A/N STILL ALIVE.
Seriously, Lord of the Rings is just a beast that lives in my brain constantly, it's sometimes hard to fight to get to work on other things.
Haven't seen the new movie yet, so I can't say anything as far as how it'll impact any of this story if at all. But once I see it, who knows? Hopefully some of the past stuff it harkens to will fall into line enough with my plans to work out.
I think Raiders may start up in the next chapter, we'll see how things go.
Out of their button downs and adventure fatigues, as she'd started nicknaming his classic costume, they boarded their plane and struck out north, back to Boston. Was the safety and security of air travel far less confidence inducing in the 1930s? Yes. Absolutely. Pre-flight safety briefings? Seat belts? Rarities, and certainly not something she'd be finding on a flight from South America.
Pants pressed neatly and hat laid gently on her lap, she stared out the window trying not to think about it. It was the same thing she did every time they flew. Don't think about what plane crash statistics probably were in the 1930s.
Indy had become more and more aware of her flight anxieties as time went on. When he'd asked about it on their flight down to Yucatan she'd mumbled something about how a brace position didn't do any good if there was nothing securing you to the seat and left it at that.
So he did all he could do and wrapped his hand around hers with a light squeeze and kissed her temple, lingering near her ear so she could hear him over the noise of the plane. "I've flown dozens of times, sweetheart, you'll be just fine. Didn't you ever fly in the future?"
"Dozens of times. But in my time we believed in seatbelts." She hissed. "And don't try to soothe me when we jumped out of a crashing plane within twelve hours of meeting each other."
"That was different." He tried to explain away. "There wasn't anything wrong with the plane, the pilots were trying to kill us!"
Not helping his attempts to make her feel better, the plane shook and she grabbed his hands, crushing his fingers.
"You weren't this nervous on our flight back from India."
"I was in shock and had just been lowered into a pit of lava so at the time, a plane crash was the least of my worries!"
The stewardess caught a few choice words of her comment as she passed and covered up her look of surprise by leaning in with a smile and offering drinks, which Indy jumped at requesting.
Sophia went back to staring out the window but didn't let go of her grip on Indy's hand except to loosen it a little. The stewardess came back moments later and Indy passed her a glass of whiskey to calm her nerves. Then, his own glass in hand, he fished in his pocket and took out what they were coming home with.
Unwrapping the brown cloth around it, Indy revealed the stone artifact. It was a piece of a relief that had chipped off years before and been found buried at the base of it. It wasn't large, it fit in his palm, but it was covered in Mayan pictographs.
"You sure you don't recognize anything from your...other studies?" Indy asked, referring to her pre-Harvard schooling and trying to distract her. It wasn't like he didn't already know the answer.
Sophia took a drink and let him lay the stone in her palm, humoring him. "Not without Knorozov's work to reference, and we've got a good fifteen plus years before that gets written."
He sighed performatively, playing into their conversation that was really just a rehash of several others they'd already had about the Mayan pictographs. She was a potential well of archaeological information that had yet to be discovered in his time, he had to ask.
"I mean if you wanna take a crack at it I can give you a hint, but you still won't have everything you need to decipher them." She offered, handing the artifact back and teasingly took another drink, eyeing him over the rim of the glass.
He looked at her with excitement glinting in his eyes. "What do you know?"
"What's it worth to you?"
"Diamond ring?"
"Already got one."
"Right. Matching earrings?"
"Think cheaper."
"Cheaper?"
"Think...more private..."
His eyes widened when she realized what she was getting at and he nodded. "I think I have few ideas." He flashed her a grin and nodded. "You drive a hard bargain, doll, but you've got a deal."
Having won her easily gotten prize, she turned her attention to the artifact and used her pinky to trace the carvings. "From what I remember, they read left to right, top to bottom like English. And one thing I'll never forget because my professor drilled it into our heads, sentence structure. AVOS, adverb-verb-object-subject."
And with that, he was gone, staring at the handful of pictographs on the stone intently. Sophia wrapped her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Now start telling me all your theories to keep my mind on the flying metal deathtrap we're in."
From the bottom of the stairs Sophia hollered to the back of the house for Shorty to hurry up while she fussed with the combs in her hat.
Looking amused, Indy grabbed her coat off the hook by the door and held it ready for her. "Relax, the dress shop isn't going anywhere. Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" He fixed her collar after he pulled the coat up over her shoulders.
"I'll manage." She said, more determined than confident. His skeptical look saw right through it. "I'll manage!"
He chuckled. "I know you will, sweetheart, but will the clutch?"
"Har har." She said dryly. It wasn't like he didn't have a point, there was something about his car in particular that she just couldn't get the hang of like she did…well…every other vehicle she'd driven since she'd shown up.
