deercountry | September & October Catch-All

"You've got a friend helping you? Are they actually your age, or is it another sad old man? You're very good at collecting those."

The question is punctuated by the collapse of a glowing piece of wood, which sends a faint shower of amused sparks into the air. It's a blunt question, but he's noticed a pattern here.

"I'm kind of going through something similar myself," Vyng admits after a momnt. "Not with people, though. I'm trying to connect with the land...and the spirits that inhabit it."

"Don't go calling Fox old," Oscar teased, a sassy smirk on his face. "He's only a little older than Ruby's sister!"

Mid-20s versus Just At 20, if his recollection was correct. Unstated, however, was the fact that Vyng was still partly correct. Fox did seems sad, without his team that he had left behind in Vacuo.

Perhaps it was a pattern, but Oscar didn't see a problem with it.

"Is that why you're here just... Be-ing a fire?" Oscar asked in reply to Vyng's question. He had never heard of taking spirits as a teacher before...

"I've never heard that kind of thing before," he admitted, intrigued. "How does that even work?"

"People can still be old souls," Vyng points out. "I've met a few folks like that here."

Mako. Shiro. Oscar himself, albeit for different reasons.

He's not surprised Oscar hasn't heard of his brand of shapeshifting. Most Sleepers assume it's transmutation magic — as if Vyng could change himself into fire, simply because he wills it. But the truth is more complex than that.

"Well, how does your owl stuff work?" he asks. "It might be easier to explain if we've got something to compare my spirit stuff to."

"...You've got a point. Fox is way smarter than he likes to let on."

And he was also uncannily perceptive for a blind man. Oscar had found his friendship with Fox a relief because he didn't need to explain the depths of his Oz-Bin problem from the very top; Fox perceived the differences and similarities immediately, and was one of the few people from Remnant who accepted Oscar as his own person right away.

Even parts of Ruby's team needed patience and encouragement-- like Jaune, whom he had come to think of as a goofy older brother.

To the question, Oscar shifted and hummed in thought. He hadn't considered the how of becoming an owl before.

"Uncle Qrow described it as almost like reaching for a star, when I asked him about it." Oscar ventured, searching his memories for a good explanation. "Kinda like reaching for his aura, but going further. It's just..."

A sigh.

"The magic was given to him, so it probably would be like that. For me, that first time I did it on my own? I just knew I needed to-- to reach beyond everything I dreamed possible. For me, the magic is like some kinda endless stretch of sky. There's so much of it, and there's no end to see...

"But even Remnant's skies have an end. Some worlds with tools even like that have been able to touch their moon, but nothing on Remnant even works once you reach the end of that sky. So... I guess even the sky has a limit."

"Okay..."

Vyng doesn't fully understand what touching the moon has to do with this conversation, but sure. He''ll roll with it. All he needs is the basics here.

"So, if your shapeshifting is like reaching past your dreams and into the sky, my spirit stuff is...kind of like the phone-a-friend option."

"Phone a friend?"

That piqued his curiosity.

"What kinda friends are you phoning in?"

Edited 2021-11-25 03:12 (UTC)

"Spirit friends," Vyng answers brightly. "I'm not changing my body to look like anybody. I'm embodying them. Sure, it might look the same on the surface, but trust me. It's got a totally different vibe, pal."

"That--"

Eyes wide as a watchful little owl, Oscar inched closer in his rapt attention.

"I've never even heard of that kind of thing before. H-how does it even work?"

The fire flickers with a thoughtful hum. How does he explain this without getting too mired in the technical details?

"Well, there's usually a get-to-know-you phase..." Vyng says. "You know...what do they like? Dislike? What do you both want from life? Stuff like that."

(Is this starting to sound like dating advice? Maybe.)

"If you gel," he adds, "you spend more time together. Go out for picnics, play some games. And then if you're both feeling it, you check in with each other and see about taking things to the next level."

"Is... this a spirit friend, or a date?"

He asked in a knowing tone, recognizing the suggested activities as ideas for things he had in mind to do with Dipper. 'The next level', in this case, meant something closer to tag teaming an exorcism rather than anything more... intimate.

Oscar laughed.

"How do you find them to talk to, though? How do you know if they're even interested?"

A simple "yes" is Vyng's answer to that first question. For a druid, few things are an either-or situation.

"Anyway, you don't go looking for it," he patiently continues with the air of an experienced older brother. "If you want it too badly, you'll give off the wrong vibes. You've gotta just...be open to different possibilities. Instead of grabbing for the stars, you reach out with an open palm and wait."

Sometimes you make a genuine connection. Other times, it's a "right one, wrong place" kind of deal. Occasionally, you don't find anything at all. That's the worst feeling, and not something Vyng likes to contemplate too much.

"You'll know if they're not interested, because it won't feel right. It's about listening to your instinct, meeting them wherever they're at in the moment, and understanding that things can change in the future."

