It's Too Quiet In Here (Closed)

[Tag Along]

Tag was being a rebel.

While all the other newsies were out selling the afternoon edition of The World, she was inside the Lodging House reading. She was almost finished with A General History of the Pyrate, and she desperately wanted to finish. So, she made the bold (and maybe bad?) decision to skip out on selling and just read.

She sat on an old but cozy couch by the fireplace with a worn quilt covering her lap. Yes, it was rather warm outside, but reading was thoroughly more enjoyable next to a roaring fire. Her newly acquired calico cat, whom she had named Lizzie, was curled up by her feet, purring as she slept.

It doesn't get much better than this... Tag thought, grinning slyly to herself.

[Sapphy]

Sapphy was still too new to selling papers to be an acceptable newsie. So she regularly took advantage of the power her strawberry-blonde hair had over people; it was usually down and her head bare -- she didn't even own a cap. Her hair always made a good selling point.

But today, it was much too hot to leave her hair down. It was up and secured in place by a faded pink kerchief.

She returned to the lodge for a quick break and to escape the heat. But when she walked in from the late summer weather to see a fire, she made a face. She was sweaty and dirty with newsprint ink, and not in the mood for this.

But that ever-present smile on her face took over as she quietly nodded to the girl occupying the couch. She passed her to sit in the arm chair furthest from the fire with a relieved sigh.

((Okay, I'm REALLY going to bed now and YOU SHOULD TOO.))

[Tag Along]

Tag peered at the girl, her eyes peeking out from the top edge of her book. She somewhat recognized the newsgirl, but hadn't the faintest of what her name was. Although, Tag had to admit she was experiencing quite a bit of hair envy. Her own locks were frizzy and unruly today, as they often were.

"Hello." She said after clearing her throat. Her eyes were still fixed on her book, though she wasn't really reading.

((GOOD NIGHT!))

[Sapphy]

Sapphy opened her eyes and straightened her head. She smiled at the girl lazily.

"Hullo," she said. "Whatcha reading?"

[Tag Along]

"A pirate history book." Tag replied softly, venturing to glance at the girl. She straightened her posture a bit, but didn't move anything else in fear of disturbing the cat.

[Sapphy]

Her movement finally brought Sapphy's attention to that cat.

"Aww," she cooed. "What are your names?"

[Tag Along]

"I'm Tag, and this is Lizzie." Tag nodded her head toward the sleeping cat and couldn't help but smile.

"Do-- do you like cats?"

[Sapphy]

"I like nice cats," Sapphy amended. "And Lizzie looks nice."

[Tag Along]

Tag smiled, then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? Wh--what's your name?"

[Sapphy]

"Sapph," she said, twiddling her fingers at Lizzie -- even though she was sleeping. "How long ya been here, Tag?"

[Tag Along]

Tag finally put her book down, already feeling a bit more at east even though she had just met this Sapph girl.

"About a year... You're new here, right?"

[Sapphy]

"Last week. I'm on day... Nine? Maybe? Probably?" she squinted, looking off into the distance. "Don't lemme keep ya from your book. I mean, it is pirates and all."

[Tag Along]

Tag looked at the clock on the mantle. There was still an hour or so before everyone came back.

"Oh, that's quite all right. I can read the rest tonight."

[Sapphy]

Sapphy beamed at her, happy to have a distracting conversation. "So what's the best thing you've learned this far about pirates?"

[Tag Along]

((Dang you. Now I have to go google something random about Pirates! ))

Tag tilted her head a bit as she thought. She'd learned so much, but one fact stuck out in her mind more than others.

"Well, piracy can actually be tracked back to 13th century BC. And Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates from Sicily. I never knew that."