Mist under the East River

[jabbathehutt]

No one even noticed what happened to the kids on Delancey. Or never talked about it, which amounted to the same thing.

The papers covered the accident that took the life of three construction workers on the Manhattan side of what will eventually become the second East River Bridge. They said digging hit an underground cave they didn't know was there, and the families were compensated widely.

No one talked about the handful of street kids who had taken to using the site as shelter at night. Who had, due to dares and a morbid curiosity, snuck into the site to find - not an underground cave but a secret basement. And this is because no one survived to talk about it afterwards.

Except Ezra Bridger. Who never does talk about it.

In fact, most people have probably forgotten he was even friends with those kids.

Now he sells papes and lives by his wits on the Lower East Side, tries to avoid making any more friends, and keeps himself to himself.

Well, as much as that's possible among the ragged army of New York City newsboys.

Comments

[brooklynishere]

"Yes." Spot says simply - of course he does, unlike most of the kids here he's doing this entirely by choice, he could stop tomorrow if he wanted.

"The days are long sometimes, especially when the weather's bad, but it's.. for me, it's a kind of freedom."

[jabbathehutt]

"Huh."

Ezra wants to challenge that, to point out that it's not the same kind of freedom for Spot as it is for the newsies selling papes to keep themselves out of the refuge, but he stays that comment. Because he knows that Spot's got something to be free from, and maybe this is alright.

"How long have you been selling papes for?"

[brooklynishere]

Spot wouldn't have thanked him for it - he knows, he deals with the guilt of it every day, the knowledge that he's really just playing. It's why he works so hard as Brooklyn leader, why he makes sure every penny he makes goes into helping the boys, since he doesn't need it himself. He still knows he could do more, though.

"5, 6 years now?" he estimates.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra gives Spot an appraising look as he tries to figure out his age and how old that would have made him.

It also means that Ezra's been doing this longer than Spot. Not that it's surprising they didn't know each other - there are a lot of newsies in New York, and Ezra keeps himself to himself.

"Why did you start?"

Enjoying it is one thing, but he can't fathom just getting up and trying it one day.

[brooklynishere]

"I was... lonely..." Spot admits - he's never told anybody about this before, but then nobody's ever known to ask "I saw the boys at the gate laughing and joking with each other and they looked like they were having fun... I learned there was more to it than that, obviously, but by then I was already hooked."

He wonders how much Ezra is judging him, whether he thinks he's just some spoiled brat playing pretend. Maybe he is, but he's happy with the life he's found for himself.

[jabbathehutt]

He's not, not really. He's just listening, trying to get his head around it. Maybe if he hadn't felt Spot's terror at his father, had a glimpse of what Spot was running away from...

He nods. He can understand that, maybe. There's a camaraderie in selling papes that he liked - until a year ago.

[brooklynishere]

He's glad that he doesn't get any judgement out loud, at least. Spot's got a lot of attitude and he's not afraid to back it up - but the whole actually-being-rich thing is kind of an insecurity. He's never had to deal with it before, because nobody knew. Now he isn't so sure how to handle it.

"You don't seem like you's close with the other 'hattan boys though." Spot says (he wonders if Ezra realises how his accent must be an affectation - and it is, he's picked it up from the boys around him and it's habit now, but it's a far cry from how he speaks at home).

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra feels like he should shut that down again, but it seems unfair, when Spot's only trying to understand.

He shrugs.

"Yanno what it's like. Kids come and go. Sometimes there's no point."

Translation: I had a street family and they all died.

[brooklynishere]

Spot doesn't quite get it, but he can tell there's something there that he's not saying, and he at least knows enough about this kind of life to make a few educated guesses. He nods his understanding - as much as he counts the newsies as his family, he knows he's kept most of them at arm's length too, not wanting any of them to realise the truth.

He supposes Ezra's got secrets of his own, too...

He falls silent, then, not quite sure what else to say. He's never really been a big talker.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra's happy for that as well, sitting back for a few minutes and listening to the happiness around him as he was. He doesn't mind the silence, even if it's awkward

...until he picks up something sudden and sharp from beneath the docks. A rush of fear, from one of the boys that no one else has noticed.

