Counter Stools

[Administrator]

Pull up a stool!

[scamp]

Rio yawned, propping her head up on her fist. She knew that it wasn't the proper way to sit, but well, her mama sure wasn't here to tell her what she could and couldn't do, so, there she sat.

It had been a long day of selling papers and running from irate customers. She just wasn't good at 'improving the truth'. In fact, she'd even be so bold as to wadger that she was downright horrid at it.

Ah, well. She had enough so that she could eat anyway. She flagged down the waiter and ordered some soup and a drink, taking out a well-worn copy of Gulliver's Travels to read while she waited for her food to arrive.

[emilyb]

*New Day*

Emily sat at the counter, deeply engrossed in the book she was reading while eating the sandwich she ate with her soup. She pulled the napkin from the front of her shirt to brush away the crumbs that had fallen on her book, forgetting that she had it tucked under her soup bowl. The bowl tipped over, covering not only part of her dress, but the entire page of her book in red tomato soup.

[street]

~New~

Street entered Stu's quickly. She peered through the door as the copper who'd been chasing her ran by. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat at the counter. She swung her bare feet and ordered a cheap meal. She looked at the silver watch she has just pickpocketed from a well-to-do gentlemen and sighed. Who could she sell this to? One of the Harlem boys? Or perhaps she should try Midtown...

"Thanks, Meester." She said to the clerk. She looked around. No one was paying her any attention, good. She needed to lay low. She fixed her skirt-which was slightly shorter then normal with pants underneath, to allow for sprinting-and made sure her vest was buttoned. She quickly ate her meal, enjoying every minute of it. As she ate, she wondered if she should hawk some papers in the afternoon, or go to the races...

[dannyblue]

Danny stepped into the diner, having a glance around and looked as if he should be eating in a more pricey establishment judging by the suit he wore. He gave a nod to the waiter behind the bar and took a seat a few down from the blonde girl, who he merely glanced to when she thanked the waiter for bringing her own food. At first glance he wouldn't have been able to tell if she were a boy or girl, if it hadn't been for the skirt she was wearing over her pants.

A newsie, probably, he thought, but the accent threw him for a moment. It sounded foreign, but genuine? Hard to tell. Could be she was really from the Russian Empire, Prussia, Hungary, around those parts but most of those immigrants took to factories rather than newspapers. She was dressed more like a newsie from his perspective. Maybe she was faking the accent for sympathy.

"That accent real?" He said with a twinge of a smirk, his own London accent apparent. He kept his eyes to the menu laid before him, but it was clear he was speaking to her, since the only other patron at the counter was eight seats away.

((Edit to fix my typo))

[street]

Street looked to the man. He was well dressed, and British. Street wasn't sure how to respond. "Yeah, me accent's real. How about yours, Sir?" Street asked. "You seem ta be a well-ta-do gent, kind of like the ones I get these chains from." Street showed him the silver chain. "Are you a gentlemen like me Grandpapa or just a well dressed drifter?"

Street continued to throw glances at him as she ate the sandwhich. He had an air about him. An air that seemed to say, 'Danger!' Street was interested. Perhaps this person could offer her something...Something exciting.

[dannyblue]

"A gent indeed, my girl." He answered off handedly, raising an eyebrow at the silver chain she had slipped from her pocket. That made him turn towards her in the bar stool a bit. He looked away as the waiter wandered over to him and took his order. After the waiter was gone, Danny nodded to the girl again, "Let me guess, there's something a bit more expensive on the end of that chain, love?"

[street]

"A gent indeed, my girl."

Street nodded, this was entirely plausible. He turned to her, she waited for him to say something, but then he looked away as the waiter came.

"Let me guess, there's something a bit more expensive on the end of that chain, love?"

Street nodded happily. She smiled and pulled the chain out completely. A silver and expensive-looking watch swung back and forth on the chain. "I dunno if it's worth much or not, but I saw it and I took it 'cause I needed some food money. This gent didn't see it comin'... Unfortunately, one of them coppers spotted me and I took off runnin'. Hasn't caught me yet!" Then she stopped and eyed him with suspicion. "You ain't a copper are ya, meester?" She asked quietly. Street tucked the chain and watch back in her pocket.

[dannyblue]

Danny frowned slightly, then held out his hand, gesturing for her to hand it over to him, "Nah, far from a cop. Can I see it for a mo'?"

He knew she'd be reluctant to hand over what little money she had, if it was worth anything and went on, "Me dad was in antiques. Did alot of jeweling, appraising, timing watches, that short of thing. I can tell real diamonds from glass a mile off. You can't grow up around that and not pick up on it a bit, can ya?"

