Hiya, everybody! *waves* Sita here (though I guess I should officially start calling myself Mayfly) with yet another random one-shot! I like these random one-shots. ^_^ They're fun! Who knows? It might actually come out okay! But, it probably won't. Because I'm writing something in third person for the first time in my life. Well, actually, no. All those Mary Sue fics? You know, the ones that everyone writes but never posts? Yeah, those were all in third person. I miss my anime Mary Sues...Kat, Minda, Sena...they were fun! Oh, wait! "Mothers Know These Things" was in third person, too! Anyway... This idea is... I dunno. Goofy, weird, annoying. Yes, those all fit. *rolls eyes* *grins* Ah, well. Hope you enjoy it anyway!
Disclaimers: Not mine. Nothing. No one.
Warnings: Slash, random-ness, stupidity
A Simple Box of Chocolates
It doesn't take much to make a newsie happy.
The morning was sunny and warm, the headlines weren't too bad, and Kid Blink still had enough money clinking around in his pocket to afford a reasonably nice lunch. That was all he really needed.
Whistling cheerfully, he trotted towards Central Park with his papers balanced on his shoulder.
"Boy! Boy!" Blink frowned and stopped in his tracks. "Ja, you, boy!" He looked around, searching for the origin of the creaky, old voice.
There! A cloaked figure beckoned to him from an alley.
"Da hell?" he muttered to himself. He walked quickly after the hobbling personage, glancing around warily as he entered the alley. He had to be wary; all bad things happened in alleys. It was practically a rule. His friends were all beaten and raped in alleys, and then there were those weird yet beautiful girls who all happened to be named Mary Sue. Someone always managed to run into one of those in some alley. And let's not mention the freaks from the future who tended to show up every now and then, usually falling (where else?) into the back alleys of Manhattan. But, all that's irrelevant. Back to the story. "Who're you?" The old woman (he assumed it was a woman, but it could have been a man with a really high-pitched voice) turned around.
She was somewhat short, but then again, Blink couldn't really tell how tall she was; she was hunched over and leaning heavily on a gnarled, old, wooden cane. A plain brown robe completely covered her, and the hood was pulled up, hiding her face from view.
"Boy," she croaked in a heavy German accent, "have you ever vanted somethink...more?"
Blink raised an eyebrow.
"Whadda ya mean?"
"You are discontent." She moaned in an exaggerated fashion and waved her arms in an attempt to look eerie. "You vant somethink more zan zee life of a newsboy, ja?"
"Uh...not really, lady. I'se happy bein' a newsie!" He smiled and shrugged.
The woman was silent.
"YOU LIE!" she shrieked, jabbing at him with her cane.
"Hey, cut it out! OW!"
"You LIE like zee big, bad...LYING PERSON! Lügner! Gemein lügner!"
"OW! Okay, okay, I lie! I want somethin' more, are ya happy? Now quit pokin' me!" Blink jumped backwards from the crazy, old broad, rubbing angrily at his stomach, which was sure to bruise from the vicious poking he'd just received.
"Zat ees vat I thought," the old lady replied haughtily. She immediately hunched back over her cane, but it was pretty obvious to Blink that she didn't actually need it. "I have here...somethink zat may interest you, boy."
"Will ya quit callin' me 'boy?' Da name's Blink!"
The woman ignored him.
"How vould you like..." She waved her hands in the air a few times before reaching into the folds of her robe and producing a live chicken. "Wait... crud, I didn't mean to do that," she muttered, completely dropping the (now obviously fake) German accent. She dug around in her robes for a few seconds and removed half of a hot dog, a couple of squirming mice, and something that Blink had never seen before. It was round, flat, shiny, and it had the words "Taking Back Sunday" on it.
"Whassat?" he asked, pointing at the round thing.
"It's a CD, you moron," the old woman said in a voice that suddenly sounded an awful lot like an irritated teenager's. "I mean..." She quickly hunched back over her cane. "Ees...magical talisman! Ja, talisman!" she cried quickly, reverting back to the creaky old woman's voice. "Aaaaah, here ees vat I vas lookink for!" She slipped a small, wooden box out of her sleeve. "How vould you like a box of chocolates, boy?" Blink cautiously opened the box to reveal an apparently normal set of chocolates.
