#i will not explain why Crutchie has Actual God. it's a long story | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

violetwolfraven · 4 years

Note

I already asked this in the @s, but I’ll ask it here too, javid with either 28 or 23, (I don’t really care) pleaseeee :0

We adopted a kid/kids.

and

What if we kissed because we were arguing and I really wanted you to shut up but we both enjoyed it? Lol jk... unless..?

How about kind of both? Lol. Get ready for a canon-era Something to Believe In scene rewrite with a side of The Truth About the Moon! Also, this gets corny as fuck towards the end FYI.

...

Davey was at home and he couldn’t decide if he wished he wasn’t or not.

He’d helped out at the Lodging House, comforting the others, as long as he could, but eventually, almost everyone was already asleep or dead on their feet, and Race just gave him a look that said he saw how drained Davey was, and told him to go home.

Besides, he needed to get Les to bed and tell Sarah what had happened, as she wouldn’t have heard with her factory job.

So, now, he was out on the fire escape with his twin, while their mom put Les to bed after he cried himself to sleep.

Davey wished Jack making Les cry made him angrier.

“Maybe he had a good reason, David. Maybe he—“

“Shut up, Sarah.”

His tone was barely above a whisper, but Sarah stopped talking for a second.

“David,” she said slowly, “We don’t have all the facts. We know Jack... we know he scabbed on us, but...”

She trailed off, seeming to realize there was no good explanation for this. There were no facts either of them could think of that would make this better.

“The point is, we don’t know what was going on in his head,” she said finally, “Jack’s smart. Maybe there was—“

“Shut up, Sarah!”

Davey turned around, ignoring how now that he had, she would see him trying not to cry.

“Saz, we both know there is nothing you can say to make this better, so why don’t you shut the hell up?!”

She only stared at him levelly, “Is it really me you’re angry at?”

Davey shook his head, “No. No, it’s not. I should be cursing Jack’s name; not yours. I’m sorry.”

“You’re not angry at him, either,” Sarah realized, “You can’t be. You’re angry at—“

“If you finish that sentance, I’m going to say something I’ll regret.”

Sarah stopped talking.

“Look, Saz... just... go. Please go.”

She sighed, “David, things don’t always have to make sense. Feelings rarely do, and... and that doesn’t make it better—in fact, it probably makes it worse—but... damn. I don’t know how to explain this. Just... I’ll go inside if you want me to.”

When Davey didn’t tell her to stay, she climbed in the window and left him alone.

Davey sighed. He was so messed up right now. He was so messed up because... because he wasn’t angry at Sarah. He wasn’t even angry at Jack. He couldn’t be, because...

Long story short, he was angry at himself, because he couldn’t be angry with Jack.

Davey looked up, seeing the moon shining above. At least one thing still made sense.

“Latin name: Luna,” he muttered absentmindedly, “Hundreds of thousands of miles away from here.”

He remembered reading about this. Thinking back on every fact he remembered about the moon was certainly better than thinking about his own emotions.

“No signs of water, or life, or atmosphere.”

At least facts never changed on him. They made sense. Davey wished everything could.

“This is the truth about the moon. The facts are black and white.”

He smiled, despite himself, thinking about only a few days ago, when things were simpler and nobody had gotten hurt yet.

About a boy who made it so not everything had to make sense, because you felt good when he smiled at you, and that was enough, even if it didn’t make sense. Facts didn’t have to matter.

Davey couldn’t deny what he was feeling, even if the facts didn’t make sense.

Jack was a boy.

Jack made Davey feel like no one ever had.

He smirked at the sick sense of humor the universe had and mumbled his thoughts to himself.

“Shall I try to deny all I know from moments that’s gone? Would my heart let me be someone different from me from now on..? No.”

Davey wished he could be angry, but he couldn’t. Because even if it didn’t make sense, he knew how he felt.

And he was completely, stupidly, still in love with Jack Kelly.

That handsome, charismatic, dime-novel cowboy who still believed in a fantasy called Santa Fe.

As confusing as they were, Davey still had some facts about Jack, and he might as well try to organize them.

“Given name: Jack Kelly. Someone who seems to get by with a smile.”

