Chapter Text
"Welcome, Newsies, back for another year at the Manhattan University of Arts and Science," Jack said, all leaderlike and official and stuff. Of course, everyone rolled their eyes at the formality, as if they hadn't been hanging out over the break. "We're gonna be makin' this year just as good, if not better than last year, eh? That means we stick together, we get through this year alive!"
"Eh, I wouldn't bet on it," Race joked. "After the incident at the World..."
"Yeah, lets not try and use fake IDs, they've already got us pegged. Blink, Snips, Splash, you guys are on liquor duty, you need somethin' you go to them, no more arrests, you hear me?"
Crutchie nodded, grinning a little as he leaned on his crutch. He was only sitting because "otherwise it'd be disrespectful", but he had his legs outstretched in front of him, watching everything going on.
"And you boys see anyone you think is Newsie material, you send 'em to me. There, official business done, now... party plannin'," Jack grinned, turning to look at Blink.
Blink grinned back. "Well, as you fellas know, every year we throw the biggest, wildest party 'Hatten U's ever seens. So tasks, we gotta clean up the place, we're using the empty lot from last year's seniors, gotta make it presentable for the ladies and fellas."
Specs cleared his throat.
"And any other gender orientation that decides ta show up," Blink added. "That's up to the Sophomores."
Said sophomores groaned.
"Ah, come on," Race and Romeo said in unison while Elmer rolled his eyes.
"No complainin'. Juniors, you're on food duty, get whatever you want, but get a lot of it. Us seniors will get the booze and make it a night to not remember!"
Everyone cheered, Jack nudging Crutchie with a grin.
Crutchie joined in the cheers, laughing a bit at the nudge. "We're gonna drown in pizza," He snickered, looking at the other juniors.
"Pizza and liquor, never been sicker," Albert grinned, as if he wasn't planning on stuffing his face as he got wasted.
"You got til Saturday night ta get everything in order," Jack said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "Now get outta my apartment, ya filthy animals. Not you Crutchie, you can stay cause you live here."
Albert raised his hands.
"Nah, you can go screw yourself," Jack said, trying not to smile.
"Fuck you, bastard," Albert grinned.
Crutchie snickered, moving to stand, "Aw, thanks Jack~!" He laughed a little at Albert, shaking his head. "Should I get the usual pizzas?" He asked, still smiling.
"Yeah, we can all chip in for it, right boys?" Jack said, looking at the juniors that still remained in the living room.
"We should get all pineapple and ham just to fuck with everyone," Albert grinned.
"We're part of everyone, jackass," Finch said.
"We can have one hell pizza, that is it," Henry decreed.
"What's a hell pizza?" Mush piped up, confused.
Crutchie went to get a pen and paper, shifting again to lean on the crutch as he wrote. "I am the pizza guardian- guardian of the pizza. Absolutely no pineapple," He declared.
Jack snorted at that, sitting next to Crutchie and slinging and arm over his shoulder, watching.
"A hell pizza is a pizza from hell, such as the disgrace of God that is pineapple and ham," Finch explained to Mush.
"Hey, I actually happen to like pineapple and ham," Albert retorted.
"Yeah, cause you're a freak," Henry snickered.
"Damn, stone cold, your own boyfriend," Finch grinned as Albert looked highly offended.
"Oh," Mush laughed. He moved to cover his mouth as he did so, smiling like a dork.
Crutchie shifted against Jack to wave his crutch like an extended arm, "NO HELL P-... Wait I have a new plan. We could hide the pineapple and ham under the cheese and give it to the freshmen."
"What happened to being the pizza guardian?!" Mush laughed.
"I changed my mind, I'm the Junior Guardian. Clearly," Crutchie grinned.
Jack cackled at that, snorting a little bit as he did so. "Evil! That's worse than our hazing!"
"Um, I clearly remember you laying naked facedown in a ditch at your hazing, do you maybe want to rephrase that?" Henry asked.
Crutchie shrugged, "We could also just, I dunno, not get pineapple."
"Alright, executive decision, one Hawaiian for Albert and any other weirdos, six pepperoni, five cheese," Jack said.
Crutchie wrote it down, ripping out the page. He moved to stick it to the fridge, "It is now official!"
Buttons shook his head, laughing a little.
"Me and Buttons can cover drinks, well the non alcoholic ones, soda and juice and shit," Finch offered, nudging his roommate.
