Train Yards -- Platform

[Administrator]

Leaving town? Arriving? Just trying to sell some papes? well, you've come to the right place!

[Banshee O'Hara]

(Tag to Mitzi)

Banshee whistled cheerfully as he wove through the crowd of passengers that had just departed from the train. This was one of his favorite places to sell, as it seemed that everyone wanted a pape for the train ride, or to read while waiting for someone to meet them. As usual when he sold here, he’d not been around long and his stack was already half gone. Up ahead, he could see another train steaming up to the next platform over, and he sauntered across the rails to meet the soon to be departing crowd. Apparently he wasn’t the only one with the idea, however, and he stopped whistling as he took in the tiny redheaded girl already waiting with her papes ready.

It wasn’t so much that someone else was here. Banshee knew he wasn’t the only one that favored this spot, and truth be told, there was plenty of business to go around. What had him a little out of sorts was that he’d not seen this one around before, nor anywhere else in Brooklyn for that matter, and he hoped for the girl’s sake that she hadn’t drifted down from Queens or something. Nobody but Brooklyn sold in Brooklyn, and Banshee was in too good of a mood to have some little chit far from her own turf ruin it for him.

Sighing, he shouldered his remaining papes and made his way casually up the platform until he was right behind the girl. Leaning against the light post, he watched her for a moment, a smirk quirking his lips. She wasn’t good and Banshee realized there was a good chance she was new. Still, better to be sure and all that. “Ya lost, then, love?” he asked mildly, his smirk growing wider when she jumped.

[Mitzi]

The younger red head did jump and spun around quickly to look at him. She was in a long brown skirt and was dressed quite warmly, it still being winter and all. However around her neck was a bright green scarf, with a sort of tasseled knit at the end that she kept playing with simply because she liked the feel of the little pieces of yarn. She looked up at him brown eyes a little scared and her free hand, not holding newspapers went to her pocket where her father's knife was housed. She didn't pull it out, but her hand was on the handle.

She blinked a few times and looked up at Banshee, "You know," she said with amazing diction. Every consonant was harshly pronounced and it seemed she put extra effort into the way she talked. Every t was defined, and ever h spoken without fault. The odd thing was, this was the way she always talked. "It is not nice to sneak up on someone so quietly like you just did right there a second ago." As she said the sentence she nearly tripped over it as it came out so harshly from her mouth. "Why would you do a thing like that to a girl, hmm?" she asked. She seemed innocent enough, and after all, she was just trying to make a little money selling papers to take home to her mom and dad. Of course, her mind worked quickly having a wandering way about it.

She had scarcely finished her last word when she said, "Oh unless I am in your way in which case I am very sorry and I did not mean to get in your way or step on your toes and I will leave if you want me to I am sorry." All in one breath, with, still keeping up her diction. She was an odd sort of awkward duck in this way, but she didn't know it. She thought she was just like everyone else.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee’s relaxed stance didn’t change, though he raised an eyebrow when the girl’s hand moved to her pocket. That he had scared her, he could tell, and he hoped she wouldn’t do something stupid like try to pull a knife on him right in the middle of the crowded platform. Straightening as she moved a little closer, he continued to smirk down at her as she blinked up at him. His smirk, however, changed to a slightly incredulous look as the little chit opened her mouth and preceded to reprimand him. That alone was startling enough, given the fear that still shadowed her eyes, but even more astonishing was the pronounced manner of speaking her words were delivered in.

Banshee couldn’t have answered her question even if he’d wanted to, which he didn’t, as in a lightening quick change of tone she was suddenly blurting out perhaps the oddest apology he had ever heard. If the painfully sharp pronunciation sounded strange before, it seemed positively absurd when delivered with such speed, and Banshee was hard pressed to keep his face stern as he continued to study her. Pushing his amusement aside, he took a step closer, keeping a semi wary eye on the hand still concealed in her pocket. Mildly entertaining or not, the fact remained that she was an unknown presence in the exclusive borough.

“What’re ya doin’ in Brooklyn,” he asked more directly this time, his voice holding a mild warning that she had better be supplying an answer. His initial good mood would only grant her so much leniency before it gave way to impatience, as dealing with her was costing him sales and the chance of having a shortened work day.

