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Post by tumble on May 22, 2009 21:10:12 GMT -5
Tumbler woke with a start, feeling a yank on the chain and then hearing a girl cry out. He sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily, blinking in confusion, until he saw the girl laying there, and he looked down at the chain and then let out a shout of dismay, the chain had broken clear off the watch.
He looked at her in anger, thinking Jack was wrong about Bronx. He had almost been robbed! But he had fallen asleep...at least he still had the watch...but it was broken, he looked down at her, and then at the watch, and his lips began to tremble. He was sleepy and confused and angry and upset and he wasn't sure exactly where he was, though he knew he was in the Bronx, he hadn't paid attention. Watch would be mad about the pocket watch, Tumbler knew he would, he got so mad if you as much as scratched it.
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Post by roulette on May 22, 2009 21:38:15 GMT -5
Rou sighed as she sat up, brushing dirt off her face.
She glanced at the kid, wincing as she noticed the wobbling lip and broken watch chain. If there was one thing to get her to feel guilty and out of her 'pickpocket daze', it was a crying child.
Great.
"Hey, kid," she said, shifting away a little bit. She broke off, not knowing what to say. She looked down at the watch again. It was obviously important to him.
She felt so bad (and slightly annoyed at herself for getting caught), that she would've paid to get it fixed. If, that is, she had had the money.
She sighed and shook her head. She didn't know how to fix this. An apology seemed so inadequate.
She'd never been caught stealing from a child before. It was out of her comfort range.
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Post by tumble on May 23, 2009 8:49:57 GMT -5
Tumbler got angry again and started yelling at the girl, "You no good dirty rotten thievin' grafter!..." He would have continued if he didn't see the guilty look on her face and then he stopped, just glaring at her for a long moment, before his brown eyes softened. She needed money too, just like him to have lodging and food, but she would steal from a little kid?....well, again, he had fallen asleep, with the watch right in her sights, so he realized he was at fault too. Maybe she liked shiny things too....
He sniffled and wiped at his nose, "It's okay, I fell asleep, partly my fault, Jack always says I always get in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's....It's just a watch." To Watch, it wasn't just a watch, but Tumbler had to give himself some courage, as meager as it was.
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Post by roulette on May 23, 2009 14:53:49 GMT -5
"You no good dirty rotten thievin' grafter!..."
Rou ducked her head as the boy started railing her and making her feel smaller than she already felt. She was trying to change her ways, she really, really was. The compulsion sometimes though... it was too much to bear.
A person would've thought that after spending so many nights in prison for thieving, she'd see the error of her ways, but in the end, the thrill of getting caught only made it harder to ignore.
"It's okay, I fell asleep, partly my fault, Jack always says I always get in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's....It's just a watch."
Rou shook her head. She started to disagree, but really, he was right. If she hadn't been the one to try and swipe the watch, it'd have been someone else and there was no guarantee that the person would be so easily thwarted as Rou had been.
"I'm sorry." she mumbled, glancing up at him again. "What's a mite like you doing by yourself here anyway?"
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Post by tumble on May 23, 2009 15:13:10 GMT -5
"I'm sorry. What's a mite like you doing by yourself here anyway?"
Tumbler gave her a small scowl at that question and tugged at a button on his shirt, adjusting his hat. "I ain't that little, and I can be by myself, I don't need to be protected by anybody! I got my walking stick!"
Tumbler knew he was small, and that stick could crack in half easily, but he hated being looked down upon because he was a little kid, so he tossed that back at the girl anyways before mumbling the truth.
"I came here by accident, I wasn't paying attention and I kept walking out of Hattan'."
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Post by roulette on May 23, 2009 16:04:41 GMT -5
"I ain't that little, and I can be by myself, I don't need to be protected by anybody! I got my walking stick!"
Rio sighed and shook her head. Little boys and their toughness. It was more amusing than annoying though, and she had the decency to look apologetic.
"I came here by accident, I wasn't paying attention and I kept walking out of Hattan'."
Rou smiled and shook her head in amusement. "Well, I know that feeling. I've only been here two days and yesterday, I was walking along and turned down a wrong alley and ended up the opposite direction than what I wanted."
She wanted to make up the almost-theft up to the kid somehow, and she figured telling him a little about her other mistakes was the best way to an apology and repair.
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Post by tumble on May 23, 2009 16:17:53 GMT -5
"Well, I know that feeling. I've only been here two days and yesterday, I was walking along and turned down a wrong alley and ended up the opposite direction than what I wanted."
Tumbler looked up at her, trusting her a bit more with each time she smiled or talked to him, at least she was paying attention to him, and not shooing him away like others did. He liked that. He gave her a smile, and then his eyes widened in surprise that she had only been in the city for two days. He remembered being dreadfully lost when he was new to the city. He still got lost...
He liked this girl, even if she did try to steal from him and break Watch's pocket watch. He fell asleep, so he would take the punishment from Watch.
"You've only been here two days?" Tumbler asked loudly and then yawned, rubbing at his brown eyes again. 'Where'd you come from? What's your name?" He asked a little spiel of questions, he liked meeting new people and learning some of their stories, if they would tell him that is.
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Post by roulette on May 23, 2009 16:34:49 GMT -5
"You've only been here two days?"
Roulette laughed, nodding. 'Yessir. Came in on the train two days ago and still feeling things out. This city is a lot bigger than what I'm used to." She frowned slightly, thinking of where she'd come from and where she hoped to be going. It was all a long way off.
