#thisshadeofred: ritz

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

‘  please don’t leave me.  ’ (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben)

For a moment, Ben looked surprise. Then, as soon as he had snapped back to the moment, he shook his head and opened his arms to the girl. "I won' leave ya, Ritzy... I would nevah leave ya..." He gave her a soft, worried frown. "What makes ya say that? Did I do somethin' ta make ya think I would?"

@thisshadeofred

[officerwaltons]

“ i don’t know what’s wrong with me. “ (thisshadeofred Ritz to Mary, Ritz is baby and is having a Bad Day poor thing)

Mary kneels down in front of the girl. She does a quick once over. She doesn’t see any bruises or scrapes, which is good. Ritz is just a little dirty, and her hair needs help. Mary’s happy to clean her up a bit, but what she can’t figure is why the hell Ritz is out here alone. Any of her boys would tell you they’d be whacked upside the head for letting one of the smaller newsies go off so far on their own. Mary tucks a loose curl back behind Ritz’s ear.

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Mary says, taking her hand and starting off towards the Brooklyn Lodging House is one quick move. “You’ve just gotten a little lost. I’ll take you back.” And have a good word with Spot, Mary decides. Somebody’s got to keep a better eye on Ritz.

[whatsbehindthefacade]

@thisshadeofred | continued

Stray doesn't like it when anybody thinks it's ok to pick on her little sisters. Ritz, she knows, likes to play with some of the other kids in the area, the ones that shine shoes and sweep floors and do other odd jobs, but sometimes they're not always the nicest. So when she'd seen the boys pulling at her braids, Stray had stomped right over there, her dog friend at her heels and immediately yelled at them to go away, scowling at them as they ran off before turning her attention to her baby and crouching down beside her, pulling her into a hug. "S'okay, Ritzy. Don't gotta be brave all the time."

[songbirdsandsugar-moved]

@thisshadeofred continued from here.

"Yep, all yours," Lucy reassured her with a smile, "And if we don't eat 'em all while you're here, you can take whatever's left back to the other girls." She held the tray of cookies out to Ritz for her to pick one before asking, "How have you been doing? Okay, I hope." Brows arched, despite the gentle tone, there was a lot of concern in Lucy's eyes. She cared for these kids, Ritz especially. She saw so much of herself in the young girl.

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

“Why didn’t you say anything?” (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben, she's Trying to be a good Big)

Ben shrugged, blushing embarassedly as he sat next to the little girl. "I dunno... D-didn' wanna worry ya, I guess..." And that was true enough. But it was also true that he felt like an idiot and hated himself for it. His blackened eye twinged, and he knew that a eye that was near swollen shut wouldn't be good for business tomorrow, but that didn't matter now. It was too late to worry about that. He'd have to work twice, or even three times as hard, to make up for the papers that had been destroyed by the rival newsies who'd cornered him today. Honest, he hadn't known it was somebody else's spot, he was still getting the hang of all of this, but it didn't matter. It had seemed like they were just itching for a fight, especially one they knew they could win, anyways. He gave a half smile, all the same and turned to Ritz, taking her tiny hand in his own and giving it a squeeze. "Betcha ya tha best big this lodgin' house's evah seen, though... Nobody else's as sweet as you." He knew that she seemed to be willing to take on the world for him, even though she was tiny and way less than half his age.

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

"Huh? What? I'm awake, I swear!" (thisshadeofred Ritz to Crutchie)

Crutchie knelt by the little girl, watching her with a worried frown that faded into a soft, relieved smile as the girl startled awake. "Hey, hey kiddo, ya alright... ya safe, ok?" She backed up just a little to give the girl some space before roughly wiping a hand on her pants and offering it out. "'m called Crutchie. Ya got a name?" Sure, the sun was getting low, but that was ok. She was going to make sure this kid was well taken care of. "D'ya got somewhere ta sleep tonight? I live in a lodgin' house nearby where ya'll be safe, if ya wanna go wit' me."

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

[ blanket ] sender notices receiver is cold, so they bring them a blanket and drape it over their shoulders (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben)

Ben is curled up on a bed, shivering in the cool air inside the lodging house. He didn't have the layers the other newsies had, only having the one set of clothes that he had on when he managed to escape.

The feeling of something being put around his shoulder caused him to jump, turning as if to fight back, only to see...

... a small child and a blanket. Ben paused, one hand raised to protect his face while the other was clenched into a fist, before hastily dropping his hands as he blushed embarassedly. A quickly and quietly muttered apology was almost too quiet to hear, but with that, he went back to being curled up, shaking now from fright.

