Roman let out a soft groan as the vibration of his scroll against the soft, pillow-topped mattress of his bed stirred him from a deep, dream-filled slumber. He gave in to a wide, involuntary yawn before rolling onto his stomach and scrabbling his fingers atop the mattress to try to locate the buzzing device. Once his fingers found purchase upon the rattling metallic backing of the case, he flicked it open while doing the same with his eyes. Roman blinked away the sleep to find his text chain with Kali from the previous night on screen once again, along with a timestamp reading 3:06 AM beneath the final message.

Nah, it's nothing to worry about. I've got your back.

Of course you do- and my front, whenever you want it.

Maybe sometime during the big fancy party? Sneak off and make out?

I like your style. Let's lewd it up in a storage closet.

Roman? You didn't fall asleep, did you?

Torchy?

Gods damn it, and you left me all porked up at stupid o' clock with Willow asleep next to me. Night.

Roman scowled softly at his own inability to last through the conversation before shaking his head and letting out a sigh.

"Way to go, dipshit," Roman admonished to himself. "Now, let's see…"

The boy scrolled his thumb down to see the new messages, only for his eyes to widen as he suddenly felt very much awake. There upon his scroll was a picture of a familiar female torso framed perfectly from the collarbone to her navel, and devoid of all clothing. A pair of perky, rather modest breasts greeted him front and center, and a simple message was attached underneath.

Good morning~

"…hell yeah it is," Roman agreed aloud as he rolled onto his back and admired Kali's bare flesh with a depraved grin. He stared up at the portrait of his object of affection before saving the image and getting to work on crafting a reply. The process took several attempts of typing and deleting a response before he was satisfied enough to hit 'Send.'

Quite the perfect pair. Too bad this isn't a case of breakfast in bed.

Roman's heart picked up its pace as he watched Kali begin to compose a response within the message chain, only for it to skip several beats upon reading her reply.

When we get back home, we could make it that. Got anything interesting to show me in return?

Roman hesitated before scooting backward up the bed and letting the sheets fall from his bony frame to pool within his lap. He went about tilting the scroll this way and that as he held the object to face himself, trying to find the perfect angle. On the first attempt, he managed a passable rendition of his target, but found himself unsatisfied with the result. The second, third, and fourth shots were quite similar, though the fifth struck Roman as nearly an exact counterpart to Kali's offering. Finally proud of his work, he sent off a picture of his own unclothed torso, his cheeky smile just barely half-visible in the upper part of the frame.

You showed me yours, so I'll show you mine, Roman added beneath the picture. A lightning fast reply came onscreen, and Roman couldn't help but chuckle.

Pretty interesting, but it takes a lot to hold my attention. After all, there's some pretty fierce competition around…

Roman's heart sank at the words. He doubted that Kali intended them to carry any sort of sting, but he felt a hooked barb pierce his chest all the same. Frustrated and desperate, he tossed the blanket away and used one hand to lift the waistband of his pajama pants while the other aimed the camera of his scroll down and into the confines of the dark material. Roman frowned as the preview image onscreen came out too dark, and then found himself doubting whether or not he should hit the button and take the picture at all. His resolve faltered as he lowered the scroll and let the waistband of his pants snap shut, only for him to growl softly to himself.

"Damn it…" Roman grumbled as he let his scroll fall onto his stomach. "Come on man, don't be a pussy. It's just a p-"

Another buzzing from his scroll caused Roman to jump, and he immediately lifted the device to read yet another text from Kali.

…too far?

"Shit!" Roman cursed as he found his thumbs spasming rather than obeying his instinct to type. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Roman!" came a call from somewhere in the nearby hallway. "Roman, are you awake!? The party starts in just under two hours! Get your ass out of bed, you lazy little shit!"

Roman grit his teeth and growled softly before sucking in a breath and reaching down to roll the waistband of his pants down to his upper thighs. Without a second thought, he gripped himself around the base of his stiffened phallus and pushed down upon his groin to try to make his genitals look as large as possible amid the curling auburn hairs surrounding them. He snapped a quick picture before pulling his pajamas back up and sending it over to Kali while he hurriedly rose from the bed and prepared himself to face his father.

