Roman had never felt so stressed simply walking in his life. The cool morning breeze on the beach felt like needles on his bare arms, and he was oddly cold despite the ambient temperature. Roman's heart was hammering in his chest and he felt the intense need to keep his eyes straight ahead as he and Kali made their way along the shoreline.

"So… it would be great if you could stop crushing my hand," the faunus advised. "Much as I like holding it, I think my fingers are going numb…"

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't…" Roman trailed off as he let go of Kali's hand and stuffed his own into the pocket of his bellbottoms. "…I thought Vacuo would be hotter, even in the morning…"

"…dude, you look like you just ran through a sprinkler," Kali pointed out as she raised a brow at the beads of sweat on Roman's forehead. "Is everything okay? You're acting… weird."

The accusation was enough to get Roman to finally slow to a stop and slump his shoulders. He looked back behind himself to find the house almost half a mile away and no one else on the beach. Roman knew that there was no better time, and there were no valid excuses left. With a resigned sigh, he lowered himself down into the sand and patted a spot next to himself. Kali sat beside him without question and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Kal… what are we doing?"

Kali blinked and inclined her head slightly to look up at her friend.

"…trying our best to have a decent vacation despite all of the bullshit popping up, and now, helping Summer out with her possible demigod powers or whatever."

"I meant us. You and me," Roman clarified as he gently put a hand down on the faunus' thigh. "I mean, I'm having a lot of fun and it's been great hanging out and having sex and all, but…"

"You want more," Kali finished.

"No, I…" Roman began, only to backpedal immediately. "I-I mean, I do, but I… I'm actually way more interested in whether or not you want more."

Kali flicked an ear as she considered the notion, lightly tracing shapes in the sand with her finger.

"…do you remember the last time we talked about this? It was pretty indirect, but.."

"You said you were interested in free love with the people you care about," Roman said sullenly. He could recall the conversation with perfect clarity, despite it taking place almost a year prior. "And that you wouldn't even consider settling down unless you had something beyond just sex going on with someone. Pretty sure you said it would have to be 'significantly more' than just sex."

Kali blinked in surprise, once again turning her attention to Roman as her finger stopped moving within the sand grains.

"…wow. I'm surprised you remember all that…"

"I've been thinking about that conversation almost every day since it happened," Roman admitted. "I expected you to forget about it. I was… hoping you would've forgotten, maybe changed your mind…"

"You're that stuck on me, huh?" Kali asked as she pressed against Roman with a bit more force. "I mean, I am pretty great."

"Can you be serious for five seconds?" Roman asked, sounding whinier than he intended to. "I just… I want you, Kal. I know we've got something going on, and I know I should probably just shut the hell up and be happy because a lot of guys at Beacon would kill to just be your fuck buddy, but… I'm not. I thought I was, but the thought of you maybe getting attached to other people the way I feel attached to you just makes me… it makes me feel…"

Kali leaned off of Roman's shoulder and gave her friend her full attention as he continued.

"…furious…"

"…Roman… you're one of my closest friends, and I'd agree that we've definitely got something going on, but I don't…owe you pussy, and you don't have a right to be pissed off if I want to explore a bit a-"

"I'm not angry at you!" Roman interrupted as Kali's ears flattened.

"Then what the fuck are you talking about?" Kali asked, sounding oddly uncertain as she looked Roman over with a bit of suspicion.

"I'm angry at myself!" Roman finally admitted as he threw his hands up and gave Kali a look of desperation. "I'm angry that I'm too much of a chickenshit to make a move, I'm angry that I might not be enough for you in bed or emotionally, and I'm angry that I'm so obsessed with you that I can't even think about a future with anyone else because you're just… you're everything I want, Kal! I spent last night fucking a perfect 10 to try to get all of this out of my system and feel something for someone else, someone easier, and I felt nothing! None of it matters except for you, and I know exactly why you're not interested in me. I should go. Forget this ever happened."

Roman got up from the ground in a hurry, scattering sand everywhere as he dusted off his pants and took a step back toward the beach house.

"Sit your ass down."

The sheer venom in Kali's tone made Roman's blood run cold as he slowly turned back around. Kali looked absolutely incensed as she glared up at him.

"If you're pissed at yourself for being a coward and so convinced that that's why I haven't committed to you, then why are you immediately trying to run away the second things get uncomfortable? What's that going to solve other than removing yourself from the situation to make things easier? You didn't bring me out here to talk because it was going to be easy, and this isn't the ending you wanted, is it? I know you better than that, Roman. I believe in you more than that. You're better than this."

"I'm really not," Roman muttered as he looked down at the space between them. "You make me better. On my own, I'm just… some asshole son of an even bigger asshole with money."

"I do not make you better," Kali scoffed. "If anything, we make each other worse, Roman. Crime, indulgence, making other people uncomfortable, taking things to even greater extremes… we just fuel each other in ways we probably shouldn't."

Roman nodded, well aware that what Kali was saying was true. The boy bit his bottom lip and tunneled the tip of a shoe slightly into the sand to occupy himself as he refused to look at Kali.

"Yeah… so I guess… we're just not compatible…"

"Didn't say that," Kali pointed out. "Yeah, we make each other worse people, but isn't all of that a lot of fun?"

Roman looked up, visibly confused.

"Uh… yeah, it's a lot of fun. Doing shit we shouldn't be doing is the best, and there's no one I'd rather be breaking rules and getting into trouble with than you."

"Ditto," Kali replied. "So… sit your ass down, and let's figure this out."

"When you say figure this out…" Roman tried, trailing off to let Kali fill in the gap as he sat beside her.

