*Brrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnggggg~*
Junior rubs his left eye as he stops typing and picks his scroll up. He looks at the time and sees that it's already the next morning. The night already coming and going just as silently. He glances at the wine bottle at the opposite side of the desk from Lavi. The bottle is about a quarter less than when he opened it the previous day.
Looking back at the scroll he sees who is calling him. And it's a bit of a surprise.
Rust Emert
One of the male upper family members. He's the same age as Junior, being 21 years old. Yet Rust is… a bit different.
"What is it Rust?" Junior answers the call and stands up. As he listens he walks to the other side of the room with his wine glass in-hand.
"Boss!" A relatively deep voice shouts from the other side of the scroll. "I'm so-! Gahhhh! Glad to hear your voice!"
Junior nearly crushes the glass in his hand. He looks out the glass wall. "What happened? Are you alright? Where are you?"
"Boss…" Rust responds with clear strain in his tone. "…I'm fine. I'm back in Va-Vale. Oh sweet merciful~…."
Junior clenches his jaw and his eyes narrow. "Are you in trouble? Where in Vale are you?"
Shaky breaths and grunts can be heard through the scroll. "I… might be- hrgh!… in a bit of trouble boss"
"Sonuva…" Junior puts his glass down and loosens his tie. "I'm done asking, where the hell are you Rust"
"W-why do they call restrooms…. restrooms!" Rust shouts from the other side of the phone after catching his breath.
"What?" Junior takes his scroll away from his ear and glances at it before putting it back to his ear. He should have gotten some sleep.
"Restrooms boss. Why are they called that?" Rust grunts out before losing his breath again.
Junior begins walking back to his desk to wake Lavi up. "You're delirious Rust. Tell me where you are"
"Why are they called restrooms boss!" Rust's voice sounds like he is dying. "I'm fighting for my life in here!"
Junior pauses with his hand outstretched just over Lavi's shoulder. His right eyebrow twitches as he takes his hand back. "Rust"
"Boss! Erghh!!! It's not a restroom! I'm not doing any resting! I'm fighting for my damn life in here!!!" Rust exclaims as he strains.
"Rust". Junior goes back across the room. "Are you hurt?"
"Everything is hurting boss!" Rust states.
"Are you calling me from the toilet?" Junior flatly asks.
"Y-yes boss" Rust confirms.
Junior practically shakes with anger for a few seconds. But he quickly calms down, his tone neutral, like that of a person beyond pissed. "Why did you call me while you are taking a shit?"
"W-well. You said to contact you as soon as we arrive in Vale right?" Rust asks, finding a moment to finally relax.
"I did. So why didn't you call me before you found your way to a toilet?" Junior grabs his glass and brings it to his lips.
"Well boss" Rust strains and then continues. "I didn't really want to be on the phone with you while I shat myself. So I saw it fit to take this course of action as the best option available to me"
Junior doesn't drink and sets the glass back down. "Rust"
"Yes boss?" Rust asks as he feels his insides trying to become outsides.
"Finish what you are doing and get back here" Junior is about to hang up but brings the scroll back to his ear. "And for a future reference…"
Rust patiently waits with his scroll to his ear as he feels his stomach doing flips.
"Don't. Ever. Call me while you are taking a shot again" Junior says in a dangerous tone. "Otherwise I'll beat you so hard you'll wish you shat yourself"
With that being said Junior ends the call and drops his arms to his sides and looks up at the ceiling. "Have I been to lax on them recently? Was I somehow too kind? What did I do for Rust to think it was okay for him to call me while he was shitting bricks?"
Junior remembers how he met Rust.
Rust Emert was your average delinquent around a year ago. He had just recently been expelled from Beacon Academy and Derek had stumbled across him fighting a group of not so friendly people in a corner of Vale. Derek had been prepared to step in to save the young man but he saw the guy pummel the attackers all on his own. Derek assessed the guy's appearance and fighting style and determined that he was a possible recruit.
And so Derek wrangled the young lad back to the club to meet Junior. He practically had to drag Rust, but it was a piece of cake for Derek. At first Rust was a bit defiant during his meeting with Junior, but after speaking with Junior his attitude changed real fast.
