"Damnit," Roy grumbled softly into the darkness of his room.

His plan had been to get into bed and go right to sleep, but the powers that be had other plans. The moment his head hit the pillow, thoughts of Ebony practically assaulted his mind. Since seeing her again, the old desire for closeness had rekindled inside him. He wanted to hold her in his arms again. Feel her warmth, breathe in her scent, and kiss her.

The desire felt like an itch he couldn't scratch and it was driving him mad. He tossed and turned, trying in vain to turn his mind to other things.

She's mad at me, he reminded himself, and she has a good reason to be. Still….I wish she were here right now...

Roy groaned and pressed his pillow to his face, muffling the sound.

*Thump* *Thump*

He froze. Removing the pillow from his face, he swiveled an ear toward his door.

Did someone just...knock?

After several seconds of silence passed, he settled back in bed, thinking he must have imagined it. A second later, his head whipped towards the door as two more knocks sounded through the room. Quickly getting out of bed, Roy quietly padded to the door and opened it with a brisk twist of the knob.

There, in the shadow of the hall, stood Ebony. Her face flushed as she saw him, her hand suspended midair as if preparing to knock again. She was wearing a black and blue yukita, bound around the middle with a dark blue ribbon. Her hair was down, cascading around her shoulders in dark curtains. Roy felt his heart rate pick up at the sight of her and stayed silent, not trusting his tongue enough to speak first.

Finally, Ebony spoke, "I just wanted to apologize for my outburst earlier."

Roy shook his head, "No, I should be the one apologizing. I did charge in without thinking and I was wrong."

Ebony fiddled with the sleeve of her yukita, avoiding Roy's gaze, "That doesn't mean I should've shouted or… pushed you."

Roy leaned against the doorframe, allowing a crooked grin to play across his face, "I don't know, you know how stubborn I can be."

Ebony returned the smile, finally looking Roy in the eye, "Do I ever."

She stepped forward, gripping his hand and pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. She began to pull away, but Roy gently wrapped his free arm around her waist.

"Please stay," he whispered, "I've missed you so much."

Ebony stepped even closer and embraced him, "I've missed you too." she whispered.

Roy was suddenly reminded of just how warm Ebony was. Her body heat seemed to mingle with his, turning the hug into a bundle of comforting warmth. Ebony gently nuzzled Roy's face and his cheeks turned bright red.

He coughed awkwardly and, disengaging from the hug, backed into his room. "Would you like to talk for a bit?"

Ebony nodded and followed him into the room, closing the door behind her. Roy settled on the edge of the bed farthest from the door, while Ebony crawled across the bed to join him. As she made her way across the bed, her hand came into contact with Μόνοςwhere she lay under the sheets.

Roy saw Ebony's brow furrow as she pulled the sheets aside and held the weapon up. "Roy…Why are you sleeping with your sword?"

Roy shrugged, "It's nice to have her close at hand."

Ebony leaned the sword next to his bedside table. "But you're safe. Here of all places."

Roy stared at the floor, his hands fiddling aimlessly with the edge of his blanket, "I know. Ever since I landed in Mistral, I've slept with Μόνος next to me. I guess, since I didn't have my team with me, it made me feel safer."

Ebony's eyes grew sad at this confession. She gently cupped Roy's face with her hands and pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss. Roy surrendered to the sensation, his hand gently resting on the back of his girlfriend's neck. Ebony broke the kiss and pressed her cheek to his in an affectionate nuzzle.

"Well, I'm here now and I'll be taking her place in your bed," she murmured.

Roy's eyes widened, "Really? You want to sleep with me tonight?"

Ebony blushed and resumed fiddling with her sleeve. "Well...not just tonight. If you'll have me."

Roy's face lit up, his ears standing to attention, "I'd love to have you."

They slid between the sheets and Ebony wrapped her arms around Roy, pulling the shorter faunus closer to her body. Roy blushed as he felt her breasts gently press into his back. The sensation was quickly displaced as Ebony gently ran her hands through his hair and over his ears. Roy felt his eyelids growing heavy as a purr rumbled to life in his chest. He heard Ebony laugh quietly and add a purr of her own.

"I've missed this," she whispered.

Roy cracked his eye open, "Really? We've only slept like this once."

Ebony hummed thoughtfully, "True, But I want to make this the new normal."

She leaned over and playfully nibbled one of his cat ears. "I've kept that night in a special little place in my mind," She said, teasing the ear with tender lips.

Roy grinned, "I do too. Kinda makes me wonder if I'll ever see that nightgown again."

Ebony was silent for a moment and Roy was afraid he'd said the wrong thing.

"That can….be arranged," he heard her purr a few seconds later.

Roy turned bright red and quickly changed the subject. "I was wondering; does Dahlia have any lingering side effects from her wound?"

Ebony was quiet for a moment. "It's very unlikely that she'll be able to conceive naturally."

Roy's heart panged slightly at the thought. "I hope she still can," he whispered, "You remember how she was with Sadie."

Ebony nodded, her cheek gently rubbing the side of his face, "I do, she always seemed like she would be good with kids." She was quiet for a few moments and Roy felt her grip him tighter, as if gaining the courage to say something. "Roy?...have you ever thought about having children?"

