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Post by Lacey on Jan 23, 2019 22:10:35 GMT -5
"Yeah... that's what Mr. O'Quinns's been sayin'. I just don't know, you know?"
Lacey nodded slowly. Luckily, they still had some time... but not much.
"I'm not really good at much."
She stopped walking, gently tugging on his hand so that he could turn to face her, face hardening just a bit. "Don't be stupid, Spot. You ain't stupid. You're good at plenty."
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Post by Spot Conlon on Jan 23, 2019 22:13:15 GMT -5
"Don't be stupid, Spot. You ain't stupid. You're good at plenty."
Spot raised an eyebrow. "In the adult world, I'm not good at much. I know not ta fool myself. Look at me..." He gestured to himself. "No adult in their right mind would allow me to work being this size."
Many adults still thought he was a kid even though he was almost an adult now.
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Post by Lacey on Jan 23, 2019 22:15:14 GMT -5
"In the adult world, I'm not good at much. I know not ta fool myself."
Lacey frowned at his words. "Who says? Ya haven't tried anythin'."
"Look at me... No adult in their right mind would allow me to work being this size."
She scoffed, fingers running through her hair. "Have ya talked ta Mr. O'Quinn about a job around the lodgin' house?"
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Post by Spot Conlon on Jan 24, 2019 14:38:20 GMT -5
"Who says? Ya haven't tried anythin'."
Spot raised an eyebrow. "I haven't tried anything?" He had... a little. He had tested so to speak. Gone around the city after selling seeing if he could possible get his foot in the door by applying part-time. He hadn't been very successful which was probably why he had placed a higher focus on the present and not the future.
"Have ya talked ta Mr. O'Quinn about a job around the lodgin' house?"
He hesitated. There was an unwritten rule about the lodging house. Now, Mr. O'Quinn would never turn anyone away, but they all knew that he couldn't exactly keep older boys at his place and pay them.
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Post by Lacey on Jan 24, 2019 14:40:22 GMT -5
"I haven't tried anything?"
Lacey raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure many people are gonna take ya seriously if you're workin' as a newsie, too." There were plenty of places for smaller people to work. Factories took almost anyone that she could get... at least, from what she had heard. The problem became that they were dangerous. They were half of the nasty headlines that they got.
She sighed softly. "I just... I meant with us, Spot."
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Post by Spot Conlon on Jan 25, 2019 19:51:31 GMT -5
"I'm not sure many people are gonna take ya seriously if you're workin' as a newsie, too."
Spot bit back a comment. It was better not to argue about that.
"I just... I meant with us, Spot."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Was she hinting that things would be... different? Growing up didn't mean things would change that much, right?
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Post by Lacey on Jan 25, 2019 19:53:14 GMT -5
"What do you mean?"
Lacey swallowed thickly, dropping her gaze to the ground.
"I just... don't know if I'm gonna stay in Brooklyn forever, y'know? There's more out there." Sure, she didn't know where else she could possibly go, but being confined to one place... it just didn't feel right to her.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Jan 26, 2019 11:51:39 GMT -5
"I just... don't know if I'm gonna stay in Brooklyn forever, y'know?"
Spot felt his heart drop a little. Was growing up going to be the end of things? After all, he really didn't want to leave Brooklyn.
"There's more out there."
"Yeah..." Of course, there was more out there than just ol' Brooklyn. Jack wanted to go out West with the cowboys. Racetrack dreamed of going down to Kentucky to see what he called the "real" races. And Spot? Well, he actually wasn't as adventurous as he appeared. Brooklyn was home. He didn't want to leave it...
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Post by Lacey on Jan 26, 2019 11:56:00 GMT -5
"Yeah..."
It wasn't difficult to tell just from the tone of Spot's voice that he wasn't going to leave. Sure, Brooklyn was home, but it was also everything that Lacey hated remembering. She loved Brooklyn, but her parents had died there. It held a lot of bad memories along with the good ones... and she didn't want to hold onto all of that forever.
Her face dropped a bit, but she did her best to not let the worry show too much. "Ah... I see." She respected his choice. He loved Brooklyn, and Spot was the type who would never stop loving Brooklyn... but that didn't mean that it hurt any less to know that it could very well signal the end of their relationship with one another.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Jan 26, 2019 17:24:29 GMT -5
"Ah... I see."
Spot cleared his throat some, not sure what to say now. He didn't want to think about what the future could hold. He'd rather think about the present.
"It's gettin' late... we should be headin' back to the lodges."
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Post by Lacey on Jan 26, 2019 17:26:47 GMT -5
"It's gettin' late... we should be headin' back to the lodges."
Lacey bit her lip, tightening her grip ever so slightly on his hand once again. "Wait... just another minute."
She had one thing left to do for the night.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Jan 26, 2019 21:00:56 GMT -5
"Wait... just another minute."
Spot hadn't really planned to go just yet, but he was a bit surprised at Lacey's grip on his hand. He looked at her, wondering what kept her where she was.
"Yeah?"
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Post by Lacey on Jan 26, 2019 21:04:57 GMT -5
"Yeah?"
Lacey bit her lip once again. Even though they had been here in this same position before... her heart still seemed to be bouncing out of her chest.
