Boxing Ring

[Lefty]

(( New Day... I assume this is moving anyways? If not I can delete))

Lefty swung at his opponent, connecting his fist with the man's jaw and smirking as the guy fell back, spitting teeth as he hunched over the ropes. He was done.

The crowd screamed, well over half in outrage, but there were a few whoops of triumph. Lefty hadn't been around in a while, and clearly many people had forgotten him and lost some dough on what they assumed was a 'new kid'.

Smirking arrogantly at the crowd of angry men Lefty shrugged, shaking his fists over his head in goading victory. There were a few newsies among the spectators who cheered along with him, being familiar with the Bronx boy and obviously having put their money in the right place.

[matchstick]

Matchstick walked into the the street just in time to see a man get hit so hard in the face that he was probably out cold. Matchstick smiled, he was obviously a newsie you can see it in a person. So he went over to congratulate the winner. "Ey you from round' here?" Matchstick asked spitting in his hand, then holding it out for a handshake.

[Zeke Cooper]

Zeke was over Matchsticks' head, "Good throw mate!" he called out to Lefty, despite being from the Bronx, the boxers from the boroughs had their own little society. He smirked a bit and ignored the Queens kid. "Good match, I'm gonna be in for a good fight next time we throw down."

[Lefty]

Lefty shook the Queens' boy hand, along with about seven others that were reached out and patting him on the back as he exited the ring. He barely caught the question through the noise, but was able to shout back, "Bronx, born an' bred!" He was damn proud of his home, and never missed an opportunity to let anyone know it.

He grinned at the Brooklyn boy, not having seen him since he arrived back in New York a few weeks ago. "You know it Cooper, and don' expect me ta go easy on ya cause ya from Brooklyn." He smirked jokingly, grabbing his friend shoulder as he hoisted himself down from the ring and into the crowd.

[Zeke Cooper]

(Okay I don't want to let this die for some reason)

Zeke smirked and patted his friend's back, it had been the first time in a spell he'd been able to get away and he was just waiting for his own fight. He ignored Matchstick because well, he didn't know him nor did he care and tossed and arm over his friend's shoulders.

"We should get a drink, and share info doncha think?" he looked grim but he was better than he had been. Lucky was being Lucky, Spot was back and now he could do what he liked for the most part. A slow smile crossed his face, if he could just get his hands on Fighter, things wouldn't be so bad. Oh well, he'd have to settle for that laundress in the Bronx.

"Come mate, I'll buy you a drink."

[Fighter Mallory]

*NEW DAY*

Fighter perched on one of the crates littering the area surrounding the boxing ring. She was in rare form today hooting and hollering for her fighter to win. Fortunately for her it looked like her bet was going to pay off, which was exactly what she needed right now. Fighter hadn't been sleeping lately but she'd ended up smoking last night and passing out shortly after the high hit her. For once she'd been able to sleep through the night and she'd woken feeling rejuvinated though her mind was still in a troubling place so she'd brought her flask with her completely bypassing the thought of buying a beer.

Dipping into her pocket to withdraw the flask, Fighter unscrewed the lid and took a deep drink before putting the lid back on and setting it back in her pocket. Taking out a cigarette she lit it and took a deep breath before jumping to her feet to see over the heads of the men towering in front of her. "'ey you! Move your fat arse so other people can enjoy the fight." Fighter practically bellowed at the gigantic man.

[David Jacobs]

David refused to admit that he had come by the boxing ring just on the off chance she was there, but when his eyes lit on her pretty face through the crowd, he couldn't deny the feeling that fluttered in his stomach at the sight of her. Slowly he worked his way through the crowd, mostly not to appear to eager or have a direction to anyone who might be watching, but also to give himself an opportunity just to look at her. She looked sadder than the last time he'd seen her several days ago and it tugged at his gut to see that look in her eyes, not when he knew what those eyes were like when she smiled.

He worked his way over until he was behind her, felt a smile tugging at his lips as she yelled at the man in front of her, some of that fire and passion he knew she had simmering under the surface, even if she did seem a bit off today. "Hasn't anyone ever told you it's impolite to yell?" He said softly, his voice pitched low for just her ears and he allowed his hand to settle for one brief moment on her back before dropping it away and shoving it in his pocket.

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter glanced behind her at the sound of David's voice and couldn't help the tranquil smile that crossed her face. She forced herself not to react when she felt his hand on her back and instead leaned closer, "Not really, they encouraged me to yell." She smirked slightly and glanced around at the crowd to make sure she didn't see any familiar faces in the crowd. When she decided that they were in the clear she jumped down off the crate to stand in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked hoping the smell of alcohol wasn't too potent on her breath. She didn't want David to know what she'd been doing to occupy her mind. Fighter was still surprised by just how much his opinion mattered to her and she didn't want to screw things up with him.

[David Jacobs]

"What if I said I was looking for you?" He asked, looking down at her and narrowing his eyes a little as he searched her face. There was something different about her today, he couldn't exactly put his finger on what though and he decided it was probably just because he hadn't seen her in a few days. He leaned a little closer, lifting a hand to push a few strands of hair out of her face that had fallen loose from her ribbon, "I was hoping you'd be here. I've missed you..."

