The Fountain

[Prince]

Prince's smile faded as she heard Styx's voice. She instantly pulled her hand out of the fountain and took a deep breath. She kicked her feet off of the fountain and looked up at him. "Afternoon," she said with a small nod. The smile was gone. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees again and leaned forward. She looked down at the ground and brought her hand up to her head and scratched it through her hat. "Take a seat," she said as she patted the ledge of the fountain next to her.

"So!" she said as she looked over at him eyes stern and face serious. "You and Briggette," she said raising her eyebrows and little and then looking down at the ground. "Look, I just... dunno what ta tell ya, but you and her sleepin' in the bunk room together's gotta stop. I mean... what kinda image do ya think that's given to the kids huh? I know ya ain't doin' anything, but cha also ain't together." She sighed a little and shook her head as she looked down at the ground. "So look... ya got some choices... youse two can think about it, and maybe make things a little more official... find somewhere else ta sleep next to one of another, or," she took a deep breath and shook her head, "I'm givin' you my bed." It was truly his call, and she wanted to see what he was going to say. She looked at him expectantly waiting for some excuses and some reasons for all this, and what he thought the best solution was.

In reality, Prince had already made her decision, and it was going to be the one enforced, but she'd rather hear what he thought first.

[Styx Kennedy]

His grin faded along with her smile, detecting her serious tone almost at once. Though he couldn't remember breaking any rules or doing anything that would upset Prince, he was known to be a pretty bad judge of what not to do. Sitting where she indicated, he too leaned forward and rested his elbows in his knees. He watched her as she spoke, his brow furrowing at first, then a smile creeping on his face at her propositions.

As commitment was out of the questions for him, for Bridgette too for that matter, he was inclined to go with her second option. However, he would feel incredibly...douche-y taking prince's bed just because he liked to sleep with Bridgette there. She shouldn't have to sleep in the bunk room, she was the leader. She deserved her space. Styx ran a hand through his hair and dug in his pocket for a cigarette and matches, "There's no next step for us, prince, neither of us do 'official.'" Finding what he was looking for he stuck the cig in his mouth and lit it. "But at the same time, I..can't take ya bed," he added, taking a drag. "It jus don seem right, ya know."

[Prince]

Prince sighed and shook her head again and looked down at the ground. "Well then what will we hafta do about this?" As she looked down she couldn't help but smile a little. But she got rid of it quickly and then stood up and stretched. "Welp... looks like you're gonna be takin' my bed... and heck, while you're at it... maybe you should just move in..." Prince stopped for a second and looked over her shoulder at him. She had a sly sort of look on her face, the look that said she was up to something.

"As a matter of fact..." she said as she turned around to Styx. "...why dun you just be leader?" she asked. Was it a joke? One good look at her face could tell you that she was speaking truth. In fact she was quite serious. She had a small smile on her face and looked at him sincerely. "Why dun you... take my place?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips looking at him. Once again, she was expectantly awaiting his reply, smiling gently all the while.

[Styx Kennedy]

Styx choked on smoke at her words and had to pound on his chest to make the coughing stop. He stood up as well and starred at her, mouth agape, watching her face intently but unable to tell if she was joking. This was not where he had expected this conversation to go and he was still so shocked by the her words that he was actually speechless (an odd occurrence indeed for one such as him, what with his silver tongue and all). How did they get form the topic of him and Bridgette to him as the new Queens leader? Him? Leader? And since when had Prince thought about stepping down? Had he missed something? She had to be pulling his leg...

He went to take a drag of his cig, still too in shock to speak, but thought better of it after remembering his coughing attack only moments before. Instead he ran another hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck. Her face was serious, but her words still baffled him. "You..wait, what?" he asked eloquently.

[Prince]

Prince chuckled and shook her head with a smile. "Look," she said as she took a step forward towards him. "I... uh..." she was gettin' tired of this. Truth be told. Tired of hiding running from who she was, tired of pretending. "I need ta stop," she said finally laughing out loud. "Look... there's a few things you should know," she said calmly, her smile fading slightly. And she would get to all that later. "But in the mean time... it's high time that I call it done," she said quietly. "It's been a great run and I had a great time and I'll tell ya it's hard ta find kids more loyal than those here." True, Brooklyn kids were loyal, but she was surprised at how much her kids really were devoted to her.

"Listen, I'll stick around for a few weeks or so and just... make the transition smooth and all and then... I'll be outta there, outta your hair, the place is yours, and I can get to... whatever I plan on doin'." Right now she didn't have a solid plan, but she was workin' on it a little.

