Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Well if she had said all that Emerald would've been even more jacked up.






The remainder of the ascent passed in virtual silence, Emerald having quickened her pace and seemingly having lost any and all motivation to keep playing obligatory tour guide as she chewed her jaw in silence. Mercury reached the catwalk's peak well before they did, and was sitting with legs dangling over the parapet by the time they reached the peak of the pillar themselves, rucksack on his lap and chewing what looked to be a very plain sandwich clutched in his grip.

Emerald gave him a light touch on the shoulder as they swept past, which he didn't acknowledge for a few more seconds of distant, contemplative chewing before he absently tossed the crust into the abyss and stood, shrugging the pack onto his shoulder and turning to follow.

Now that they were atop the igneous spire, affording them a bird's-eye view of the caves and all their many tents, huts, and connective bridges, it was immediately apparent that the tent they stood before was heads and shoulders more luxurious than any of the others put together. It was a tall, sprawling canopy, spanning the entirety of the elevated dais built into the towering monolith, and the closer they got the more clearly they could see the rows upon rows of sigils and runes embroidered into the tent's flap, gently pulsating just about every shade on the color spectrum.

View attachment 875147

As they might've expected, it was large. The way it was sectioned off into multiple compartments even made it comparable to a snug, one-story house, though the voices they could already hear murmuring through the various fabrics making up the walls were much easier to trace to their source than if it had been one. It was evident that whoever lived here was a hoarder of the absolute highest caliber, the runed floors cluttered with knick-knacks and treasures, artifacts and oddities of every stripe, dusty books tomes stacking on the floor halfway to the ceiling and bookshelves instead populated by jars containing mummified desert creatures and viscous liquids. Equally apparent was the tent owner's fondness for superstition, the walls adorned with guides and schematics detailing complex processes for alchemy, astrology, numerology, crystal balls, tarot reading and virtually every other pseudoscience you'd care to name. The air was thick with the smell of incense, a stick of which burned in just about every corner of every room, notes of lavender, nightshade, cinnamon, citrus and dragonsblood all mingling together to form a heady scent that engulfed the senses and clung to the lungs.



Despite the mess, Emerald seemed to know where she was going, picking her way across the desolate landscape with the catlike grace of a master thief and pushing her way through a hanging curtain of beads. This brought them into the messiest, most spacious and most central room, which is where they at last first set eyes on Morgiana.

Or more accurately, first they set eyes on Morgiana's veritable horde of cats. At least a dozen of them, of all shapes and breeds, strewn across various comfortable points in the room, every last one of whom hopped down and came padding up to them with an uproar of curious meows as they started purring and rubbing against their legs. At least one jar containing a balm or oil of some sort fell and shattered from its shelf amidst the stampede, but the figure draped across the lavish four-poster bed at the back of the room didn't seem to mind, almost easy to miss amid the tangles of colorful silks and fabrics practically drowning her where she lay. Her head dangled over the bedside, inverting the curious, dreamy smile she affixed them all with, and between the long waves of startlingly red hair cascading to the floor around her and the loose, flowy gown she was just about covered by she was almost camoflaged until she finally spoke up.

View attachment 875149

They knew. Even before they saw the flower wreath, the single bloomed poppy behind one ear, or the small, lit cylinder she held clasped between two fingers that even beneath the blanketing odor of incense smelled far too funky to be a cigarette, the second they heard her voice, they knew.

"Right on."

This woman was the biggest hippie they'd ever seen.

"What it is, soul siblings. Morgiana Moonflower. Enraptured to make your acquaintance," she breezed, tones floaty and carefree as the air itself as she swung up to flop over on her stomach, chin in hand and legs kicking back in the air behind her. Even more curious than her demeanor was the fact that she looked barely older than them, if at all, and she sized them up, framing the two unfamiliar faces between thumb and forefinger like she was setting up a photograph as she went from Watts to Cinder then back again. "Acquaintance... made. Now, my little gemerald here tells me—oh no."

There was something undeniably spacy about how she did a double-take, sheeny eyes flying a little wider at whatever she saw now she was the right way up as her eyes scanned across the group again.

"Oh, ducklings, no no no no. This is bad. This is so very, very bad. My heart weeps at what it sees in you. This cannot be in this place." She gave a drawn-out, mournful sigh, and rolled off the bed to glide to her feet, snatching up what looked like an honest-to-goodness runed dowsing rod from under her bed, giving it a few smacks as she pointed it their way and ran it back and forth over them from end to end, occasionally giving the edges a sharp smack. Whatever she perceived when she brought it up to her ear had her heave another heavy, solemn breath, and she looked back at them, eyes heavy like that of the doctor prepared to tell the patient they had terminal cancer.

"It's even worse than I thought. You all, each and every last one of you... have atrocious vibes right now. And I think I know why. Neo?" She sat back down on the bed, immediately scooting right of where she landed and taking a drag of the still-not-a-cigarette as she patted the mattress next to her with her other hand. "Come here, moonbeam."

View attachment 875161

Mercury was sort of just losing himself to the cats at the far end of the room, and Emerald had lapsed into a tense, almost sullen reticence as the guild's leader started doing her whole bohemian schtick, only now speaking up with a slight edge lining her voice.

"Uh, Morgiana. Do we really need to do this whole—"

"Not now, Emmyboo. This is why we broke up."

Her expression flattened even further and she muttered something about remembering why they broke up, but she rubbed her elbow and fell silent other than to give Watts and Cinder a meek glance and a listless shrug.

"See? I'm not gonna say literally the last thing anyone expects, but..."​

Watts had never seen a room that so reminded him of his own workplace and yet couldn't have been more different. Which was to say he hated everything about this tent and its occupant almost instantaneously.

"A pleasure" he answered Morgiana's initial greeting, in a tone that implied anything but. "Now if we could-"

Then she started going on about vibes or some other nonsensical tomfoolery, and he gave a quiet huff and crossed his arms impatiently.

Neo, when she was called to, already had a cat in her arms, as delighted as ever to make its acquaintance again (or at least she thought it was the same one as last time), only to wince when Morgiana singled her out.

Like. She wasn't wrong, but...

She almost sheepishly danced her way through the other cats and pillows and objects of varying rarity and use to make her way over to Morgiana and take the seat next to her, and affixed her with a hopefully apologetic grin

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Spoiler

View attachment 875102

Qrow made no attempt to stop her, given that this particular note was very obviously and clearly addressed to Yang. That didn't stop him from continuing to read right up til she snatched it out of his hand, though, or failing that until he reached the last line during his power-scroll then just straight up stuck it to her face with his palm.

"Yeah, this does nada for me. Broad really digs you, though."

It was clear he'd been looking for some very specific names and information, and as soon as he'd ascertained that this particular sheet contained neither he was in motion again, hands digging into his pockets as he strode for Neo with a flat, unamused expression and stuck an arm out, beckoning for her to hand it over.

"Cut the shit."

The bottom half of Yang's letter was neatly folded over and bundled in a similar way as the first had been, and if she opened it out she was graced with truly the most majestic of sights.

Spoiler

View attachment 875103

Namely an (attempt at an) exact imitation of her ridiculous, juvenile free hug coupon, complete with hearts and a stick-figure caricature of Weiss herself in Yang's place, only the former councilwoman had forgone penning out the specific number and instead simply jotted down the sideways-eight infinity symbol to denote the voucher's true monetary value. Which was nothing. It was an entirely conceptual gesture, now supplemented by a conceptual mathematical symbol. It wasn't unfair to say she had remade and made it more sensible.

