Imagine you're part of a bet when there's a contest between Sweeney Todd and Pirelli.

It was around the afternoon as you were walking through St. Dunstan's Market with Sweeney Todd, a barber of Fleet Street who was known as 'Benjamin Barker' before he was sent to prison on a false charge by Judge Turpin fifteen years that had just returned under a new name not too long ago. Your sister, Nellie Lovett, had sent you out to get some groceries for her Meat Pie Shop, that was underneath Sweeney's barbershop. You asked Sweeney if he wanted to accompany with you and he, for some reason, didn't hesitate to say 'yes'.

His response was rather strange to you because you knew he was married and has a daughter before he was taken away from them years ago. But after he found out from your sister that his wife, Lucy, had poisoned herself after what Turpin had done to her, Sweeney seemed like he needed someone by his side for support, like you, especially he stared at you with admiration in his dark brown eyes when he first met you. From your perspective, you found him very attractive, like his slim body and his fluffy dark hair with a white stripe on the right side of his hair. But you kept those thoughts to yourself since you just met him and you didn't want to make your sister jealous as she finds him very attractive as well.

As you and Sweeney were walking through a crowd of people, you noticed Sweeney came to a complete halt. You turned and saw that he was glancing over to the side, staring at someone, with hatred in his eyes. You looked over to see who Sweeney was staring at and you saw Beadle Bamford, Judge Turpin's henchman, walking through the crowd. Sweeney opened his coat, revealing his razor holster that contained his barber razor, and was about to walk towards The Beadle, but you quickly stopped him. "No, Mr. Todd. It's best if you don't make a scene here." You told him. Sweeney, then, put his coat over his razor holster, but kept his hatred stare at The Beadle as you both started walking again.

When you were about to approach a table with many types of potatoes, you and Sweeney were caught by the attention of an Italian accented man in blue extravagant clothing, a black top hat, and a purple cape on a miniature stage with a boy standing next to him, shouting out, "Signori per favore." It caught the attention of nearby people, who approached the front of the stage out of curiosity. You and Sweeney looked at each other for a second before the two of you approached the crowd to see what this Pirelli had in store for everyone.

"Come get a shave today from the King of the Barbers and the Barber of Kings, Adolfo Pirelli, for a generous price. I also have here a great concoction of my latest hair tonic. Miracle Elixir." Pirelli announced. "Toby!" He commanded the boy with white blonde hair next to him. The boy named Toby, then, started handing out sample bottles of the hair tonic to gentlemen close to the stage and they all observed it. One gentleman near you and Sweeney had a sample bottle in his hand and he opened the lid, where you got a whiff of a revolting odor.

"Ugh. Sweeney, did smell that awful stench?" You asked. "I did, (y/n). We're nowhere near an open drench. Pardon me, sir, could I borrow that bottle?" Sweeney asked the man next to him with the sample bottle and the man handed it to him. Sweeney, then, removed the lid and sniff it for a second and he immediately had a disgusted expression on his face. "This isn't hair tonic, (y/n). This is nothing but piss mixed with ink." He stated. He turned back to the man he borrowed the sample bottle from and told him, "Sir, I wouldn't buy a bottle of this supposed miracle concoction as it is a guarantee errant fraud."

"Word is going around that my elixir is piss? Who says this?" You heard Pirelli asked, demandingly and angrily. No one in the crowd didn't say a word until you heard someone say, "I did." You and everyone in the crowd turned towards the one who spoke up, which happened to be Sweeney. You were surprised that he would do something like that. He walked up, slowly, towards the front of the stage and said, "I'm Mr. Sweeney Todd of Fleet Street. I have opened a bottle of Pirelli's Elixir and I say to you that it is nothing but an errant fraud, concocted from piss and ink. Furthermore, Signore, I have serviced no kings, as you mentioned you're the 'Barber of Kings,' yet I wager I can shave a cheek with ten times more dexterity than any street mountebank."

The crowd murmured, with shock and confusion, as they witnessed Sweeney willing to wager against the so-called 'King of the Barbers' in a contest. Pirelli grinned down at Sweeney as if he were a fool. "You take this foolish man's word that he is willing to wager to beat me? I call it 'rubbish'." He said. Sweeney, then, took out his razors and showed them to the crowd. "You see these razors? I wager you five pounds. You are no match, sir. Either accept my challenge or reveal yourself for the fraud that you really are." Sweeney said, looking up at Pirelli. The mountebank Italian man stared at the razors and, then, at Sweeney before his grin grew wider and sinisterly. "Very well, Mr. Todd, I'll accept your challenge. On one condition." He said, leaving Sweeney confused. "If you win, I will give you five pounds. But you fail, I get to keep your five pounds...and your pretty little girlfriend over there." Pirelli said, eyeballing you at the last part.

You gasped, in shock, and everyone looked at where you were standing. Being placed as part of a bet was not something you've never expected in your life. But you were caught off guard when Pirelli thought you were Sweeney's girlfriend, which, in all honesty, you didn't mind at all since you thought it sounded nice to hear.

