deercountry | (no subject)

Ozpin gives his assent and Ford finally, for the first time since he woke up, relaxes. There's never been any real doubt that Ozpin would agree, but having the agreement out there and plainly stated is what it takes to finally alleviate some of Ford's anxiety.

Not all of it, but enough that he's able to finish getting dressed without snapping at Ozpin or picking another fight over something stupid. Enough that after a moment he speaks again.

"Thank you, Ozpin." Ford has never been one to express much in the way of consideration or awareness for other people, but this time he thinks to add: "Once we've checked I can retreat to the mindscape until this is over." He still remembers how meditation and deliberately stepping aside for a co-pilot works. He can definitely do it without freaking out.

But he's got more pressing things to focus on for the moment. He returns to the bedroom to locate the Long Memory, listening to Ozpin as he goes. The warning that he should avoid the housemates is met with a nod, though there's one housemate in particular he's hoping to not run into.

"Do you suppose going out the library window would be the best way to avoid Ruby?" He feels like she probably avoids the place.

Speaking of Ruby Rose. She's been up for awhile and had heard the loud exclamation of "Fuck." and had chosen to ignore it. Ozpin was a cranky old man and had probably lost at a game of chess or something.

Ruby gave it a shrug and went down stairs to start working on making some pancakes for breakfast. Things had been crazy this month and she was going to need all of her strength to protect people from the Reckoning's... reckoning.

It's only once she's got the pancake mix in the pan that a thought springs to her mind.

Ozpin didn't lose at chess.
Ozpin also didn't have ~~friends.~~
Ozpin didn't have friends that he'd invite over.

Something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

And she had to look into it.

She dashes back up the stairs, leaving her breakfast to burn so that she can knock on Ozpin's door with both hands.

"Ozpin!? Ozpin!?

Are you okay in there!? Sigh once if you need help- Sigh twice if you're okay!"

While I hope such drastic measures would not be necessary—

And there she is, as if on cue. In Ford's mind, Ozpin sighs.

You will want to head this off quickly. A simple reassurance should do.

As though either of them believe Ruby would drop anything so easily, should she be in a mood to make well-intentioned nuisance of herself. Still: one can hope.

And there she is. Ford freezes, but only for a moment. As uncomfortable as it is, having someone else literally on board as backup is actually pretty helpful. Ozpin's insistence that a 'simple reassurance' will be enough is met with deep skepticism, but also something that can only be described as earnest hope. He really, really needs a simple reassurance to be enough.

(He also reflects, with an amusement that's not directly on but still within sight of the border of hysteria, that Ozpin did as instructed and sighed exactly once.)

"Everything is fine, Ruby." Ford is only so-so at direct lying and impersonating people, but for a single line he doesn't need an abundance of skill in either area.

That's the same reason he leaves it at one line, even though he knows it won't be enough. He needs to stall for a better excuse.

Ruby listens for the one sigh and unfortunately doesn't hear it. She does however get a verbal response and she does notice something is off. He called her Ruby. Ozpin rarely called her Ruby. It was almost always Ms.Rose even after the sheer amount of things they had been through.

She pauses briefly and while she doesn't want to assume that something terrible is happing there is a sense of worry there.

"You sure? I mean- Okay. I don't doubt you, but-" There's a pause as she gives a little sniff and realizes that something is amiss down stairs.

"If you want I'm making pancakes. You're free to come down and have some or grab a fire extinguisher. We'll probably need it for the first batch."