"Why are ya givin' 'em ta me?"
"Because you are not like zee others. You are... how you say... deefferent."
"Ya mean different?"
"Zat is vat I said!"
"No, ya said-"
"DO NOT BE CONTRADICTINK ME!" The woman paused, laughed nervously, and cleared her throat. "I vish to help you!"
"Sooo... ya give me chocolate?"
"Ja!"
"Not money or a place ta stay. Chocolate." The woman appeared a bit flustered.
"Vell... zeese are no ordinary chocolates. Zeese chocolates... carry magic!" Blink rolled his eye.
"Look, dat line sounds like it belongs in some kinda cheesy musical or somethin'. And do ya really think I'm gonna believe dat you're givin' me, a total stranger, a box of magic chocolates?"
"Well...yeah, actually." Blink fought back the urge to bang his head against the wall.
"I got papes ta sell, lady." He trudged away from the alley.
"Vait, vait! Oi! Anschlag!" Blink gritted his teeth and turned back around. "You are not even curious? Maybe zeese are magic! How vill you know eef you do not take zem?"
"Look, lady, you'se nuts, and-"
The woman yanked off her hood, revealing the face of a very, very pissed-off teenage girl.
"Just take the friggin' chocolate!" she snapped, her eye twitching behind her glasses. Blink gulped and quickly plucked the box out of the twitching brunette's hands. She smiled and yanked her hood back over he head. "You vill not be regretting zis!" she cried airily. With that, she hobbled down the alley, muttering something about writer's block and needing to get new muses.
Blink stared blankly at the box in his hand before shrugging and going on with the day as usual.
*~*~*
With a soft sigh, Kid Blink clambered up the side of Racetrack's bed in order to reach his own. He yawned as he pulled off his shoes, cursing himself once again for insisting on having the top bunk. It could be nice, but after a particularly hard day, it was just more effort that he had to put out to get to bed.
"Hey, Blink, where were ya dis mornin'?" Crutchy called from across the room. Blink cracked open his eye.
"Dis mornin'? Oh! Some crazy lady grabbed me and made me take a box of chocolates."
The room grew completely silent.
"Uh, did... Didja eat 'em?" Snitch asked hopefully. Blink frowned and dug around in his pocket.
"No, I got 'em right here. Anybody want one?"
Blink was immediately tackled by several of his friends.
Hey, love, friendship, and brotherhood are all great, but when it comes to chocolate, all bets are off, and it's every man for himself.
A few seconds later, the chocolates were completely gone. And Blink hadn't even tasted one.
"Dey was great, Kid!"
"I owe ya one!"
"Yeah, yeah," Kid Blink muttered. With another sigh, he collapsed back down on his bed and stared at the cracked, leaky ceiling of the Lodging House. It had been a weird day.
Well, tomorrow would probably be better.
*~*~*
"Hey, um... Blink?" Blink finished tying his shoe and glanced upwards, squinting against the early-morning sun streaming through the windows.
"Whatcha need, Snitch?" The dark-haired boy shuffled his feet and stared at the ground.
"Uh... c-can I talk ta ya? In private?" Blink raised an eyebrow. There weren't that many private places in the Lodging House. After quickly glancing around the room, his eye finally settled on the rickety fire escape.
"Yeah, shoah. C'mon." Blink squeezed his way through the mass of yawning boys, tripping over Mush along the way. He managed to pull open the old window and stepped outside. "So, Snitch, whatcha gotta say dat ya can't say in fronta the guys?"
Snitch sighed.
"Look, Blink. I dunno why I'm gonna do what I'm about ta do, but when I do it, I just want ya ta forget dat I ever did it."
Blink performed his namesake.
"Snitch, dat didn't make no sense."
Snitch sighed and stepped forward. With a determined look in his eyes, he grabbed Blink by the front of his shirt, pulled the shorter boy to him, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
Blink stared at the resident thief of the Manhattan Lodging House in shock.
Snitch turned red and cleared his throat.
"So, uh... yeah... see ya latah, Blink." He immediately hustled back into the building, mumbling something about needing to find Itey.