[Mitzi]

There was a sort of deer in the headlights look on her face as she gazed up at the man who was nearly half a foot taller than her. She swallowed her fear a little bit, which was more effort than she had realized. She hadn't thought that selling newspapers was going to be the thing that got her into trouble! She slowly took a deep breath and tried to slow down the speed of her speech.

"I am simply selling papers," she said, her diction still clear as a bell and as absurd as ever. "See... my mama and papa" the words having a french inflection to them, "live on the apartments at Kings Highway..." she stopped herself before her nerves got a hold of her speech pattern again. "My papa hasn't had much work lately, and mama cannot keep up with all the work she has to do either... so I came to sell papers and help out." She tried to end the sentence on a cheery tone, but found this difficult, the intimidating man still standing before her.

"Ummm..." her eyes darted around slightly as though she was cornered and looking for a way out. And in a way she was. If this man jumped on her she'd want to try and run away quickly. However she did remove her hand from her pocket, if just because running would probably be better than fighting at this point. "I am sorry if I did something to offend you nice tall strong man." As could be told by her adjectives for Banshee, she was definitely still not at ease. She considered herself a people person for the most part, but this guy scared her. "If you like I can go away," she assured him. She wanted to help her family but didn't want her scare her papa into never letting her sell papers again.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Ask an’ ye shall receive, Banshee thought to himself, rolling his eyes at her lengthy and somewhat nervous explanation. Though he generally had no use for people that were all too willing to give way more information than the situation demanded, her words certainly cleared up several questions he had. Glad to be spared the trouble of having to run her back to her own borough, his mood lightened somewhat and he gave a bit of thought to the rest of her words. So she wasn’t from the streets…. That certainly accounted for her demeanor, though unless she changed it, she’d not last long in Brooklyn.

He smirked when she pulled her hand from her pocket, glad that she had given up whatever ridiculous notion had prompted her to put it there in the first place. He knew plenty that wouldn’t hesitate to jump her for such a move. He took a step back from her and leaned once more against the lamp post, as now that he was satisfied she wasn’t an immediate problem, he saw no reason to keep intimidating her. He gave her a little shrug. “You’re no’ botherin’ me, love,” he said, his tone a bit kinder as he looked her over again. He thought about simply walking away from her, but as naïve as she was, he had legitimate doubts that she would last the day. Not to mention that her odd speech patterns would make her an instant target, and while he had to admit they were slightly off-putting, he hardly considered them deserving of the ridicule she was sure to receive if some of the others happened on her.

“Plenty o’ people for the both o’ us, aye?” He shook his head with a chuckle. “‘Sides, with the headlines ya were hawkin’, ye’ll no’ be sellin’ much o’ anythin’.”

[Mitzi]

Mitzi stared at him in fear for a few more seconds until his posture relaxed, and then slowly so did she. She sort of cocked her head to one side. She usually wasn't so uptight, but it being her first day and everything, she felt a little at sea and was probably just being over cautious. As his tone sounded kinder she even smiled a little bit at him happy that the nice strong tall man wasn't going to kill her. She was no stranger to the Brooklyn streets, having lived there for a bit now, but all the same, she didn't usually interact with people like this. Especially not the intimidating people that often wandered around the borough. Reaching for the knife as her mind drifted to the events thus far, was probably a bit much. After all she was quick, she could run, hopefully fast enough if she needed to. Her papa probably put the fear into her. She needed to relax. She was even more interesting when she calmed down.

As Banshee chuckled her smile grew a little wider as her mood improved. Now that he wasn't trying to intimidating her she found him to be not so bad of a person. She was glad to hear that he wasn't going to kick her out or ask her to leave, especially since she'd only gotten started. She would have asked him questions about himself, but she didn't really think she needed to. He seemed fairly self-explanitory. Thick accent, tall and strong and rough, and a cheerful demeanor wasn't something he had very often. Mitzi could read people well, which made impersonating them all the eaiser later. She'd have to remember Banshee, maybe she could be intimidating if she acted like him.

