If they were both glowering at him, Barnaby didn’t much notice or care, for the blood on her stockings was far more of a thrill. Please be dying, please be dying, please be dying, he prayed, drifting forwards to peer at her leg again. Death by gnomes would be so regrettably mortifying an ordeal her spirit would surely stay on...

But it didn’t look especially fatal, Barnaby decided, unable to disguise his disappointed sigh.

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The following 2 users Like Barnaby Wye's post:2 users Like Barnaby Wye's post
   Fortitude Greengrass, Tabitha Chevalier

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Ford was gratified to hear she was willing to accept his help, because he certainly had done enough harm in this interaction so far and was eager for a chance to redeem himself. He took a second to recall where he'd last put his wand (sending a short prayer of thanks to any higher powers that existed that he'd had the forethought to put it anywhere at all, rather than dropping it when the gnome had landed on his chest) and then dropped to a knee in front of her, so that he could see what he was doing with her skirts. It occurred to him as his knee touched the grass that if anyone passed by he might look like he was doing something else down here, particularly with her outfit in a state of disrepair, and he at first interpreted Barnaby's heavy sigh to be in response to his failure to consider how this looked. But what alternative did he have? They had to get her skirts fixed before she could do anything, and he had to see what he was about — couldn't Barnaby stand watch for them, or something? What was he doing to be useful?

Then Ford noticed the blood, and a small degree of color drained from his face (which had the effect of only reducing it to a less tomatoish shade of red, as he couldn't help but blush fiercely as he'd considered how being on his knees in front of her torn skirts would look to passersby). "Do you need to sit down?" he asked, which was a stupid question since there was nothing nearby to sit on, and she likely wasn't keen to put herself back in public view in order to limp over to the nearest bench.

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Tabitha Chevalier Barnaby Wye

  

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Set by Lady!

Tabitha shot Mr. Wye a look as he got nearer, presumably to look at her wound further, but Tabi was in no mood. She was having a hard enough time trying to navigate her unreasonable side and keep it tamped down without his more frustrating notions. Whatever it was he was sighing about, Tabs didn't want to know.

She nearly squeaked and backed up as the gentleman knelt before her and he too noticed the blood. Did she need to sit down? The snappy retort she nearly let out was entirely unlike her and she wished for the fortitude to deal with his as gracefully as she possibly could. She had tried so hard over the years to tame the less predictably side of her emotions and this was trying every nerve she had worked to sever. "No, I'll be alright, I just need one of these." Tabi plucked one of the scraps of her petticoat from the fray and measured it up against her leg. It should be long enough to manage a bandage of sorts.

Retrieving her wand from her other pocket, Tabi did a useful little healing spell to close up the scratches, but they would need to be bound and cleaned sooner rather than later. As for now her makeshift bandage would have to do until she could get home and tend to it. With practiced hands, she wound the fabric around her thigh and tied it up. "That should suffice for now." She hoped anyway. Mending her leg was one thing, but mending the remnants of her skirts were another entirely and so she looked back down at the man before her with a helpless sort of frustration on her features.

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absolute beauty by MJ

It was fortunate for all of them that she seemed capable of dealing with the blood on her own, because if she'd needed Ford to handle it he expected his hands would have been shaking too badly to be of any use at all. It wasn't that he had a thing about blood (though of course he didn't like blood, either) — it was just that he didn't know he'd be able to keep his nerves steady and his wits about him if the situation had required him to actually put his hands on her thigh. He was having enough trouble just watching. Of course he told himself not to look, and under normal circumstances he surely would have diverted his gaze... but then he caught himself looking all the same. He felt guilty about it, but not guilty enough to pull his eyes away as she worked. He could only hope he'd been subtle enough that she hadn't noticed him gawking. The look she turned on him when she finished seemed exasperated, but whether it was with him specifically or the situation more generally he couldn't be entirely sure.

