Week 2: Competition

Roman Torchwick was a patient man. After all, when you're the one in charge of overseeing the countless criminal operations in a place like Vale, you had no choice but to be patient. Whether it was due to the moronic grunt who couldn't tell right from left, or an annoyingly outspoken animal from the local circus, the classy criminal had learnt that his line of work required a great deal of tolerance. And that was just when he had to deal with the idiots; oftentimes, his business associates were so damned infuriating, it was a wonder he hadn't died of stressed-induced ulcers or something.

But, with that said, Roman's patience still had a limit. And unfortunately for his sanity, he had just about reached his limit.

The man released an irritated sigh as he pulled his attention away from the counter. He had honestly hoped to have gotten some work done at this point. For some reason, his most recent actions had given him a position of trust when it came to Tinkerbell, and she had the hilariously short-sighted idea of allowing him to manage their finances and deal with the first shift of the shop. In exchange for the 'work', he had actually been given free reign over how he conducted himself during the afternoon and evening, unless something pertinent came up.

It was an amusing mistake on her part, given how much time the thief would have to himself, and he still couldn't get over the fact that his personal plots had been legitimized. With that said, he still had to maintain his agreement in order to enjoy the free reign, and Roman had been in the middle of examining the latest sales data when he had been interrupted by the source of his current irritation.

Not directly, of course. Oh no, it wasn't that easy at all.

See, after the events of last night, after that unintuitive payment process had been submitted, the criminal had thought that he that would've been under less scrutiny. You know, garner some false trust or something from the idiots around him. And while Recette and Tear were more than happy to leave him to his devices, a certain Red annoyance had done the exact opposite.

"Hey, Red? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" It was a genuine question, and Roman's voice was laced with irritation as he turned his attention to the Beacon brat.

To be fair, she was pulling her weight in some convoluted way, as the huntress-wannabe had made it her personal mission to organize the shop. And throughout the entire early morning, she had accomplished her duties with an eye-gougingly cheerful grin, practically humming a stupid tune as she swept the shop or reorganized a display table. But that wasn't why she tested his patience.

Red tested his patience because she kept throwing that mindless grin at him every few moments, as if he didn't notice her, only to return to her duties with renewed humming. And as annoying as it was the first few times she had done it... it had been an hour.

They were supposed to open up the shop soon, and the last thing he needed was for Red to undermine what little public image he had left. Sure, she was free to hum her head off to the first customer who walked into this store for all he cared, but he didn't even want to be in the same room as her. And since he couldn't exactly leave, he had to settle for the next best thing.

"What do you mean, Roman?"

"I mean, that's the third time you've decided to mess with that display table in the past half hour." To accentuate his words, the man threw a pointed glance at the display in question, propped up with two others to look like some sort of poorly-conceived pyramid. The moment he shooed Red away, he'd have to fix it so it didn't look outrageously stupid. "Don't you have your friends to look for or something? Why exactly are you wasting your time here, least of all smiling like that?"

He wasn't quite sure whether his words had the intended effect. The teenage headache stopped whatever it was she trying to do, sure, but his question only seemed to draw more of her attention, as she slowly turned to face him with a surprised look in her eyes. "You... You're really worried about that?"

Of course not. But this was the only way to get her to leave.

"Of course I am, Red." Roman put on the most insincerely sincere expression he could, a mask of a smile that was practically required at this point. Honestly, ever since he had gotten stuck in this obnoxious world, the crook had put on more smiles than he had ever done so in a single Remnant year. "Just because I've gotten used to this place doesn't mean you have. I'm sure you miss your little group of id-... associates."

"You mean my team?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you wanna call them."

There was a moment of silence in the shop, neither person speaking as the stupid expression on Red's face slowly faded to something else. What's this? Did his words finally sink in? Did she finally realize how utterly annoying she was, and that she should just leave now? One could only hope.

"... I knew you weren't so bad."

And, of course, Hope exists solely to be crushed. The moment she muttered those words to herself, the moment that tiny smile formed on her face, Roman reflexively brought his head down to the counter, his forehead striking against his arms as he held back a frustrated groan. He partially succeeded, as the noise he made sounded less irritated and more resigned... Not that that was any better or anything. "Damnit Red... Of all the things for you to take away from my question, why did you choose that?"