It was true enough that she wasn't the best salesperson at all. She wasn't used to talking and yelling things, she was more used to just having fun and banging on things to get people's attention for their money rather than saying anything at all. All the same, she looked at him like a confused kitten as he said that she wouldn't be selling very well with the headlines she was calling out. "What do you mean?" she asked. Her diction was still quite clear, but since she had calmed down the tone was no longer as harsh or spooked anymore. All the same the consonants didn't flow like they did for most new yorkers, there was still a clear t in what and a clear d in do. But she was very interested in learning about how to sell correctly and was hoping that he'd show her.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee’s chuckle died off as he looked down at her expression of wide eyed confusion, and he wondered again if he shouldn’t have just walked away from her. While he didn’t begrudge her the opportunity to try to earn her living just like the rest of them, he wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to pass on his knowledge either. But the hope mingled with the confusion in her unguarded brown eyes suggested that she thought he might do just that, and Banshee barely bit back the frustrated curse that leapt to his lips at her inquiry.

Though her words were still more pronounced than Banshee felt was natural, he was relieved that with the loss of some of her anxiety, the tone had softened a bit and had lost its grating edge. Regarding her for a long moment, he finally shrugged. “Well, ye’re readin’ ‘em right off the page, t’ start with….” he began slowly, wondering why he was even beginning at all. He hoped she was intelligent, at least, as while his mood was allowing for an abnormal amount of patience, he wasn’t overly patient by nature, and any failure of comprehension would be more than enough reason in his mind to leave her to sort herself out.

“This shite,” he said as he gestured towards her papes, “It happens everyday, aye? In some form or another, anyway…” He glanced around at the crowd before turning his gaze back to her. “Most o’ these people have read all this a thousand times o'er, an’ they’re no’ gonna be spendin’ their money t’ read it again.” He pushed off the lamp post and began making his way down the platform, not bothering to see if she was following.

Stopping beside a cluster of benches upon which sat a decent group of passengers waiting to board their train, he turned back, not the least bit surprised to see her right behind him. “So ya gotta make it interesting’….. Put a little creativity int’ it an’ make it somethin’ anyone would wanna read,” he finished with a shrug and a little grin.

[Mitzi]

The longer Mitzi listened to him talk, the more it made sense. And the longer she was around him the more she started to learn. He sure seemed nice, but the look on his face did show that he had better things to do. Maybe she was getting in the way after all. But for what it was worth, the guy was being awfully nice to help her out the way he was, so of course Mitzi saw the good in him. All the same, she was an imitator by nature. Always starting with a clean canvas and as she got to know someone would try to act more and more like them without being annoying or copying them exactly of course. She wasn't trying to be annoying. Over her years of meeting people at school and such, she could become quite popular simply by acting like the rich kids, though she didn't have the money to back it up like they could, she could at least pull off the charade. And she intended to use that skill to her advantage here as well as she followed Banshee.

Intently, she listened to every word he said. She was a quick study on things, so with a little instruction and a little advice chances were good that she'd work on it, and soon be proficient enough to handle things on her own. Of course for now she just how to think of how to make the headlines sound interesting. And if she was going for creativity then she was going to use interesting words that made things sound bigger and better than they were! After all, she knew them, and knew what they meant. Why shouldn't she?

She nodded proudly up at him, attempting to mimic his self-assured nature and had a small smile on her lips as she did so. "I think... I can manage that." Her diction was still very clear, but the more one heard it the less it sounded out of place, or perhaps the more comfortable she got saying the words. Creativity sounded fun.

Quickly, with a sort of childlike excitement she opens the paper to find a headline and discovers one talking about the stars in the sky. And how scientists think they can explode. She liked that. Quickly she closed the paper and turned away from Banshee. She lifted the paper above her red head, and in a clear, diction peppered voice, called, "Stellar Explosion Threaten the World!" How was that for creativity? She was proud, just a little.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find that though there was a definite, almost childlike naivety in her expression, there was a fair amount of intelligence in it as well as she watched him intently. When she nodded up at him, he noticed with no small amount of amusement that she was trying to copy his self-assured stance and he gave her an indulgent smile of encouragement at her profession of being able to follow his advice. “Well, go on with ya, then, love,” he prompted, motioning towards the crowd.

