(Untitled)

[ringwinner]

Bilbo Baggins had never been in a city before and, though he had not spent very much time in this one, he felt he could say with some certainty that he did not approve of them one bit. The whole affair was large and loud and crowded and grey and hard and even the Desolation of Smaug could not have prepared him for air that smelled the way it

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[jack_artful]

"Hullo, my man." Dodger said, touching the brim of his hat in greeting. He'd seen the fellow around the Island, of course, but hadn't quite had a chance to speak to him. In this not-quite-right version of London, however, he felt at ease making an introduction, given that he knew the surroundings better than most and could at least offer his aid.

[ringwinner]

"Oh, hello," Bilbo said in reply, quite pleased to meet someone with a proper sense of manners. While he had no hat brim of his own to touch in greeting (and privately he was grateful for that, viewing it as rather lower-class really), he did nod his head instead, not a full bow, of course, but quite adequate for two people passing in the street.

"Fine day to be about, isn't it?"

[jack_artful]

Dodger may act at being a gentleman, but he knew the real difference, and he could recognize the bearing and manners of the sort of man that came from society right enough, even if he was shorter than him by a foot or more.

"Plenty fine, indeed." Dodger agreed brightly, and found it quite odd to be speaking to a gentleman without trying to nick anything off his person. "Are you familiar with London, sir?"

[ringwinner]

"Not at all, I'm afraid," Bilbo said cheerfully, not at all as bothered by that fact as someone in similar circumstances may have been. He was, in truth, determined to view the whole affair as an adventure. A loud, large, bewildering one to be sure, but no more loud, large, and bewildering as his first battle had been (and a good deal less dangerous too).

"I take it you are familiar with this place though?"

[ringwinner]

Bilbo noticed the oddness of the young woman's clothing, but he said nothing of it, polite til the last. "I'm still muddling things out, I'm afraid," he said, a hand reaching into his pocket and pulling out his map even as he spoke. The hobbit did like maps -as you will remember if you were paying attention in the first chapter- and he gladly took any opportunity he had to show off his skill with them. "But I've a map here that I took the liberty of marking a few things down on. Several of the larger buildings, the river, and the compound, of course! It wouldn't do to not know the place where one is expected to cook!"

[ringwinner]

"Why thank you. It was really nothing..." Nonetheless, Bilbo blushed with pride at her praise. It was always so nice to see that someone else thought highly of his skills, especially as he had spent his time before the island with a group of dwarves whose opinions were not always as polite as they good have been.

"This is my first time in a city though and I did want to make certain I got everything right. It wouldn't do to get lost so quickly, after all."

[teambatgirl]

The butcher shop thing is proving problematic. She knew she should have made Bruce do this part.

"Hi, yes, I just want an...average cut." Stephanie sighs and pushes back the flyaways that have fallen out of her hair. Hair pins are for the birds but sometimes you get tired of having your hair down. And these skirts, even the narrowest ones are too big in the back. Just wait until she gets some nice boy's pants, she's never going to look back. "Something without bones that will feed five people that are easy to cook. I don't know what it's called."

The phantom butcher disappears into the back room, and Stephanie heaves a sigh before offering him an exasperated smile. This time she knows a hobbit when she sees one. "My first time in a butcher shop, it's like a whole new world."

[ringwinner]

"Your first time at the butcher? Dear me! However did you get meat for your meals before now?" Bilbo looked appropriately shocked at her admission. It was true that the butcher's shop back in Hobbiton had been nowhere near as grand or large as the one on the newly changed island, but he had still been quite familiar with it. Truth be told, Mr. Baggins was, in fact, of the opinion that Mr. Milo Chubb's butcher shop was wholy superior to the one he now found himself in. At least there the counters had been the correct height.

[teambatgirl]

"The super market?" She offers, which sounds like a totally inadequate answer when he puts it that way. "I don't really cook..." Not until now at least, though she's barely managing to cook as it is. Her and Bruce are the only ones really up for cooking for their little home, and it is both hilarious and disastrous. She really needs to get an old-timey recipe book from the Compound. "Do you want me to shout for him so he can get you what you need to?"

[ringwinner]

"Oh no, that's quite all right," Bilbo said rather hurriedly. "You see, it's only that I'm not quite up for purchasing anything just yet. This is merely some reconnaissance work. I need to know what the shops provide before planning any menus." Which wasn't to say he didn't have some ideas though. In fact, the hobbit had quite a number of culinary ideas, each more fantastical and delicious than the last.

Slowtime throughout the week

[spirited_lissie]

Felicity liked to think that she was getting used to the smells and sights of the city. Of course, it was still overwhelming, but so long as she didn't actually 'think' about it all, she felt she could manage.

The food carts around some areas weren't so bad either. The weather was cold and even though she had on a warm coat and hood, the smell of baked potatos from a food cart drove her foreward. She was relieved to know that she didn't have to pay, and was able to ask the man if and where there was a library about, when she happened to spot Mr. Baggins, looking at what could only be a map.

She said a quick goodbye to the seller before rushing over.

"Baggins," she called out, and would've waved had her hands not been full. "Lovely to see a familar face here." This place was so big and full of 'strangers', that any sort of person she knew on the island was likely to be welcome.

[ringwinner]

"There are quite a few familiar faces about if you go about looking for them in the right way," Bilbo said, smiling politely at the young woman though he had thought her mode of address rather familiar and a tad rude. At least she had not added 'Burglar' or 'The' before Baggins as the dwarves often had, but it still put him a bit out of sorts, if only because he really did miss the whole company.

"And how are you today?"

[spirited_lissie]

Felicity would've apologized if she knew: she just didn't see it as rude, because she didn't know Bilbo beyound the occasional visit to the kitchen, and to her it seemed rude to just call him by his first name.

"I'm well. Still getting used to the city, I've never been inside one, you see. Still trying to wrap my head around it."

[ringwinner]

"It is my first time as well and, while I am not entirely certain I like it, it is not all together bad. Just rather large. I have a map though and that does help some." As did his own hobbit ability to recover from shocks rather more quickly and nicely than a human, though he did not know that.