[This is a surprise, but a happy one. Willow is very much worried about what Maul might do, not just to her, but the rest of the family as well. It helps, though, knowing they are on her side.]
I, uh, did it in the dream - the, uh, de-invite spell was what I got it from. At the farmhouse and at TRUST. I can walk Tara through the spell here. It should work. You know, as long as no one invites him in.
[She takes a deep breath. It's as close to an admission that she can't do the spell herself as she feels she can put to words at the moment.]
I'm not sure what would happen if someone cast it while he was inside. I mean, it wouldn't eject him from the house or anything... I would say there's a good chance it would just fail - the spell I adapted this one from would. But magic can be a little tricky... I guess there's a chance it could either seal him in or stop him from coming back if he left. That's... probably not something we want to find out the hard way, though.
[Willow sighs. She appreciates the sentiment, she really does, and she does not want Qrow to stop talking to her again, but...]
I think we need a solution that's a little more permanent. If you kill him, he's just going to come back, and then you've got a big old target on your back too.
[She does not want him to get hurt either.]
We'll have to figure something out, but maybe we can do it together this time?
If we keep killing him like we did Salem, that won't matter.
[He shrugs.]
Solutions are great. But if it comes down to his life or anyone else's in this house? I won't hesitate. And I don't care if that makes me a target. Besides, I already told him I'd come after him if he ever laid a hand on Ruby, so it's not exactly like he doesn't know I exist.
Do you think that'll work the same way here? I mean, I guess he's way worse without his memories, but I don't know if he's more reckless like that, or if he'd go the opposite way and get more devious.
And I know I can count on you to protect us, Qrow. And I appreciate it.
[Is he implying he'd keep murdering the squid as it turned into a person? Yes, yes he is. There is a particularly vicious side to him he keeps under wraps, because he doesn't want to be that person anymore. But there's only so much he's willing to tolerate.
...As to the rest? He's not sure how to address it yet. He's still hurt, he's still upset about that whole situation, and he would've nursed it longer if this hadn't come up. Eventually, he lets out a quiet sigh.]
Before me and Oz worked our shit out, I told him he could always ask for my help, even if a time came we didn't talk anymore. That goes for everyone in this house.
[She hesitates. This probably isn't the time to get into a discussion about what happened between them, but at the same time...
She is deeply worried about Maul coming after her - after all of them, and what the fallout from that might be. Maybe this isn't the time to leave things unsaid.]
Listen... I'm sorry. About what happened before. I saw what felt like a really familiar situation, and I panicked a little, and I reacted. Badly. I won't let it happen again, and I certainly never meant to hurt anyone.
[He hadn't been expecting the apology, honestly. And it brings to mind his conversation with Ruby, and how she'd suggested giving her context from his perspective might help her to understand why everything escalated so sharply back then. Stepping up to offer his support in defending her from Maul is a no-brainer. But the source of that argument is very close to his heart, something it took him seventeen years to confess to his own nieces.
This apology is an olive branch, though, and to shut the conversation down or brush her off would leave things unsettled between them. He doesn't need to be avoiding her when he wants to make sure she's safe, after all, and his blood thrums in agreement, craving harmony with a friend moreso than nurturing a grudge.
After a long silence, he switches the feed to private. At this point, only Tara and Willow are entirely unaware of his Semblance, but he isn't ready to bear his soul so readily to the whole group nonetheless.]
...I might've taken some things personally, too. There's an old superstition in Remnant, about crows being bad luck. I was named after it. My Semblance...it's not like Ruby's, or Winter's. I can't turn it on and off, it's just always there. Bringing misfortune.
[Hurting people without meaning to, as long as he's alive.]
[Qrow's revelation comes as a shock; she doesn't know a whole lot about Semblances or how they work, just that, as Ruby described, they are essentially a superpower. Superpowers should be advantageous, it feels particularly unfair that Qrow's is not.]
I'm sorry. I didn't know. That suddenly makes a lot more sense - I thought you were just mad because it was Ozpin. I didn't realize...
[She sighs. The context does certainly does help explain a lot more about why Qrow reacted so strongly, and was so slow to forgive her and she's well aware that there's some things she could clear up on her end too, given how little she was willing to communicate in the heat of the moment.]