Also, in terms of style and composition the drawing itself was altogether less adorable and more haunting in how terrible it was than Yang's had been.

View attachment 875105​

If her uncle expected her to be embarrassed about him reading this he was, well, totally right actually, but she made no move to snatch it out of his hand even as her eyes got wider the farther she got down. He'd been the one who'd actually agreed with her that this whole weird not-rescue mission had been worth it, he deserved to see that the person on the other end, outside of the stakes of the literal world, wasn't so bad either.

Then she sputtered as the paper got smushed into her face, and she snagged it as it was falling to the ground and finished reading the rest herself with an obnoxiously warm smile till she got to the end and opened the page to see what was within

.....

"Oh my god she is a dork." She said with a quiet cackle, even as she carefully folded up the page and slipped it into a pocket with a warm sigh and looked up.

"I don't give a crap about the Red Masque."

View attachment 875106

He just wanted to make that perfectly clear. Especially not when all she did was exactly what he had pegged her to do from the very second she showed up. The elder huntsman was stock-still throughout the entire display, little to denote anything in the way of a reaction save the angle on his eyebrows growing that bit angrier and his jaw setting that bit tighter. A whole big swathe of time had passed between when he heard about what this chick almost did to Yang and his first time getting a look at her for himself, during the initial fracas back at Haven, and as far as his whole thought process on that was concerned there was one little-known, yet important, fact to consider.




She LITERALLY almost did the same exact goddamn thing to him.

This chick could screw off.





Qrow remained deathly, almost serenely still, watching the gesture without actually breaking Neo's eyeline as one second passed. Two. Three.

"That's too bad. 'Cause the letter I just read talked all about where Emerald Sustrai ended up."

His period of feeling out Weiss (and vice versa) during his self-imposed exile in Atlas hadn't been without its share of perks, one of which was all the juicy little details on the duo's surfacing in Mantle that one time in case it ever became relevant. Truth was, he had no goddamn idea what had happened to her.

But the moment Neo's eyes widened, or went towards the page Yang held, or showed any other signs of having a particularly vivid reaction towards the lie he'd just told, Qrow's hand darted right down her shirt after the letter and snatched it back out as quickly and vigorously as if he was yanking something from a pile of hot embers, genuinely not really giving a shit beyond to utter a single, casual barb as he turned.

"Lotta empty space down there, huh?"

Guess he never had managed to shake off that bandit's sense of chivalry.​

Neo's eyes brightened.

She hadn't seen any mention of Emerald in this letter. Did...Had she been captured by Oz's forces? Was Schnee holding her somewhere?

Was she ok-


GAH!

Neo pressed her hands to her chest once Qrow had pulled out his hand.

Geez. It caught her so by surprise she couldn't even shatter...



View attachment 875129​

"....Do you guys, uh, wanna take this upstairs, or...."

 

[MidwayLives]

Some of the inherent tautness in Qrow's shoulders had been dissolving as he found the assurances he was looking for in the letter and breathed a sigh of relief, only for his favorite childhood sound to bludgeon his ears and bring it all piling right back on again. He hid it well, limited to a single twitching eyebrow as his reaction was, but on the inside he was all kindsa pissed.

"Oh boy, look whose funny bone finally grew back a billion years later. She knew the risks when she sent the huge important thing we just got straight to marshmallowland, okay? Believe me, I wish I had a glove.

Neo had been prepared to be affronted before....

Huh.

Well when he'd put it like that? Neo looked down at her chest and blinked.

Yeah. It was pretty nice wasn't it?

No matter what that other her or anyone else thought.​

Because of course she would come down right at that exact moment. Of course.

He exhaled and prepared to hand the page over to her for a look, but before he could raise his arm more than halfway he halted, considering, then turned back, deciding he might as well take a dual opportunity to completely flip the script on stab-happy here and give Yang a mental image she was really gonna have to burn out of her memory banks. He straightened his slouch, swept a hand back through his messy tousles of hair, let his head fall playfully to one side and looked Neo in the eye dead-center, channeling every last drop of his devil-may-care allure into a coy, confident smirk.

Neo petulantly looked away as Qrow looked back at her.

Murder attempts were fine but sticking your hand so brusquely down a woman's top?

Unforgivable.
​

"Want I put it back?"

Aghast at the idea as she might have been, Neo and Qrow were oddly enough approaching the same train of thought.

Which was that this was an encounter Blondie would always have buried in the back of her head.

Which meant that if her usual way of getting her jollies was out, Neo needed to do something else.

Turning her head back to Qrow, Neo placed a hand to her chest and fluttered her eyelashes before leaning forward, maximizing the efforts of her chest.

She ran a gloved hand over the exposed skin with her thumb tapping where the letter would 'go' and smirked back.

'Go right ahead if you think you can~' was the clear message being sent.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Nora chucked a bag of flour as hard as she could at the back of Neo’s head.​

 

[MidwayLives]

As they might've expected, it was large. The way it was sectioned off into multiple compartments even made it comparable to a snug, one-story house, though the voices they could already hear murmuring through the various fabrics making up the walls were much easier to trace to their source than if it had been one. It was evident that whoever lived here was a hoarder of the absolute highest caliber, the runed floors cluttered with knick-knacks and treasures, artifacts and oddities of every stripe, dusty books tomes stacking on the floor halfway to the ceiling and bookshelves instead populated by jars containing mummified desert creatures and viscous liquids. Equally apparent was the tent owner's fondness for superstition, the walls adorned with guides and schematics detailing complex processes for alchemy, astrology, numerology, crystal balls, tarot reading and virtually every other pseudoscience you'd care to name. The air was thick with the smell of incense, a stick of which burned in just about every corner of every room, notes of lavender, nightshade, cinnamon, citrus and dragonsblood all mingling together to form a heady scent that engulfed the senses and clung to the lungs.

"Whoa."

"Yeah, whoa is a pretty good choice of phrase. There's so much stuff here, Blanche. We could be here for hours and hours and-"

"Nonono, I meant whoa. Look." Slipping an arm over his partner's shoulder, Blanche pointed forward.
​

Or more accurately, first they set eyes on Morgiana's veritable horde of cats. At least a dozen of them, of all shapes and breeds, strewn across various comfortable points in the room, every last one of whom hopped down and came padding up to them with an uproar of curious meows as they started purring and rubbing against their legs.

"Ah man, cats!" Char exclaimed with a hint of joy in his voice.

"Didn't get to keep pets back home. They 'broke our concentration' or somethin. But I love these little guys...." The hitman proclaimed as Blanche pet a few while Trifa was absolutely cooing and petting any cats that deigned to get close to her. "This place is fantastic. There's cats and...." Well a whole bunch of other stuff the faunus didn't really understand but still! What a lovely little piece of heaven!

Tyrian wasn't as taken aback.

His tail hung securely around his waist and his arms across his chest. All while the cats continued to rub against him.

...He....didn't really like cats.
​

"What it is, soul siblings. Morgiana Moonflower. Enraptured to make your acquaintance,"

He DID however like the vibes coming off this Morgiana.

"We...are enraptured as well."
​

"It's even worse than I thought. You all, each and every last one of you... have atrocious vibes right now.

"....My vibes are....that bad?"

Wading through what felt as though a sea of cats, Tyrian sat down and watched as Morgiana prepared to do...whatever she was going to with Neo.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

But that actually threw Cinder for a loop.

"You...dated....?"

