The Front Steps

[Kid Blink]

"Heh, yeah," Blink chuckled humorlessly and tilted his head in the direction of his slung arm. "I got shot. Tends to bring the hell-lookin' about."

"We need to talk... I about gave a girl a black eye an hour ago..."

"Yeah, I figured we were gonna do that sooner or later," he said with a slow nod. Her anger had seemed to melt away rather quickly, but Blink was familiar with that Cajun temper. Utterly unpredictable, it could come raging back any second now, so he trod carefully.

But Brook's next statement caught him completely off guard. She'd almost given someone a black eye? Brook never hit people! Blink had seen her get in some pretty powerful snits here and there, but not once had she let her temper get the best of her and gone back on all that Southern Belle training!

"Who--why--what--," he spluttered for a minute before shaking his head, clearing it, and trying again. "Who'd you almost hit, and what'd they do?"

[Brook LaRue]

Her arms folded and she leaned against the rail once more, considering how she could word it. She was a lady and damn it she didn't hit, she never struck someone that wasn't how things were done but she'd been so tempted. "She basically called me a trollop.." the idea was preposterous. Brook had never even kissed someone on the lips, a kiss on the cheek was something else. But on the lips? It was completely different, it meant intimate relations.

She frowned, glaring at the ground. "I didn't kiss him! It's not proper, he walked in on me and looked so mortified himself I couldn't hold it against him.." she snorted a bit, her temper still buzzing around in her mind. "I couldn't kiss him, because a kiss means something more than a sharing of affection. It's important, you only kiss someone you intend to court or are courting and even then.." she shook her head and looked down the steps, she was bitter about what had been said. "Now there are rumors, poor Snoddy. He's my friend, I'm sorry he hurts but he doesn't understand my reasoning. And I couldn't kiss someone when I like someone else, it's not right nor is it fair..." It all came out in a huff and a rush. "And then this girl has the audacity to corner me and call me a tramp!"

[Kid Blink]

Blink listened as Brook ranted, holding his tongue for once as she rattled on. Her ramble was slightly disjointed, but Blink could follow along well enough. He knew the gist of what had happened: Snoddy had a crush on Brook, Snoddy came on to Brook, and Brook rejected him. Between Snoddy's slurred bleatings during Specs's booze party, and all these rumors that people were just too happy to pass along to him, hoping to get a rise and maybe see a good fight, he was slowly learning details. Most stories, of course, he was able to dismiss out of hand. There were several variations, and each got less believeable than the last--he knew Brook, knew what Brook would do, and what Brook would never do.

After hearing the very first rumor, Blink had wanted to track Brook down and get the facts. But Brook had gone into hiding, and pretty effectively, too. And Blink wasn't certain whether she was hiding from Snoddy, or from him. There was a lot of hiding happening lately... People needed their space, and Blink wasn't going to force Brook into a confrontation she wasn't ready for yet. He'd reasoned with himself that if Brook wanted him to know what had happened, she'd tell him. (Clearly it had been the morphine talking. Between buzzes now, waiting for his last dose to kick in again, Blink was aching to know the details. With one eye, one arm, and a perpetual feeling of nausea, he wasn't able to do much fighting to stifle those rumors, but maybe a little slap of the facts would shut them up...)

Watching the way Brook frowned and glared and crossed her arms and ranted, looking so distraught and so angry, Blink felt a tug in his chest, and held out his good arm.

"C'mere, girl," he said quietly, beckoning her against him. "Take a deep breath. Don't worry about nothin' anyone else thinks. The people who know ya, they're the only ones who matter, get it? And thems that know ya, we know you wouldn't do nothin' like that. Everyone else, they're just lookin' for somethin' to do. They're bored, and they're angry, and they're lost. We're all kinda lost right now. And they... they're lookin' for a distraction. They picked you. And that blows. But... they'll find somethin' else soon enough. If Specs can stop smellin' like he's been dead two weeks already, he'll get some poor innocent girl in some compromisin' position, and then everyone will be talkin' about her, and no one will remember this thing with Snods."

Bowing his head, he placed a kiss on her temple. "So don't worry about it. If you let 'em get to you, you're givin' 'em exactly what they're lookin' for. Snoddy'll get over it, and he'll stop sleepin' in the park and come back to the lodgin' house. And you will too. And things'll go back to normal." He nuzzled his cheek against her hair and sighed unhappily. None of them, not a damn one, had done anything to deserve so much baggage. Their lives had been hard enough without all this shit piled on top. And now his friends were hurting, badly, and everyone was hiding, and no one was talking...

For the first time in a long, long time, he hated this life.


