Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire – "A fool can always find a greater fool to admire him."
(L'Art poetique – [1674] Nicholas Boileau – Despreaux [1636-1711] )
Chapter 2 : Dreaming
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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Newsies or related to the Newsies.
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Racetrack led me to the side of the room while the rest of the boys got back to whatever they were doing before. Soon, the sounds of their merry making continued as if it had never been disturbed. However, every so often, my ears would catch someone mention the kid's name, Snipeshooter, and a discussion would ensue with worried looks. Most of the discussions would end up with Jack telling them not to worry. I rubbed my arms for warmth, shivering. Despite the closed windows and the number of bodies overcrowding the place, it was still really cold. That and I was soaked right through and was still wearing the damp shirt.
"'ey Boy! I'se don't have no goils' clothes," Racetrack told me, digging through a trunk that was placed by one of the bunk beds. "Good," had been my reply, "I'm not too keen on wearing them." Racetrack sniggered before pulling out an off white but clean shirt and handed it to me. He rummaged through the trunk again and pulled out a pair of pants and a white undershirt before he tossed them to me. He gestured for me to wait as he continued to rummage through the trunk. Finally, with a small squeak of victory, he pulled out black suspenders and handed them to me, "Jis' in case me pants don't fit."
"But I'se t'ink you'se will fit in me clothes," he told me with a wink, a slight smirk gracing his features. Like I had mentioned, I'm really not all that good with guys unless they were my friends. Racetrack was an acquaintance despite my addiction to the movie. At his comment, I felt my face turn hot and I laughed nervously. He chuckled and showed me to the back to a small bathroom.
"You'se kin change in heah," he told me before leaving, closing the door behind him.
I stood in the small bathroom for a few moments. 'I'm in Newsies. I'm IN the Newsies!' That thought echoed and repeated through my head. I can still hardly believe it. If it weren't for the aches and the chilling cold that I had felt, I would've think I was dreaming. 'I'm not dreaming. I'm really in the Newsies!' That thought was hardly entertaining. I was stuck in a movie… How did I get stuck in the movie? This couldn't be for real could it? A movie universe. Does that mean that whatever I do wouldn't necessarily affect the timeline that would lead up to my own world?
My head spun as I thought. I really must be going insane. 'Ah well… Going insane isn't so bad I suppose. I mean, at least I'm going insane in style right?' Abandoning all thoughts of my current existence, I proceeded to strip out of my wet clothes. My shirt was practically dripping when I peeled it off. I hung it up carelessly on the cord of rope that was tied across the tiny bathroom. Next, came my pants and my t-shirt. Soon, I stood there, shivering in my unmentionables.
I took Racetrack's clothes and started to dress. First came the undershirt. A little loose where the sleeves were but I didn't mind. I smiled to myself. The little Italian wasn't as scrawny as I thought. Next came the pants. I was thankful for the suspenders for it felt a little loose and I feared that it might just slide off if I wasn't too careful. Then came the shirt that I buttoned up, leaving three buttons undone at the neck. The sleeves of the shirt were loose and the cuffs hugged my wrists uncomfortably. So I unbuttoned the cuffs, leaving them to 'flap in the wind' so to speak.
After dressing, I couldn't help but lift up the shirt and bury my nose in it. Perhaps I was being weird or obsessive or something but I suppose I had to make sue this was real. I couldn't possibly be insane…or hallucinating to such a degree. No, it's not just that, I think I just want to get a whiff of what Racetrack smells like. And yes, fellow readers, I am quite aware that this probably isn't common practice.
His shirt smelled faintly of cigarettes, odd spices and a musky animal smell that I couldn't place. I assumed it was horses. I smiled. So this is how he smells like? 'You're weird you know that?' I scowled at the small voice before I gathered my wet clothes and tried to wring the water out of them. Nothing. They remained damp but now, they were wrinkled. I let out a sigh before hanging them up on the rope to dry. With that, I exited the bathroom.