There's probably a lot about vampires at home that I didn't explain well at the time because... well, I was upset too. It's, uh, not really like here. When someone gets turned into a vampire at home, they're gone - a demon sets up shop in their body, and it walks and talks like them, and it's got their memories, but it's - it's more like a really, really smart Grimm that can trick you into thinking it's still your friend, until it decides to kill you. That's what I worried had happened to Oz.
[He sighs, and it's a little tired. Forgiveness, as always, is a choice, and it's one he can't half-ass. He can either let it go, or not. He closes his eyes, gives himself a last opportunity to nurse that hurt, and then ... releases it, lets it drift away on the wind like a floating lantern.]
...It's fine. I don't talk about it much.
[Actively avoids talking about it, actually. And unlike the rest of the residents at the time, Willow wasn't someone he really knew himself when she moved in; she was more a mutual friend through Ozpin than anything in the first couple months they lived together. He couldn't gauge how she'd react if he told her, and then the whole vampire incident just made him think that she wouldn't accept him at all. This is a kinder reaction than he'd expected, which makes it easier for him to continue to engage this conversation at all.
He shakes his head.]
Guess we could've done a better job getting to know each other after you moved in. That's not too different from a kind of Grimm we have, actually. The Chill. ...It got my sister, last year. Oz was the one who ended up having to put her down, after she killed me and Clover.
[So really it's particularly on the nose that Oz ended up in this situation.]
The Chill does sound like vampires where I'm from. I'm sorry about what happened to you, Clover, and your sister. It couldn't have been easy for any of you to have to deal with.
[Not wanting to talk much about his semblance is understandable, Willow thinks, and she's not about to pry further. Clearly it's a pain point, and in spite of living in the same house, it's not as though they're particularly close. It made it much harder to trust him and his intentions after his reaction to learning what had been going on with Ozpin.
It hits her that Qrow probably didn't feel much differently about her.]
We both lead pretty busy lives - it makes it kind of hard to find time to just hang out sometimes. Especially in a place like this. Maybe we should change that, though? I'd like to get to know you better.
It was worse for Ruby. She was all but left alone when all that went down.
[There was ... Oz .... but they were not even nearly on proper speaking terms at that point.
Which is a way of deflecting the compassion directed in his direction in the midst of this particular conversation, but listen. It's fine. He's fine.
When Willow makes her offer, though, he hesitates, briefly. He's not entirely convinced he's prepared to make the leap from forgiveness to trying to build something closer, but he supposes there's no harm in just casually hanging out. Knowing Trench, it's only a matter of time before they get thrown into some kind of traumatic situation or another together.]
...Sure, why not. I know some pretty kickass cafes around here.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I, uh, did it in the dream - the, uh, de-invite spell was what I got it from. At the farmhouse and at TRUST. I can walk Tara through the spell here. It should work. You know, as long as no one invites him in.
[She takes a deep breath. It's as close to an admission that she can't do the spell herself as she feels she can put to words at the moment.]
Are you sure you guys are on board with that?
no subject
[Maybe that's presumptuous, but he can't imagine it.]
If someone else does by mistake, can you still kick him out?
no subject
But yeah. If it happens, the spell just needs to be recast. Just like if it broke because something happened to the person who cast it.
no subject
no subject
I'm not sure what would happen if someone cast it while he was inside. I mean, it wouldn't eject him from the house or anything... I would say there's a good chance it would just fail - the spell I adapted this one from would. But magic can be a little tricky... I guess there's a chance it could either seal him in or stop him from coming back if he left. That's... probably not something we want to find out the hard way, though.
no subject
Well that's fine, if he gets in I'll just kill him and toss his corpse out the window, and then we can recast it.
no subject
I think we need a solution that's a little more permanent. If you kill him, he's just going to come back, and then you've got a big old target on your back too.
[She does not want him to get hurt either.]
We'll have to figure something out, but maybe we can do it together this time?
no subject
[He shrugs.]
Solutions are great. But if it comes down to his life or anyone else's in this house? I won't hesitate. And I don't care if that makes me a target. Besides, I already told him I'd come after him if he ever laid a hand on Ruby, so it's not exactly like he doesn't know I exist.
no subject
And I know I can count on you to protect us, Qrow. And I appreciate it.
[There's a pause, and Willow smiles.]