He sits up - shoots a glance at Spot that does nothing except say he's scared of something - races to the edge of the dock and dives in.

[brooklynishere]

Spot straightens up when Ezra gives him that look, his own expression questioning, but before he can ask the other boy's already leaping to his feet.

Spot stands as well, following him to the edge and watching him dive in, trying to work out what the hell's going on.

[jabbathehutt]

It's not a big thing. Just a kid dived too deeply, got trapped under the dock and freaked out, trying to find his way up. Ezra follows the feel of his fear, finds him just at the edge of the dock and pulls him out, pushing him to the surface.

Spot may see the kid breaking water, crying out, and his friends splashing over as they realise he's in trouble, checking he's okay and pulling him out.

Ezra surfaces a shot distance away, watches the fuss for a few seconds, then pulls himself out of the water again.

[brooklynishere]

Spot watches the kid for a long moment to make sure he is okay, his attention turning to Ezra once he's sure his friends have got it under control.

He strolls back over to where Ezra's back out of the water and sits down. He's quiet for a moment, and then asks.

"What was that?"

[jabbathehutt]

"He got caught under the dock," Ezra says. "Freaked out a bit."

He pauses, and adds:

"He was scared, and I could hear it."

It's the first time he's said it out loud, admitted it. He doesn't look at Spot, but he hopes Spot will believe him.

[brooklynishere]

Spot believes him, of course he does, after what Ezra did to his father. It makes him curious though, because that means it's not just some weird kind of mind control, it's something else.

"So you can.. tell what people are feeling?" he asks with interest "Or do you just 'hear' strong emotions? How does it work?"

[jabbathehutt]

"Uh."

Ezra hesitates trying to figure out how to describe it. "I guess a bit of both? It ain't actually like hearing, but I dunno how else to say it. It's like noise."

He waves a hand vaguely at the boys in the water. "Couldn't tell you who was feeling what, but there's a load of happiness going on. Then if one person gets scared it's like - you know when you're on a busy street and someone screams?"

That's also how he found Spot that day.

[brooklynishere]

If one person gets scared

Spot realises immediately that he must have drawn Ezra in that day with his father, because he knows he'd been terrified.

"And you can't help but just... jump in?" he asks with a raised eyebrow - he doesn't judge, he kind of admires it, if he's honest.

[jabbathehutt]

"Well, yeah," says Ezra, glancing at him. He's pretty sure that's not his freaky thing, but just doing the right thing.

"Wouldn't you?"

[brooklynishere]

"I suppose I would." Spot agrees - he's certainly jumped in to defend plenty of Brooklyn boys when they're in trouble, despite the risk to himself. He's had to excuse more than one black eye with claims of roughhousing at school over the years.

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra shrugs in a 'well then' sort of way. "Wish I had more to say," he says. "Once I figured out what I was feeling I figured out how to push back at it. With rats at first."

[brooklynishere]

"Until you could handle much bigger rats." Spot says with a grimly amused smile, thinking of his father.

He wonders what that must have been like, trying to figure out his powers alone.

[jabbathehutt]

"...yeah," says Ezra, echoing that smile in all its grim satisfaction. "Until that."

[brooklynishere]

Spot nods - he doesn't thank him again, he already did that, although he is still grateful.

He does wonder if Ezra puts himself at risk of discovery, though, if he's prone to just jumping in like that.

"Do you think there's anyone else like you?" is what he asks instead, though

[jabbathehutt]

Ezra is quiet for a second, staring at the river below them. Honestly, he doesn't know. He doesn't know why the crystals gave him powers rather than killing him, but he's pretty sure that it couldn't be a one-off.

"I think so," he says finally. "I'm sure there has to be, but I never met anyone."

[brooklynishere]

"Maybe you wouldn't even know if you did..." Spot muses. After all, the only reason he knows about Ezra is because he's seen him in action, there could be plenty of people out there with the same powers, or different ones, just going about their everyday lives and staying hidden.

He wonders why, or how, but he doesn't want to ask Ezra for the details he knows the other boy doesn't want to give.