|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 26, 2009 20:24:18 GMT -5
((New Day!--for Styx))
Don't Ask stared down at the massive plate of food on the table. He'd been absolutely ravenous when he came in here, and hadn't thought twice about forking over twenty cents for half a pizza, even though the waiter gave him a strange look when he placed the order. Don't Ask had taken out his money pouch and tipped out a pile of pennies to prove that he did indeed have the money to pay when he was done enjoying gluttony and wasn't intending on skipping out without paying his tab.
He'd forgotten, however, that Romano's pizzas were... about the size of wagon wheels, really.
"Guess Horseshoe's gonna have a good meal tonight," he muttered to himself, and set about extracting a slice of floury crust slathered with tomato sauce and a generous dose of delicious, stringy, melted cheese.
|
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 26, 2009 20:50:55 GMT -5
Styx walked in to Romano's, hoping he could afford as much food as his stomach needed. He stopped at the counter and began counting his money, muttering to himself as he subtracted lodging and tomorrows pape cost from the small pile in front of him. "ten cents..." he looked up at the board, scanning what he could afford.
His eyes drifted and caught sight of Don't Ask sitting in front of a pizza that was roughly the size of a house. DA had helped him out before, maybe it was time to repay that favor... ""Ey, DA," he greated as he walked over, "You gonna eat all that?" ...by helping him eat all that food. "I'll split the cost with ya, boyo."
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 26, 2009 21:34:11 GMT -5
Don't Ask looked up as someone called his name, and grinned when he recognized the kid approaching him.
"Styx!" he exclaimed, and used his foot to shove the chair opposite him out from under the table. "You've got great timing! Get over here and help me attack this mozzarella monster before it takes over the table. I thought I was starving when I got in here, but I forgot how heavy-handed ol' Romano is with his cheese!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 26, 2009 21:46:35 GMT -5
Styx grinned and sat down, scooting his chair in and picking up a slice. He took a ginormous bite, chewed a bit, then spoke with his mouth full. "So how've ya been since...? Well, you know. Since last time we saw eachother." Styx swallowd hard and shoved another bite in his mouth. He did not need to start worry about Nike right now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 26, 2009 22:11:10 GMT -5
((Boys eat like pigs.  It's a fact, I looked it up.)) "I been good," Don't Ask muttered around a mouthful of cheese. He swallowed and took another bite, then his eyes lit up and he quickly shoved his food to one side of his mouth so he could speak around it. "Oh! Did you hear? One of the missing kids from Manhattan escaped! She turned up on the doorstep while Jack was telling his kids the new rules about staying in pairs. Name of Sweets, I think." A brief cloud of confusion drifted over Don't Ask's face, and he craned his neck, looking around the restaurant. "I'm guessing you've decided to hang the pairs rule?" he asked with a smirk, turning around again and swallowing his mouthful. |
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 26, 2009 22:42:48 GMT -5
((haha! Indeed!))
"I been good."
Styx nodded and continued to scarf pizza as his mood turned glum again. Lately he’d been working mental overtime to keep his mind from thinking about Nike, but it seemed that everywhere he went he found something that reminded him of her again.
"Oh! Did you hear? One of the missing kids from Manhattan escaped! She turned up on the doorstep while Jack was telling his kids the new rules about staying in pairs. Name of Sweets, I think."
The pizza dropped out of his hand and the half chewed bite in his mouth almost joined it. Escaped?! That meant they could find out where they were keeping the others! Where they were keeping Nike! He tried to chew and swallow as fast as he could to ask all the questions that were racing through his mind and almost choked.
"I'm guessing you've decided to hang the pairs rule?"
Styx grinned and swallowed, his dark mood completely eradicated by this news. “Well, I figured if they were gonna grab me they would have already.” He wiped his hands on his pants, then planted his elbows on the table. “So what happened? What’s Jack doin’? How’s Sweets? Does she know where they’re keeping the others? Did she mention my sister?!” Questions poured out of Styx’s mouth and still he had more to ask.
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 26, 2009 22:55:54 GMT -5
Don't Ask grabbed his water glass and took a swig, nodding as he swallowed.
