Ten

by rhododendron

Ten short unconnected drabbles, mostly character sketches, on the residents of the Duane Street Lodging House. R&R, please. Some mild slash, some gen, some present, & some canon.

1. Pattern

Title: Ten

Note: This was written as part of a LJ challenge/meme- basically, I put my iPod on shuffle & wrote a quick drabble while the song was playing. The end compilation is: ten chapters, a mix of canon & present, & includes the main characters from the movie. There are a few segments with very mild hints of slash.

Disclaimer: none of the songs are mine; Newsies isn't either.

One; Bliss - Syntax
all those feelings are just fear
when you're thrilled by ego hits
you think you're on a high
you should know deep down inside
it never satisfies.

Spot knows running, knows sprinting down alleys and across docks, through warehouses and under piers, bright flashes of light piercing down through the boards onto his face. Knows the pattern of his breath more than anything, the absence of any sound except for the harsh gasping and the draw of air through his lungs. Knows the fear and knows that as many times as he ends up doing this, ends up running away, he'll never get used to it.