"... da HELL was dat?!" Blink shrieked to no one in particular. He stood, dumbfounded, on the fire escape for a few more seconds before climbing slowly back into the bunk room.
"Mornin', Blink!" Blink whirled around and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh... hiya, Skittery." He frowned. The usually morose teenager was beaming brightly. "Skitts, you okay?"
"Nevah been bettah!"
"Uh-huh... listen, Skittery, whassa mattah with Snitch?" Skittery blinked.
"Whadda ya mean?" Blink gulped and turned roughly the same shade of red as a tomato.
"He... he kissed me!" Skittery's jaw dropped.
"Are ya serious?" Blink nodded. Skittery's expression immediately darkened. "Dat bastard... dat little rat bastard!" he hissed. "I ain't gonna let him put his grubby, little hands all ovah ya!"
And for the second time that day, Blink found himself being grabbed and kissed fiercely by another boy.
Skittery pulled back a few seconds later wearing a smirk worthy of Spot Conlon himself.
"I'll let ya chew on dat for a while. Where's Snitch, dat sneaky, rotten fink?!" With that, Skittery stormed out of the room, grumbling about "murderin' dat nasty, little beavah."
Blink stood in shock for a few seconds before rushing over to the mirror and staring at himself.
"I ain't changed," he muttered to himself. Same messy blond hair, same clear, blue eye, same everything.
So why were his friends suddenly developing the urge to play tonsil hockey with him?
Something was very, very wrong. He didn't exactly know what.
But he was going to find out.
*~*~*
Blink sighed as he dragged his papers in the general direction of Bottle Alley, as his routine commanded: wander around the city during the morning, meet at Tibby's for lunch, and then head over to Central Park with Mush. By losing himself into his daily procedure, he'd almost forgotten about everything that had happened that morning.
"Dis headline is crap." Blink raised an eyebrow and turned around to face Racetrack, who was re-reading the front page with a look of pure disgust on his face. The cheerful blond boy shrugged and smiled.
"Hey, it happens."
"I guess..." Racetrack muttered. He smiled and gestured over Blink's head. "Specs and Dutchy ain't so good at fixin' da headlines." Blink turned around and laughed as he heard Dutchy screeching something about a comet that was about to hit the earth and the end of the world. "Dey ain't gonna have an easy time hawkin' today." He quickly glanced at Blink and flashed a slightly evil grin. Without so much as a warning, he began to advance on his taller friend.
The memories of what had happened that morning came rushing back to Blink all too quickly.
"R-R-Race? Race, whadda ya doin'?" He laughed nervously and slowly backed away. "Race, how come you're lookin' at me like dat?" He gulped when he felt his back hit the wall of the building behind him.
Racetrack's grin widened. He continued his agonizingly slow trek towards the wall, seemingly oblivious to Blink's terror. When he finally reached his destination, he stood on his toes to reach Blink's ear.
"Why don't we give 'em somethin' ta hawk about?" he whispered.
Blink's eye widened when he felt Race's hand in a rather... inappropriate place.
"Gotta go!" Blink yelled, breaking away from the temporarily insane newsboy. He practically flew down the street, not really paying attention to where he was going. "What da hell is goin' on?!" he muttered to himself as he ran. "Somethin' ain't right!"
Quite suddenly, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him into an alley.
"PLEASE, DON'T KISS ME!" he shrieked.
"Kiss you? Vhy vould I be vantink to do zat?" Blink cracked open his eye and faced the figure of the gnarled, old woman that he had met the day before.
Wait...
Blink frowned and brushed himself off.
"Look, ya can drop da crazy, old German lady routine. I saw yer real face, remember?"
A pause.
"No, you didn't," she said quickly, without a trace of the German accent. Blink sighed and slapped his forehead.
"Just knock it off, will ya?" The "old woman" sighed and tossed the robe and the cane into the alley.
"You are no fun," the girl muttered as she scrubbed at her glasses with the hem of her Rocky Horror shirt.
Blink made a mental note to ask the girl what or who, exactly, Rocky Horror was.
"So, did you like the chocolate?" she asked cheerily. Blink sighed.
"I never got ta eat any. Everybody else got to 'em foist."
The girl's smile froze.
"I...I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Blink raised an eyebrow.
"What, dat da guys ate all da chocolate?"