Junior listened to a short version of Rust's life story and it wasn't pretty. After talking, Rust seemed to calm down enough to understand his current situation. He only had one more year until he graduated and became an official Huntsman, but he got caught fighting for the last time. He was expelled after sending about 3 teams to the nurses office and it took 3 teachers to subdue him during his rampage as he tried to send another team to the nurse. Rust realized he won't be able to get legal payback for what happened to him, his family, or his town. The only reason he wanted to be a Huntsman was to get access to the resources of a professional Huntsman. Information and influence being the biggest rewards. And he needed them to get his revenge for the bastards that attacked his village and gave him his scars… or at least they gave him his first few.
With only a few selective words from Junior, Rust was a loyal member of the Xiong family. A promise for getting revenge, a job, and a few other things was all it took to start. And when Junior actually followed through, Rust's loyalty was as strong as steel.
Rust had gotten his revenge on a roaming group of raiders 6 months after joining Junior. He had spent time in the crime family and had actually come to see it as his new family. He saw how Junior led, and how the group functioned. He also realized he wouldn't get a better deal in Remnant so he stuck around. The beautiful women definitely didn't have any influence on his decision either.
If Junior wasn't the boss of the Xiong family, they would probably be the best of friends. But Junior has made sure to keep his position as boss clear. But that doesn't stop a few of the upper family from acting friendly…ish.
——————
Around 25 minutes later after Junior ended the scroll call.
*Knock* *Knock*
Junior goes to the door and opens it. He's greeted with the sight of Rust.
Rust Emert stands at 6'2" tall. He has vibrant light blue eyes and messy dark red hair. His skin, while covered with various scars, is tanned. On the right side of his face there is a vertical scar, which is the only scar on his face. He's wearing black jeans and sleeveless white shirt. There is a necklace around his neck that was a gift from Junior that was given to Rust before he left to avenge his family.
The necklace is a special type of metal called Metust. Well, just the solid metal part is. The chain is just regular old strong steel. Metust is an alloy of various metals and dust. It's extremely rare due to how hard it is to make. It's almost considered a myth amongst blacksmiths and metalworkers. It's unlikely to find or make more than a shard of Metust, meaning that there isn't any weapon or armor made of Metust.
It was gifted to Rust because of his semblance. Junior had the Metust among one of the various precious things his father had hoarded. It may be the only one, but it's not like he had a better use for it other than hiding it away and let it collect dust.
"Rust Emert reporting in" Rust sarcastically says. His left hand in his jeans pocket while he gives a lazy wave salute with his right hand. A small smile on his face as he looks up at Junior. "It's good to see you again Junior"
Junior shakes his head. "It's good to see you too Rust. Come in"
Rust walks into the office and looks around. He spits Lavi sleeping on the desk along with the various other papers scattered across the desk. "What's got her knocked out?"
Junior closes the door and leans his back against it. "It's been a long 24 hours"
Rust ruffles his hair with his right hand as he turns towards Junior. "You're telling me, I thought I was going to die earlier"
Junior closes his eyes. "What do you have to report?"
Rust immediately takes his right hand from his hair and gets serious. "Anima is a crazy big place. I still haven't located the Branwen Tribe but I've taken care of some smaller bandit groups. I haven't found a trail yet but I've come across a few more of their handiworks. The Grimm have taken 2 more villages since i last reported in. I didn't find any valuables or alcohol in the villages, so it was clear the Branwen Tribe was responsible. I did manage to establish a few connections with some villages and towns as well as save some people"
Junior nods. "Good work. And since you are here I've got something for you to do. I'm getting rid of an infestation here in Vale. Remember Spider?"
Rust grabs his chin and looks at the ceiling. "That other crime family in Mistral? Nah~. Not like I've dealt with a few run-ins with their informants or assassins"
Junior folds his arms across his chest. "Yeah, well I'm finally booting them outta Vale. I already have Anza and Veronica helping out. Since you're here and raring to go I'll have you help out as well. I'll give you a list of names with their locations and any relevant info. You only have 3 names but they're a bit more stubborn than the others. Do try to keep them breathing, I don't want to give Spider a bigger reason to retaliate"
"Bigger? Does this have anything to do with the bombings?" Rust was away from Vale and had only heard a few things on his way back. He was traveling around Anima which is a different continent, Mistral being the biggest city and one of the 4 kingdoms of Remnant.
