Closing Time

[Stagey]

In, out. Pul through, tighten. In, out...

"Ooh! Ouch."

Stagey instinctively put her finger to her lips, the coppery taste making her frown. The sting ebbed quickly, the prickmark from the needle fading to a little pink dot... one of many on her index finger. Serves me right, thinking I could mend this gown with only one gas lamp.

She set the sky-blue satin costume over a chair in her tiny backstage room. After all, Medda wouldn't need it finished until day after tomorrow. Still, it gave Stagey something to do and, after hearing the rain hammer against her modest window pane, going for a walk was certainly out of the question.

Sighing, she reached under her mattress and pulled out a tattered, leather-bound book and pencil, gingerly flipping to an open page. When Irving Hall was empty for the night, it was always easiest for the little backstage mouse to write secrets in her journal.

[Sapphy]

((Yup, I'm jumping on EVERYTHING.))

Sapphy entered Irving Hall, dripping wet. Stagey told her she could drop by to see her anytime -- it was such a nice, welcoming feeling to have someone open up to her like that. Stagey was the first newsgirl Sapphy talked to in the Manhattan Lodging House and she was now finally taking her up on that very kind offer.

She looked around, unsure of where to start. "H-Hello?" The place seemed empty.

[Stagey]

The announcing click of the backstage door made Stagey jump a little, but she was all too familiar with newsies that always seemed to know how to get in after hours: to escape the bulls, tease the chorus girls, flirt with Medda, or just talk. Somehow, Stagey was always a ready ear.

This voice seemed bright and friendly, at least. Scrambling to put the book back in its hiding place, Stagey peeked around the doorframe. "Sapphy! It's all right; come in."

((Going to work soon, so my update will be non-existent til then. <3 Can't wait, though! Sapph and Stageums shall be the best of friends.))

[Sapphy]

A rush of relief ran through Sapphy's body when she saw Stagey's face. She eagerly walked over to her spot and positively beamed.

"Hi," she said, a little breathless. It'd been a long time since Sapphy had a friend -- she had a good feeling about Stagey. "How are you?"

[Stagey]

((Reh heh heh. Found a way to access this via BlackBerry! Still might be few and far between in replying during work though.))

"What brings you all the way out here?" A thunderclap echoed around the empty theatre. "And in this rain?" She didn't want to pry too much; after all, it was none of her business, most likely. Stagey instinctively reached out for a warm quilt and offered it to the rain-soaked Sapphy.

[Sapphy]

"I was wandering and got caught in the rain," Sapphy smiled, taking the quilt with a thankful nod. She started to dry her hair.

"What have you been doing all day?"

((It's all good -- no worries, babes.))

[Stagey]

"Nothing exciting," she modestly replied, ensuring that her journal and pencil were fully under her mattress. "Mending costumes, trying different hairstyles on the chorus girls. There aren't any shows tonight, so we closed early."

She ruffled a bit at her own talk. How boring she must seem to Sapphy, how sheltered! "Looks as though you've had a great many adventures today," she offered with a genuine interest. Newsgirls always seemed to have so much more fun than backstage mice, after all.

[Sapphy]

Sapphy snickered, wrapping herself in the quilt as she began to curiously, and politely, poke around the room.

"Not really. Met a few more people today. Sold my papers. Walked around. Ate. Got caught in the rain a couple of times..."

[jackkelly]

"Jesus!" Jack exclaimed as he hurried backstage, slamming the door behind him. He started wiping the rain off his clothes. He looked down at the soaking wet mess he now was and sighed. Great.

As soon as the torrent had started coming down he had booked it for Irving hall, he'd only been three blocks away, but obviously no dice. He slapped his pockets and groaned. He removed the wet tobacco and tossed it in a garbage pail.

He heard chatter from a back room and grinned.

"Hey Mouse!" He called and rapped on the door with his knuckles.

[Stagey]

Stagey's ears perked to the sound at the door and the muffled voice within. "Um..." Her eyes darted from the door to Sapphy, as though she somehow couldn't play hostess to both. Ruling that as impossible in her head, she turned to Sapphy with an awkward sense of formality.

"Have you met Jack Kelly?" The dim light didn't give her faint blush away. She was ready to let Jack in, though true to himself, he seemed to have done so already. "Hello." Her voice sank shyly as she addressed Jack, still bashful to silence after 10 years of knowing him.

[Sapphy]

"Jack?" Sapphy asked blankly, completely forgetting the name had been thrown around her almost everyday since she arrived at the lodging house.

[Stagey]

"Jack is quite the legend," Stagey added, her tone warming with pride. It was easier to brag about her hero to someone else. "He's the bravest of them all. A good ally to have if you need to sell more papers." She shifted herself awkwardly to perch on the foot of her bed, crossing her ankles. "Come to dry off as well, have you?" she asked Jack. This was a proper party of sorts.

[jackkelly]

"Yea it's pouring out there," He said with a smile and shook his head. "And you gotta stop telling people that...I ain't that brave."

"You're Sapphy, right?" Jack asked. He recongized her from the lobby the night before, but he usually waited to see if they were gonna stick around before he introduced himself.

[Sapphy]

"I guess so," Sapphy grinned, still bemused at all these nicknames. It felt kind of juvenile. But she also liked the added protection they provided.

"Ten years? Really?" she beamed, looking back and forth between Stage and Jack. "I mean... Wow."

[jackkelly]

"Yea, we're pretty close." Jack smiled at Stagey and then noticed the dress she'd been working on earlier. "Medda's got you fixing that? I didn't realize you'd gotten that good."

"You fitting in okay at the Lodging House?" He asked Sapphy, he wanted to make sure nobody was giving her a hard time.