((Okay, so, it took me ten days, but you got a 600-word reply. Happy now?!))

[Brook LaRue]

That one opened armed gesture about had her anger falling away to all the hurt she felt. She couldn't remember doing anything to deserve such blatant hate from so many people, but she walked into his embrace and sniffed, setting her nose against his shoulder trying to fight back to tears that threatened the little Cajun.

She knew that it was almost hopeless to have feelings for him, the man was fickle and she knew it. But that was one of the many things she liked about him, from his dark looks at times to his flirtatious grins. Listening to his words it reaffirmed her affection for him. Her eyes slid closed with a sniff, trying not to let those tears overwhelm her and trying to hang onto tall the anger she wanted to keep close to herself and not lash out. Her people were known for their passion and she wasn't one without it. She loved and hated with the same fire, but she had been taught to temper it with good manners. She missed her brothers more than she ever had before but Blink's gentle words seemed to soothe her in a way that only he could manage to calm her. Sometimes a girl needed that.

Taking a slow breath the dark eyed southerner lifted her nose and set her cheek against his shoulder, feeling his cheek against her hair. He was trying, and even as hurt as he was he was trying to comfort her. "He walked in on me while I was bathin', mon choux... and it was uncomfortable but it was like my brother walkin' in... I set it aside because he looked so mortified me makin' a fuss would only make things worse. I'd been tossed in the lake by some pervert, it was a bad day that got worse and worse.." she was starting to make more sense now, being calmed she spoke evenly. She wanted things to go back to normal so badly it hurt. "He asked if he could kiss me, I had to tell him now. What kinda person would I be if I let my dear friend kiss me when there wasn't the right feelins behind it?" She frowned drearily, it was unfair. She wanted to go home so badly it was almost unheard of.

Homesickness, meshed with losing a dear friend over something she didn't even understand on his end and then Blink getting shot, she let out a shaky breath. "It wasn't right. Nothing has gone right...." and it made her ache with it. Her eyes were on his arm that was still in the sling and she took a deep breath, letting it out. "You got shot... you were right, was the only reason I didn't fight more..." Right about her being in the way. "I didn't want you to get hurt.. worrying about me..." she was afraid if she told him all that was going on that he would well.. she'd hurt someone else.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, and now? I'm a trollop.." that was something she couldn't understand people calling her. Her reputation had been shattered, because she was a lady and had turned someone down. How did that make her anything other than a lady? She was raised to know the difference. "What do I do?"

((worth it.. here's 570))

[Kid Blink]

"He walked in on me while I was bathin', mon choux..."

Blink snorted softly. "Lucky sonovabitch... Remind me to throttle him for it sometime, okay?"

"And it was uncomfortable but it was like my brother walkin' in... I set it aside because he looked so mortified, me makin' a fuss would only make things worse. I'd been tossed in the lake by some pervert, it was a bad day that got worse and worse..."

"Whoa, wait, what? What pervert?" Suddenly riled, Blink jerked away, good eye blazing. It was one thing for Snoddy to accidentally enter the washroom while Brook wasn't decent, but if Brook's tale involved a pervert trying to get his hands on her... To hell with his injuries, someone was gonna die!

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, and now? I'm a trollop... What do I do?"

Anger abated again by her pitiful whimper, Blink sighed and slung his good arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him again. "You're not a trollop, Brook. People talk. It's just what they do. You know what happened, and now I know what happened. And you better believe that means that everyone else is gonna hear what really happened, too."

Drawing his arm back for just a moment, Blink fumbled in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a slightly battered cigarette and popped it between his lips. Lighting up quickly, he took a drag and held it for several seconds, the burning in his lungs soothing, before exhaling downwind, keeping the smoke away from Brook's airspace. Holding the smoke between his fingers, he replaced his arm around her shoulders, careful to keep the burning cherry from singing her.

"Okay," he said after a moment. "Here's what you do." He shifted, moving more to face her, speaking as though he were revealing the secrets of the creation of the universe. "Nothin'. Not a damn thing. You just keep bein' your gorgeous fiery Cajun self. All'a this will blow over soon, I promise. And I know for a fact that Snods ain't mad at you. He's just... I dunno, embarrassed. He's hidin', too, in the park. He'll get over it soon. You know him, he ain't the type to hold a grudge. And if he can get over it, so can everyone else. You just stick to your guns, you be the sweet, innocent Brook everyone knows, and when everything goes back to normal, everyone's gonna forget what happened."

He paused to take another drag. He could feel his morphine buzz slowly inching back, and he was grateful. Seemed he could only feel like fate wasn't shitting all over him and his friends when the morphine was pumping through him.