"It does. I've put together what you missed as usual. Read through it while you go towards your first target" Junior walks over towards his desk and takes a few papers.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Junior motions for Rust to get the door with his left hand while he reads through the papers one last time. He had sent Rust across Anima for various reasons. The guy wanted to stop other kids from going through what he went through. So Junior told him about the Branwen Tribe and what they do. Junior also warned Rust about Spider. Over the last 4 months or so Rist has been moving across Anima and reporting in randomly when he can. Not a whole lot he can do when the CCT doesn't stretch across all of Remnant.
Rust walks over to the door and his mood instantly drops when he sees who is on the other side of the door. "Professor…."
"Mr. Emert?" A familiar female voice reaches Junior's ears.
Rust scowls. "What business do you have here?"
"I can ask the same of you" Glynda calmly says as she pushes her glances back up her nose. She doesn't feel like wasting her time so she continues. "I was told Hei Xiong could be found here"
Rust is reminded of how he was kicked out of Beacon and how Glynda, a professor and vice principal of Beacon, was the one to kick him out. "I'll repeat myself once. What business do you have here?"
"Relax Rust" Junior says as he pushes the papers against Rust's chest and pushes the guy out the door. Glynda moves to the side as Junior pushes Rust past. "And you can get some REST later"
Rust takes the papers and turns around as he begins walking backwards towards the stairs. "I fought for my life harder today than over the past month!"
Junior just flicks his wrist to wave Rust off.
Taking the hint, Rust leaves and begins looking through the papers. He also doesn't want to be near Glynda Goodwitch at all… or any of his former teachers for that matter.
"What IS your business with me Glynda? Or is this a personal visit?" Junior looks to his right and sees the bespectacled blond.
Goodwitch rolls her eyes as she holds up a vanilla folder. "Strictly business"
Junior can see that there are lots of papers in the folder. "That's a shame"
He turns around and walks through the door, Glynda walking in behind him.
But then he grabs the doorframe with his right hand and blocks the doorway as he looks over his shoulder. "But I still don't get why YOU are here. Didn't you say the cops or someone else would be dropping it off? Did Oz give you the day off if you came and dropped this off?"
Junior smirks as he sees Glynda's left eye twitch slightly.
Glynda sighs before she begins talking. "Unfortunately for me, it appears the cops do not wish to deal with you. So I'm forced to come here personally"
Junior's smirk grows, much to Glynda's annoyance. "Now I know THAT is a lie. Glynda, if we are going to talk I'd appreciate it if we can be more honest with each other. We both have the same goal right? Protect Vale and its citizens. And let's be honest, Oz can have you doing a lot of other things that are worse than coming to a club"
Glynda is reminded of a lot of other assignments that she had to do in the past. Most she would rather forget. "I am just here to give these to you to fill out"
Junior raises an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Glynda holds out the vanilla folder. "It is"
Junior takes the folder and opens it. "Then why we're trying to follow me into my office?"
"I figured you wanted to talk, and I have my own questions" Glynda's eyes narrow as she folds her arms across her chest. "And I have to collect the folder when you're done filling everything inside it out"
The folder is full of paperwork that asks a bunch of generic questions. Then at the end there are a few documents that are rather specific. And then there is a note at the back.
"Good excuse" Junior says as he briefly reads the note.
"It isn't an excuse" Glynda states flatly.
"Whatever" Junior grabs the note between his index and middle finger and flashes it to Glynda as he closes the vanilla folder. "So it seems I was right when I guessed Oz sent you. And it appears he didn't tell you everything Glynda. How much has he told you?"
For a split second Glynda's eyes widen, but then she goes back to her strict expression. "He's told me enough, what of it?"
Junior shrugs and puts the note back in the folder. "Nothing of it. Just curious to know what the old wizard is hiding behind the curtains"
"It's funny you say that Hei Xiong, because that same wizard is curious what the bear is doing in its den" Glynda taps her index finger on her arm.
Junior's smile goes away. "Fair enough. Now we can talk in here, but let's keep it down"
"Excuse you?" Glynda gets offended, for many reasons. Mainly because they are in a loud club. While it may not be open, there are still plenty of people inside and the DJ is playing music. Secondly, what would they be doing that they would need to keep it quiet. She's dealt with a lot of students that are rather… rambunctious about certain in appropriate topics.