"And so begins another shitty day…"

Kali chewed nervously upon one of her nails as she sat upon Willow's bed, clad only in a loose, fluffy white bathrobe. Her ears were flat and her expression was full of worry as she stared down at the message chain, her mind racing.

…too far?

"Shit," Kali said softly to herself. "I need to stop pushing him…"

Kali moved a finger up to begin snapping her scroll shut, only for the indication of an incoming message to stop her in her tracks. Her ears perked slightly at the sight, and she shifted upon the bed to tuck her legs beneath herself as she waited. It wasn't long before a photo of Roman's bare crotch appeared in the text chain, and Kali's face broke out into a wicked grin.

"Damn," the faunus commented as she eyed the photo and pinched her fingers to zoom in on all of the details. "Breakfast in bed indeed, man."

Kali tapped out a reply as quickly as she could, and then immediately brought up a hand to start untying her bathrobe.

New wallpaper for sure. How about I give you a good one, too?

The faunus girl went about spreading open the upper half of her robe to expose her chest before she separated her legs and bent them at the knees. She fanned out the lower section of the robe to leave her most intimate parts entirely exposed, before leaning back and bringing the scroll down to try to find the perfect angle for a naughty perspective shot.

"Kali! What are you doing!?"

The horrified shriek from the other side of the room startled Kali badly enough that she dropped her scroll down onto the sheets and hurriedly scrambled to close her robe once again. A scandalized Willow, wrapped in a matching bathrobe of her own, stood in the doorway of the bathroom holding on to the front of her garment as though she was afraid it could fly away on its own at any moment. Her jaw hung open as she stared at Kali, and her cheeks were a furious red.

"Uh… sending nudes to Roman? Obviously?" Kali offered as she closed her legs and composed another hasty message.

Sorry. Gonna have to wait- I think I just scarred Willow for life. I'll make it up to you later.

Willow brought up a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, her other hand still holding her bathrobe securely closed.

"…Kali. Please refrain from such behavior when in my presence, or my household at all. It was bad enough that you stayed up until nearly dawn texting boys, but I can't abide you being so… so…"

"…open with my sexuality?" Kali tried in a deadpan voice as her ears wilted. "Sorry for being comfortable with myself, I guess."

Willow opened her eyes and sighed once again, though heavier than she had before. Slowly, she made her way across the room and stood near the bed, where she shook her head in uncertainty.

"No, it isn't… it's just… it makes me uncomfortable. 'Sexuality' isn't a concept I really know how to grapple with, and seeing you so open and blatant about it was a bit of a shock to my system. I'm sorry, Kali," Willow offered. "I suppose you have a right to do such things when you believe you're in private, whether that is actually the case, or not."

Kali reached out a hand as she let her scroll drop back to the bed, and Willow merely stared for a moment before accepting it in a loose grip.

"Wil," the faunus started as she tilted her head, "why is it that you're so accepting and accommodating of everyone but yourself? This isn't the first time you've expressed that you're not happy about something, only to immediately double back and just accept it for the sake of other people. I mean, yeah, I appreciate you loosening up a little, but I worry about you, you know? I think we all do. You're under a lot of pressure, and even though just giving in is the easiest way to handle it, it's definitely not the healthiest in the long term."

Willow moved to sit next to her friend on the mattress and looked at the carpet as her face twisted into a heavy frown.

"I… it's the way I was raised," Willow said carefully as she gave Kali's hand a gentle squeeze. "I was told from a very young age that people outside of this place would always see me as a princess in a tower. Not one in need of rescue, but rather, one born with all she needs, with guaranteed comforts, lavish excesses, and both the will and means to procure anything she wants. The people of the outside world will see me as out of touch, above it all, alone in my riches, and unable to understand them."

"…are they wrong?" Kali asked hesitantly.