"Right," he said when he eventually realized this was his cue to start fixing her skirt. He had, admittedly, been too distracted by the spectacle of her legs to have responded as quickly as he should have to her look. In an effort to make up for the delay he immediate set about mending the underskirt she'd indicated. It wasn't the quickest of spells, at least if one was trying to do it properly, but he did run through the seam as rapidly as he could without muddling the stitches and soon her legs had disappeared from view.

"Can you hold the overskirt in place?" he asked as he turned his attention towards it. He could have done it himself, but — that seemed rather presumptuous.

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Tabitha Chevalier Barnaby Wye

  

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Set by Lady!

With one problem solved, Tabi was quite ready to have the large issue tamed so she could try and get out of here. Her emotions had calmed too, though embarrassment still burned her cheeks. She had managed to reign everything nicely and listen to the request.

Tabs leaned down and collected her skirts into her hands, hoping to hold everything as straight as she could. It really wasn't all that important she supposed, she could take it to the modiste to have it fixed, but at this point she just wanted to go home. "Is that alright?" She wanted to make this as easy as possible so she could escape sooner rather than later.

Casting Mr. Wye a quick glance, she wasn't sure what she was expecting from either one of them, but she supposed she was grateful for their assistance.

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absolute beauty by MJ

"Yeah, perfect," Ford said, making a conscious effort to look at the skirt and not up at her face or at her perfectly shaped hands or at anything else. The underskirt having been pieced back together already meant that at least he didn't have to contend with her bare leg anymore, which was a mercy. He tried to work through the stitches quickly again, conscious of both his proximity to the young woman and the fact that Barnaby was literally hovering over his shoulder, but these were more visible than the others had been and he didn't want to rush through too much and make a mess of things. He had enough time while he magically knit the skirt back together to consider what he would do once he'd finished. This forethought was the only thing that prevented him from blurting out something stupid like you're really pretty when he at last sat back and allowed himself to look up at her and saw her golden hair haloed by the afternoon sun.

"I'm really sorry about your dress," Ford said as he moved away from her and then climbed back to his feet. A gentleman would have offered to pay for a new one, he thought, but being in the life situation he was Ford was both keenly aware of how much a dress like this cost and how little he could afford it. "I didn't think one gnome could do that much damage, especially as quick as that was."

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Set by Lady!

Tabs was mostly keeping an eye out on anybody walking by to see if anyone noticed them, but thankfully nobody had come this way. This little dead end was working out well at least. By the time she looked back down, her dress was nearly fixed. It looked good enough to get her home without further scandal at any rate, which was all she could ask for.

"No, no, it's alright. It's just a dress." She assured her company with a small smile. She had plenty more. The dress was not the problem, not really. "I didn't think garden gnomes were all that destructive either." Well to clothing anyway. It was all one big mistake. He'd just been trying to help. Hopefully it would all blow over soon enough. Brushing her hands over the mended skirt, Tabi waivered on what to do next. She should probably go, but how to escape without bringing further attention to the situation was really the question. Apparating out would just be rude after he'd just graciously fixed the dress.

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absolute beauty by MJ

Barnaby had not been able to add much in terms of talents to Miss Chevalier’s bandaging or Greengrass’ tailoring, so instead he had looked on with great diligence, as attentive an audience as anyone, living or dead, could be.

And they had both survived the interaction mostly intact, Barnaby noted, keeping an eye on the high colour of Ford’s face and Miss Chevalier’s general levels of exasperation. “But how providential an attack,” Barnaby burst in jovially, when they brought up the gnomes again; “What good luck that you two should meet! Miss Chevalier, this is my friend Fortitude Greengrass,” Barnaby said in ceremonious introduction, as if his friend had not already been nosing about in her skirts. “Greengrass, this is Miss Chevalier.” (Barnaby presumed that Ford probably hadn’t met her, and that he, the ghost, had the more acquaintances of the two.)

He gave Miss Chevalier his best smile, as if to say forgive my friend his awkwardness. To Ford, as a whispered aside, Barnaby added, “Is not she a most charming creature?”

