Disclaimer: If I owned "Newsies", there would be more girl characters, sure, but the guys would have a nice time with each other, too.
Right. Bottle Alley. As soon as you walk around the corner, just grab Mush and slam him against the wall and make him listen. At least, that's what I kept telling myself.
It didn't work. 'Cause, you know, Mush is about five times as big as me, for one, and for two... It just didn't work.
I saw him, and I marched right up like I'd planned to, but then he saw me, and his smile just dropped off his face like a mask. It really hurt. I mean, I was sort of mad at him for putting me through this and not believing me when I was so obviously telling the truth, but when someone who was once one of your best friends just stops smiling and starts glaring around you... It ain't nice.
But anyway, despite all that, I march right up to him anyway, and I start right into it, like I usually do. "Mush. We gotta talk."
He scowls real heavy like and purposely turned away from me, waving his pape in the air. Nobody came by, though. They must've figured that Mush and I were having a lover's spat or something, which, really, is quite funny if you're in the mood to think about it. "No, we don't."
"Yeah, we do."
"No, we don't!"
"Yeah, we do!"
He just stared at me for a moment. "No, we don't."
At this point, I started feeling pretty stupid repeating the same thing over and over again, so I tried heading in another direction. "Look, you never gave me the chance to tell you the whole story..."
The anger licked under his face, straining to unleash itself, and he snorted, turning away. "What else is there to say?"
I could feel the fire rush through my veins. He'd woken my inner dragon. I moved so that he was facing me again. "What else is there to say? What else is there to say?! Mush! Think about it! Who are we dealin' with here?!"
He raised an eyebrow. "Blink."
"Right... And what is Blink famous for?"
His face darkened again. "Being an inconsiderate asshole."
"Well..." That made me stop. I mean, it wasn't untrue, but... It was just such an un-Mush thing to say. "Well, all right, fine... He's pretty bad about that, too, but he never thinks before he talks, right?"
He snorted again. "You can say that again." And the smile on his face was so bitter, so pained, that I really felt bad for him for a moment. And strangely enough, I respected him a hell of a lot more.
I think we'd all underestimated the kid.
"Right, so didn't you ever think that maybe he was more levelheaded with me than with you? Especially since my question was hypothetical and yours was actually the question?"
He whirled around. "So?! So what about it?! When you asked him, and he gave you that answer - if he really gave it to you - that means that he thought about it then. If he'd already thought about it, why would he say somethin' different to me? Huh?! Why?!"
All right. So I'd really underestimated the kid. But what could I tell him? I mean, how the hell am I supposed to know what goes on in Blink's head?
"Why don't you just go and ask Blink?"
He laughed, a mirthless little exhalation. "Well, if the bonehead would stay still long enough to listen, I would, wouldn't I?"
Well. That was a development. I frowned. "You've tried talkin' to him already?"
"Of course! One of the first things I did! Whaddaya take me for?" He gave that little laugh again and shook his head. "Don't answer that... It's pretty damn obvious, isn't it? You all think that I'm nice and that I'm not the brightest guy around. And maybe I'm not. Hell, I know that. But that don't mean that I don't know anything, you know?" He smiled at me then, and it was a profoundly lopsided affair. Something - I think it was the set of his eyes - about that expression looked older, more aware than I'd ever given him credit for.
I sighed and dropped onto the curb next to him. "Well, what can I say, Mushy-boy? I mean, all the smiling and the laughter... Smart people don't laugh! They're too busy lookin' down on everyone else. Just look at Conlon! And you know what? We like you that way. I mean, if you looked down on everyone all the time, it'd be like Race never smilin' again. And God knows what would happen then." I silently apologized to Spot, who I was liking better these days. All right. Not really. But I... appreciated his humility, just let me put it that way.
But me and Mush, we smiled at each other for the first time in weeks, and it felt good. It was good enough that it turned into grins and then bubbled over into laughter. Yeah... That was the best feeling in the world, it was. I supposed that I'd been forgiven, in some weird, underhanded sort of way. But that didn't explain everything.
"Mush?"
"Yeah?"
"Why were you so mad at me? I mean, why were you so convinced that I'd lied to you?"
He frowned again, but it was a soft frown; the frown of one in thought instead of anger. "I dunno... I think... I think I just didn't wanna believe you at first. And then it was... Just... Have you ever felt anythin', and you just wanted to hold on to it for some reason?"
"Sure."
"It was like that."
"Why the hell would you want to remember being mad?"
"I dunno." He shrugged. "It was so refreshing, for me, 'cause I hadn't been mad in such a long time."
I didn't get it. How was being angry refreshing? And wasn't not being mad a good thing? But I decided not to press it. Who knows? I could grow a brain and learn to understand it one day. Ain't likely, but... Who knows?
But in the meanwhile, we had something more important to do. I stood and brushed myself off a little. Damn streets got so dusty and all that. "Come on. Let's go and talk to Blink."
He followed me up and stretched. "Huh. If the bastard doesn't run."
"I don't think he will. This has gone on long enough, don't you think?"
"Oh, yeah... I think that. You think that. But that ain't never stopped Blink before."
I stared at the sky for a moment. It was a very pretty blue today, that pure, cloudless, rich kind of blue. "Yeah, well... We'll just have to convince him to listen, won't we?"
Mush smiled. "Of course. 'Cause, I mean, it's me and you. How could he resist?"
I burst out laughing, and we walked away, arm in arm. The sun seemed all the brighter for it.
Well! The first update in half a year... What do you know! I'm not dead, after all!
So sorry about the delay, my dears... But you know, after writing and re-writing that "Blood Red Rose" chapter, I just decided to give up on it for now. It's one of those "I know the plot but not how to get it on paper" things. So I have decided to return to my epic fluff. It's so much more simpler.
Anyway, I'll try to keep up with it from now on. Which will probably be a lie, knowing me. But I'll try. Really.
Gothic Author
Replies:
Omni:
Yes, they should. [nods]
And with this wait, the memory of this story has been obliterated, hasn't it? XD XD
Wow... I'm so loser-esque.
studentnumber24601:
Pie/Snoddy. I don't know where that came from. I think it's their names being in succession when Jack starts sending his ambassadors out. [scratches head] Have I inadvertantly created a new pairing? [rubs hands] I should exploit it, then... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...HA... Ha... Herm...
Right...
kellyanne:
ACK! I'm sorry! I really am!
Um... Delayed reaction? [sheepish smile]
Thistle:
[sighs] It'll take awhile yet, lovey... I'm sorry to say that the computer I had it on went down. Apparently, the disk was the reason. So... Looks like complete reconstruction.
Maybe I should do it by, you know, hand this time, since I seem to lose it so much...
Pyromaniacal Llama:
[blushes like a maniac] Aww... Thanks... I... I... Aw, I'm speechless.
Artemis-chan:
[bows a la Jack Sparrow] At your service, cherie! Of course, I didn't really resolve that conflict, did I...?
hilary:
RECONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
[lovehuggleglomp] You're wonderful, darling! We should talk more...
janus_44:
Um... It's coming soon! I promise. Kind of. Er... But they'll be happy, cause if they weren't, it wouldn't be fluff, would it? ^_^
Thanks go to: All of you. Je t'aime!
