For the first time since his arrival in Vacuo, Taiyang actually felt like he was on vacation. Though he could hear movement elsewhere in the beach house, Raven had agreed not to set any alarms and to take as long as they reasonably could getting up and ready for the day. The newfound permission to be lazy led to Taiyang lounging upon the bed in his pajama pants, reading a magazine he found atop the dresser. It was horribly outdated and full of photos of places he had never seen in Atlas, and yet, looking over something so inconsequential to his life and the circumstances surrounding his visit to Vacuo just felt nice.
The soundtrack of the shower through the wall didn't hurt, either.
As he looked over the various cafes and shops within the colorful pages of the magazine, Taiyang couldn't help but imagine himself in the locations alongside Raven. He wasn't sure if it was the thought of her in the shower that put her to the forefront of his mind, or the fact that he could sense a rare emotion from her through the wall. While it wasn't as strong as it would have been had Raven been in the same room, Taiyang could feel her sense of relaxation and content with a comforting clarity. He allowed the emotions to overtake him as he anchored his aura to hers, and after a while, he closed his eyes midway through turning a page.
The sights he could see in his mind brought about by his aura mingling with Raven's were far more pleasant than those of a sidewalk bistro somewhere floating in the clouds.
"…Tai?"
Taiyang snapped out of his reverie, quickly severing the more intimate mental connection he had established. He had absolutely no idea how long he had been daydreaming and hadn't even heard the shower turn off. The sight of Raven standing before him wrapped in a short white towel didn't do anything to help his concentration, and so, he merely made a confused noise closer to a grunt than speech in response. Raven just rolled her eyes and made her way over to the dresser before pulling open a drawer and bending over to rummage through it.
"Enjoying the view?" Raven asked in a mocking tone.
"…that is such a loaded question," Taiyang accused. "It's not like I can say yes or no without you getting annoyed. So I'm going with… maybe."
"Maybe, huh?" Raven asked as she pulled out a top and pair of shorts. "And why's that?"
It was only then that Taiyang realized that in his efforts to dodge Raven's question, he had answered it with more honesty than he had intended. While he didn't dislike the view of Raven's backside and the towel barely concealing it, his eyes had slowly been drawn to something else entirely. The branded scar in the shape of a winged cog upon her right shoulder was an angry red, as though it had just been seared into her skin for the first time. The only thing that broke his focus upon the wound was when Raven stood up and turned to face him, giving him a rare full view of the scars that had marred the right side of her face.
"…Tai? It's not that serious. I was trying to… ugh, never mind."
"No, no, I get it," Taiyang reassured as he stood up from the bed and moved to meet her in front of the dresser. He gingerly put his hands upon her shoulders, taking a moment to slowly rest his fingers atop the scarring on her right side. "I'm just… thinking about other things. Does this hurt…?"
"…does what hurt?" Raven asked, not following Taiyang's meaning.
"You know. Your… brand," Taiyang said softly, giving the reddened flesh a gentle tap.
The shift in Raven's mood was immediate and powerful. It was almost enough to make Taiyang feel sick, as though his guts had frozen over and been replaced with solid blocks of ice. Where there had once been content, there was only contempt, and Raven looked away toward the messy sheets.
"Every so often… but I block it out. It's a dull, low-level pain that I learned to ignore over the years. Knowing he's dead makes it a lot easier. Now, it's just a reminder of things left in the past instead of something hanging over my head. Leave it alone."
"Sorry," Taiyang offered as he moved his fingers off the surface of the brand. "It's just really red. The shower, I guess?"
"What else would it be?" Raven snapped as she broke free of Taiyang's grasp. "It's fine. Drop it, and let's focus on enjoying ourselves. That's what we're supposed to be doing, right?"
"In theory, yeah," Taiyang agreed. "But with the whole thing with Summer, I th-…"
Taiyang hadn't been ready to see the towel drop, nor was he ready for the view of Raven's curvy backside that came with it. It was as though his entire mind shut down all at once upon seeing her nude form, and he lost the ability to process rational thought. The largest, most angrily burning scar in the world couldn't have drawn his attention from Raven's rear, and Taiyang stopped mid-sentence to try to permanently imprint the image into his brain throughout the fleeting glimpse.
"As if we weren't going to train while we were out here anyway," Raven replied as she stepped into a pair of lacy black panties. She seemed totally unbothered by being watched and kept her eyes on the wall ahead, her smug expression hidden from her friend. "Now, we've got a goal- help Summer develop her Maiden powers. If anything, this development has made me feel a little better about her. We have answers."
"Really?" Taiyang asked, more than a little disappointed that his perfect view had so suddenly disappeared as Raven dressed herself. "And here I thought the added stress would have caused you to distance yourself, like when we learned about her semblance all the way back at the beginning of the year. Or… not-semblance, now."