Jack was smart in his own way, could even have a way with words, sometimes, but he had never gotten an opportunity to go to school, or sit down and read a book, and often made his points by appealing to emotion instead of logic; something that was the opposite of how Davey had always done it, yet somehow was still effective.

“Having no substance, he compensates with style.”

It was so effective that he had everyone believing what he said. He had Davey believing in what he said, when he said he cared, when he said he wouldn’t give up.

The truth about that boy was that he was a leader, a protector, or at least everyone thought he was, and he had the kind of eyes that drew you in. That made you want to keep on looking at him and make him see you, too.

Davey still couldn’t quite be angry, but bitterness definitely crept its way into his tone.

“And if I first thought he was who he claimed he was, it’s just because that kind of boy must be good at what he does.”

Davey was so stupid. Jack had admitted that he had a way of improving the truth. He had proved that he didn’t have a problem with lying to survive.

The problem was that he was so good at improving the truth that everyone believed his truth was the real, actual truth.

Revising a previous thought, he lied to survive or to get what he wanted.

And he was too stupid to see that despite all he said, his dream was really of a home, of a family, and it was right in front of him. Santa Fe was nothing he didn’t already have and if Jack still couldn’t see that after throwing away what he had, then... then let him throw it all away and fly away to Santa Fe.

“Santa Fe,” Davey mumbled sarcastically, “You’re the scene of a dream, not a plan.”

A lovely, dream, sure, but nothing that was really out west, that was really real anywhere but right here in New York.

“The dream of a boy, not a man.”

Davey took a deep breath, realizing that he wasn’t close to tears anymore. Sorting through his thoughts and facts, about the boy and about the moon, had worked, for the most part.

He looked up. The moon was still there. It always would be.

“Latin name: Luna.”

He wished the boy was, too, like he’d made it seem like he would be.

It was what had made Davey fall in love with him, how he was clearly always there for his friends. His family.

He remembered that first day, how a few different kids had come up to him and Jack had hugged them, suggested how to fix a problem, helped patch up a scraped knee, all with the patience of a loving big brother even with no blood tying him to the others.

As much as Davey had loved his charisma, his fearlessness, it was that softer, gentler side that he’d really fallen for.

Maybe it had just been an act, but Davey was still in love with him, no matter how much he wished he could just be angry and hate him.

“Lovely name: Jack.”

“Davey?”

Davey reeled back towards the window as he realized who was climbing up next to him.

“Dave, wait, please.”

That tone in his voice, the broken, almost-crying one, was what made Davey pause.

“Give me one good reason not to go inside and lock you out here.”

Jack sighed, “I... I don’t have one. Not for me. I don’t blame ya if you never want to see me again, but... here.”

He held out a paper, and Davey took it, reading with suspicion.

“Katherine wrote it,” he explained, “Pulitzer has an old printin’ press in his basement we can use, and the idea is to pass these out to all the workin’ kids of the city. If we play our cards right, it might just work, but... but I can’t do it alone. And I know Race. I know he won’t so much as talk to me right now, but we need him to get the other fellas to help. Kath’s busy gettin’ some friends who know how to work the press, so... so I need you to get through to him. He’ll listen to you.”

“And who’s fault is it he won’t listen to you?”

Davey hadn’t thought he would be able to summon that much ice in his voice, but he was glad he could.

Jack took a shaky breath, “Mine.”

As he finished reading it... the article was good. Really good. It might actually work, if this was for real.

“Jack Kelly,” Davey warned, “I swear to God if you are bullshitting me right now, I will let Spot Conlon push you in front of a carriage. He already offered to do that, by the way. Race declined.”

“I’m not bullshittin’ you,” Jack promised, “I swear on my life, I—“

“What’s that worth?” Davey snapped, not meaning a word of the angry rant he stepped forward, getting in Jack’s personal space, “Two days ago, you told me you’d give your life for this strike, for these boys, and you betrayed them! You broke their trust, Jackie! You broke my trust!”

“I know, but—“

“No!” Davey shouted, “You don’t get to voice an opinion! You’re supposed to be the one that protects everyone! You know that more than a few of them cried on my shoulder tonight because they saw you as a big brother and you abandoned them? What—for a city you’ve never seen?”