'Where'd you come from? What's your name?"
Rou eyed the boy, not wanting to tell him all the gory details. She sighed.
"My name's Roulette. I'm from Boston and I was, and am, a pickpocket. But," she said, hoping to find some sort of redemption after such a damning confession, "I really am trying to break myself of stealing. I wanna get on the straight and narrow."
She bit her lip, blushing. She'd not told anyone of her occupation or of her intentions to leave it all behind.
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Post by tumble on May 23, 2009 16:50:34 GMT -5
'Yessir. Came in on the train two days ago and still feeling things out. This city is a lot bigger than what I'm used to."
"Yeah, it is big, I thinks its the biggest city in the whole entire world!" Tumbler exclaimed, waving his hands in exaggeration, before losing his balance and tumbling backwards, doing a somersault in the grass before he giggled.
"My name's Roulette. I'm from Boston and I was, and am, a pickpocket. But, I really am trying to break myself of stealing. I wanna get on the straight and narrow."
"So like an unpickpocket!...almost." Tumbler gave her a big grin and then tried to pronounce her name. "Roulllll....Roulllleee....Rou. Can I just call you Rou?"
He laughed and then pointed a dirty ink stained finger to his chest, grinning proudly as he said, "My name's Tumbler!"
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Post by roulette on May 24, 2009 12:13:05 GMT -5
"Yeah, it is big, I thinks its the biggest city in the whole entire world!"
"Is it really?" Rou asked, shocked. She hadn't known that. She knew that New York was big, but the biggest city in the world? You learn something new every day. She giggled with him as he did his back-somersault.
"So like an unpickpocket!...almost... Roulllll....Roulllleee....Rou. Can I just call you Rou?"
"Yes, an 'unpickpocket'." Rou snickered, liking the little boy's quick thinking. Her eyes twinkled in amusement as he tried to pronounce her name. "You can call me what ever you like. "
"My name's Tumbler!"
Rou laughed again, holding out her hand, thinking that a failed theft had never ended up so well. "Good to meet you, Sir Tumbler."
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Post by tumble on May 24, 2009 12:25:11 GMT -5
"Is it really?"
Tumbler pulled himself back up to a sitting position and brushed off any grass clinging to his clothes, a big grin on his face. He shrugged before replying sweetly, "I dunno, it might not be, but I thinks so."
"Yes, an 'unpickpocket'.You can call me what ever you like. "
Tumbler nodded and listened to her laugh, it was a nice sound. He liked Roulette, he liked her a lot. He had almost completely forgot about the watch all together. He nodded.
"Rou, I'll call you Rou."
"Good to meet you, Sir Tumbler."
Tumbler put his own dirt and ink stained tan hand in hers, shaking it and grinning up at her happily.
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Post by roulette on May 25, 2009 20:08:48 GMT -5
Roulette could not help herself from grinning back at the boy. If there was one thing that she found contagious, it was a child's enthusiasm for life and everything in it.
"I dunno, it might not be, but I thinks so."
Rou nodded in understanding. "Ah, well, anyway, even 'f it's not, this city's way too darn big for me." she laughed.
"Rou, I'll call you Rou."
"Then Rou I'll be." Rou said, shaking the little boy's hand. She watched him for a moment and then tugged on his hand. "Are you hungry, Tumbler? Only, there's a pizza place a little ways away and I'm starving! My treat."
She grinned then. It was the least she could do. She had broken his watch, after all.
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Post by tumble on May 25, 2009 21:19:57 GMT -5
"Ah, well, anyway, even 'f it's not, this city's way too darn big for me."
"Yeah, me too, it can be scary, but at least its exciting!" Tumbler cried, grinning even wider, and waving his stick this time in enthusiasm.
"Then Rou I'll be. Are you hungry, Tumbler? Only, there's a pizza place a little ways away and I'm starving! My treat."
Tumbler smiled and fiddled with his stick for a long moment, thinking over her offer. She was nice, and Tumbler was hungry. It's not like anybody in Manhattan would notice his absence and he could put off his punishment from Watch for awhile. He grinned up at her and nodded, "Shoa! That sounds great!"
He jumped up, still holding onto Rou's hand and bouncing in the direction she led him in to the Pizza shop.
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Post by Shamrock O'Shea on Jun 30, 2009 11:45:10 GMT -5
[[New Day]]
Shamrock had to get out of the lodging house. Pallet and Byron were smothering him. He decided he'd at least stay in the bronx, so he headed down to the riverbank of the Harlem River. He picked up some stones and began tossing them into the water.
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Post by shortstack on Jul 14, 2009 19:51:18 GMT -5
Shortstack just kept walking. She couldn't get over how awkward that experience had been in the lodging house. How could she live day and night with these people when she didn't even know how to say hello? When she finally came to her sense she realized she had in fact walked out of Manhattan and into the Bronx. "How is that even possible," she muttered to herself. She stared thoughtfully at Harlem River. She always loved the water; it made her feel like there was something more - better- in the distance. She made her way down to the riverbank to get a better look. As she approached she saw a young boy tossing stones into the water. She hesitated whether or not to throw herself into another awkward social interaction, but the river was calling to her. She walked cautiously toward the water, nodding slightly toward the boy and taking a seat on a nearby rock.
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