" Kleptomaniaque. "
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The silent air of the cool midnight breeze sent the evening into a chill, and the nearby museums alarms rang off into the distance alerting the police and a certain detective of yet another heist by none other than Roguefort once more.
With the artifact in hand, they sped down the street and took off their hat to safely (and carefully) put the artifact into their top har for safe keeping. They then put their hat back on and continued to run.
And, from a certain distance, they heard the Detective call out to them, "Roguefort! Return the gem and your punishment won't be as severe." He chased after them with reckless pursuit, but Roguefort was well aware of this chase scene, it's happened all too many times before.
"We both know I won't , Mon Cher~" they coo, giggling as they sprinted away from the Detectives grasp once again, however, Almond wasn't letting Roguefort out of his sight and so he started developing a plan, something to keep tabs on Roguefort and find them easier.
And then, an idea formed, with a can of red paint it'll easily be able to be found no matter where they end up, and it'll be impossible to clean off in time for their next heist. And so, without a moment to spare, he threw the can of paint at them as red stained their suit and hat. Roguefort gasped, stumbling and running, despite the fact they can feel the paint dripping as they ran, and dripped down their neck, they ran.
Almond smiled watching them leave a trail of paint as they went, his plan was working.
Roguefort turned into an alleyway, red droplets fell from their body and onto the pavement, and Almond followed after it.
Roguefort used a smoke bomb and tossed it down, Almond coughed and swatted at the smoke, before seeing the red trail go up the wall and onto the building next to him, so he climbed up and followed Rogueforts trail. Roguefort however, was unaware of their trail, and ran across the rooftops with the detective silently trailing after them.
They jumped down onto the roof of a smaller building , and fell onto their knees, Almond raised a brow and watched.
"I can't go on much longer.. he'll catch on to me.." they spoke between breaths, before wiping the paint off of their suit in an attempt to clean up, "this suits done for.." they murmur softly, sighing as they jumped down from the roof again.
Almond hopped down and watched from above again, "I best throw this suit out, won't do any good for the floors.." they take their hat off, taking the artifact out and inspecting it carefully, "atleast this wasn't covered in paint, I don't want to be cleaning it off at home.." they smile to themself, and went to walk around town while waiting for the paint to dry.
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" Un costume rouge. "
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Roguefort threw down a smoke bomb once the paint was dry, and disappeared from Almonds sight. Almond ran to where Roguefort last was, looking around, "well atleast I got some kind of intel.." he murmured, cracking his knuckles as he went back to the station.
Roguefort opened the back door and walked in, taking off their suit and replacing it with pyjama's.
They stared at the soiled suit, tossing it into the trash bin and dusting their hands off, "well that's no good, I'll need to pick out another suit from the closet" they sighed sadly, going off to their vault to put the artifact away.
The vault had a golden door, much like one you'd find in a bank, and it opened when Roguefort approached it. When the door opened, it was filled with gems and artifacts of different colours and sizes, paintings from museums, jewelry, and all the like. They set the artifact down somewhere and looked around, "my collection grows, what am I to do with all this.." they chuckle, stepping back out of the vault, as it closed tight behind them.
Then, they headed off to their closet, it was filled with branded clothes and suits of all kinds, but In a corner, there were several of the same suits they wore during heists, makes it easier to manage instead of laundering it every night, expensive but efficient if you don't want to waste money on laundry.
They head into the kitchen, untying their hair and letting it drape down their back, and getting on to making a quick snack before bed, they weren't going to bed without atleast a decent dinner. So they made a sandwich.
They then went off to their bedroom, grabbed paper and their signature envelope, and wrote down their next calling card.
Almond went home that evening, sighing softly as he opened the front door, he was greeted by Constable, who nuzzled against his legs and meowed for dinner, Almond chuckled and pet Constable, "alright alright, Walnuts probably asleep by now so i'll feed ya." He wandered into the kitchen, fetching the cat food and Constables bowl, pouring the food out and setting it onto the floor.
Constable wolfed down the food as Almond strided toward his office, shutting the door and sighing as he slumped into his chair.
"God their a pain.." he murmured, reclining his chair back and sighing, "still gotta deal with them tomorrow night too.." he yawned, stretching before getting comfortable in his seat, and closing his eyes.
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" Un conseil pour vous. "
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The next morning, Almond discovered a calling card right on his desk.
He did a double take, looking at his desk then around his office.
How did they?-
He shook his head, grabbing the envelope and opening it carefully, pulling the card out and reading it.
' Dear, Detective
Your plan has soiled my suit, and I will admit, it was a smart move however now that I've disposed of my suit, I believe it will only be fair if I share something about myself, considering you've nearly caught me with this tactic of yours.
I have a feeling you are unaware of this disorder known as Kleptomania, where in a person with the disorder has the urge to steal things they can likely afford, I had such disorder when I was younger, and I've seen doctors for it and been taken to police stations for shoplifting on occasion.
Do what you will with this information, and don't use anymore paint on my suits, I can only afford so many.
Tomorrow evening, I shall steal the Dragons Heart at 10 PM!~
Have a lovely evening, Mon détective bien-aimé!~
- Roguefort ~♡︎
He stared at the card, putting two and two together, "Rogueforts a kleptomaniac?" He spoke to no one in particular, it made sense honestly, no wonder Rogueforts a criminal.