"I know you're not a trollop, Brook," he said, and kissed her forehead. "And I ain't gonna let anyone else think so, neither."

[Brook LaRue]

She watched his face change when she mentioned the pervert in the park, her dark eyes on his features as he jumped, temper sizzling on the edges. At times she wondered if he wasn't from the south, he had some of the fire that made her people what they were. But she knew, Blink was 100% New York bred. Even if she had never asked much more than that. Where she came from was a large part of who she was, and he was just who he was. Live every day as if it was your last.

Whoa, wait, what? What pervert?"

Sighing the small girl put her finger to his lips and shrugged a little bit, seeing how it would work to sooth his nerves. "It's not important, mon choux. And Specs got him good for putting his hands on me to start with.. don't go fightin' for my honor just yet alright?" Not with that arm in a sling, it made her heart clench as she looked down at his arm, listening to his words.

Blink's movements were always interesting to her, watching the way his shoulders moved when he spoke or the way he stood so nonchalant. How his clothes hung on his figure even drew her notice, though the words that accompanied his actions gave her pause. The way he acted, the kiss to her forehead and the context of his words had her mind racing. He told her it was all okay, nothing was her fault and that people would talk no matter what she did. Truthfully she knew that, but once a reputation was damaged at times it was never repaired.

Sighing, she set her head against his good shoulder as he continued speaking, a slow smile crossing her features at his announcement. He wouldn't let anyone think that? She knew he would defend her honor, he had that kind of knightly quality about him. Oddly enough his tarnished armor was one of the many reasons she was so fond of him. He had the capacity for great things, she saw that in him even if he didn't see it in himself.

"Thank you," her voice as light when she finally found it again, that smile crossing her features was one she hadn't shown in the better part of a week. "You know, despite things being how they are. I'm grateful for you, mon che." Even if it was on her tongue to try and find out how he liked her, not knowing where their relationship was going to go, she kissed his cheek and smiled. "Thank you.."

As she'd said before, a kiss on the cheek was different then a kiss on the lips. She couldn't do that, it meant to much and it would be her first real kiss. The anxiety over what it could mean shook her to her core to think about, because it meant more than just a friendly peck. Or the warm hug of a very close friend. After all, he said often that she was his friend. Nothing more.

[Jack Kelly]

[[NEW DAY]]

Jack had been preoccupied in the aftermath of the battle. Most of New York had been moving on, their wounds mending slowly as life moved on at a slow, but steady pace. But Jack still brooded on the past, even as (so he had heard from a few shadowy and unreliable sources) a new threat was creeping up in the shadows around the edges of their little world. He had been distracted, reclusive, and withdrawn. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to anyone but Racetrack, who was mostly getting tired of being Jack's messenger boy, as well as getting tired of Jack's constant melodramatic mood. Jack also realized that he couldn't remember the last time he had spoken to David, or any other of his friends.

He sat on the bottom step with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped loosely between them, head bowed, studying the ground that he had almost committed to memory, alone with his thoughts until he was taken from them by an unfamiliar sound.

[Lucky Volpecillia]

"Look like shit, Kelly.." Lucky blew the smoke out and smirked a bit as she walked up the steps her dark eyes on her friend as she turned and dropped down next to him on the steps. She wasn't bitter or anything, she was just Lucky. Smalls was back, she was doing alright and as far as she could see.. well Jack wasn't.

"What's eatin you?" she took another drag from her smoke. With Spot so often out of town these days it was left to Lucky to handle things. When Smalls had ditched, again Lucky had stepped up. It's not like she could let Brooks run itself. Her brow raised and she handed him her smoke so he could have a drag. Guy looked a real piece of work at that moment.

[Jack Kelly]

Jack took the cigarette and took a long drag. He sighed out a stream of smoke and relaxed a little. "Still cleanin' up after the last mess we had here," he answered. He handed her back her cigarette and suddenly wished he had his own. "Everyone else gets to forget, but I still gotta tell some dumb-ass kid's old man why his son didn't come home." Recently he had asked Kloppman to take up that task when it was discovered that this newsie or that had a family. Jack had gotten sick of it, and he'd gotten hit for it more than once.

"How's Brooklyn, eh, Lucky?"

[Lucky Volpecillia]

"It's Brooklyn, Conlon's AWOL again and Smalls had jumped a freight. So.. left to me," again. She shrugged and took a nice long drag from the smoke she had rolled and leaned back, her elbows on the step as she looked over at him. "Some things don't change Jack." But other things did, the fact they were down a few boys was one thing. They'd all seen what a warriors death was really like and in Brooklyn, it was just another day.