"We can get catering from the deli, those little sandwiches," Henry offered.
"Aight, then me and Crutch can get chips and the like," Jack said.
"Yeah, sounds doable," Buttons agreed, nudging Finch back.
Mush sighed, "I'll be the one to go get the pizzas again on Saturday." As the only one with a car, and the added expense of getting it delivered, he sounded like he usually got this job.
"My man, Mush," Jack reached over Crutchie to ruffle Mush's hair.
Finch grinned back at Buttons. "Should we start lookin' for fresh meat on campus in the meantime?"
Mush rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah." He smiled anyways, as did Crutchie.
Buttons smiled, "Yeah, probably."
"Great idea, eh, Crutchie, you up for parusing the new moichendice?" Jack said in an exaggerated version of his accent.
Crutchie laughed at that, "Yeah, Jack, ya know I'm always up fo' that." He tried to mimic the other's voice, shaking his head a bit in disbelief.
Jack grinned, "Aight, then you losers have fun," he winked at the others, pulling Crutchie up. "Mes and Crutch are gonna have ourselves a walk around."
Albert flipped him off with a grin, Henry putting an arm around his shoulder, whispering something in his ear that made him turn about as red as his hair. "Well, uh, me and Henry are just gonna go in our room for a while, don't wait up or nothing!"
Finch snickered, knowing they were about to fuck. "Should we vacate the premises or are ya gonna be quiet this time?"
Buttons snickered, "C'mon, Finch, we're vacatin' anyway~."
Mush rolled his eyes, "Maybe I should head to another floor."
Crutchie laughed at the group, walking with Jack.
"Ay, I'm sure Blink would be happy ta let you over~" Finch teased as he stood, putting his arm around Buttons.
Jack just shook his head, "All y'all gays over here."
"Shut up you fuckin' hypocrite!" Albert said before shutting the bedroom door behind him and Henry.
Mush blushed at that, moving to punch Finch's arm lightly before maybe heading to the Seniors' floor. Buttons laughed, moving his arm around Finch as well.
Crutchie snorted softly, moving to pull Jack through the door, "Let's go already before they get loud."
Jack followed his best friend, putting an arm around him, "Where to then? Should we try the library?"
"Are we lookin' for library folks?" Crutchie answered, snickering a bit.
Jack shrugged, "I mean, I doubt a library boy is gonna wanna join us but hey, if manage to get a smart guy in this sea of dumb bastards..." He grinned. "Plus, no one's gonna be in the class halls yet."
Crutchie laughed, shoulder-bumping Jack, "I thought I was supposed to be the smart guy!"
"Yeah, but you still join us in doin dumb shit so like..." Jack clicked his tongue, giggling.
Crutchie sighed, "Yous got a point."
Davey was currently sitting at a table alone in the library, partially amazed at how he managed to snag a booth. He was trying to type up this dumb essay, his nose scrunched up slightly in focus.
Jack grinned, lookin around, scoping it out. So far no one new... Oho, what have we here? Jack tapped Crutchie's chest with the back of his hand, nodding his head over to the guy sat in focus over in the corner.
Crutchie rose an eyebrow. "Him?" He hummed, curious. "Any particular reason?"
David sighed, leaning back, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was going nowhere.
Jack shrugged, a smile playing at his lips, "I dunno, I's never seen him before and he's cute, ain't he? Besides, he looks like he could use a distraction~"
Crutchie looked over, snickering, "Yeah, he is~." He looked back to Jack, "You take the lead then, maestro!"
David sighed, shifting to type again, vaguely aware that someone was looking at him. He moved his headphones down, continuing to work, but now able to hear the world around him.
Jack swankered over to the boy, putting his elbows on the desk. "Hiya~" he grinned at the working boy.
David blinked, "Uh..." He rose an eyebrow, "Hello?"
Crutchie laughed a little, taking some amount of pity on their poor victim. He moved over next to Jack, "Don't mind my friend here, he doesn't have very many manners."
"Hey, I resent that, I gots plenty a manners. Whas ya name, sweetheart?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow at the boy.
Crutchie snickered. David looked between both of them with a raised eyebrow, "David..."
"Well, is nice ta meetcha, Davey. Name's Jack Kelly, this here's my buddy Crutchie," Jack grinned, pointing his thumb towards Crutchie.
Crutchie waved, "Good afternoon!"
David blinked at the name, waving back.
