(mostly open) oh this love would kill me

[entreats]

Who: Ange, Ruby, and you!
What: Ruby and Ange's wedding, and all their CR is invited!
When: Late October
Where: The rebuilt Clockhouse

Content Warnings: Semi-irresponsible weapon usage.




Sometime around the beginning of October invitations would have started to be sent out to the various people in Trench Ange and Ruby know - announcing the two girls' wedding at the end of the month.

When the day itself comes, people will find the location - the newly rebuilt Clockhouse, which some of the invitees may have helped rebuild in the first place - tastefully decorated. Some of the house's stranger features have been covered up by decorations in red and gold, mostly taking on the shapes of roses and butterflies all over the place.

Comments

[entreats]

[ Ange huffs, though it sounds almost more amused than irritated in any sort of way. ]

Well, that's how humans live.

[ Granted, Beatrice isn't human. The other is a personification of that witch, after all - way too many concepts rolled up into one figure, a legend, wish, desire and fear given shape. But that doesn't matter to this place, and Ange knows it. They're all equal in the eyes of Trench.

For better or worse. ]

Welcome to our level.

[possessum]

Your duty.... your.... Purpose?

( He isn't certain if the two are one in the same, but it's a concept that he's always interested in, and in hearing about from others. He's still... confused by his own. The lines between what happened with him and Peter, what was done incorrectly, what was supposed to happen, how much is a mistake and how much is where he's meant to be now.... so much is still strange and lost to them both. )

I do not know, ( He admits, quietly. Staring down to the little plate in his hands. ...He doesn't like to eat, not really. What he is, isn't supposed to eat at all. The feeling of taste, any pleasant associations with sweets... they come from someone else. Memories he's absorbed. )

The people who put me within him... I believe it was their will that his spirit would be removed. They only wanted me. But when we came to the Dream, before this place..... we were together. He was not fighting me. He was.... worn down. Broken. But his spirit remained.

Perhaps this body was never meant to be fully mine, in that case.

[manyone]

To your level?

[ Beatrice smiiiiles, one of her too-wide, too-eager grins that seems to take up her whole face all at once. A reminder of the fact that she's not human, not in the least. ]

Dear Ange, you've been on my level all along. You're the inheritor of the title of Golden Witch. Where else could you be but my level?

[entreats]

[ Ange nods. ]

At Ruby's birthday party. [ Because of course Ange wouldn't attend most social events where she could actually meet people.. but it would have been hard to not attend her own girlfriend's birthday party. Especially not one she herself organised in the first place. ]

I remember her standing out because so many people came here straight from the dream when we first showed up.

[ Especially during the first month or two. After that -- things had slowly been changing, and now there are actually so few people at this wedding that Ange already knew back in the dream. ]

And she hadn't. I guess Ruby must have befriended her super quickly. [ That wouldn't be a surprise, given Ruby's nature. ] Or either her or Oscar got a little overly eager in inviting her. She showed up for the party anyway though.

[entreats]

Hard to feel like it when I was still being used as some toy by basically all witches and humans around me.

[ It says something about how used Ange is to Beatrice - granted, she was used to this side of the witch for way longer already, ages before she arrived in Trench - that her tone doesn't even noticably change. Even in the face of the way the other looks right now, her tone is still so calm.

Like they're having a totally normal casual discussion about a trivial thing, rather than some philosophical conversation about being either a human or a witch. ]

I didn't really start to feel much like a witch until I ended up here. [ Until her powers seemed to grow. ] And even now.. I still feel way more like a human.

[ Though that's about to change, even if Ange doesn't know it.

Maybe she's actually jinxing herself here in this very moment. ]

[azurestar]

[Ah yes, this is what he lives for. This feels more normal to him, though Shiro isn't quite as twitchy as he'd like. He grins.]

Fine, her Venus Fly Trap.

[azurestar]

So do I, make sure not to slip and put it somewhere else. [Eh? Eh? He gently nudges with his elbow.]

Huh. Y'know, I've never been asked that before, but actually a fair question. The answer's no, but maybe I should change that. You ever used a lance?

[azurestar]

Heck yeah, some of my best friends I met through other friends. And then you become an awesome friend cluster. A squad.

[He grins.]

Oh yeah, the spotlight can be totally fun. I used to live for it, myself. And I'm Lance.

[shiro2hero]

Lance.

[And there it is. The Shiro Tone.]

[cuddlery]

[She does laugh at his little joke.]

Good, now you're head-ing places!

[And she considers her question with a thoughtful nod.]

I see! You know, I was just wondering if we had a similar kinda name thing going on. Not using lances is perfectly valid! I've never really wielded one myself. I don't really weapon that much in general? I kinda, I'm kinda set with what I've got already. [She says sheepishly with a snip of her pincer and a wave of her tail.]

[azurestar]

[It's music to his ears. He grins wider and nudges his elbow into Shiro's side.]

Aww, come on Shiro. That's a tame one!

[azurestar]

[He blinks and considers the question for a second since he hadn't really thought about it that way.]

Well, yeah, but in a good way.

[He smiles and then grabs a short glass of… something someone left on the other side of the table and sniffs at it curiously.]

[chessboardturn]

Oh, yeah? What'd you used to do?

[ Battler's interested and he kinda expects he's going to get acting or singing or something in reply. ]

[manyone]

Very true. I'm not used to surprises! It's rather nice to be able to be surprised again, after what feels like a thousand years of waiting for the same thing to happen all over again...

[ Beatrice grins. ]

Nothing to do but keep going, hm?

[manyone]

Ehh? Like who? Like who?

[ Beatrice's grin is positively sharp. ]

Perhaps you haven't tried hard enough.