Banshee watched as she scanned the paper, admittedly a little curious as to what she would come up with. He was slightly dubious when she shut it again after a short perusal, but he made no comment and instead settled back against the platform railing to watch her. The improved headline was surprisingly decent, and Banshee chuckled at her obvious pride as a couple people stopped to buy a pape. When she turned back to him expectantly, however, he merely shrugged as he straightened and walked a few yards down the platform. Pulling out his own pape from his stack, he called out the same headline and quickly sold off ten. Turning back to her with a smirk, he laughed at her crestfallen expression. “Which leads t’ yer second problem, aye?”

Motioning her to him, he looked her over. She was neatly dressed, but not abnormally so, which helped some. Shaking his head, he chuckled at her rapt attention. “The way ya talk….” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “There’s nothin’ wrong with it, per say, only ya got a real clear way o’ doin’ it that makes ya sound educated an’ maybe even a little smarter than half the people around ya. I don’t know if ya are, nor do I care, but I’ll tell ya right now, no one is gonna buy a pape from someone they perceive t’ be better off than themselves.”

[Mitzi]

Of course. It was brilliance... the man was a genius. No wonder Mitzi had been having a hard time. True, she hadn't noticed that she spoke so clearly or so articulately. And she had been a little annoyed when he used her words and then sold more papers than her and in less time. But, the second he said that the way she talked was an issue she closed her mouth and watched him intently and listened very carefully to the words he said. Right away she was watching the way his mouth moved, listening to how he said different words and vowels and such. She noticed he left out entire consonants... what an odd thing to do. That was hardly fair she thought, to the word, for it was written that way, it ought to be said that way. But, perhaps, he was on to something. And if she wanted to be any good at this, she was not about to turn down the elder's advice. Even if was only older by a year, his knowledge of living in New York far outweighed her own, and she knew it. But she was more than prepared and beyond happy to learn.

"No one is gonna buy a pape..." that word felt funny in her mouth, "from someone they perceive t' be better off than themselves..." she repeated back to him trying her best to match his inflections and his accents. It was so weird that it made her nearly grimace as though it tasted funny to speak with a different accent. She shook her head a little like a small child refusing to eat vegetables. But all the same, she wanted to do it right, and she wanted to do it well. She didn't have to be the best, but she did at least want to show the man that she had a chance out here!

"If I were t' ask ye, love," she said sliding into it once more, "have ye any suggestions on how t' be doin' this better?" she asked. She closed her mouth and sort of rolled her lips around as though she was thinking very hard and trying to get her teeth clean by just rubbing her lips against them. It was a very odd expression. But after a moment she went back to the usual curious and interested expression that her face housed more often than not and looked at him for an answer to her question.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee was slightly impressed by her passably accurate mimicking of his accent and the way she tried to copy the casually flirty tone he usually used on girls he didn’t know amused him. However, the look she followed each attempt with had his eyes narrowing “If I were t’ give ye another suggestion, love, I would say that ye might want t’ think about no’ makin’ that face anymore.” He drew himself up and stared down at her, one eyebrow slightly cocked. “The accent itself is decent enough, but half the people that’ll be buyin’ from ya will have the same one, an’ they’re no’ gonna be buyin’ anything’ if ya keep makin’ faces like ya just ate somethin’ bloody awful, yeah?” His tone was mild, but his gaze held the slightest flicker of annoyance as he continued to watch her.

“Ya seem like a nice enough kid, but ya got an odd manner that makes ya seem like you're puttin’ on airs, ya know?” Banshee shook his head a little as he glanced around, not wanting to miss the next wave of passengers. His expression eased just a bit as he turned back to her. “Look, love, I’m no’ sayin’ ya are, just that someone could see it that way, an’ nobody 'round here is gonna stop an’ ask ya what ya mean by a word or a glance before takin’ offense t’ it.”

Banshee hoped the girl was paying attention. He knew she was smart, as she had picked up quickly on what little advice he had thrown at her. But smart wasn’t always enough, and sometimes a person could even be too smart. He had a feeling she would calm down some and sort herself out with a little experience, but it was making it long enough to get the experience he was slightly dubious about. Sighing, he gave her a little smile. “That train there should be unloadin’ soon. Why don’t ya head up that way, an’ give it a go….. I’ll be 'round, aye?”