"No, Signore. Leave (y/n) out of this." Sweeney said, defensively. "You placed your betting wager against me. Now I get to place my wager against you, Mr. Todd." Pirelli said back. "She has nothing to do with this. She's not even my—" Sweeney tried to keep you out of the bet against Pirelli, but, then, you stepped in and said, "He'll accept your bet, Pirelli." Everyone, including Sweeney and Pirelli, looked at you, stunned. You walked up towards the front of the stage, with confidence in your (e/c) eyes, and looked straight into Pirelli's eyes, while Sweeney was staring at you, confounded.

"You're such a silly girl. You really believe your man will beat the great Adolfo Pirelli as I wager five pounds and you into our little contest?" Pirelli asked, with a smirk on his face. You crossed your arms and smirked back at him and said, "Oh, I believe he can beat you because I know he can do it, especially when he does it for someone he loves." When you said the last part, you looked over at Sweeney and gave him a wink, which caused your heart to skip a beat. Pirelli grinned at you and said, "Very well, then. You will see how he will regret his folly!" Then, he took off his cape and swung it over at Toby, who grabbed it and put it away before he set up Pirelli's shaving supplies.

Sweeney stepped towards you and whispered in your ear, "(y/n), what are you doing? Why are you going along with this?" You looked at him, not realizing that you were close to his face, and whispered back, "Because I know you can stand up to a fraud and beat him in a shaving contest at the same time, especially with those sort of razors you have." Sweeney took a moment to think as he was in the thought process of you being part of the bet that concerned him until he nodded. "Okay." He whispered. "Who's for a free shave?" Sweeney asked out loud to the crowd. Then, two gentlemen voluntarily stepped up on the stage.

Sweeney took off his coat and handed it to you before he stepped up on stage. While Toby placed two chairs for the two volunteers and set up Pirelli's station. "Will Beadle Bamford be the judge?" Sweeney asked, while directly looking towards The Beadle's direction in the crowd. "Glad, as always, to oblige my friends and neighbors." The Beadle responded, as he made his way towards the stage. Sweeney covered his volunteer with a white cutting cape, while Pirelli used a cutting cape that had colors that represented the Flag of Italy over his volunteer.

"Ready?" The Beadle questioned. "Ready." Pirelli answered. "Ready." Sweeney spoke, softly. The Beadle, then, took a whistle out of his coat, and told the audience, "The fastest, smoothest shave is the winner." He blew the whistle, signaling the two barbers to start the contest. Sweeney and Pirelli took out their razors and sharpened them on their razor strop before they got started. Pirelli was rather rough  and quick when he was sharpening his razor, while Sweeney was slow and gentle. You held Sweeney's coat against you as tight as you could as you were worried about Sweeney losing the contest and the bet against Pirelli. All you could do was hope and pray that Sweeney does win the contest, especially since you're part of the wager for Pirelli's win.

Pirelli placed the shaving cream on his volunteer before he started shaving a little rough, while he kept his pride in as if he knows that he's gonna win. Sweeney, on the other hand, was very patient and took his time before he, gently, placed the shaving cream on his volunteer. While he was doing that, he glared towards The Beadle, who didn't see it happening, before turning back to the contest. He hadn't started shaving as Pirelli was nearly halfway done. You started to think that Sweeney really was gonna lose.

But, then, Sweeney began shaving his volunteer, smoothly and quickly, and within three seconds, the man's face was completely shaved, without a cut or whisker in sight. "The winner...is Todd." The Beadle announced. You and the audience clapped, while Pirelli was disappointed that he had lost. You looked at him with a 'told ya' expression. "The five pounds." Sweeney said, holding out his hand towards Pirelli, who, then, handed him the five pounds. "May the good Lord smile on you." Pirelli sneered and briefly looked at you before he walked behind the curtain, with shouting happening from behind there.

Sweeney put away his razor and he walked off the stage and met up with you, where you handed him his coat. "See? I knew you could do it." "Well, I did. I did it because...it was the right thing for me to do. I wasn't gonna let that man take you if I had lost." Sweeney said, as he was putting on his coat. "Funny how that silly man thought that I was your girlfriend." You commented, even though you didn't like saying it because you wish you could be with him, but you knew you couldn't because of Lucy.

Then, Sweeney caressed your cheek with his hand and asked, "Perhaps we could make that happen." You were surprised when he said that. "But what about Lucy, Sweeney?" You questioned. "Who says I can't move on after what happened to her and since I now have someone in front of me who I want to get to know more about and who could help me plot my revenge against Judge Turpin?" Sweeney said. You stared into his dark brown eyes for a moment until you smiled and said, "I would like to get to know more about you while I help you plot your revenge against Turpin as long as we keep this to ourselves and not tell my sister." Sweeney placed a kiss on your forehead and said, softly, "Sounds like a plan. Now, why don't we go for a little walk together, love?" "I would love that, Sweeney." You said, and, then, you both, hand in hand, started walking through the market together, while getting the chance to get to know each other.