Chapter 18 - And by 'We', I Mean Paint Did
Warnings: Anxiety
A/N, if you haven't listened to Come from Away, I suggest doing it (even you, Sunny). It's a really good musical. I chose 'Costume Party' because I feel like Charades (and Paint, but mainly Charades) can relate to pretending to be someone else. Sorry if this is confusing lol.
Third Person POV
Paint didn't know why they were going to Brooklyn.
Paint didn't know how they had gotten into this situation.
All they knew now was that they were walking- with a Brooklyn Newsie- onto the Brooklyn turf- and these Brooklyn Newsies liked and knew them?
Paint had no clue what was happening and was hoping Race could pop in for most of it because they had no clue how to deal with this.
They had just gone from fearing this borough to finding out that they were a half-Brooklyn Newsie.
Yeah, Paint didn't understand it either.
Paint walked down the Brooklyn dock, waving to anyone who greeted them.
Ace- the Second in Command of Brooklyn- led them down the dock.
Three boys- a redhead, a brown-haired boy, and a black-haired boy covered in ash- stood in front of what looked like a throne of crates and a Lodging House that Paint assumed was Brooklyn's.
"Hey, Racer!" The brown-haired boy smirked at him. "It's our favorite half-Brooklyn Newsie." He slung his arms over Paint's shoulder.
"Where've you been?" The brown-haired boy asked, looking into Paint's eyes. "You haven't been in Brooklyn for a while." He pointed out.
Paint shrugged. "You know, Jack-" it took everything in them not to say Flames instead of Jack. "-needed some help with some Newsies, and the Delanceys seem to be stirring up trouble, so I sold in Manhattan for a bit." It explained, coming up with a lie on the spot.
The brown-haired boy nodded. "Welp, glad you aren't dead." He shoved him in the shoulder lightly, grinning playfully.
Race laughed dryly. "Thanks, Hotshot." He responded.
Hotshot laughed as he pulled away from Race.
"How's Boots?" The redhead asked Race, his arms crossed.
Race shrugged. "Been good." He answered. "You'll have to come see him soon, Red."
Red bit back a smile. "Yeah..." he starts softly. "I will have to."
Race chuckled. He turned to face Ace and Smokes. "And how's my favorite Brooklyn couple?" He asked.
Smokes seemed to blush as Ace snaked his arms around his waist, pulling Smokes against him. "Good." Smokes answered slowly.
"Smokesie is adorable and I like to make him blush." Ace mumbled contently, nuzzling his face in Smokes' neck.
Smokes started blushing more.
Paint nodded, smiling. Maybe these Brookies aren't as bad as we thought.
Ace seemed to notice someone behind Paint. He smiled. "Hey, Spot!" He called.
Paint turned around.
Charades looked over at him. "Hey." They greeted.
Hotshot's eyebrows furrowed. He's quieter than usual.
Charades walked over to them. "Who's this?" He asked, gesturing to Paint.
Ace seemed concerned and confused. "It's Race." He answers slowly. "The half-Brooklyn Newsie?"
Charades seemed to take a moment to process this information, before they nodded.
Paint narrowed their eyes slightly as they looked at Spot/Charades.
They had suspicions, but they weren't confirmed yet.
Charades turned on their heel and walked away.
Ace leans over to Paint. "Sorry." He whispers. "Something happened where he had just been walking down the stairs and after zoning out for a second, he seemed confused and kinda broke down." He explained quietly.
Paint looked at Ace. Oh my-
"He hasn't been the same since." Ace explained, looking concerned.
Spot's a Mergsie. Paint went to move, before stopping in its tracks. Their eyes widened slightly. I've been spending too much time with Stage and now I'm being affected.
Paint turned to face Ace. "I'm so sorry, Ace, but I have to go." They waved to the Brooklyn Newsies they had been with. "Bye, guys!" Paint turned and started running down the dock.
The boys there watched him in confusion.
"That was weird..." Smokes mumbled confusedly.
In Manhattan
Paint slammed the front door of the Manhattan Lodge open, looking panicked. "Guys! 7-3-6!" It shouted.
They got some confused looks from certain Newsies, but they ignored them.
Flames- who sat on the other side of the room- looked up at them. 'Who?' They mouthed.
"Spot Conlon." Paint answered.
Flames' eyes widened.
812 Words
Alright, confession time (here's what I got) lol.
For the majority of the people I've become friends with on this app, especially WNA members, my first impression was 'they're way too cool for me'. And I still question how most of you became friends with me. Like, I'm still stressed talking to people here because they're cooler than I am and I don't know how to explain it better, but eh. I tried lol.