Jack looked like he was going to cry. Davey tried to act like that didn’t bother him.

“Ya know what? Kath is right. You’re crazy, Jack Kelly. You paint a place you’ve never seen and call it home. You say you want a family and ignore the one right in front of you. And you are a goddamn idiot for trading your family in for a place where you will never find what you’re looking for.”

“I... I didn’t do it for Santa Fe.”

Davey scoffed, “Then why?”

Jack’s eyes still had something broken inside, but some of the strength from before everything started to go to hell was starting to come back.

“I did it for you.”

“What?”

“I did it for you,” Jack repeated, louder, “Pulitzer threatened you, by name. He mentioned Crutchie and Les, too, but he said he’d come after you and... dammit, I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let you go to the Refuge.”

“This was always going to be dangerous, Jack. That’s not good enough.”

“You don’t know nothin’ about the Refuge.”

“I knew the risk when I signed on to this strike with you!” Davey argued, “I knew from day one it could end in me goin’ to jail getting hurt or even dying, but I don’t care.”

Jack glared at him, and as he took a step forward, his voice sounded haunted and strong all at the same time.

“You have no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“What the hell are you—“

Davey stopped as Jack turned around, having pulled his shirt off most of the way, revealing...

Deep, criss-crossing scars across his back. More than Davey cared to count and certainly enough to shut him up.

“Snyder thinks it’s funny,” he said bitterly as he put his shirt back on, “First time was when I was 13. I got out the next night, but he got me again when I was 15, then again when I was 16. Each time, I barely made it out alive. Do ya think I would ever let one of mine go through that if I could stop it?”

“I ain’t one of yours,” Davey tried to argue.

“No, you ain’t,” Jack grumbled, “Mine let me protect ‘em.”

“I don’t need your—“

“Davey, don’t you get it?” Jack yelled, grabbing Davey’s shirt as he got all up in his face, “Pulitzer knew exactly how to get at me! He knew who to threaten because you won’t let me protect ya, but you’s probably the one I wanna protect the most! So hit me if you want, but agree to the Children’s Crusade because we don’t have time for this!”

Davey grabbed Jack’s wrists, “I ain’t gonna hit you, Jackie.”

“Just do it!” Jack shouted, “I know I deserve it! Kath already punched me in the face and she apologized but we both know I don’t deserve that shit because I’m a traitor and I hurt everyone including you so just—“

That was when Davey kissed him, needing him to shut up shut up shut up. To stop talking about getting hurt like he deserved it, to just be okay.

Jack gasped against his mouth and Davey almost pulled away, but then Jack was desperately kissing him back, gripping his shirt like it was a lifeline and half-sobbing as Davey let him pull him in closer.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as they pulled apart enough to breathe.

“We don’t have time for that,” Davey whispered back, “Be sorry later. Rally the troops now. I’ll meet you at the Lodging House.”

“Wait,” Jack said as Davey was about to climb in the window to grab Sarah and Les and let his parents know where he was going, “Wait, Dave. What... what’s this about?”

Davey knew he wasn’t talking about the strike.

“Am I... am I kidding myself, or is there really something..?”

Davey rolled his eyes in exasperation, “Of course there is.”

“Well don’t just say it like I happens every day!”

“Jack, I—“

“No! I’m not an idiot! I know boys like you and me...” he sighed, “I know we don’t get happy endings, but... standin’ here right now, lookin’ at you... I just wanna grab hold of somethin.’ Make time stop so’s I can just keep on lookin’ at you.”

“I know what ya mean, Jackie. But we have work to do, so we should just—“

“Wait,” Jack insisted, grabbing Davey’s arm, “Please. Can we just... can we talk? For 5 minutes?”

Davey could see how badly Jack needed reassurance. How bad he needed to see that no, this wasn’t just his imagination, a pretty painting in his head. This was real.

“Look,” he said quietly, grabbing Jack’s hand, “You snuck up on me, Jack Kelly. I never even saw it coming. Till the moment I found you, I thought I knew what love was. But now I’m learning what is true. The world finds ways to sting you, and then one day decides to bring you something to believe in for even a night. And if you’re gone tomorrow... what was ours still will be. I have something to believe in now that I know you believed in me.”

