This is a little thing I've been bugging myself to write.
Set when business is going good for Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd.

Kevin and Elizabeth are my characters. I do not own Sweeney Todd.

Kevin walked through the streets of London with a little skip in his step. He didn't care how bitter the wind was or how his gray pea coat didn't offer him much warmth. He had finally saved up enough money to buy a top hat. It was black with a nice dark red band around it. He absolutely loved it too. It's not that he was fashionable man or anything. It just was a boost of confidence. It made him feel wealthy, even though it was just a hat. He entered into his house to see his wife Elizabeth reading something.

"'Ello, love," he said.

Elizabeth looked up. "Hmm, that does look good on you."

Kevin grinned. "I know."

"Although..." Elizabeth put down what she was reading and got up.

"What, what's wrong?"

"You really do need a shave," she said.

Kevin frowned. "Aw, no, I don't have to go, do I?"

"There's nothing wrong with barbers, dear."

"I know, I know," Kevin replied, looking at the ground. "I just don't like 'em. Or you know, the whole process of paying somebody to cut up your face."

"How about that barber I heard of, the one over on Fleet street? Maybe you should go to him."

"The one above the pie place?"

"Yeah, I think his name's Todd or something."

"What's the sense of putting those two establishments together anyways? I wouldn't want hair ending up in my meat pie."

"Kevin..."

"Sorry."

"Let me tell you what. You go get shaved then come back and we can go eat, alright?"

Kevin sighed. "Alright."

Elizabeth smiled and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Sweeney Todd stood in front of his mirror polishing his knives. There were no subtle hints of blood to clean off, really he was just bored and angry. All he could think about was the Judge. It was hard to think about how he just slipped right out of Sweeney's hands. He could have gotten his revenge right there and then. But no, things never go well for him. It was just his rotten luck.

"Mr. Todd?"

Sweeney turned around to Mrs. Lovett standing there. He didn't know how long she had been waiting there. "Yes?"

"Do you know of any customers coming in today?"

"No."

"You don't ask?"

"You know my customers usually don't come back for a second go in the chair, Mrs. Lovett."

She could tell that he wasn't in a good mood. "Yeah, sorry, it's just things have been pretty busy downstairs and it seems slow up here."

"What, are we running out?"

"Not completely, I mean an extra body or two could really help out."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A man was standing outside. Mrs. Lovett smiled. What good timing, she thought. She opened the door.

"Now come in then love, it's cold out there."

"Thank you," he said, "My name's Kevin."

"Great, this is Mr. Todd," she gestured towards Sweeney.

"Hello," Kevin said.

"Get settled down then, I'll be going back downstairs," Mrs. Lovett said and quickly left so Sweeney could do his work. Kevin made his way over to the chair and sat down.

"May I take your hat?" Sweeney asked.

"Oh, yeah, just be careful with it, I just got it today."

Sweeney grabbed one of his knives and started sharpening it. There was something about this man, Kevin. He seemed very nervous. "Do you have anyone downstairs waiting for you?"

"Uh, no. My wife's at home."

Good, Sweeney thought. If there was someone, then they could get suspicious as to why Kevin didn't come down from his shave yet. Even if the wife came around looking for him later, he could always say that Kevin left already. Sweeney set down his knife and got the shaving cream. The other option was to say he had never met this Kevin, but this sometimes can be a tricky lie.

"So, how long have you been a barber?"

Fantastic. A small talker. "A very long time."

"I work in a porcelain factory," Kevin said.

Sweeney didn't care to respond and started to put shaving cream on the man's face. He was careful to not put too much, because it wasn't really needed. He barely put any on the neck, because he didn't want any interference with his blade.

"I heard you're pretty good at what you do."

"You could say that." Sweeney picked up his knife.

"Are the pies downstairs any good? My wife and I were thinking of coming here to eat afterwards."

Sweeney held his arm back. Was this too risky? He could always tell the wife Kevin left already. But he really didn't want her snooping around his place of business. Of course he could always kill her too, but Sweeney never got many female customers. The patrons of Mrs. Lovett's could get suspicious. Although, they would be enjoying their dinner at the time and are unlikely to notice.

He decided to just go with it. Mrs. Lovett said she needed some more meat for the pies anyway. Sweeney slit the man's throat and blood gushed out. He stepped on the mechanism that allows the body to go through the floor to the basement. He grabbed the top hat and decided to throw that down there too. He looked back at his knife, now a gleaming bright red. He sighed. He had just cleaned them.

It was getting dark now and the dinner rush was coming in. Sweeney walked down the steps after cleaning up. Mrs. Lovett rushed over to him.

"The top hat was a good addition there, Mr. Todd."

"Burn it," Sweeney replied.

"Aw, but Mr. T, it looks fancy."

"Dispose of it, Mrs. Lovett." Not wanting to argue, Sweeney went back up the stairs to his room. Mrs. Lovett knew this just wasn't his day and went back inside to bake.

Elizabeth walked into Mrs. Lovett's and was greeted by a boy.

""Ello ma'am, may I interest you in a table?"

"Yes please."

"Is going to be just you then?"

"No, someone else is going to join me."

"Alright, right this way." The boy led her to a table in the corner with two chairs. He smiled. "I'll get you a pie right away."

Elizabeth nodded and the boy left. For a busy place, there wasn't many people working here. It seemed like just that kid was serving people. She looked around, trying to find Kevin. He had never come home. She assumed that he was waiting here for her, but she didn't see him.

Mrs. Lovett rushed up from the basement carrying a tray of meat pies. She felt flustered with all the orders coming in. Especially since she just had to use that fancy top hat man in a small amount of time. She had already thrown the hat into the furnace, just as Mr. Todd had asked.

"Toby!" she yelled and the boy rushed over.

"Yes, mum?"

"Here," she handed him the tray. It was still a little hot but Toby didn't mind. "New set of pies. Now don't forget to fill drinks too."

"Of course," Toby said and walked away. What a good worker he was, Mrs. Lovett thought.

Toby reached the table in the corner with Elizabeth. "Here you go, ma'am," he said and put a pie on her plate. He rushed away to fill the other hungry customer's orders.

Elizabeth didn't want to wait until it got cold so she took a bite of the meat pie. It was delicious, rich, and full of flavor. It was most certainly amazing. She kept eating until the pie was gone. There was thing that bugged her, the aftertaste. It felt too familiar, like she knew the taste from somewhere. She looked around the shop again and still didn't see Kevin.

Thanks for reading!

LordXwee