"I love how that's what you perk up for." She prodded with a blunt, wicked grin, in time with her elbow prodding the maiden gently in the ribs. The change affected in Cinder's demeanor hadn't gone unnoticed, and for someone who lived life by such a relentless creed of not getting bogged down by the 'mushy stuff' she couldn't help but feel the teeny tiniest bit responsible. Or, like, massively.

"We were like, fifteen. I spent a lotta time here before I came to Beacon, when Cassim still ran the biz. Her dad." She shrugged. "It was barely anything."



"Oh, it was hella something. This little gem just likes to downgrade her own emotions 'cause they don't come as naturally to her as everything else, even though it's the whole reason they don't." Morgiana made a point of interjecting, apparently a bit more aware than her head-in-the-clouds nature seemed to indicate. Mercury, currently playing host to three (and counting) kittens crawling around his shoulders and back, stuck his fist up.

"Preach."

Emerald just rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"What does that even mean? Now I remember more reasons we broke up."

"....My vibes are....that bad?"

Wading through what felt as though a sea of cats, Tyrian sat down and watched as Morgiana prepared to do...whatever she was going to with Neo.

"Sweet Tea." She crooned the nickname sympathetically, gaze floating over to him at the words as she bit her lip in a gentle smile intended to soften the harshness of her next words. "I'm sorry, my man, but your soul's vibes are the most rancid and wicked in this entire tent right now. But you've never let that define what you're all about, duckling, and that's just one of the many things that impresses me about you."

There was something different about the specific way Morgiana stared at a person, one that distinguished itself from standard stoner spaciness the more time was spent with her. Something about those eyes... it was like they saw through. What they were perceiving, exactly, was difficult to say.

Watts had never seen a room that so reminded him of his own workplace and yet couldn't have been more different. Which was to say he hated everything about this tent and its occupant almost instantaneously.

"A pleasure" he answered Morgiana's initial greeting, in a tone that implied anything but. "Now if we could-"

Then she started going on about vibes or some other nonsensical tomfoolery, and he gave a quiet huff and crossed his arms impatiently.

Neo, when she was called to, already had a cat in her arms, as delighted as ever to make its acquaintance again (or at least she thought it was the same one as last time), only to wince when Morgiana singled her out.

Like. She wasn't wrong, but...

She almost sheepishly danced her way through the other cats and pillows and objects of varying rarity and use to make her way over to Morgiana and take the seat next to her, and affixed her with a hopefully apologetic grin

Watts's curt tone and way of looking at her drew little in the way of a response save a softly lidded smile and a knowing squint, every as serenly patient an expression as his was the opposite. As soon as Neo's weight settled next to her, however, it was as though the shadow of the moon fell over her face, and it was hard to say whether the inherent free love enigma to her entire bearing was sharpened or clouded by how gloomy she looked in that moment.

"Ah, moonbeam. Strike a light in your shadow and it casts such warming colors, y'know? That must be why Matchstick finds you every time." She offered cryptically, leaving the even more obviously-not-a-cigarette-from-this-proximity dangling between her lips and reaching out to scratch Matchstick's brow, the flaming ginger tabby cat purring like an engine as he snuggled up in Neo's lap affectionately. Then she sighed, deep and prolonged. "...But this... oh, man. This is just so, so mellow-harshing to even have to say. I stayed up all night thinking about it."

Her shoulders drooped, and she took a deep, intensely introspective pull on the doobie before forcing it all out through her nostrils in a hazy mist.

Then, completely unprompted, she flung her arms around the smaller girl and made to pull her head against her collar in a vigorous, despondent embrace, rocking her like a mother would her child and throwing her head back to the sky with a sudden wail that every single one of the cats joined in on until the tent was consumed by a cacophony of discordant yowling.

"NEO, I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO SCRATCH NEW REINFORCEMENT RUNES ON THOSE BRIDGES LAST WEEK BUT I SMOKE WAY TOO MUCH GREEN AND I JUST FORGOOOOOOOOOOOT!"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Sweet Tea." She crooned the nickname sympathetically, gaze floating over to him at the words as she bit her lip in a gentle smile intended to soften the harshness of her next words.

Tyrian's face lit up at the nickname.

Something that Trifa definitely noticed and totally didn't roll her eyes at.
​

"I'm sorry, my man, but your soul's vibes are the most rancid and wicked in this entire tent right now.

​

But you've never let that define what you're all about, duckling, and that's just one of the many things that impresses me about you."

There was something different about the specific way Morgiana stared at a person, one that distinguished itself from standard stoner spaciness the more time was spent with her. Something about those eyes... it was like they saw through. What they were perceiving, exactly, was difficult to say.

Tyrian's tail began to unwind.

".....Many things?"

He seemed absolutely enraptured.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I love how that's what you perk up for." She prodded with a blunt, wicked grin, in time with her elbow prodding the maiden gently in the ribs. The change affected in Cinder's demeanor hadn't gone unnoticed, and for someone who lived life by such a relentless creed of not getting bogged down by the 'mushy stuff' she couldn't help but feel the teeny tiniest bit responsible. Or, like, massively.

"We were like, fifteen. I spent a lotta time here before I came to Beacon, when Cassim still ran the biz. Her dad." She shrugged. "It was barely anything."

"Oh, it was hella something. This little gem just likes to downgrade her own emotions 'cause they don't come as naturally to her as everything else, even though it's the whole reason they don't." Morgiana made a point of interjecting, apparently a bit more aware than her head-in-the-clouds nature seemed to indicate. Mercury, currently playing host to three (and counting) kittens crawling around his shoulders and back, stuck his fist up.

"Preach."

Emerald just rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"What does that even mean? Now I remember more reasons we broke up."

"It's--it's not like that!" Cinder stammered defensively. She still remembered the rule about no mushy stuff and she wasn't looking to get shoved again if she could help it. That hadn't been great, and especially now it would just feel even worse. "I'm just...surprised, that's all. I didn't think she'd be your type. I mean, not that you have to have a type or anything but--er...I'll just stop talking now." Probably the best course of action. Cinder's awkward grin fell back into her gloomy frown.​

"NEO, I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO SCRATCH NEW REINFORCEMENT RUNES ON THOSE BRIDGES LAST WEEK BUT I SMOKE WAY TOO MUCH GREEN AND I JUST FORGOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

"...Do you have that much green...?"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"....Do you guys, uh, wanna take this upstairs, or...."

Ah, firecracker. Hook, line and sinker like clockwork every time. He turned to her, and the look on his face meant she already knew what was coming by the time it left his mouth.

"What, you got sole exclusive rights on seducin' bad guys now?"



Unfortunately—

"Marshmallow land? Really, bro? Are you 11?"

—whether or not the sight of her mom turning that exact same shade of relentless heckling onto the man himself was enough to induce a mild stroke in Yang, it apparently definitely was for Qrow, who to be honest was just completely blindsided by it after their last conversation and the entire, you know, two decades before that.

"Y-yeah, well, there are kids in the room?? Penny's, what, 4??? And nunna that other stuff happened! Well, no, the skirt thing's true."

Actually they both were, but no one in this room or any other needed to know that. He forcefully coughed and tried to move on, making a show of refocusing on the letter as he turned back to Neo.

Aghast at the idea as she might have been, Neo and Qrow were oddly enough approaching the same train of thought.

Which was that this was an encounter Blondie would always have buried in the back of her head.

Which meant that if her usual way of getting her jollies was out, Neo needed to do something else.

Turning her head back to Qrow, Neo placed a hand to her chest and fluttered her eyelashes before leaning forward, maximizing the efforts of her chest.

