A day or so went by with no word from the Belladonnas.
Blake and Sun headed back to the Capital anyway.
Cinder tried not to go stir crazy.
Emerald was cleared for work again, and a visit from Jaune to help her recover didn't hurt.
She had gotten a lot of sympathy messages from people she'd worked with, even some of the refugees and homeless people who were still in the area and had been helped by her project.
She also had used her time off to go visit the orphanage in person, since she figured she could keep track of what they were really doing. And by then, the staff there, many of whom worked with the militia and huntsmen, had heard the whole story.
And it had gotten a little out of hand.
"Seriously," she told Cinder, when she stopped by to check on her--really to hear in person how the covert ops mission had gone, since she wasn't satisfied with Raven's summarized version of it, "you would think I was in a skirmish. And from what they thought, even the kids, I should have broken half the bones in my body. I told them it was a little bump on the head, is all. They almost looked disappointed. I feel ridiculous--back in the day, I wouldn't have let that stop me from fighting. I can't believe Raven made me sit out this long."
"A few days, big deal." Cinder was not in a sympathetic mood.... When was she ever?
"Hey, but thanks for defending me," Emerald said. "I really didn't want to have to get too rough with that punk. I wouldn't want to give him nightmares."
That was so much like something she would have said back in their villain days that Cinder almost had to laugh.
Emerald was learning how to talk to her in a way that didn't make her as uncomfortable, and it showed.
"Maybe I should have just let you fight him." Cinder clenched a fist. "I was too easy on him. But I didn't want him to have an excuse to write me up."
"Good call, they'd just love to be the victims here." Emerald shook her head. "A--h---s. But honestly.... Did you know that Jeff quit? Not just him, his whole team...JETT, I think."
"I know that. I was there," Cinder said.
"Oh, right, I forgot. They said it was right after the fight," Emerald said. "But quitting? Over that? That's so weak."
"Well, they are weak." Cinder frowned. "But I don't think we have to worry about them picking a fight on their own. They must be afraid of us, for all their big words. Why else wait till the fight was already started to jump Zapato?"
"I feel bad about that." Emerald rubbed her arm. "Like we dragged him into our crazy lives. With Merc it wasn't so bad. He's one of us--I didn't have to feel guilty...but with anyone else, now I think, do they really deserve this?"
"Why should it matter to them if other people want to be pricks to you?" Cinder said ironically. "You seem to be pretty well liked."
"Do not ask me how that even happened," Emerald said. "I thought I was just barely squeezing by, and now...like, even Babs, that one girl who was with us when we found you that first time, remember? Bat ears? Even she told me today that no one should mess with Argus OPs, and especially not some Vale losers. I guess people here took it as a personal insult that a team from another kingdom would start s--- with us."
"I could see why. The former Atlesians are in a tenuous enough position without this making it worse," Cinder said.
"That's a good point. We're barely considered a kingdom now," Emerald said. "Not even a kingdom, just a nationality.... I said we. That's funny--I'm not Atlesian."
Cinder shrugged.
"Well, sorry to detour about me. So basically, Neo was bugged by these guys...literally, and then you had to turn back?" Emerald asked.
"It was infuriating." Cinder scowled.
"I bet, to get that close...but probably for the best. You need way more manpower to stand a chance against people who have weapons like that." Emerald shook her head. "Maybe it was smarter to just let them go. To think they were right underneath our nose though. Ugh. I hate this. Why couldn't we find them all right away? Though Ruby told me, when I complained about that to her, that that was how they felt looking for us for weeks. Karma sucks."
"You'd think, since we were once these people, we'd know how to find them," Cinder said. "But I think I've exhausted my resources. I'm not in the ring anymore. Miss Malachite won't help us after that incident."
"Are you sure about that?" Emerald said. "Sure, you messed with her worker, but if she knew what these people were trying to do..."
"No, according to Neo, she knows they're smuggling something." Cinder shook her head. "And that it's trouble to look into it. She wouldn't care. They're criminals, Emerald, scum. Not everyone is like you, a bleeding heart under the tough exterior."
"That's...almost a nice thing to say, if I didn't know what you think of people like that," Emerald said. "Are you so sure everyone is so different though? Maybe people have more of a conscience than we think."
