Novella was staring at the ceiling of Victor's apartment listening to the steady breathing of Asterion. Victor had gone out early that morning, something about a disturbance with one of Penguin's shipments. It really didn't matter to Novella seeing as her own shipments were brought in on a train meaning it was less likely to be screwed up.
She looked over to the side of the room from her spot on the bed to the little rays of sunlight just peaking through the window. Some days, like today, she loves mornings. Other days not so much.
"What do you wanna do boy?" She asked the dog as she sat up and rubbed the place where his ears connected to his head.
Asterion leaned back and started to shake his leg in enjoyment with his tongue falling partially out of his mouth.
"Well I guess you would be content to lay here all day but we've gotta get up and at 'em." She pressed her face into the thick fur of his neck and placed a kiss to his head before standing from the bed and stretching in the most satisfying of ways.
Asterion padded after her as she made her way into the kitchen and fixed a cup of coffee. She surveyed the apartment as she sipped at the warm brew. Though she had been here for weeks, she hadn't taken the time to appreciate all the little things that made it Victor's. Much like the lack of decoration save for the picture she had given him of the night sky. Still the photo took her breath away and she could only compare the dark beauty of it to her favorite assassin. It surprisingly went very well with all the other weird things in his apartment. Her personal favorite was an antique sword that looked menacing from it's place above the fireplace.
•*•*•*•
"All I'm saying is that you and I should so go out on the town. Maybe have a few drinks or drink a bar dry," Potter said. She hopped up onto the counter of the weapons store and pulled a flask from her purse. "That could be fun."
Novella watched the girl take a swig of whatever was in the container and offered a smile. "Sounds fun, besides it could be fun to try and keep you out of trouble."
"Key word would be try. I'm a storm, doll and I don't come with a warning." Potter's blue eyes danced before settling on the figure that walked into the store, interrupting their conversation.
"Hey Miss. Owens, Penguin sent me for a job interview." The small voice came from a boy of about seventeen with dark brown hair. "I-um I used to work at a different one of his investments, but they let me go."
Novella surveyed the boy along with Potter. Two sets of unforgiving eyes visibly set the boy on edge.
"Why'd they let you go?" Novella asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I refused to do something they asked me to do." The quivering of the boy subsided as he went stone faced and held Novie's gaze.
"And what makes Penguin believe I would hire someone that refuses to do their job?" Novella quirked an eyebrow at the boy.
"The thing I refused to do was murder someone. He thought you would respect that or something along those lines."
"You start tomorrow. What's your name?"
"Caspian Oliviern."
"I'll see you tomorrow Caspian. We open at ten in the morning and I expect you here half an hour before that." She kept her expression powerful as she watched the boy walk out of her store and then turned to Potter with a smile. "I liked him."
"Really? Cause I would've thought you wanted to gut him and wear his intestines as a beautiful bloody necklace. I think he wet himself a bit." She let out her sadistic laugh and took another swig of her drink. "Anyways, I'll meet you at the Rabbit Foot after close, yeah?"
"Yeah, I just have to let Victor know. You know how guys get." Novella rolled her eyes at her own statement, but still caught Potter's knowing smirk.
"Don't I know it. Xander is a pain in my ass half the time, but what are you gonna do? They're nice to look at."
Potter laughed all the way out the door, barely throwing a wave over her shoulder before disappearing into the busy Gotham street.
•*•*•*•
Barbara Kean is back. She's competition. Win.
The text message came through shortly after Potter left and sent Novie fuming. Barbara Kean she could handle, but not the instructions of her mother. Still, she found herself walking to the address provided by the bitch herself.
"Penguin's taking over. Like it or not, every criminal in the city is gonna go to him for a license to mug, steal, or blow stuff up. Those criminals are gonna need supplies, and that is where we come in. Not only will we be able to facilitate these low-lives, but we'll also find out what they're planning and how it's going down. But I will not go forward without you both." Novella stood out of sight, listening to Barbara's speech until it got extremely boring.
"Yeah, that seems like a great idea, but oh would you look at that," Novella smiled a deadly smile, "I already had it. You have twenty four hours to clear out. If this shop opens then it's war and I always win." She looked to the two other girls and offered a genuine smile.
"If the two of you need work I have openings. I'm sure its much better than working with a backstabbing bitch." Novie didn't give them the time to respond before walking out of the door and to the car that was waiting.
•*•*•*•
"Look Novie I swear I didn't mean anything by taking it." Victor was stood in the middle of the kitchen with Novella giving him the cold shoulder. "Honestly I didn't think you'd get pissed about me stealing something from your competitor. Everyone knows I buy - with money - your merchandise."
"It's not that you stole it, it's about the image. If you go around with that then people will think that her stuff is better than mine." Usually when she was mad she would pout, but today she was just stone cold.
"C'mon Nove I didn't mean anything by it," he said pulling her into a hug.
"I know." She allowed him to place a kiss to her temple and then her nose and the corner of her lip.
"Then don't be mad at me." She yielded a smile and pressed their lips together.
Of course she was still upset, but it was only a gun from Barbara Kean. Besides, her business would be gone before long.
•*•*•*•
"Hey Miss. Owens!" Caspian called out when he walked into the store right on time.
"Hey Caspian." Novella offered a small wave but wasn't as energetic as usual due to the headache she had from the wild night she'd had with Potter.
After her and Victor made up she went out and found Potter waiting for her as the Rabbit Foot as promised. She wasn't quite sure what happened after that.
"What can I get started on?"
"I can teach you how to organize everything and then I'll let you ring a few customers up. We're typically slow during the early morning, but a night is when things pick up," she said as she lead him to the back.
"You can start over here," she gestured to the bullets, "just organize the new shipment by caliber and brand. The brands should be in alphabetical order and then the calibers should be from least to greatest."
The boy just nodded along, grabbed the cart with the new ammunition and got started.
The two had been working steadily for a few hours when the door jingled open. Novella looked up from her files to see Victor walking towards her flanked by his Zsaszettes.
"Hey there Zsaszels what can I do for you?" She smiled and threw a look over her shoulder to the teenager that had moved on to polishing some of the knives. He'd gone rigid.
"The girls wanted to stock up before we ran out of toys." She shook her head at his words.
"You and I both know that y'all have enough 'toys' to last through an apocalypse."
"True as that may be...it's always good to have back ups."
"And back ups for your back ups, right?" She laughed and reached under the counter for a key. "This is to the new shipment of specialty items. Have fun."
"Damn I love you." He jumped over the counter and kissed her deeply before knocking the key and going back to the room.
Novella stood there slightly laughing and shaking her lilac curls oblivious to the dumbfounded look of Caspian.
"Miss. Owens," he said catching her attention, "do you know who that was?"
"That was Victor Zsasz. He's Penguin's top hit man." She responded noting the shock on the boy's face.
"You-you're his..." he trailed off putting it all together.
"Penguin didn't tell you? Cruel of him to send you to the wolves with no idea that a lion lived here as well." The boy didn't respond to her but did offer a wary smile.
•*•*•*•
This is super crappy but I've just been super uninspired and unmotivated lately. Love to all 💕