Shore

[perch]

Perch nodded slightly at his answers. So he was from around here. guess i just haven't seen him around... she thought. "Perch" she answered quickly realizing that she had been quiet for a slightly awkward length of time. "i'm perch..." she amended and held her hand out to him. "Also a brookie."
She shook her head in a horizontal motion. "Nah. I used ta but i cut back" she answered.

[mark]

"It's nice to meet you Perch," He shook her hand. He knew that second-hand smoke was bad for the person you were with, so he took one last drag and butted it out. "Sorry, don't want you to get sick, or start up again, I know how hard that can be."

When she said she was a brookie, he didn't know if she ment as in a waitress or newsie, he didn't look towards her clothes for the answer, because some people mostly wear the same cloth. "So, are you a waitress or are you a newsie?" Mark asked with suspicion in his voice, but settling his gaze to the water.

[perch]

She couldnt help but smile a bit when he put the cigarette out. When she realized, she quickly hid it with a smirk and said, "you shuah you'se from around heah? you seem a little too nice ta be from brooklyn." She didnt want him to think that she didn't appreciate his consideration she was merely commenting honestly.

"i'm a newsie" she said wondering why his voice had a slightly suspicious tone to it and adding. "for now anyway." She returned her gaze to the water as well.

[mark]

Mark smiled at her, getting that question every now and again. "Yeah, I know. I usually get asked this. But, yes I'm sure, I am deffinatly from Brooklyn. Just got a nice heart is all." He still had his shirt off, and he doesn't know why he keeps doing that, but he blushed. Ugh..why do I always have my shirt off in front of girls? He asked himself in his thoughts.

He turned his head towards her with a raised eyebrow. "If you don't mind me to ask, but what did you mean by, 'for now anyway'?"

[perch]

"Not neccisarily a bad thing to be different" She thought out loud. She knew that not everyone from brooklyn war as tough as they seemed but it had caught her off guard to see someone so openly pleasant. She had turned to look at his face as she spoke to him and noticed that he was blushing. She raised an eyebrow and then chuckled at his expression. my turn she thought cheekily. "everythin alright?" she asked.
She realized that his niceness was getting to her when she heard herself chuckleing. She paused for a moment wondering if she should put the mask back on or if just maybe she could be herself around this guy. She looked at him and was caught slightly offguard when he turned his head towards her again. His question straightened out her thoughts and she looked down at the sand. "not foah too much longer." she said and shrugged. "i like the freedom and all" she said about her life hawkin headlines, "But i gotta move on eventually."
She looked back up at him, "Can't be a newsie forever. I gotta have bettah things comin to me at some point." She thought about the younger kids that she'd started seeing around new york yelling headlines at the top of their lungs. " Besides, I ain't a kid no more. Cute youngins definetely sell more papers than older girls like me yellin headlines." She said truthfully. People didn't think that it was appropriate for girls to sell papers but when they were younger at least they were cute and could get away with it. Once you grew up people just thought it was shameful. "Soon it'll be time for the next generation and ill have ta get me a job."

[mark]

When she asked if he was alright, he gave her a small smile and blushed another shade of red. He didn't know why he kept his shirt off, but he just looked at her.

"Yeah, moving on. Not so easy to do. I'm 22, and I'm still looking for a wife. Not so easy at all.." As he said this he blushed even more, not understanding. Fighter and Lucky didn't have this kind of impression of him..but why did she...? "Well, how old are you?"

[perch]

Perch bit her lip to keep from laughing when his blush seemed to deepen. She listened to his words and suddenly felt a little self conscious and shy. "im sorry" she said quietly, "sounds hard." Her hands played with the sand near her feet.

She glanced up for a minute and saw that his face seemed redder. She raised an eyebrow at him but didnt say anything other than answering his next question which definetely caught her off guard. "I'm seventeen." she said feeling her cheeks get slightly pink. only seventeen... she thought wondering if he would leave

She was definetly confused by this guy. It was the first time in almost five years that she'd opened up even the slightest bit and she felt a little wierded out that some random guy could make that happen. She felt like she maybe kind of wanted him to stick around and that scared her. Her thoughts went to her mother's abandonment and her precious fathers death and she mentally grasped for her mask back.