The girl's eye twitched.
"Ooookay... that's bad," she murmured.
"Huh?"
"Well, erm... you see..." She laughed nervously. "You weren't actually supposed to give anyone else any of those chocolates."
"Why didn't ya tell me dat befoah?!"
She ignored him.
"If you had done things that way that I expected you to, you would have eaten them all."
"And what would dat have done?" The girl beamed.
"Zee face of your vun, true love vould be exposed to you!"
"If ya don't stop with dat accent-"
"Sorry, couldn't resist!" She grinned and went on. "But if everybody else ate them..." She stopped and thought for a bit. "Have people been acting weird towards you? Like... like they've developed crushes on you?" Blink raised an eyebrow.
"What's a crush?" The girl sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Why can't lingo be the same in all time periods?" She focused back on Blink. "A crush. Like... they want to become romantically involved with you." She blinked. "Wow, that sounded professional."
Blink's jaw dropped.
"Dat's it! Dat's what's been happenin' all day! How'd ya know?!"
"Because I'm smart!" the girl replied proudly. "... okay, so I'm not. The spell must have gotten all screwed up. Now, everyone who ate one of those chocolates must think that you're their one, true love."
Blink groaned, sank down on to the ground, and placed his head in his hands.
"Why does everythin' happen ta me?" he moaned. The girl beamed again.
"Hey, don't worry about it! The magic will wear off at noon." She glanced up at the clock tower. "It's about eleven now, so you don't have too much longer to go." She patted him on the head and beamed. "Well, I'd better be off. See you around, Blink!" She half-skipped towards the end of the alley, then snapped her fingers. A huge puff of smoke appeared, and the girl was gone. "Glad that's over with," a voice from behind the smoke muttered. Blink raised an eyebrow. "God, that kid screams like a girl."
"I can still hear ya!"
The smoke cleared, and the girl stared at him like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. Not that Blink knew what headlights were.
"Whoops..." She laughed nervously. "Better pull a Shadowcat." With a sheepish grin, she melted through the wall. "AND YOU STILL SCREAM LIKE A GIRL!"
Blink glared at the spot where she formerly stood.
"Crazy broad," he muttered. With a sigh, he exited the alley and prayed for noon to come.
*~*~*
"Uh... Blink?"
"Yeah, Davey?"
"Why exactly are you hiding behind that bench?" Blink peeked quickly over the back of said bench. His eye darted around for a few seconds before resting warily on an extremely confused David Jacobs.
"I ain't hidin'."
"Er... yeah, you are."
"Am not!" David sighed and ran his fingers through his curly, dark hair.
"Fine, then come out."
Blink didn't move.
"Davey, ya don't wanna... kiss me or anythin', do ya?"
David raised an eyebrow.
"Noooo... not particularly, why?" Blink breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay... he was at his house last night, not at da Lodgin' House," Blink muttered to himself, rocking back and forth. "He didn't eat da chocolate..."
"Are you talking to yourself?"
"NO!" David stepped back slowly as Blink started to twitch. "I mean..." Blink smiled brightly, but it was a far cry from his usual carefree grin. It was slightly demented. "Do ya know what time it is?"
David Jacobs was quite bewildered.
"It's, erm... it's about eleven thirty, why?"
"'CAUSE IT ALL STOPS AT NOON!"
"Er... yeah... I'm gonna go over here now..." With that, David turned tail and ran.
Blink hid behind the bench for a few more minutes before cautiously peeking over the top of it again.
A group of middle-class girls, chattering away and gazing into store windows... a few businessmen taking their lunch break... but not a newsie in sight.
And there was just a half-hour to go...
"DERE HE IS!"
Blink froze. Somehow, with great reluctance, he managed to turn slowly around.
And what he saw turned his blood to ice.
Snitch and Skittery stood side by side, arguing unintelligibly. Racetrack stood in front of them with his arms crossed and a devilish smirk on his face.
"Dere's no way I can fight off all t'ree of 'em," Blink murmured to himself. "I gotta find a way outta dis mess!"
"Why'd ya run off, Blink?" Race asked calmly.
"I... I, uh..."
"Maybe he don't like ya, Race," Skittery said, glaring at the shorter newsie.