[entreats]

[ Ange huffs, though thankfully it doesn't sound like one of her usual tsundere angry huffs. She just sounds amused instead, like the sound is already halfway on its way towards a laugh. ]

I guess it is good.

[ Look, Ange is very attached to her usual attitude, but she can definitely see how it might be better for her if she was like this a little bit more often.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. ]

It's just a whole lot more easy to be relaxed when you're just among people you trust. [ It's a little bit more open about that fact than she'd usually be, too.. ] And when you're having a good day.

[shiro2hero]

Ow.

[That nudge did nothing. He just kind of wiggled.]

Yeah, I'm not going to get into discussions of slang terms for... parts. Especially not hers.

[bolstafir]

Oh yeah, you'd be more a magical type like Ange, right?

[Qrow's understanding of Ange's world, despite wholeheartedly viewing her as family, as fairly limited. She doesn't like to talk about it, and Qrow has never pried. All he really knows about is that she was a witch, and what happened to her family -- even the latter is a Recent Development, really, and most of the details came from Sayo's own mouth during a time when she was drunk on the network, not Ange.]

It's not too hard, if you want to learn a weapon sometime. Never know when you'll need it, around here.

[But neither of those are topics he wants to dwell on today. It is a JOYOUS OCCASION and everyone WILL have a good time, knife emoji.]

But yeah, that's right. Only the coolest bird uncle around.

[chessboardturn]

I suppose so. I'm... a game-master. A sorcerer. Whatever you want to call it.

[ He shrugs; he doesn't stand much on titles. Not here. This isn't his board, this isn't where he can actually be supreme. So he doesn't stress about it too much. ]

I kinda know how to use a sword, but... probably couldn't hurt to get a few pointers, obviously.

[ Hmmm. He flashes a smile and then looks thoughtful. ]

Wait. Bird. Did you...? [ Nest in his hair? ]

[azurestar]

[You're getting an eyeroll for that, sir. Then he snorts.]

Well, she probably doesn't even have one anyway. When we watched her do that weird sex ritual with the Pthumerian Queen that one time, there was no bump and grind or anything.

[hauntedsavior]

That's all there is. You keep moving forward, and maybe your little sister gets married and you meet the golden witch that she's told you so much about.

[a sly look. but she really hasn't heard much about beatrice—just that ange is... not fond of her. in several ways. she's about to deliver the most backhanded compliment she's ever delivered, and she might not even realize she's doing it.]

You know, Beatrice, I was worried you'd be more of a bitch, but you're really not that bad.

[manyone]

Ohhhh?

[ That grin grows, and grows. And grows. It's a terrible, inhuman thing that looks as if it might split her face in two if it grows any further. ]

I can be worse. I can be so, so much worse if that's what you really want, dearest little sister~.

[ Ange is her little sister now, and if Anna is Ange's sister then, well... she's also Beato's. ]

[hauntedsavior]

[anna very much tries to no-sell it, but she can't. the grin is almost inhuman and she can't stop watching. her eye goes wide and her stomach sinks just a little bit, and in a small voice, she finally says,]

No, I think I'm good. [she clears her throat to get herself back to normal.] Jesus. All right, maybe I see what Ange is getting at. Just don't get yourself killed by scheming bigger than your ass can handle, o mighty golden witch.

one eternity later

[clocktowers]

[ Throughout the set-up, the ceremony, and now the reception, Ozpin has not been at his best. He's taken on the gaunt and hungry look of a man whose Corruption isn't quite under control. At best, he hangs back at the fringes of the festivities, looking on in unhelpful passivity; at worst, he gazes mournfully out of windows and ignores the wedding wholesale. For the first time in months, his gaze lingers on any Darkblood who passes too close to him, and he has become terse and opaque in conversation. He and Ford Pines are pointedly not looking at each other.

And yet, when the time comes, he steps up to make a speech. ]

We have gathered today to celebrate a partnership, an act of commitment between two young people. A ceremony such as this... is an effort to find steady ground in a world that constantly seeks to tear our lives, our homes, and our relationships apart. [ He says this with sobering certainty, like it's a completely normal tone for a wedding speech. Great start. ]

In Trench, as in the world Ruby and I originate from, nothing is truly certain but danger and suffering. Even the ones you most love can fall prey to its horrors... and that loss renders the threat ever more frightful. [ He pauses for grave emphasis! ]

Even so, I am pleased to have Miss Rose and Miss Ushiromiya celebrate this occasion here. This was my home in the dream, and I opened it to them in their time of great need... as I open it to all of you now. [ He smiles to the crowd, indulgently. ] This is not an easy world in which to build a life, just as Remnant was not an easy world for a young girl hoping to make a difference. Perhaps our only true impacts are the ways in which we matter to each other... the ways in which we can teach each other to better weather the harshness of an imperfect world.

For this reason I hope to see you all at the Hunters' Academy upon its opening. [ He chuckles! No one else laughs. ] And I hope that you, Ruby Rose and Ange Ushiromiya, can stand beside each other when that steadiness is most direly needed.

[ He ends with a lingering and uncomfortably thoughtful silence. Someone claps uncertainly. Thanks, Ozpin. ]

[azurestar]

[He shoots her a look and picks up an axe. The pressure is on and he might be getting in his head a little. A pause as he aims and then glances over at her again.

Then he throws and lands it in the center of Mother Mercy's face. One down, fourteen to go.]

Booyah, easy!

[The same happens for the next few, though he increasingly looks more and more hyper-focused. He might slip up soon if he keeps getting in his head like that. The seventh also lands her face, but it's slightly more over her eye than between them. Still counts, but also breaks his previous pattern.]