Roman Torchwick had always been particularly creative with language, combining choice words to invent whole new expressions of profanity to suit his mood. The inside of his mind was filled with every variation of fuck and shit he could think of, to the point that his mental raging almost became a sort of song. Roman had searched for what felt like hours for the girl who had stolen his wallet to no avail, back and forth around the rings of the Vacuan market stalls. No one seemed to know anything when he asked about Cerise, though a few of the passerby he asked seemed rather amused by his description. Roman's frustration grew hotter and nastier as time dragged on, and he soon learned to simply keep his mouth shut as he stomped through the crowds with his head on a swivel. Despite his vigilance, however, it was only a matter of time before he felt someone bump into him from behind.

With a furious glare, Roman whirled and raised his weaponized cane from his side. Though the modification was wholly unnecessary at such close range, a small scope popped out just above the hollowed-out gun barrel in the bottom of the cane as he aimed the device at the offender. A young-looking male faunus with dark hair and cat ears stood before him looking terrified. Something about the boy's appearance only served to anger him further as another identical looking faunus called out to him from behind.

"Hey! What are you doing!?"

"Keep your hands out of my pockets," Roman ordered as he narrowed his eyes and kept the barrel of his cane trained on the offending teen. "You people already hit me once today."

"I just bumped into you!" the boy claimed, his eyes wide. "I didn't… I'm not trying to…"

"So what, all faunus are pickpockets?" the other faunus asked from Roman's other side. "Or just all Vacuans? Let my brother go, we don't want any trouble..."

Roman hesitated, keeping his cane raised and pointed at the supposed thief as he used his other hand to pat down his pockets. With everything seemingly in place, he finally lowered his weapon and let out a sigh. Roman failed to notice the faunus behind him stashing a curved knife back into their belt as he took a step back to put both of the brothers in view.

"…just… leave me alone. Already had some shit stolen earlier, and it was a human that did it. I'm not some racist asshole tourist. Just… on edge, alright? I'm having a bad day."

"…uh-huh," the twin who was originally behind Roman said, sounding distinctly unimpressed. "Come on, let's get out of here…"

Roman watched the brothers disappear into a throng of other Vacuans, talking amongst themselves as they went. He could have sworn he saw one of the brothers' hands slip around another stranger's waist and into their pocket just before they disappeared, but he wasn't entirely sure as the crowd closed around the faunus and obscured his view. Regardless of the uncertainty, he dipped a hand back into his pockets to double check his belongings, only to find his scroll vibrating. A quick inspection of the screen read Fox Alistair, and Roman raised a brow as he brought the device up to his ear.

"What? This better be something important, I'm not in a good mood."

"Yeah, Roman?" Fox asked, his voice somewhat muffled by the sounds of a busy tavern around him. "Hi, I've got something you might want to hear."

"Does it have to do with my stolen shit?" Roman asked as he kept scanning the crowd around him with his eyes. "If not, I don't care! I've kinda got a problem at the moment!"

"It does. Cerise is with us, and she didn't know you were a friend. I'll push you our coordinates. Shouldn't be far, if you're still in town."

"…on my way," Roman answered as he disconnected the call and waited for Fox's information to pop up on screen. "Fucking unbelievable…"

Without a second thought, Roman held up his scroll and began following the low-resolution onscreen map to Fox's coordinates. Navigating the crowd became even more of a chore as he kept his eyes up and on those around him. A familiar male with feline features skirted the edge of his peripheral vision, but by the time he managed to focus on their location, they had already disappeared. Roman wasn't sure if it was one of the twins yet again, but he kept his free hand ready to grasp his cane just in case. Something in the back of his mind made him feel awful for assuming, and yet, he wasn't about to let himself be fooled yet again. The only thing that mattered was getting his wallet back in a timely manner and making sure that "Cerise" would leave both him and his friends alone in the future.

After a journey long enough to sour his mood even more, Roman found himself outside of an establishment that matched the description of one that Willow had given the group the previous day. Fox standing next to the door was another good sign, and Roman was somewhat confused as the sightless hunter weaved through the crowd to approach him.

"How…?"

"Semblance," Fox explained as he closed the distance. "It's that accurate, if I'm focusing on someone. I can just sort of… tune out the others. Think of it like… being underwater, perhaps? If sight is what I think it's like, maybe retrieving something you can see while submerged. Everyone else's auras just sort of flow around me while I'm 'looking' at you."

"…huh," Roman considered as he put his scroll back into his pocket. "That doesn't exactly work, since you don't have to actively dodge the water around you and you can't just shove it out of the way… but I get it, I guess. Why are you out here instead of that bitch?"

"Because that bitch is a friend of mine, and despite the fact that I like to mess around… I don't like conflict," Fox admitted as he waved Roman along. The boy navigated to an outdoor table and slipped into a seat, gesturing for Roman to do the same. "She's not the most moral person on the planet, but… it's not entirely her fault, either. I'm sure you've got friends like that."