"He don't like eithah one of ya!" Snitch added defiantly.
"Look, let's just catch 'im and talk about dis latah." Snitch and Skittery looked at each other, then at Race, and nodded.
Blink let out a small "meep" as all three moved towards him.
"Whatta ya bums doin'?" Blink's head snapped around. He grinned and immediately fought back the urge to do a victory dance as Specs and Dutchy suddenly appeared behind him.
"We'se tryin' ta catch Blink."
"Don't look like Blink wants ta be caught," Dutchy replied with a hint of a smile.
"No! No, I definitely don't wanna be caught!" Blink affirmed, smiling hopefully at his potential saviors.
"Figures dat Blink would play hard ta get." Specs and Dutchy grinned identical semi-evil grins and reached forward to grab the twitching blond boy on the ground.
Blink's jaw dropped.
"YA BUNCH OF CRAZIES!" he screeched as he leaped over the bench and took off at a mad dash.
"Aw, c'mon, Blink!"
"We just wanna talk!"
"LIKE HELL YA WANNA 'TALK!' YA WANNA 'TALK' WIT' YER TONGUE IN MY MOUTH!"
"Not a bad idea!"
"Kinda hard ta talk like dat, dontcha think?"
"Ya could just skip da talkin' part."
"HE'S GETTIN' AWAY, YA BONEHEADS!" Race glared as the other four boys turned to face him. "We'se gonna lose 'im!"
"C'mon! He can't get far!"
The newsies nodded determinedly and took off after their terrified friend.
*~*~*
Blink's head snapped around.
"Where can I go, where, where?!" he hissed quietly, looking around at the numerous abandoned, run-down apartment buildings.
"Blink! Blink, dere you are!" The one-eyed newsie whirled around.
"Mush?! Whatta ya doin' heah?!"
"I've been lookin' for ya! Ya didn't show up for lunch, so I thought somethin' mighta happened to ya! What's goin' on?" Blink's eye darted around until he noticed Snitch and Skittery turning the corner.
"Can't tell ya now. Gotta go!" He laughed nervously and scurried towards the nearest building. Mush frowned and jogged after him.
"Look, Kid, you'se my best friend. I dunno what's goin' on, but I wanna help ya!"
"Den RUN!" Mush blinked, obviously confused, but raced after the other boy.
"Where we goin'?"
"Hell if I know!" Blink reached the door of one of the deserted apartments and yanked, praying that it was unlocked.
It was.
With a slightly relieved grin, he threw the door open and began racing up a flight of rickety stairs to his left.
"Kid, can we stop runnin' now?"
"Dey're right behind us! Gotta keep goin'!" Panting, the two friends reached the top of the old staircase and found themselves in the middle of a long hallway. "C'mon! Here!" Kid Blink dashed into one of the rooms and slammed the door.
"OW!"
"Sorry, Mush," Blink muttered sheepishly, opening the door and ushering the other boy in. Mush nursed his bruised nose as Blink began snatching various beaten-up chairs from their places around the room and barricading the door with them. "Done!"
They both fell to the floor in front of the pile of furniture and leaned against a desk with three legs.
"Well. Now dat dat's over with, ya mind tellin' me what exactly we was runnin' from?" Blink smirked at his best friend.
"Hey, I was da one runnin'. Ya got yerself into dis." Mush grinned and playfully punched him on the shoulder.
Someone pounded fiercely on the door.
"Hey, Blink, open da door!"
"Come on, we just wanna talk!"
"Oh, God..." Blink groaned, cradling his head in his hands. "Dey're gonna kill me... I'se good as dead..." Mush studied the boy next to him, obviously concerned.
"Blink... Blink, ya ain't serious, are ya?"
"What, 'bout gettin' killed?"
"Well... yeah." Blink smiled and shook his head.
"Nah. I ain't gonna die. But when dey're done wit' me, I might as well be." Mush cocked his head to the side.
"Whatta dey gonna do?"
"Ya don't wanna know. Believe me." Mush nodded and looked at the floor. They sat in silence for a few seconds, pressing their backs against the desk in hopes of preventing the door from cracking under the pressure of the boys' fists.
"Hey, Kid?"
"Yeah?" Mush glanced up shyly and blushed.