Roy blinked in surprise and turned over to face his bedmate, "Not really, why do you ask?"

Ebony avoided making eye contact, "I don't know, just curious."

Roy studied his girlfriend's face for a moment, before deciding to expound on his answer. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that it hasn't really crossed my mind before. As faunus, our kids would be faunus and would most likely be subjected to animosity during their life. I'd rather fix that problem before having any offspring."

Ebony laughed softly and gently pinched Roy's cheek. "Offspring? What are you 60?"

Roy playful grabbed her hand. "What? It's a good word."

"It is much more eloquent than just saying kids" She mused. Leaning forward, she gently pressed her forehead to his and rubbed their noses together, "Whatever comes, I'll be fine as long as I have you there with me."

Ebony's words stirred up powerful emotions in Roy's heart and he enveloped her in his arms.

"I agree wholeheartedly." he whispered into her shoulder.

Ebony's purr doubled in intensity and Roy grinned. A large wave of drowsiness overcame him and he yawned.

"We should probably try and get some sleep," he said sleepily.

Ebony hummed into his hair and gently untangled herself from his arms. "Agreed, goodnight Roy."

She turned over and snuggled down into the covers. Roy smiled and gently wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Goodnight Eb," he whispered, just before the gentle arms of sleep enveloped him.

-:-

The first few beams of sunlight shone through the cabin's windows the next morning, gently playing over the sleeping form of Aster Ving. Erelong, the pilot stirred and cracked her vibrant magenta eyes open. Shrugging off the blanket she'd slept under, Aster sat up and stretched luxuriously.

"Good morning!" a voice said from her right and she turned to see Sharon standing in front of the oven. Aster took a deep breath and caught the delicious scent of oatmeal with brown sugar.

"Morning Ma'am," she said, straightening her flight jacket as she stood and walked into the cabin's kitchen.

Sharon chuckled as she briskly stirred a large pot of oatmeal with a wooden spoon, "Please call me Sharon, 'Ma'am' makes me feel old."

Aster snickered, "You really don't look that old."

Sharon smiled back, "I'm surprised. You'd think being Roy's mother, there'd be a few more gray hairs."

Aster nodded in agreement, "Right. Is there anything I can help with?"

Sharon shook her head as she sprinkled a handful of raisins into the pot, "Not at the moment. I will have you wake up the others when the oatmeal's done. Until then, why don't we just talk for a bit."

Aster was more than ready to talk more with Sharon. She could tell, from the stories she'd heard yesterday and the sword leaning nonchalantly by the door, that there was more to this faunus than she had originally thought.

"What exactly do you do as a job?" the pilot asked.

Sharon shrugged, "This and that. My husband is the main breadwinner, but I take on odd jobs here and there when I can." The older woman turned her royal blue eyes to look into Aster's fuchsia ones. "And what about you?"

Aster fidgeted slightly, "I'm a...well, you could call me a freelance cargo transporter."

Sharon grinned and rolled her eyes slightly, "You can say smuggler, you're talking to a former bandit."

Aster's jaw dropped, "No way! You!?"

Sharon nodded pulling her sleeve up to show an artistic tattoo of a raven on her shoulder. "Yep, one of the best. But I left that life a long time ago."

Aster whistled, "Really, you left all of that adventure behind? Why?"

Sharon smiled fondly as she pointed to a family photo hanging on the fridge, "I had a bigger adventure waiting for me."

The pilot sat back in one of the kitchen chairs, "I guess, I never want to have kids, they just seem to weigh you down."

Sharon shrugged, "Maybe in some ways, but I can tell you that raising children is a reward all its own. I wouldn't trade the years I spent with Roy for anything."

Aster hummed thoughtfully, "You've got me there, he's a good kid."

Sharon slid several slices of bread into the toaster, "Speaking of Roy, why don't you go get them up; breakfast is almost ready."

Aster nodded and got up, making a beeline for the hallway. As she walked towards Roy's bedroom, she noticed several other photos on the wall and took a moment to look at them. The most prominent picture was of Sharon and baby Roy. The pilot smiled as she noticed the miniscule cat ears on the infant's head.

Turning away from the pictures, Aster moved to the first room and found the door ajar. When she saw this, a wickedly delightful idea entered her head. Let's wake the short stack up, smuggler style.

Smiling wickedly to herself, Aster slid into the room and crept to the bed as quietly as she could. Gripping the bed sheets, she ripped them off with a loud "RISE AND SHINE SHOoooh…"

The triumphant yell died in her throat as she realized that Roy was not exactly alone in bed. The faunus was shirtless, having shed his shirt during the night due to the bed being quite a bit warmer than normal thanks to the additional occupant.

Sitting next to him in bed was Ebony, yukita hanging off of her shoulder and hair tousled. Aster dropped the covers, keeping her hands up as if being threatened with a weapon.

"I...Um...Sorry to bother you but breakfast is ready!" The words tumbled from her mouth in a torrent and as soon as she got them out, she bolted from the room.

Another day, another chapter. I've been so excited to post these again. Writing this story is something I do to relax and it sometimes goes slowly. But when I hit that sweet spot, I'll go on for pages. "Volume 7" of my book is in the works and I slowly working through the editing for the last few chapters of this story chunk. I hope you all will stick around!

Until next we meet,

-Ar3mRising