"Us," Kali confirmed. "Let's figure it out. I had no idea you've been feeling so down on yourself over me, Roman. I'm your number one fan. The last thing I want is to be causing you heartache, and the fact that you're so frustrated that you wanted to just throw it all away and pretend we're better off alone… it hurts."

"I don't want to hurt you, either," Roman acknowledged as Kali quite literally crawled into his lap. "That's part of why I've been holding off on this for so long and been so frustrated lately. It just feels like what I want isn't what you want."

"Well, if you've been paying attention… I've said we've got something going on more than once," Kali reminded. "Something I like a lot, and something I don't want to lose. If going steady is the price of keeping you, then it's a price I'm willing to pay, Roman."

"Really?" Roman asked, somewhat unable to believe it. "You'd be willing to fully commit, and start moving things forward?"

"That's a loaded question," Kali protested as she transitioned to lay on her back atop Roman's legs while staring up at him. "Define fully commit."

"I… don't know?" Roman considered. "Just… being exclusive, I guess. I'm not saying I want kids right now or anything…"

"You want kids?" Kali questioned.

"I don't know!" Roman said, clearly exasperated. "I'm just sayin', that's not what I was thinking right now! In the future, who has any idea?"

"I want kids," Kali said evenly. "Eventually, I mean. I've gone back and forth on it a few times, but… yeah. I think I eventually want at least one. A badass little huntress I can corrupt. Someone who looks up to me, and needs me for answers… it would be nice to feel like I'm the guru for once."

"Alright, let's dial it back a bit," Roman suggested as he shivered at the thought of having a daughter with Kali. "So, we're doing this? You and me? Like, officially, and letting the others know that we're a thing? Even after I just had an embarrassing meltdown and almost stormed off?"

"Hm? I didn't see a thing," Kali said airily as she waved a hand. "Even if things have been on and off between us for this whole past year, I still keep coming back despite all of your faults, you know. I'm not ignorant of the fact that you put up with all of mine, too."

"Like they even compare…" Roman said darkly.

"They do," Kali insisted. "I know you're enamored with me, but I'm… a lot to deal with, and I know it. The fact that you never seem to lose patience and you always have my back makes me feel at home. I love that about you."

"I love a lot of things about you," Roman replied as he began to play with Kali's hair. "I can't believe this is actually happening… and that I was freaking out over nothing for so long…"

"Your panicky side is part of your charm," Kali mused with a grin. "It's cute."

"It doesn't feel cute," Roman protested. "I'm gonna have a fuckin' heart attack over nothing by age 30…"

"With how I plan to wear you out moving forward? You just might," Kali teased. "Speaking of… we should lay some ground rules and take care of any lingering doubts and frustration and shit before we head back."

"Ground rules?" Roman asked. "Like what?"

"I've only got one," Kali answered as she held up a finger. "I don't want us officially being a couple to be treated like we're restarting, or something stupid like that. No getting-to-know-you dates, no being awkward and setting up boundaries that were never there. No dumb couple shit for people just testing the waters. Let's just be ourselves and keep going the way we were, just without screwing other people. I don't want anything to change at all, unless it involves us getting closer than ever before."

"Done," Roman agreed immediately. "I hate that kind of garbage, anyway…"

"You and me both. Anything you want to establish right out the gate?"

"Not that I can think of, no," Roman replied. "But clearing the air might be a good idea. I, uh… I saw the picture of Qrow on your scroll. That's why I was so pissed off and went off on my own yesterday."

"…you're gonna have to narrow it down a bit," Kali warned. "There are a lot of pics of Qrow on my scroll…"

"The one where he's holding his cock and showing it off to you," Roman said flatly. "I figured that much would be obvious…"

"Oh! Yeah, that…" Kali said with a filthy grin. "Yeah, I'll… get rid of that. He's not the only one I was exchanging pics with early on, but he was the only keeper."

"Who…" Roman started, only to catch himself. "You know what, never mind. While we're airing shit out, though… you're going to meet Cerise at some point. She's Team BASS' friend, and a local thief. I was with her all of last night."

"…was she good?"

Roman couldn't help but stare down at Kali. He knew he should have expected the question, and yet, part of him still couldn't believe that that was all she wanted to know.

"…fuckin' incredible, but I felt like garbage afterward," Roman explained. "She's just… she's not you."

"Aw. That's kind of sweet," Kali said as she touched a finger to the tip of Roman's nose. "I went down on Willow in the hot tub last night."

Again, Roman found himself simply staring down at Kali, though for an entirely different reason. His brain simply decided to reject the information to the point where he wasn't sure he had even heard her correctly.

"…I'm sorry, you did what?"

"Wil's been really curious about sex lately," Kali let on. "So… I helped her along and gave her a first experience to remember. She's loosened up a lot, and I think she had a breakthrough last night. This has to stay between us, though. She'd kill me if she found out I told you."

"Well yeah, I just… I can't believe you two…" Roman said before abandoning the thought. "Wow. Almost a shame it has to end there."

"Yeah, it is," Kali said with a sigh. "But the trade for you is worth it. Second ground rule- we don't keep anything from each other, alright? No matter how awkward, shitty, or stupid it is… I want to know what you're thinking and feeling, Roman. Things can't get to the point they did earlier today. So… honesty. Full honesty, in both directions. Agreed?"

That feeling of sickly, primal fear bubbled up once again as Roman looked down at Kali's smiling face. It made no sense. He should have been thrilled.

Instead, Roman Torchwick felt every warning sign imaginable going off inside his mind.

"…full honesty. Promise…"


Author's Note:

Nothing could possibly go wrong!

-RD