"What do you mean?" Her innocent eyes stared up at him as she turned to face him.

Roman, for his part, turned his head away from the counter-top to face the brat, a tired expression plastered on his face as he tried not to ignore her thought process. Really, he should've expected it. Ordinary subterfuge worked for ordinary people, sure, but kids who wanted to throw their lives away to be huntsmen were a special kind of stupid. It only made sense that subterfuge would work exceedingly well against them, especially when that trickery involved pretending to be good.

Or perhaps Red was just a special case? Either way, it was sort of his fault this time.

"You know what? Never mind." At this point, his only recourse was was to push the topic ahead, so that the annoying brat wouldn't dwell on it any more than she had to. "But really, didn't you say you needed to find your... team, again? Seems kind of weird to just put that aside for something as pointless as stacking boxes and sweeping floors, don't you think?"

This time, her expression fell, far less cheerful than it was before. Which was good, since that meant she wasn't thinking about pointless stuff. Not that he derived any pleasure from ruining her mood or anything, though. He was far too tired at the moment to appreciate breaking people's realizations. That's his reason, and he's sticking with it.

"But...But I don't even know where to start." The brat from beacon turned her gaze downwards, her tone far quieter now as she stared at the wooden floors. Red's voice seemed to wrestle with itself, quivering as she clutched the broom in her hand a little tighter. "...I mean, I ran into you by accident. I was just lucky that I ended up in the same town as you. W-What if they're somewhere else entirely?"

Roman blinked. Seriously? Was that it? He couldn't help but give the kid an incredulous look. Sure, finding someone in another was difficult, but hardly impossible. Maybe his experience coloured his views somewhat, but even back in back in Remnant, where you had to deal with shady information networks and rampant grimm, it was certainly doable.

"You're worrying too much. You know that, right?"

The girl slowly shifted her attention back up to face him, standing completely silent as she staring at him with silver eyes. For his part, the criminal rolled his eyes in response, bringing a hand up to his forehead in an exaggerated gesture as he released a sigh.

"I mean, c'mon. This isn't exactly Remnant, remember? For some reason, they've got guilds scattered all over the place, and in case you forgot, you're an honorary member of both now. That means you can just ask around. Besides, your friends aren't exactly inconspicuous. I'm sure someone would notice that blonde maniac of a sister you have, or that stuck-up Schnee heiress. To say nothing of your kitty cat friend. Not sure this place even has faunus."

And just like that, Red's face brightened immediately. Hopefully, his words gave her enough of an idea to get started, so she could get out of his ha-

Roman's eye twitched. Red had moved, with nothing but petals floating listlessly at her previous spot. Slowly, he turned his gaze downwards, holding back the urge to take his weapon and hit her. Instead, he took in a deep breath, his brow furrowed as he tried to compose his words in the least threatening manner he could think of. "...What do you think you're doing?"

The girl slowly turned up to face him, the slight smile that was on her face slowly shifting to a confused stare as she looked up at him. But that wasn't the important part... The important part was that, for some stupid reason, she had decided to invade his personal space. "Hugging you?"

"I meant, why."

"Because!"

Her non-answer was the last straw, and Roman quickly took out his cane. Before the little hooded idiot could react, Roman wedged his weapon between the two of them, and with a single twist of his arm, pried the Beacon brat off of him. Or, at least, tried to. The kid had decided to make the entire action a spectacle, refusing to let go as she cling onto his suit. Which she was now ruining.

"No fair! You let Recette hug you!" The immature brat's voice screamed out in defiance as she clung on. Why did she choose this of all things to waste her energy? It took a few more tries, but through precise application of his cane, as well as a well-aimed flick of his finger against the bridge of Red's nose, Roman had eventually managed to pry himself free.

"In case you forgot, our little manager had confessed to throwing away her entire future, for absolutely no reason." Ignoring Red's angry pout and puffed up cheeks, Roman turned his attention back to the counter, his voice and tone completely neutral as he slowly picked up the sales manifest. "Absolutely no sane reason, at any rate. How she thought I was 'lonely', I'll never understand, but since she apparently did it for me, I figured some allowances were in order."

"See? I knew you weren't that bad."

Roman flinched, but at least he didn't fall for her ruse this time. Instead, he deliberately kept his gaze on the documents in front of him, not giving the huntress-wannabe a response beyond a noncommittal shrug. "Shouldn't you be visiting the Adventurer's guild or something, Red?"