She ran a gloved hand over the exposed skin with her thumb tapping where the letter would 'go' and smirked back.

'Go right ahead if you think you can~' was the clear message being sent.

Wow. Just being full-on beset on all sides here, huh. Stellar.

His eyes did flicker downward for a split-second, already off-balance and as big of a manslut never really one who could ignore the sight of a pretty gal giving him the look to start with as he was. That was as far as it went, though, and the flat grimace he had been afflicting Neo with returned in force as he waved her off and turned away with a snort.



"Pfft. Yeah, right. I didn't fall off the wagon that hard."

And that particular vice he'd always been a little better at keeping in check.

You just walking in with that ridiculous slouch you think is so cool, your pale twig legs on full display and then you slam a leg down on some other girl's desk and the best line you could come up with was 'like what you see?'

...Mostly.

"You do know I won't have any problem with grabbing it back out of there if you do that, yes?"

"Not sure I'd risk it. Think I almost got my hand chewed off." He grunted caustically, reluctantly deeming any more sass from the side of the room he was related to more palatable than the psycho midget's back there. He held up the letter, rustling it pointedly for emphasis.

"This is the important note, bozos. Get over here and take a look."

Spoiler: One more for the people in back

"So what's—"

Nora chucked a bag of flour as hard as she could at the back of Neo’s head.

And so, flour. Everywhere.

"Yea we gotta get the hell outta here."​

 

[MidwayLives]

His eyes did flicker downward for a split-second, already off-balance and as big of a manslut never really one who could ignore the sight of a pretty gal giving him the look to start with as he was. That was as far as it went, though, and the flat grimace he had been afflicting Neo with returned in force as he waved her off and turned away with a snort.

"Pfft. Yeah, right. I didn't fall off the wagon that hard."

And that particular vice he'd always been a little better at keeping in check.

He could say whatever he liked but Neo hadn't missed the briefest of gazes he'd thrown at her chest.

Wasn't at all a surprise given how fond Neo was of her appearance.~

Keeping one leg delicately crossed over the other, she leaned back and mockingly blew a kiss as Qrow turned away from her.
​

"So what's—"

She waved her hand to let the Masque illusion shatter, signs and all.

Well, she'd had a rousing bit of fun. Now maybe it was time to go stretch her wings a bit more? See what this desert dump had to really offer-
​

Nora chucked a bag of flour as hard as she could at the back of Neo’s head.

*thwip*

Neo rolled off the counter and onto the floor. Gripping onto the countertop, she slowly pulled herself back up.

Her skin a pale white thanks to a unwelcome coating of flour.

One that left her sneezing.

'achoo'

Glancing over at wherever Nora stood, Neo's face slowly broke out into a grin.



She'd been willing to let things stay as they were. She'd had her fun, brief as it was. But if the ginger wanted to literally make a mess of things? Who was Neo to disagree? Brushing herself off with a dainty sniff, Neo shattered and reappeared atop the counter with a carton of eggs in hand. One hand pulling the lid open and the other gently freeing the egg from the confines of the container as she flicked them in Valkyrie's general direction.

It felt childish and beneath the general twistedness of what Neo generally found funny. But whatever it wasn't like it was her food being wasted.
​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Don't look back, just go."

He knew how this ended. On some level, he was pretty sure they all did.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

—whether or not the sight of her mom turning that exact same shade of relentless heckling onto the man himself was enough to induce a mild stroke in Yang, it apparently definitely was for Qrow, who to be honest was just completely blindsided by it after their last conversation and the entire, you know, two decades before that.

"Y-yeah, well, there are kids in the room?? Penny's, what, 4??? And nunna that other stuff happened! Well, no, the skirt thing's true."

Actually they both were, but no one in this room or any other needed to know that. He forcefully coughed and tried to move on, making a show of refocusing on the letter as he turned back to Neo.

Got him.​

"Not sure I'd risk it. Think I almost got my hand chewed off." He grunted caustically, reluctantly deeming any more sass from the side of the room he was related to more palatable than the psycho midget's back there. He held up the letter, rustling it pointedly for emphasis.

"This is the important note, bozos. Get over here and take a look."

"Poor you." Raven deadpanned mid-stride to check out if that letter had anything of crucial importance, and the answer was a solid sort of, her eyes skimming over it. "So--"​

And so, flour. Everywhere.

"Yea we gotta get the hell outta here."

".................................Agreed."​

*thwip*

Neo rolled off the counter and onto the floor. Gripping onto the countertop, she slowly pulled herself back up.

Her skin a pale white thanks to a unwelcome coating of flour.

One that left her sneezing.

'achoo'

Glancing over at wherever Nora stood, Neo's face slowly broke out into a grin.

She'd been willing to let things stay as they were. She'd had her fun, brief as it was. But if the ginger wanted to literally make a mess of things? Who was Neo to disagree? Brushing herself off with a dainty sniff, Neo shattered and reappeared atop the counter with a carton of eggs in hand. One hand pulling the lid open and the other gently freeing the egg from the confines of the container as she flicked them in Valkyrie's general direction.

It felt childish and beneath the general twistedness of what Neo generally found funny. But whatever it wasn't like it was her food being wasted.

"Hahahahahaha--" Nora blinked, her hand snapping up just barely in time to catch the first egg before it struck her in the face. Her eyes narrowed as she took it in with a brief stare before her fist curled up and she crushed it entirely, throwing the broken bits to the floor as her head rose back up and she matched grin for grin. So this is the way we're playing it.

Her other hand reached out and wrapped around the handle of a frying pan, yanking it off the shelf in a split-second. All the following eggs got bashed apart wildly, like Nora was an enthusiastically reckless tennis player on a bunch of return serves. Once the bitch had exhausted her ammo supply, Nora's smile widened. She straight up threw the pan after-

Spoiler

-and followed that up by grabbing hold of a basket of baguettes, starting to throw them like javelins.​

"Don't look back, just go."

He knew how this ended. On some level, he was pretty sure they all did.

"...................................??????????????????"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Hahahahahaha--" Nora blinked, her hand snapping up just barely in time to catch the first egg before it struck her in the face. Her eyes narrowed as she took it in with a brief stare before her fist curled up and she crushed it entirely, throwing the broken bits to the floor as her head rose back up and she matched grin for grin. So this is the way we're playing it.

Neo's eyes narrowed as the first egg was crushed and flicked aside.



Brute force was great and all but it wasn't gonna save Valkyrie from what she'd brought upon herself.

No.

There wasn't anything that could except Neo's mercy.

Shaking the empty egg carton, Neo flung it to the floor.

Looks like she was all out.
​

Once the bitch had exhausted her ammo supply, Nora's smile widened. She straight up threw the pan after-

Neo sidestepped to avoid the incoming pan, one hand atop her hip and the other held up to her mouth.

A mock yawn was had.

If that's all she had then this would be-
​

-and followed that up by grabbing hold of a basket of baguettes, starting to throw them like javelins.

"!!!"

Neo juked to the side as a baguette sailed past her head and continued flying until it hit the wall behind her.

That damn ginger was forcing her on the defensive...

The counter was quickly becoming a mess as Neo tried her best to gracefully avoid each of the incoming throws of bread.

