LIE. STEAL. CHEAT. SURVIVE.

         under a full moon, shrouded in mystery, the evening already held so many surprises. with the information obtained, surely they – she could finally make progress toward her goal. to avenge him – all this infiltrating, disguising, obligatory partnership she would ditch at any second – all of it was so she could finally bring herself peace. and no matter what stood in her way, she was willing to give her life to this cause, just like she would’ve for HIM. 

         it doesn’t take the assassin long to realize someone was following closely behind her. playing the fool, the prey, neo will even skip as she makes her silent, unsuspecting escape from her duties at the schnee manor. casually, neo laces her fingers behind her back as she leads her predator into a dark alleyway. immediately drawing out the blade of hush and pointing it at the person tailing her. persistent but why? emerald hues narrow as they search through the darkness. but she wasn’t a faunus so discerning her target was difficult. there was no way anyone could’ve picked up that the ordinary waitress wasn’t ordinary at all. 

         but the voice paired with that smile – on that face. brows furrow and she instinctively thrusts her thin blade towards him. how…? questions, memories start to surface, and quickly. there was no way he made it out alive because… if he did then… why hasn’t he returned to her until now? to their empty estate filled with his belongings, fragments and pieces of their lives together? didn’t he know that her heart ached too? that rather than carry her name as his last words, neo needed him alive & by her side?

         so who could blame her when doubt overwhelms her posture. still, she wants this so badly to be a realty – rather than another one of emerald’s hallucinations or a dream turned nightmare. no matter how late he is, how long he’s made her wait. like a candle, he ignites another spark of hope. biting her lip, she attempts to hold back the tears, the bottled up and pushed aside agony that came with his assumed death. her semblance deactivating to discard her disguise, his – roman’s hat sits comfortably on her head.

         ❛ you’re the biggest idiot ever, ❜  she signs, ❛ who said you could just disappear like that? i wouldn’t mind if you really died right now. ❜

gaze softens, expression exhibiting a rare vulnerability only drawn out by someone who means so much ─ so, really . . . only her. her eyes speak volumes even when decorated behind her illusion. rather, perhaps it’s something only he’d take notice of ─ yet another unspoken language between the two. no doubt she’s feeling all kinds of emotions right about now, just as roman himself is. he watches as she lets her semblance unveil her true form and it’s a sight that makes his heart ache in more ways than one ─ a feat he never would have thought possible before their partnership.

oh, it’s been far too long. seeing her alive and well means  so much , considering their last meeting ended in disaster. nothing can quite amount to the pain he felt seeing neo swept away in the wind off the airship that night. he relives the memory too much for him to feel comfortable with in dreams and on  bad  days ─ all thanks to little red. whether she intended neo’s demise back then is a question roman still wants the answer to . . . but not nearly as much as he’s wanted to see her again. 

but now that he’s  ACTUALLY  found her, and by chance, roman torchwick is at a loss. for once in his life, he’s unsure how to react. he’s thrilled, of course. he notes her attire and can’t refrain from snorting a small bit of laughter. that hat is all too familiar, and even her scarf . . . as amusing at it is, it also creates a dull, sad feeling in his chest. to think, she kept that all this time. she’s been aching, just like he. and then comes the reaction.

he can’t quite fault her for it, either.

‘ alright, i deserve that. you’re right. ’ he signs back, lowering his gaze a bit. he wonders just how heavy a burden he left on her ─ but if it’s close to how he felt when he thought he lost her like he assumes, roman’s sure he knows the answer and it hurts. damned it. this is why he never wanted a partner in the first place. though . . . he’d never regret the decision. he couldn’t. after a few moments, roman sighs.

“ i looked for you. after what happened at beacon. ha, i knew there was no way that fall could have taken you out. ” he offers a grin, but it’s pained. “ but you’re quite hard to find when you don’t want to be found, you know that? ” even with his semblance, it just wasn’t happening. he takes another good look at her, relieved once more. because he’s roman and it’s in his nature to, he smirks slightly, eyeing the hat ‘pon her head. “ you kept it, after all this time? guess our luck ran out. what are the odds you’d find that, and not me? ” he quips. but another sigh quickly follows suit. roman takes another, small step towards her. 