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

❝ here, let me snuggle you. you look cold. ❞ (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben)

Ben gave an exaggerated shiver and opened his arms with a small smile. "P-p-please?" He scooched over on his bed so there'd be room. "I n-need a D-ducky hug..." He hoped to make her laugh.

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

"You should be resting." (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben)

Ben was panicky. Nightmares of "home" did that... whether of the Refuge or the little tenement he shared with his always furious brother... He shuddered, clutching the rail of the fire escape as if it was life itself, letting the cool of the metal creep into his hands and up his arms and-

The quiet, sleepy voice made him jump and spin around so fast that he almost fell... "Wh-what? I-"

But it was just Ritz. "I... I c-couldn' sl-sleep..." She didn't have to know that his heart was hammering like it was going to beat out of his chest... or anything about the nightmare that kept flashing before his eyes.

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

'I can't stop shivering.' (thisshadeofred any of the littles to Crutchie)

Crutchie sat up at that, immediately throwing her blanket to the side and opening her arms to the stranded little girl. "C'mere, Miss Ritz. I'll getcha warmed up..." She shifted around on her bed to make more room before patting the space beside her insistently. "Tha fellas say 'm as good as a heatah..."

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

[ rest ] one muse comes and sits in the others lap. (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben)

As Ritz clambered up into Ben's lap, he was happy to help her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her up. "How are you today, Ducky?" He leaned in and kissed the top of her head as he smoothed her hair.

@thisshadeofred

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

“Try to catch snowflakes on your tongue. It’s fun.” (thisshadeofred Ritz to Ben OR Specs to Crutchie)

Ben looked at Ritz with a curious expression. "Is it? I dunno that I's evah tried..." He tilted his newsboy cap far back and then leaned back and stuck out his tongue. He tried for several minutes before looking at Ritz with a frown and giving a shrug. "Maybe ya'll have ta show me..."

@thisshadeofred

[whatsbehindthefacade]

@thisshadeofred | continued

It's supposed to be naptime. Except, as always, Shadow was rather reluctant to take her nap, with all the stubbornness of a five year old. She doesn't need to have her nap, she's not tired at all! So instead she's seized the opportunity of Spot being busy talking with Mac to shuffle off with her blanket and plop down beside Ritz. It looks like she's drawing, though Shadow's not quite sure what.

"Whassa drawing?" Shadow mumbles softly, hugging the blanket to her chest, her thumb migrating to her mouth where she can suck on it.

[whatsbehindthefacade]

@thisshadeofred | continued

Spending time at the Brooklyn lodging house has become a bit of a recurring habit for Race, not that he's complaining. It means getting to spend more time with Spot, and it also means more time in general with all the girls he's grown so fond of, like he suddenly has a bunch of little sisters. So when he'd seen Ritz looking upset, he hadn't hesitated to ask her if she wanted a hug, and the little girl had clambered up into his lap.

Wrapping his arms around her, Race frowns a little at the sight of a tear rolling down her cheek as she curls against him. Gently he raises his thumb to brush it away, dropping a soft kiss to her hair. "Hey now, Ritzy, she don't hate you." Spot had told him Splint had had to have her arm reset, so he can imagine she's not in the best mood. "I promise you, ain't no one could ever hate you, little one. Why, you's one of the nicest littles I ever seen, you know that?"

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

[HAND] Sender takes receivers hand so they don't get lost in a crowd. (Thisshadeofred Buttons or Ritz to Crutchie, lbr we both know that Henry would take the opportunity to Bolt)

Crutchie looked down at Buttons and smiled, gently squeezing his hand, before turning back to making their way through the crowd. New York was a crowded town, of course, and there was danger everywhere, but luckily, today Buttons and Crutchie had each other to keep the other safe. "Where d'ya wanna sell today, kiddo?" She kept a tight (but gentle) hold on the little boy's hand as she looked about, wary as ever but smiling.

@thisshadeofred

[whatsbehindthefacade]

@thisshadeofred asked: [ HOLD ]: sender holds out their hands to the receiver, either to hold hands or to hold them. (Ritz)

Ever since she got back, Shadow has been more or less glued to Spot's side every single moment of the day, and no one can really blame her. They all know the stories about the refuge, of the horrors that lurked within, and no one likes to think about just what their youngest might have experienced within those walls. Much longer in there, and it's possible they might not have gotten her back at all, something that doesn't even bear thinking about.

Still, they've been trying to coax her gently into giving their leader a little more space, if only to make things a bit easier on her and help ease her back into normal life a little more. Shadow eyes Ritz a little warily, chewing on her lower lip before tentatively reaching out to touch their hands together.