Jack nodded in understanding, “We was never meant to meet. And then we meet—who knows why? One more stranger on the street, just someone sweet passing’ by. An angel come to save me, who didn’t even know he gave me something to believe in for even a day. And if I’m gone tomorrow...”

He trailed off, and Davey grabbed his face gently to make him distract him.

“Do you know what I believe in?”

He hoped Jack could just look into his eyes and see.

They almost kissed again, but Jack pulled away at the last second.

“If things were different...”

They both knew what he was really saying, but neither of them said it.

“If you weren’t still chasing Santa Fe...”

Because he was. No matter how stupid that dream was, Jack couldn’t give it up just after a 10-minute talk.

“If Kath’s father wasn’t probably going to kill me.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh, it turns out Katherine is Pulitzer’s daughter. Don’t worry, though, she’s on our side.”

Davey decided to process that later, “You’re not really scared of Kath’s father.”

“No... but I am pretty scared of you.”

Davey slapped his shoulder gently, “Don’t be!”

“Well...” Jack smiled, finally, “I have something to believe in, now that I know you believed in me.”

Davey couldn’t help it. He kissed Jack again, quickly, then backed up.

“I’ll wake up Les and Sarah and meet you at the Lodging House, okay?”

“Yeah. And by the way, if we’s together now... I should probably warn ya that I might not always have time for ya. I’ve been sorta takin’ care of all the other fellas since I was 14, so...”

Davey rolled his eyes, “Jack, I’m already stuck with Les. I am more than happy to adopt all of your siblings, too.”

“Oh. Okay. Ya know they ain’t actually my siblings, though, right?”

Davey shrugged, “You always act like they are, so it’s close enough.”

“Fair. Guess ya have been helpin’ take care of ‘em these last few days, so the change shouldn’t phase ‘em too much.”

“Yeah, they’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

“So... you’re sure you’re in for... whatever this is? Cause there ain’t no goin’ back in time, so... are ya in for sure?”

Davey nodded, “For sure.”

Luckily, that seemed to put Jack’s mind at ease enough for him to leave.

#newsies #javid #javey #jack kelly #davey jacobs #jack x davey #angst #something to believe in #the truth about the moon #jack and davey are the mom and dad friends #canon rewrite #violet’s writing

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rivertellsstories · 5 years

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“I thought you didn’t want me.” with katherine and davey?

Henlo @funnyihope u asked for Daverine (DaveKat, Kavey, Kavid?) so I’m giving you 2874 words of it :) it’s early in the morning again, so forgive me for all the mistakes in this.

Katherine notices David Jacobs immediately at their first meeting, although she doesn’t learn his name then. The well spoken, nicely dressed boy sticks out like a sore thumb in the group of ragamuffins strewn around the tables at Jacobi’s. The tie, buttoned up vest and use of the word ‘auspicious’ in a correct manner, make her suspect that he’s had a decent education and probably dropped out not too long ago. Longer than what’s probably deemed necessary, she lets her eyes wander over his seated form. When she catches herself staring, she promptly tears her eyes away from the admittedly quite handsome stranger. She’s her because she smelled a story, so a story is what’s she’s gonna get.

“I’m just a blowhard, Davey’s the brains”, Jack Kelly admits in a startling bout of honesty and with a smile, she tells him that honesty isn’t a quality she’d pinned on him. He doesn’t seem too offended by the remark and if he wasn’t so awfully flirtatious, they probably would be friends by now, Katherine thinks. She wanted to interview the other strike leader too (David, her mind helpfully supplies), but he had ran off with his little brother before she could.

They talk some more and for the first time, she gets to introduce herself with the name “Plumber”. For some reason it feels special to her, like its something worth celebrating. When they part ways and he tells her to: “Write it good”, she realises why she likes being called “Plumber” so much. With this name, she’s finally her own person, unrestricted by her fathers name and influence. These boys need help and Katherine Plumber is going to do everything she can to help them out.

