Enjoy! :)

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There are so many things Cruthcy wants to say. 

He wants to say how happy he is to see Race, he wants to ask how he and Spot are, and what happened to them.

Unfortunately, the first thing that comes out of his mouth is: "How old are you?"

Race lets out a burst of laughter and shakes his head. "Really?"

Crutchy blushes a little with embarassment. "Sorry. It's just, the last time I saw ya, you was sixteen-"

"Here, how about this," Race interrupts. "Spot an' I will treat ya to lunch, and we'll explain everything-"

"Yes," Crutchy and Boots accept the offer immediately, in sync.

I wonder, was more of the excitement about the food? Or the explanation? Crutchy ponders. His stomach grumbles. Maybe excitement for the explanation with a little more favor for food.

The four of them are now sitting in Dairy Queen, Crutchy and Boots very grateful for all the food, which they are pretty much inhaling right now.

Boots is glad that a hamburger has remained a hamburger. And French fries are still French fries. However, this "milkshake" is unfamiliar--as are the "blizzards"--but now he has a milkshake and a blizzard, and he's glad that he's alive in this century and able to taste these joys.

"So basically it went like this," Race starts. "So Spot an' I were dropped in New York in June of 2011."

Crutchy does quick math. "So you're 'round 30 now, right?"

"Way to make me feel old," Race fake scoffs reproachfully. "But yeah. We've been here for nearly thirteen years."

Spot whistles. "We're nearly twice the age we were when we arrived here..."

"Yeah, that's wild," Race says. "I remember it so vividly."

"Were you scared?" Boots asked. "I mean, everything is just so different."

"Yeah, it was at first," Race responds. "But then we got used to it."

"Yeah, we're resourceful like that," Spot adds.

Race grins at him. "You bet we are."

Spot turns to Boots, grin on his face. "I think you'd be glad to know that a marble is still a marble, Boots."

Boots returns the grin. "You remember."

"I do," Spot agrees. "However, that feels like so long ago to me." Then he stops. "Wait. Boots. You're thirteen now, right?"

Boots nods.

Spot sighs. "We have been in this century as long as you've been alive..."

"Now, now, Spot,  let's stop feeling existential for a moment," Race playfully chides Spot.

Spot glares at him without menace. "I can be as existential as I want. Crutchy and Boots popped up in 2024. It's like no time has passed with them at all. Us, though?"

"Well, to be fair, we too will age the longer we stay here," Boots adds to the discussion.

Spot grins at him. "Can't argue with that."

"I still don't understand," Crutchy changes the subject. "Have you figured out how it happened yet?"

Race shakes his head. "Nope." He really pops the 'p'. "It's really sad. You'd think being here for twelve and a half years would have cleared things up, but...no. We still don't know."

"But clearly you were able to pick yourselves up," Crutchy mentions. "Look how well you're doing. You're dressed like everyone else. And you can afford an expensive meal like this."

Race laughs. "I agree, this meal will cost a lot, but wait until you see the cost of steak."

Crutchy has decided that maybe the old saying "ignorance is bliss" is relevant to this situation.

"Where are all the newsies?" Boots asks. "Not exactly our newsies, but...why isn't there anyone harkin' out headlines?"

"Because newsies went out of style by the 1920s," Race explains. "They got replaced by newsstands. And then people moved out of the city. And then there was no need for newsies anymore."

"Then how do kids make a living now?"

"From what I've seen, they don't. Unless they are trying to help support their family, kids don't really work. And even then it's hard to get a fifteen year old a job some times."

Boots eyes widen. "So you're saying that I have to wait another two years before I can make a living?"

"You don't worry about that," Race assures him. He makes eye contact with both Boots and Crutchy. "You'll be living under our roof as long as you want. We aren't gonna abandon you."

Crutchy smiles gratefully. "Thank you."

Then he hears the words again: our roof.

Then he notices the rings that both Spot and Race are wearing on their left ring fingers.

His eyes widen. He points between the two hands with rings. "Are you two-?"

Race laces his fingers with Spot and holds their hands up. "Married? Yes we are."

"It's been legal across the country since 2015," Spot tells Crutchy, amused by how wide Crutchy's eyes are.

"But it's been legal in New York since 2011," Race adds. "June 24, 2011, actually. The day we came here."

"Well, that's a coincidence," Crutchy comments.

Race grins. "I like to think it was fate."

Spot huffs and rolls his eyes good naturedly. "Remember that we were sixteen when we got there. If it was fate we would have been eighteen."

Race points at Spot, grinning wide. "Are you admitting that your only hesitation to marrying me was age?"

"Honey, we've been over this a million times," Spot says, slightly exasperated. "Yes the only hesitation I had was because we were sixteen."

The two continue to bicker. Crutchy watches them, a slow smile on his face.