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The woman was at least taking this all gracefully enough, and responding reasonably to the situation — it would have been more of a boon had Barnaby Wye not chimed in immediately with the most unhinged response Ford could imagine. There was nothing about this situation Ford would describe as providential. He was a bit surprised at the introduction, though; he had not expected Wye had any more reason for hanging around than to compound Ford's misery in the situation. Chevalier was the French word for a knight, he thought absently. It was a rather stupid observation — he had felt rather stupid from the moment she'd walked into the scene, for some reason.

"Yes," he agreed, to Barnaby, because however annoyed he was with his ghostly friend there was no point in arguing what was abundantly clear to all of them. Then, louder, to them both, "How are you two — acquainted?"

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Set by Lady!

Tabitha spared no restraint to her expression, eyes rolling, head shaking, at Mr. Wye's rather robust introduction. Only he would find this some sort of fortuitous or amusing. She supposed, being in his current state, he had to find most things some sort of amusing anyway.

Rearranging her features into something less hostile, Tabi sighed softly. "Mr. Wye has taken it upon himself to accompany me on my way to work these days." And he popped up in the most inconvenient of times. He was quite charming and surprisingly easy to talk to, but still sometimes annoying. "All things considered, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Greengrass." Tabs passed Mr. Wye a look.

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absolute beauty by MJ

Barnaby suspected that Greengrass would have something to say about him having taken it upon himself to do anything for her – he would get a chiding later, he supposed – but he kept his face innocent of these thoughts, and only added loftily, “Well, Hogsmeade is full of ruffians, you know.” And a girl as exquisite as this needed protection. (Barnaby knew full well he would not be much good against the general ruffian, as it were – but Miss Chevalier was prey to far too many looks and leers from louts out and about on the streets, and a ghostly escort could at least give them pause. So it was a good and selfless deed, by the by, and if Ford inquired, that was what he would say.)

“We can accompany you home, if you like,” Barnaby suggested hopefully. Judging by the look, and the amount of attention she had already had in their presence, he fancied it would be a no – but let it not be said he had not thought to offer.

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The following 1 user Likes Barnaby Wye's post:1 user Likes Barnaby Wye's post
   Fortitude Greengrass

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Ford was a bit at a loss when she said it was a pleasure to make his acquaintance, because he had hardly expected to be on the receiving end of anything like affability from the likes of her, and even with the qualifier of all things considered this was a warm sentiment. He might have stood there stupidly trying to figure out how to string a sentence together in response for a minute or more, except that Barnaby Wye made an offer that was so irresponsible it shook Ford straight out of the reverie. "We can not," he snapped immediately, then waved a hand in Wye's direction to give the implication of trying to physically knock some sense into him, though obviously he stopped short of actual inability-to-contact. Realizing as he did so that this was terribly ungentlemanly, he shot an apologetic look at Miss Chevalier. "I'm sorry, Miss, I'm here with my sisters and I couldn't leave without them." Particularly not to be seen escorting a beautiful woman with a torn skirt around Hogsmeade, alone except for a ghost. This was a bit of a conundrum, though, because he also couldn't in good conscious leave her to her own devices if she wanted an escort — not after Wye had offered, damn him. "Do you apparate?" he asked hopefully.

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Set by Lady!

Barnaby's obsession with chaperoning her around was as endearing as it was maddening sometimes. She felt like she was rarely alone with her thoughts these days. Thankfully Mr. Greengrass had more sense and a perfectly reasonable excuse. "I think I have been enough of an imposition today, I couldn't ask you to do that. I should find my own chaperon to head home." At least she wasn't exposed anymore and hopefully the crowd had dispersed a little bit while they were mending her skirts.

"I do appreciate your gallantry and your help with the gnome." She passed them both a smile. "I do not work again for another two days, Mr. Wye, I hope you can amuse yourself until then." She knew he would be looking for her on her way to work and she would hate for him to be disappointed when she didn't show. "If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I hope you enjoy the rest of the flower show." Tabi was ready to head home and have a nap after that ordeal.

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absolute beauty by MJ