He was listening-- and absorbing the words and intent as avidly as any schoolkid who devoured literature in their spare time. Oscar chewed at his lower lip, thoughtful, and cast his gaze up to the sky.

"It really does sound like dating," he commented, already dreaming about what was possible.

"I got lucky with Dipper-- but, I wonder what other kind of beings here would want to bond like that?"

"Who was Dipper, again? Your horse friend?"

Even under ideal circumstances, Vyng's memory can be garbage. In this case, the Dream was many lifetimes ago. He's been reincarnated since then. Details like past names and relationships are still fuzzy to him.

"No, that's Shortcake."

He chuckled. Although the mix-up was strange for Oscar, he didn't push it. The gods only understood how many times a part of his soul had been reincarnated over the millennia. The details could get confusing.

Dreams were confusing, too.

Leaning forward, he elaborated.

"Dipper Pines. Messy hair, cool hat, probably wearing shorts, might be wearing an eyepatch. We're close to the same age, and he's totally brilliant. We saved each other a few times in the dream. And, uh..."

He looked away, a little sheepish.

"We're, uh. Datefriends. Boyfriends. Whatever word you wanna use for a couple of teenagers who decided to stand with each other and support each other."

Ohhh, Shortcake. He remembers now. That horse had a gruff personality that didn't suit his name at all. (It was pretty dang funny, actually.)

When Oscar describes Dipper, the flame listens in rapt attention. Hat, eyepatch, shorts...it rings a few bells. But they haven't spoken, as far as he knows.

"Aw." If Vyng had a mouth, he'd be softly smiling right now. "Good for you. That's great, buddy. Glad you've found somebody who's got your back. How'd you two meet?"

Ruby, with her infinite love of sweets, was the one who had given the horse his name. It helped that Shortcake was fond of sweets as well, and an obvious softie when small people being endangered were in the equation.

To the question, Oscar very plainly grinned.

"We both have the dubious luck of having stubborn nerds as our mentors. They were kinda... a thing for a while, but Oz had to go mess that up by not telling the truth right away."

/end sass. Oscar cared about Ozpin, truly. He was an Oz-Bin, after all. However--

"I at least told the truth about the body hopping... and they understand that I might be an Oz-Bin, but I'm not Ozpin. It helped."

"So...Ozpin fucked Dipper's mentor. And that's how you two met? What, did you have family dinners or something?"

For Deerington, that is a shockingly mundane way to meet. At the same time, it tells Vyng more than he wanted to know about Ozpin's sex life.

"Well, that..."

He hadn't thought about it like that-- and it really was awkward, now that he was.

"That was how we got talking more. We met last October. He was going to show me how to play a game... Dungeons, Dungeons, and Dungeons? It sounded neat-- I was gonna try to make a Druid for the character I'd play!"

"Dungeons, Dungeons, and Dungeons?" he says, unable to hide the incredulity in his tone. "That sounds like, uhhh...one helluva first date, Oscar. Are you two being safe about it, at least? Don't give me details — a simple 'yes' or 'no' is fine."

Oscar laughed.

"We're not going into Actual Dungeons. We're just... pretending. Everything's totally safe-- besides, he's fourteen and I'm fifteen. We're not doing anything we wouldn't do in front of our family."

"Oh, okay." The flame gives a satisfied pop. "How was it? Did you ever get around to playing your Druid character?"

A shrug.

"It was last winter, so we didn't really get a chance to before everything started happening. We both spent a good chunk of November recovering from Halloween... then Oz and I returned home for a... very unpleasant visit around the new year."

He shifted awkwardly, tugging uncomfortably at his shirt that hid the scar he had earned on his chest from that entire affair.

"The trip wasn't that pleasant, so we spent a good part of January recovering from that. Then... everything in the Dream started falling apart."

"Ah. Yeah..." A small breeze sends the bonfire shuddering for a second, but Vyng recovers and continues. "Yeah. The apocalypse can be a bitch like that."

But that was then. This is now. And while Trench undoubtedly has its own challenges, at least someone managed to carve out a semi-stable society. Maybe it'll give people the foundation they need to build new lives.

"You should make plans to play soon," Vyng gently adds. "Make some nice memories together. It'll be worth it."

After the better part of the last year, the solid foundation was desperately needed by everyone who made the jump-- and everyone who followed after.

"You think so?" Oscar asked, once more huddling closer against the chill breeze.

"I'll mention it to him, and see what he says. It'll be nice to have something like that to look forward to."

"I know so," he confidently declares.

They haven't been here long, but the size of the orphanage points toward harsh conditions in their future. Maybe it'll be like some of Deerington's worst days. Or, if they're lucky, it'll be closer to living in the unforgiving terrain of the Frozen North. But in any case, he gets the sense that relationships are a key component to staying grounded.

"And yeah — strawberry milk's all well and good," Vyng adds, "but finding other ways to be a kid is important too. Lemme know how it goes. It sounds fun."

September & October Catch-All

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