "What, might I ask, is this solution you seem so smug about?"

Catesby's smile fell a little at this, and his tone grew less confident. However he replied as well he could.

"Well...there's this chap in the Bronx..."

Richard raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Hear me out here sir...true the man's a bit of an eccentric, but he's a truly excellent tailor. He goes by the name of Nicholas Bottom...I thought, since Edward's big do is coming up you might want to get a suit touched up or something, and since you fired the last fellow..."

Catesby tailed off and fished a card from his jacket pocket, handing it to Richard as the latter mulled over the information just afforded him.

Edward's dinner party was coming up soon. An occasion like this called for, nay demanded a new suit. Nicholas Bottom. Might as well give it a shot.

---

And so it was that Richard Plantagenet, comptroller of New York City, found himself wandering the streets of the Bronx come late afternoon. He found himself almost wishing he had his pistol on him, assuming he would be a likely prey for attackers or thieves, whether due to his wealthy status or appearance.

However, to his surprise, nothing of note occurred as he made his way towards Nicholas Bottom's shop. When at last he located and entered the building, it was with an odd sense of relief. Not only had nothing happened but he had found a way to kill the rest of the afternoon...and get himself his costume for the upcoming drama.

[melpomene]

With a set of thunderstorms having recently hit the Big Apple, many shops had been suffering from leaky, sagging ceilings. Nick Bottom's tailor shop was no different. He'd been lucky that most of the damage was in a corner which hadn't been occupied by his clients' clothing, but that still didn't make the cleanup any easier. The landlord had been no help in that department, so the tailor found himself spending more time on fixing the ceiling than on tailoring the garments he had yet to start.

"Always have a towel ready!" he'd told himself as he entered the shop for the first time since the storms. His intuition had told him that there would be damage, and so he draped a big, fluffy towel over his arm as he travelled to work. The people on the bus certainly thought it strange, but the regulars were used to his...quirks. Well, they's gonna be wishing they's brought a towel to work when they see the leaks! he thought, reveling in his own stroke of "genius."

The towel had proven to be quite handy in soaking up the puddles of water on the old, wooden floor. However, he had to make plenty of trips to the small bathroom in the back of the shop in order to wring it out. His own clothes grew damp in the process, as a few areas of the ceiling persistently dripped onto him. After realizing that he could do nothing more, he stuck a bucket under the worst of the leaks and headed over to his worktable. As he sat down, he muttered, "Ain't it s'posed to be 'May Flowers?' Where's the flowers, then?" Of course, he'd overlooked the fact that there were hardly any flowers in the City, anyway.

All of a sudden, the familiar ring of his door sounded in the silence. Bottom visibly flinched, but he turned to face his customer. Said customer was an old man, kind of disfigured, and kind of familiar. Interesting mix.

"Ah, what can I be doin' for ya, kind sir?" he asked, jumping out of his seat enthusiastically. "You name it, I do it! Anything and everything! Everything and anything! What'll it be? Anything, or everything?"

[RICHARD PLANTAGENET]

As Richard entered the shop, the first thing he noticed was the fact that the roof was leaking. This was only natural, considering nothing of the sort ever seemed to happen at City Hall, or indeed Plantagenet Manor. It was different.

And then there was the man himself. Catesby had been right, Richard reflected. The man certainly was an eccentric. His manner of speech and alarming friendliness set Richard a little on edge; he was no used to being greeted with such open enthusiasm.

Despite the strangeness of the shop and its owner, Richard was not to be dettered. In truth he thought it was quite pleasant to be treated with such friendliness. Then again, he reflected, maybe this man didn't read the Times, or couldn't. Maybe he had no clue as to his reputation.

"Anything, if you would be so kind," Richard said with a small smile, not as unfriendly as usual. "You are Nicholas Bottom, I assume?"

Of course the man was Nicholas; who else would he be? But Richard always thought it necessary for proper introductions to be made before one proceeded to talk business.

[melpomene]

"Anything, if you would be so kind."

"Ah, anything! A fine choice, sir! A fine choice indeed. Now, surely, a fella with such good taste such as yourself has a more specific 'anything' in mind, yeah?" Bottom replied without hesitation, his words quickly tumbling out of his mouth. As was to be expected, they were riddled with grammatical inaccuracies, but he didn't notice; that's how he always spoke! Redundancies were one of his many specialties, and they were free of charge!

He paused for a moment, grimacing. "Ugh, 'Nicholas' is so formal," he drawled. He still twitched when he heard his proper name. "Please, I do beg of you, call me 'Nick!'" he continued with a dramatic flair. "If you shan't, I may as well perish!" For added effect, he placed the back of his hand on his forehead and leaned against the nearest table. After a few moments of that, he perked up. "Nick Bottom, Tailoring Extraordinaire, at your service!"