He whistled, calling the waiter over, "Eddie'll make sure I won't nick your watch, won't ya, Ed?"

The waiter looked a little agitated at Danny's whistle but nodded distractedly and went back to sweeping the floor behind the bar, "Yeah, Danny, whatever you say..."

[street]

Street studied him. Nah, he didn't look like a copper, but... Street sighed. Then she tugged the watch out and handed it over, watching him. "I grew up around a rich father, he knew how ta make money, I obviously didn't pick that up." Street said, joking. She smiled wistfully and looked at the waiter, keeping an eye on the man.

"Your name is Danny? Me name is Street Lexeme. You can call me Street, everyone else does." Street said, then she took another bite of her sandwhich. She knew that he could nick the watch and she wouldn't be able to do anything, but it didn't really matter to her, if that watch got stolen from her, she would learn a lesson and she could always steal another.

[dannyblue]

Danny glanced at the watch for all of five seconds, frowning critically. He pressed the release, letting the lid fall open in his hand before snapping it shut and slipping it into his breast pocket. During all this Eddie had gone into the back, returning with Danny's simple sandwich and glass of Coca-Cola, just as the silver chain disappeared from sight.

He gave a bright smile to Eddie and stretched his arms out before him, his cuff's inching up his arms slightly, so as to not get them messy as he picked up his sandwich and bit into it. He didn't even look to the girl until he had chewed, swallowed, taken a sip of coke, and Eddie had gone back to sweeping.

"To my dearest Ernest, from your loving wife Alexis." He spoke simply, before biting into his sandwich again.

[street]

Street watched him look at the watch and then place it in his pocket. She felt her mouth drop open in surprise, and felt as if she had been slapped. Now, that was... That was... funny! Street burst out laughing.

"To my dearest Ernest, from your loving wife Alexis." The man said. Street sobered. She stared at where she knew the watch was, in his pocket.

"Ya know, you're good. I mean, I believed ya an' everythin'. Is that what ya do, going around conning people outta their things? Albeit, I stole it first, but..." Then she stopped and looked at him. "Is that what it really says?" She gestured to his pocket. "Does it really have that inscription?"

Street felt a little uneasy. This man, Danny, was good. He had her believing everything he said, up until he stole the watch. "Is everythin' ya say a lie, or was it just the thing about ya father?" She asked. "Ya know, you're pretty interestin', Danny."

[dannyblue]

"Well, it don't do for me to be interestin', but I'll take that as a compliment." He shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich, chewing and swallowing before speaking each time. "Was there an inscription? Don't matter, now, does it? You didn't bother checking, obviously." Clearly he was in no hurry. "Not much connin' involved, you know. If I was really throwin' a con your way, I'd have mentioned something about knowing exactly where this was crafted and where to get more. Or as a for instance, knowing the man who owned it and how to get it back to him while fishin' a reward and still keepin' the watch. Or danglin' the shiny little watch in front of a different man whose head's so far up his own arse he wouldn't be able to see you take a few thousand P from him."

Dollars, Danny reminded himself, but he'd been on a roll so he didn't go back to explain. He shrugged, "But that's not what happened, is it? Basically, sweetheart, I just asked you for it."

[street]

Street's head swirled with this information. "I guess I didn't know the true meanin' of con, did I? There's so much involved..." She sighed. "I have ta give ya credit though, ya played me like a violin. Congratulations." Then she turned back to her food, and smirked.

"But, I suppose your friend, 'Eddie' will be wantin' his hankerchief back huh?" She tugged a silk hankerchief from her other pocket. "Ya see, he passed just a leetle too close ta me, and it was justa stickin' outta his back pocket. And there ya go!" She looked at him. "How much do ya think this will fetch?" She asked him cheekily, showing him the silk garment but keeping a tight grip on it. "I ain't just gonna hand it over this time." Street said softly. "I learn quickly."

[dannyblue]

He glanced over to her, but hardly seemed impressed, "Not sure. Don't dabble with hankie's meself. If you want any price at all you might want to wash it first." A hint of a smile pass his lips and poor Eddie suddenly sneezed, reached in his pocket for his handkerchief, but of course couldn't find it, "Aw, damn!" Eddie cursed through a stuffed nose and Danny took his own handkerchief from his breast pocket. "Oi, mate, don't sneeze on me food, please."

Eddie took the hankie from him with a grateful nod and moved into the back room.

"Keep it!" Danny shouted back after him. He spoke to Street again, "I used to do that. Pickpocket, nickin' odds 'n ends outta stores. You do the same thing too long, odds stack against ya, and people start to notice, start rememberin' your face. How long you been playin' at this, darlin'?"