It's good to hear your voice again too.
no subject
[Is he implying he'd keep murdering the squid as it turned into a person? Yes, yes he is. There is a particularly vicious side to him he keeps under wraps, because he doesn't want to be that person anymore. But there's only so much he's willing to tolerate.
...As to the rest? He's not sure how to address it yet. He's still hurt, he's still upset about that whole situation, and he would've nursed it longer if this hadn't come up. Eventually, he lets out a quiet sigh.]
Before me and Oz worked our shit out, I told him he could always ask for my help, even if a time came we didn't talk anymore. That goes for everyone in this house.
no subject
[She hesitates. This probably isn't the time to get into a discussion about what happened between them, but at the same time...
She is deeply worried about Maul coming after her - after all of them, and what the fallout from that might be. Maybe this isn't the time to leave things unsaid.]
Listen... I'm sorry. About what happened before. I saw what felt like a really familiar situation, and I panicked a little, and I reacted. Badly. I won't let it happen again, and I certainly never meant to hurt anyone.
private;
This apology is an olive branch, though, and to shut the conversation down or brush her off would leave things unsettled between them. He doesn't need to be avoiding her when he wants to make sure she's safe, after all, and his blood thrums in agreement, craving harmony with a friend moreso than nurturing a grudge.
After a long silence, he switches the feed to private. At this point, only Tara and Willow are entirely unaware of his Semblance, but he isn't ready to bear his soul so readily to the whole group nonetheless.]
...I might've taken some things personally, too. There's an old superstition in Remnant, about crows being bad luck. I was named after it. My Semblance...it's not like Ruby's, or Winter's. I can't turn it on and off, it's just always there. Bringing misfortune.
[Hurting people without meaning to, as long as he's alive.]
private;
I'm sorry. I didn't know. That suddenly makes a lot more sense - I thought you were just mad because it was Ozpin. I didn't realize...
[She sighs. The context does certainly does help explain a lot more about why Qrow reacted so strongly, and was so slow to forgive her and she's well aware that there's some things she could clear up on her end too, given how little she was willing to communicate in the heat of the moment.]
There's probably a lot about vampires at home that I didn't explain well at the time because... well, I was upset too. It's, uh, not really like here. When someone gets turned into a vampire at home, they're gone - a demon sets up shop in their body, and it walks and talks like them, and it's got their memories, but it's - it's more like a really, really smart Grimm that can trick you into thinking it's still your friend, until it decides to kill you. That's what I worried had happened to Oz.
private;
...It's fine. I don't talk about it much.
[Actively avoids talking about it, actually. And unlike the rest of the residents at the time, Willow wasn't someone he really knew himself when she moved in; she was more a mutual friend through Ozpin than anything in the first couple months they lived together. He couldn't gauge how she'd react if he told her, and then the whole vampire incident just made him think that she wouldn't accept him at all. This is a kinder reaction than he'd expected, which makes it easier for him to continue to engage this conversation at all.
He shakes his head.]
Guess we could've done a better job getting to know each other after you moved in. That's not too different from a kind of Grimm we have, actually. The Chill. ...It got my sister, last year. Oz was the one who ended up having to put her down, after she killed me and Clover.
[So really it's particularly on the nose that Oz ended up in this situation.]
Private;
[Not wanting to talk much about his semblance is understandable, Willow thinks, and she's not about to pry further. Clearly it's a pain point, and in spite of living in the same house, it's not as though they're particularly close. It made it much harder to trust him and his intentions after his reaction to learning what had been going on with Ozpin.
It hits her that Qrow probably didn't feel much differently about her.]
We both lead pretty busy lives - it makes it kind of hard to find time to just hang out sometimes. Especially in a place like this. Maybe we should change that, though? I'd like to get to know you better.
Private;
[There was ... Oz .... but they were not even nearly on proper speaking terms at that point.
Which is a way of deflecting the compassion directed in his direction in the midst of this particular conversation, but listen. It's fine. He's fine.
When Willow makes her offer, though, he hesitates, briefly. He's not entirely convinced he's prepared to make the leap from forgiveness to trying to build something closer, but he supposes there's no harm in just casually hanging out. Knowing Trench, it's only a matter of time before they get thrown into some kind of traumatic situation or another together.]
...Sure, why not. I know some pretty kickass cafes around here.