The room was still as crowded as before and I scanned the room for Racetrack who had been so helpful to me. I didn't feel like I had the authority or the power to go and greet the other newsies. Then, my eye caught him. He was off to one side and was waving his arm in my direction. I made my way towards him. He was seated at a small make shift table with a deck of cards alongside Blink, a newsie that I didn't recognize and another whose name I could only guess to be Specs.
"Dis heah is Boy," Racetrack introduced, shifting aside so that I could sit down. I sat down gratefully for I was feeling as though my legs would give out under me soon. There were a chorus of heys and hellos.
"Boy, dis heah is Blink. Dat's Snitch and dat's Dutchy," he told me, pointing to the owners of the names. Ah, so Dutchy's the one with glasses AND the blond hair. Racetrack then pointed to himself, "and I'se Racetrack." I nodded knowingly, "Yeah, I know."
Of course, that reply was immediately regretted.
"You'se know? 'ow kin you know?" Blink asked, a suspicious look on his face. I blanched and proceeded to grope around for an answer.
"Erm… I heard about you guys?" I tried. The four of them regarded me with a cool gaze and I thought that I should elaborate, "I heard about you erm…"
"We'se know you'se lying," Snitch suddenly said. I wrung my hands nervously, wondering what to say. Lying was never my strong points. After all, I was raised in a society where lying was look down upon. So, my so-called attempt was…pitiful.
"You'se a spy?" Dutchy asked, narrowing his eyes at me. I glanced at Racetrack for help but he merely looked at me with some sort of interest. Offering no help whatsoever. As they waited for my answer, I battled with my brain. 'If this is for real, what you tell them could alter history! The world we know it might come to an end!' 'Yeah! But didn't we agree that we're insane?' I blinked. We? I shook my head free of thoughts before I sighed and fixed with a steely gaze.
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone," I told them in a whispered voice. Blink shook his head, "We'se can't promise dat. What if you'se tries somethin'?" I looked at him in an exasperated manner, "What exactly could I attempt?" When I didn't receive an answer I threw my hands in the air with defeat.
"Fine. But I don't want this to be mentioned outside this lodging house okay? I…" at this, I paused before continuing, "…don't want anybody to treat me differently." I am well acquainted with X-men. People here could regard me as a witch or some kind of mutant and try to 'terminate' me or something along those lines.
"We'se won't," Racetrack told me in a reassuring manner. I took a deep breath.
"I'm not from around here…at all. I'm really from about a hundred years into the future but…not really," I paused, wondering how I was to explain this. The looks of disbelief on their faces told me things weren't going so well. I sighed and scratched my head, "Alright. Do you know what a dimension is?" They all shook their heads. Well, typical.
"Okay," I said, taking off my glasses and holding it up, "If I was to throw this at urm… Dutchy's head." Dutchy looked insulted.
"There is a chance that I could hit him. There is also a chance that I would miss…right?" They nodded.
"Let's say I hit him in the head." Again, Dutchy looked insulted.
"Where would it hit him? It could hit him on the forehead, it could hit him in the nose, or between the eyes and so on. Let's say I miss. Where would it land? It could land on the table, it could land on the floor, it could fly across the room and hit someone else."
"What's dis gotta do wid you'se knowin' our names?" Snitch asked. I frowned, "I'm getting to that. Anyways, every thing I do could have another possibility. I suppose you can call it another dimension. Another plane of existence where all the unmade decisions urm…come true I guess."
"So what you'se sayin' is dat you'se from anuddah woild?" Dutchy asked. I managed a small smile, glad that he had grasped the concept so quickly, "Yeah, I suppose." Noticing the looks of disbelief that was still plastered on their faces, I sighed, "Look. I'm just as shocked as you are."
"'ow you'se know our names den?" Blink asked. I had to smile. Here comes the good part.
"In my world, you're all from a movie," I told them. Confusion was shared between the four of them.
"You know? Urm…motion pictures? Flicks?" There was a chorus of "Ohhh…"
"We'se from flickers?" Racetrack asked, a note of wonder in his voice. I nodded and he let out a long whistle, leaning back against the wall with a dazed expression on his face. Blink leaned in , "We'se populah?" I nodded and he grinned, "Who'se more populah?" I laughed. That question was perhaps inevitable.