name/alias.   lexi ! birthday.   february 3rd . . . a week from today, actually gender.   female! relationship status.   in love with  MANY  fictional characters ( single ) zodiac sign.   aquarius!  siblings.   two younger brothers and a few step siblings that i can’t keep track of pets.   we’ve got 4 dogs and 6 cats in this house but only three are mine: a corgi named comet, and two cats named hank and jemma! also, i basically consider all the dogs at my work, my pets time.   7:36pm! feels way later though. i’m ready for bed type of phone.   samsung galaxy s9. with a huge crack.  love or lust.   love lemonade or ice tea.   LAVENDER lemonade! cats or dogs.   although i primarily work with dogs, i actually consider myself more of a cat person coke or pepsi.   pepsi. coke tastes like syrup.  day or night.   night, even if i’m always tired and go to bed early makeup or au natural.   natural! way too lazy for makeup met a celeberty.   uhh, i met bryan dechart and amelia blaire at PAX! they were SUPER nice and i abt exploded. and jack from achievement hunter! also at PAX, also very nice and he signed one of those like... custom headset pieces and gave it to me! i can’t afford the headset tho so it sits with my figures. AND i met funhaus bruce a while back . . . at PAX! chapstick or lipstick.   chapstick. ya gal needs it. last song you listened to.   the DMC5 ost lmao

@streetsworn | starter

Neo paces between an arbitrary distance, thinking of her next words carefully. The two had just finished attending a meeting held by Cinder, revealing a plan for their next step in taking down the Beacon Academy. She pauses in her pacing, signing a sentence to Roman in response to the plan.

    'She’s going to betray both of us sometime.’

She continues pacing, committing the plan to memory. It was supposed to be simple, an infiltration for a month, just long enough for the festival to conclude. Cinder, her, and the two accomplices that Cinder had found, and apparently trusted. The prosthetic wielding one bugged her, and the green haired girl apparently made it her job to make fun of her height at any time, a habit Neo had already planned to break, making use of her illusions and her parasol.

    'There’s no way this plan is going to end out with both of us surviving. Call it a hunch.’

gods, he feels exhausted just watching her pace. immediately, he leans on the nearest wall, flicking open his lighter to enjoy a much - needed cigar. emerald hues fixate ‘pon his partner as she signs her concerns. moments of silence pass and he closes his eyes, head tilted slightly as he floods his lungs with smoke. finally, he offers his own tidbits. 

‘ you’re right about the betrayal. ’ he signs his response, cigar held firmly between lips ─ even without the aid of his semblance, roman’s positive there’d be no remorse when the dust - wielder stabs them in the back. he’s shaking his head next, tapping away excess ash.

“ i’m no more of a fan of this than you are. trust me. ” brows scrunch at the idea of working with their new ‘ allies ’. some annoying brats and their ringleader, who’s ego is far too large for her own good. “ but if there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s surviving. and i’ll be damned if we both don’t make it out of this. ” his tone drops to a more serious note, “ unfortunately, this is our best bet. we’ll work with it. we always do. ” a sigh, but it’s not too long before he’s smirking again.

@streetsworn​

“ You do know you’re the most wanted man in this part of town…right? Yet you’re so out in the open, at a club no less… is this how you spend most Wednesdays? ”

“ oh, please ─ spare me such minute concerns. ” remark’s drenched with playful sarcasm, the crime boss smirking as excess ash is tapped of his cigar ─ && just in time for the drink he ordered, too! 

“ i’m a  professional , sweetheart. the odds of anyone actually confronting me here are minimal. besides . . . ” a pause to enjoy his drink while emerald hues scan the room before befalling cerise once more,  “ half the people in this room are criminals. that guy? ” he gestures with the lip of his drink, “ runs a gang specializing in . . . illegal ‘ medicinal ’ transportation. granted he’s not nearly as renowned as myself. oh ─ and don’t even get me started on the owner !! ” an amused chuckle follows suit and he sets down his drink, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hand, quite relaxed.

ROMAN……. please stay dead/……………

​if it weren't for his semblance, roman wouldn't believe it to be possible. to think that the partner he's been searching for would happen to show up where he follows the political discourse to... probability low, but not impossible. news of jaques schnee's arrest had spread quickly, drawing roman to the schnee manor amidst his ' investigation ' on the strange activity in atlas that were no doubt a result of previous ' allies ' ─ if they could even be considered as much. they aren’t.

it appears it was the right bet to take. likely, no one else would have taken notice if the girl he spots trotting away from the mansion among the chaos. just a worker, happy to be free of a tyrannical boss. but to roman, the sight is so much more than that. familiarity rises along with probability and that's all he needs to pursue her. she's so close, it's hard not to call out right then and there. but roman knows better than to take that chance. she's in disguise for a reason. so, he follows behind, sticking to the shadows until the opportune time. the normally calm and collected gambling man, very good at keeping his emotions in check, is erratic. 

it's only a few steps into the alleyway before she's turned on him, blade drawn. in that moment, though his partner is still decorated with disguise, roman is sure that it's her. the moment feels so surreal ─ he’s sought her out ever since the fall. it’s unnerving when the unexpected happens in general since he’s relied so much on knowing the odds of each outcome. so when the unexpected happens that so significant, it’s alarming ─ but in this case, it’s no where near a bad thing.