"Oh, right!" Once more, the kid disappeared in a puff of petals, no longer beside him as she stood at the shop's exit. Thankfully, it seemed like she was finally committed to leaving him alone. He wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to wave back at him, wearing a ridiculous smile as she slowly opened the door, but that was a small price to pay for solace. "Thanks again, Roman! I'm off for now."

"Yeah, sure. I'll let Thumbelina know."

And just like that, Red was out of the door.

The crook released a sigh, not knowing how long he had held his breath for. Honestly, dealing with her was a stress-induced headache all on its own, and the sooner she left, the he wasn't even that bothered by the prospect of Red finding her little group of friends. Sure, they'd probably be a thorn in his side or something, but he'd much rather prefer simple crook-to-cop combat than whatever the hell that just was. The last thing he needed were more headaches in his life.

With that thought in mind, Roman Torchwick settled his gaze back to his book, hoping against hope that nothing else decided to occur that day.

Perhaps that's why the door opened at that very moment. Because, rather than leave him alone, life wanted to test the criminal's dwindling patience.

How else could he explain the sight of a cardboard box slowly shuffling into the store?

"Wh-what?!"

An ear-piercing voice filled the store the moment he lifted the box. Originally, he had intended to kick the damn thing over, but all that would've done was make a bigger mess for him to clean up. Besides, there was a slim chance that the box would've been Recette or something, and the last thing he needed was a reason to lose his newly attained freedom.

Unfortunately, while it wasn't Recette underneath the box, fate had still decided to throw some annoying kid at him.

The crook stood tall as he turned his eyes down at annoyance beneath the box. There, standing in front of him with equal parts shock and fear, was some blonde-haired idiot of a girl that looked... Recette's age, really. Seriously, what the heck was up with parental guardians in this world? Do they just let their little snots run free? Either way, Roman couldn't help but raise a single brow in confusion, an irritated look in his face as he stared down at the mysterious little intruder. "...And just what do we have here?"

The girl quickly threw a worried glance around her, eyes darting around the room for a few moments before eventually turning back up to face him. Still, he had to give her credit... as scared as she looked, the girl seemed adamant in confronting him, rather than running out the door.

"A-Ahem!" The tiny girl made a gesture of clearing her throat as she rose to her feet, her back straightening as she took a defiant stance, her turquoise eyes meeting his gaze. "...Plebeian! You stand before the owner of the monolithic item store chain, 'Big Bash'!"

Roman blinked. But could you blame him? Of all the things he expected to hear from the girl, a sudden declaration like that certainly wasn't one of them. So, the classy criminal chose to remain silent, dropping the cardboard box beside him as he gave a silent glare at the child. Perhaps not his best glare, but he had a taxing morning, okay? The last thing he needed was another kid to distract him.

"W-what? Is there something you'd like to say?"

The child returned his stare, a bit less sure of herself as she reflexively backed away from the criminal. Not that the criminal cared, and all Roman roman gave in response to her silly question was a simple glance, his eyes turning to the discarded wooden box beside him, before returning to the child. "... I'm only going to ask once. Who are you, and why were you underneath a box?"

"Gah!" If he didn't know better, he could've sworn that the brat recoiled more from the box comment than from his glare. Which made about as much sense as everything else, so he didn't really pay it much attention. The child, on the other hand, quickly pushed the box away, kicking it to the corner of the room before turning up to face him. "I-I see...! Of course, an opponent such as yourself possesses the skill and wit to pierce through my clever ruse. Truly, you are fit to be my rival!"

Yeahno. There was a limit to the stupidity, and Roman had just reached that threshold. Rather than attempt to make sense of the situation around him, the obvious solution was simply to pass off the responsibility to Tinkerbell. After all, she was the one who had a knack for dealing with delusional brats.

"...Rival, huh? You must be looking for the owners. Sorry, but it looks like they're out at the moment. You'll just have to come back later, right? Right. Now run along."

Already, the criminal was trying to shoo the kid out of the door, caring less and less about whatever it was she was ranting about. He certainly didn't have time to play babysitter, especially when the actual store needed to open up soon. Did she really have to arrive now of all times? Couldn't she have arrived an hour ago, when Recette and Tear had decided for an early excursion to the Merchant guild? Or even five minutes ago, when Red had been around? Really, Roman simply didn't want to deal with this.