"Friends of yours?" Sarah asked, approaching with the coffees. She moved to sit across from David in the booth, setting the cups down.
"Not sure yet," David laughed, taking his cup.
Jack's eyes widened when he saw Sarah, "Oho, this a friend a yours?" he asked Davey, looking her up and down. "Hello, miss~"
"My sister," David answered, amused now by the boy. Crutchie facepalmed, knowing Jack's bisexual ass was probably living right now.
"Oh, I can see the family resemblance," Jack grinned, looking between the two. "Your parents must be works a art ta praduce such cuties," he winked.
Sarah rolled her eyes, moving her elbow on the table as she sipped the coffee. David blushed a little, looking back to his laptop shyly. Sarah spoke up, "Did you come over here to flirt or advertise somethin'?"
Crutchie spoke up, "No bad advertisements here."
"Any good ones?" Sarah counters with a grin.
"Well, we's havin a party on Saturday night, we'd love for you to come. In the Newsies Tower, if ya know what that is," Jack grinned.
"Oh, I've heard of it," Sarah laughed. "Who knows? Maybe if I can drag my little bro along, we'll go."
Davey rolled his eyes, sipping on his straw.
"Great, then we'll see ya there, Davey, and uh, I didn't catch ya name, sweetheart," Jack said, eyes flicking from Davey to Sarah.
"Sarah," She said with a raised eyebrow, "Though I think you'll have better luck with him."
David blushed more, lightly kicking the other under the table. He looked over at Jack, "Alright- see you then, I guess."
Crutchie watched David for a moment more before his eyes turned away. Yeah. He was cute, damn it.
Jack grinned at Davey, shooting a quick wink at him. "Saturday night, starts at 6, Newsboys Lodge. Drinks are on the house."
"I'm under 21, though," Davey blinked.
Sarah facepalmed, and Crutchie chuckled a bit, "Long as you have someone to help you back to your dorm or house, you should be okay. 'Sides, you can always crash there if you can't drive."
"Don't worry, we won't tell no one long as you don't," Jack shrugged. "See ya there, Davey~"
"S-See you..." Davey mumbled.
Sarah laughed a little once they were gone, "I can drive us home, if you want~."
"You're 21, if anything I'm going to drive you home," Davey answered. Sarah shrugged with a bit of a smile that said 'We'll see~.'
"Ay, look see, we gotta cute library boy with a hot sister!" Jack said, ruffling Crutchie's hair as they walked out.
Crutchie rolled his eyes, "Who said you'd have better luck with him than her. I'm bettin' they're both queer in some way."
"Perfect, they'll fit right in!" Jack said, undeterred with his enthusiasm.
Crutchie laughed at that, shaking his head a bit.
"Aight, anywhere else ya wanna go or should we head back and tell the boys to quiet down if they ain't done?" Jack asked.
Crutchie shrugged, looking at his phone clock. "Up t' you," He said, looking back at Jack. "I'm good with whatever."
"Eh, is been about twenty minutes, there's no way Albert's lasted this long," Jack said, heading back for their apartment.
Crutchie laughed again at that, following Jack along.
Once they got back, Jack made sure to open the door loud enough that the two would be aware they were back. Still, he headed towards the room he shared with Crutchie, flopping down onto his bed, grabbing his sketchbook.
Crutchie moved into the room as well, settling down with a sigh and laying completely the wrong way. He pushed the crutch onto the bed, huffing, and not really wanting to move.
"Oh, Crutchie, how gayly you lay," Jack said with a vaguely English accent as if he were saying something Shakespearean. He giggled as he started sketching.
Crutchie laughed, "As it should be." He looked over, "Whatcha drawin' today, Renaissance Painter?"
"A true beauty~" Jack teased, looking back at Crutchie momentarily. "So don't move."
Crutchie groaned, moving his head back and taking out his phone.
Jack grinned, leaning back against the wall as he sketched Crutchie's outline, years of practice having made him barely need an outline before he started doing the details.
Crutchie hummed absentmindedly, singing a light-hearted tune quietly as he scrolled through Tumblr.
Jack smiled softly as he looked back over at Crutchie, sketching out the details of his cute little face.
Crutchie's eyes looked over, and he relaxed at the smile, turning back to his phone before Jack could see. "Are ya drawin' me like one of your french girls~?" Crutchie giggled.
"Yeah, my name's Jack, I'm an artist, it all works. 'Cept we ain't on a boat," Jack grinned.
