Mort looks rather preoccupied. He has too much on his mind, and he's irritated by the musty smell of the coat he's borrowing, and there are things to think about, hearings, and what next, and...
The small figure sags back against a lightpost, his head cushioned by the hat pulled down over his mess of brown hair. Oh, how tired he is...

And the light goes out.

Well, that's a little weird.

He doesn't look dangerous, though, so she feels safe enough approaching him close enough to ask, "Hey. You all right?"

Her hair is tucked under a white knit hat and her coat is a lovely deep green. She's curious and gentle.

"Yes, thank you." The voice is clear and polite, the dark gaze wary. "Long day at work."

"Oh. I know the feeling."

Smile.

"Where do you work?"

"Thyme. Right down the street there. We sell tarot cards and candles and things."
It's silly, so he smiles a little at it. The lamp above his head begins to emit a dull orange glow.

"Sounds like fun. I work at Reed's, just back that way a little. Plants. Lots and lots of plants."

And that is not silly at all.

... hey, the light's coming back. Odd.

"We get some interesting characters. I've passed Reed's, it looks pretty nice."
He nods, and the light grows somewhat brighter.

"You wouldn't think it, but we get some interesting characters too."

Like Jeremy and his friend Keye. Kinda sad that she hasn't seen them around in a while. They seemed pretty nice.

"It's a good place to work."

"I can see a little crossing over of customers, actually." he tugs at his hat, grinning shyly. "Thyme for their candles and Reed's for their...thyme."

She giggles.

"We sell a lot more herbs than just that, but yeah, I can actually see that."

She offers her hand.

"I'm Rosalli."

He stares at it with a moment's confusion, then shakes it. His grip is rather light.
"Mortimer. Mort."

"Nice to meetcha."

She shivers.

"Brr, 's cold out. Which way are you heading?"

He frowns. Bzzzzz, from the light. She has no idea what a complicated question that is.
"The edge of town, if my friend Norman will have me again."

"That's a long walk. Are you going all that way by yourself?"

She is mildly worried. He doesn't seem like he knows how to handle himself.

He does all right; he's more competent than he seems. Just...youngish-for-his-age and timid.
"Yes. It's not so bad. Last time I did it, I was sick."

"Oh."

Still seems like a long walk to her.

"Which way, though? Maybe I can walk with you for a bit."

"No, no," a bit of panic in his voice, "that's--"
And then he stops and looks her over.
"All right. If you want to."

"I don't want to walk alone either."

It's a bit dark out, you know.

"So how come you're staying with this friend?"

"It will be a long way to walk back by yourself." he is looking at her solemnly, and straightens his glasses. "The building where I lived burned down."
These things happen.

"Well, it looks like you're actually going kind of towards my neighborhood, so as long as we're going the same way... why not?"

Smile.

It's all very convenient.

"Oh... oh, I'm sorry. Did you get much of your stuff back?"

"Oh. Okay then." Nervously, he adjusts his hat. "No, not much at all. I left in a hurry." Not because of the fire.
And he's still going to work.

"Ow. Is insurance going to replace much?"

Did he even have insurance?

"Some."
He didn't have a lot to begin with.
He shrugs though, and smiles awkwardly.
"It'll work out."

He doesn't want to leave, though, and he doesn't know where they'll send him.

He's eighteen. Legal adult, and no longer a ward of the state.

Isn't that so?

"I hope so. Good luck with that..."

Possibly not until he turns nineteen.

Regardless, it's a difficult situation.
"Thank you. I'm trying not to wear out my welcome, because I'm not sure where else I would go."

"Well... is there any way you could get a place of your own?"

He does have a job, after all.

"That's what I'm hoping." he frowns. "There's school to think about, and I don't earn much. I'm going to start looking for a better job."
It's disturbing to be on his own. And yet...it's interesting, too.

"Maybe not a better job, but another one? Lots of people work two..."

Not her. But that's because she lives with her parents and doesn't actually need very much money.

Shh.

"Mmhm, that's a thought." He is turning things in his mind, schedules and such. "I could take more night classes next semester, give myself some more time to work during the day."

"Or maybe take one of those early morning jobs? I dunno when you'd have time for sleep, though..."

It's hard, being on your own and going to school.

"Maybe you could move into a dorm, though."

"Yeah, moving into a dorm would be good."
He could just...stick around for holidays. Find someone to stay with.
"I'll look into that. I guess I'd have to sacrifice some sleep."

"Well, better short on sleep than living on the street, I guess."

She would offer him a place to stay, but she doesn't really know him, and it would be awkward explaining to her parents.

"I hope that works out for you."

"Well, they wouldn't put me on the street, but I might have to leave the city, and that's no good, because I go to school here."
He smiles, again with an awkward squint to his eyes, slightly flushed.
"Thank you."

"So where does this friend of yours live anyway?"

They're getting closer to her neighborhood, with no sign of splitting up.

"That way."
He points in the direction of one particular old (abandoned?) house.

"Huh. I thought there wasn't much of anything that way."

Except an old haunted house. If it was even really haunted, which it probably was.

"My friend Norman lives there. He moved in recently."
With a ghost.

"Oh. All right then."

This Norman guy must be fairly well off, then, or else the house was let go at a fraction of its value.

Or the owner's a very sweet ghost.

Heh.

"Guess I should start heading that way."
He hopes hopes hopes Norman will let him in again. Scratch that, he will. He hopes Norman will not be unhappy about letting him in again.

"Yeah, I guess so. It was nice meeting you, Mort."

Her house is off down a different street.

It has rather locally famous gardens.