"Spot..." She trailed off, unsure if she was even going to be able to ask the question just because of how weak at the knees she felt all of a sudden. It was as though her anxiety had spiked all over again... but in a completely different way. "Could I..."
But she trailed off. The moment that her gaze had dropped from his eyes to his lips, she broke contact with him all over again and let go of his hand with a shake of her head. "Nevermind... Sorry. It was stupid." Perhaps it was time to go back after all.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 2, 2019 21:26:35 GMT -5
"Spot... Could I..."
"Could you wha--" He was cut off as Lacey suddenly broke contact with.
"Nevermind... Sorry. It was stupid."
Spot looked at her, feeling frustrated. Why was she like this? He didn't understand. She seemed to share his feelings and cared enough about him to do stupid things. But when it came to talking... it seemed like she was holding back.
"Is this how it's going ta be?" he asked quietly. "You're always sayin' nevermind or it's stupid when you have that look on your face."
There was something she wanted from him... but she just never would say.
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Post by Lacey on Feb 2, 2019 21:30:38 GMT -5
"Could you wha--"
Lacey did feel bad for cutting him off. She honestly wasn't the type to talk over people unless she was taking something back, but the frustration was written all over Spot's face as she did just that. She just worried that perhaps the reaction would be worse if she didn't take it back.
"Is this how it's going ta be? You're always sayin' nevermind or it's stupid when you have that look on your face."
"I'm always sayin' it's stupid 'cause it's stupid." She mumbled, running her fingers through her hair to move it back out of her face. "I don't wanna... do too much an' make ya uncomfortable or somethin'."
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 5, 2019 14:00:15 GMT -5
"I'm always sayin' it's stupid 'cause it's stupid."
Spot raised an eyebrow. "How do you I won't think it's stupid? If it's something you really want ta say, jus' say it."
"I don't wanna... do too much an' make ya uncomfortable or somethin'."
He sighed. "If you don't tell me what ya want ta say... then you won't know if things will be awkward." Wow, he was starting to sound like Thunder and Jack... "Relationships are about talkin' things through to each other."
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Post by Lacey on Feb 5, 2019 14:05:17 GMT -5
”How do you I won't think it's stupid? If it's something you really want ta say, jus' say it.”
Lacey bit her lip. “Talkin’ ain’t the problem, Spot. I just...”
“If you don’t tell me what ya want ya say... then you won’t know if things will be awkward.”
“I know, but...” She bit her lip again. Things were more complicated than that.
“Relationships are about talkin’ things through to each other.”
”I wanted ta kiss ya, Spot,” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Last time I messed it up and I don’t wanna do it again, so I can’t.”
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 5, 2019 15:42:06 GMT -5
“Talkin’ ain’t the problem, Spot. I just...”
He raised an eyebrow again, not really convinced.
“I know, but...”
Another sigh escaped his lips. She was hesitating again...
"I wanted ta kiss ya, Spot. Last time I messed it up and I don’t wanna do it again, so I can’t.”
So that was what this was all about? Here Spot thought it was something different altogether. Boys just don't think the way girls do. "If you had just told me..."
Spot didn't mind. The first time was just unexpected. He supposed he always thought he would initiate the kiss. And the timing... wasn't exactly the best either, but if she would just tell him, then things wouldn't be so awkward.
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Post by Lacey on Feb 5, 2019 15:43:55 GMT -5
"If you had just told me..."
She sighed softly, shutting her eyes tightly and casting another glance back behind her towards the lodging houses. They were out of sight, and it was getting late. Additionally, Lacey just wasn't one for talking much about things like this.
"Well, sorry." She muttered, swallowing the lump in her throat.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 6, 2019 18:43:34 GMT -5
"Well, sorry."
Spot wanted to continue this, to get to the bottom of what was going on in Lacey's mind... but now just didn't seem to be the time. She was done. She made it very clear in the tone of her voice. And well, it was getting late.
"We should head back now," was his soft but gruff reply.
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Post by Lacey on Feb 6, 2019 18:45:07 GMT -5
"We should head back now."
Lacey deflated a bit, but responded with a simple nod. Perhaps going back home would be best after all.
"Yeah... let's go." She agreed, slowly beginning to head back with him towards the lodging house in silence.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 6, 2019 19:32:21 GMT -5
"Yeah... let's go."
Without another word, the two walked towards the girls' lodging house. The silence would have been awkward if it had been a long walk, but thank goodness it was just around the bend. Spot walked her up the steps and paused at the door. He wouldn't be following her in, but he did want to say something before he headed to his own lodge.
"Take it easy tamorrow... don't sell unless you feel up ta it."
Today had been a rough day for her after all. She should rest for now and recover from the stress and shock. Spot was thinking about doing the same. That, and heading over to see Jack to tell him about Rip. He might have to lie low in Manhattan awhile if Rip was really angry after the whole situation today.
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Post by Lacey on Feb 6, 2019 21:01:10 GMT -5
The walk itself was uncomfortable, and Lacey was eager to head inside and get some rest, though something told her that sleep would be more difficult than that.
”Take it easy tamorrow... don't sell unless you feel up ta it."
She nodded a bit, casting her gaze downward. “G’night, Spot. Sleep well.” With that, she headed inside.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 6, 2019 21:08:26 GMT -5
”G’night, Spot, Sleep well.”
Spot nodded. “You too,” he added softly before heading away towards his own lodge.
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