"Well-" Crutchie stopped himself abruptly, snickering to himself quietly and just continuing to scroll through Tumblr. He refused to stoop that low for a joke, even if he meant it.
"Well, what, huh?" Jack prompted, curious as he kept scribbling the details. "Was so funny, huh?"
"You wanna hear a filthy joke?" Crutchie giggled.
"God, Crutchie, who do you take me for? I'm offended you even ask!" Jack said. "Of fuckin course I do."
"I thoughts to myself- 'We ain't on a boat, but the bed can still be rockin','" He snickered, looking at Jack's reaction curiously.
"OOOOhhHHH Crutchie comin' in clutch!" Jack said proudly. "Crutchie comin' in clutchie."
Crutchie laughed, sighing, "Sometimes I'm just not thinkin' with my head. How's the drawin' going?"
"Well maybe you're thinkin' with ya head, just not the one on ya shoulders," Jack winked. He was putting the last details of the wall and bed, keeping the background simple.
Crutchie laughed, shaking his head a bit.
As Jack finished, he got up, flopping down beside Crutchie to show him. "How'd I do?"
Crutchie sat up, looking at the drawing. "Looks like you took a goddamn photograph of me, Jack," He said with wide eyes, looking at the drawing.
Jack grinned, looking at Crutchie, his eyes flicking across his face. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Crutchie nodded, looking swept away. "Now I'm wishin' I had a frame."
Jack waved his hand. "Ah, it'll be framed one day, hangin up in some art museum, and when I take ya to the opening, everyone will whisper and go "that's Jack Kelly's boy!"
Crutchie blushed a little, "Yeah..." He smiled a bit at the drawing, and moved to lay down again, sighing.
"Aw, your cheeks are turnin' red," Jack teased, poking his face. "The idea of being one a my boys that excitin' to ya?"
Crutchie huffed, puffing his cheeks out, "I have the right to remain silent because anythin' I say can and will be used against me."
"Damn right it will," Jack said, leaning over to kiss Crutchie's cheek. Nothing wrong with some bros having some physical affection, even if they happen to both be gay of some flavor...
Crutchie blushed more at that, puffing his cheeks again and looking away.
Jack squeezed his cheeks so the air puffed out, snickering. "You're like a cute little chipmunk~"
Crutchie snorted softly, laughing at that. "Aw, you think I'm cute~," He teased, his pining heart aching.
"Well, duh, anyone with eyes can see that you're a fuckin' adorable little twink," Jack winked.
Crutchie snickered, "A proud, crippled twink." He moved to lightly bonk Jack's head, grinning.
Jack smiled, his eyes softening as he looked at Crutchie. He liked having these moments with him, he'd thought since the beginning he hit the jackpot rooming with the blonde, and he'd never once changed his mind. Hell, if he wasn't kinda afraid of commitment to one person or coming out as poly, he might have even asked him out a long time ago.
Crutchie sighed, leaning back, his head upside-down and hanging off of the bed. "Oi, Jack... Ya ever feel like..." His voice trailed off, and he huffed, "Nevermind- nevermind, I said nothin'."
Jack followed him, laying on his stomach with his arms folded under his chin on the edge of the bed. "Nope, I ever felt like what?" he questioned.
"It's... It's stupid, but like... Like you got a lotta love for a lotta people?" He asked, looking at Jack. He already knew he loved Jack, and he'd been pining over this guy. But along the way he'd had crushes, maybe flings, and he'd always wanted both when that happened. "See- it's stupid."
Jack stared at him. "N-no, no, it's-it's not!" he looked down, "I, uh, actually know what you mean..."
"Y'do?" He perked up. "C-Cause- I just got this feelin', and I thought it was awful, wanting to be with more than one person. Is... Is that bad?" He clearly had no idea what polyamory was.
"Crutch... You might be poly," Jack said, sitting upon his hands and knees, leaning over Crutchie. "It's like... liking more than one person at a time or wanting to date more than one person, but like not in the cheating way and it's like a thing, you can have multiple partners but its all consented to and no one's gettin' their feelins hurt or nothin'," Jack knew he was rambling know but he couldn't stop. "I read lots of articles and stuff about it and people like that can get married and raise kids and have a normal life, just havin other people too."