Noticing a bowl full of waffle mix that was likely to have been used for...something(Neo didn't know what the hell these losers were gonna make before she interrupted)


Getting the makings of an idea, Neo grinned and gave the bowl a sharp kick in the side to send it rocketing down the countertop. Following behind it and not caring about whatever she knocked over in the process, Neo took her bowler hat and flung it high in the air in Nora's direction. Continuing to dodge the baguettes as they were thrown, it wasn't until the last one came sailing by that Neo finally shattered and reappeared near Nora. Right as the bowl had finished it's race down the lining of the countertop. Hopping up to grab her hat, Neo lashed out with a kick to the back of Nora's head to try and knock her facefirst right into the bowl.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

View attachment 875233

"I love how that's what you perk up for." She prodded with a blunt, wicked grin, in time with her elbow prodding the maiden gently in the ribs. The change affected in Cinder's demeanor hadn't gone unnoticed, and for someone who lived life by such a relentless creed of not getting bogged down by the 'mushy stuff' she couldn't help but feel the teeny tiniest bit responsible. Or, like, massively.

"We were like, fifteen. I spent a lotta time here before I came to Beacon, when Cassim still ran the biz. Her dad." She shrugged. "It was barely anything."

View attachment 875242

"Oh, it was hella something. This little gem just likes to downgrade her own emotions 'cause they don't come as naturally to her as everything else, even though it's the whole reason they don't." Morgiana made a point of interjecting, apparently a bit more aware than her head-in-the-clouds nature seemed to indicate. Mercury, currently playing host to three (and counting) kittens crawling around his shoulders and back, stuck his fist up.

"Preach."

Emerald just rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"What does that even mean? Now I remember more reasons we broke up."




"Sweet Tea." She crooned the nickname sympathetically, gaze floating over to him at the words as she bit her lip in a gentle smile intended to soften the harshness of her next words. "I'm sorry, my man, but your soul's vibes are the most rancid and wicked in this entire tent right now. But you've never let that define what you're all about, duckling, and that's just one of the many things that impresses me about you."

There was something different about the specific way Morgiana stared at a person, one that distinguished itself from standard stoner spaciness the more time was spent with her. Something about those eyes... it was like they saw through. What they were perceiving, exactly, was difficult to say.




Watts's curt tone and way of looking at her drew little in the way of a response save a softly lidded smile and a knowing squint, every as serenly patient an expression as his was the opposite. As soon as Neo's weight settled next to her, however, it was as though the shadow of the moon fell over her face, and it was hard to say whether the inherent free love enigma to her entire bearing was sharpened or clouded by how gloomy she looked in that moment.

"Ah, moonbeam. Strike a light in your shadow and it casts such warming colors, y'know? That must be why Matchstick finds you every time." She offered cryptically, leaving the even more obviously-not-a-cigarette-from-this-proximity dangling between her lips and reaching out to scratch Matchstick's brow, the flaming ginger tabby cat purring like an engine as he snuggled up in Neo's lap affectionately. Then she sighed, deep and prolonged. "...But this... oh, man. This is just so, so mellow-harshing to even have to say. I stayed up all night thinking about it."​

Neo gave a soft smile at the name, unsure why it hadn't ever come up before as she gave it a soft scratch herself as Morgiana talked. Matchstick was a good name. She just hoped there wasn't a Moonbeam here in these cats that would get him into trouble-

Then, completely unprompted, she flung her arms around the smaller girl and made to pull her head against her collar in a vigorous, despondent embrace, rocking her like a mother would her child and throwing her head back to the sky with a sudden wail that every single one of the cats joined in on until the tent was consumed by a cacophony of discordant yowling.

"NEO, I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO SCRATCH NEW REINFORCEMENT RUNES ON THOSE BRIDGES LAST WEEK BUT I SMOKE WAY TOO MUCH GREEN AND I JUST FORGOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

Neo flailed as she was suddenly kidnapped into the folds of Morgiana's gown, accidentally causing poor Matchstick trouble as *this* Moonbeam as she caught him with the side of her hand and got a pair of claws into her leg for the trouble as he leaped off.

After a moment, she sniffled sligthly, and suddenly turned her face to bury it all the way in Morgiana's collar with a quiet sob as she hugged her back, now not only feeling guilty for making Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald all think she was trying to free style backflip seven twenty dive off the bridge to her death, but for apparently making Morgiana feel responsible.

Watts had slowly raised his hands to cover his ears, a dull frown on his face as she stared at the ensuing chaos with full blown disdain.

"How touching. Truly a majestic leader who is willing to own up to even small mistakes, I can see why this place has lasted as long as it has. We also have far more pressing matters to attend to."

Whether anyone actually heard him over the cats was an entirely valid question

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Neo's eyes narrowed as the first egg was crushed and flicked aside.

View attachment 875309

Brute force was great and all but it wasn't gonna save Valkyrie from what she'd brought upon herself.

No.

There wasn't anything that could except Neo's mercy.

Shaking the empty egg carton, Neo flung it to the floor.

Looks like she was all out.


Neo sidestepped to avoid the incoming pan, one hand atop her hip and the other held up to her mouth.

A mock yawn was had.

If that's all she had then this would be-


"!!!"

Neo juked to the side as a baguette sailed past her head and continued flying until it hit the wall behind her.

That damn ginger was forcing her on the defensive...

The counter was quickly becoming a mess as Neo tried her best to gracefully avoid each of the incoming throws of bread.

Noticing a bowl full of waffle mix that was likely to have been used for...something(Neo didn't know what the hell these losers were gonna make before she interrupted)

View attachment 875316
Getting the makings of an idea, Neo grinned and gave the bowl a sharp kick in the side to send it rocketing down the countertop. Following behind it and not caring about whatever she knocked over in the process, Neo took her bowler hat and flung it high in the air in Nora's direction. Continuing to dodge the baguettes as they were thrown, it wasn't until the last one came sailing by that Neo finally shattered and reappeared near Nora. Right as the bowl had finished it's race down the lining of the countertop. Hopping up to grab her hat, Neo lashed out with a kick to the back of Nora's head to try and knock her facefirst right into the bowl.​

The ensuing crash behind them as that happened made Yang wince, but she just sighed and picked up the pace a bit as she rolled her eyes. Honestly. So childish. Totally not missing out here. She was lying to herself. Her hands flexed, longing for the embrace of turkey again, but she shook it off and ended her stride to end up just behind Qrow and Raven.

...

"Hey, unc, Vernal, you wanna scout ahead for us? Make sure there's no pickpockets or whatever? I heard a raccoon stole a guy's whole arm one time, and Weiss can't sugar momma me a new one anymore" She suggested, with a furtive glance towards Raven if Qrow made eye contact with her.

 

[MyrtenRose]

Getting the makings of an idea, Neo grinned and gave the bowl a sharp kick in the side to send it rocketing down the countertop. Following behind it and not caring about whatever she knocked over in the process, Neo took her bowler hat and flung it high in the air in Nora's direction. Continuing to dodge the baguettes as they were thrown, it wasn't until the last one came sailing by that Neo finally shattered and reappeared near Nora. Right as the bowl had finished it's race down the lining of the countertop. Hopping up to grab her hat, Neo lashed out with a kick to the back of Nora's head to try and knock her facefirst right into the bowl.

The annoying acrobatic maneuvering of the world's most frustrating midget did its job, Neo's boot smacking into the back of the skull and getting Nora to faceplant right into the wafflemix. She pulled herself right out of there in an instant, though not without licking what remained of the mix on her face(mmmmm delicious), but once that was done her eyes shot to the side and using her peripheral vision. With a fierce battle cry, she spun and whipped the bowl in that direction to splash the tiny annoyance with all the remaining mix.

