deercountry | o8 . clockhouse summer

[Willow answers the door promptly after Oscar knocks; she's been expecting company. She looks between the pair, jaw set with determination, but she gives Oscar a little reassuring smile. She had wanted to keep the visit as quiet as possible, and she had planned to be downstairs herself, but her timing is off, it seems.

It's probably still fine.]

Thanks, Oscar.

[She opens the door wider, and nods to the Necromancer, and it's clear the invitation is just for one of them.]

Come on in.

[ He disregards the snub and steps in to stand at her side. There, he tips his head to Oscar in exaggerated thanks. ]

We'll take it from here.

[ It is clearly a cue to leave the two of them alone in her room. ]

[Dubious, he stepped aside and backed away. It was clear that he wasn't welcome in whatever business they were doing together. However...]

Feel free to call me if you need anything, Willow. You know how.

[The links between palebloods within the same house were impressive. Oscar wouldn't snoop-- but he would keep an ear out for any hint of trouble.]

I will, don't worry. Everything's fine.

[She knows it's probably not much reassurance. It's not too often Willow closes her door to Oscar, or keeps him in the dark, but this is different. She hasn't confided in anyone about these experiments, and she doubts he - or anyone, really - would approve.

She closes the door, and turns her attention back to her guest.]

Uh. Don't mind him.

[She's trying very hard to pretend it's not nearly as awkward as it feels, so she gestures at red and black fox, curled up on the foot of the bed, watching them both.]

That's my Omen. Puck.

[ Oscar practically slides backwards into the darkened hall, eyes still on John. It's an impressive degree of dedication. He does his best to look patient about it instead of amused. ]

I don't take offense. We didn't begin on the best foot... and I know the aesthetics [ He gestures, vaguely, to the blacks of his eyes. ] don't put everyone at ease. Necromancy doesn't always translate well.

[ That said, he steps further in to follow her polite gesture. ]

May I say hello?

[ He says it like someone intending to let a dog sniff his hand, but he only looks down to address the fox directly. ]

I'm hoping you can help Willow solve her problem.

[Willow stops herself from commenting that necromancy doesn't translate well in her world either, nor do black eyes. It's acceptable in his world, and he hasn't given her any reason to doubt him.

Puck lifts his head and stares, quietly assessing their guest. He knows, on some level, Willow trusts him, or they wouldn't be in this situation. Even if she hasn't told anyone about trying to find a cure for wolfwalking. Even if she has never mentioned him to Tara at all aside from being the person who found her on shore several months ago.

Puck knows Willow wants a solution for wolfwalking, and he also knows she understands and accepts that none of this is risk free. He dips his chin in a small nod before laying his head back down on his paws. Of course he will help.

Willow offers a small shrug.]

He doesn't really talk much, sorry.

[ He gives a faint smile, for a moment, somehow wry. Or wistful. Murmured, like an aside: ]

Mine either.

[ Which is the most he's ever said of her, and of course he breezes right past it as he straightens back to Willow and clasps his hands like let's get to it. ]

So. Time for our sleep study.

[It's at this moment, perhaps the worst moment, that Faith has reached the conclusion that she should perhaps warn Willow about their mutual friend Doctor Bones. Worse than that, it's at this moment that she's just outside Willow's door, and that she opens it without knocking.

She should have, in retrospect. More than that, she probably should have been a bit quicker.]

Sorry if you're naked or whatever, we need to -

[She stops and sees the very man in question. And she sees Willow. And she glances around, half expecting to see Ozpin somewhere, glaring daggers at the lich. But no, apparently this is the one time that the creepy motherfucker is off biting poor Ford Pines or something. Great.]

Uh. Hi. [She glances at Willow, waiting for some explanation as to what the fuck is going on.]

[Willow is just about to settle into bed as Faith bursts into the room, and she jumps back up, clearly startled.]

Faith!

[The little fox leaps to his feet at the same time, standing on the foot of the bed, also startled by the sudden intrusion and barks sharply just once in alarm.