"In the mean time," she said quietly. She sat down on the fountain again. "I'm still workin' on avoiding my father... Snyder?" she said as she looked up at him. She figured it was only fair that he knew what she'd really been doing dressed as a boy for so long. "So... if you should ever see him headin' my direction, lemme know..." she said quietly. She just kept throwing more and more information at him. She hoped he would be able to handle it all without choking again. Everything from here on in was the honest to goodness truth. And she was going to start throwing it at him best and fast as she could.

[Styx Kennedy]

A grin spread across Styx's face as the reality of it all sunk in. Part of him wanted to whoop, do a back flip and maybe even tackle-hug Prince, but the other part kept him from doing so. This other part felt the full weight of what Prince was handing him and was wondering what the hell she could possibly be thinking. Him as leader? It was madness. He was confident in general, sure, but that was mostly just about whether or not he could pull a stunt without breaking something or about charming girls. He wasn't sure he could actually lead a borough...

Prince looked tired as she spoke and he wondered why he hadn't seen it before. These past few months had been hard on her, they'd been hard on all of them, and he knew she'd been through a lot in her time as leader. Would he be able to handle things as well as she had? Maybe not, but he did feel he could make her proud. He was fiercely loyal to Queens and to Prince, so, though he was surprised she had chosen him, he was also honored. "S'alot ta take in, Prince..." he said, still grinning. Despite the gravity of the situation he was extremely excited.

"Shite there's so much ya gotta teach me!" he started, his words finally coming back to him. "How long you think you'll stick around, I don think this is somethin ya can teach me real quick..." The LH would be weird without her and he wasn't sure he would like it. She'd been the one to let him and Casey into Queens after all, he had never known it without her. Speaking of Casey... What would she have to say about all this? He grinned, knowing the answer already. She would laugh her ass off, question Prince's sanity, then pat him on the back and say she knew he had it in him. He laughed and shook his head, "Nike'll love this."

Her next words snatched the smile off his face and his jaw dropped open once more. "...Snyder? As in... Snide?* The Warden?" Styx was truly gobsmacked by this news. He had known Prince had her reasons for dressing like a guy, but he had never imagined this. Now though, as he thought back, pieces began to fall in place; little things that hadn't made sense before. "Jaysus, love... Why didn' ya say somethin? ...Well, I guess I know why, but still... Yeah a course I'll let ya know. Send Nike out to wherever ya are."






*((couldn't resist XD. Gobsmacked(a): very surprised. ))

[Prince]

Prince's mind raced a mile a minute as she tried to think of the important things to tell him, but was cut off in her own mind by the look on his face. The delighted expression caused her to stop mid thought and look at how excited he really was about all of this. True enough... he was a kid, but hell he wasn't much younger than her! Only by about a year... but the good news was Queens would have an older leader for a change, and the kids would have a father figure, rather than a mom. Oh sure, she'd still be the Prince of Queens, and mother to these children, forever and for always. Maybe she'd even pick up a job in the Steinway factory until she could find somewhere better to be. She didn't know yet, but one thing was for sure. As she looked at Styx she saw two things. She saw the charming sweet heart who would care for everyone deeply and passionately... something that she knew Avalanche had in him. And she saw a corageous young man ready to fight for what he believed to be right whether everyone believed it or not, and think things through... a part of herself. This was the right kid for the job... and anyone sayin' other wise had another thing comin'.

"Listen, listen, kiddo," she said as she stood up and held up her hands to silence his panic of everything. "First of all... I'll be around as long as I think you need another set of hands." She didn't plan on letting him know when she was going to leave. Honestly, if she did this correctly, no one should really notice when she was fully gone, that's the way she'd want it to be. Just one day they'd wake up, she wouldn't be there, wouldn't come home, and slowly she'd be gone. That would be the perfect transition. "And honestly, I know you think there's a lot to take in, and a lot to know, but I'll be sure and teach you everythin' you know..." she couldn't help but chuckle at that sentance as she sighed and turned away from him once more.

Prince slowly moved to sit on the edge of her fountain once more and take a look at her borough which... was barely hers anymore. It made her want to cry really. Looking out over the cobblestones where she had run chasing smaller newsies, and yelling at the kids to stop fighting, and led her very own newsies in the strike against the World headquarters... this had been her teritory, her land. It was going to be the hardest thing in the world for her to let it go. Now she knew why Avalanche had been so sad to leave.