May the gods have mercy on Ruby. ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The ensuing crash behind them as that happened made Yang wince, but she just sighed and picked up the pace a bit as she rolled her eyes. Honestly. So childish. Totally not missing out here. She was lying to herself. Her hands flexed, longing for the embrace of turkey again, but she shook it off and ended her stride to end up just behind Qrow and Raven.

...

"Hey, unc, Vernal, you wanna scout ahead for us? Make sure there's no pickpockets or whatever? I heard a raccoon stole a guy's whole arm one time, and Weiss can't sugar momma me a new one anymore" She suggested, with a furtive glance towards Raven if Qrow made eye contact with her.

Qrow's terminal sleep deprivation had him aggressively squinting and mumbling curses under his breath as they emerged into the scorching Vacuo sun, already high in the sky despite the early hour. He shielded his eyes, trying to will them to adjust to their torment, and the fact that he hadn't quite managed it when Yang dropped her hint meant it was a good few seconds of slow, hilariously vacant blinking while he attempted to parse just what the hell she was talking about before he answered, actual comprehension clearly only dawning mid-word.



"Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. Right. Think I heard about that guy. On... the radio."

Seamless. He gave Raven a split-second meaningful look and turned, slinging a bare arm around Vernal's shoulder and starting to usher her from the inn's side alley towards the more crowded central street, the smell of grilling meat drifting over and various merchants already peddling their wares as the sun's rays split the paving beneath their feet.

"C'mon, Laverne. Lotsa breakfast joints up this way. Think the ladies gotta figure out what they're gonna do about their stuffy Atlas threads before they suffocate in this sun. You'n me, though, we're just about set."

He used his lanky legs to take a long stride ahead and executed a sarcastic spin, the cloak he had tied around his hips swaying in the (complete lack of) breeze as he showed off his lean guns.



"Gonna float ya some suggestions for our summer line name. Whaddaya think about 'White Trash Chic'?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. Right. Think I heard about that guy. On... the radio."

Seamless. He gave Raven a split-second meaningful look and turned, slinging a bare arm around Vernal's shoulder and starting to usher her from the inn's side alley towards the more crowded central street, the smell of grilling meat drifting over and various merchants already peddling their wares as the sun's rays split the paving beneath their feet.

"C'mon, Laverne. Lotsa breakfast joints up this way. Think the ladies gotta figure out what they're gonna do about their stuffy Atlas threads before they suffocate in this sun. You'n me, though, we're just about set."

He used his lanky legs to take a long stride ahead and executed a sarcastic spin, the cloak he had tied around his hips swaying in the (complete lack of) breeze as he showed off his lean guns.

"Gonna float ya some suggestions for our summer line name. Whaddaya think about 'White Trash Chic'?"

"Okay, this has to be like a dream still, huh? I'm still up in bed, passed out and hallucinating, yeah? No way that whatever the fuck was going on back there is actually happening, and now this, and the other stuff back there like I'm pretty sure I heard Raven laughing up a storm and she never does that from what I hear, and now I don't even know what you're going on about, guy. That ain't my name and in case you didn't notice I'm not white and..." Her voice drifted away as Qrow guided them both further and further until they were out of view. At which point Raven turned to face Yang, though she said nothing, jamming her hands into her pockets and expectantly waited for her daughter to have the first word.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Qrow's terminal sleep deprivation had him aggressively squinting and mumbling curses under his breath as they emerged into the scorching Vacuo sun, already high in the sky despite the early hour. He shielded his eyes, trying to will them to adjust to their torment, and the fact that he hadn't quite managed it when Yang dropped her hint meant it was a good few seconds of slow, hilariously vacant blinking while he attempted to parse just what the hell she was talking about before he answered, actual comprehension clearly only dawning mid-word.

View attachment 875346

"Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. Right. Think I heard about that guy. On... the radio."

Seamless. He gave Raven a split-second meaningful look and turned, slinging a bare arm around Vernal's shoulder and starting to usher her from the inn's side alley towards the more crowded central street, the smell of grilling meat drifting over and various merchants already peddling their wares as the sun's rays split the paving beneath their feet.

"C'mon, Laverne. Lotsa breakfast joints up this way. Think the ladies gotta figure out what they're gonna do about their stuffy Atlas threads before they suffocate in this sun. You'n me, though, we're just about set."

He used his lanky legs to take a long stride ahead and executed a sarcastic spin, the cloak he had tied around his hips swaying in the (complete lack of) breeze as he showed off his lean guns.

View attachment 875351

"Gonna float ya some suggestions for our summer line name. Whaddaya think about 'White Trash Chic'?"​

"Okay, this has to be like a dream still, huh? I'm still up in bed, passed out and hallucinating, yeah? No way that whatever the fuck was going on back there is actually happening, and now this, and the other stuff back there like I'm pretty sure I heard Raven laughing up a storm and she never does that from what I hear, and now I don't even know what you're going on about, guy. That ain't my name and in case you didn't notice I'm not white and..." Her voice drifted away as Qrow guided them both further and further until they were out of view. At which point Raven turned to face Yang, though she said nothing, jamming her hands into her pockets and expectantly waited for her daughter to have the first word.​

Yang let out a quiet snicker at the other Branwens as they walked away, and leaned in closer to Raven like there was any reason to whisper now with the other two gone.

"Idiot forgot about my zipper pants. Rookie mistake."

She was, ostensibly, wearing the same clothes as she had in Atlas, but by some miracle of the gods and some guy named Jesus Yang had never heard of, the mechanic overalls from hell she'd been wearing (nay, rocking) and their zip away bottoms had absolutely come in clutch, and her legs were bare up past her boots to a good way up her thigh, with the flight jacket similarly left behind as she basked in the morning sun for a moment with stretch and an upward stretch content grin.

The smile didn't so much fade as shift to something more contemplative as she opened her eyes back up, eyes focused forward even as she clearly addressed Raven.

"...I just.... I wanted to say thanks." Is what she settled on, her words carefully chosen despite their astonishing blandness up to that point.

"I'm not gonna pretend that you're perfect, or that what you did to me and dad is all bygones forever, and especially not the choicces you made at Haven" she continued, her eyes narrowing slightly before they drifted to the opposite side. "...But you're also doing more than just surviving here. You're helping, more than most. You... you were willing to do something you didn't want to, for me. and I just, y'know-" she said, her words getting a little more sloppy as she rubbed the back of her head and huffed.

"-Like, you're not perfect, but you're not the devil either. You're trying. and I just... I wanted you to know that I appreciate it, and that I'm... at least a little sorry for some of the stuff I said last night. I was angry. Really angry, and scared too; that I'd be losing someone else. and I would've if you hadn't've helped. soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... yea. Thanks."

She let that hang in the air for a moment before she gave Raven a pair of finger guns and immediately started to pick up the pace

 

[Gus Gungus]

"How touching. Truly a majestic leader who is willing to own up to even small mistakes, I can see why this place has lasted as long as it has. We also have far more pressing matters to attend to."

Whether anyone actually heard him over the cats was an entirely valid question

Using the fact that they were a good fifteen seconds into the uproar as a metric, and the aforementioned majestic leader-come-flower child was still showing no signs of doing anything other than cradling Neo, bawling and unintentionally encouraging her army of felines, a reasonable enough assumption would've been 'no'.