"It won't happen," Cinder insisted. "If we don't catch Dawkins, we're at another dead end."
"No, at least you know where you can find some of this stuff--that's not a dead end.... Listen, trust me, you have to learn to take the small successes." Emerald shook her head. "Enforcing the law isn't like breaking it, I've figured that much out. Breaking the law is easy, and it's a rush. Every scam you pull off feels like a big deal because you know it's illegal and you could get caught...at least it felt like that at first. Then after a while you just start to feel guilty, at least I did. But my point is, everything feels like a big win when you think someone is looking to catch you. But when you're the law, it's work to catch anyone, even a small criminal...so any success is good. Besides, I'm sure we just need one big breakthrough on this case, and we can nab 'em."
"Not necessarily. They may just be too good at their job," Cinder said. "What if we can't? What if this is too big to stop? You can't stop all the evil and all the crime in the world! We thought we'd stop the Grimm, and instead of doing that, they got worse. Who knows how they're even capturing Mind Grimm without the Grimm lands even being there anymore? And if that didn't stop it, then what can we do? Maybe evil just doesn't stop!"
She paused. Where had that come from?
Emerald stared at her blankly.
Then she said,
"Okay...look...Cinder, those are not...questions I can answer, all right? I'm still working on this too. And I feel that way, sometimes. I bet everyone does. Maybe someone wiser than me could tell you something more helpful...but I don't think we can just give up just because it's harder than we thought it would be.... Shine and Wally told us before they left that it wouldn't be easy, probably painful."
She leaned on her hand. "I don't know what to do to help you...but maybe this doesn't have to be for you. If getting this close to it is just too hard, you can...well, after Raven decides it's safe, you can leave. You can just go back to your other job and focus on making a better life for yourself, and you don't have to spend your time doing this. Public service is not for everyone.... Just ask Robyn--it's pretty annoying actually. People aren't always thankful.... Then again, you have to think anyone who needs our help is already having a bad enough time--maybe I wouldn't be in a thankful mood either. So it's all in our perspective. But don't...freak out about it, all right? If you get so tied up in what's going wrong, you're just going be miserable. There's still a lot that's going right."
"Such as...?" Cinder didn't find her speech very helpful.
"People starting families," Emerald said. "Expanding.... I mean, sure, the bandits are attacking those towns. But other towns are growing. The Grimm are being pushed back out of some areas.... It's not all bad news. You're just involved in the bad part, that's all. Do you need a break from it? Because, not gonna lie, what you said sounded really dark."
Cinder shook her head.
"That won't help. I only feel more helpless when I do nothing..." She stopped. Why had she said that out loud?
Emerald didn't act surprised though. "Tell me about it. I want to get back to it too. But we have to wait for the signal. I know it sucks.... Still, you could something other than mope. I'd be depressed too if I just sat in this tiny little place and.... What have you been doing? Sewing?"
Cinder eyed her work table and shrugged, kind of embarrassed.
"Well, there's nothing else to do," she said.
"I can see why you're afraid to leave, but you could at least visit one of us," Emerald suggested. "You should go see Pyrrha. Lux and her are home now, finally. The adopted kids are loving it. Which is nice, you know. They're not jealous. I was gonna visit her, actually."
"That still seems weird to me," Cinder said.
"You're the one who thinks it's the most weird," Emerald said. "Look, if you need an excuse, I do need to get some new work boots.... Pretty sure I can't hold these together much longer."
Emerald was the kind of person who only bought new clothes when they had to, since she still had the instincts of a street urchin, and her current boots were starting to lose their lining.
"And you probably could use some more practical shoes, right?" she said.
"Shut up!" Cinder said. "You sound like Royal."
"I'm hearing that name a lot. Have you even talked to him since that disaster mission?" Emerald said.
"It was only a couple days ago," Cinder said and then added, "And why would I?"
"Why...? Oh...well, while I was checking in for duty this morning--I was talking to Darren, you know the DAPA guy who helped us out? He's an okay dude."
"Get to the point."