"I believe your old friend from Brooklyn, Spot Conlon is. Next in line is your leader, Jack and then I think it's a close tie between you, Mush and Racetrack here," I told him. His expression was priceless. Racetrack however, seemed to have snapped out of his daze, "I'se got goils loikin' me?" I couldn't help but smirk, "A whole bunch of them." He went back to his dazed stupor. I glanced back to Snitch and Dutchy who looked kinda left out.
"Oh don't look so sad. You have your fans," I told them and they seemed to brighten up slightly.
"I'se t'ink you'se lyin'," Dutchy said. Snith nodded in agreement. I let out a sigh, "Do you want me to prove it or something?" Their heads nodded in agreement.
"Racetrack? Where's my bag?" I asked. Racetrack pointed to the corner. In a flash, I was beside it with Snitch, Dutchy, Racetrack and Blink looking over my shoulder as I dug through the contents. I pulled out my biology textbook and showed it to them, turning to the second page where all the copyright information was.
"Note the year," I told them.
"It says printed in da yea' 2000!" Blink exclaimed. I nodded almost sagely, "Now do you believe me?" They still gave me sceptical looks but at least now they believe what I say.
After giving the four of them some time to recover from their shock, I was invited to join their poker game, which I kindly declined with the excuse of not having anything to bet with.
"You'se kin always bet wid ya clothes," Blink said with a suggestive wink. I grinned, "Sorry Blink. They're Racetrack's so I have no right betting them." Racetrack laughed, "You'se kin go ahead Boy. I don't moin'," They didn't force me into the game though so I ended up watching the game. Not surprisingly enough, Racetrack won most of the games. A few went to Dutchy and a few went to Snitch. Blink seemed to have been on a loosing streak that night.
The merry making was brought to a screeching halt when Kloppman came up and announced that it was lights out. The boys, with a bit of grumbling, headed off to their bunk beds. Racetrack was kind enough to lead me back to a bed where his trunk had been. I looked around the room with astonishment. Almost…no, all of the boys had chosen a partner to sleep with apparently. My eyebrows raised as not-so clean thoughts entered my head.
"Urm…Racetrack? Why are they all…?" I whispered, my question trailing off. Racetrack regarded me with a strange look, "It's da wintah. You'se gonna freeze if ya ain't gots nobody ta bunk wid." A feeling of dread entered the pits of my stomach, "Urm…do I have to bunk with someone?" Racetrack gave me that strange look again, "Yea, 'course ya do! You'se dun wanna freeze do ya?" That dread was growing as I shifted nervously.
"Urm…who am I bunking with?" I squeaked. Racetrack's grin was wider than the room, "Me."
Oh! Look at that! The dread in the pits of my stomach is gone… I wonder why.
I managed a nervous smile and sat down on the bed. I thanked Kloppman for already putting out the lights for the room was now encased in darkness. Nobody can see the blush that was creeping into my cheeks steadily.
The only light shone through a broken window where the light from streetlamps reflected off the pure white snow outside. I shivered as a cold breeze blew past me. I glanced in the direction of the window, feeling sorry for whomever it was that bunked under it. Then, I sat down somewhat…stiffly.
"Boy?" came Racetrack's soft voice. The bed shifted under me.
It's funny. I've been daydreaming about such a moment for…I don't know how long and here I was with the opportunity just lying there on my lap.
And I was nervous.
Horribly nervous. I nearly jumped when I felt him touch my shoulder, "You'se wanna sleep alone?" I shook the nervousness away and slid into bed with him. The thin blankets hardly gave any warmth and I suddenly saw the reasoning of why the boys bunk together. The chances of catching something more than just a mere cold was extremely high.
I turned around and curled up against Racetrack's welcoming warm body compared to the cold. I felt his arms circle my waist and heard him whisper into my ear, "You'se alright Boy?" I paused before answering in the same whisper, "Just worrying about Snipeshooter. What will happen to him? Won't he freeze?" I felt his chest rumbled as he chuckled softly, "Kloppman ain't gonna get him ta freeze. Snipeshootah's prolly lyin' in 'is room wid da stove."