"Anyway," she said quietly and then cleared her throat. Choked herself up a little more than she had realized there. "Yeah... the long and short of it is... I ran away," she said quietly. She was always scared of this story more than, almost, anything. The fear was that she had made the choice to leave home, she had thought it through, it was really her decison! And most kids would trade the lodging house for a place like hers any day of the week. It wasn't fair that she could choose to give it up when most of them would kill for a life like the one she had a chance at. "I ran away from Manhattan, young..." her eyes misting over as her imagination carried her back in time telling this story in a very quiet tone to her successor. "Avalanche found me nearly starved in the snow, and took me home." Queens was always home.

"Brought me up in our lodging house, and then left me in charge. And now? Well... I practically watched you grow up here right along with me didn't I?" She said with a smirk. Just about, she had. "As much as I hate to boast," she said her tone getting serious once more, "I'm practically Queens greatest and best kept secret. So please," she said a tone in her voice that she didn't use often, a pleading tone truly asking for his help, "help me keep it?" She didn't want him telling anyone. This was something Avalanche was aware of, Red knew about, her... and now Styx. Everyone else believed that she had run from a mad man trying to kill her, and she was only dressing as a boys these days to get respect, and in some ways, these things were true. No one had ever suspected that the female leader of Queens... was secretly, the daughter of the mighty Warden.

Prince sighed again and stood up. "But know this," she said standing up to her full height. "This ain't Brooklyn," she said quietly. "There's no key, no cane, no object of leadership I can hand to you. This ain't the Bronx, here girls and boys stay in the same place together, live together, and respect one another, and it's very important that continues. And this ain't Manhattan, the most bustling part of the whole city with somethin' constantly goin' on. This, my good friend," she said pausing a moment as she sort of breathed in the air around her, "is Queens. The biggest borough in the whole city, with more land than the newsies can usually cover. Named for it's royalty, it's leaders are treated as such. There are some of the kindest and most generous people in this city in this borough. Some of the greatest thinkers, and most brilliant and unique newsie minds come from here. And all these kids are now going to stand behind you, and be loyal to you." She put a hand to his shoulder. "Trust me," she said quietly allowing her tone to be it's natural pitch as she was just above a whisper, "you can, and you will do great things here."

[Styx Kennedy]

Styx chuckled and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, reigning in his excitement as she continued on and falling into silence once more. Inside he was partially panicking and partially excited. Both sides were vying for dominance, but neither managed to tip the scale and, as a result, he was left feeling poised on the edge of something huge. He sat down beside her and rested forward on his knees, taking a deep drag of his cigarette. Her face went through many emotions as she spoke – happiness, pride, sadness – and he watched her intently, soaking in every word.

It was natural for him to be curious about his leader’s past, they all had been, but he had never thought he would know it. Now, to be hearing her story first-hand was…incredible. He didn’t need to ask her motive for leaving, he could guess it easily enough and didn’t want to bring her back though those feelings any more than she already was. It made sense to him now why Avalanche and her were so close. It wasn’t because she had been his successor, as he had supposed, but because he had practically raised her. Close to the way Prince had shaped Casey and him into the people they were today, curing them of their dishonest, pick pocketing ways, but at the same time it was much more.

Her eyes misted up, but he didn’t feel the pull to comfort her like he did with other girls. This wasn’t just any girl, she was and always would be his leader. Prince was one of the strongest and bravest girls he had ever met and he had met plenty. Queens’ best kept secret she was, so he nodded in agreement, “Aye, I’ll make sure of it.” And he would. Queens’ newsies were used to keeping the secret and he intended to make it clear that it would stay that way, that nothing changed with her gone. Though they wouldn’t know the exact reason behind it as he now did, but they were a loyal bunch, especially to Prince, so they wouldn’t give it up in a hurry, he was sure.

As she stood, Styx followed her with his eyes and sat up straighter, her words painting a picture in his mind of the proud borough she was describing. The weight of all the responsibility she was placing on his shoulders was almost tangible, but he felt it was a good weight; one that would keep his feet firmly on the ground and his stunts to the non life threatening variety. He stood up and grinned again, his heart practically swelling at her words. It was no wonder Avalanche had chosen her as leader.

