Some pretty dark humor this chapter. You've been warned.

If you've ever seen Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia (been watching too much of that lately...), you'll get the reference. Youtube "The Implication" after reading the chapter if you haven't. Its worth the two minutes. Trust me.

There were few things that Cinder really enjoyed doing. Aside from following through with her plans to become the Fall Maiden (which had now been postponed indefinitely now that she was stuck here), there was the exceptionally rare time when she was alone and could practice her high notes. Aside from that, her life was actually pretty dull.

At least she had her diary.

Cinder never let that little black book leave her side. She had sewn a hidden pocket on the inside of her dress to keep it close at all times, and kept it under her pillow when she slept. Only one person had ever read it's contents before, and you could say they didn't enjoy becoming literal dust in the wind. That was the day Cinder went from having three bitchy step sisters to none at all (the other two had to go, just to be safe).

Today's entry was less words and more doodling. She sat on her bed, watching Zwei play with Ruby in the center of the room out of the corner of her eye. Trying to capture his gleefulness in pencil was nearly impossible to perfect; it was much harder than drawing Weiss with an arrow through her thick, spoiled brat skull. Oh, if only she had her bow…

"Ruby," Schnee yawned, sitting on Ruby's bottom bed painting her toenails an icy blue, "It's practically midnight. Is it really necessary to be so loud right now?"

Rose hoisted Zwei up into her arms, cradling him like a baby. "Really? Guess I lost track of time."

"Give me Zwei for tonight," Weiss said, holding her arms out for the dog, "I'll protect him from Miss Prissy Slippers over there."

Cinder shot her own glare back at the Ice Queen. She wasn't having any more of her disrespect tonight. Besides, she had a plan. She always had a plan. "There's no need for Zwei to sleep beside her. Let him decide who he wants himself."

"I dunno…" Ruby said, biting her lip, "He hasn't really napped with anyone not part of our team before."

Weiss looked suspiciously at her. She knew something was up. "I don't think so, Cinder. Zwei is better off with one of us."

"Ruby," Cinder put on her best fake friendly smile, "These past couple days have been awkward between us three, I will admit. I want to try and fix that. So please, put Zwei down. I am not as bad as Weiss makes me out to be."

Pondering the thought, Ruby shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Weiss did catch you playing with him the other day..." She put the Corgi down on his little legs and sat down by Weiss. "Go on buddy! It's all up to you!"

Zwei stood between the girls, looking back and forth between them. Master Ruby's smile was alluring, and he enjoyed how Snow White massaged his paws. But there was something alluring about the Crimson Bitch tonight. Maybe it was that delicious smell emanating from her fist…

Cinder smirked slightly as she noticed the Corgi's nose twitch. She moved her closed hand forward slightly, beckoning the dog with the treat concealed within it. Dogs could not resist the smell of an icing covered biscuit. As Zwei's front leg stepped in her direction, Cinder could taste sweet, sweet victory...

And then Ren walked in.

"Hey girls. Sorry I'm back so late. Nora wanted a tray of muffins, and by the time I finished making them she was asleep. I brought them up with me in case any of you wanted some."

Zwei made his decision quick. He bolted straight towards Ren, rearing up on his hind legs to try and reach the delicacies above.

"Guess you've got a bed buddy, Ren," Ruby giggled, diving under her own covers, "Nightie-night everyone!"

Wanting one more jab at her nemesis, Weiss stuck her tongue out at Cinder before climbing up to her own bed. Slamming her diary shut, Cinder tucked it underneath her as Ren lifted his muffins up onto his bed. She was about to slip under her sheets when she felt a small weight drop down by her feet.

"You can have Zwei for tonight," Ren said from up above, "Those are chocolate chip muffins. Not good for his kind."

Cinder blinked twice in disbelief as the Corgi dug his snout into her hand and snagged the treat. Deciding not to think too much about the act of kindness, she scratched behind Zwei's ears and smiled softly. Even the littlest of victories counted for something.

It was inevitable, but Yang and Blake had finally locked Adam and the Lieutenant out of their room.

Taurus knew very well that they were in there. He could hear them giggling the whole time he was pounding on the door, demanding they let him in or suffer the consequences. After an hour of no response, he took his spot on the couch downstairs as the Lieutenant made him a glass of warm milk in the kitchen. It was a good thing Adam had his notebook on hand, otherwise he wouldn't have finally thought of the perfect plan to get his darling back.

"So," the Lieutenant came back, handing Adam his beverage and a plate of cookies, "Have you checked your dating profile lately?"

"Like I said earlier, it won't be necessary," Adam grinned from ear to ear, "I've finally come up with the perfect method to win Blake over."

"Oh…" there was disappointment in the Lieutenant's voice, "Care to explain, boss?"

"You see, I've realized that I cannot be passive in my approach to her. It only results in failure. So, I have to be as direct and aggressive as possible to get what I want."

"Sounds pretty violent, boss."

"It may sound that way, but it isn't. Now, here's what I'm going to do. Once Blake is alone in our room, I'm going to close the door, lock it, and sit on her bed with her. Once we're side by side, I'll put my arm around her and ask politely that she returns to me."

The Lieutenant was getting that feeling of uneasiness in his stomach again. "That sounds surprisingly simple…"

"Oh, it is. Because here's the thing: She'll have no choice but to say yes."

"Why's that?"

"Well, because of The Implication."

Silence. Dead, awkward silence. Silence so quiet that you could hear Jaune snoring from upstairs.

"I'm not following you, boss."

"What's there not to follow? She's in the room with me, a locked room I may add, with nowhere to run. So her first thoughts going to be, 'What am I going to do, say no?' And then she'll fall into my arms where she belongs."

The Lieutenant stared at Adam, unblinking beneath his mask. "Boss. We've done some pretty unethical things in the past but that… That sounds really bad."

"No, you're misunderstanding me. If she says no, then of course the answer will be no. But she won't say no because of The Implication."

"You said that word again. What do you mean by that?"

"The Implication means that things may go badly if she refuses my demand. Now, if she does say no then things will get physical, but she won't even bother saying no because of The Implication."

"But it sounds like she might want to say no-

"What are you not getting, you imbecile?" Adam nonchalantly grabbed a cookie and took a bite. "She can't say no because she'll know better than to say it! It's a perfect plan!"

"No its not, boss! The minute the Blonde Demon or anyone in the house finds out about you doing that, we're both going to die! Or thrown in prison, at the very least!"

Furious, Adam chugged down his entire glass of milk and stood up. He slammed the cup down with a full milk mustache on his face. "How are you not understanding this?! I am not going to hurt Blake! Its simple logic, that's all! It's her duty to obey my command!"

It was then the two Faunus realized they had company. Emerald was standing at the bottom of the staircase looking at them, her eyes tired and annoyed from their shouting. "I don't even want to know what the hell you two are talking about."

"What?" Adam shrugged, "It's not like you'd be in any danger."

"So you are going to hurt her!" the Lieutenant stood up, knocking the cookie out of Adam's hand.

"Hey! That was my cookie, you son of a bitch!"

"How would you even survive here without me?! You would have been dead on day one if you pulled something as crazy as that off!"

"Oh, and you're no different? You threw me and a goddamn table out of the window!"

"I was protecting you!"

Rather than listen to these idiots bicker, Emerald trudged her way back upstairs. She'd make a note to tell Blake that Yang should break Adam's face first thing in the morning. And probably call the cops.

Yeah, definitely call the cops.