The rest of the night was spent as a battle in my mind, yet again. The sheer ludicrousness of it all was overpowering my mind. Here I was, curled up in a very nice position mind you, with a fictional character played by an actor who goes by the name of Max Casella. Now who can honestly tell me, in my face, that if this was to happen to that person, even if she had been dreaming and fantasizing and thinking about it, that she would really believe it?
If anything, it was embarrassing! After all, I hardly know this guy personally. I've only met him less than two hours ago and here we are! Sleeping in the same bed! Did I mention I wasn't very good with guys? I did? Good. Then you'll understand the intense blush that had taken over my face. I was blushing like a maniac and probably looking like an overripe tomato. It was getting worse by the minute.
But the bad thing was that I was referred to as the perverted one in school. I was the one with the suggestive and perverted jokes about genitalia. I reigned as the supreme king of pervert-ness! I could discuss sex and porn with an air of casualness. Why do you think I have guy friends? Because we're all sick little perverts who would snicker at the mention of a small penis. That's why. And here I was, blushing and turning into a simpering little school girl (not literally of course) when the both of us were fully clothed and neither of us in a suggestive position or anything like that.
My perverted soul brother would be ashamed of me.
"Boy? You'se shoah you'se okay?" Racetrack whispered again. I gave an affirmative, "Yeah."
Then, I felt him shift slightly. He was wrapping his half of the blanket around him. After I felt the penetrating cold breeze on my back, I followed his example as well. Soon, we were wrapped up like a cocoon, pressed snugly against one another. Despite his shortness, his head remained above mine so that his head laid on the pillow and mine, on the bed. I came face to face with his chest.
It was a distracting position.
His arms were still around my waist and I could feel his legs pressing against mine. His toes were uncomfortably cold. Every time he breathed in, his chest would rise and hit me either in the nose or on the cheek. I was also lying uncomfortably on my right arm that felt like it was going numb and my left arm was rigid by my side. I wriggled my fingers in my right hand. Oh, good. They're still there.
Trying not to disturb him, I tried to free my right arm of its prison. After managing with not too much difficulty, I was at a loss of what to do.
"What's wrong?" he murmured sleepily. Apparently, Racetrack had sensed something. I could feel my face turning even redder, "I don't know what to do with my arms." His chest rumbled with silent laughter and his arms slid from my waist. He took my left arm placed it around his own waist before he slid back into his original position. My right arm was bent and my fisted hand was pressed against his chest.
"Bettah?" he murmured. I gave a soft reply, "Yeah."
Then, I lay there. With my raging mind, I couldn't sleep. I was still battling with myself over the situation. Was I really going crazy? That damned question kept coming up! It kept questioning my sanity! Perhaps I really was going insane if I was talking to myself.
I looked at the sleeping form of Racetrack. Well, as much as a person would see if they were perhaps a few inches from the person's chest. From the even rising of his chest and the warm breath against my neck, I concluded that he was asleep. After I practically melted and almost had an orgasm of course. All right, I admit the orgasm bit was a little exaggerated but the point is made. I was practically in heaven.
I leaned in and buried my face in his chest, closing the distance between us. If he weren't asleep, I wouldn't be so bold.
He smelled exactly like his shirt only much more pleasant. The smell of cigars and cigar smoke was still there but it was not at all bad. It was a musky kind of smell that didn't bring tears to the eyes like cigar smoke does. No, it was more like some kind of incense. There was also that underlying smell of animals (horses) and spices I could not even begin to suggest the names of. Not only that but there was a smell that I couldn't define. I suppose it was sweat or something. Whatever it was, it suggested the male essence in the sleeping Italian and it was GOOD.
So that was how I had fallen asleep.
Curled up against my favourite newsie.
Drunk on his presence.
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End of Chapter 2
Dreamer: Thank you for being the first reviewer! It really does wonders to my self-esteem and confidence. ^_^
Cerridewen: Thanks for the review! And no, this really isn't my first fanfic (they were just crap so I didn't post them up) but it is my first Newsies fanfic. Thanks again!