Chapter Text
The chests are basically empty. All of them. Roier keeps lifting the lids, expecting to find something, anything. But it works the same way as when you keep peeking in the fridge for food. It’s clear nothing will suddenly appear, no matter how many times you check.
If he’s being completely honest, they’re not even that empty. There are some potatoes, stone stacks, charcoal, and hats inside. But that’s all. And it’s all shit. So pretending there’s nothing is less humiliating.
It doesn’t take long for Roier to grow tired of it, finally accepting that a miracle isn’t happening any time soon. He sighs, sitting atop the chest he just checked, to take a look around his room. Another thing that’s empty, with so much space to fill that it’s almost laughable. And it is. He has already heard enough mocking remarks about his room and the lack of furniture to be completely aware of it.
The most vivid part of the room is one of the corners. If you can call vivid a bunch of chests, an anvil, a crafting table, a fridge (a gift from Molly, against her will, but still a gift), and a sink (that he definitely didn’t have to insist Molly to give to him). Torches fill the rest of the floor at random places, a lonely table occupies the center of the room, and the wall at the far end, where the balcony is supposed to be, is an open space. One of these days, if he isn’t careful, he could literally fall and die.
So, yeah. He really doesn’t have anything.
Tina hasn’t stopped calling him poor and reminding him of that every time she notices Roier is missing basic things. But Roier isn’t poor. He’s just lacking resources!
And the very few times he has approached Foolish to ask for something, just if, by any chance, he happens to have it, he has refused to. Foolish used to laugh and give him whatever he needed without question. But now Foolish has become stingy.
In his defense, it’s not entirely his fault. It’s not like Roier has nothing because he likes to live that way. He’s just been having some... issues.
In the few weeks after arriving at the new Island, he hasn’t been feeling entirely like himself. Roier remembers blowing up a ship with Aldo and finding a place to build the mansion. And then, nothing. He can’t really remember what he has done for the most part. Sometimes, he comes back to himself and knows he has spent time with the other people living in the mansion, but then everything goes black, a complete nothingness.
At least lately, the time between what he remembers and those moments where everything is like the static on a television in his brain has diminished. There’s still some buzzing from time to time and a rush of memories that all become blurry, but he has regained some control over himself.
He remembers things more clearly now. He’s sure he has forgotten a lot more.
Now, he just needs a way out of the problems caused by this. And the way out is to find another target. Somebody in the house who has enough resources to make Roier’s life easier. Something momentary. At least until he can manage on his own again.
With that mission in mind, and no time to lose, Roier leaves the room, looking for a victim.
The room closest to him is Tina’s, but she’s already on his shit list. Roier will prefer not to have anything if his only option is to ask something from her. So he makes his way down the hallway, and just in front of him, on the other side, is Molly’s room. As far as he knows, she has some stuff, more than him actually. But he’s sure Molly would try to drag him to explore, urging him to find things for himself. And that goes totally against the mission: BSTP (borrow someone’s things permanently).
The other room on that side is Aldo’s. Roier knows if he only asks, Aldo will give him whatever he needs, but what’s the fun in that? Besides, Aldo’s been busy in his new rank. He probably needs every material that he can get his hands on, and Roier doesn’t want to bother him. Aldo would be his last resort, if anything.
Roier walks a little further, and just to his right are the communal chests of the mansion — unfortunately, they’re like the ones in his room. He has already checked them enough to know that finding anything useful there is asking for too much.
The only option left on the first floor is Foolish. But these days, every time he tries to get closer to him, Foolish leaves before Roier says a word. So that’s definitely a no.
The good thing about sharing a house with so many people (because there are definitely many bad things, starting with the fucking shitty thin walls) is that Roier still has options. He heads for the stairs, taking a moment to look at the frames and — for the first time — rejoice that they’re so full of different faces.
Just after the stairs is Vegetta’s room, but Roier is pretty sure it won’t have what he needs. Unless what he needs is an absurd amount of sandstone and spruce wood. Because, really, with the time Vegetta has spent building the mansion, there’s no way he has found time to explore. Whenever Roier runs into him, Vegetta is always expanding the mansion or decorating it. And he never fails to remind Roier that he should be doing the same.
Well, that’s bound to change soon. He’s on the lookout for a sponsor!
Instead of taking the stairs to the third floor, Roier turns to his right. A small section of wall has what’s supposed to work as a small enchantment room full of books, and directly opposite sits a red sofa, a table, and a pot placed on it. There's also a big picture of a smiling guy with glasses that reads 'employee of the month'.
For a moment, bells chime, confetti rains down, the crowd applauds, and the sign indicating that Roier is now in front of Juan’s office appears to glow, bathed in bright light. Ding ding ding! There’s a winner!
Honestly, it should have been obvious. Roier has heard Juan bragging about his rank enough times, rubbing in everyone’s faces how much he owns. Without even having to go to mine once! And he’s also the owner of an art store that is, apparently, successful. (Roier has heard as well that he’s a scammer, but that’s fine. There are things he’s willing to overlook if it works to his benefit.) Besides, the fact that Juan keeps all his chests locked is a clear sign that the bastard is loaded.
Roier approaches the door, prize in sight. At the same time, Foolish comes out of the office, closing the door behind him. Roier stares at him, about to say hi. And for a second, when Foolish notices Roier’s presence, he seems to be about to greet him back. But he probably thinks he’s giving Roier a chance to ask for things. Because he pulls out his warpstone, quickly teleporting away.
