The Stables

[mason]

Mason smiled at her words. It didn't seem to take much convincing to get the girl to stay but then he didn't expect it too. Usually most young women were easy enough persuade if he played his cards right, and Mason had gotten fairly good at most card games.

"You might be a distraction," he told her, admitting that she might be in the way, at least by simply being there, "but what's life without a bit of dat," he said with a shrug and a grin. He was more than happy to have some company and wasn't about to turn away the opportunity to have her around a little longer. Besides, Mason knew exactly what she could help with and it would give him a chance to talk to her a while longer.

"You don't need to do much," he said, picking up a brushing and tossing it into his other hand as he opened one of the stables. Walking in he smiled back at her, tying the horse to the stable so that it wouldn't run off should it get spooked by anything.

"He needs a brush," he told her, holding out the brush to her. "You can start on dat side," he said, gesturing the to other side of the horse. He would stay on his side and work on his side, picking out the rocks and dirt from the horse's hooves while she brushed on the other side.

"You gonna tell me your name, Cherie?" he asked with a smile, as he took his pick and lifted up the horse's hoof to start his work.

[Roisin Dubh]

Roisin had to agree. Life was full of plenty to distract oneself. Though, she thought as she watched him, some distractions were certainly more welcome than others. Laughing at his words, she grinned as she followed him towards one of the stalls. She watched with curiosity as he picked up a brush and leaned against the doorframe as he tied the horse to keep it from bolting. “I don’t really mind workin’,” she said as she waited for him to tell her what he wanted her to do. “If ya don’t mind showin’ me, anyway….”

Roisin entered the stall willingly and took the brush from his hand. “Sounds simple enough,” she commented as she made her way to the side of the horse he had indicated. Starting at its shoulder, she began to run the brush over it in steady strokes. She could hear him moving on the other side of the horse though she couldn’t see what he was doing.

She rolled her eyes, slightly exasperated with herself for the oversight, when he asked her name. “I suppose I should of introduced myself already,” she admitted, semi apologetically. She had never had the best social manners, and sometimes formalities had a way of falling by the wayside with her. Then again, he himself was only now getting around to them, so maybe she hadn’t come off as too rude. “Roisin Dubh, though most just call me Roisin,” she said, shifting a little as she worked her way along the horse’s back. “It’s a pleasure t’ meet ya, then, Mr….”she trailed off expectantly.

((Roisin Dubh is pronounced ro-sheen dove))

[mason]

"Good, don' get no where if you don't do de work," Mason said, essentially agreeing with her on that one. He likes finding the easy way of doing things but Mason wasn't naive. He knew not to expect too much from something that seems too easy.

"It don' take much," he told her with a smile. Brushing was one of the easier jobs and he was sure she would be able to handle it just fine.

"Nice name, Cherie," he told her. It was definitely different. Mason was sure he hadn't heard it before but it as nice, variety was something he enjoyed and this was no different. It wouldn't be easy one to remember but Mason had a good memory. He would make the effort, even if he would only continue calling her 'Cherie'.

"LaRue," he told her. "Mason LaRue," he said, "And it's a pleasure to meet you too." Mason smiled at the girl again, he had been doing that a lot today but it was nothing out of the ordinary for him.

"What do you usually do during the day?" he asked, just making conversation while he switched the next hoof.

[Roisin Dubh]

Roisin smiled. “Thanks… It’s a nickname, really,” she admitted, continuing her strokes with the brush. “Some lads gave it to me back in Dublin awhile back. Means Dark Rose, in the Irish.” She was silent for a moment, not wanting to pester him, but she was a curious one. “Ya keep callin’ me cherie…. What’s that mean, then?” she asked finally.

She repeated his name silently to herself, liking how his last name sounded. Much different from the Irish names she was used to hearing, and she again wondered where he was from. Everything about him seemed different from anything else she had run across in New York so far. Not that she had seen too much of it outside of Queens, but still…..

“I sell newspapers,” she said with a little laugh. “It can be hard sometimes, an' often the money’s no’ so good, but I like it well enough…. Been doin’ it since I was pretty young, both in Ireland, now here, an’ I love the freedom o’ it. Worth most o’ the downsides anyway… Ya meet a lot o’ people that way, ya know?” She grinned, shaking her head at her rambling. Jaysus, he was going to think her an eejit for sure. She was normally a bit more reserved than this with people she didn’t know, though she thought his easy smile might have a lot to do with it.

[mason]

Mason just nodded, staying on his side, doing his work. Dark Rose, it suited here, he liked that. On top of that he now knew where that accent came from. He was usually alright with accents if he had heard them before. Hers he had heard a few times before but confirmation was always nice.