"Right, well, he told me that Royal's been kind of down since getting back from that, and since he's been down, everyone noticed.... That, and some guys gave him a hard time about team JETT quitting. I guess those pricks probably twisted the story of what happened. I even tried to message him to ask if he was all right, but nothing."
"Nothing?" Cinder said.
"Well, I got a thumbs up👍." Emerald held up her scroll. "Which is, like, the most lazy way to say you're okay ever. Definitely not a good sign."
[Yeah, for anyone who doesn't use emojis--which probably wouldn't be anyone reading this--but a thumbs up by itself is, like, the worst way to answer someone asking if you're okay. Just say you're not okay already.]
"What could be bothering him?" Cinder said.
Emerald gave her a strange look.
"Someone almost dying on a mission he was technically leading...maybe more than once. That wouldn't bother someone?"
"But it wasn't his fault," Cinder replied.
"Oh, sure, that makes you feel a whole lot better." Emerald sarcastically gestured.
She got up. "Sorry...uh, I didn't mean to be too snarky there. Just...I can kind of relate. Whoever's fault it was, it still feels like your fault when you're in charge. I hate being in charge. I know he didn't want to be. Raven made him do it to prove a point, I bet. We know how she is. She's tough. She's a tough mentor, too. I appreciate when she pushes me to do stuff I didn't think I could do and doesn't take any crap over it--but that approach just doesn't work for everyone. At least not all the time. Sometimes, you just want it to be easier.... I know life isn't easy...but you wish.... Sorry, didn't mean to get all down about it like that."
Cinder pursed her lips. "I don't see Raven understanding that. She doesn't take it easy on herself or anyone else. Even her own daughter."
"That works for Yang," Emerald said. "They're so much alike.... Yang likes it when people don't think she's weak...but Yang is more confident than I think I could ever be. I wonder how girls like that do it. They act like they're a goddess, and I barely feel like I can hold my own."
Cinder shrugged.
"But if you want straight up encouragement with no irony, Pyrrha is the person to go to," Emerald shrugged. "And Jaune. So that's just the people I need to go see. You coming?"
"I guess I might as well get out of the house..." Cinder really had nothing else to do and felt even an awkward visit would be better than staring at her wall for another 3 hours. Or worse...the TV.
[Call it silly, but I could to her seeing that as a waste of time.]
* * *
Pyrrha was nice about people visiting her, though technically she wasn't supposed to be bothered that much.
"Of course I'm healed up," she said. "Having a Jaune really makes this so much easier...but, you know, they tell you to rest."
"I wish I had a Jaune for, like, everyday medical emergencies," Emerald joked. "You could market him."
"Ha ha," Jaune said, appearing out of the other room. He looked kind of frazzled.
"Sorry, he's all mine," Pyrrha said slyly.
Jaune gave her an odd look but then smirked.
Cinder made a face at Emerald from behind their backs.
"I see everyone's been taking care of you..." Emerald looked at the stack of gifts and food containers that were lying around.
"I think we need a bigger house," Pyrrha said. "Not for the kids...for the supplies.... Probably for the kids too, to be honest. We're overcrowded here."
"I want to hold her!" they heard one of the adopted bunch yell suddenly.
"No, it's my turn!" said the other.
"I never get to do anything!" a younger one.
"You're letting the kids babysit?" Emerald said.
"I mean, they're just in the other room with the crib. I told them to just put her in it once she was asleep." Pyrrha sounded irritated. "Excuse me."
She got up and headed into the other room. A few seconds later, the kids appeared and went up the stairs, casting dirty looks at each other.
Emerald chuckled. "I guess she's got them pretty well in hand.... Can you imagine? 5 kids you took in and one of your own? You have to have some special kind of endurance to put up with that."
"Sounds like a nightmare to me," Cinder said. "I hate children."
"What? No, you don't," Emerald said.
"Well, I never wanted to be around them," Cinder said. "Little brats, mostly."
"You can't just hate all children just because you had some spoiled ones around you," Emerald said. "Children are nicer than the teens--they're the cold-blooded ones."
"Hits 21 and she's so beyond teenagers now," Cinder scoffed.
"At least one of us acts like an adult now," Emerald shot back.
Pyrrha returned. "It's all right...somehow she slept through that. I swear, she's like Jaune in that way. I've been waking up constantly..."
