AN - A little drabble inspired by the weather and an anecdote my mum told me. Set somewhere in/after S2. Hope you like it :-)
"What on earth are you doing?"
Martha was leaning on a sink, skirt hem somewhere around mid-thigh and her shoes discarded on the floor next to her as CW pushed open the door to the ladies and stared at her. The blonde barrister looked up, "Alright?"
"Dying of heat exhaustion," CW replied, "Again, what are you doing?"
"Not dying of heat exhaustion," came the answer, "Do me a favour and lock the door will you? Or are you just going to stand there staring?"
Perplexed frown still firmly in place, CW did as she was asked and then leant against said door, watching as Martha carefully eased each stocking off in turn. "Should I be aware of something going on here?"
Straightening up, Martha raised an eyebrow at her, "Probably not in the way you're thinking," but she laughed as she turned the cold tap on and plugged the sink, "Are you roasting?"
"Am I ever," CW groaned, "Everything should be adjourned in this weather, except sitting outside in a pub garden".
The sink steadily filled. "Stockings or tights?"
"Stockings," the dark haired woman narrowed her eyes, "Why?"
"Because," Martha unceremoniously dumped hers in the full sink and turned the tap off, "If you try it with tights, everything gets wet, and there's not much that's as uncomfortable as standing in court like that. Give them here," she held out a hand, waiting.
Watching, CW finally understood what her friend was doing and laughed, "Bloody brilliant. How on earth have I been here this long without knowing this trick?" She kicked her heels off and copied Martha, wriggling her skirt up and stockings off before filling another sink.
"I worked in a shop when I was at school, and we had to wear stockings all year round, one of the older girls showed me. Absolute blessing in here," Martha explained, sighing when the cold hit her skin as she let her hands trail through the water.
"Feels a bit weird when you put them back on," Martha shared as she inched a stocking up her left leg, "But you get used to it. And don't try it if you're wearing a skirt that's not black. Navy is bad, grey is far worse".
CW laughed and swirled the water in her sink with a finger, "Noted. Have you been adjourned or out for verdict?"
"Adjourned," Martha sighed," Only half an hour or so, and I was dying for a coffee too. You?"
"The same, witness got so hysterical in the box remembering what she had seen that we had to take a break. Blessing I suppose".
Her second stocking on, Martha slipped her shoes back on and adjusted her skirt, "Well, I'm back in. Good luck". She swung her gown over her shoulders and grabbed her wig from the counter, "You might want to lock the door again. People think you're a bit weird when they walk in on you putting on stockings. A policewoman once looked in all the cubicles to see if I was hiding a man in here".
"Were you?" CW teased, pulling the plug from the sink and wringing out her stockings a little.
Martha arched an eyebrow, "Toilets of the Old Bailey? Not really my thing". She opened the door and left with a grin, "See you".