"Excuse me?" Junior walked into the room but turns around when he hears Glynda's tone. "I only wish for us to keep our heads on our shoulders. I'm getting rather tired of using analogies already, and I use them quite a lot I'll have you know. I ask to keep our conversation quiet because of her"
Glynda follows Junior's thumb over his shoulder and spots a girl on his desk. She doesn't respond but deeply frowns.
"Oh don't give me that Glynda, I'm still a virgin" Junior turns around and sets the vanilla folder ontop of a few other papers and picks Lavi up.
The small red haired Faunus nestles into his arms when he picks her up. She grabs his suit jacket and her tail moves happily.
Junior brings Lavi to the couch and lays her down. He's forced to take his jacket off when Lavi won't let go of his sleeve. He would have taken it off to put on Lavi anyway, but he is forced to stay kneeling down and awkwardly take it off due to Lavi's hold on the jacket. "Gods damnit Lavi…" He mutters as he gently takes his arm out of the sleeve.
Glynda's frown goes away after she sees the care that Junior gives to the small girl. She can see the girl's face and can tell she was crying for a long time.
Junior stands up after putting the jacket around Lavi, who now has a small smile and curls up as she continues to sleep. Junior fixes his cuffs and his tie and then turns towards Glynda. "This is Lavi, she's the daughter of Derek. She wasn't aware of that fact until after his death. She's had a rough 24 hours, although I don't know why she's practically hibernating. She's been asleep longer than 16 hours"
Glynda walks up to the couch and looks down at the girl. "Crying can take quite the toll out of a girl. Did you have her drink any water? She may be dehydrated as well"
Junior rubs his forehead with his right hand. "She drank a little bit, but she didn't drink much. She was barely able to drink that little bit"
Glynda leans over the girl. "She should drink something. But I don't think that her prolonged sleep has anything to do with the dehydration…"
"I just figured it was because she stayed up crying for most of yesterday" Junior says and motions towards Lavi with his right hand.
"That likely is the cause of it. But it also seems that she hasn't been getting enough sleep most nights" Glynda studies Lavi.
"How do you know that?" Junior asks.
Glynda adjusts her glasses with her left hand and stands back up. "I deal with many students Mr. Xiong-"
"Junior" He cuts her off.
"I deal with many students… Junior…" Glynda sends him a glare before looking back to Lavi. "And over my years of teaching I have picked up on a few things. There is a lot of trauma in people, the most common leads to lack of sleep among other things. It has become a habit of mine to pick up on these type of things to help the future Huntresses and Huntsmen of Vale"
"Is that why you suggested I relax a bit?" Junior wonders out loud.
"You can see it that way" Glynda looks at his desk. The papers and bottle of wine standing out. "But I see that you chose to ignore it"
Junior scratches the side of his head and goes over to his glass with wine in it. "I'm a busy man. I did get some sleep, but not last night. My sleep schedule has never been the best"
"Drinking will not help that" Glynda nearly scoffs as she is reminded of a dusty old crow.
Junior grabs another glass. "It doesn't? Then I guess that person didn't drink enough" He jokes. "What would you like? I've got more alcohol than I know what to do with"
"I don't drink" Glynda flatly responds.
"You don't drink? At all?" Junior asks while he scans the various bottles of alcohol.
"While I'm working" Glynda corrects.
"Oh? But didn't Oz give you the day off if you delivered the papers? I'd say you're off the clock. And I don't see any students of yours around here" Junior grins as he just takes his glass and an empty wine glass back to his desk after closing the cabinet.
"I never said that he did" Glynda watches as Junior sets the two glasses down. "And how drunk are you?"
Junior grabs the wine bottle. "Not nearly enough…" He pours wine into the glasses, his glass going nearly to the top. "Jokes aside, I'm not that drunk. I barely even feel tipsy. Unfortunately for me, my body requires quite a large amount of alcohol to actually get drunk. Guess that's what I get for being nearly 7 feet tall and so muscular. How tall are you Glynda? Without your heels I mean"
Glynda releases a sigh. She doesn't want to admit it but Oz really did give her the day off. She would just rather not give Junior the satisfaction of being right. "I am 6'2" without my heels"
Junior smirks. He knew that the fandom page for Glynda was wrong. There was no way she was 6'5" tall. 6'2" is much more reasonable considering in the show she didn't tower over all the girls. "Lavi does have trouble sleeping. Most nights she has nightmares, but over the past 2 years she has gotten better. But some nights are really bad for her. And the news of Derek being her father and then finding out he is dead certainly won't help her. Even if she does seem rather comfortable now"
Glynda gives Junior an incredulous look. "You just told her flat out?"