Things had started to pick up in Manhattan, so many of the boys returning to the lodging house with injuries ranging from scrapes to gunshot wounds. The place was afloat with gossip as it always was and David had been working overtime to try and balance it all as well as keep Les out of his standard nine year old trouble. Things were slowly beginning to return somewhat to normal and yet David sometimes felt like the reality of what happened was enough to blot everything else out. "How are you?" He asked softly, ignoring the fight now and keeping his eyes only on her.

[Fighter Mallory]

A small smile crossed her lips, "I guess you were looking in the right place." When he brushed his hand across the side of her face to tuck her hair back she tilted into his touch for a moment. She had missed him more than she had realized and seeing him instantly lifted her mood a bit. Fighter's smile grew when he said he'd missed her, it was like he could read her mind. "I missed you too," She said quietly.

She'd completely forgotten about the fight for the time being and was happy just soaking in her time with David. She was sure it would probably be short lived. It seemed that lately they either weren't able to see each other or when they did it was only for a little while because they didn't want to risk exposing themselves and they couldn't sneak away for too long. Biting back a sigh at the thought she glanced up at his eyes when he asked her how she'd been, she shrugged. "Keeping busy. You?"

[David Jacobs]

He couldn't help the smile that blossomed at her saying she had missed him too. Things had been so busy lately, seemingly one thing after another that had kept him from seeing her, which tore at his gut because she was one of the few people who could get him to fully relax anymore. The raw edges of his nerves eased by her presence and touch, when they could manage to get alone enough to touch at all.

"You got some time?" He asked her, wishing he could take her hand and link their fingers together, throw an arm across her shoulders and pull her close, but settled instead for catching her eyes with his own and smiling hopefully. "Les is at home and everyone else is either recovering at the lodging house or out selling." He waved a hand in the direction of the lodging house and then looked down at her again.

"We could...go for a walk?" Maybe down into the Bronx or over to Queens, just some place that they could be alone for far longer than the few stolen moments they'd managed recently.

[Fighter Mallory]

She had to fight the urge to reach out and touch him when his handsome face lighted up with a smile. It was odd to her that she had this constant need to touch him whenever he was in sight, it wasn’t something she’d felt before. For the most part Fighter was reserved and did very little touching of any sort that didn’t involve her fists. At his question she nodded her head slightly and glanced back just as her boxer won the fight. “Let me just go collect my money.” A smile crossed her face, “I’d love to go for a walk.”

As long as they were going out of Manhattan and not heading to Brooklyn she was most definitely in the mood for a walk. “I’ll be right back.” She gave him a slight smile and turned to go get her money, after collecting it she walked back over towards Davey. She was excited that she was going to have him mostly to herself this afternoon. Honestly she’d been looking forward to it for days now. As she approached Davey her smile grey just a little bit more.

“Where to?” She didn’t care where they were going she just wanted to be there so she could finally wrap her arms around him like she’d been wanting to do since he’d walked up to her.

[David Jacobs]

David watched her get her winnings and smiled as she approached him again, he knew they were being a little bit bolder than normal talking so openly in Manhattan, but it had been to long since he'd seen her and they were heading out of the borough anyway, so he didn't figure there was much harm. Besides, she seemed less on edge now and that was worth any possible consequences of being caught being friendly with a girl from Brooklyn.

"I don't know...want to head over towards the Bronx and see if we can maybe find someplace to...talk," He turned to lead the way out of the crowd, aware of her presence beside him as they fell into step together, moving towards the Bronx. "You been doing alright?" He asked her once they were away from the boxing ring and more alone than they had been the last few times they'd managed to meet up, the street sparsely populated at the moment. 'You seemed out of sorts when I showed up."

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter nodded a slight smirk playing at her lips because the last thing on her mind was talking with him. Tucking a piece of hair back she studied David out of the corner of her eye for a moment as they walked. "That sounds good..." She trailed off as her smirk grew a few inches. When he asked her how she was doing she shrugged, "Doing just fine now."

She insisted on keeping the conversation as light as possible between them, "Oh, just enjoying the fight." It wasn't that she didn't know she could talk to him, she just wanted to enjoy her time with him. She didn't want to talk about the emotions that had been running through her body. "What have you been up to?"

[David Jacobs]

"Just the usual," David said with a shrug in response to her question. "Keeping Les out of trouble, trying to keep the guys out of trouble...selling papes." He shoved his hands in his pockets and shot her another glance, there had been a slight glassiness to her eyes when she'd first looked at him, combined with the almost haunted look taht seemed to be easing now, David knew that something just wasn't right. And in typicaly Fighter fashion, she was brushing it aside and trying to make light, something David was guilty of himself in the hopes of not burdening others. But this was Fighter and she was different...she always had been.

"You don't need to lie to me, you know," He said softly as they turned down a street and headed towards the heart of the Bronx and further away from possible prying eyes. He stepped in front of her and turned to look at her, stopping their progress for just a moment so he could look into her eyes. "If you're not okay you can tell me," He sighed and lifted a hand to run it through his hair, meeting her gaze and sending her a small smile. "Sometimes I'm not okay either."