Loyal to him… It was a daunting thought, all those kids depending on him to lead the way. Most of them he considered close friends and even the ones his didn’t know well he was friendly with. They knew he had their back and perhaps it was this, in part, that had helped in Prince’s decision. No, this wasn’t Brooklyn, the borough full of brooding souls and chip-laden shoulders, and nor was it Jack’s land of the happy-go-lucky (Skittery aside) or the ever-balanced Bronx, but it home. All that she said about Queens rang true and he felt strength surging through him. He could do this. Great things…he couldn’t be sure, but he knew for a fact that he would not disappoint. He could not. Right?

Styx ran both hands through his hair, his dying cig laying on the ground near the fountain, and kept his hands locked behind his head; a gesture he was oft known to do while thinking. “This is…a lot to take in,” he chuckled, his arms coming down and crossing over his chest. “An’ how can ya know I’ll be any good at this? Great things aside, what if I the rest of the kids don’ want me as leader?” He was doubting himself for the first time in a long time, but he supposed it was only to be expected under the circumstances. “I could feck up royally, Prince… Screw things up with the other leaders or something,” he sighed and sat back down again on the side of the fountain. “This could either go really well, or horribly wrong…”

[Prince]

All she did was smile. As he listed his panics and fears she could do nothing but have an ever growing and very present smile on her face. What if's, that was one of her favorite games. And the fact that he was thinking so hard and worried so much, was encouraging to her. True enough, he was correct, it was a whole lot to take in. It was tons and then some, but he didn't have to take it all in now. There was and would be time for that later.

"Oh sure," she said nodding. "Ya know... I never really thought of that. Yeah, I guess you're right," she said as she sat down beside him on the fountain. "...maybe I should just keep my spot for now huh?" she asked as she looked at him. "yeah... ya right, ya not ready," she shook her head and looked back out down the street.

Then without missing a beat she brought her hand up and smacked him across the back of the head. "What are ya dumb or somethin'?" she asked turning to look at him. again. "What if this and what if that, and fuckin' up royally? Really Styx?" She can't help but shake her head and laugh. The man had all the self-confidence in the world, and yet here he was wondering if he could pull this off. He was wondering something that she knew.

"You listen to me," she said with a sincere smile. "I know you're gonna be good at this, because you were made for it kiddo. You know it too. You've got the right heart, and the right temperament to keep these kids in line, and do it the right way, through respect, and not fear. And they will want ya. Yeah, they might have issues adjusting to it at first, and I'll tell ya right now, it's gonna take your closest friends the longest to get used to it," she warned him. After all you go through years with these best friends, and now you're in charge whether they like it or not? At times it can cause sparks to fly, but most of the time, it wasn't a major issue. "But if there is one kid who doesn't want you to be leader, who really doesn't... then they don' belong here for questionin' judgement like that," she said shaking her head. She'd send them else where in a hot second if they were going to cause problems for Styx. She wouldn't tolerate it.

"Yeah... ya could mess it up pretty bad, but ya won't. I know you. You take pride in the things you do, so you won't." And that was that. It wasn't that he would try not to, it wasn't that he would do his best. He just wouldn't mess it up. This was fact, Prince had just proclaimed it so.

Prince sighed deeply. Yeah, the other leaders. "Wull... look at it this way, ya can't court any of 'em..." well he could, but some how she didn't see that happening. And she had, which already made her feel like Manhattan was just... awkward. "Ya not gonna kill any of 'em," she knew that Styx wasn't that sort of man. "And Brooklyn and Queens haven't gotten along for a while, so you can only make those relations better." Who knows, Spot might actually like the kid. He had firmly disliked Prince, so that hadn't helped public relations at all. However, new blood met new friendships, and maybe Spot could over look the fact the kiddo was from Queens.

"My only concern..." she said nodding a little as she looked at him, "is... that you'll..." she didn't want to offend him, because she didn't think he'd do it, but should the going get rough kids tended to have a fight or flight sort of reaction, and she just didn't want Styx to flight. "You just gotta promise me that you're gonna be around and not go anywhere until you have someone else take over for you." Having a situation like Brooklyn was a nightmare, and she didn't want kids havin to step up and be leader if they didn't wanna be. She wanted things done correctly, by the book, and she was sure that Styx would agree with her. So, she wasn't all that worried. If you were a leader, you had responsibilities, and you had a place to be every night, that was that. "But really?" she said. "I think I could leave right now, and you would be beyond capable of handling things." She wouldn't, it would scare him, but she still believed it to be true. Capable, yes, perfect maybe not, but there wasn't too much to teach him really. She gave herself two weeks, tops.