Junior waves Glynda over to his desk. "Yes, I didn't want to keep this from her. And holding this information from her would only cause problems down the line. I'd rather cause her more grief now than cause more problems later. I doubt she would blame me for not telling her, but there may be some resentment and that voice in the back of her head always wondering what else I'm not telling her"
Glynda gives one last look to Lavi before going to the desk. "I find it hard to believe you were very considerate when telling her"
Junior picks his glass up. "She may have wanted consideration, but that's not particularly my strong suit. I gave her what she needed. A shoulder to cry on and the necessary information. It took hours for her to calm down"
"Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?" Glynda asks. She lowers her head and puts her right hand on her forehead.
"I know my words may sound contradicting, but it's how I feel. I couldn't offer her comforting words, but I gave her my shoulder. I can't bring Derek back, but I can give her everything that was his. She works for me, so I need her to get past this as soon as possible. I do take proper care of my workers after all" Junior drinks from his glass.
"Is that what you tell yourself?" Glynda suspects that Junior just says that as an excuse for his kind actions. She knows that he likely manipulates people, but his actions tell a somewhat different tale. And it's not like Ozpin acts differently.
"Meh, no matter how you see it I'll continue doing what I want" Junior sits down and organizes the scattered papers. He shoves them in a drawer and then moves the vanilla envelope in front of himself and opens it. "Do I have to fill everything out?"
"Yes" Glynda answers, happy that she doesn't have to do the paperwork for a change.
"You don't have to sound so pleased about it" Junior clicks his pen and begins writing. "You may want to sit, this will take me a while"
Glynda sits down and looks over at Lavi. "Do you not discriminate against the Faunus?"
Junior continues filling the papers out as he responds. It's something he picked up while studying intensely over his first year in Remnant. Talking with Derek while he read and wrote sped the process up greatly. "I assume you are referencing my fathers discriminatory actions"
"And your own in the past" Glynda says with a small bit of hostility.
"Oh" Junior is reminded of how the old Junior acted. "Well I can say that I have outgrown my old habits. I was young and stupid back then. You'll see that my current actions have changed greatly compared to my past. I realized that they are actually better than humans… so to speak. In the past, Humans were afraid of them due to their animal traits. And the fact that Faunus are, objectively, better than Humans scared them. They have night-vision and an animal trait that in some cases makes them stronger than humans in different aspects. Such as cat ears. Those Faunus have better hearing than humans. Or perhaps bird wings, they can fly without the need of help from technology. Or the gills of fish or aquatic creatures. The list goes on and on about how Faunus are basically humans that have evolved to be better… At least that's how I view it. Why waste valuable resources like the entire Faunus race? And no, not like how the Schnee's use them. I prefer to treat them as equals and actually use them in a way that benefits everyone involved"
"I think you could have said that without going into such great detail" Glynda turns back towards Junior.
"Sorry about that Glynda. I may be able to multitask but I'm afraid that my talking gets ahead of me when I do so" Junior doesn't look up from the papers.
Glynda looks out the glass wall and down at the club. She understands what Junior is implying. If she wanted answers it would be best to do it before he finishes writing. And she can't help one question from coming up first: "Why was Rust Emert here?"
"Oh? I'm surprised you remember his name" Junior flips the first page over. "Rust was brought to me by Derek a day after he was expelled from Beacon. I listened to him and offered him things you and specifically Oz took from him. Specifically a place to belong and a chance to reach his goals. I found ways for him to divert his frustrations away from getting into fights and breaking things. Something I'm surprised Beacon couldn't do. But I will say that I'm surprised there aren't more Beacon dropouts roaming Vale"
Glynda glares at Junior. "Don't make it sound as if we didn't try to help him. Ozpin himself talked with Mr. Emert on many occasions. But not even he could get through to Mr. Emert. Over the three years Mr. Emert attended Beacon he didn't try to get along with anyone, not even his own teammates. I gave him plenty of warnings and chances to change and correct his actions. But he just kept getting into conflicts with the other students, of all grades mind you, and even some of the staff" She takes a breath and then sits back in her seat, her tone changing to that of a mother duck that just found out one lost duckling is safe and doing alright. "But I am glad for Mr. Emert. I suppose I should thank you for helping him where Beacon could not, although I am concerned about HOW exactly you helped him. He seems to have found a place to belong, even if I don't approve of it"
Junior grins as he answers the boring questions. "I won't turn a thanks away"
Glynda narrows her eyes at Junior. "Don't push it Mr. Xio-"
"Glynda, please" Junior glances up from the papers. "For the last time. I am not a student, I am not your elder, nor am I your boss."