"That sucks," Emerald said.
"Well, it's how it is. I'm told it'll get better in a few months," Pyrrha yawned. "Isa keeps sending me encouraging texts like that.... They aren't as...uh, comforting as she thinks they are, but I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"Want me to watch them?" Emerald asked.
"Oh, no, you just got off medical leave. I can't ask you to do that."
"I'm fine. They blew that way out of proportion." Emerald waved.
Cinder gave her a frosty look.
"But we're supposed to go shopping..." Emerald added.
"Oh, that's nice you're shopping together," Pyrrha said.
"Don't patronize me," Cinder said tightly. "I do do some normal things, you know."
Emerald winced.
Pyrrha, thankfully, took the whole thing gracefully--in fact, she was too tired to care about Cinder's snark even if she'd been the type to take offense.
"I didn't mean it that way. Just that you've been reluctant to do anything with any of us, and I'm glad you're trying to branch out.... I do miss being able to leave the house."
"We could use you on the mission we're working on," Emerald said. "It's a shame. And Jaune too."
"Yeah...they want to give him more time off, but I worry that, with all these serious incidents happening, they just won't be able to spare him," Pyrrha said. "And not just for healing. The Grimm are really scared of him now. They're wary of all of us, of course, but lately they just run from him on sight. I always knew he had a strong Aura, but it's so powerful now, even other people can just feel it when he comes in."
"That's so cool," Emerald said.
"Yes..." Pyrrha smiled. "I'll be the oblique one soon."
She seemed to think that was a good joke.
"I hope Neo is doing all right." Pyrrha never was too tired to remember to ask about her friends--even distant ones.
"I...I don't really know. Cinder, have you heard from her?" Emerald asked.
"Oscar and I did visit yesterday," Cinder said.
"You did?" Emerald said strangely.
"His idea," Cinder added hastily. "Somehow he talked me into it. But she...well, she seemed all right...all things considered. Roman, on the other hand, he was a mess."
"They really are close," Pyrrha said. "I can't say I like how they treat others that much, but they're so supportive to each other."
"I wish they spread that around. I could use that kind of hype," Emerald said. "But I'm sure he was pissed that she got in trouble so much."
"He's pissed at me," Cinder said.
"I'm sure it wasn't really your fault." Pyrrha said that without a trace of humor somehow.
Cinder winced inwardly, but she was starting to get used to the fact that Pyrrha was just not petty or vindictive and this was just her way. It felt less unsettling than it used to.
"I think it was the weapons," Emerald said. "Victoria.... You'd think she'd patent her stuff."
Pyrrha laughed weakly. "I...just...well, you think that the Grimm are our biggest problem, but it's still us, isn't it? I can't believe she made those things at all, and now they're still out there."
"Rip offs probably, but they're still dangerous." Emerald shrugged.
"More so--she probably put more safe guards in them," Pyrrha said.
"Well...we should go," Emerald said. "You should be resting."
"Yeah." Jaune looked back in.
"That does sound good..." Pyrrha rubbed her forehead.
She sat down in the comfy chair.
"Geez, Jaune, do you need some help?" Emerald peered into the kitchen. There was a mountain of dirty dishes.
"No, I've got this!" Jaune said, like he was taking it as a personal challenge.
"I think it's okay to need a little help with this many people..." Emerald said.
"I'll be fine," Jaune said. "Besides...Mom will probably stop by later today.... Is it bad if I kind of want to tell her we need some space? Every time she's here she acts like she thinks I'm an idiot who can't handle kids. But I've been doing it!"
"Complaining about free help is such an elitist thing to do," Cinder said.
Jaune gave her a look but then shrugged. "Maybe.... I guess that's a good point. I just want to feel like I can do this myself."
"I get it, but, Jaune, you take care of so many people outside your house too," Emerald said. "Maybe this is just karma, you know? Or it's like synergy. What's that saying? It takes a village? Don't be so hung up over it."
"So don't tell her she should just go home and take care of my dad?" Jaune said. "Because he's kind of helpless, I gotta tell you."
"So that runs in the family." Cinder was mean.
"You should talk," Jaune shot back.
