A Vaguely Civil Reunion

Ruby shouldn't have been as excited as she was. She'd chalked it up to the sheer anticipation of finally being able to go on her mission, but there might have been a smidge of curiosity about her new information broker. As tragic as Billy's death had been, the funeral had been almost a month ago, and to have this newcomer contact her so soon after the government had finished processing his client list, well, she admittedly found that impressive. So here she was, in the front hall of a stranger's home, her feet hesitantly treading over the floorboards as she made her way to the open archway on her left.

Ruby's jaw practically snapped at the hinges as she wandered into the new room. "Holy mother of books…" Ruby's eyes scanned the countless shelves as the scent of old pages with a hint of smoke enveloped her, and her curiosity intensified. "Hello?" she called out. "Anyone there? Uh…sorry for getting here so quickly, it's just…I've kinda had to delay this job for a while…didn't have enough intel for my higher ups to approve a flight request…hehe…"

Ruby let out a soft, awestruck whine as she stepped further into the large room, her eyes bugging out while she admired the various shelves flanking each wall, the old fashioned balcony, and the intricate spiral staircase that was off to her far right. This place looked to be straight out of a fairy tale, and it was nothing short of glorious.

"I try to keep this area of my house dry, so whatever you're doing there is gonna have to stop."

Ruby swerved around to face the voice that had spoken up, only to find the appearance of the man just as familiar as the sound. He'd leaned his elbows on the balcony as his one visible focused lazily on her; his orange hair shielded his right eye from view, and a soft, barely notable stubble lined the defined line of his jaw and the thin smirk on his lips. Something about this guy was way too familiar for comfort.

Nonetheless, she'd flushed pink somewhat at his comment. "Sorry?" she paused a moment, her brow furrowed a bit as she stared forward and contemplated his comment. "Did I spill something? I don't remember knocking anything over…" The man laughed at that, his head rearing back as he let out a loud bout of cackles that only sounded even more recognizable. Why was he so familiar?

"Oh, honestly Red, I did not think that you would still be this innocent."

Ruby felt her blood run cold as he returned to leaning on the balcony, and she recalled the only person that had ever called her "Red", the man that was supposed to have died in the war nine years ago, yet was inexplicably standing only meters away from her with an impish smirk on his face.

"I was actually referring to the fact that you looked like you were about to have an orgasm," he stated bluntly as he tilted his head slightly, "though now it seems like your expression finally matches the occasion."

"T-T-Torchwick!"

The man's smirk widened into a grin as she shouted the surname, and he leaned forward a little before answering the accusatory shout. "Hello Red."

oooOOOooo

He was surprised that he still remembered her. After all, it had been nine years since he'd even seen her in passing, and he'd never had quite a memory for names. Yet seeing hers on his newly delivered list of clients had solicited a soft groan from him. Ruby Rose, the girl that was responsible for cornering him into this occupation all those years ago. Not that he minded too much—being a government licensed thief beat prison, but that didn't make the title "lap dog" any more appealing.

For what it was worth, twenty five looked rather good on her—she still wore that ridiculous hood, but instead of the baggy black and red dress she'd worn as a fifteen year old, she wore a white blouse with a black leather stomach guard strapped over it, and a long flowing skirt that fell well below her knees. Various leather belts had been draped over her hips, holding all the equipment she'd carried nine years ago and a few things that he didn't recognize: something that seemed to be an ordinary pistol and a few hunting knives, for example.

Roman had to admit, she'd grown rather beautifully—her facial features still held that childlike innocence, but the contours had become more defined—or maybe they hadn't, he wasn't sure. It could have been a trick of the lighting, or her now waist length hair, or perhaps it was the fact that she actually seemed to be wearing makeup.

Ruby blubbered a bit as she tried to form words, and he struggled not to laugh at her shock. He had, of course, remembered her habit of social awkwardness, he simply hadn't remembered it looking so adorable (though his role as her enemy might have factored into his view of her as a nuisance).

"You're—you're still—"

"Devilishly handsome?" Roman offered playfully, "Charismatic? Alive? In Vale?" he lifted his elbows off the balcony and turned to the shelf behind him. "Well, as you can see, yes, I am."

"What the heck are you doing here?!"

"I'm looking for the file you requested. I would have had it in your hands when you got here, but sadly, you arrived early."

"…the file I requested…wait a second…you're my new informant?!"

"Well yes, I would have thought that obvious."

"But…but you're a criminal!"

He snorted at that, but continued to scan the shelves for the right file. "You do realize that that trait is in the job description, right? The broker occupation was literally created to keep people of…questionable backgrounds off the streets, and to give huntsmen another tool to help them not die so quickly."

"They should have put you in jail!"

"Please, I'm far more useful to everyone out here. Also far less damaging to the economy. Ah, here we are…" Roman pulled a moderately fat file off of one of his shelves and began to flip through it. "Out of curiosity, did you use your semblance to get here at all?"

There was a pause before he heard her speak again. "So…so what if I did?"

He glanced at her impassively before flipping the file closed and heading for the staircase. "I would rather you didn't in the future. Most civilians in Vale haven't discovered their semblance, and it would be an issue if anyone were to recognize a huntress headed to this location. For both of us, to clarify."

"Why don't you just do what Billy did?"

"You mean that meeting place system? Too archaic. Better to have one undiscovered meeting place and send as few messages as possible. After all, it'll be harder for my enemies to find me if I don't have a paper trail, and I'd rather not have my brains blown out like that old idiot." Roman reached the bottom of the staircase and sauntered towards Ruby. He held the file out to her nonchalantly, only to have it ripped from his hands as forcefully as possible.

"You haven't changed at all," she hissed.

"If you want to believe that, be my guest," Roman said with a smirk as she stomped towards his apartment door angrily. "Oh and do be a good girl and actually read those files. I won't cry if you get yourself killed just to spite me."

Ruby let out a low growl as she swung the door open and glared back at him menacingly. "Screw you," she muttered before slamming the door on her way out, leaving Roman behind to contemplate the visit with a level of amusement.

"Hm…not sure that I'd refuse the offer…" he mused after a pause, and ambled back into his living room.

It would be three weeks until he saw her again.

oooOOOooo

Rosewick trash Peeves reporting in and hello, welcome to the spiritual successor of Still Dreaming. That I am starting early. For reasons. Now to clarify to those of you who found this through Still Dreaming…no, I am not done with that. I just…wanted to work on this. So, Future AU, ten years later…I left a lot unexplained, but the basic spoilers…this is an AU where Cinder lost. So yeah, light on the angst there. Do I know exactly where I'm going to take this? No, but thanks to the new age range of the characters, I know for sure that it'll be more adult.

So…Rosewick trash Peeves out until next chapter.