Glynda rolls her eyes and mutters: "Thank the Gods for that"
Junior pauses writing. "I'll take that as a compliment"
"Of course you would" Glynda shakes her head.
"Exactly" Junior gets back to filling the documents out. "So why don't we try to be friends. I do rather enjoy our talks"
Glynda scans a bookshelf off to the side. "At least one of us does"
"Oh? That wasn't a no, was it?" Junior's grin grows.
Glynda's expression goes neutral as she studies Junior. "Do you even have friends"
"I'd like to think I somewhat do. But all of them are kept at a distance I'm afraid, mostly due to me being who I am. But with you I believe I can actually have a friendship with. And perhaps Oz as well? But I'd have to meet the guy first" Junior goes to the next page.
"How is it that you know so much about Ozpin? You speak as if you already know him, and myself, quite well" Glynda asks as she watches the nearly 7 foot tall man fill out the paperwork.
Junior raises an eyebrow. "How do you and Oz know me and my old man so well? It's rhetorical… at least my question is" He stops writing and leans back in his chair. "I know a lot of things Glynda. The burden of knowledge is exponential when compared to how much one knows about this fucked up world. I know a lot of things I shouldn't, but it's not like I'm going to abuse that knowledge"
"How did you come across all this knowledge? I only have a criminal record to go off of, but considering how long that record is they might as well be biographies" Glynda interlocks her fingers while her elbows rest on the arms of her chair.
"You and I both know I deal in information rather than money. I hear a tad bit here and a tad bit there. You know, there are a few students from Beacon that come through here. Only the ones that can legally be here that is. But I think you get my point" Junior spins his pen around his fingers.
"That still doesn't explain why you are acting so friendly" Glynda watches as Junior tilts his head and spins his pen around his fingers.
"Do I need a reason to act so friendly. Would it be better if I resist and fight you for every answer? Perhaps you wanted a chance to us that whip of yours" Junior points the pen at The Disciplinarian on Glynda's hip.
Glynda slouches her shoulders. "Why do all you men insist on calling it that? It's a riding crop, not an actual whip. And I don't use it to hit people, it's only a focus to help me use my semblance"
"Touchy subject?" Junior raises an eyebrow. "I was just trying to lighten the mood. But I will say that a riding crop is still a whip. You use it to whip whatever your riding~"
Glynda sends another glare to Junior. "Why must you say it like that? Just say a horse"
Junior holds his hands up. "Listen Glynda. I don't kink shame. I myself can dig the whole strict teacher that disciplines her students and whips them into shape. And then there's the whole other S&M play but I'd say I'm more of an S as well"
Glynda deadpans. "Get back to writing Mr. Xiong"
"Yes ma'am" Junior jokes and puts his pen to the paper but pauses. "But only if you call me Junior from here on out. How about this, if you call me Mr. Xiong again you have to tell me your age"
The corner of her lip twitches as she forces herself to calm down. "And what exactly do I get from this exchange?"
Junior begins writing. "You get the most out of this Glynda. You get to ask me questions. You get to enjoy free music. Free wine, and likely a meal when I get hungry. I'm also complying to fill out these papers, I could take my sweet time to fill these out. All I get is you calling me Junior and your company"
Glynda understands that Junior figured out that she has to watch him fill the papers out. "Why do you want to know my age?"
Junior starts filling out the questions on the papers again. "I like being well informed. And it would take up my time to have to search for this information on my own. And isn't it normal for friends to know eachother's age? I'd ask what your favorite color is but I'm about 75% sure it's purple"
"Fine" Glynda sits up but continues leaning back in her seat. "My favorite color is in fact purple, Junior"