Scarlet Billows (Brallon)

iii

lmao, so dallon's hair is never flat, but this is the best i could do. everyone's got a quiff. it's the 60s. z's hair isn't always in a braid crown. in fact! it's usually down or in pinup, but they look really cute in that picture, so i'm gonna flow with it👌

anyway. had to get pictures out of the way.

(IM SO SAD I MESSED UP THE TIMELINE ALREADY AND IM SURE NO ONE EVEN NOTICED BUT IM GONNA FIX IT IM SORRY)

~

"Oh, Weekes, honestly? You read that malarkey in the Post?"

For the fun of it, yes. When business is low, of course. Who wants a malt at 9:45 in the morning? For a credible story? No.

Everyone with half a brain knows if you want news, you go to the New York Times. For a story, you go to the New York Post. It's practically a tabloid, a periodical. It'll tell you enough, maybe pick a few details to stretch, a couple to leave out, add a little lipstick to the pig, the works. That's the first thing I learned about the Apple when Ryan and I got here and, so far, it's been true.

"Give him a little credit, Gerard," Ryan, quick to my defence even though he's supposed to be in charge of shining the malt glasses, pipes up at Gerard Way, who's wiping down tables while I stand in the corner, skimming the pages of the Post, "Dallon's a smart one, he knows better than to believe all the junk in there."

Gerard scoffs lightly, "I believe Dallon's plenty smart, that's why I asked."

Gerard's an interesting one, actually. A Jersey boy who's only real competition for Broadway would be Ryan because they're both as uninterested in theatre and such things as they are completely dramatic. He likes to hum while he works, old tunes are his favourites. I know he sings, but very seldom will he ever sing around anyone. Quite a shame, he could be something great if he wanted to be, but for now, he's slummin' it with a couple of Boston boys as a soda jerk in a malt shop that his buddy, Frank, is gonna inherit someday from his old man. From what I've seen, Frank and Gerard are about as close as Ryan and I are. And Frank's a nice enough guy, outgoing, you know the type. Gerard's more secluded most of the time, so they complement each other, I guess.

I mean, they both have jet black hair and a slight Jersey twang in their voices, so it makes sense that they get along.

"It's an old one," I shrug and fold up the paper how it was when I found it, "From July. It's kind of a funny one, to be honest with ya. It's got eyewitness accounts from nobodies who swear they've seen Mack in the dead of night when he's out makin' his rounds," I see Ryan perk up a bit at the mention of Mack, "Like Gerard said, these accounts aren't worth the paper they're printed on. And they don't make much sense. Why wouldn't go to the police if you really saw something?"

"God knows they need all the help they can get with catchin' this guy.." Gerard mumbles more to himself and I know he doesn't mean anything serious by it. Secretly, Mack wigs him out and he tries to hide it with good ol' fashioned apathy.

"What do you think they'll do to Mack when they catch him?" Ryan finishes polishing up the glasses and starts to stack them up to look all pretty like they're supposed to.

"If they do," If there's one thing Gerard and I see eye to eye on, it's that the Dick Tracys of this city are having the hardest time wrangling up this crooked crook and they just might never catch him, "He's the most wanted man in the state of New York and he's killed more people than someone could count with both hands. They can't just catch a guy like that and turn him loose."

"I never suggested that they should.." Ryan mumbles to himself. Ryan likes just about everyone, but Gerard and him don't always agree, so they don't always get along. But. Ryan's personality is more.. out there than Gerard's, so it's easy to see when his feathers get ruffled, "Dallon, what do you think about this?"