New Territory (c)

[Macbeth]

Macbeth's fork clattered to the floor. She looked at Risk like she'd never seen him before. She looked, in fact, kind of terrified.

[Risk]

Risk sighed, simply grabbing Macbeth's fork and placing it in the sink. He grabbed another clean one and handed it to her before sitting down once again.

"Yup," he mumbled, looking at her bashfully before continuing to eat again.

[Macbeth]

She grasped the fork like a weapon and seemed to find some comfort in it. Enough to get her voice working again, anyway. "They were...you guys were like boogymen when I was a kid! My dad barely even knew he was living in New York 'stead of London, but he still useta tell me and Ada that Monk Eastman would come take us away if we was bad." She continued to stare at him. "What the hell did you do, kill people? Hunt down girls for him?" Somehow, she'd just imagined him running with some small-time band of thieves, like she had.

[Risk]

"He was... um, training me," he answered after a couple moments. "I was -- or am -- good at sneaking around and not getting into trouble at all. He wanted to use me that way... I, uh, eventually got to help out on some, er... projects."

[Macbeth]

Her eyebrows went soaring. "Projects?"

Jo went right on tearing bits off a sausage and stuffing them in her mouth, oblivious.

[Risk]

"Uh, go after people," he muttered, unable to look at Beth. "Y'know, the usual..."

[Macbeth]

Beth was now gripping her fork with both hands as if she expected to defend herself with it any minute. She noticed this, put it down, and then swung Jo off Risk's lap and into hers. "Well, I know what my next few questions are gonna be about," she said as coolly as she could.

[Risk]

"Look, Beth, I didn't kill anybody, if that's what you're worried about..." he sighed, looking at her. He couldn't blame her though - Monk Eastman had a horrible reputation.

[Macbeth]

"Yeah, 'cause you went and became a cop instead," she said faintly, still processing. She shook her head. "When I first meet you, you're just another newsie, then you're my best friend's long-lost brother, then you're a bloody undercover cop, and now it turns out you used to work for Monk fucking Eastman. And I thought I was complicated!" Her voice was climbing higher and higher, and Jo started to whimper. Beth sighed and rubbed her back. "Sorry, love. Sorry..."

[Risk]

Risk stared, unsure of what to do. He normally would've picked up and held her but he was too worried about how Macbeth would react. He wanted to tell her that he didn't do anything bad, that he just ended up with the wrong people and he'd been trying to make things right for the past couple years. Instead, he simply looked down at his food and waited for her to calm down.

[Macbeth]

Macbeth stared into space for a few seconds, waiting for Jo to settle down, then ate the last bite of her sausage and finally looked up at Risk. "Would you object to making some tea?"

[Risk]

"I got it," nodded Risk, standing up and filling the kettle with water.

((Dog sitting! Which is why I'm a bit slow ))

[Macbeth]

((No worries! Dogs are time-consuming, haha.))

"Thank you," Macbeth said with an odd sort of British formality, leaning back and cradling Jo, who was gobbling up a slice of bread she'd grabbed. "Your question," she added.

[Risk]

"You said you had connections at Five Points," said Risk, leaning on the edge of the counter. Now, it was his turn to ask. "What went on with that?"

[Macbeth]

"My friend Scamp," she explained, "the one I had a crush on..." She couldn't believe she'd told him that. "He joined Archer Klein's gang, and he got me in too. They're pretty small-time--mostly kids picking pockets and robbing houses in the Points--but it's pretty much just a hobby for Archer. He's got real connections...drugs and gambling and God knows what else. He could make someone disappear if he wanted." She shrugged. "Anyway, it paid pretty good back in the day, but I left when Ada died. No hard feelings."