Honey. That's a new one. The Spot Conlon Crutchy knew wasn't fond of sweet names. Maybe thirteen years here have softened him.

Thirteen years. 

That's over a decade.

That's how long Race and Spot have been here.

They were the same age that fateful New Years Eve 125 years ago. But now these two have thirteen more years of life on him. Thirteen years of time spent together. Learning about this world. Figuring out what to do.

And yet, Crutchy can't help but feel despair. If these two have grown old here, that means he too will grow old in this strange place.

1899 wasn't perfect. But it was home.

It's odd to try to think of a year, an era, as a home, but, now that Crutchy is here, he recognizes that a time frame can be a home.

And now he's lost his.

With no definite way to get it back.

"Have you found any of the others?" Crutchy asks to try and distract himself from these thoughts.

Race shakes his head sadly. "Not till you two." 

"We thought we were the only ones this happened to," Spot adds. "Until we saw you guys."

Race grins. "Then that must mean there are more newsies out there."

"So how will we find them?" Boots asks eagerly.

Race deflates. "I...don't know."

"Oh." Boots droops too.

"Hey." Race picks himself up again. "No matter. We'll take you home, and we'll watch a movie--which is something we'll explain to you later--we'll watch Marvel movies. We'll start with Captain America, because he had a similar situation as us: one day he was in 1945 during World War 2, the next he woke up in 2011." His eyes widen. He turns to Spot. "Spot! 2011! Just like us! I told you it's fate!"

Spot chuckles. "Maybe you're right."

"World War?" Boots echoes.

"Two?" Crutchy questions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Voilá," Race gestures dramatically after they open the door to their apartment. "Welcome to la nostra casa."

"Still speaking Italian I see," Crutchy comments as he walks in and absorbs the room around him.

"Yeah! But it's better now because Italians aren't being discriminated against! Also Little Italy is like ten minutes from here! Yeah, I'll explain that later."

Boots is mesmerized by a big screen in the room. There are people in it, and there are lots of sounds coming from it.

"Race, did you leave the TV on again?" Spot chides.

"What! ME? Tesoro, I swear I didn't!"

"Well you're the one who watches it all day."

"That doesn't mean you could have bumped the remote off the couch by accident turning it on!"

"I think it's much more likely you and your ADHD were the ones that left it on."

"Spot sweetie that's not exactly right..."

Boots turns out their bickering, and picks up a small rectangular item with lots of buttons. Unable to resist, he presses one. One of the buttons light up, and something changes on the screen.

Race and Spot are still bickering about who left the TV on, the power bills, ADHD, and Crutchy is trying to play mediator. Boots just presses buttons to see what happens.

He keeps hitting one button that keeps making the screen change to a different image. He likes seeing the different things.

Then there's one that he frantically tries to get back to.

He figures out which button it is, and finds the "freeze" button. 

He stares at the screen, not being able to believe what he's seeing.

"Hey guys," he says loudly, trying to get their attention.

No luck.

He rolls his eyes. "HEY GUYS!"

Now they look.

"What?"

Boots points at the screen.

Spot, Race, and Crutchy take a look.

"Is that-?" Crutchy starts.

"I think so."

"What show even is this?" Race asks, squinting at the screen. 

Spot takes the remote and hits play.

The title Roundhouse appears on the screen.

And as names appear next to their heads, Dutchy, Bumlets, Pie-Eater, and Specs keep dancing.

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OOOOOOOOOO

HOW WAS THAT?!

I don't know if I'm gonna keep up this style, but I think this works so far.

So. Roundhouse.

I found out about this through tumblr user not-just-air, who has reblogged several posts about this show on Nickelodian in the 90s, which featured the actors of Dutchy, Pie-Eater, Bumlets, and Specs. 

And in my version, they are now featuring the characters, not the actors. It's for a bit haha.

I do not know much about the show, but I will be looking into it.

Hamburgers were invented in 1885.

Fren Fries were invented by street vendors on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris in 1789.

Milk shakes were invented in 1922.

Gay marriage got legalized June 24, 2011 in New York.

"Ignorance is Bliss" was a phrase coined by English poet Thomas Gray in 1742.

Television was invented September 7, 1927.

So sometimes this is about me making a point that I've done some research, and another part of it is that I really just like sharing cool facts that I learn. I hope some of these cool  facts stick wtih you :)

Unfortunately we aren't getting a Dutchy/Specs/Pie-Eater/Bumlets chapter *yet* because I don't have time to write also my computer is malfunctioning, so I'm using my iPad right now, and I can Not type up a whole chapter on an iPad. So you will get it at some point, but for now we'll just stay in 2024.

Pase, no homophobia, profantieis directed at other wattpad users, hate etc in the comments at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who has been really grateful for the creativty flow that they've had over the past thirteen-ish hours, but now recognizes it's time to move on to something else)