Taiyang stared down at his scroll, desperately waiting for a response from Raven. After breaking off from Qrow and Bartholomew to look for Adam in a different part of the museum, he had wandered exhibit after exhibit looking over the crowds. Though he was indeed keeping an eye out for the telltale set of horns, over time, his attention became more and more fixated on any potential vibration within the pocket of his cargo shorts. Several times, he had lifted the device after thinking he felt a text come through, only to realize that nothing had happened yet again. Eventually, he had taken to leaning against a large, wide column on the second floor of the museum and rereading the brief conversation that Raven had started. He wasn't sure he liked what he saw.
Raves, 1:29 PM
Am I too uptight?
3:36 PM
A little, yes, but we all have our faults. We can work on it together. Why do you ask?
And then there was nothing. Perhaps it was Adam's burst of negative emotion that had ironically made Taiyang feel sick enough to become distracted away from finding him. Perhaps it was some sort of Vacuan bug he had come down with after wandering the market earlier in the day. Perhaps he simply felt awful that he had been honest… or felt awful for feeling awful about being honest. All of those thoughts had crossed his mind, and yet, nothing was at all clear to him as he continued to look at the screen. There was only one thing left to do.
With a defeated sigh, Taiyang pressed the glass of his scroll and raised it to the side of his face. He began to pace back and forth in front of the column, waiting with bated breath as the line rang repeatedly on the other end. After what seemed like an eternity, Raven's voice came through in an annoyed tone.
"Gods, Tai, you scared the shit out of us! Now's not a good time. We've got someone stalking us, a-"
"I… what?" Taiyang asked as he managed to process what Raven had just said. "What do you mean someone's stalking you?"
"Long story," Raven answered. "Someone broke into the beach house, and it's looking like they were camping in Willow's security tower. They cut the power, so we might not have any cam footage. I'm headed back down with Professor Calavera and Kali right now to make sure the house is clear. Willow's in the shower, and there might be someone inside."
"Professor Calavera?" Taiyang asked incredulously as his body began walking toward the nearest staircase without making a conscious decision to do so. "How… never mind, I guess it doesn't matter. I'll come back to the house and help out. Hang tight."
"Bring the other boys with you, and get in touch with Roman if he's not with you," Raven ordered.
"The other… oh, shit!" Taiyang exclaimed as he slapped a palm against his forehead. "We got split up and I got distracted after we lost Adam…"
"You lost Adam?" Raven asked, her tone venomous. "What do you mean you lost Adam?"
"…also a long story," Taiyang said lamely. "Lemme call Qrow and I'll get started on wrangling everyone. Did you… uh… did you get my text?"
"…text?" Raven asked before a small pause. "What are you even… oh. I must not have seen it come in. I'm… looking at it now…"
"…sorry…" Taiyang offered immediately as he nervously ran his hand through his hair, taking the steps downward as quickly as he could. "I… maybe I shouldn't have…"
"No, I asked, and you answered honestly," Raven consoled. "But now isn't the time. We'll talk about that later. Maybe tonight. I don't know. Stop giving me that look, Kali!"
"Yeah, later," Taiyang agreed. "Later's good. Let me call the boys and figure this all out. Damn it, why is everything so complicated…"
"Wish I knew. See you soon."
Taiyang ended the call, only to navigate to his contacts to start another one. Just as his thumb hovered over Qrow's portrait, an entirely separate face flashed onscreen. He hadn't expected to see the telltale orange fringe and eyeliner, nor did he expect the sullen tone in Roman's voice as he connected the call.
"…Roman?"
"…I need some help," Roman began. "You know how to deal with people and whatever, right?"
"That depends on what you mean by deal with people."
Roman rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh as he shoved another fry into his mouth before beginning to speak around it.
"I fucked up. Fox is pissed at me right now because I made a joke about him being blind, even though he does it all the time. He's in a bar surrounded by the rest of BASS and gods know who else, and I really don't feel like publicly embarrassing myself right now. Any advice?"
Roman looked up from his scroll as Taiyang took the time to collect his thoughts, hoping to see Fox coming out to meet him. He had no such luck, despite the fact that something like half an hour had passed since Cerise had gone back inside. As Roman narrowed his eyes in annoyance, Taiyang began to speak once again.
"What advice are you even looking for? There are multiple situations going down right now, and I don't think I can really help you out."
"What the fuck does that mean?" Roman asked. "What should I do, man?"
"…go inside and apologize," Taiyang said slowly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You were an asshole, so now you have to deal with the fallout. Listen, I've gotta go, Raves just told m-"
"Yeah. Thanks," Roman interrupted in a harsh tone before disconnecting the call and rising from his seat. "Some help you are."
Roman muttered several curses under his breath as he stomped his way toward the tavern, looking every bit the petulant child. Upon shoving his way through the door and doing a cursory visual sweep of the main floor, he saw no sign of Team BASS at any of the tables. The lack of his targets made him throw his hands up in exasperation, earning several looks from other patrons.