"No. No, they're not," Willow confirmed. "And nor was my mother when she told me that uncomfortable truth. In that very same conversation, she also told me that being a Schnee means understanding that while the world will see me according to those notions, they will forever miss a large part of the picture. Yes, I 'have everything', and yes, I live far beyond the means of most, but… in truth, those riches, this name, and our company are not the freedom and comforts that most assume them to be. They're chains."

Kali took a long, aggressive inhale through her nose as she tightened her grip around Willow's fingers enough to earn eye contact from the heiress. Her own eyes narrowed slightly as her feline ears remained flat.

"You might want to be very careful when speaking to a faunus about chains," Kali warned.

Willow's frown only deepened as she seemed to pale. "Yes, I… I know. I'm not that ignorant, and I knew exactly what I was saying. I only hope that you'll indulge me for a moment, because I don't really have any other way of explaining it. I won't deny that your suffering, and especially Adam's, is greater than mine… but that doesn't erase my own. I want to confide in you as a friend, not a human, specifically because you asked, and I trust you. May I continue?"

Kali allowed herself to fall backward onto the mattress as she placed her hands behind her head with a sigh.

"You may."

Willow folded her hands in her lap and cleared her throat in response.

"Being a Schnee, there is so much that I've borne witness to while living in this mansion. Uncomfortable conversations, injustices, tense, heated arguments between my father and business partners… and I am powerless to stop it. It isn't for lack of trying- I have stepped in, and I have tried to make my voice heard… at least, when I was younger. These days, I don't interject much at all, and simply watch sadly as life goes on the Schnee way."

"Why?" Kali asked emphatically. "You'd rather just sit back and be complicit in how things are run up here than speak up? Seriously? What the hell is stopping you from putting your foot down and refusing to move?"

"The threat of being disowned and permanently losing my ability to make meaningful change when the time is right, for one," Willow explained as she turned her head to look at Kali. "Silence now, success later. It's a mantra my mother taught me long ago. Patience is rewarded."

"You don't seriously think your family would disown you, do you?" Kali questioned as she raised a brow. "From what little I saw of your mom, I don't think she'd let it happen. I'm calling bullshit, Willow."

Willow's shoulders tensed as her mouth pulled into a tight, uncomfortable line.

"I… I don't know. I suppose I mostly agree with you in that it seems unlikely, but… the risk is too great. I could lose everything, including the chance t-"

"Stop," Kali interrupted as she sat up once again. "Just stop if you're not going to be honest with me, or yourself. There's more to this. The Willow I know wouldn't back down from doing what's right because of a miniscule chance of disaster. You ran headfirst into a brawl to stop a criminal while being mostly untrained in real fights, and to try to help Raven. You're not backing down from a verbal argument about the faunus with your family when you're willing to literally put your life on the line for a friend."

Willow squinted her eyes shut and shook her head, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"…there is nothing that hurts me more than knowing that I'm the source of misery for someone I genuinely care about."

"Hey, calm down," Kali insisted as she placed her hand on Willow's shoulder. "Yeah, this conversation kinda sucks, but I'm not in misery."

"I'm not talking about you," Willow explained as she shook her head once again. "I'm talking about my father."

Kali contemplated lifting her hand as the room fell to deafening silence. She tried to come up with something to say, but could only settle on one simple thing.

"…what?"

"As I told you, I tried standing up to him, when I was younger. I tried making the point of the amount of suffering he's caused the faunus, and I received only a calm, logical explanation from him about why things are the way they are. But through that calm, there was something else in his expression. My father is an incredible businessman and quite capable of keeping a poker face, but he's horrible at hiding pain. He doesn't want to do what he does, in overworking and underpaying your people. He's explained it all to me before, but it was all logic that I didn't understand at the time. I know for a fact, however, that my questioning him made him feel miserable, and truly hurt him. His heart isn't in this any more than my mother's is- his heart lies with me, and the thought that I might see him as a monster cut to his core," Willow replied.

"…so use that," Kali offered. "Use that to goad him into doing what needs to be done not for the company, but for Remnant."