Willow recovers quickly, and rubs at the back of her neck awkwardly. The timing. Could this really get any weirder? She doesn't think so. She hopes not. She doesn't immediately offer an explanation, though. Hadn't Faith previously suggested she ask their mutual friend for help? She probably already knows exactly what's going on.]

Um. So. What's going on?

[ Well! This is a completely normal situation and not awkward at all. ]

It's really not that kind of visit. [ This is a joke. God, looking very patient, sweeps his hand between the two of them in a gesture of carry on. ] Don't mind me.

[Well, she'd fuckin' hope not.

She looks at Willow with a puzzled face. She knows she for sure can't mention that she knows The Emperor's real name, especially in front of Willow and in front of... well, The Emperor himself.]

Right back at you, Red? I mean, I just came to talk about uh... [Wait, fuck, think of a topic.] A den of vampires or whatever.

[She looks at God. John. Doctor Bones... whoever this stranger with the empty eyes and the kindly smile is.]

...Didn't you kind of piss everyone in this house off last month with the whole... hand thing? I think Ozpin's been trying to find you for months at this point. Does he know you're here?

I mean, I'm not a narc, just, y'know. [She would have figured that Willow would be a narc!]

[God, no. A whole world of no.

Willow lets out an exasperated sigh as he says it's not that kind of visit. Of course it's not. Still, she needs to offer up an explanation, and while she trusts Faith, these experiments are not something that she's discussed with anyone, not even Tara.]

He's just here to help me with some stuff. It's fine.

[It's just a little visit, no big deal. Never mind whole... hand losing incident with Oscar. Willow is still going to try - and fail - to be totally casual about all of this.]

So, um. Vampire den, huh? You mean, like, the vampires we saw from home awhile ago? Or - or Sleeper vampires, or...?

[ Very convincing. ]

The hand thing was an unfortunate mix-up. [ Oscar was clearly mixed up about who he thought he was stealing from, and the sort of consequences a person could reasonably expect. ] And we did sort it out. Oscar is back to his usual number of hands.

[ He offers, helpfully: ]

Willow's helping me with some research. I can run through the basics another time, if you care to hear it. [ (He will not do that.) ] But, please, don't let me get in the way of vampire-hunting.

[Why is she so fucking amazing at lying? Now everyone is focused on the off-hand complete bullshit she made up instead of the present situation that is worrying. Faith doesn't want to leave or back off just yet, especially since nobody's answered her about Ozpin knowing.

Which, fine, fuck that guy. But she's not a fan of being shrugged off.]

Yeah, I heard as much. Still, seems like it's probably a bad idea. [It's not like she particularly faults him for what happened with Oscar, and her tone isn't really condemning him, just dry. It's an extreme trap, but the Mayor kept trinkets in his office that would drive you to the brink of madness if you fiddled with them. Not out of any malice, just because they livened up the room. She broke into his office too, but she wasn't looking to steal shit and she was fine.

Maybe she should look at that as the red flag that it really is.] Uh. Sleeper Vampires. Or I guess Waker Vampires. Not far, just wanted to... touch base with you...

You're doing... research in her bedroom while she's sleeping? [That feels gross even saying it. And then in a rare moment of intuition, something clicks...] Something about dreams, I'm gonna guess?

[She's been getting prophetic dreams since she was 17 and had a living mother. It's... familiar territory.]

It'll be okay. No one's here to cause any trouble.

[It has occurred to Willow that working out of her room is probably not ideal, given the whole hand situation with Oscar, but it still seemed like the better idea at the time, since usually she can expect to remain undisturbed once she shuts her door at night.

It takes it a second to hit her that Faith turning up to tell her about a vampire den doesn't seem quite right. It's not a conversation that requires bursting into rooms like it's big news. Vampires in Trench are not really big news. Willow eyes widen a little.]

Oh... Oh! Waker vampires? Okay... Um. Maybe we should step into the hall to talk about this?

[She glances at her guest with a small, apologetic smile.]

Shouldn't take long.

o8 . clockhouse summer

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