She walks into David and his younger brother on their shared way to the circulation gate. It seems as though David’s contemplating whether he should walk up to her and greet her or not, but the younger brother makes the decision for him. “Hello miss reporter!” he calls out with youthful enthusiasm and Katherine shoots him a smile. “Good morning. My name is Katherine Plumber, what is yours?” She offers him her hand, which he vigorously shakes. “Les Jacobs. That’s my older brother David.”

It’s not new knowledge to her, but she doesn’t know how to bring that up, so she gives David a friendly nod instead. With a shy smile, he nods back. “Good morning miss Plumber.”

“Good morning mister Jacobs. Tell me, how do you feel about your ambitious strike?” she asks while they walk to the circulation gate with Les skidding ahead of them. The question prompts a laugh from him and he turns to her, hands folded behind his back. “Already out for interviews huh, miss Plumber?”

“Always, mister Jacobs.” They share smirks and Katherine guesses that he’s the type that enjoys verbal sparring matches as much as she does. “You should ask our strike leader for a more interesting interview”, he says, leaving her question unanswered. “I am.” She stares him down, one eyebrow raised and he crosses his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh no, I’m not a strike leader, just a guy who talks a bit too much. Jack’s the reason everyone’s so motivated to do this. He’s got a way with people, I’m just a newbie who knows some fancy words.” She hums. “Well, Jack appointed you co-strike leader in his interview yesterday (David visibly pales at this and seems to get more nervous) and I would actually agree with him on that decision. But if you’re insistent on calling yourself 'just a newbie’, then do tell me, mister newbie, why you chose to join a strike at the beginning of your newsie career?”

“You’re a sharp one, aren’t you, miss Plumber?” She grins. “I try, mister Jacobs.” In front of them, Les comes to a halt and groans. “You just told each other your names, just use them instead of this miss and mister stuff. Davey ’s no mister. Davey is lame.” After those words, Les runs off again although he stays in their sight.

“My little brother, eloquent and honest as ever”, David remarks dryly and Katherine laughs at his unamused tone. “But to answer your question, I think that every worker, be it a newsie or a typesetter, should have some basic rights. You can’t take stuff away from people who already have so little and not expect them to revolt. Mister Pulitzer and all the other rich men in this town should not forget how dependent they are on their workers.”

“How do you think this strike will go? Do you think you’ll reach your goal?” David worries his lip between his teeth before answering. “I don’t know”, he whispers, uncertainty shining through in the way he plucks nonexistent loose threads from his vest. Then he takes a look at his laughing younger brother and shakes his head. When he continues, his voice sounds stronger, more sure. “We’re going to win this strike. For all the kids in this town.”

They reach their destination, but they’ve both got different places to be. “It was nice talking to you, mister Jacobs.” He nods and moves to walk away, but turns around again. “I’m sorry for calling you 'not a real reporter’. Good luck with your article, miss Plumber.” He’s gone before she can answer, mingling with the handful of newsies that are gathered there. She wishes all of them luck.

When she watches David interact with the newsies that aren’t Jack, she gets why he’s very hesitant to call himself one of the leaders of the strike. He carries himself awkwardly, chooses the wrong words and all in all just has a lot of trouble fitting in.

It’s when Jack’s words and charisma start failing him and newsies visibly lose hope, that Katherine notices a change in David. Now, she couldn’t call him awkward anymore. He is vibrant in his own way, using softer reassurances instead of Jack’s screamed motivation that had kept the newsies up until now. He manages to break through the void that separated him and the newsies before and Katherine makes a mental note to quote him in her article. “And say to the others, who did not follow through: you’re still our brothers and we will fight for you.” It’s powerful, yet gentle and understanding and Katherine thinks that those words describe David perfectly. He’s no fighter by any means, but his values are right.

Everything goes right until suddenly, it doesn’t. Katherine watches in horror as the tiny, charming newsie named Romeo, brutally gets smacked down. She’d always thought that the police was there to help people, but this strike makes her realise more and more how wrong her vision of the world can be. “Miss, we need to go”, her photographer says and although Katherine wants to help so badly, she knows there’s nothing she can do.