Such comforting notions were well and truly dissuaded by the shadow that befell Watts' figure from behind, not dissimilar from one of Emerald's stunts in how nary an aura in the room had warned anyone of when and from whence the tree of a man suddenly looming over him had appeared. He was huge; not quite the inhuman man monster they met on their arrival in Gorgon, but nevertheless a tall, chiselled wall of muscle in an athlete's shape, and as he pounded his knuckles off one another a pair of thickly plated bronze-colored gauntlets extending all the way up under the sleeves of his exquisitely fitted suit to his shoulders rubbed together like defibrilators, volatile coils of gold lightning jumping between the points of contact.



"Should put some respect on that mouth 'fore I put that mouth around a curb, boy."

His words were a sneering, posturing taunt, yet the tone they were delivered in was of the same deathly calm as a garbageman who'd been on the job for thirty years and seen all there was to see as he looked down on the latest advancements in the world of garbage. His eyes were hidden behind two impenetrable glass rims, but it wasn't hard to imagine them matching the twitch of disgust settling across the man's lips in sheer acrimony as he sized up Watts's reaction without a stir.

Mercury and Emerald were already up, rushing to step between their old classmate and the tree of a man with two equally outraged expressions of different stripes, Emerald's eyes flared wide with a more familiar anger than the grimace with a view to violence Mercury wore (despite the cat still draped around his shoulders) as he gave the man a double-handed shove that didn't even make him step back.



"NOT OKAY!"

"WAY over the line!"

Emerald was already spinning towards Morgiana, but before she could even fully rotate she stopped dead as she caught sight of the eyes already looking back at them.





"What I just say about the vibes, my dude?"

They were black. Rather than colors, whites, or anything resembling the typical color composition of the human eye there were just two inky, infinite pools, a pair of silver rims possibly denoting the presence of pupils somewhere in the depths of that darkness. It was impossible to measure precisely which was stranger and more disconcerting to look at between that and the skin immediately around her eyes, which all their color appeared to have drained to and now somehow seemed to drift, shift and intermingle with one another over the surface like some sort of optical illusion, the exact midpoint between a kaleidoscope and rorschach test.

Despite the unnatural sight, the sentence accompanying it was all but casual; completely lacking in threat or any hostile intent. There should have been nothing to separate it from anything else Morgiana had spoken in her light, airy, head-in-the-clouds lilt.

Yet somehow, and in complete disregard of the symphony of cats still yowling to their heart's content, the voice was perfectly audible to everyone in the room. It didn't even sound raised, and none of her facial cues indicated she had done anything more than murmur another placid, sleepy sentence. Still, they heard it, and if abrupt, universal termination of their cries was any indicator so did the cats, all their voices quieting at once in the same moment the candles in the tent flickered before they all scattered back to carrying out their standard cat business.

The man was listening, though unfazed, yet to peel his eyes off Watts even despite Mercury and Emerald's efforts. "It's a precedent thing, Morg. Queen can't rule like this. Stuff ain't gonna pick up."

"Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion, man." She smiled, as she finally stopped subjecting Neo to what had potentially been the most soothing mode of suffocation she'd ever experienced and drifted backwards, parting some of the illusionist's pinker hair and letting her more startling facial features fade back to normal. "You believe in the old way. Daddy's way. I believe in flower power."

She threw up the peace sign again, this time over one eye.

"Peep this."

As if to illustrate the point, she gently plucked the poppy out from her own ear and (if allowed) slotted it behind Neo's instead, smoothing her tresses back over it to keep it in place. Stretching out, she let her gown's soft folds billow around her, gravity letting the lavish material settle around her feet an finally cling to her form in full as she picked her way across the cluttered wasteland of a carpet towards them, appearing to viscerally enjoy its sensation on her toes.

"...Do you have that much green...?"

Tyrian's tail began to unwind.

".....Many things?"

He seemed absolutely enraptured.

"Yup."

She answered both queries in the same, sibylline breath, gingerly lifting her hands to either side of her as though gently trailing her way across a meadow of flowers. One alighted on Tyrian's head, giving his crown a tender, caressing ruffle, and the other held the unlit end of what she'd been smoking out for Cinder to take in her lips if she wanted; a sight which, if it transpired, was hilarious enough to finally break Mercury's concentration.



"Oh, God. Cinder's gonna get so high."

Morgiana remained silent until she had passed Watts, Mercury, then Emerald in turn, one hand peppering the towering man's lapel with a flurry of slaps until he dutifully stepped backward with a sigh, observing...

...absolutely nothing, as his boss proceeded to just stand there, arms folded, and stare at Watts as intently as such a dreamy person could muster for the next ten to fifteen seconds, no break in the eye contact unless he did so.

"What am I peepin'?" The bodyguard finally grunted, dubious.

"Shshhhhhh. I'm figurin' him out. I'm knowing him." Her eyes narrowed in abstruse, targeted consideration, never once breaking her tranquil smile from Arthur's face as she tilted her head coyly and tapped an irregular pattern against her lower lip. "Almost there now."

She continued to stare.

And stare.

And staaaaaaaaaare.

Spoiler

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Yang let out a quiet snicker at the other Branwens as they walked away, and leaned in closer to Raven like there was any reason to whisper now with the other two gone.

"Idiot forgot about my zipper pants. Rookie mistake."

She was, ostensibly, wearing the same clothes as she had in Atlas, but by some miracle of the gods and some guy named Jesus Yang had never heard of, the mechanic overalls from hell she'd been wearing (nay, rocking) and their zip away bottoms had absolutely come in clutch, and her legs were bare up past her boots to a good way up her thigh, with the flight jacket similarly left behind as she basked in the morning sun for a moment with stretch and an upward stretch content grin.

The smile didn't so much fade as shift to something more contemplative as she opened her eyes back up, eyes focused forward even as she clearly addressed Raven.

"...I just.... I wanted to say thanks." Is what she settled on, her words carefully chosen despite their astonishing blandness up to that point.

"I'm not gonna pretend that you're perfect, or that what you did to me and dad is all bygones forever, and especially not the choices you made at Haven" she continued, her eyes narrowing slightly before they drifted to the opposite side. "...But you're also doing more than just surviving here. You're helping, more than most. You... you were willing to do something you didn't want to, for me. and I just, y'know-" she said, her words getting a little more sloppy as she rubbed the back of her head and huffed.

"-Like, you're not perfect, but you're not the devil either. You're trying. and I just... I wanted you to know that I appreciate it, and that I'm... at least a little sorry for some of the stuff I said last night. I was angry. Really angry, and scared too; that I'd be losing someone else. and I would've if you hadn't've helped. soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... yea. Thanks."

She let that hang in the air for a moment before she gave Raven a pair of finger guns and immediately started to pick up the pace

She did her best to keep her face composed, to maintain that neutral look, but it was hard to deny hearing Yang's words had an effect on her...and it was impossible to miss the way her eyes just lit up after hearing that. She opened her mouth to say something, only to hesitate as her eyes darted to the side and she thought better of it, deciding to say something else. "You don't have to apologize." Raven knew there were far, far worse things to say to somebody when you were angry, and scared, and hurting. She'd...she'd said some of those things herself. Her neutral look only changed when Yang was no longer looking, when she was resuming the walk, when she had her back to her. It was only then that Raven allowed herself a small smile. "And...you're welcome." She added, falling in line behind Yang as she also resumed the walk.

But she only made it a few steps before she stopped with a sigh, the smile vanishing. "Wait. Yang, hold on, wait. There...there is something else." Raven remarked, rubbing at her forehead. "Something I've been trying to wait until the right time to say." She wasn't sure this was that ideal time to do so, but Yang was in a much better mood than at earlier times, especially after that letter. And being honest, after what her daughter just said, continuing to withhold important information would only get more and more stressful. "I don't know if this is that right time, truthfully. I...well. You've had to deal with so much, handle so much...more than your fair share. I didn't want to burden you more. You're strong, much more than me, but everyone has their breaking point. Even you." Raven bit her lip in apprehension.

