NEWSIES: The Ultimate Modern AU

How The Boys Start The Day

The church bell down the street chimed for 6am and the boys grumbled in protest. Already the house was crawling with men in their mid-early 20's, slapping shoulders and chewing air.
In no time, the kitchen was alive in the little space and the fridge was opened five times by Albert, who was expecting some grand meal to appear in front of him when he opened it again after half a second from the first. Jack noticed, "Albert, you right mate?"
"My lips are tingling from a dream, if only I could make it happen?"
"Special someone?" Race chimed in with a smirk, already lighting a ciggy.
"Nope, even better; a leg of lamb." He began to drool. All attention to him instantly fizzled away.

Romeo sat himself on the table, and bumped Jimothee's dish with sleepy hands. "AH SHIT- oh hey little dude!" His face brightened at the turtle.

Jack noticed the shift in mood, and realised how much they needed the reptile. "Righto Fellas!" He grabbed their attention. "So we got a turtle now?"
"Yeah if you weren't busy with Katherine all night you would have known sooner." Race grinned to himself, a few snickers from the others followed.
Jack ignored them. "Now I says we keep em. Sure he ain't the best and most practical, but he's the best thing for us now. Specs, you got food for him?" Specs glanced at Jack.
"Well not yet but it'll be fine, I can get some. He eats scraps. So just- whatever peels we... don't use he can have?"
Romeo snorted, "Jimothee's gonna be better fed than all of us!"

No one protested the fact, but they were all wondering the same thing. What scraps and peels? What did they have left over? Elmer rinsed his toothbrush in the kitchen sink, "Isn't there a grocery shop near the corner, near Bottle Ally?" He slurred through a toothpaste filled mouth, "We can steal from the dumpster?"
"Didn't we get that sofa from there?" Specs inquired, motioning to the moth bitten monstrosity in the other room.
Elmer spat out the minty froth and rinsed it down the drain. "YES EXACTLY! It's a gold mine!"

"It's settled then?" Jack concluded, not phased by the dental fiasco, "We feed the turtle from the scraps that are not ours and from a dumpster, and it gets fed better than all of us combined? We all cool with that?" The boys made hums of agreement and a few '100%'s and 'coolio's were heard.

They all left the kitchen empty handed, pulling their work shirts over their heads and scuffing their hair, they grabbed their shoes from the front door. Sitting outside on the steps, they tag teamed to the one bathroom inside as they all put on their boots. It was peaceful out there, the low buzz of a few cars on their morning commute and the birds awakening their nests. A woman was on a morning walk, approaching with headphones in, supposedly on her phone. The boys ears pricked, listening to the conversation.

"And they were roommates!" She frantically exclaimed to her phone.
"... oh my god and they were room mates?" Race mocked, adjusting his buttons and flicking his cigarette bud away. A few boys snickered.

After Jack finished with his shoes, he turned to Crutchie who had his tongue stuck out as he concentrated on the shoe, trying to get it on his dead leg. He caught Jacks eye and gave a sheepish look, ashamed. Jack rolled his eyes with a laugh. "Give it here!"
Jack shoved the shoe on the gimp leg, tied it up and kissed it, christening the messy bow on the boot and then slapped the foot down playfully.
"You don't have to do that-" Crutchie went to say.
"Oh quit griping! There's no shame in me helping, think of it as a service."
"For what?"
"I don't know; just helping a pal because that's what makes me so good." He batted his eyelashes sarcastically and gave a cheesy grin. Crutchie huffed and accepted a hand up off the stairs.

Jack patted him on the back, sighed and then looked down the street which was cast in an Autumn gold. "Well, carrying the banner I guess?"
Crutchie pat him on the back in return. "Carrying the banner." And they set off, walking to work in their usual stampede of chaos.