Shit. Good thing he won’t need to ask more things from him anymore. Probably.
“Juan!” Roier says, opening the door.
Juan is in the chair behind the desk, looking through the window at something. The moment he hears Roier, he turns back, with a frown on his face.
“The door is there for a reason, Roier,” Juan says. Roier rolls his eyes, getting out of the office just to knock and enter again without waiting to be called. Juan just sighs, running his hands through his hair. “What do you want?”
“Can’t I come visit my dear friend?” Roier asks, crossing his arms behind his back and giving Juan the most wide-eyed, innocent look he can muster.
Juan raises a brown. “You’re being suspicious. You need something, right?”
Damn. Is that really that obvious? Roier can’t believe Juan clocked him that fast. Though, well, it’s not like Roier usually comes to this office of his own accord. Still.
“Why everyone keep thinking I only talk to them to ask for things?” Roier says, pretending to be offended.
“Because you do!” Juan says, accusing him. The audacity.
“I would never! You know me, Juan.” Roier takes the chance to finally sit, trying to give Juan his best ‘I only come here with good intentions’ expression.
“It’s because I know you that I know you’re up to no good, Roier.”
Roier scoffs, waving his hand, dismissing Juan's words. “You don’t know that.”
“I know! I keep seeing you asking Foolish for things!” Juan says.
“Oh, Foolish?” Roier raises a brown. Something clicks in the back of his mind. “Let’s talk about Foolish, Juan.”
Juan quickly glances to the side, not meeting Roier’s face for a moment. He shifts in his seat uncomfortably, clearing his throat, before finally looking at him again. “What about him?”
Roier is definitely an idiot. Not because he’s actually an idiot, but because he only just realized he has had the means to get what he wants right in his hands all this time.
It’s barely noticeable, but Roier has always been very good at observing things the rest seem to overlook. At the mere mention of Foolish, Juan’s demeanor changed — more nervous than defensive. And as Roier thinks about it, when he entered the room, Juan must have been looking at the entrance of the mansion, expecting to see Foolish there. Or maybe even hoping to catch a glimpse of him from afar in the Dragon.
Roier already had a feeling about it.
It’s normal for Juan to act dumb sometimes, but Roier has noticed that when he’s near Foolish, he’s dumber than usual. It’s not even the first time he has picked up on him acting nervous over Foolish. And Roier’s room, somehow, is close enough to Juan’s even when they’re on different floors to have heard him call for Foolish a lot of times during the day. Not all of them regarding work.
“Have you already confessed to him?” He asks, testing the waters. Or more like pushing Juan into them.
Juan’s eyes widen in surprise. He swallows, his bottom lip trembling, like he doesn’t know what to say. Roier even sees red in his cheeks. But a moment later, Juan scolds his expression back to one that aims to be angry.
“Roier, if you came only to say stupid things, get out." Juan takes a pencil from the desk and looks at the notebook in front of him like it’s the most interesting thing ever. So not meeting his gaze again, huh? “I have a lot of work to do,” he adds, more to himself than to Roier.
“So nothing has happened? You haven’t told him?" Roier questions him. “What’s going on, Juan?”
From this point forward, Juan either gets mad, keeps stubbornly denying it, or finally admits it.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Juan says, trying to sound annoyed. The pencil in his hand moves back and forth, but he hasn’t even tried to write anything with it to save face.
“Come on, man. When are you planning to make a move?” Roier presses. He can’t help the smile that plasters on his face when Juan tightens his grip on the pencil.
“Never. I don’t like Foolish.” Oh? Progress? So he knows what they’re talking about.
“But you do,” Roier says.
“I don’t,” Juan insists, but it doesn’t sound convincing. Not for himself, and definitely not for Roier.
“Juan,” Roier says, with a tone clearly showing he doesn’t believe him.
“Roier,” Juan flatly says.
So he’s really not admitting anything? That’s okay. Roier feels as if a lightbulb just suddenly turned on above his head. Because he can work with this. He can do business. There’s no way Juan was going to give him whatever he asked for just because. Instead, if Roier does something for him, it makes it more likely.
Roier stands up and walks forward until he hits the desk, and he places his hands on Juan’s shoulders, giving him a squeeze. “That’s it! I’m going to help you!” Roier assures him. “From now on, call me Cupidoier.”
“What? No! Roier, I don’t have time for this," Juan huffs, removing Roier’s hands from him. For a slight moment, Roier wonders if he really read it all wrong. If all the times he has found Juan near Foolish and Roier has stood close, staring at him, and Juan has looked away, caught red-handed, haven’t meant anything. “And even if I require your services, I don’t like Foolish.”
But that’s not the case. If Juan was truly against this, he would have already gotten actually mad at him. He’s just being stubborn.
“I have a great plan, Juan. Just trust me.” Roier turns around, aiming for the door.
“Roier.”
“Don’t worry, Juan! Everything’s going to be okay.” Roier gives him a look before leaving, the innocent, saintly one again. “And when it’s done, I get access to your chests, okay?”
“Roier!” Juan calls out.
Roier steps outside the office, grinning. He can be Juan’s Cupid if it leads him to complete Mission BSTP, which is now officially renamed BJTP (borrow Juan's things permanently).