"That said, right time or not, you deserve to know. So...try not to lose it, okay?"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Such comforting notions were well and truly dissuaded by the shadow that befell Watts' figure from behind, nary an aura in the room having warned anyone of when and from whence the tree of a man suddenly looming over him had appeared. He was huge; not quite the inhuman man monster they met on their arrival in Gorgon, but nevertheless a tall, chiselled wall of muscle in an athlete's shape, and as he pounded his knuckles together a pair of thickly plated gauntlets colored bronze and extending all the way up under the sleeves of his exquisitely fitted suit to his shoulders rubbed together like defibrilators, volatile currents of gold lightning jumping between the points of contact.

"Should put some respect on that mouth 'fore I put that mouth around a curb, boy."

His words were a sneering, posturing taunt, yet the tone they were delivered in was of the same deathly calm as a garbageman who'd been on the job for thirty years and seen all there was to see as he looked down on the latest advancements in the world of garbage. His eyes were hidden behind two impenetrable glass rims, but it wasn't hard to imagine them matching the twitch of disgust settling across the man's lips in sheer acrimony as he sized up Watts's reaction without a stir.

"..."

"What did you just say?!"

Everything swirling around inside her had almost gotten her to snap on Emerald earlier. One honestly innocuous comment and she'd came close to exploding on a friend who really didn't deserve it. Some random stranger thug threatening her friend, her partner like that? This dude came far far closer to setting her off than Emerald did. All the exaggerated slowness, that lethargic mood, it all just seemed to evaporate in an instant as she whirled around on the man in pure anger. There was nothing shooting out of her eye yet but there was no denying that her single visible eye was burning a much brighter and intense shade of gold as she glared at the man. There were only two reasons she didn't actually attack yet.​

Mercury and Emerald were already up, rushing to step between their old classmate and the tree of a man with two equally outraged expressions of different stripes, Emerald's eyes flared wide with a more familiar anger than the grimace with a view to violence Mercury wore (despite the cat still draped around his shoulders) as he gave the man a double-handed shove that didn't even make him step back.

"NOT OKAY!"

"WAY over the line!"

Mercury and Emerald were ahead of her. Though Merc's shove had been ineffective, Cinder felt confident that one from her would not be so easily ignored. The maiden took a step forward--​

"What I just say about the vibes, my dude?"

They were black. Rather than colors, whites, or anything resembling the typical color composition of the human eye there were just two inky, infinite pools, a pair of silver rims possibly denoting the presence of pupils somewhere in the depths of that darkness. It was impossible to measure precisely which was stranger and more disconcerting to look at between that and the skin immediately around her eyes, which all their color appeared to have drained to and now somehow seemed to drift, shift and intermingle with one another like some sort of optical illusion, the exact midpoint between a kaleidoscope and rorschach test.

--only to falter from Morgiana's voice. That in itself got Cinder to look back, and her eye widened when she took in the sight of those eyes. Those creepy, unnatural eyes. "..."​

The man was listening, though unfazed, yet to peel his eyes off Watts even despite Mercury and Emerald's efforts. "It's a precedent thing, Morg. Queen can't rule like this. Stuff ain't gonna pick up."

"Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion, man." She smiled, as she finally stopped subjecting Neo to what had potentially been the most soothing mode of suffocation she'd ever experienced and drifted backwards, parting some of the illusionist's pinker hair and letting her more startling facial features fade back to normal. "You believe in the old way. Daddy's way. I believe in flower power."

She threw up the peace sign again, this time over one eye.

"Peep this."

As if to illustrate the point, she gently plucked the poppy out from her own ear and (if allowed) slotted it behind Neo's instead, smoothing her tresses back over it to keep it in place. Stretching out, she let her gown's soft folds billow around her, gravity letting the lavish material settle around her feet an finally cling to her form in full as she picked her way across the cluttered wasteland of a carpet towards them, appearing to viscerally enjoy its sensation on her toes.

"..." Her raised hands slowly lowered to her sides, at least some of her willingness to try decking this guy in his stupid face fading away. She threw one final tense stare his way before returning her full attention back to the high hippie and also Emerald's ex. That was still such a shock.

Enough to temporarily break her out of her gloomy mood.​

"Yup."

She answered both queries in the same, sybilline breath, gingerly lifting her hands to either side of her as though gently trailing her way across a meadow of flowers. One alighted on Tyrian's head, giving his crown a tender, caressing ruffle, and the other held the unlit end of what she'd been smoking out for Cinder to take in her lips if she wanted; a sight which, if it transpired, was hilarious enough to finally break Mercury's concentration.

"Oh, God. Cinder's gonna get so high."

Yet perhaps there was another way to get out of that shitty mood. Her expression shifted into an awkward grin as she eyed the unlit end before briefly glancing at all her friends...and then shrugged, taking the offering into her own mouth to begin smoking. She couldn't say she'd ever done it before, which explained why she nearly immediately coughed a couple times, but she wasn't going to let that dissuade her. She'd so gladly left home, eager to experience new things and live a better life, and this...this was one of those experiences.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

As mother and daughter had their moment, so too were this world's Vernal and the other's Qrow discovering they had more in common than they could've ever possibly imagined.

Not really. But he was proving fairly adept at adjusting to the idea that—that universal genetic trait of being a destined screw-up all Tribesmen and women carried aside—this chick, at least, wasn't actually all that bad compared to some others he couldn't have cared less to mention. If nothing else, there seemed to be some glimmer of guilt or self-reflection to everything she was doing now, some awareness that she had stuff to atone for the patsy version of her from Remnant One never had the chance to develop.

And the miserable loser of a Qrow Branwen from this dump seemingly didn't even care to contemplate. Not out loud, anyway.

He turned away from the mirror in the sunglasses kiosk they were standing at to face her, pushing the knockoff designer pair he'd just let a peddler offload on him at way-too-high-a-price up the bridge of his nose. (He knew it was a ripoff, he just didn't give a shit; he was in no mood to haggle, and unlike Yang he wanted nothing to do with that big yellow bastard in the sky on this particular morning.)



"Oh, yeah. It's all comin' together."

Plus if he did say so himself, they really tied a nice little bow on top of his whole look right now. Speaking of which. He took a bite out of the gyro he'd snagged himself for breakfast, running a hand through the air like he was telling Vernal to picture it now as he rattled off no less than his ninth idea for their summer edition cover piece since they'd split from the other two.

"'Prison Gang. But Not Really A Respected One.'"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Oh, yeah. It's all comin' together."

Plus if he did say so himself, they really tied a nice little bow on top of his whole look right now. Speaking of which. He took a bite out of the gyro he'd snagged himself for breakfast, running a hand through the air like he was telling Vernal to picture it now as he rattled off no less than his ninth idea for their summer edition cover piece since they'd split from the other two.

"'Prison Gang. But Not Really A Respected One.'"

“You do know that’s a 4/10 at best, right?” The former maiden bandit commented, still not convinced that this was actually happening and it wasn’t just some bad hangover dream, but resigned to it all the same.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

“You do know that’s a 4/10 at best, right?” The former maiden bandit commented, still not convinced that this was actually happening and it wasn’t just some bad hangover dream, but resigned to it all the same.

"Never mind, you suck."​