"And emotionally manipulate my own father?" Willow questioned.

"If that's what it takes," Kali countered. "Do the ends not justify the means?"

"…I don't know," Willow admitted as her breathing quickened. "Kali, I just… don't know. He lashes out. He gets very angry, at times, and… it could backfire badly for me, for my mother, for… even for the faunus. That is why, eventually, I want you to talk to him. I want you to build rapport and say what I can't. Right now, I'm trying to balance my station, his emotional and mental wellbeing, my friendships, which I never had before, and so many other things that I can't help but feel paralyzed. That's why I simply agree and drop my own preferences in simple matters. I know that I've promised so much, but right now, I don't know what to do. I'm only just now seeing how big this all is, and how much pressure it places squarely on me… and rightly so."

Kali finally let her hand drop and softened her tone.

"Willow… if what's going on right now is enough to make you nearly have a panic attack, what the hell was your plan for 'changing the future' and 'righting the wrongs of your family'? How, exactly, do you think you're going to undo generations of institutional racism and injustice when you don't even have the heart to stand up to one man? Or to me?" Kali inquired as gently as she could.

Willow spared Kali one last glance before suddenly bursting into tears and burying her face in her hands. Her entire body quaked with sobs as she doubled over upon the mattress. Kali was quick to wrap her friend in a tight embrace from behind, though it did little to help the heiress calm down.

"I-I don't know!" Willow admitted through her tears. "You know what's expected of me in every aspect of life, and with all of you now in the picture, I can't help but apply that same logic! I don't want to disappoint any of you, but the more I feel like I owe to all of you, the less I feel capable of carrying out any of it!"

Kali tightened her grip as she rested her chin on Willow's shoulder.

"Hey! Just… calm down, alright!? I'm not expecting you to just magically come up with a solution today, I just want to know where your head is at!" Kali reassured.

Willow took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. After only a few minutes in Kali's embrace she straightened her posture, wiped her eyes upon the cloth of her robe, and steadied her breathing as she stared out across the room. The heiress licked her lips and took several deep breaths before clearing her throat once again and keeping her eyes off of Kali.

"…I'm fine. I'll be fine. My apologies."

A brief pause occurred in which Kali released her grip and backed away from her friend, looking just as scandalized as Willow had upon exiting the bathroom.

"…Willow, what the fuck?"

"…I'm sorry?" the other girl questioned as she stood from the bed and turned to face her friend, head tilted. She sniffled only once more and folded her hands before herself. "I'll try to start working out a concrete set of ideas to make progress on this. I promise you, I just haven't been dedicating what time I should t-"

"Shut up," Kali commanded as she slid off the bed and stood before Willow while pointing at her. "Shut your mouth, now."

Willow did as she was commanded, though not without giving Kali a resentful look.

"Explain to me what just happened. You went from a hysterical mess to a robot at the drop of a hat, and now you're acting complacent and apologetic for things that aren't your fault again. What did they do to you up here to make you such an emotional train wreck?" Kali asked as she threw her hands out to the sides, palms upturned.

"I… I was told to keep emotions out of negotiation, and to learn to suppress my own to make judgment calls easier," Willow admitted. "There's great potential to lose things when reacting emotionally, and I let my feelings slip out, earlier. For that, I apologize."

"…if you apologize one more time, I'm punching you in the gut," Kali warned. "That's all bullshit. You know who else is doing exactly what you're telling me about right now? Adam. He's dealing with more unpleasant shit than any of us, and he's bottling it up and keeping it in. Do you know how many times he's almost exploded and done something stupid because he refuses to let his anger out?"

"This isn't like that," Willow protested. "This isn't anger. It's…"

Kali watched as her friend trailed off, only for the heiress to shake her head.

"It's what?"

"…heartbreak," Willow admitted with a sheepish look at the faunus. "Heartbreak, suppressed for the sake of many others, and myself. You all have issues to deal with that I'd rather attend to than my own, in order to make up for what things I can't yet give you. I can at least provide that."