"You mean you're not the owner? Oh, of course you aren't!" Unfortunately, it seemed he had to, since the kid wasn't taking the hint. Still, at least it sounded like she was willing to-"Clearly, your talents are in more physical aspects, like security! I apologize for not recognizing your inability to conduct business."

Roman stopped. This wasn't just some kid messing around. This was a kid who, despite every single opportunity she had been given, had decided to go out of her way to annoy him. Of course, he understood that baseless, senseless remarks from children were hardly important in the scheme of things, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to throw the little brat out the door. At least he hid that feeling well, his face completely neutral as he stared at the brat.

"...Sure. Now, like I said, you'll have to come back later."

"Well, since I've already gone through the trouble of arriving at this location... I believe this is a great opportunity!" The child brushed off his suggestion, her attention already focused elsewhere as she smiled to herself, her eyes closed with a smug little expression plastered on her face. "Hold your praise, plebeian, for you will have the distinct honour of serving I, Alouette, on her first official business foray into this dubious shop of Recettearoman! Prime?"

No. There were too many things wrong with that sentence. Roman couldn't even muster a response at that point. Plebeian? Alouette? Recettearoman? He couldn't even focus on the fact that the little snot had insulted him anymore. When the hell did they manage to change the name?

"Yeah, yeah, what is it?" A completely deadpan tone snapped the thief from his thoughts, as the light, tinny voice of yet another newcomer echoed from outside the shop. It didn't take long for the owner of said voice to enter, as the door had somehow been open the entire damn time, leaving the thief completely confused when he found himself face to face with another floating fairy thing. "Oh, I mean... what is it, 'young mistress'. And I see your attempt at infiltration has failed... So who's the big guy?"

"M-My attempt did not fail! I merely did not anticipate them to have such robust security!" Was that supposed to be a complement? Then again, it was perfectly clear to Roman at this point that this was nothing more than a kid playing with her damned fairy friend. "But enough about that! It seems that our rivals are not present at the moment, leaving the store completely manned by this common worker! It is a perfect opportunity for us to conduct a more thorough investigation of their store!"

"... Didn't you just call me robust security?"

"Eh, just go with it. It's faster this way." Rather than the kid, it was the fairy who responded, the tiny red-themed woman casually flitting through the air as she sat down on a nearby lamp. "Besides, it's not like she'll do anything worth worrying about."

Huh. It was refreshing to hear someone with a more practical outlook on life. Roman was honestly surprised that, of all the people to have that trait, it was in a fairy. Guess Tinkerbell wasn't the best representative of her race or something. Still, that didn't change the fact that they were going to get in the way.

"Yeah, no, I'm gonna have to decline. Despite what happened the past few days, I am not a babysitter. And in case you two didn't notice the sign out front, we're about to open in a few minutes, so I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. Can't have our paying customers trip over you while you're doing... whatever it is you're doing."

"Paying customers?" At that moment, the blonde-haired kid rose to her feet, no longer content on examining the underside of a display table as she turned to face Roman. "Ohohoho! I'll have you know that I, Alouette, am more than capable of fulfilling that role."

"Damnit Mistress." A tiny facepalm sounded out from beside Roman, a clear indicator as any that he wouldn't enjoy what came next. "Please don't spend too much this time?"

Or not. As the tiny girl pulled out a very noticeable pouch of money, Roman Torchwick couldn't help but grin. After all, he needed to do his job, right? So it would be a gross violation of his responsibilities to not accommodate them. And he couldn't help it if certain customers decided to be more frivolous than others.

"Too much? Oh Prime, how can I possibly do that?" The kid's voice snapped Roman from his thoughts, and he turned just in time to see the girl pull out one of those stupid tiny brass statue things. Was she seriously considering buying one of those? It'd certainly be a useful way of getting rid of the trash, especially since people were usually sensible enough to avoid them. "Items like these are worth at least 7000 pix, right?"

...Again. It'd be a gross violation of his responsibilities not to accommodate paying customers. And if they weren't capable of judging an item's actual worth? Well, maybe her parents shouldn't entrust her with so much money.

Roman only felt a little guilty as he made his way to the shop's register.