"Ouch," Emerald said. "We'd better go. I don't need to see another fight."
"I didn't really mean that--" Jaune began.
"No, it's cool," Emerald said. "We know, but you're clearly busy, and we're supposed to be doing something anyway."
"Yeah, whatever," Cinder said.
They left.
"That went better than I thought," Emerald said. "It was almost like a normal visit."
"Shut up!"
"I guess I should stop joking about it," Emerald said. "Just don't act so tense. I feel like I have to lighten the mood when you do that. They're fine...other than seriously overworked. D---, I'd rather have one kid at a time, you know? But at least they didn't have twins..."
Cinder wasn't really listening to her small talk; her mind was back on the mission.
They went to the downtown area to find a work boots store--or just a shoe store.
"I remember someone told me they got good shoes for a decent price here..." Emerald was checking her scroll for online listings and then looking up. "I think it's across the street there. Lesspay, or something."
[Ha ha, I miss Payless.]
They jaywalked, making someone honk at them. Emerald just ignored it.
"I think that was illegal," Cinder said.
"Don't get a boot up yours," Emerald replied. "I think they'll survive.... Okay, that's it.... Wow, it's small."
The store was indeed tiny.
"Well, size doesn't matter," Cinder said, looking at the front of it. "It's quality...but that could mean higher prices. You above stealing now?"
"It can't be that bad. And yes, I'm not stealing it, and don't you even think about it. I have a reputation here," Emerald warned her.
"I don't steal anymore. Unless it's an emergency."
"Cinder."
"From criminals--that can't be the same."
"Oh brother. Just shut up about it inside the store." Emerald opened the door.
Well, the set up wasn't bad considering it was a tiny shop.
Emerald began to browse the work shoes.... Combat boots were, of course, in high demand in Remnant, but you still wanted the right kind for your personal use.
"Those ones are good for bad weather," the salesgirl said helpfully. "Great grip, insulated. Or if you're more into stealth, we have some over there that are made to be quieter."
"I think I'll just browse," Emerald said.
Cinder just picked up a stiletto and eyed it critically.
Another woman came into the shop and took a look around it like she was sizing it up.
"Can I help you, ma'am?" the salesgirl asked.
"I'm just looking around." The woman came to the front desk. "I'm looking for something trendy, delicate, will go with anything.... Where is your more in vogue stock?"
"Well, those are all right in front." The salesgirl pointed. "You actually just passed them."
The woman glanced back and then looked at her. "You're kidding," she said.
The sales girl probably didn't make the shoes herself, so she didn't have much reason to be offended. She just shrugged at her.
The woman made a show of walking up to the front and picking up a shoe not too different from the one Cinder had been inspecting.
"This is the best?" she said. "I see, 3,000 lien.... Well, you get what you pay for. This is atrocious."
Cinder raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever," the salesgirl said.
"Who manufactures these?" the woman asked.
The salesgirl rolled her eyes. "They're all hand made, those ones. But the owner. He's not in right now. We have a small factory that makes the more common ones. If you must know."
Her irritated tone didn't seem to faze the woman.
"I'd like to speak to that owner," the woman said.
A little old man who looked a little frail to be working at all, came in right at that moment.
"I see we're busy," he said cheerfully to the salesgirl. "I'll take it from here, Elle. You can go to lunch."
"Thank you, sir," Elle, the salesgirl said, relieved.
"Are you the owner?" the snooty woman asked.
"I am, Ma'am. What can I do for you?" The old man didn't seem to notice her tone.
"What's your name?" the woman asked.
"Buster Shoemaker," the man said. [Buster Browns were a type of shoe, by the way.]
She paused. "You're serious?"
"Completely. My great grandparents had a very literal idea of choosing last names." The owner shrugged. "Makes for a good icebreaker with the customers, though."
"So this is a family business?"
"It was. I'm afraid I'm the only one left now," Shoemaker said.
"Business must be slow..." The woman gestured around. "It doesn't look like you've sold much of your best stock."
Emerald came up to Cinder, holding a pair of boots.
"I like these ones.... Are you done browsing?" she asked.
Cinder held up a hand. "I'm watching something," she said.
