Alone

[Wraith]

"How many?" Her eyes widened. "I don't really know...lots." Her mind wandered over the faces and names. "They're mostly couples now...Racetrack and Sapphy, Mush and Ershey, Specs and Tag, my brother Goblin and a girl called Script..." She trailed off, her mind freezing, as it always did these days, on images of Kennedy and Tara that made her want to go back to drinking and crying and maybe even a good hit of opium.

[Firecracker]

"Sounds like a regular lovenest around here," Fire replied dryly, her head shaking. Great, that was almost the last thing she needed. "I guess it's better than sleeping on the street though, huh?"

[Wraith]

Wraith shuddered, hit by a whole new slew of memories, and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Definitely better."

[Firecracker]

Fire's head tilted to the side, her forehead wrinkling as she glanced over at the other girl. "Are you okay?" She asked softly. "I can leave you alone, if you'd like."

[Wraith]

She shook her head, suddenly wanting nothing less. "It's probably better if you stay," she blurted out. "I haven't really talked to anyone lately. At all. I mean, I...don't really know that many people...in Manhattan, at least, and...lately, well..." She blushed and scrunched into a tighter ball. For someone who could move with exquisite grace and vanish like a ghost, she was not exactly smooth in social situations.

[Firecracker]

Fire's forehead wrinkled as she watched the other girl seemingly struggle to find her words. "People are sometimes more trouble than they're worth," she offered, hoping that that would at least cheer her up a little bit. "At least, that's my experiences with them."

[Wraith]

She smiled kind of wryly and nodded. "Yeah...I've noticed that." For a little while, it was like her life was everything she'd ever dreamed of--a girl who seemed to be crazy about her, a makeshift family in Brooklyn, someone to make her brother happy for once in his life.

And now it was all gone. Even Tara had moved on. And Wraith was stuck on the roof with a girl who drew her in like a flame and would probably faint in horror if she knew why Wraith was twice as nervous as usual.

[Firecracker]

"As long as I'm not the only one who seems to have gotten the horrible end of the society stick," she said with a sigh. "I mean, not that I'm glad that you've gotten it too, it's just that..." She paused, feeling as if she had shoved her foot deep in her mouth. "Sorry."

[Wraith]

"It's all right," Wraith said, looking at her earnestly. "I mean...you don't have to say any more. But if you want to..." She shrugged and offered another smile, one that was actually almost normal. "I can keep a secret. Really. I already keep more than I can count."

[Firecracker]

"A secret?" She asked quietly, her head cocked slightly to the side. "Well, if I ever feel the need to get anything off of my chest, I'll certainly keep you in mind. You seem... genuine... enough." She offered the other girl a small smile, hoping that that would ease any sort of suspicions that she might have about her.

[Wraith]

She had to laugh at that. "Genuine" was probably not a word she would use to describe herself. Though she didn't lie so much as conceal everything at all times, unless she was drunk or high or in the midst of a nervous breakdown. "Well, I keep secrets. And deals. And if you ever need anyone followed..."

[Firecracker]

"If I ever need anyone followed?" She asked, her eyes widening. "Well... I guess that makes sense, considering how well-hidden you were when I first got up here."

She paused, a small smirk tugging at her lips. "I don't suppose you have a bridge to sell me, too, do you?"

[Wraith]

"That's my brother's department," she said with downcast eyes and a slight smirk of her own. Clearly, the red hair had gone to her head; here she was revealing all her secret weapons, and Goblin's too, though he wasn't actually around to get mad at her. That thought made her stomach clench again.

[Firecracker]

"So, I've got all my bases covered then," she said with a playful smile. "If I ever want a bridge, a secret kept, or someone followed, it sounds like you're the girl for me to turn to."

She jumped down off of the ledge, letting herself sit down on the rooftop itself. "I wish I could return the favor with a skill or something of my own, but I really don't have anything useful to offer."

[Wraith]

"That's all right," Wraith murmured hesitantly. "I mean...you pick up skills because you have to. So, if you could, uh...pick locks or dodge punches or something...well, it'd come in handy, but you probably would've had to pay some horrible price to learn it." My, wasn't she a ray of sunshine today.