Fleur-de-lis

Interlude: The book of Moriarty

Vanitas's p.o.v.

"What do you mean that I'm past the due date!? It's only been ten days." I question...back at the pawn shop yet again.

"Exactly. Three days past your due date." The broker responds.

"Three D-...I thought it was a thirty day minimum?" I question.

"Not in Kansas." The clerk shrugs.

"Ughhh!" I groan. "How much to buy them back?" I question, wanting to just be done with this.

"Two-thousand." The clerk says, firmly.

"What!? But you only gave me fifty for them. That's less than three percent of what you're holding them at. You're supposed to give me twenty-five percent at minimum."

"I had them reappraised." The clerk shrugs. "Turns out...even though they're impure...they're made out of extremely rare substances and even devalued they're worth at least two-thousand."

I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. "That's what I was telling you last week. I don't have two-thousand dollars to give. If I did...I wouldn't have pawned them."

"Oh well." The clerk gestures to the door.

"What!? No 'oh well'. I want my property back for it's original price range." I demand.

"Not gonna happen." The clerk glares. "You shouldn't have pawned them in the first place if you knew their value."

"I-Urgh...I would've pawned something else if I had anything else of value!" I exclaim, my patience and sanity wearing thinner by the second.

"Tough titties, kid." The clerk scoffs.

I just stare at him for a second wondering if this was real. I refused to believe someone could be this huge an asshole.

"You're gonna give me back my sister's fucking earrings!" I slam my fists on the counter.

The clerk flashes me a displeased look before reaching in his back waistband and placing gun on the counter for me to see. "Are we gonna have a problem."

My rage was rapidly increasing but there was no way I could reliably get the better of him if he had a gun. My best option was to back off...but...I was sick of this shit. Whenever anyone looked at me they took me for some naive and helpless kid. They had no idea what I was really capable of. I didn't want to be a predator and I don't want to make victims of people but I was done being reasonable.

"Heh." I smirk and  look the clerk in the eye. I see in his eyes...that instinct to be cautious. That instinct you get when a dangerous animal is near.

"No problem at all... You have a good night." With that I make myself gone.

(Much later)

Back home I rummage around my closet, looking for a couple of old keepsakes. A mask left to me by Tony from one of the outfits he made back at Gomorrah, The bat from the night John and I were attacked and some black clothes. With those things gathered I head for the door.

"What're you doing with those?" Pedro asks from the kitchen, mid-fridge raid.

I look to Pedro. "I'm takeing them to a pawn shop." And then go out the door.