"Yeah," Roman confirmed as he sat down with an annoyed and exaggerated sigh. "I'm that friend, half the time. I don't like people touching my shit, alright? I've got every right to be annoyed."

"Yeah, you do," Fox agreed, "but it'd be nice if we could all come out of this as friends by the end of it."

Roman inhaled deeply through his nose while drumming his fingers atop the table.

"…fine. Fine!" Roman said as he threw his hands up in the air. "I'll… hear her out. Start from scratch, or whatever… but she owes me for this bullshit."

"That's… fair," Fox acknowledged. "But you might be waiting a while."

"I thought you said she was here?" Roman asked.

"She works here," Fox let on. "She's running a shift, and can't really j-"

"I'll do whatever the hell I want," Cerise interrupted as she came up behind Roman and deposited a basket of seasoned fries atop the table. "Start with these, since I can't just live out here until I'm on break. They're on the house. On me, specifically."

"Using lien from my wallet?" Roman seethed as he glared up at the woman.

"…fuck," Cerise cursed as she produced the bound leather and slipped a lien note back into its folds. "I was hoping you wouldn't realize."

Fox lifted a hand to his forehead and rubbed at the skin as Cerise threw the wallet down onto the table next to the fries.

"You are not helping your case," the boy warned. "Come on…"

"Like I know or care what's good for me," Cerise said with a shrug. "Sorry, alright? We'll talk more when I'm on break… and a lot more when I get off. Give me ten minutes or so and I'll swing back out here and sit down."

"Thrilling," Roman snarked as Cerise turned on her heel and walked back into the establishment. He snatched his wallet from the table and opened it, beginning to count out his bills and sorting them into stacks. "And you like her… why, exactly?"

"That's… I mean, that's kind of a hard question, you know?" Fox answered with an apologetic grin. "Why do you like your friends? Especially any that are problematic? Maybe that's a shitty question to ask… forget it."

Roman raised a brow as he watched Fox's confident mask crumble almost immediately. Though he knew that the other boy couldn't see him, he leaned in a bit closer to study the rapid changes in the other hunter's face.

"…nah, actually, it's kind of an interesting one," Roman considered as he picked up a fry and nibbled on it. "And one I haven't really thought about. I've got some obvious reasons for most of 'em, but beyond the surface level? Not something I've really put into words in my mind, I guess. I think I get what you're saying."

"You do?" Fox asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," Roman said coolly as he popped the remainder of the fry into his mouth. "You want to fuck her."

Fox merely stared in Roman's direction for a moment, his somewhat panicked expression turning uncharacteristically stony.

"…uh… no, that's… I mean, I wouldn't be opposed, but that's not why. Is that why you stick with your friends?"

"No," Roman denied, though he knew that the answer wasn't entirely honest for some of them. "I just don't see another option. You haven't even mentioned any surface-level qualities about her that are redeeming. She just tried to steal from me again."

"She's confident," Fox started as he rubbed at one of his bare arms, sliding his fingers over the tapestry of scars. "Cerise… she doesn't always make the best decisions, but she makes them with so much self-assurance and pride that you can't help but think it'll all turn out okay. Sometimes it doesn't, but she always bounces back from those situations. She's a survivor… and motivated. She's everything I wasn't, for a long time. I kinda look up to her, in some ways. That admiration turned into something a little more as time went on, and now? Her flaws aren't anywhere near bad enough to make me distance myself from her. Over time, I got to know how funny she is, and some other things. I like her a lot, Roman."

"That's… quite a lot of feelings," Roman replied with a mischievous smirk. "And she just heard all of it. She's right behind you."

Fox's expression changed once again, but Roman wasn't ready for the sudden shift to anger.

"No, she's not," Fox insisted as he stood up from the table and scowled. "I'd be able to sense if she was. Just… forget it. You're an asshole."

"Wait, wh-" Roman started, only to watch Fox storm off and reenter the tavern. "…shit. This is not my fuckin' day…"

Roman slouched in his seat, electing to remain outside as he picked at the fries. He turned his attention to the marketgoers in the vicinity, wondering if he would see the twins once again. As he reached his hand back into the basket between rounds of people-watching, his fingers met with a few that were far more slender and he snapped his attention back across the table.

"What?" Cerise asked, a small pile of fries in her grasp. "If I'm paying, I'm having a few. It's not a gift, it's a bargaining chip."

"…my gods, you're as much of an asshole as I am," Roman pointed out as he took a few fries for himself.

"Apparently," Cerise agreed as she settled into the seat across from Roman. "Whatever you said to Fox… he's not in a good mood."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll… handle him later," Roman said with a wave of his hand. "I didn't think it was anything terrible."

"Sometimes we don't fully understand how we hurt people," Cerise replied as she downed a few fries. "Sometimes we do, and we just don't care."

"Which scenario was lifting my wallet?" Roman asked.

"The second one," Cerise confirmed. "Definitely the second one. I get why you're mad… but I can make it up to you. Let's chat."

"Yeah," Roman agreed. "Let's."


Author's Note:

How much of an asshole is Roman? Only time will tell.

-RD