"Yeah!" he garbled, trying not to choke as he forced down his half-chewed bite. He hadn't expected that Styx wouldn't have heard the news already, and now felt the need to answer his frantic questions as quickly as possible. "I was there when she came in, saw it all with my own two eyes! Sweets was really beat-up-looking, and she said that the men holding all the kids prisoner were hard on 'em, but that everyone was still alive. She told Jack that they were snatching kids and then putting them on a train to ship them outta town, the place they were being held was guarded by men with guns, and that she thought she could remember how to get back there," he said quickly, spilling everything he knew. "Jack sent kids to tell the other borough leaders about it and call a meeting, but that's the last I heard. I don't know what's gonna happen next, but everyone's really agitated now."
|
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 26, 2009 23:07:43 GMT -5
Styx listened intently to everything DA had to say, soaking in every last detail and commiting them to memory. When he finished, Styx sat back in his seat and chewed his lip. He was extremely glad to hear that everyone (Nike) was alive, but the trains, guns and Sweets' awful physical condition worried him.
"Jack sent kids to tell the other borough leaders about it and call a meeting, but that's the last I heard. I don't know what's gonna happen next, but everyone's really agitated now."
Styx jumped up from his chair and shoved the rest of his slice of pizza in his mouth."Well what are we waitin for?!" he half-shouted around the food in his mouth. "Let's go talk ta Prince, see what he's gonna do!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 27, 2009 0:22:55 GMT -5
"Easy, boy!" Don't Ask half-shouted back, grabbing the front of Styx's shirt and pulling him back into his chair again. "If Prince had worked out what's going to happen next, don't you think he'd have told you? It's not just gonna be a single borough doing all the work, I'm sure all the leaders are trying to work something out. And if you go buggin' Prince now, you're just gonna piss him off, make him think that you don't trust him to get the job done on his own. And then he's gonna be busy being all pissed at you and won't be able to concentrate on plannin'."
He pushed a second slice of pizza in Styx's direction, and leaned in closer to speak softer. After Styx's outburst, he had the feeling like the whole restaurant was watching them, and there was some amount of discretion called for here.
"Besides," he continued in a near-whisper. "Sweets said everyone was okay. If someone was hurt, she'd have told Jack, she's got no reason to keep anything from him. And if Nike's okay, she's survived it all just fine so far, and she'll keep being just fine until it's time to make our move."
He checked over his shoulder quickly to see if anyone was nearby. God, his paranoia was up high now.
"You two are twins, which means she's got the same genes as you, which means she's strong, and she's smart, and she can put up with a lot of shit happening and still keep her head. And if you go firing off like a loose cannon, you could wind up getting a whole lotta people, including Nike, into a whole lotta trouble."
|
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 27, 2009 23:40:10 GMT -5
Styx was a little supprised when Don''t Ask grabbed his shirt, but he quickly saw the sense in what the other boy was saying. He nodded and let out a deep sigh, "Yeah I guess you're right. I just get kinda anxious when we're seperated. I mean, she's the only family i've got left, ya know?" The pizza seemed to call to him then, so he shoved another bite in his mouth and looked out the window as he chewed.
"Prince is smart," he stated, more for his own benifit than for Don't Ask's. "He's got a level head and he'll know what to do even if Cowboy doesn't." Styx swollowed the lump of cheesy dough (that had been rolling around in his mouth as he talked) as he watched the boy across from him. Don't Ask was looking rather nervous and he wondered if there might be a good reason for it.
"You think somethin's up?" He whispered across the table. "You look kinda jumpy."
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 28, 2009 10:15:32 GMT -5
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Don't Ask said, nodding gravely. "I gots a brother myself. He's older than me, but... he ain't quite right upstairs, you know? He needs looking-after a lot. And without me being there to look after him, I get worried. I mean, he's still with our parents, and they ain't gonna let anything happen to him, but he likes to wander, and what if he gets away from them and finds trouble when they ain't around to keep him safe?"
Don't Ask frowned, going quiet for a moment as he thought of Stanislaus.
"You think somethin's up? You look kinda jumpy."
He hesitated a moment before shaking his head, busying himself with cramming the last of his first slice of pizza into his mouth. "Nah," he mumbled around his mouthful. "That's just my own thing, nothin' to do with... all of this."
|
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 29, 2009 22:52:33 GMT -5
Styx felt a trickle of surprise to learn that Don’t Ask had family, but he quickly got over it. Street kids weren’t the most open bunch, most of them being rather tight-lipped about personal things until they got to know you. He decided not to go any further on the subject. DA could tell more if he wanted, but Styx wasn’t about to pry into a subject as touchy as a kid’s family. Instead he merely clicked his tongue in understanding and nodded. “Yeah, sometimes I wonder if Nike’s ‘not quite right upstairs’.” He gave the other boy a crooked grin and hoped he wouldn’t be offended.