"I'll wait outside." He assured her. "I won't sneak in, I promise."
In turn, she straightened his collar and gave his shoulder a condescending pat. "Some things haven't changed between our times, no seeing my dress before the wedding. Shorty and I will be fine."
Tugging at his tie in a fantastic impression of Indy, Shorty finally came down the hall dressed smartly in a suit for his day out. "You come to dress shop I chase you out. You know better, Indy!"
With a relenting, tight smile Indy nodded. "You're right, Shorty, I do know better." He turned back to Sophia and gave her a kiss goodbye. "You two have a good time today. Now," He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a fold of cash and a slip of paper. "Here's the blank check for the dress and money for lunch and whatever else you two end up doing. Should be more than enough."
He'd handed her enough for lunch for the next week if not more. Shorty noticed too and she and him exchanged the look of two people who were about to have a very fun day out on the town.
They skipped out of the house in a rush, Sophia's excitement bubbling in her chest. Shorty ran ahead, getting the car door for her and making sure she was settled before running over to the passenger side.
Methodically she eased them out of the driveway with more measured concentration than skill. When it came time to start heading down the road the car lurched forward before coming up to speed and she grimaced.
Shorty, holding onto the seat, looked over at her sheepishly. "If you want, I can drive?" More a request than an offer.
"Shorty…"
"Okay, okay! But if the car breaks before we get there you call Indy, not me!"
The car did not break before they got there, and she pulled up in front of the shop with a much smoother motion than how they'd started out.
Shorty took his position as official wedding dress shopping companion very seriously and was at her door in an instant, then got the door of the shop for her with a serious face and a sweep of his hand.
The amount of love Sophia had for him never seemed to stop growing and as time went on she found herself less and less able to imagine him not being there, a ready made family and one she'd fight anyone to keep. At first when they'd gotten back, it had felt more like play acting as a family, awkwardly shuffling around each other and trying to figure out all of their roles even though they were laid out around them. But time was settling them in and it made things easy.
She paused just inside and waited for him, resting her hand on his shoulder while one of the sales ladies walked up to them with a smile.
"Ms. Hetland, Mr. Round. Welcome!" The short woman flashed them a wide smile and her pin curls bounced as she ushered them towards the back of the shop. "May I offer you some refreshment?"
Shorty was waved to one of several armchairs facing a platform ringed with mirrors and he sat down excitedly. "Yes, please!"
One of the other ladies went off to get him something and the girl who'd greeted them, Margaret, whisked Sophia off to look at what they had to offer.
Dress after dress was picked out and hung inside the massive dressing room assigned to her and she tried to control her shaking hands as Margaret buttoned her into the first one. Sophie was excited, and nervous, and excited again as she stepped out and Margaret let the satin train sweep out around her.
She stared at herself in the mirror, draped in gold satin and ran her hands down her hips. It reminded her of an old brown picture on the mantle of her parent's house. Her great grandmother had worn a dress very similar on her own wedding day. They had the same eyes, Sophia realized as she looked at herself in the mirror. Suddenly she felt very alone, with no family to speak of anymore except for Indy and Short Round.
Margaret appeared in front of her, handing her a handkerchief with a sympathetic smile.
"Sorry." She sniffed, taking it and pressing it under her eyes. "Must have caught me off guard."
"Happens to everyone, don't you worry." Margaret assured her warmly. "Now, what do you think of it?"
Turning this way and that, Sophia looked it over more critically and smiled. "It's so elegant, what do you think, Shorty?"
From his plush, cushioned seat with a glass bottle of coke in his hand he grinned up at her and nodded emphatically.
"Are you going to think the same thing about every dress I try on?" She asked, amused at his wide eyes grin.
"Probably."
Spirits lifting, she was ushered back into the dressing room for the next dress and came out to find one of the shop girls had sat down in the chair next to Shorty and let out a long aww as she stepped up on the platform. By the third dress they'd collected another shop girl and when they weren't supplying Shorty with every soda and treat in the building they were filling in as her bridal party. Fluffing skirts and trying veil after veil, she spent the next two hours under piles of satin and tulle until she found the right combination of them all.
Giddy, she filled out the rest of the blank check Indy had sent her with and penned her fitting appointments into her pocket calendar while Shorty finished off his third coke
They burst out onto the sidewalk with smiles on their faces and she took a deep breath. "Thanks for coming with me, kiddo." She said, ruffling his hair and pulling him into a big hug. "Let's go get some lunch, huh?"
"We go get sundaes after?"
Sophia laughed, she might as well have handed him a bag of sugar for the day by the time they got home. But it was their day out on the town, so as long as he got through something halfway decent for lunch… "Okay, after lunch we'll get one to share. How about that?"