TW: Snakes (if you're scared of them), blood, cussing

Snakes Hiss and Rattle 'Cause They're Scared

Head-cannon: Davey has a natural love for snakes

"Kid Blink! We need help! Get here now!" Romeo called.

"Huh?" the boy with the eyepatch questioned, running into the room. "Why're you screaming?"

"In the drawer under our bunk, there's a worm-looking thing!" Jojo explained. "We don't know what it is, but we know for damn sure it doesn't belong here! Can you look?"

Kid Blink was confused. What had all the boys in his room to be so scared? Surely whatever was in the drawer wasn't that scary. He walked over to the bunk, bent down and opened the drawer. What was inside made him jump.

It was a small brown snake. It had somehow gotten into the Lodge, but how it did was the question. From what Kid Blink knew, snakes only lived in the Bronx, and barely ever left.

"Boys, this is a snake. You know the things the Bronx newsies say shows up every now and again? That's what this is." The older boy explained. He stuck his hand into the drawer to try and pick it up until Crutchie interjected, "Yeah, yeah, big deal. We know what it is, but how do we get rid of it? I read somewhere that those things bite! And some kinds can kill you!"

Kid Blink drew his hand back as he put the blond boy's words into consideration. If these things could bite, and sometimes kill, then how would they get it out of the Lodge without getting hurt?

"Can we just try to pick it up and put it outside for God's sake? I don't wat to see that thing in here." Henry exclaimed, pointing at the drawer.

"Same here!" Romeo agreed. "I am not going to sleep on that bunk if it means having to be close to that thing!"

"Alright, calm down! I'll take it outside!" Kid Blink sighed. He slowly reached his hand into the drawer and picked up the snake by the tail. It clearly didn't like that being done to it, because, in a flash, the reptile quickly whipped around and bit him on the arm.

"Ah! Shit!" Kid Blinked cussed, dropping the snake back into the drawer and kicking it shut. "Fuck, that hurt!" He took off his vest and wrapped it around the bite to stop the blood flow.

"Well, I guess trying to get it out now is out of the question! I say we kill it! That ought to do it!" Henry commented. This earned a lot of yelling of agreement from the others in the room.

"What are you all yelling about? And what's all this about killing something, Henry?" All the boys in the room turned to the door to see Davey standing there, a confused expression on his face.

"There's a snake in the drawer!" Kid Blink explained. "I tried to get the thing out but it bit me!" he gestured to his arm.

Davey sighed. "I'll get the first aid kit. While I bandage that, tell me what you did to try and get it out."

The younger boy nodded and sat down. Davey returned from the bathroom with the first aid kit a few minutes later and sat down next to him.

"So," Davey began, examining the bite on Kid Blink's arm, "How did you try and get it out of the drawer?"

"He picked it up by the tail." Romeo piped up. "It curled around and bit him."

Davey sighed again while he was sterilizing the bite. "You should never do that. They, snakes that is, don't like it when you pick them up by the tail."

"Dave," Crutchie spoke up, "Is this snake the kind that can kill you?"

"Nope." Davey replied, bandaging Kid Blink's arm. "I could tell by the shape of the bite. If the bite is an oval-ish shape with a 'v' on one side, the snake isn't dangerous. If there's two larger holes and no 'v', then it is."

"How do you know this?" Kid Blink asked when Davey finished bandaging his arm. "I mean, it's not like we see you read much anyways."

"I read at home and the library. What do you think?" Davey asked, approaching the drawer slowly. "Did you drop the snake after it bit you?" he continued.

Kid Blink nodded. Davey groaned in exasperation. "I understand why you did, but you're not supposed to drop a snake. It stresses them out."

All the other boys watched as Davey knelt down and slowly opened the drawer that contained the snake. Almost immediately, they heard a loud hiss come from the drawer.

"Hey buddy. I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down." Davey said to the snake. He reached both hands inside of the drawer and slowly pulled the snake out. "You see, boys?" he smirked as he stood up. "That is how you handle a snake."

All the other newsies were slack-jawed. Davey was a shy, timid teenager when he first came to the Lodge, yet here he was, holding a snake in his hands.

"See, he's calm now, so he's not going to hurt you." Davey said, sitting down next to Romeo. "Go ahead, you can hold him."

Romeo recoiled a moment, then he reached out both hands and took the snake. He seemed visibly uncomfortable, but he relaxed a bit after seeing that the snake was showing no signs of wanting to hurt him.

"Not so bad, huh?" Davey asked.

"Suppose not…" Romeo shrugged. He shivered as the snake wrapped around his arm and slithered upwards towards his neck, but laughed a bit when the snake's tongue tickled him.

"Could I try?" Crutchie asked. Davey shook his head as he peeled the snake off of Romeo. "The poor guy's gone through enough stress today. I'll put him outside." At this, he stood up and left, probably to put the snake down in the grass at the back of the Lodge.

From that day forward, all the boys in that room respected Davey a bit more. And every time a snake got into the Lodge after that, they made sure to stay calm and get him to do the work.

A/N: this is something i saw on instagram that was a snapshot from tumblr (i think?) written by 'donnynovitskiaccordiangenius'. it says it's because in Davey and Jack's back and forth in 'Watch What Happens (Reprise)', Davey says, 'You know why a snake starts to rattle... 'cause he's scared.' this is sort of a pointer to how Davey could be one of those people that loves snakes and the such like.