"There's a name for it?!" He sat up a little too fast, nearly falling over, but caught himself. His eyes widened as he listened, and he looked down shyly, smiling a bit, "Yeah, yeah that's-" He paused, looking at Jack. He realized that the other certainly knew a lot about this. "Are... Are you also uh...?"
Jack looked down, a rare shy smile playin’ at his lips. “Y-yeah... never said nothin cause I thought you might think I was weird or just a manwhore like the kids at my high school thought.”
"Okay-" Crutchie moved to grab Jack's face, eyes narrowed, "I at least consider myself to be your best friend. Even if I wasn't uh- poly -I still wouldn't think that of you."
Jack looked up at him, licking his bottom lip a moment. “Hey, Crutch, you mind if I do somethin’ real stupid?”
He blinked. He blinked again. He took a deep breath, his heart hammering. He's not gonna kiss you. "Sure," Crutchie said with a bit of a smile.
Jack moved forward, nearly knocking Crutchie backwards as his hands flew to his face, their lips crashing together. Okay, maybe not the smoothest thing Jack’s ever done, but he softened it, loosening up and letting it linger for a moment before he pulled away to see the other boy’s reaction.
OH FUCK HE KISSED YOU.
Crutchie was quiet for a long moment before his face twisted in anger and he moved at Jack, kissing him so hard they actually did fall over. "Jack fucking Kelly I've been pining after you for like 2 or 3 years and are you fucking telling me all I had to do was THAT?" He didn't care anymore about his words, glaring at the other through a smile he was failing at fighting off.
Jack actually giggled like a lovestruck teen. “Hey, I’m a dumbass slut, you shoulda known better!”
Crutchie groaned a bit, frustrated but smiling as he moved to kiss Jack again, incredibly happy. He shifted a bit so he wasn't on his bad leg, realizing he was literally laying on top of the other.
Jack couldn’t help but grin into the kiss. “And they were roommates...”
Crutchie stopped and punched Jack's chest lightly, "You ass!" He huffed, shifting to get off of Jack, shaking his head in disbelief still.
“Oh come on, finish it or I’m gonna text Race to run up here and do it,” Jack grinned, snickering.
"Finish it?" Crutchie snorted, an eyebrow raised. He looked at the other, blushing a bit. "What'd'ya mean? Like Al and Henry....?" Of course his mind had gone to sex.
“Well I meant the vine but I ain’t complainin,” Jack said, wiggling his eyebrows at him.
Crutchie picked up the crutch and lightly hit him, "Oh my fuckin' God they were roommates."
“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Jack said, pretending to tip a hat. He could absolutely not stop grinning.
Crutchie laughed, shifting to lay next to Jack, squeaking when his crutch fell on the ground. "Well... Now I'm stuck," He snickered, looking at Jack. "Doesn' seem so bad, though," He added more quietly.
“Well, you’ve been stuck with me, I guess it’s just now a bit more official like, huh?” Jack said, his smile softening as he put his hand on Crutchie’s cheek.
"I guess," Crutchie said softly, smiling a bit at Jack. He leaned into the touch, "God, if I'd known this'd be the result of saying that, I would've said it sooner."
“See, I thought you were s’posed ta be the smart one of us,” Jack teased.
Crutchie rolled his eyes, "I'm smart, not a mind-reader, Jack."
“Crutch, when we first met I came up to you with a pickup line and I haven’t stopped flirting since,” Jack said incredulously, as if he didn’t flirt with literally every other human being as well, regardless of whether or not he wanted to fuck them.
Maybe Crutchie was a mind-reader when he responded: "You flirt with literally everyone, Jack. How the hell was I supposed to know?" He had a teasing tone to his voice, humming a bit.
“Well... cause... you know...” Jack pretended he could answer that.
Crutchie snickered, moving an arm around Jack, "I'm listening~?"
“Cause... um....”Ah, damn it, Jack couldn’t pretend to be smooth now. “Uhhhh....”
Crutchie smirked, "At a loss for words, Jack~?" He was grinning, a mischevious look to him.
“Eh, you shut up, you’re makin it all hard ta think with that cute face,” Jack pouted, trying to hold back his smile. It wasn’t working.
"If it's hard to think right now, what happens if I do this?" Before his anxiety could catch up with him, he moved to kiss Jack softly, still smirking.
“Gonna make me start thinkin’ with my other head,” Jack murmured, only half joking.
Crutchie laughed a little, moving to rest his head on Jack's chest. He'd only thought he could be with the other like this in dreams- sure, the two were extremely touchy with each other already, but this... Felt different. Felt good. He smiled a little.
