A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read & reviewed the last chapter. Your feedback is always appreciated! (To the guest reviewer whom I can't thank over PM: I'm so happy to hear you've been enjoying this story, and thank you for your kind words!).
Up next, we have the precocious Les Jacobs (clearly musical!Les, because movie!Les is way too sweet to do something like this to poor Davey). No angst (for once) just one-sided brotherly antagonism.
Breakfast was watered-down soup and a dry bread roll. Les took a few slurps of the former and mostly ignored the latter, too full of antsy energy to eat.
"Les, I need to step out to go to the grocer's," his mother said. "Please make sure that David wakes up and has breakfast, and remind him that he needs to drop you off at school today before he goes to meet the newsboys."
"Yes, Mom," Les answered dutifully. He was sorely tempted to omit the second part of his mother's directive, but Davey would probably remember anyway, reminder or no, and besides, there was still a chance that having to go to school today wouldn't be a total loss. Les grinned. As soon as the door closed behind his mother, he shoved the half-eaten bowl of soup aside, pushed his chair back from the table, and sauntered over the corner of the room, where his brother was still sound asleep, curled up under a blanket.
"David…" Les shook his brother's arm. "David, wake up. Mom says you need to eat breakfast, and the soup's getting cold."
Davey groaned and rolled over. Les waited patiently. He had done this enough times to know that his brother needed a few extra minutes to fully awake, and that it was better to let him come to on his own. Sure enough, after a moment, Davey roused himself and sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He looked a little more tired than usual.
"You were chatty last night," Les began conversationally. He sat down in his chair by the brothers' shared bed and casually began lacing up his shoes.
"Sorry," Davey yawned, stretching as he uncurled himself from the bedclothes. "Hope I didn't keep you up." Les complained regularly about Davey's sleep talking, and Davey felt a bit bad about it, though there wasn't much he could do, other than apologize.
Les chortled gleefully. "Oh, you kept me up all right." He paused. "But it was well worth it."
Davey froze in mid-stretch, suddenly wide awake. "What's that supposed to mean, Les?" he asked suspiciously. There was a cunning gleam in his little brother's eyes that he didn't quite like. "What did I…." he cleared his throat. "What did I say?"
"Oh, nothing much," Les teased. He finished tying his shoes slowly, then kicked back in his chair so that it rested against the wall. "You just went on and on about a certain someone by the name of…" he paused dramatically, as if trying to remember, "oh yes...by the name of Sadie Becker."
The color drained from Davey's face. "Les…"
"It was quite informative, actually," the younger boy continued, looking thoughtful. "You'd been so good at hiding it!" He laughed. "I would have never guessed that you were sweet on her if you hadn't spelled it out for me last night…in rather embarrassing detail."
Davey groaned and hid his face in his hands. Les continued on as if he hadn't heard him.
"Funny thing is, Mom told me last night that if we're going to be on strike and not working anyway, she's going to send me back to school. At first I wasn't too keen on that, until I realized that Sadie's sister is in my class. Wait until I tell her-"
"Les, no! You can't!" Davey protested.
"Why not?" Les asked innocently, raising his eyebrows. "Should be interesting to see how Sadie feels about your little crush on her."
"Please," Davey begged. "Please don't."
Les paused for a moment, enjoying his older brother's discomfort. How short-sighted it had been for him to wish for his own bed so he could get away from Davey's sleep talking! He would gladly endure an occasional night of disrupted sleep if it meant gaining some leverage on his overprotective, rule-following older brother.
"Alright, David, I'll make you a deal," he declared magnanimously. "I'll keep your secret...but, in exchange for my confidence, you have to take me with you tonight when you and Jack sneak into Pulitzer's basement to print the Newsies Banner."
Dismay quickly replaced Davey's short-lived relief. "Les, it could be dangerous," he objected.
"And I have to be stuck at school all day, missing out on all the fun!" his younger brother shot back. "It's not fair Mom's letting you get out of class, just because you're older - "
" - because I'm already keeping up with my studies at home," Davey corrected. "And if you applied yourself, you could be doing the same thing."
Les scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't think now's really the best time for a lecture, big brother. Need I remind you that I hold all the cards here?" He raised an eyebrow at Davey, who exhaled in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Les had to stop himself from cheering. His brother was cornered, and he knew it.
"Mom's going to kill me," the older boy muttered finally.
"Not if she doesn't find out!" Les sprung eagerly out of his chair, spat in his hand, and held it out to Davey. "So, do we have a deal?"
"Les! That was completely unnecessary," Davey scowled, looking with disgust at his brother's dripping hand.
Les' eyes narrowed. "Do we have a deal, or don't we, David?"
Davey let out a sigh of exasperation, then, forcing down a grimace, spat in his hand and shook on it.
A/N: I think Les is such a fun character to write because he's this little kid with the vocabulary and expressions of an adult (e.g. "Can we table the palaver?"), and he's got this mischievous streak that makes him an entertaining foil to his serious older brother, especially on the occasions where Les gets the upper hand (the little sneaker). This chapter is also my humble explanation for why a responsible older brother like Davey would let Les come to something as potentially dangerous as printing the Newsies Banner in Pulitzer's basement. It would be a very out-of-character thing for Davey to do...unless there was some kind of coercion involved ;). Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it! (And, if you're interested in reading more of this plot line, please check out my story "Something Worth Winning.")
Up next: Mush gets the chance he's been hoping for, but first has to win the trust of his reluctant instructor.