That evening she hits the streets again, hoping to find someone who can tell her how the fight ended. By sheer coincidence, she stumbles upon the Jacobs siblings. When she comes closer, she sees that Les has his arm in a sling and she winces. “Is everybody safe?” she asks and David barks out a bitter laugh. “No one died.”

“That’s not what I’m asking”, she says in a gentle tone and sits down beside him on some stairs. He sighs, letting his head drop down in his arms. “We don’t know where Jack is and Crutchie got taken to the refuge. Almost everyone is hurt one way or another and we gained exactly nothing today.”

She takes his hand into hers and squeezes softly. “That’s what tomorrow’s for. I’ll make your story public, get it out there for everyone to see. Trust me.” There’s a moment where they lock eyes, gazes heavy and Katherine feels her face flush. Then David nods and the movement distracts Katherine. “You’re hurt”, she notices and lets her thumb run over David’s cheek. He hisses in return but shakes his head. “Got hit, that’s all. It’s not that bad compared to some of the others.”

She frowns and sighs. Wouldn’t it be grand if her father would just leave these kids alone? She’d rather see them safe and sound, wrapped in blankets or something. They deserve that. All she can do for now, is get their story out their and help them out that way. “Well mister Jacobs (it gets a smile from him) , I’ve got a story to write. I will see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, miss Plumber.”

-She finds Jack Kelly in a back street, hands in his hair and face far away. As she crouches down, he snaps out of his reverie and Katherine notices how scared he looks. “They’ve got Crutchie”, he whispers and Katherine nods. “I understand-”

“No, you don’t!” Jack cries as he folds into himself again. “You don’t”, he sobs. “He’s to me what girls like you should be.” The sentence confuses Katherine for a second, but then she gets it. “You love him”, she states plainly and Jack nods, unable to bring out anymore words. She holds Jack Kelly until he dries his tears and runs away to god knows where.

Katherine and David do indeed meet again the day after, in Jacobi’s, where the mood is darker than the ink they use in the papers. Katherine decides to walk in in the most excited way possible and Racetrack gives her a tired, but meaningful look before he turns around and broadcasts his excitement.

Although Katherine knows that the blond boy is beyond tired, she notices that she can’t detect insincerity in him at all. As he hypes up the boys, Katherine comes to the conclusion that Racetrack Higgins is a very skilled liar and a talented actor. She puts that thought aside as she lets herself be pulled along in their impromptu, victory-fuelled dance party. After the climax has passed, she notices David leaving the joint and decides to join him.

“Where are you going?” David straightens his back and turns around to face her. “I’m getting Jack. We need him.” She doesn’t disagree, because those boys look up to Jack and him not being there is also a factor in their downtrodden mood. “Please be a bit gentle with him. He’s…”, she bites her lip, not knowing how to explain what Jack’s feeling like without telling David about Jack and Crutchie.

“He’s heartbroken”, David guesses and he’s not wrong. “I’m not gonna completely trample over his feelings, I’m just verbally gonna kick his butt a bit. He needs ta wake up.” It’s then that Katherine once again notices the changes in David Jacobs. His jaw is set, he’s using newsies slang and his eyes glisten with newfound determination. He’s also changed up his wardrobe a bit and Katherine has to admit that newsboy is a good look on him. Not that scholar wasn’t a good look on him, but she can appreciate the change. “Well then mister Jacobs, let us go kick some Kelly butt.”

Les joins them because he too wants to kick someone’s butt. David uses simple logic and a lot of stubbornness to get through to Jack, which results in an exasperated Jack admitting that David is in fact, right. The rally is brought up and approved, Jack is back in action and for a moment it looks like the strike is in their favour again.

That moment lasts all the way until her father decides that it’s his right to decide whether she reveals her ties with him or not and the look of utter betrayal from Jack stings her deeper than she would like to admit. As he’s led away, Katherine wonders how the rally is gonna go.

It already starts unfortunate. Jack isn’t there and David seems to regress from newsie Davey to newbie Davey. He looks as though he’s gonna throw up until Medda gives him some reassuring words. Katherine isn’t sure why she’s so proud of him spitting in his own hand without as much as a wince, but she hopes that he’ll make his idea work.