"Nah. That's just my own thing, nothin' to do with... all of this."
Curious. So DA was worried about something other than the kidnappings? Styx wondered if he had a genuine reason to be cautious, or if he was just paranoid. He glanced at the kid across from him and decided he didn’t seem the type. That only left “genuine reason”. Now Styx was truly curious. He coughed slightly and glanced out the window. “There a reason behind that, or you just being cautious? If ya dun want to talk about...” He let his sentence drift off, know Don’t ask would understand.
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 30, 2009 3:25:13 GMT -5
At the crack on his sister, Don't Ask laughed. "If she's anything like you, I can't wait to meet her, too."
“There a reason behind that, or you just being cautious? If ya dun want to talk about...”
Don't Ask groaned inwardly. What the hell was with people needing to know everything lately? Why couldn't they all just--oh, wait. That's what this "friendship" thing was, wasn't it? They ask you questions, and you answer them, out of mutual trust and concern for the other's well-being.
Sometimes he missed the days when he kept to his own and didn't talk to anyone outside the realm of business. Horseshoe was a good enough companion. Always listened, kept his mouth shut, followed you around when you wanted him to, hit the bricks when you needed some space. Wasn't much of a conversationalist, though...
"Nah, it's nothing," Don't Ask answered offhandedly, taking a bite of his second slice of pizza. He hesitated before croaking out, "Me an' Dutchy, we just had a little... you know, thing. It ain't no big deal, really."
|
|
|
|
Post by Styx Kennedy on Aug 31, 2009 0:50:05 GMT -5
"If she's anything like you, I can't wait to meet her, too."
Styx laughed out loud, “We have our differences, but I’m sure you’ll love her, boyo!” He continued to chuckle quietly as he thought of all the crazy antics the two of them had done together. And with this new news about sweets, thoughts of Nike no longer put him in a bad mood. In fact, it made him rather anxious to get going. Going where he wasn’t sure, but he did know he couldn’t sit here much longer.
"Nah, it's nothing. Me an' Dutchy, we just had a little... you know, thing. It ain't no big deal, really."
On the other hand, a friend in need... He noticed Don’t Ask’s hesitation and wondered what was going through his friend’s mind. Styx scratched the back of his head as he wondered what to say in response. “Now, it might sound a little corny but,” he looked back at DA, “well, things like this have a way a workin themselves out in the end. If you and Dutchy are as good a friends as I think you are... true friends can’t be separated for long, DA.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Don't Ask on Aug 31, 2009 2:29:18 GMT -5
“Now, it might sound a little corny but, well, things like this have a way a workin themselves out in the end. If you and Dutchy are as good a friends as I think you are... true friends can’t be separated for long, DA.”
Don't Ask nodded sullenly, chewing his pizza for a bit, before sighing and setting the slice down on the plate again. Oh, what the hell, in for a penny...
"It wasn't a fight, though," he said quietly. "I mean, come on, you've met him. The boy doesn't have it in him to fight with anybody. It was..." Ah, shit. If anyone in Manhattan had noticed what happened, it was sure to get around to Queens eventually. And if no one had, well, Styx seemed like maybe he could keep his mouth shut. For something that counted, anyway. "It was me. I was there when Sweets came back 'cause Dutchy brought me along so he could tell Jack that I was willing to get in the mix if somethin' went down. But that damn front room is really small, and I don't do so good with groups. I get really nervous and jittery, I feel like I'm bein' trapped an' cornered. An' once Sweets showed up, everyone got all worked up tryin' to get to her and find out what happened, and people started pushin' to get through, and Dutchy got shoved up against me an' he--" Shut up now!! he mentally shouted at himself. Of course he couldn't tell Styx the rest. Couldn't tell anyone the rest. Ugh, why had he started talking at all?
Don't Ask trailed off for a minute, poking at his pizza slice, peeling off the stringy cheese and eating it before tying up the loose end of his story. "I just bolted. God, it was embarrassing. Acted like a four-year-old."
|
|
It's a fact, I looked it up.))