"…what took you so long?" Cerise asked as she approached the side, her hands occupied with swirling a rag inside of a large glass mug. "BASS left about ten minutes ago…"
"What?" Roman asked as he turned to face her. "Fuckin'… seriously? I didn't see them leave! And you didn't warn me!?"
Cerise blinked only once, her hands momentarily stopping their motions as she jerked her head toward one of the walls.
"…there's a side door over there, and I'm on the clock. My boss is already pissed at me for stepping outside to talk to you in the first place. This is your problem, not mine."
"Gods damn it," Roman cursed as he clenched a fist. "I was just coming in here to bite the bullet and apologize to Fox, and now it'll be worse next time I see him."
"You came in here out of obligation, though," Cerise accused as she walked past Roman and collected a stack of mostly emptied plates from a vacated table. She arranged them into a stack with expert efficiency before looping her fingers through a series of other glass mugs. "Not because you actually wanted to. If it mattered to you in any major way, you would've been faster about it."
"Maybe some people don't find it all that easy to just do the things they know they should when it's uncomfortable," Roman spat. "I know I have to talk to him either way, so it doesn't even matter."
"Then maybe some people need to put on their big boy pants and push themselves to do shit that's uncomfortable more often," Cerise shot back as she finished balancing her precarious stack of plates and glared at Roman. "There's something my mom used to say about my dad that I've always kept in the back of my mind- 'if he wanted to, he would.' It's a simple idea- if you're wondering why someone doesn't text you back, or why they cancel plans, or they don't do something when you're relying on them to get it done? It's an easy explanation- they didn't want to to begin with. Stop putting faith in people that flake and waste your time. Fox just lost faith in you for that same reason."
"…tch. You don't know me," Roman replied while crossing his arms. "You have no idea what I do and don't want."
"Really?" Cerise said flatly as she slalomed through the nearby tables and made her way through toward the kitchen. "I'm pretty sure I do, at least right now. Maybe I didn't earlier today, but now, I think it's pretty clear."
Roman watched Cerise disappear behind a pair of double doors, once again convinced that her skirt somehow kept getting shorter. With a shake of his head, he sat down at a vacant table and began to drum his fingers atop it as he waited. He took out his scroll and rested it on the tabletop, weighing his options. Roman opened his contacts and began to flick through them, Cerise's words about wants, needs, and doing what he wanted to do playing on loop within his mind.
Fox needed to be apologized to at some point, both to assuage Roman's personal guilt and to smooth over the squad's relationship with Team BASS. He had made a pact with Qrow to finally make his move on Kali, though even Roman was smart enough to know that it was neither the time nor place to do so. Even so, he could call her and check in on whatever situation Taiyang had alluded to back at the beach house… but did he really want to get involved in yet another mess? As he thought the two options over, Roman came to the conclusion that all he really wanted was alcohol, and Vacuo might be unregulated enough for him to get it quite easily.
As though she had indeed read his mind, Cerise exited the kitchen with a bottle of beer in hand and a tray loaded with plates balanced in the other. Her head was tilted to one side as she approached Roman's table, though the detail slipped his notice as he eyed the beverage that was unceremoniously plunked down in front of him. The brand- Desert Rose- was one that he had never heard of before, though the labeling certainly looked expensive. Gold lettering emblazoned across a pink desert sunset occupied the entirety of the wrapping, suggesting a certain air of sophistication. Even so, Roman had learned not to trust appearances in Vacuo. He lifted and opened the bottle with a suspicious look in Cerise's direction as she moved to deposit the plates atop another table full of patrons.
It was only then that he saw why Cerise's head was tilted to one side as she worked- the woman was holding her scroll between her neck and shoulder, speaking loudly enough for him to be able to hear her.
"Yeah, he's still here." A pause as she listened for a reply, and then a quick glance in Roman's direction as she turned and brought her hand up to seize the scroll and straighten her head. "He wants to talk to you. Probably better in person than on a call."
"What the fuck?" Roman hissed as Cerise made her way back to his table. "Tell me you're n-"
"Good," Cerise interrupted, speaking into the scroll. "You don't even need to bring the others. You don't have class soon, do you? No, this should be done by then. See you soon."
Roman simply stared, clutching his opened bottle as Cerise ended the call and looked down at him.
"What?"
"I thought you were on my side," Roman accused.
"Then you're not paying attention," Cerise countered. "I'm only on my side, and if I'm even going to consider sleeping with you tonight, I'm going to need you to sort your shit out and be a lot less pathetic than you are right now. Deal with Fox when he gets here. I've got tables to cover."
"But…" Roman began, only to receive nothing but Cerise's backside shuffling away from him and toward another table in response. He let out a frustrated noise before bringing the bottle to his lips, keeping his eyes on her the entire time. Suddenly, a new thought crossed his mind and successfully managed to chase away all of the others. "…fine. At least I've got a goal, now…"
Author's Note:
100 chapters down. Who the hell knows how many to go. We're still in the prologue, all things considered…
Check out the AO3 version for some artwork of young Roman and Cerise!
-RD