[Mitzi]

The poor thing was in pure shock. She had never had the idea that she might be offending people or putting them off simply by how she talked or reacted to things. The last thing she ever wanted to do was make someone dislike her. And it wasn't that she was trying to make fun of his accent, in fact, that was often the reason she tried very hard not to talk like the people she was with, for fear they'd think she was making fun of them, when all she really wanted to do was befriend them. Perhaps this was why she spoke so articulately and in such an odd way, because no one talked like that, and she had thought that if she talked differently then it wouldn't sound as though she was mocking anyone. She had never thought the opposite to be true.

And she was paying attention, very close attention. Her mind usually tended to wander, but when she was learning things that she believed to be important her focus was as sharp and strong as she could muster. So she listened to every word and took everything into account. Of course the faces had just been an instant reaction because the dialect sounded so different from her own. It was more of an odd feeling than something that she didn't like, sort of like tastings a snicker doodle cookie for the first time. Not bad just different, and takes a little getting used to. Besides, the more she got used to it, the less faces she'd make, and already she was getting to the point where it was getting more comfortable. She listened intently to the words that Banshee said, and also how he said them. She took them to heart and nodded slightly. She had never thought she was a difficult person to understand (and not just through speaking, but her personality as well), perhaps her thinking had been backwards this whole time. Wouldn't surprise her. Mitzi found she often thought backwards.

As Banshee indicated the train would be coming soon, and where he told her to go to try and sell she looked over and found the place she should be. She turned back to him and nodded. The aye was a strange word... but she'd heard her mother use it. She was sure it meant yes, or alright, depending. She was quiet for a moment then said. "Thankee," with a small smile, still doing her best to try and sound like him, but was careful not to pull 'love' out again. "I canna thankee enough for all the kind help. I'll be lettin' ye know how I do." She smiled sincerely at him, hoping that he really understood that she was just trying to be nice. But she didn't want to over do it either, this man didn't seem the touchy feely type. So, after a moment she turned on her toes and bounced down the platform to a place she could sell for a moment. She'd be back as soon as the crowed calmed down after the train to let him know how well she was doing.

[Banshee O'Hara]

Banshee rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. “No worries, love, just…” he shrugged and gave her a little smirk. “Good luck, or somethin’, aye?” He shook his head again with a chuckle as he watched her bounce off down the platform. She was nothing if not enthusiastic, and he figured she’d do alright. He hoped so, anyway, as the better she did, the less likely she would be to pester him for more advice. He thought about just leaving, but the fact remained that it was still his best bet for a short selling day, even with the lost time, and the quicker he got done, the more time he had to spend at McGinty’s sweet talking Shannon.

Darting a glance down the platform, he could just barely make out flashes of the girl’s red hair. Turning and moving in the opposite direction, he wandered a ways before stopping and calling out the made up headline from earlier. He smirked as several people stopped, and he had to admit the headline was bloody decent. No doubt she might be annoyed to find him using it, and normally, he would never steal another’s headline, but Banshee figured they’d call it even for the advice.

[Mitzi]

A surge of people coming off the train came as promised. People looking for papers and for some update on what they'd missed while they had been away from town, or to get a handle on what was going on in New York that day, what have you. The papers sold like it was going out of style, and Mitzi was having a much easier time with her newly adapted Irish accent. She would have to go thank Banshee and soon. But not too soon, she would wait for the train to be empty and the platform to be clear, then she'd go look for him again.

As the last few straglers stood around the platform Mitzi did a recount of how many papers she had sold. From the 50 she had been able to bought with the two bits her father gave her that morning she had already sold half! And a good 20 of those were just in the last train load. She was quite proud of herself. She smiled brightly at the change in her hand. She even had a few things a bit more than a penny. She pulled out the three nickels she received and quickly walked back to Banshee.

As she came up to him she gently tapped him on the arm, not wanting to bother him, or alarm him, but just inform him that she was there. She waited for him to look at her and then smiled faintly at him. "I think," she said trying to focus hard on not saying her words so harshly, she wanted this guy to like her after all. Not in any special way, she was gonna be happy with a new friend, if she could find it. "I think I owe ya, for ya help...?" she asked. She had the three nickels in her hand, but her hand was closed at the moment so he couldn't see them. "It is the least I could do for... everything." She was just trying to be nice, so she really hoped that he would accept it. After all, if she had cut into his selling for the day, she didn't want it to be her fault if he made less money.