But even then, why would they steal? Even with their Kleptomania, they could've gotten therapy over time, but if they didn't it made sense that they were a criminal now.
He stretched, setting the card and envelope in a drawer filled with many others alike, from the very first card to the most recent, he collected them, too pretty to toss out.
He got up, grabbing his coat and exiting his office, he'd get a coffee at the cafe, he wants to see Bleu anyway, he's gotta ask them out at some point.
Once he got Walnut all ready for the day, he headed out and walked toward the cafe he's come to adore, the bell at the top of the door rang and Bleu looked at Almond with a bright smile.
"Good morning Detective! Your usual?" They spoke softly, tilting their head ever so slightly, "yeah, no croissant though, not that hungry." They gave Almond a look, "just because you said that, your getting the croissant for free" they rung the detective up once more, "9.20" they looked at him, and he handed them the amount.
Almond strode off to the side counter, watching Bleu make his coffee for him always made his heart ache at their kindness, he once considered the possibility that they *might* be Roguefort, but their far too kind for that and it'd break Almond's heart if they were Roguefort.
Bleu put the drink out Infront of Almond, and a bag with a croissant in it, "here you go." They smile sweetly, and Almond swears his heart fluttered right then and there.
Almond took his drink and croissant, waving them off and leaving the cafe once more.
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" Mon souvenir de toi est ruiné "
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Almond made his way to the station, greeting his colleagues as he stepped into his office, grabbing Rogueforts case file off of his desk, he wrote down what Roguefort told him, and read over the file again.
"Atleast I got some new information to put down." He sighed, closing the file and tossing it back onto his desk, "Gotta find more about Kleptomania though, maybe the library has some books on it or something.." he murmured, settling down on his office chair and starting work.
At the cafe meanwhile, Bleu heard the bell atop the door ring, and they looked up to greet the customers, "Welcome to the Secret Garden! What can i get you?" They greeted cheerfully, seeing the pair walk in.
"I'll have some tea" "so will I" they both said, and Bleu rung them up with a nod, "6.40, would you like some pastries?" They smiled softly at them, they couldn't help but feel a familiar twinge in their body, where had they seen these two?
One of them shook his head, and the other nodded "Hm, I think I'll do with a croissant."
They nodded and added the croissant, the two paid and waited for the drink and food.
Bleu couldn't help the familiar feeling they felt, and glanced at them a few times before giving them their order.
Almond headed to where Roguefort would steal the Dragons Heart, he gazed at the statue of the dragon with a ruby heart, and looked at all the security, "there's no way they could get this.. way too much security, I doubt they could even get in.." he murmured to himself, noting the security cameras, maybe he'd be able to catch them through footage..
He shook his head, of course he wouldn't be able to catch them on camera, they'd likely be able to cut the footage or something, so they'd never get caught regardless.
He grumbled silently at the thought, shaking his head and leaving the area, he'll figure something out soon enough.
For now, he'll just look into Rogueforts Kleptomania for the time being.
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" Les cicatrices de mon passé. "
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Roguefort grew out of their Kleptomania after a few years, it still lingered but the want to steal wasn't as strong as it was when they were younger which made them relieved, atleast they wouldn't impulsively steal whatever they saw like before.
They still remember their days in Juvie, a nightmare honestly.
They learned how to grow out of it on their own, their auntie wasn't much help and their mother just left them with their aunt so they didn't have much family to work with.
Though, that pair from the cafe earlier today.. so familiar..
They shook the feeling off, they have a heist to get too.
With the cold evening breeze, an air of mystery followed in it's wake, and the familiar tone of alarms echoing throughout the city filled the streets, alarming passing cookies as they walked home from their day jobs and cookies about to start their evening shifts.
Almond pursued the criminal once more, he wasn't going to let them off again.
Roguefort ran the streets, yet another game they've thought up with their time of running, the streets and alleyways a perfect chess board, and Almond was their pawn.
Almond chased the criminal, he's been getting better at this, besides it being a workout, he quite enjoys the chase, he wont ever admit it to Roguefort (or anyone for that matter).
With the chase coming to an end, the criminal turned to face Almond themself, a sly smile crept onto their face and they winked playfully, "having trouble catching up, Mon Cher?" They coo mockingly, giggling as their cape swayed in the wind. "I'm getting there, Roguefort." Almond grumbled, the moon shining it's light upon the world like a blaze, Almond and Roguefort stood like twin flames covered by the moons shining light, and Roguefort gazed up at it longingly.
"A beautiful evening, don't touch think, Detective?" They smile ever so sweetly, it appeared more like a smirk, the Detective glared. "Cut the crap, Roguefort." The criminal gasped dramatically "oh but your ever the meanest detective, handling your favourite criminal like any other! Oh I thought we had something special!" They frown, looking away unhappily to which the Detective sighs, "just hand the statue over and you can go without consequence." Roguefort smiled at that, tossing the gem over and running.
Almond was too surprised to go after the criminal, holding the statue close and staring.
A fake.
He looked up, but they were gone.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───