Suit shopping - Hope and Ty (backdated)

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Hope and Ty go suit shopping.

So where were you thinking of going for your suit? There is a wide range of shops or tailors to, all with their differences in quality and price." Hope asked after they had settled into their cab, looking sideways at her old classmate sitting next to her.

To be honest, Ty was still a little uncomfortable with the age changes. Hope looked exactly the same as she had the night she'd made him a sandwich. Being older than her when he'd been so much younger was distinctly odd. "It's been so long since I've been in New York," he said uncertainly. "And I wasn't exactly a connoisseur last time I was here. I just," he adjusted his shirt-sleeves a bit. "Feel underdressed and unprofessional."

"Hmm..." Hope crossed her arms as she looked Ty over. "I'll be blunt then. I have idea's where to go for various options, but it all depends on your means as well. You can go for custom suits, but also for already made suits with some additional tailoring. A somewhat more high end store might be a good option."

Ty rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, wealth was a little different in Asgard. I have some modest means, but I'd have to sell something." He had a set of worked gold bracers that he was easily prepared to part with.

"You want to sell something from Asgard?" Hope frowned a little, trying to figure out where they'd have to go for that. She was familiar with jewelers, antique stores and consignment stores, but things like pawn shops were totally out of her experience. "What were thinking of selling?"

He reached into his leather folio to pull out the delicately worked gold pieces. "I do a little work, but nothing this good. Figured these would get me enough for some good money for some good suits."

Hope took the bracers from him, giving a quick glance to the driver in front and looked them over closely while she considered their options. She was by no means an expert, but she did know enough to see the work had been well done. "These are beautiful... Hmmm... I think we have two options here. One, we could go for the value of the metal. Or there might be a boutique in SoHo which sells more exotic pieces of jewelry so to speak. We might give things a try there?" She had visited the boutique with her great aunt once or twice and the owner had told them about him buying from several local artisans.

"Gold this pure is only good for funerary purposes, so they're not worth that much on Asgard, but I think the price of gold is higher here," he explained. "It would be nice if they weren't immediately melted down. I learned a lot from studying these."

"It would be a pity if they were melted down immediately." Hope agreed. Tapping the divider between the driver and their bench, she waited as to order: "Prince Street in SoHo, please."

~*~

Ty held very still and refused to acknowledge the bead of sweat making its way slowly down his spine. He watched the jeweler examine the bracers, almost flinching every time the man made a "hmm" noise.

Hope look to the side, then she smiled a little when she saw how tense she was looking. Bumping his shoulder, she spoke in a low, encouraging voice: "Relax Ty. It's going to be fine. And if you are not happy with what he quotes us, we can look into other avenues. There is still the option of just going for the pure value of the metal." Those words she made just slightly louder and from the flicker on the face of the jeweler she could seen he had heard her.

Ty nodded agreeably in an attempt to play along. Holding things in wasn't something he was used to, but it would be a serious advantage in this situation. He took a deep, silent breath before he spoke. "Yes, I looked up the value of gold by the ounce on the way here," he murmured in a voice just a touch too loud.

"Besides, they are unique pieces. Created in Northern Europe! I don't see any of them coming this way soon." Northern Europe was the closest idea they had come to figuring out to explaining. Finally, the jeweler came towards the counter, his face as smooth as possible. "How much did you say again you wanted for this, young man?"

Ty glanced over at the jeweler, not turning his body away from Hope. "For a replica made with some exceedingly high grade gold? Sixty thousand, I think."

The jeweler looked like he was going to turn purple.

Hope just barely managed to stop her eyes from widening. She had guessed Ty would want a certain amount for it, but not this much... Still she did not like the look of the jeweler... Crossed arms, eyes quickly shifting up and down and a refusal to meet their eyes.

"Do you have a providence for this? Or an appraisal?" The man narrowed his eyes. "Ten thousand. Higher then that I cannot go."

Ty put on a sad face. "It was just something my gold smithing master gave me to study while I was learning. I think it was some of her own apprentice work. I had hoped to keep it intact for sentimentality's sake, but I need a decent stake to start my own craft," he said in a mournful voice.

"Who was your master?" The man narrowed his eyes further.

Ty shrugged casually. "I spent a few years with Akelo, working on my historical techniques."

Hope could tell that this didn't mean anything to him, so she stepped forward. "Do you want to deal for a fair price or not? Not this pittance you are offering. We will not hesitate to look further."

The jeweler narrowed his eyes, then held out his hands for the bracers once more. "Let me have one more look."

Ty carefully handed over one of them, keeping the other in his case. He murmured to hope. "Are you sure this man knows what he's doing?" He scrutinized the jeweler as he scrutinized the goldwork.

"He is somewhat more suspicious then I remember." Hope murmered back. "Alright, sir. You have had enough of a chance to look. Are you going to agree with the gentleman's offer or are we taking these fine pieces of work somewhere else?"

The jeweler handed the bracer back with a huff. "Fine, forty thousand dollars." He dropped the words like acid from his mouth, a sour look on his face.

Ty raised an eyebrow coolly, and looked to Hope before he replied. "That is acceptable," he said.

~*~

"So... going for the custom suits, are you?" Hope raised an eyebrow at him, impressed. "I like a man who goes for quality. Ahh, here we are. This is a good place." She pushed open the door to the upscale store.

"I got used to the stuff that was made for me. It was...." He paused with a shrug. "Nice. And if I can afford it, it'll help me out when I want to sell more pieces." He hadn't realized until negotiating with the jeweler earlier that it was something he wanted to pursue, but now it seemed natural.

"If you want to go all custom made, it might be an expensive outing. I would go for some key pieces to be fully custom made." Hope mentioned thoughtfully. "I usually buy at some more high end stores and then have it tailored. That might be a kind of middle way."

Ty considered that for a moment. "Tailored might be the way to go, until I get a more steady source of income," he conceded.

"They should be able to help you with that here." She looked around for an assistant. "Do you know your sizes or should we get measured first?"

Ty grinned. "I was a foot or two shorter the last time I bought clothes, so measuring might be the way to go." He'd been much skinnier too, the years in Asgard had really filled out his frame. "It's almost summer, do they make linen suits? I can pick up some wool ones too."

"I am sure there are some." Hope nodded. "I would say a disadvantage is that linen crinkles very easily. I would seriously check out maybe some tropical weight wool suits."

He gave a small bow. "I will happily take the lady's guidance," he said in a slightly lower voice.

Hope smiled at him before catching the eye of a sales assistant. "Could you please help us figure out the size he needs to have?" Having sent of Ty with the sales assistant, she made her way around the store, eyeing the various mannequins. One with a dapper charcoal grey suit caught her eye. "This might be the place to start.

With each new suit Ty felt a little more like he was caught up in some sort of whirlwind. It was a good one, but still on the verge of overwhelming. Hope was there to keep him grounded, though. It was .... nice. "Think that's enough?" He asked as he straightened out his own sleeves.

"I'd say three suits make a good start." Hope agreed. "One charcoal, one navy and a summer suit I think you look particularly good in. Plus a few shirts... do you want any ties?"

Ty made a face and ran a finger under his collar. "Maybe one or two." He held out his elbow for Hope. "Ma'am?"

Hope shook her head with a smile as she accepted his arm. "Let us go find you a tie."