New Beginnings

[Thalia]

He poured the tea for her, which she found novel and kind of sweet. In the meantime, Thalia shed her coat, letting it pool around her in the seat. The thick scarf found a perch on the back of her chair, one long end coiling unnoticed on the floor, and the satchel was dumped unceremoniously at her feet. Beneath a messy wave of hair nestled almost to the crook of her elbow, a quaint crimson cardigan covered a girlish blouse; she was fond of pretty.

"Sure. If you think you can afford me."
She winked as she said it, grinning. Truth was she did make good money, but she also accepted commissions that caught her interest for whatever reason - without the extortionate price-tag. She hadn't charged Rune the full amount for the tattoo designs after all, not that she'd actually told the woman that. Aylin said she lacked a business head.

Thal wrapped her fingers around the cup, letting the heat tingle through her skin. She laughed. "Neither do I. You think just because I'm English? But I've had far too much coffee today already. I'll end up bouncing off the walls. And, you know, variety ecterera."
A dash of milk, a liberal amount of sugar, and she took a quick sip, then set about breaking off bites of muffin. "So what kind of painting would we be talking? Just for curiosity. And you know, you didn't tell me what you do."