"Are you kidding? She's making me really uncomfortable. Can we leave?" Emerald said.
"You leave if you want. I'm curious to see where this is going."
"Why? Professional habit?"
"Sure."
Emerald shrugged but didn't leave.
"I can check those out for you, real quick," Elle said, just as she was going to leave.
"Oh...yeah, okay," Emerald said. "You didn't want any?" looking at Cinder.
"Still looking," Cinder said, though she wasn't.
Mr. Shoemaker didn't seem very interested in the conversation he was having with this irate non-customer.
"We get by," he said.
"Really? Because I hear the supply is at an all time low." The woman leaned on the counter. "You might have to close soon, would you say? I mean, at this time of day, on a weekend, it's this slow? It's not a good sign."
"I don't really discuss that kind of thing with the customers--" Mr. Shoemaker began.
"I'm not a customer." The woman pulled out a card. "I'm a businesswoman. I'm in the market for a small store like this. I was wondering if you'd be interested in selling. I could make it worth your while.... I'm sure you're looking to retire soon anyway?"
"I was thinking of giving the store to Elle, actually, once she finishes school." Mr. Shoemaker didn't look very interested.
"Is that your daughter?" The woman looked at Elle, who was ringing Emerald up, and gave her a baleful glance.
"No, not really, but she's a good worker." Mr. Shoemaker edged away. "I really need to get back to business."
"I'm sure we could talk about keeping her on, but in the meantime, this shop is in desperate need of some new management," the woman insisted. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Have you ever heard of The Perfect Fit?"
"Oh yeah, they used to be our biggest competition," Mr. Shoemaker said. "But they went out of business after the Fall. It was a real shame--we used to sell some of their brand right here at the store."
"Yes, I'm sure it hurt your business too," the woman said. "My family owned The Perfect Fit."
Cinder almost dropped the shoe she was pretending to inspect.
That had to be a lie. But who would make that up?
She peered at the woman. Blonde hair, green eyes...she did look a little like Royal, but older, and she had a different nose for sure.
Her whole manner was certainly different...
Emerald looked back at Cinder like "did she just say what I think?"
"You're kidding?" the man said. "Are you a Zapato? No, I heard they all died...all but one, but he went into the army or something like that."
"You're thinking of the son of Raymond, the owner--quite a kingpin of shoes, actually," the woman said. "It's true he regrettably was lost in the Fall. I'm actually his niece. I live in Vale, currently. But I've been considering moving here, to Mistral. Business is much better here. So much better, in fact, it's nearly impossible to find anyone who's looking to sell in the city, except the ones who are going farther out. And they're mostly not in the right sorts of businesses.... This would be perfect, something that's already established and just needs some management.... I assure you, my family knows shoes."
"I'm afraid that selling to someone who's lost their stock wouldn't be a very good business investment," Mr. Shoemaker said dryly.
"Who said we've lost it all? It's not like our only supplier was in Mantle, please," the woman said, shaking her head. "You know what? You think about it. I've gotta run right now, but there's my card. Call me if you have a change of heart. After all--" She straightened her purse. "--this place is clearly on its last legs already."
"Big talk coming from someone whose family lost their profits already," Cinder muttered to the slip-on she was holding, but it was loud enough for the woman to hear.
"Excuse me?" She turned to her.
Emerald made a slashing motion at Cinder behind the woman's head, but Cinder ignored her.
"What?" She looked up innocently.
"I heard that," the woman said. "Do you have a problem with me? I'll have you know we're a very well established brand. Perhaps you've never seen our stock. You likely couldn't afford it if you shop here."
"Actually this is my first time here," Cinder said, flipping the shoe in her hand. "And I have seen your stock before. They were really popular in Atlas. I used to live around there."
"Well, then you know we were the best. Our shoes were flawless," the woman said.
She looked Cinder up and down. "Speaking of which, where did you get those? What are they made of?"
Cinder had on her glass shoes, because why not if she wasn't going to be fighting?
"They're crystalline." Cinder didn't use the word glass--too much of a giveaway.
"May I?" the woman asked, bending down to take a closer look. "Hmm, these have some potential. We used to have a dress shoe in a similar style, but this material...is it sturdy?"
