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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 4, 2011 19:46:06 GMT -5
Birdie got around the city, it was true but she wouldn't call anyone really friends. She stuck with Brooks for that, though she didn't have many. Birdie didn't let people get close, because the closer they got the more it hurt when they were gone the next day. She lost her folks, friends over the years and had just learned it was easier to keep her associates close and not make any friends. But it was different with Hawk, one of her few friends in the borough. Real friends, not many people got this side of Birdie. Miss Schaffer tended to do her own thing and leave others in the dust. Hawk was often with her or a few steps behind.
"Hold it," she said as she put her finger to his lips and then took the beer and a long pull from it. "We can't tell Spot, we'll hold onto it. More we know the safer the borough is. And aye, I think they may not of the stones to do it themselves, but they won't hesitate to hire someone...."
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Post by Hawkeye Dekker on Feb 4, 2011 20:56:30 GMT -5
He raised an eyebrow at the finger on his lips, but said no more about it. Picking up his beer, Hawk moved her finger aside with the bottleneck so he could take a swig. “Hell, they’ve never been above getting people to do their dirty work before, but I doubt they got the kind of dough it would take. Any gang big enough and bad enough to take on all of the boroughs, or even just us, ain’t gonna come cheap…”
Five Points was getting restless and beginning to cause news. Hawk knew they were up to something, but he wasn’t quite sure what yet. Whatever happened, he was ready for it. All this peace and prosperity bullshit was beginning to wear on him, he was ready for some Brooklyn action. It was all up to Spot of course, but if Birdie and he delivered the right info at the right time…
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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 4, 2011 21:14:56 GMT -5
"I don't know, Sean," she replied shaking her head, it wasn't that she didn't know it was that the Delancy's were a desperate lot and the Points were wanting to do something. "The Racantours couldn't do much, they were kidnapping newsies as opposed to recruiting them and making them steal for them. This is different.."
This was real gang, she remembered some things from the time of the Racs, but she didn't really care so much they didn't really bother Brooklyn. Nobody cared because the bloke in Brooklyn was an idiot. "Most a the points, they're Brooklyn. Meaning if they decided to go to war on the boroughs for turf or because of the Deancy boys.. it won't be pretty. They'll play hard ball and they won't stop because of kids. It won't matter..."
She laced her fingers around the bottle and closed her eyes, "They might try to take the whole city, we'd be a casualty if they took city hall.."
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Post by Hawkeye Dekker on Feb 4, 2011 22:20:24 GMT -5
“Shit, more than Brooklyn, they’re all fuckin Irish. Everyone knows ya don’t screw around with Irish gangs…” It was true, Points was predominately full of ass-kickin, cutthroat Irish--not the warm, friendly Irish--and the thought made even Hawk a little nervous. Brooklyn had Spot’s Irish temper and pride to help further their already fearsome reputation and that was enough to get people all over New York steering clear of them; not just the other Newsies. He tried not to think about what a bloodthirsty gang of fully grown Irish criminals could do in comparison. Maybe if all the boroughs were like Brooks they might stand a chance, but they weren’t. The results would be devastating.
Hawk snorted and took a swig of his beer, “We’re newsies, Birds, we’ve always been at the mercy of the big guys. But if the points takes city hall, I’m sure they have bigger plans than fuckin with us…” Least he hoped they would. Five Points in charge would be utter chaos. It was almost enough to forget about the measly little Delancey brothers and their vendetta.
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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 4, 2011 22:49:16 GMT -5
"Been losers since we were born, right Sean?" she sighed and ran her hand over her hair. "For helvede ..." she mumbled, a rare occurrence of Danish slipping from her lips in a curse as she wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back into the chair, sideways, gazing at the wall as she leaned her head against the back of the chair. She was lost in thought as she considered their situation as a whole, she often had walls up.
"Born to lose," she echoed and closed her eyes. "What's the point? Say we're going to get out of here and going to be high on the hog but who are we really kidding? We'll be lucky to survive to see twenty, eighteen." She looked over at him, watching him for a moment before she reached over and took her beer, drawing it into her lap. "... if we become problems, Brooklyn will fall first, it's the strongest and if we fall the others go like dominoes.."
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Post by Hawkeye Dekker on Feb 5, 2011 0:02:31 GMT -5
He could always tell she was losing her grip on thing when she started cursing in Danish. It was such a rare thing that it almost caught him off guard. Hawkeye took another sip of his beer, watching her carefully as she continued. Her next words made him frown a bit, as she brought up a subject he preferred not to think about. At eighteen he knew he was already pretty old for a street kid, how much longer could he really last? The odds had never been in his favor, and who knew what lay ahead.
He gave her a shrug and a grin, his face never betraying his thoughts, “We ain’t beat, Soph, we still got plenty of time left.” He took a drag and leaned his chair back on two legs, his eyes still on her face. “Hell look at Red and Ace,” he added, using their newsie names instead of their given ones to drive home his point, “they turned out okay. More than okay, some would say.” A depressed informant was a distracted informant and he was determined not to let that happen to her. He was always realistic with Birdie, knowing better than to even attempt lying to her, but he couldn’t help trying to point out the good things when she was down. He didn’t know if it would help, but he liked to try.
“Hell, if Brooklyn ever falls, all the newsies in New York would be fucked…” He drank down the last of his beer and set the empty bottle on the table, “But we ain’t ever gonna fall, so shut up with that shit.” Hawk winked at her, hoping to lighten the mood.