Jack gently intertwined their fingers, reaching both of Crutchie’s hand up together to kiss them.
He blushed at that, looking back at Jack and his heart leaping a little. He just found himself quietly looking at the other, smiling softly.
"You're adorable, ya know that?" Jack smiled softly.
Crutchie blushed more, "Am I?"
"Bitch, this has been established for two years, yes, you are a cutie," Jack rolled his eyes, as if it were obvious.
Crutchie laughed at that, and a realization hit him. He snickered, "I'm the cute twink and you're the sexy twunk."
"Oh fuck, pornhub dot gay is gonna go crazy over us," Jack gasped.
Crutchie started laughing loudly at that, a few snorts thrown in as he ducked his head against Jack's, wheezing with laughter.
Jack couldn't help his own laughs, "We upload a video, we'd get millions of hits!" he joked.
Crutchie laughed harder, shaking his head. He managed to get himself to giggles, managing a "We are so not doing that!" through trying to catch his breath.
"Hey, we're young, dumb, in college, gotta make a livin' somehow, eh?" Jack giggled, poking Crutchie's cheek teasingly.
Crutchie giggled, "Get a job on campus."
"Ah, but that ain't no fun," Jack pouted. His eyes lit up, "Ay, what if we got the cutie from the library too~" He wiggled is eyebrows at Crutchie, "Now that would be hot ~"
"Oh, I'm not opposed there," Crutchie snickered. "Hopefully he'll come to the party."
"Yeah- oh shit, I think Race invited Katherine, so hey, if his sis is gay, there's a lesbian right there!" Jack said happily.
Crutchie perked up, "Then we might be seein' a lot more of the both of them."
"And then maybe Katherine won't glare at me every time she sees me," Jack said, pretending to wipe away a tear. "I mean, how was I supposed to know she was gay?" Well, maybe just by looking at her fashion choices.
Crutchie snickered, "Gays attract gays, Jack."
"I already apologized for the rockin' tits joke, she already got the slap on me, we can move on I'm not the same guy I was two years ago, I'm much gayer now," Jack cried dramatically.
Crutchie laughed, "Maybe if you turn around and say that to her she'll drop it."
"Hey, she already knows, and she still makes fun of me for making out with Albert that one time," Jack said, covering his face with his arm. "Although that was probably the biggest mistake," he grinned.
"Why's that? Should we be worried for Henry?" He asked, shifting to look at Jack better while still half on his chest.
"We've been worried for Henry this whole time, I'm still convinced it's cause Albert is easy," Jack joked. "Had Blink not made the executive decision ta put me ta bed, our drunk asses woulda regretted it in the mornin..."
Crutchie snorted softly at that. He shifted, "Maybe just your drunk ass." He poked Jack's nose, "Good thing nothing happened."
"Oh please, as if Albert could ever top anyone," Jack retorted. "From the sounds, he's gettin' his ass pounded every night."
He shrugged a bit, noticing how Jack didn't say anything about himself.
"'Sides, I'm a switch," Jack mumbled, a bit of a blush on his face.
Crutchie blinked. "Oh~?" He shifted, nuzzling a bit into Jack's chest, thinking.
"Yeah, totally, I've like... I know from like... a lot of experience," Jack said, although it was still a bit of a mumble. So, he was a virgin.
Crutchie snickered. "You're all talk no bite, just like me," He hummed, not really ashamed to admit it. "I'm a switch too, but I like being able to hobble around."
Jack raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh~?"
"Yeah. I-I MEAN-" He blinked, flushing, "I've never done anythin'- I just- I've heard stories- so y'know- walking is uh- I enjoy movin' around y'know...." His voice trailed off, and he moved to hide his face in Jack's chest.
"Ah, I could carry you around after and everyone would know but whatever," Jack grinned, rubbing Crutchie's back.
Crutchie huffed, "Then I'm not movin' around." He relaxed a bit at the rubs, peeking out at Jack.
Jack giggled, pulling him a little closer with a soft sigh.
He shifted up, planting his face in the crook of Jack's neck, relaxing there.
"Gonna make me sleepy, cuddlin' like this," Jack murmured, not really having a complaint with that.
Crutchie hummed quietly in response, already drifting off, not wanting to move.
Jack sighed deeply, a small smile on his face as he drifted off too.