Almost on cue, some water dripped from the ceiling onto his head. So much for effect. "I do apologize 'bout that. May as well been 'April Flowers' and 'May Showers.' Tsk! What ever is the world coming to? And by 'world' I mean landlords. Not an ounce of help, they are!" Another drip. "One moment, please."

With that, he vaulted over a table and returned with a small container to catch the water in. After that was said and done, he looked back at his customer.

"Now, about that anything, Sir....?"

[RICHARD PLANTAGENET]

"Ah, anything! A fine choice, sir! A fine choice indeed. Now, surely, a fella with such good taste such as yourself has a more specific 'anything' in mind, yeah?"

Had Richard been in his usual bad mood, the man's speech patterns would have really been ticking him off by now. As it was Richard instead found Nicholas' way of talking quite amusing; so different from the formal, authoritative tones of his fellows and acquaintances back at City Hall.

He would have inquired as to the possibility of having a suit made at this point, but the man just kept on talking.

"Ugh, 'Nicholas' is so formal...Please, I do beg of you, call me 'Nick!' If you shan't, I may as well perish! Nick Bottom, Tailoring Extraordinaire, at your service!"

The comptroller was somewhat surprised at Nick's lack of favour with regards to his given name...Richard, as was well known, despised name shortening. But then, he reasoned, he and this young man were incredibly different people. Some would have considered it a miracle they were even talking.

The pair of them did seem to have one thing in common, Richard noticed, and that seemed to be love of theatrics. Not that Richard was so...blatantly obvious when it came to this. But the fact that Nick was caused Richard to regard the situation with all the more amusement.

"Well, sir, I certainly would not wish for you to perish," Richard commented with a wry smile. "That would be a most inconvenient occurrence." Then, realizing he'd failed to introduce himself: "Richard Plantagenet, Nich...Nick. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

As Bottom commented in his continued extroverted manner about the state of the ceiling, Richard merely nodded. As the man vaulted over the table however his eyes widened...what wouldn't he give to be able to perform such feats again...

Luckily he was able to rid himself of any obvious sentimental expressions as Nick approached him again.

"Now, about that anything, Sir....?"

Richard seemed pleased that the conversation was back to grounds with which he was much more familiar, having had no prior experience of leaking roofs or landlord troubles.

"Yes...I was hoping you might be able to make me a suit...for my brother Edward's upcoming dinner party. Nothing too fancy at all. Would that be possible?"

[melpomene]

((So sorry for neglecting this, m'dear. Crazy schedule squished me.))

"Oh, oh! You're that guy I are sometimes seeing in the papers!" Bottom exclaimed as the realization that his customer was some high-ranking city official struck him. "I'm in such fancy-like company! Pleased to be meeting ya, Mr. Plantagenet, sir." The exuberant tailor gave the comptroller a little bow as he spoke. He also realized that the pressure was on. If the Richard Plantagenet, brother to Mayor Edward Plantagenet was dissatisfied with his suit, he'd be ruined! Well, maybe that was an over-exaggeration; all he wanted was to please his customer. Said customer's status made Nick even more eager to please.

Nothing fancy, eh? the younger man thought, perplexed. Wouldn't such a rich and somewhat famous man want to look dazzling in the highest quality suit? He didn't take long to ponder that, though; the customer gets what the customer wants. That was one of his many, many mottos. "Awright, that can be arranged!" he finally replied, smiling warmly at Plantagenet. "Lemme take your measurements before moving onwards." The tailor walked to a little platform and pointed to it in a way that would make Vanna White proud. "If you can just step up here, I can zip through these measurings and begin almost right away!"

[RICHARD PLANTAGENET]

(ooc: That's perfectly fine; that post was well worth the wait. ^___^ I'm off to Japan today anyway (see Leaves & Absences thread) so my apologies as I'll be away for a bit m'self.)

bic:

"Oh, oh! You're that guy I are sometimes seeing in the papers! I'm in such fancy-like company! Pleased to be meeting ya, Mr. Plantagenet, sir."

Richard could help a small laugh at Nick's obsequious manners, particularly the small bow he gave him having pronounced himself pleased.

"'That guy' indeed, Nick," he said, with another small smile. It was strange how this perpetually cheerful young man was making him feel the same way, especially when he was normally not inclined to act in such a manner. Perhaps his excitement was finally getting the better of him. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

As Nicholas listened to his instructions, Richard got the impression that the younger man was a bit puzzled by the request, as it took some time for him to come up with a response. When he did at last it was a favourable one, and Richard did as Nick asked, stepping up onto the little platform best leg first.

He found himself half wondering how Nick would react to his disfigurements with regards to the measuring and making of the suit; his previous tailors all reacted with either an irritating amount of sympathy or calm, matter of fact professionalism as though they made clothes for people like him every day. But Nick Bottom, Richard knew, was a very different person.