[mark]

He glanced at her, "No, it's not your fault, you don't have to be sorry. It's really kind of my fault actually. I don't ever talk to people 'cause I think they will do what everyone else does, just make fun of me and walk away.." He ended the sentence there and smiled a little bit.

As she said she was seventeen, he saw her turn pink. Mark hadn't ment to embarress her, he just thought it was right that since he told her his age, that he might be able to know hers.

[perch]

Perch raised an eyebrow at him again. People really just made fun of him and walked away? It didnt seem like it would be that hard for this guy to get a date, he was definetely nice enough. Then again, maybe to nice for people around here.
She saw him smile a little after he said that people walked away and she was confused. He was smiling... about people leaving him? she picked a hand up from the ground as if she might touch his face to see if she was imagining his expression but her hand merely lingered in the air between them for a moment before she dropped it back to the sand. She looked out at the water chooseing not to ignore him, but to think for a moment. She wished for a moment that she could be like him, he was a really nice guy who was obviously not having the best life, and yet here he was. Still smiling.
"so, twenty two huh?" she slapped a playfull smile onto her face. "Dats not bad" she said thinking about what he'd said about looking for a wife and not finding one. Twenty-two and looking was better than Thirty and looking wasn't it? As she was learning, there had to be a bright side somewhere.

[mark]

As her hand lingered in the air, he wasn't looking at her, but he had a very confused look on his face. Mark didn't know what she had been trying to do, but it was obvious she didn't follow through with it.

He was a little suprised at her statment to her question. "Well, I guess so. I just thought I would've had someone special in my life by now."

[perch]

Perch shrugged, "its better than being thirty and living with your mother" she pointed out and then giggled a little. She bit her lip after a minute and stopped. She probably shouldnt giggle at his situation since he seemed to take it pretty seriously. "You'll find someone." she said decisively. "There's gotta be someone for everyone right?" she said seriously and then was quiet letting her serious tone fill the air. "or we'd all end up hermits with a million cats" She whispered trying very hard to keep the tone of her voice serious.

[mark]

Mark gave her a winning smile when she giggled, and he gave his head a slight jerk to the side, making a blonde curl fall into his eye as he looked at her. "Yeah, I guess that is. I don't even live in the same place as my parents."

He nodded his head slowly. "I never thought of that. Yeah, I do think there is someone for everyone." Yeah, and I think your my someone, he thought to himself. Mark's eyes widened and he blushed. He had no idea why he was thinking that...he didn't think he was attracted to her, yet. Chuckling a bit at what she said, he laid down on his back, his shirt still off, and looked at the sky, then turned his head towards her. "Lay down, I'm not going to bite you." He said with a smile.

[perch]

Perch had to smile when he smiled at her and that embarresed her too so she looked back away. She could tell that this was going to be difficult. She'd already let her defenses down and now she felt like it might be a little too late. She prayed that maybe just maybe she wouldnt have to pay for that mistake this time around.
She looked back at him in time to see him lay down, his face still slightly pink from some blush that she had apparently missed. It made her smile a little and she wasnt sure why.
Now that he was stretched out on the ground and busy looking at the sky she let her eyes wander a bit as she looked him over. When he looked back at her she rolled her eyes laughingly at him and replied "you sure?" before lowering her back down onto the sand while still keeping her legs crossed.

[mark]

"Yes, I think so." He replied with a slight chuckle. Taking his hands, he sunk them down in the sand, playing with it. He doesn't know that he is doing this, it is just an old habit that he doesn't know how it started.

He wanted to ask her if she had a boyfriend without trying to blush, but obviously that didn't work out to well and he started to blush like crazy. "Uh..so, Perch. Do you have a boyfriend?" Glancing up at the sky, then back down again. Out of the corner of his eye, he started staring at her.

[perch]

Perch followed his example and started playing with the sand too. She made her fingers like a scoop and would pick up little scoopfulls of sand before letting them sift back through her fingers when she opened them.
She was looking at the sky but from marks tone of voice she had a thought that he was probably blushing again. She glanced over to check and giggled, this time nervously, when she found him looking at her. She looked back up at the sky and continued to pick up sand and sift it through her fingers. "Nope" she answerede as she looked at the clouds almost seeing what looked to be like a pengin shaped cloud.