Evangeline meets Richard

"Purchase all the mechanical devices you need in your everyday life, at Ms Evangeline Hyde's Automated Emporium!" A harrowed voice calls out from the street in front of the society. The voice is hoarse and desperate, loaded with so much well practiced cheer and salesmanly charm as to almost counteract that tiredness.

A small, dirty canvas sign is hung up over a table, proudly designating this "Ms Evangeline Hyde's Automated Emporium." Not that it seems much of an emporium. A grubby table, littered with small robotic trinkets, tools and toys, stood over by an exhausted looking woman. She's smiling broadly, but her eyes look weary and darkened, her hair tangled, and the hem of her skirt muddied and filthy. There's some money on her table, but not a lot, and no wonder. If it weren't for the table and the trinkets, she wouldn't have looked much more than an ordinary beggar.

Tairais: He blinked into his surroundings, smothering a heaving breath into the folds of his scarf. Hat. Jack's coat. Apron, cane, gloves, boots, monocle. The streets of London. Brisk, autumn air with just a taste of frosted iron in the breeze. Winter was on its way. His name was Richard. It was some time in the early afternoon. He was close by the Society, in a swarm of busy people. The breeze carried sounds of a voice that brought back memories of canals, of his own similar experiences and trade, and of a pair of sparkling blue eyes amidst a sea of uncaring faces. Well. He considered his curiosity piqued. The voice was near the Society too, he could tell that much. He cautiously slipped into the role of his gentle Doctor, limp and calm but skittish façade rippling over a mostly hidden face. Walking with a practiced quiet as he blend in with the crowd between him and the curious voice, he saw the woman (Presumably, one 'Ms. Evageline Hyde'- Was there was another one of them, then? Curiouser and curiouser) before he saw her table. Again, he was reminded of his past, and that was before he saw what she was selling. Seamlessly stepping out of the stream of passerby (Much in the same way a ghostly hand would appear from such a haunted stream: Startling and graceful, in a quiet sort of way) as they went about their daily life and work, he offered a tentative wave before looking down at the table. A flash of nostalgia warmed his currently tumultuous heart. A kindred soul, perhaps? Should he introduce himself? His eyes fell on a mechanical hand, and he marveled at the intricacies of it. So similar to his design, and yet so different. Perhaps an introduction of a different sort was to be utilized then. Confirmation, first, however. Just in case. Of what? Just in case. "D-did you.. c-create t-these?" Gods, but his voice was still hoarse. His wandering eye glanced over each item on display in turn, mental notes jotting themselves down without him entirely meaning to. The light in his eyes danced between cheerful to calculating and back, stopping at every step along the way. '''Ms. Evangeline Hyde:'''  Evangeline turns toward you. "Oh. Yes, I did! Did you want to buy anything?" She looked nervously at the table, then realised that she had left one of her... other projects... lying around on the table. She leaned down next to it and tried to covertly scoot it away.

He winced slightly when he remembered he actually had very little money with him in this part of his life, and absolutely none currently on him. The truth, then. It worked with his current, similarly ragged appearance. "E-er. No, m-my apologies, I d-do not have the m-money to spare. I w-was merely i-impressed, and f-frankly admiring of t-the quality of w-work on t-that hand." He gestured to it with a gloved hand somewhat similar to it, though it was hidden under leather gloves. Thinking for half a second, he added. "It i-is v-very similar to.. c-certain a-aspects of m-my work in the Society."

Obtained From
Ms. Evangeline's Emporium