Closing Time

[Stagey]

"But I was left behind, too," she confessed, feeling her stomach turn at revisiting the painful memory of losing her mother. "Ma didn't make it longer than a year before she died. So," she said with an air of camaraderie, "I know that it can be rough being left behind. That's why I'm... well, why I'm very grateful to Jack. He took me in, gave me a place to stay."

[Sapphy]

"He did?" Sapphy smiled -- no wonder Stagey was all melty for him!

"...I'm sorry about your Ma," she added after a brief moment of silence. "I miss my ma like the plague. I couldn't imagine if she..." Maybe she already was.

[Stagey]

A pained look crossed Stagey's face. Put a damper on things indeed, haven't I. "No matter what," she said earnestly, patting Sapphy's still-drying quilt wrapped around her shoulders, "you'll have the newsies. They really do consider themselves a family, and Jack will be true to his leadership and make sure you're just as much family as anyone else." Her eyes shone helpfully.

[Sapphy]

Sapphy didn't mind the mood change, it was kind of a relief.

"...Does it make the absence any easier?" she almost whispered.

[Stagey]

"Sometimes," she replied earnestly, reaching over to her tiny gas stove. It wasn't big enough for much, but it warmed a kettle just fine. "Of course, I'm not the best one to ask about it. I've only really known a few newsies after all these years, but they're great fun." She smiled at her. "And if they'll befriend a common backstage mouse, they'll fall over themselves to make friends with someone with sapphire eyes." She allowed a mystical weight to fall over the words, eyes twinkling playfully. Stagey believed in many things, and perhaps magic was one of them.

[Sapphy]

Sapphy laughed uproariously.

"Honestly? I think nicknames are a bit... Childish? For me, anyway. I mean. I understand why they all have them. One of the little ones gave me my name, uh, Tumbler? It's nice. Accepting. But I like my real name just fine."

Though if she told it to people, that'd mean more attachment. A nickname made you accepted into the group, but not in a real fulfilling way for Sapphy.

[Stagey]

"I don't know if I'll ever know anyone's real name," she admitted, passing Sapphy a cup of improvised tea. "I suppose it's all in the walls we put up."

((Mmkay my dear I'm hitting the sack! We can close this one out if you want; if not, I'll be here, or I'll meet you elsewhere 'round the city!))

[Sapphy]

Sapphy thought about that, warming her hands with the tea.

"Shaye Nolan," she said suddenly, sticking her hand out to Stagey. "Nice to meet you."

((I'm fine staying here for when you wake up again. Sleep well!))

[Stagey]

Getting introduced to things like proper names shouldn't be such a rarity, especially since Stagey wasn't exactly a member of the newsies, but she took this introduction with slight surprise.

"Well. Belle Malone." She shook the outstretched hand with a wry smile. "Pleasure to meet you too. And don't worry," she added, looking around as though they were being watched by sneaky newsboys somewhere, "I won't tell anyone." Things like real names were a sacred secret in these circles, and were often met with ridicule. When the guys found out that Jack Kelly was really a Francis Sullivan, they never let him hear the end of it.

[Sapphy]

"I'd... Really like that, thank you," Sapphy beamed at Stagey. "You're so thoughtful and kind, really, thank you."

[Stagey]

Stagey let out a peaceful sigh, grateful to have made such a friend. "Of course." Allowing the vapors from the tea soothe her, she tucked her legs under her skirt. "You don't know what a relief it is to have a girl to talk to for a change. Well, there's Medda, but she's practically old enough to be my mother. And the chorus girls, they're too snippy and shrieky and concerned with their reflections. The other newsgirls... Well, I don't see them too much." She grinned impishly. "I don't know why, but I think they're afraid of me. Like I'm the Phantom of the Opera back here."

[Sapphy]

"If you actually were the Phantom, I'd have been wishing you good day about twenty minutes ago," Sapphy grinned, taking a sip. "I'm sorry about that, though. What a waste."

Sapphy and Stagey were both sitting in the same style at this point, only a foot away from each other.

"Well, I'll make sure you'll see me around -- until I get annoying. In which case I ask you to nudge me a hint."

[Stagey]

"I'll let you know," she promised, taking a sip of the tea - just the perfect temperature. "And you wouldn't mind keeping my secret about Jack, would you? I think it'd be easier not to worry him with my confusing array of feelings about him."

[Sapphy]

"I'm not a child. Well, not in that way, anyway," Sapphy sighed. She hated gossip and talk. "Everyone's so full of bullshit."

She sipped at her tea. For a moment she selfishly wished Stagey -- Belle -- was in the lodging house too. Sure, she'd only just met her but she made her feel... Safe? It was like home never left with Stagey. Like they were close friends in a past life and now they were catching up on old times and nothing between them had changed.

Everyone was too busy being tough or trying to get into each other's pants. It just made Sapphy feel... Old. Exhausted. At seventeen, which seemed somehow unfair.

With Stagey, she didn't feel the superficial friendship that got you through a few hours with distractions. This felt real. Stagey felt real.

[Stagey]

Stagey, innocent to the end, cringed at the slight harshness of Sapphy's words, but somehow relaxed after they were said. "That they are. If he were different, somehow..." She shrugged, setting down her empty tea cup. "No matter. Can't wish someone were different, no matter how hard you try. Some more tea, Miss Sapphy?"