"Since... well, since ya think you'se gonna be sorta dead... I guess I oughta tell ya somethin'." Blink raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"I think... I think I'se in love wit' ya."
Blink's jaw dropped.
"Are... are ya serious?" Mush's face turned bright red as he suddenly found the cracks in the floorboards absolutely fascinating.
"Well... yeah."
Another fist hit the door, snapping the boys back to attention. Blink smiled sadly and shook his head.
"Ya don't mean dat, Mush. It's just da chocolate talkin'." Mush frowned.
"Whatcha-"
A strange noise sounded suddenly through the room. Blink turned and immediately groaned at the sight of a beaming teenage girl in the center of the room.
"How da hell didja get in heah?!" he demanded. The girl snorted.
"Duh, I BAMF'ed."
"Uh...who's dis?" Blink sighed and gestured.
"Mush, dis is some crazy goil who's been followin' me. Crazy goil who's been followin' me, dis is Mush."
"Hiya!" the girl chirped.
"Erm... nice ta meet ya... what didja say her name was?" Blink shrugged.
"Dunno her name. Don't wanna know." The girl glared.
"Jerk. I came here to help you, and this is what I get!" Blink immediately sat up.
"Ta help me?"
"Yeah! It's noon! The guys all left. Just thought you would want to know that so that you didn't have to spend another twenty minutes locked up in here." She wrinkled her nose as she looked around. "Yech... who decorated this place?"
Blink beamed and leaped to his feet.
"I'se so happy, I could kiss ya!" He stopped abruptly and glared. "'Cept you'se da one dat got me into dis mess in da foist place!" The girl laughed nervously.
"Oh, er... hey, look at the time! Sorry, Blinky-boy, I got places to go, people to see, fics to write, muses to murder. See you around!" She grinned, flashed the enraged boy a peace sign, and disappeared with another loud BAMF.
Blink glared and muttered various threats of death under his breath before turning to face his best friend with a sheepish smile.
"Well, dat's over wit'. Let's get outta heah and get some lunch." Mush's eyes lit up.
"Yeah! But... what were ya sayin' befoah? About chocolate?" Blink's eye widened.
"Oh, yeah! Well, what ya were sayin' about bein'...bein' in love wit' me? Well, ya didn't really mean it, 'cause it was just da chocolate dat ya ate and-"
"Wait, chocolate?" Blink cocked his head to the side.
"Yeah, chocolate. Da chocolate dat ya ate last night." Mush raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
"I'se allergic ta chocolate."
Blink's jaw dropped.
"So... so ya didn't eat da chocolate dat I had last night?" Mush smiled, though still obviously confused.
"No..."
"Oh. Oh." Blink turned bright red. "Well, den... uh... nevah mind. We bettah start movin' dis stuff, huh?" Mush grinned and nodded.
So the two boys began lugging the furniture out of the way.
And they didn't really mind when their hands brushed every now and then.
END
*smiles and shakes head* Wow. Wow, this fic is SO stupid... I can't believe I actually wrote this. It must be my muses. They're all stupid. Does anyone else's muses get into weird moods where they force you to write stupid stories? Anyway. Technical stuff. Shadowcat and all references to BAMFing are property of the creators of X-men: Evolution. *drools over Kurt and Pietro* I apologize for any brain cells lost during the reading of this fic. Ooh! "Look, dat line sounds like it belongs in some kinda cheesy musical or somethin'." A ChocolateDipped!Spot to anyone who can tell me what musical Blink's talking about. Janel, Liz, Chris, Dwayne... you guys aren't eligible. *grins evilly* Anyway. I think that's about it. Oh, and I need feedback from you guys on a different subject. As we know, there's been a modern-day extracurricular kinda thing going on. Yanno, we've got Thumbsucker Snitch's "While the Thunder Rolls" and Tabloid's "I Say Speech Team, You Say WHAT?!" (both of which you should all read if you haven't already). I've been considering doing one for theater. Do you guys think it's a good idea, or do you think there are too many of those fics already? Be honest, I can take it! *fights back tears* *grins* Anyway. Feedback would be absolutely loverly, if you've got time to click that absolutely loverly little button down there in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen. *beams*