"Means 'dear'.. Like if I say ma cherie, Ahm [I'm] sayin' my dear," he explained. It was just a general nickname he often used with girls. If she wasn't going to be 'cherie', she would have been 'petite' or 'belle' or whatever other name happened to pop into his head when he met her.

"No," he said, not really doubting her, but just as a reaction to what she said. "My sister does dat!," he told her with a smile. He smiled again as he listened to her words. She seemed to really love her job which was good. It was always best to at least try and enjoy what you did or you'd end up in an early grave from all the stress and what not, at least that was what Mason believed.

"Ah know, Ah meet a lot of people here too, Cherie, but none as beautiful as you," he told her with a smirk, well hidden on his side of the horse before moving forward and back around. "We should switch sides now," he told her with a wink.

[Roisin Dubh]

Roisin rolled her eyes and chuckled on her side of the horse. She had guessed it meant something of the sort, as though the word was unfamiliar, the tone in which it was said was familiar. It was no different from the lads calling her ‘love’, and she was used to that enough not to read into the potentially affectionate nickname. Lads were lads, after all, no matter where they hailed from.

Roisin’s interest perked up. “Is she now? Then I’m sure ya know all about what I do!” she laughed as she continued to run the brush further down the horse’s side. “Does she sell here in Brooklyn, then?” She knew there were girl newsies in Brooklyn, though she had not met one as of yet, and had heard they were every bit as tough as the boys. She wondered if his sister was one of them.

She raised an eyebrow at his blatant compliment. She knew he had been flirting a bit throughout, though more subtle and roundabout in manner, and she had wondered how long it would take him to get around to more direct flattery. She smirked a bit herself, not bothering to hide it as he moved around to her side of the horse “Am I so beautiful as all that, then?” she asked teasingly, brushing past him on her way to the other side of the horse to resume her task.

[mason]

"I know a little bit," Mason admitted. He had really spoken to her too much about what she did but he knew the basics of how she spent her days, she was his sister after all but Mason had his own work and his own life. He didn't really have the time to go learning more about it.

"Naw Cherie, in Manhattan," he told her. He saw enough of his sister but she spent most of her time with those other newsie friends of hers so it wasn't as though they spent a lot of time having nice long chats. He did keep an eye on her though and she him, otherwise he would have gotten into trouble by now.

She was always the voice of reason when he needed it and especially when he didn't think he did. She always seemed to think she needed to talk him out of his little schemes but Mason was always so confidant in them.

"More than that Cherie, even words can not describe," he told her with a smirk. He was probably going too far with that one but why not? A pretty girl was always worth the effort.

[Roisin Dubh]

Roisin nodded. Manhattan was a friendly enough place, and she didn’t think a girl would have to much trouble there. She herself had spent her first couple of nights at the Manhattan lodge, though a lack of room had forced her to look somewhere else for a permanent bunk. Not that she was complaining, as she had been doing well enough in Queens.

Roisin let out a pleased laugh at his flattery. She knew he was exaggerating, silly boys always did, but still, it was always nice to hear a compliment. “But for your accent, I’d almost say ya was Irish, with a bold tongue like that, aye?” she teased him. She could see how a lass could easily get taken in by his charming smile and pretty words. Even she had to admit that she had warmed to him a bit in the short time she’d talked with him. But if he were looking to get something from her beyond a casual bit of fun and teasing, he was gonna have to come up with better than that, as Roisin was Irish born and bred, and had grown up with some of the most silver tongued lads to be found anywhere.

Starting her brushing once more, she finally gave into her curiosity. “So tell me, then, Mr. LaRue,” she began. “As we’ve established that ye aren’t Irish, would it be pryin’ for me t’ ask where it is ye do come from?”

[mason]

Mason just smiled. She didn't seem to be able to place his accent but not everyone did, it wasn't one that was too common in any part of New York.

"I'm from Louisiana, Cherie, not far from Naw'Lins [New Orleans]," he told her. "Right down in the bayou," he told her, his tone always slow and sounding like he was 'bout to tell her a story, which in a way, he was.

"Bag dare [back there] in de swamp, catchin' crawfish and shrimp all day. Maman [mother] always makin' jaws [jars] of fig preserves. Brook always catchin' dem fireflies," he told her, thinking back on those days, back when things were easy and good.

"It's a lot different to what it is here," he told her, getting back to finishing the hoof and moving on to the last one in the back. "What's it lak where you from, Cherie?" he asked, wondering what life was like for her before coming here. He didn't really know much about Ireland but the few Irish people he had met were always nice and friendly.