"You would think," Raven agreed as she rolled on her top and turned to face Taiyang. "But no. We're getting answers. The truth matters more than anything, Tai. Certainty in action can't really exist without knowing what you're up against. I like knowing what's going on, and where people stand. If anything, this is going to bring me closer to her. Knowing the truth about Ozpin and the Relics has brought all of us closer together this past year, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess it has," Taiyang replied hesitantly as he stepped toward the bathroom door. Something about Raven's tone and sudden shift in mood bothered him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on just what it was. "What if the truth ends up being something we can't deal with, though? Then what?"
"There's no such thing," Raven insisted with a wave of her hand. "Every situation in the history of Remnant has been 'dealt with' one way or another. We just need to make sure we're equipped with the truth so we can handle our situation in the best way we can. We're going to have to make some tough choices, Tai. I think any of us can see that coming. It's going to boil down to being able to live with them afterwards, and being sure enough of ourselves to do what needs to be done. This is a net gain, and a step forward. That's all there is to it."
"…right," Taiyang said. "It's way too early for a conversation like this. I'm gonna just shower, and we'll go from there."
"You do that," Raven acknowledged as she sat down upon the bed and picked up the discarded magazine. "Focus on relaxing. The heavy stuff can wait."
Taiyang nodded and slipped into the bathroom. The icy, weighty feeling in his stomach hadn't changed, but it had been joined by an emotion from Raven that he didn't recognize. It was something he, personally, had never felt before, and so he was unsure how to even begin to describe it. All he knew was that whatever it was, it scared him.
The meeting had gone on for hours. Though Jay was, in truth, bored out of his mind, he was a master at hiding such a thing. Robin was far less equipped to put forth a front of neutrality, and so, Jay had to spend most of the meeting kicking his brother under the table to get him to sit up properly as Arcturus spoke. Things had gone exactly as he had anticipated overall, and yet, they had also taken several strange turns that Jay couldn't help but feel were leading to something worth the wait.
The presence of Nero Torchwick came as no surprise, especially after Jay heard the angry little man speaking loudly as he, his brother, and Arthur Watts made their way down the halls and toward the meeting room. Though Jay was unable to make out what the man was saying, he could tell that Nero was fired up about something. From the way that his beady little eyes darted back and forth between Arcturus Schnee and the scroll resting atop the table in front of him, Jay had a feeling that it concerned the Vacuan vacation that his colleagues-turned-friends had embarked upon. Twice, Nero's scroll had gone off during the meeting, and twice, Nero had ended the call immediately upon checking the screen.
Far more surprising than any of Nero's odd behaviors was the presence of a sixth person at the table, and one that Jay Winchester had never seen attend a meeting before. Camilla Schnee sat to Arcturus' right side, and for every question or proposition put forward by Arthur, Nero, and Robin, the woman had leaned sideways to whisper something into Arcturus' ear. Each and every time, the man's face shifted to something unreadable as he delivered his answer, and with every passing suggestion, Arthur Watts grew more and more annoyed. Jay had chosen to remain silent, watching as those around him exchanged words and not quite following what exactly the goal of the meeting was. A myriad of topics had been discussed, and none of them seemed to connect in a coherent fashion. Jay figured it would only be a matter of time before one of the others let the truth of the matter come to light when the pressure built to uncomfortable levels.
He had guessed correctly.
"When I called this meeting, it was with the intention of squeezing Mantle more," Arthur Watts said brazenly as he stood from his seat and placed his hands upon the table. "I was unaware that Winchester Military Technologies or the Torchwick family were to be involved… but one of the two seems to be getting in our way, Arcturus."
"Mantle, Mantle, Mantle," Nero mocked, leaning backward in his chair. "Seems to me as though he invited me and the W.M.T. boys specifically to talk you down from doing exactly that… and while I normally couldn't care less about Mantle and their problems, I'm beginning to see why. Squeezing Mantle is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. We should be focusing our efforts on Atlas- a strategic partnership to spread our names across the floating city. That's where the real money is."
"I'm with him," Robin agreed with a nod. "We're only here to discuss lien. All this talk about Mantle is boring… but if Watts thinks we can apply the same ideas he's put in place about charging the faunus down in Mantle a premium and swindling them to the ones up here in Atlas, that could be a decent starting point. Those stupid animals were made for us to profit off of. How about we go from there?"
Nero smirked and Arthur narrowed his eyes, both looking to Arcturus for an answer. The man in charge exchanged a quick glance with his wife before she laid a hand upon his shoulder.
"Now."
Arcturus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Jay watched as the man made a series of facial expressions, clearly conflicted in what he wanted to say. It was an uncomfortable, silent minute before Arcturus Schnee stood up and opened his eyes.
"…not quite what I had in mind, in truth," Arcturus said as he stared Arthur down. "You see… I made a promise to my daughter about the future of the S.D.C. and its involvement with the faunus… and I intend to keep it."
Author's Note:
Could the legends be true? Is it even possible that Arcturus Schnee is not, in fact, a lying asshole?
Find out next time on Kali and Roman Find More Excuses to Say the Word "Penis."
-RD