Kali heaved a sigh and let her shoulders droop as she held a hand to her forehead.

"Wil… I don't think you realize just how fucked up you really are. You're right there in the races for title of 'most damaged,' and you can't even see it. Tell me something- without referring to any one of us, what do you most want in your life, right now? What's missing that would truly make you happy?" Kali asked.

Willow paused, and frowned once again.

"…love. Romantic love. I know that you want me to lean on you, but that isn't the same, Kali. Even I know it's not. I've already committed myself to trying to 'fix things', however futile that may be. I truly wish I could have someone that would commit themselves to me and try to fix me. The one thing you're wrong about is my self-awareness. I do know that I'm broken. I just don't like to acknowledge it, when I also know that I'm lacking someone to hold me close," Willow confessed.

"So, what's stopping you?" Kali asked. "Having too much to deal with already? Or do you just think everyone sees you as untouchable? 'cause Qrow honestly might, despite the fact that there's a spark between you two. He talks about you a lot, and he gives you all of those romantic, meaningful looks. Don't act like you don't see 'em."

Willow's frown quickly turned to a small smile and was chased by a blush.

"I… I do, yes," she admitted. "But h-"

"No buts," Kali cut in. "Come on. Roll the dice, take a chance."

"But he has struggles of his own!" Willow pointed out. "How can he support mine?"

"He won't," Kali corrected. "You'll support each other's. This is basic shit in relationships."

"Not to me," Willow reminded. "Besides, I don't feel like I would be very successful in courtship."

"Courtship?" Kali repeated with a sour tone. "Willow, if you just put on your come-fuck-me boots and make eyes at him while asking for a date, he will melt."

"My… my what boots?" Willow balked.

"Oh, come on! You know the ones!" Kali gestured vaguely toward her friend's legs. White leather, knee-high, four inch heels? If that doesn't scream 'these legs are open for business', I don't know what does."

Willow tried to fight back her grin and took several steps as she shifted uncomfortably in place while wringing her hands.

"I… that wasn't my intention when I bought them, I just thought they looked good…" Willow tried as she squirmed.

"Yeah, yeah," Kali said with a wave of her hand. "Either way, I think you're spot on- you need a man to support you, and you need to start being intentional with your game. And I swear to the gods, if you say 'my game?' right now, I will scream."

Willow abruptly closed her mouth as her blush intensified. She took a deep breath in lieu of what she wanted to ask, and instead merely nodded.

"Well… could you teach me? I know that it's asking a lot, but could you teach me about… sex?" Willow finished, breathing the last word almost as a whisper.

Kali tried and failed to suppress a snort, before turning it into a full-on laugh as her ears finally perked once again.

"Honey, you have absolutely come to the right place, but also- slow your roll. How about kissing? Affectionate touches? How to talk to a guy without sounding like you're from the middle ages and/or about to fluff your petticoat to make sure you're not showing too much leg?" Kali suggested.

"I am not that bad!" Willow protested, before pausing and folding her arms over her chest. "Probably."

Kali rolled her eyes and sighed, before giggling softly. "You're kinda that bad. I can teach you quite a bit, but I'm gonna need you to make me a promise. One that I know you can keep."

Willow watched as Kali extended a hand, and let it linger between them for a few moments. Slowly, she accepted the offer, and shook with a nod.

"I'll at least hear it. What is it?"

"I want you to promise that you'll focus on yourself for a while, specifically with this. You're worried about big, sweeping changes in the future, and you should be, but not to the point that it breaks you," Kali reminded. "With a relationship, though, you can dive in, all-in, and really experience what it's like to devote yourself to something, or in this case, someone worthy all of that effort. So, if we're doing this, you're gonna go in hard."

Willow sighed, and then nodded firmly. "Alright. I will."

"Glad to hear it," Kali praised. "Now, let's get changed and get makeup going. We've only got about an hour, at this point."

"Right," Willow agreed. "And… thank you, Kali. For being understanding, for sticking with me, just… everything, really."