David’s doing a pretty solid job, but then Jack shows up and Katherine feels for him as he tries to convince them to take her fathers offer. All Jack Kelly wants is safety, but he’s giving it to his newsies in the form of betrayal.

Anger takes a weird form when David experiences it or maybe that’s because he is more upset and disappointed than angry. Katherine sits beside him as he tightens and loosens his fists every now and then until he breaks the silence. “What does he think he’s doing?” He sounds calmer than he probably feels and then suddenly, there’s tears. “Fuck”, he whispers and attempts to hide his face in his hands. “Fuck.”

She opens her arms and because they’re sitting down, he doesn’t have to lean that far down to put his head on her shoulder. “I really looked up to him, you know? I thought he was one of those people that are so good, that they only exist in books. I trusted him”, he admits between sobs and Katherine lets her fingers trail through his dark locks. “I know”, she says softly, “but David, sometimes people make the wrong choices because they want to keep their loved ones safe. If you start making choices for them instead of asking them what they want, you’ll end up disappointing people. I hope that that’s what Jack is doing.”

“Have I mentioned that you’re a smart one, miss Pulitzer?” Playfully, she lets her fingers trail down his spine. As he shivers, she answers. “You may’ve mentioned it before. Shall I go talk to Jack? I want to confirm that he’s just being stupid and not malicious.”

David nods and lets go of her. “Sorry for uhm…the crying.” She wipes away a few leftover tears and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t apologise for having human reactions. I’ll see you later Davey.”

“Later Kath.” It’s only when she’s already left the street, that she realises that he called her Pulitzer. There was no judgement in his voice though, so Katherine concludes that he just wanted her to know that he knew and wasn’t upset. It was quite…sweet.

Nothing felt as satisfactory as clocking Jack Kelly in the jaw. As the tension unwinds, Jack asks her to cover for him and Crutchie in public. Apparently those Delancey brothers are less stupid than they look and some of their comments have made him quite scared. Of course she agrees to help her friend out.

-They use her fathers printing press to bring him down and during this process, Katherine and David work closely together. They fill the night with stupid word jokes and nonsensical giggling as they run around the city’s distributing their paper.

Finally, it’s over. Katherine revels in the happy mood and is quite surprised by Jack Kelly kissing her square on the mouth in the midst of the crowd of newsies. Then she remembers her promise and adds a bit of show to it, making a spectacle out of the two of them that can’t be ignored.

When they separate, she catches David running off, while leaving Les in the care of Race and Albert. This is certainly out of character and Katherine decides to see what he’s up to. After dwelling in the streets for a while, unsure of where exactly David is, when she finds him.

He’s seated on the steps of a front porch, face hidden in his arms. She wonders if he has a headache, but then she notices the way his body trembles and a tiny sob breaks through the silence. “Davey, are you alright?” she asks, unsure of what’s going on. His body goes taut when he hears her voice, but then he looks up and quickly wipes his face. “I just realised how wrong I was about something.” He looks down again, not meeting her eyes. “So you and Jack are a thing now? Like, officially?”

And then it finally clicks and Katherine drags him close to her by his open vest. As she presses their lips together,he lets out a surprised noise and brings his hand to the back of her head , softly cradling it. “Wait!” he yells and pulls back. “What about you and Jack? I thought you didn’t want me.”

He sounds so certain in his belief that Katherine desires Jack, that Katherine wants to kiss all of that away. “I want you and no one else. Jack’s got a relationship with someone else, I’m just a coverup”, she explains and David mulls over the idea. “Oh, I get it. People were getting suspicious of Crutchie and him, right?” She frowns. “How do you know that?” He shoots her a smile in return. “I’ve got eyes.”

“You sure do. You know what else you got? Lips. Please kiss me again.”

Ending the strike with David’s hands on her lower back and his lips on hers, is a perfect ending to the strike, Katherine decides. “I love you miss Pulitzer.” Katherine smiles against David’s lips. “Love you too, mister Jacobs.”

#daverine #david jacobs #katherine pulitzer #katherine plumber #davey jacobs #David x Katherine #rivers stuff

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