[Roisin Dubh]

Roisin listened to him talk about his home and smiled. He obviously missed it, much like she missed her own country. She had never heard of Louisiana or New Orleans before, nor did she have the slightest idea what a bayou was, but the way he talked, all slow and easy, made her what to hear more about them. “Where is Loo-zee-anne?” she asked, sounding out the word as best she could, though her own accent made it hard. She laughed at herself and her awkward attemp. “ I don’t know anythin’ about any o’ that stuff…bayous an’ crawfish…we don’t have anthing like that in Ireland that I know o’… Lest it’s called by another name…”

Roisin finished with her brushing and moved around the horse to stand beside him, watching as he cleaned the last hoof. “Ah… For me, it wasn’t much different… Dublin was a big city, an’ no’ unlike this one, though different enough t’ have me missin’ it…..” she trailed off with wistful smile and a shrug. The truth was, she missed it badly, and she didn’t much care for talking too long about it, as the homesick feeling that accompanied such a talk sometimes made her quite miserable. Flashing him a bright smile, she forced a little laugh. “No’ near as interestin’ as your….. N’awlins?” Her laugh was more genuine as she again tripped over the foreign word.

[mason]

Mason feigned seriousness for a moment when she asked where it was. "Eet's a tousand [thousand] miles, that way," he said, pointing in a random direction because the smirk appeared on his face. "It's more South from here," he told her, giving her a better answer this time.

Mason look a little surprised that she had no idea what he was talking about but he expected it. He wasn't particularly worldly either and he didn't know too much about Ireland except it's general location and the fact that they had very different accents there. Fortunately the very few that he had met from there, he was able to understand. He remembered one though that he had a lot of problems with. He couldn't understand a word of what he said while his friend from the same place he could understand completely. It was strange how that worked. Roisin was fine though, in fact he liked talking to this girl.

"Then you should come and see it for yourself Cherie. I should take you there one day," he said with a smile. It was home to him and if she hadn't seen it then she should. He would be having her catch crawfish and all by the end of it. She did seem like the type who would be happy to get her hands a little dirty and he liked that.

Mason just smiled when she talked about her own home for a little bit but then stopped. He could see that she missed it, it was obvious in her face. Finishing the last hoof he stood.

"It's interestin' enough that you should see it for yourself one day," he told her. Most people came to New York for a better life but finding it took a lot of hard work. He knew what it was to miss home because it where you were most of your life and it was what you knew so he wouldn't ask her too much more about her Ireland and have her miss it any more than she had to.

[Roisin Dubh]

Roisin laughed at the offhanded wave in what she was certain was a randomly picked direction. “Thousand miles…” she glanced around and waved in another random direction, “…that way, is it?” She gave him a wink, letting him know she was only teasing him, as here in the stable, she honestly had no better idea of the directions than he did, and nodded when he instead gave her a verbal direction.

She laughed at his look of surprise. “Are crawfish an’ fig preserves so wonderful, then, that everyone the world o’er should know o’ them?” she asked, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. She liked learning about new things, and she wouldn’t mind seeing this place he spoke of so affectionately someday, though his offer to take her there himself had her raising her brow at his forwardness. “Oh should ye, then? An’ what makes ye think I’m the kind o’ lass what would just go trippin’ off anywhere with the likes o’ ye, hmm?” she asked with a grin, knowing he meant no harm by the words, but unable to pass up the chance to tease him.

Roisin grinned up at him as he stood. “Perhaps I shall, someday,” she mused, though she knew, with a touch of regret, that it was unlikely. For all that she would love to see the things he described with such interesting detail, she could hardly travel on what she made as a newsie, and though she knew that someday she would have to grow up and find other employment, she doubted it would be enough to give her the means to travel. Still, it was something to daydream about, and Roisin was a great one for the daydreaming. “What else did ye do, Mr. LaRue?” she asked, wondering if he had anymore stories he would share, as she enjoyed listening to him talk about his home and found herself hoping that eventually she would be able to reminisce about her own home someday. It would be nice to be able to keep her memories alive with the same warm fondness that he seemed to have instead of the biting pain that accompanied hers.

[mason]

Mason smirked. She caught on to it. Alright, so the man wasn't a walking compass, but he had a rough idea at least of how far away it was and a thousand miles sounded just about right to him. "Somethin' lak dat," he said, yeah, somewhere there abouts.. It was close enough considering he had no idea which direction it was really in.

"Eets de best Cherie," he told her. "Boiled crawfish with some spices," he said, making himself miss the food now. He didn't get that here but Mason was sure he would find himself back there some day and then he could eat all he wanted and things would be great for a little while.

He smirked at her words. She had a point there, though it was an innocent invitation. He just smiled whens he said that she might one day. With a busy life and all, it wouldn't be easy to find the time to do anything like that.

"some o' dis, some o' dat," he said, not being all that specific but then there really wasn't much to tell. He was young and just did what he wanted and had fun living life. "why don' you tell me about your home, Cherie," he suggested, he was sure that she would have some great stories too.