"Enough," Cinder said.
"With some more traction that could be something interesting." The woman straightened. "Where did you get them?"
"I actually make them." Cinder just wanted to see the look on her face.
"You made them?" The woman was stunned.
"You do?" Elle said. "Cool."
Emerald facepalmed.
"Well...do you sell?" the woman said.
"I already have a job," Cinder said. "And I'm not really interested in working for some uptight b---- who insults the competition before she's even sealed the deal. Sounds like a pretty poor business strategy, maybe that's why your empire collapsed so easily."
The woman's mouth dropped open.
Emerald choked on a laugh.
Elle grinned.
Mr. Shoemaker winced.
But of course, Miss Priss couldn't think of anything to say to that. As it was simply true.
"You...you plebeian!" she cried at last. "You'll regret that. I don't offer things twice after being treated in such a manner, trust me. Well, what would someone like you know about business anyway? You probably work for some Mantle chain that makes knock offs of the good brands."
She said that like it was some terrible insult, and then she turned on her heel--which incidentally was too high to be practical--and nearly walked into one of the displays.
Elle tittered.
That just made her more mad.
"You have no class. I can't believe Atlas is even affiliated with this dirty city," she huffed.
No one cared about the insults, but at the moment they were joined by a 5th person who no one expected (though they really might have).
Royal walked in.
Emerald gave a sort of snort of surprise.
"Hey, Viv, I've been waiting for 10 minutes. Can't you do this later?" he said, not noticing anyone else right off.
"Oh...sorry, Roy." Miss Priss brushed herself off and adjusted her shoe. "I was just looking around this quaint little shop...and this uncultured, minimum wage worker was just running their mouth off, is all. This city is just full of barbarians."
Royal looked about as surprised to hear this as any who knew this woman for 5 minutes would have been to hear someone was rude to her.
"Well, can we just--" He looked around now.
Cinder wished immediately that Emerald had had the forethought to hide both of them, but Emerald was too busy gawking.
She tried to look nonchalant as she put the shoe back on display.
"Ci--I mean...Miss Scarlet?" Royal almost slipped up there.
"You know her?" Miss Priss said, incredulously.
"Uh...she works for an old family friend." Royal thought fast. "That's all. Outside Argus though."
"I see. Well, she must be hard up for decent footwear," the woman said. "Let's go. You can socialize some other time. I desperately need caffeine after that exchange."
She grabbed his arm.
"Hey, Royal," Emerald said, waving.
"Oh, hi, Cap," Royal said.
"You know her too?" the woman said.
"She's one of the team leaders I work with. You know her too, don't you? Sustrai?"
"Oh...I've heard of her," the woman said. "You started that one charity, right?"
"It wasn't just me, but I did come up with some other ideas," Emerald nodded.
"Wait, you're Sustrai?" Elle said. "Oh my gosh, I should have known it was you, the hair and all.... I'd love that charity. They've covered it on TV, you know. The kids are so cute. It's just so sad what happened to them.... Mr. S even thought we should donate."
"I wish we could afford to right now," Mr. Shoemaker said, "but I appreciate what you're doing, Miss Sustrai. Sometimes we all need a little help to get by."
"Oh, sure, just trying to do my part..." Emerald was embarrassed.
"If you're interested, we could talk about sponsorship also," the snooty woman said. "Here." She gave Emerald a card. "This must be fate. I've been thinking we need to have more outreaches."
Emerald stared at the card but of course couldn't turn down help, no matter who offered it. So she put it away.
"Call me." The woman mimed a scroll. "Well, let's go, Roy."
"Sure..." Royal was giving them all weird looks.
They left.
"That was weird," Emerald said.
"Vivian Lavida." Elle read the card. "She even sound fancy. But what a b---h. She just insulted us and acted like it was nothing. I wouldn't sell this place to her."
"I do worry at some point I may not have a choice," Mr. Shoemaker said sadly. "But that's not today. I'm so sorry that happened to you ladies. We'll give you a 10% discount to make up for it."
"Oh, no thanks, it was worth it to see the look on her face when--uh, Scarlet, shot her down like that." Emerald waved it off.
[I think we know why Royal doesn't talk about his living family much now.]