She didn't want to tell Jack that's how it was for the Brooks kids. To them, that great battle was just one of many they'd fought. This time there were guns, but for most of them it was just like any other day on the street. She forgot that most of the other boroughs kids had families. Since the rag tag Brooklyn army really only had one another.

"How you holdin' up leader?" she gave him a lopsided smirk, Lucky was true to her name. Luck seemed to follow the girl where ever she tended to wander. But at the end of the day, it was just that she was smarter than the average joe. A little bit quicker, a little bit wiser. That little bit meant a lot in the big scheme of things. "You do things that no one else can do, Jack. You remember names, faces, birthdays... when some a us have a habit of even forgetting our own birthdays. It's that heart you got that makes you the best for your job. No one else could take Manhattan like Jack Kelly.."

[Jack Kelly]

It was a personality flaw--Jack liked to hear himself talked about. And Lucky knew it. Jack returned her grin with some genuine good humor. "Thanks for that," he said. "Needed to hear somethin' good for once." He stared out absently to the street, watching the occasional carriage clop along the path. How could anyone think that nothing interesting ever happened in this city? He realized how true his thought was, and barely hid a flinch. He and the other leaders still had a lot to deal with, even after some of the other newsies had stared to move on. And now...

"You got another cigarette?" he asked. As he waited for her reply he looked out onto the street again. "Hey Lucky," he said suddenly. "You been hearin' these rumors goin' around? Somethin' new startin' up aroud here?"

[Lucky Volpecillia]

Lucky handed him a smoke and took another drag from her own, letting it hang from her lip for a moment before she shrugged, "Not a whole lot really-- been spendin time with River lately.. tryin not ta think about stuff to much.."

[fiddler]

New Day

Fiddler gazed up at the Lodging House, her heart racing in her chest. She couldn't quite believe she had made it here, ready to become a newsie. She shuffled her feet, tearing her eyes from the sign and glancing 'round. There seemed to be no one about. She sat down the Lodging House steps, careful not to be in anyone's way should they come out the door. Then, she opened the case at her feet and beamed. There sat her fiddle, her pride and joy, her favorite object in the entire world. She lifted it from the case and took up her bow. She rubbed it gently with rosin, then positioned the fiddle beneath her chin.

She began to play. The notes of the Irish jig her father had taught her drifted into the air, filling her ears and her senses. This is what she loved most in the world - music, the feeling of the strings beneath her fingers and the feeling of actually creating something all on her own. It was addictive, but it was a happy addiction.

Fiddler finished the first jig and moved on to a slower, more relaxed song. She kept her eyes trained on the strings, careful not to make a mistake.

[David Jacobs]

David was heading over to the lodging house to see if maybe any of the guys were around, he wasn't much in the mood for being alone and he didn't really want to go home and playy a hundred questions with Les, not today. He shoved his hands in his pockets, rounding the corner towards the lodging house when he heard music drifting down the street from that direction, the beautiful and spirited sounds of what sounded like an Irish jig. As he drew closer he could see a young girl sitting on the front steps of the house, fingers moving over the strings of a fiddle, bow moving in a simple easy rhythm that David knew was anything but.

The jig ended and the music shifted, slower this time but just as haunting and lovely. He felt a smile tug on his lips as he watched her, concentrating so wonderfully on her music, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. Sometimes David wished he had a skill like that, Denton claimed he had a nose for news and Jack always liked using him for his words (and mouth) but that hardly compared to crafting beautiful msuic with just your two hands and an instrument.

"You play well..." David said, once the music had gone quieter and he didn't feel as if he'd interupt her concentration. "It's nice to hear some spirited music coming out of here, just be careful you don't go to playing it too early, the guys won't like it much if you interupt their sleep." He shot her a lopsided grin and then moved to stand in front of the steps, leaning against one of the railings.

[fiddler]

Fiddler heard the boy before she saw him. Wrapped up in her music, she didn't even notice he was standing there until he spoke.

"You play well..."

She grinned, flattered. Before she could thank him, he continued: "It's nice to hear some spirited music coming out of here, just be careful you don't go to playing it too early, the guys won't like it much if you interrupt their sleep." He grinned at her as he leaned against the railing.

"Thanks for the compliment," she said, "and yeah, I'll be careful not to play too early. I don't want to get kicked out for something like that."

Fiddler paused, thinking of something to say. She quickly looked the boy over; he was tall, with curly brown hair and kind eyes. And he seemed nice enough.

"I'm Fiddler," she said after a moment. She shifted the bow to her left hand so she could offer the right for him to shake. "My real name's Colleen, but the nickname just stuck." She smiled softly.