"Eh," Kali replied as she moved toward the closet to retrieve her clothing. "You're a wreck, and I'm gonna take you under my wing for all things sexy. Besties?"

Willow grinned and joined her friend's side.

"…besties."

Roman turned the water off and stepped out of the shower onto the tile of the bathroom floor as a head of steam followed him out of the shower. He halfheartedly grabbed a towel from the rack before reaching for his scroll that rested atop the back of the toilet and turning it on. No new messages awaited him.

"Damn it," the boy cursed as he set the device back atop the tank. "Total boner killer."

Roman went about toweling off as usual while grumbling to himself, before turning the towel into a makeshift skirt and brushing his teeth. He considered taking another naughty picture for Kali while waiting for the mirror to defog, before thinking better of it. Instead, the boy simply grabbed his scroll and made a move to exit the bathroom, only to find his father standing mere feet from the door. Nero Torchwick was wearing a formal tuxedo, clean shaven for once, and looking absolutely irate.

"Dad…?" Roman questioned. "I was just getting read-"

Roman didn't have time to react as Nero crashed a fist into his abdomen with a hard uppercut. The blow knocked the wind out of Roman and he stumbled backward into the doorframe, only for Nero to follow up the blow with a knee to the crotch. Roman cried out in pain as he tried to slip back into the bathroom, only for Nero to grab his neck and pin him up against the doorframe while grinding his back into the harsh wood.

"No aura, hm?" the older man questioned. "Guess the fancy huntsman's academy didn't teach you to always keep it up, even when you think you're safe. Guess you're also fucking stupid enough to think you're safe while you're lying to me."

"I'm not… lying…" Roman protested as his father's grip tightened.

"Bullshit!" Nero yelled as he finally let his son drop, only to throw another blow into the boy's stomach. He finished with a hard punch to Roman's ribs, and Roman felt something crack within his chest as his breath was stolen once again.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out that Willow's going to Beacon?" Nero seethed. "Did you think I'm that fucking stupid? I saw the news about the robbery she stopped, Roman. I've been holding it in, waiting for today to make sure the message sticks, you little shit. You see her every day. I know you do. You make an effort to connect our families, today, or you're out on your ass. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Roman hissed, only to earn another hard punch to the base of his ribcage. He let out an earnest wail of pain and began to shudder as he pressed back into the doorframe. "Yes, sir!"

"Unbelievable," Nero grumbled as he shook out his hand while looking over his son. "You unbelievable, weaselly little piece of shit. One more misstep, and you're on your own. All I provide for you, and you repay with disappointment after disappointment. Stand up straight, and don't you dare slouch or act like anything's wrong today. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir," Roman said again as he straightened himself up. A painful twinge pulsed through his lower chest as he did so, but he forced himself to stand through it to avoid yet another assault.

"Good," Nero mocked as he cracked his knuckles, and then his neck. "Get your pasty ass dressed, get downstairs, and get in the limo. We leave in ten minutes, and if you're not ready, then pack your shit and go find somewhere else to stay, permanently."

Nero said nothing more as he stalked out of the room, and Roman grit his teeth before immediately slouching over as his father disappeared from sight. Roman clutched at his ribs with a hiss of pain and began to type on his scroll as he held back tears of pain.

Dad just beat the shit out of me again, and he's demanding that I make progress with Willow. You can't use your real name, or he'll figure out who you are, and I'm even more fucked. I don't know what to, Kal. I think he broke one of my ribs or something.

A reply came through almost immediately, and Roman sighed in relief as he went about retrieving his clothing from around the room.

We'll figure it out together, and Willow's on board to lie and act interested publicly. I'm so sorry, Roman. When we get back to Beacon, I'll take care of you. Promise.

Roman let his scroll fall onto the bed as he sucked in another painful breath and went about getting ready for the day. He couldn't shake the dreadful feeling that he might not be a Torchwick for much longer.

Author's Note:

And fun was had by all. Party time next week.

-RD