Author's Note: Hi! I told myself I'd write about characters other than these two, but I lied. I wanted a little something in celebration of the fact that I am officially seeing Newsies live for the first time in two months! Ahhh! So, I wrote this very theatre-y thing because I've been at 8-hour rehearsals for five days a week for the past two weeks and have forgotten how the outside world works. So, enjoy! Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated!
Jack glanced at the clock. 5:15. He had a bus to catch at 5:30, unless he wanted to walk home, which would be one heck of a walk. So, he knew he had to finish painting this backdrop in 15 minutes. Well, technically, he didn't have to. Opening night wasn't for two more weeks. But, Jack hated to leave art projects unfinished, so here he was, on an abandoned stage, speed-painting.
5:16.
"Oh gosh," Jack sighed. "Let's get down to business, Jack." He grinned and rolled his eyes as a certain song popped into his head. With a smirk, he sang under his breath, "Let's get down to business to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?"
As he spread greens and blues across the lake he was painting, his humming slowly got louder and louder. Of course, it echoed around him, since he was alone in the theatre.
Or, so he thought, until suddenly, the lights flicked off, and a spotlight fell on him.
Jack stopped short in the middle of "you must be swift as a coursing river!" and jumped back, thoroughly startled. "Who's there?!" He exclaimed.
That's when an all-too familiar laugh broke through the silence, loudly bouncing off the walls of the theatre. The source of the laughter tried to speak, but couldn't get a word in between his own giggles. Finally, he managed, "Ain't you gonna finish your big solo?"
Jack's face turned bright red as he looked up at the catwalk to see none other than his best friend standing alone up there, lost in a fit of giggles. "You think you're real funny, don't you, Crutchie?"
"Hey, I'm just doin' my job!" Crutchie snickered. "Miss Medda told me to run a light test before leadin' the rest of the tech crew in here tomorrow, so that's what I'm doin'."
"Uh huh," Jack stood up and folded his arms. "Yeah, that's what this is, huh? Completely professional business?"
Crutchie nodded, covering his laughing mouth with a freckled hand. "Can't believe I've known ya all my life but I didn't know you could sing!" He sniggered. "Jeez, Miss Medda shoulda made you the lead!"
Jack rolled his eyes and grinned. "Ah, shut up. I thought I was alone, okay?"
"Clearly," Crutchie smiled. "But, seriously, you got some pipes."
Jack scoffed. "Sure."
"I mean it!" Crutchie exclaimed. "You know anything else?"
"Unlike you, I don't have Andrew Lloyd Webber's entire musical history memorized," Jack responded pointedly.
"Well, what about non-Webber stuff?" Crutchie questioned, eagerness on the edge of his voice. "Like, I dunno, rock musicals would probably suit your voice. You know any? Spring Awakening? RENT?"
"No," Jack shook his head. "I mean, I'se seen both, but-"
"You're just as big of a nerd as me, aren't ya?" Crutchie grinned, leaning over the catwalk railing excitedly. "Admit it, you like musicals."
"Well, sure, I like musicals," Jack shrugged, trying to will the blush off his face. "Of course I do, why would I spend so much time here if I didn't? But, I mean, it's not like I'm a huge-"
"Sing a duet with me, huh?" Crutchie cut him off, beaming.
"What?"
"I mean, ya can't pretend ya don't know how to sing anymore," Crutchie explained. "I just saw it with my own eyes. So, c'mon, ya gotta know at least one!"
Jack shook his head with another grin. "I swear, Mulan is the only thing I know."
"Liar," Crutchie smirked. "Listen, just sing one song with me, and I'll never bring it up again, I promise."
Jack rolled his eyes. "I don't know nothin'."
"Okay, I'll change the deal," Crutchie began making his way down from the catwalk, hobbling over to the ramp that was installed mainly for him. "You just sing one part of a song with me, sixteen bars. Please?"
Jack looked at the clock again. "I got a bus to catch."
"So do I," Crutchie countered. "Just sixteen bars, and I'll leave you be."
"Look, I ain't a singer, Crutchie," Jack sighed.
"Neither am I!" Crutchie retorted as he stepped off the ramp and began towards the piano. "I'm a techie, but that's never stopped me." As he neared the piano on the edge of the stage, he continued, "Look, how's about we sing the first thing I flip to in the sheet music? Whatever music is already on the piano, we sing it. Deal?"
Before Jack could refuse, Crutchie sat down and flipped to a random page in the book that sat in front of him. The pages flopped and landed on "No One Is Alone" from Into The Woods.
"Aha!" Crutchie lit up. "Perfect! You gotta know this one!"
Jack decided not to agree with or deny his friend, and instead opted to say, "That ain't a male duet. It's mainly Cinderella and the Baker."
"Says the boy who doesn't know musicals," Crutchie said smugly. "Look, I'll sing Cinderella's part, I'll just bring it down. You wanna start from 'people make mistakes?'"
Jack wanted to refuse, but the look of excitement on Crutchie's face was unlike any he'd seen before. Jack smirked. "Sure."
Crutchie tapped their starting notes on the piano and began to play the melody as they both sang, "People make mistakes."
Jack glanced at the music, realizing this was just him. "Fathers."
"Mothers."
They looked at each other on the next line. "People make mistakes, holding to their own, thinking they're alone."
There was suddenly a pause as they each let the words sink in, slowly tearing their gazes away from each other.
After the moment, Crutchie let a small smile appear on his face. "Honor their mistakes,"
"Fight for their mistakes," Jack looked down at his feet.
"Everybody makes one another's terrible mistakes," Jack made eye contact with Crutchie again. "Witches can be right, giants can be good, you decide what's right, you decide what's good."
Crutchie's piano playing slowed to a stop. There was a moment of silence before Crutchie softly said, "That wasn't sixteen bars."
Jack grinned. "Sondheim...he really knows his stuff, huh?"
Crutchie nodded. There was another brief silence before he spoke up again, still soft. "Our parents each made lots of mistakes. But, I mean, like the song says, you can't think you're alone, right?"
Jack nodded slowly, then smiled. "I suppose with you around, I'm never alone. You sure proved that today."
Crutchie chuckled. "Suppose I did."
Jack set his hand on Crutchie's shoulder. "Thanks. For, uh, making sure I ain't on my own."
Crutchie smiled warmly. "No one is."
With a glance at the clock, Jack announced, "Now, come on. We got a bus to catch. You wouldn't want to ride alone."