Rose Tinted Reality - A Succession Story

Roman Roy is Coming to Town(Or Not)

Roman walks two steps behind Piper, hands tucked into his pockets as he watches her stare with her wide green eyes at the shelves of neatly hung dresses and stiff jackets, her fingers twitching at her side as she resists the urge to touch everything. A smile tugs at Roman's lips as she gives in and reaches out to brush against the green fabric of a floor-length dress, which he corrects by taking her hand in his and grasping it.

    "Don't touch anything unless you're going to buy it." He leans down to her to whisper his words, fingers curling tighter around her smaller hand as the two stare at the dress, something that would be an intimate moment if not for  Juniper's harsh glare, something that brings a heavy sigh to his lips. Every time he starts to enjoy the trip, Piper's brat of a sister has a dirty look for him. Thankfully, she's been quiet, likely at her sister's request, though her dark brown eyes are full of an unfiltered hatred that sets off a spark of anger within him whenever he catches her gaze. It doesn't help that every so often her mouth parts silently to form the words "eat the rich" when Piper isn't looking, and all he can do is scowl at the risk of pissing off Piper.

"I like that one, but it's not very appropriate for Christmas," she says softly, gaze still lingering on the green dress.

"Well, you do look great in green," he remarks in a chirpy, but slightly sarcastic tone. "Fuck it, we can get that one too. Whatever the fuck you want."

"What do you think, Junebug?"

Of course she asked her sister. Roman can't help but roll his eyes as Juniper regards the dress with a scowl, but even she admits to how nice it is.

"Yeah, you'll look great in it," she relents, arms crossed firmly over her chest. The girl looks out of place amongst the luxurious clothing items, with the black leather jacket hanging loosely on her thin frame and the hand-painted t-shirt underneath it. It looks like she's taken a pair of scissors to her jeans, as they're covered in holes, some haphazardly patched with mismatched fabric from other pairs of pants. He had wanted her to change, Piper had said that her unique style deserves to be nurtured.

"Maybe we should pick you out something, I don't know, something nice," he says. Juniper shakes her head with a scowl, glaring up at Roman with those hate-filled eyes.

"I'm wearing what I wore to Thanksgiving. I don't need you wasting your money on shit-"

"Language, Juniper!"

"-on stuff, I won't ever wear it again. Just focusing on spoiling my sister, I don't want your stupid peace offerings," she snaps, turning away from the two with a sour expression.

The trio moves on, finding another section of dresses. Piper tentatively parses through them, sliding them along the rack with care, as though the act of touching the dresses would cause the glossy thin fabric to fall apart in her hands. She stops her search once she lands on a deep red dress made of a velvety material, which Piper runs between her fingers, face twisted into an expression of contemplation.

"Red would look even better than green," he says, hand firmly pressed against the small of her back.

"Gross," Juniper says in a loud voice, begging to be noticed. Roman shoots her a glare, and she sticks her tongue out. When he returns the gesture, Piper sharply elbows him in the ribs and he responds with an exaggerated yelp.

"You are the adult, act like it," she hisses under her breath. Her words sting more than the jab, but most of all, he's offended by the implication that he's acting childishly.

"She started it," he mutters, glancing back at the dress she had picked out. "That one looks nice. Is that what you want?" His words are harsher than he meant them to be, but he doesn't care. All he wants to do is get the dress and get out of there so they can dump the kid off back home and spend their evening alone.