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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 5, 2011 0:24:58 GMT -5
She watched him for a moment, she wasn't exactly depressed it was just daunting. The blond Dane saw the threads that connected everything. She knew that the world that they lived in was one where things were dark. She knew that too, a half smirk crossed her face when he told her to knock with the shit and she got up, taking her beer before she did something she did rarely. Dropped herself into his lap and handed him her beer.
He took what he wanted but so did she and neither of them were the type that let to many lines blur. But when she wanted to do what she wanted to do. There wasn't anyone around, she wasn't sure if the door was secured or not but at that moment she didn't actually care. This wasn't a sign of weakness this was a sign of affection in a fashion, but also she just wanted to do what she liked and follow a rare instinct.
"I know.." she replied as she leaned her head against his shoulder, curling up on her side. "This is Brooklyn, we don't crack, we don't surrender and we go down fighting. It would be war.."
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Post by Hawkeye Dekker on Feb 5, 2011 0:52:37 GMT -5
A smirk crossed his face as she deposited herself in his lap and he accepted what was left of her beer. It wasn’t often that they showed affection like this, but the two of them were close with each other in odd ways. This was just how things went when they were alone together. Hawk’s eyes slid toward the door briefly, checking to make sure it was closed. Though it didn’t lock, he knew people in their LH would think twice about opening a closed door through which they could hear the voices of Brooklyn’s eyes and ears. They knew too many secrets. He wasn’t ashamed or self-conscious about how they were, he just knew no one else would understand and he wasn’t in the mood to explain.
One arm went around her back while the other held his cigarette and newly acquired bottle of beer. After taking a swig, he set it on the table and continued to smoke while she talked. When only a butte was left in his hand, he flicked in into a pile of its brethren and rested his hand on the leg of the girl in his lap. “Damn right we don’t… So those Delancey boys better be damn sure it’s worth it before they stir things up with Five Points.”
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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 5, 2011 1:05:55 GMT -5
No one really did understand them, but she wouldn't expect them to and wouldn't ask them to try either. Comfortable against him when his arm went around her she let her eyes remain closed as she listened to him speak. There weren't many people she let touch her, at all. She was particular, Hawk was her best friend in a lot of ways.
Her eyes opened when his hand settled on her leg and she looked down at it for a moment before she looked up at his face as she listened to him talk, a slight smirk crossing her face as she nodded. "Shoulda taken care of them years ago anyway. Doesn't matter we'll take shit as it comes, we always do."
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Post by Hawkeye Dekker on Feb 7, 2011 4:07:26 GMT -5
Hawk dug a cigarette and a matchbook out of his jacket pocket, the LH was always pretty chilly in the winter, and stuck the cig between his lips. Lighting it, he took a quick drag before tossing the book of matches on the table. He smoked too much for a person of his wages, but honestly it was a habit he was willing to work extra for. It was one of the main things that kept him so calm when under pressure or in intense situations and it gave him something to do with his hands. Some people believed it was bad for your health to smoke as much as he did and maybe they were right, but he honestly didn’t expect to live too long anyway, so he mostly ignored their claims.
Smirking at Birdie’s comment, Hawkeye took another drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke toward the ceiling. “Well we coulda, but we’ve always had too much fun fuckin with them to actually get rid of ‘em,” he grinned down at her. “Don’t deny you haven’t left early on the days you watched ‘Hattan just to see Cowboy give ‘em the runaround, ‘cause I know ya do.” Hawk preferred to mess with them in person, but he didn’t often get the chance.
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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 7, 2011 21:38:44 GMT -5
Birdie was smiling when he began to fiddle in his pockets, shifting herself to let him get what he was after though really she didn't feel like moving. Contented, which was a rare instance for Birdie, the small Dane curled a little bit, snorting lightly at his comment.
"Sure I do," she replied tilting her head back down, closing her eyes to allow the time to pass without being ever vigilant. Her ears were just as sharp as her eyes were and she just listened to the sounds in the lodging house for awhile before she sat up a bit on a grunt, curiosity piqued a bit before she looked down at him.
"Ever wonder why we do what we do? You and me?" It was a broad question but all answers applied and in every sense of the word. Why did they do what they did? What did they ever hope to gain? She wasn't the kind of girl who reacted often, when she did it was like unleashing a volcano, dangerous and deadly and it could last. Often leaving scars along the landscape.
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Post by Hawkeye Dekker on Feb 8, 2011 3:27:08 GMT -5
Hawkeye leaned back in the silence, resting his head on the back of the chair, and smoking quietly. The pair of them looked very relaxed and vulnerable like this, but he knew Birdie was like him in that she couldn’t turn off her senses and tune out to the world. They were constantly watching and or listening to the things around them, ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.
Her sudden movement to get up pulled Hawk out of his meditative state and he raised an eyebrow at her, taking another drag. He decided to only answer in reference to their jobs as informants, as he wasn’t yet ready to talk about anything else she had meant. He shrugged and nodded, “Course I do.” Of the things Hawk had doubts about, this was not one of them. “Because I like it and ‘cause I’m good at it,” he grinned.
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Post by Birdie Schaffer on Feb 10, 2011 2:40:36 GMT -5
Birdie was quiet for a moment, watching him before she let out a sigh and got up from his lap, dusting off her pants and reaching for her hat from the table. "Dunno bout you but the beer here isn't as good as the tap...."
Glancing at him over her shoulder she gave him a half smile, dismissing it. "Talk when I've had a couple..." With that she made her way out the door, slipping her hair into her hat as she went. Not waiting for him to follow but knowing he would. She needed to get out of the room for a moment and get some air.
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