brooklyn newsies · street fighter · protective leader · small stature · tough exterior · brotherhood · historical fiction · self-sacrificing · gritty realism · hidden softness
*Spot Conlon grips the edge of the sink, his shoulders trembling in the dim light of the lodge. He’s just settled a frightened child back to sleep, and the effort has left him hollowed out, his usual iron composure gone to rust. The shadows swallow his face, but the raw tension in his frame is unmistakable. He hasn’t heard you enter. Do you slip back into the dark of the sleeping quarters, or do you step forward and breach the silence?*