Forbidden Fruit - Part XVIII
Part I
Without thinking about it Chilchuck reached out to cup a pale cheek with his hand, feeling the rough scratch of stubble against his palm and fingertips. Laios leaned into the touch as if he were starving, lashes fluttering as his eyes slipped closed. Despite his wide shoulders and impressive build he looked fragile. A frail, breakable, helpless little thing in Chilchuck's hands.
"Alright, we will do this once, stick to the plan, and then never speak of it again. Do you understand?"
Chilchuck felt his stomach turn, a sour taste on his tongue.
Laios would have agreed to anything at that moment and Chilchuck had been happy to accept his blind agreement. After all he thought it the quickest way to get rid of these distracting thoughts and scratch an annoying itch. As for Laios, well ... he had a little crush. It was innocent, fleeting. Puppy love. Nothing to write home about. Nothing that would stay.
Except that it was and it did. It would.
The proof had been in every second they spent together tonight. In the way Laios had looked at him, touched him, held him, kissed him. It was in the way he knelt for him and curled into him right now, savouring every little touch he could get. Knowing this was almost over and he had to take in what he could.
Chilchuck had never wanted to but there was no denying he held Laios' beating heart between his palms.
And even though the thought terrified him to no end and left him sick to his stomach ... there was no part of him that did not want to treat that heart gently. Even if it would leave him shaking every step of the way.
"Hey there", he mumbled, voice thick as he reached out with the other hand to cradle Laios' other cheek, pulling him just a bit closer as golden eyes fluttered open. "Don't look like that, stranger. This was ... fun. I wouldn't mind doing it again."
A flurry of emotions danced across Laios' features. Confusion, disbelief, hope, longing, doubt...
"But ... but you said..."
"I know what I said. But I think ... I changed my mind."
Even more emotions, more confusion, more disbelief, more giddy excitement.
Chilchuck's stomach was twisting but he owed Laios gentle hands and honesty. Also bluntness.
"I can't promise you anything", he said firmly, freezing Laios' expression in careful attentiveness. "But maybe we can start by ... forgetting about the whole never speak of it again thing?"
"Yes", Laios agreed immediately, eyes wide as he nodded. "Yes I ... I would love to speak of it again! I would, uh ... love doing it again! I ... I really like..."
"I know", Chilchuck interrupted him quickly. He could not hear it yet. Knowing was already enough to almost make him throw up. "I know and that's ... alright. I just need time, yes? We have to take it slow."
Considering his words Laios gave a slow, thoughtful nod.
"Yes, of course." Then an almost imperceptible smile snuck onto his lips, a glint in his eye. Sly and mischievous. "Half-foot steps."
"Do you want to die?", Chilchuck roared but his brief puff of anger disappeared with the first sounds of Laios' laughter ringing clear and carefree between them, cheeks scrunching up below his palms.
"Sorry, sorry", Laios said, raising his hands to cup Chilchuck's much smaller ones. "Slow sounds good. Anything you need."
"We need to figure out how to navigate this. Especially when it comes to the party. I won't let this impact our work."
A hum, a nod of agreement.
"You will figure something out", Laios said, complete trust in his words. "We do whatever you need us to do. But..."
"But?" The question was somewhat distracted as Chilchuck's brain began ticking away, already trying to wrap around this strange, new situation and how to best work with it.
"But can that be a question for tomorrow? I want ... I don't know. Can we just be ... close? For a bit longer?"
Watching Laios fumble through his needs was way too endearing. Chilchuck could not help but open his arms for the bumbling idiot.
"Come here."
As Laios shot up to wrap strong arms around him and bury a gleeful grin against his neck the only feeling left in Chilchuck's stomach was warm, bubbling contentment.
~
The End
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Things In Newsies Live I Think About A Lot #2
During 'Carrying The Banner' you can see the newsies jumping around, playing with eachother etc, etc. One of my favourite examples was that if you look in the background, you can see a line of newsies all chasing after eachother before they all move towards the front of the stage to dance.
(I know this isn't the greatest picture of it, but it'll have to do.)
I'm not sure why this has stuck with me as long as it has, but something about this specific part is just so memorable to me.
I don't really know why, but this scene in particular has always sort of been a pretty big reminder at how young the newsies truly were. Like, this is a fairly fast paced scene with plently of movement and energy, and who do you normally associate with high levels of energy? Children.
And in life the majority of these newsies would have been 10-13 years of age. Kid Blink (strike leader and inspiration for Jack Kelly in the musical) was only ~16 years old, and he would have been a lot older than many other newsboys and newgirls in his time.
This might be a strange take on the scene, but it has been gnawing on the inside of my brain for ages, so now you all get to hear about it too.
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