o4 . january catchall

[clocktowers]

Who: clocktowers and CR.
What: A bit of drama at Clockhouse.
When: Early January
Where: Throughout Trench.

Content Warnings: Tagged in subject lines as needed.

Ozpin's Vampirism Timeline:
- [Ford] rescue from the Sleeper Farm
- [Qrow] not talking about it
- [Willow, Tara] rancid vibes
- [Zhongli] a fight
- [Willow] stalking
- [Willow] on the groupchat
- [Oscar] checking in
- [Ruby] the intervention pit
- [Ange] on the groupchat
- [Sayo] a wakeup call
- [Shannon] after the wakeup call
- [Faith, Willow] a confrontation
- [Willow] on the groupchat
- [Oz] on the groupchat
- [Qrow] after the confrontation
- [Willow, Ford] discussing options
- [Faith, Qrow] hostile stalking
- [PH house] meeting the inlaws
- [Qrow] an offer
- [Willow] reconciling
- [Ford] at the Red
- [Willow] wolf talk

Comments

[frogfear]

[If she could just confine him to his room until they can figure something else out it would make all of this so much easier. She does know of a spell to keep a vampire out of a place they've been invited to. Sadly, none to keep them in somewhere.

Stopping himself mid-sentence to rephrase, or simply leave the sentence hanging does absolutely not help his case about not lying. Exaggerating. Same thing. Or close enough.

Willow shakes her head and looks at him miserably.]

No, Ozpin. I know under normal circumstances, you wouldn't hurt any of us - ever, but these aren't normal circumstances. With everything that's been happening, I'm worried about your judgement.

[forwantofahorse]

Excellent. Now then...

An eye for an eye, and all that.

Or several at once. I hope you do understand; I just need to make sure you've learned your lesson.

[It's simple to take any lingering feelings of fear and paranoia and literalize them into eyes watching as Sayo skulks away. Metaphors 101. Dozens and dozens and dozens of eyes blink from the darkness as the mysterious figure fades, reflecting back all the anxiety and discomfort Ange and Shannon have been wracked with since Ozpin started his disquieting habit back at him. They are there, unblinking, boring holes into, dissecting his soul-

And then, the instant someone enters or turns on the light, they're gone as if they were never there in the first place.]

[forwantofahorse]

[Sayo freezes like a deer in the headlights while her hand is still extended to return a book on Remnant history when Ozpin calls out to her, and stays frozen even when she realizes he took her threat to heart and isn't staring at her with that disquieting expression. Did he figure it out? Did he tell Ange? She should've been more careful, set up a scapegoat or some impossible trick he couldn't pin on her, otherwise it would be to deduce that it was "Shannon."

No, no. Play it cool. Don't tip your hand until you're sure he's not bluffing. Sayo gulps, not needing to feign her anxiety this time.]

Y- Yes, Ozpin-san. Your, um, your library has actually helped me quite a lot in that regard, so... thank you, [she finishes lamely.] Now, I'll be on my way...? [Sayo edges toward the door, smiling tremulously.]

[slayerskiss]

[Faith crosses her arms and furrows her brow.]

You're trying to lie right now, man. This is already her giving you the benefit of the doubt. [Which Faith doesn't think has been earned, at least in the context of this confrontation. But if Willow trusts him, then she trusts him. It's her fault if she gets bitten.

Maybe.

What was it that Buffy said before she leaped into the abyss...?]

If there's a cure, [Which is ridiculous but she can play along.] you won't find it just by waiting it out and pretending it's all fine.

[clocktowers]

My judgment?

[ He looks at the both of them, in mounting incredulity. ]

Waiting it out has served us well enough in the past. Deerington has always been cyclical, and this cycle shall pass.

[ They aren't in Deerington, but he does not acknowledge this aloud. It's the same thing; since the Sleeper Farm, he knows it's all the same thing. ]

That aside, I will remind you whose house this is. Where exactly do you recommend I go?

[clocktowers]

[ Well, the nervousness certainly makes sense, if he has noticed how he has looked at her and does not know him otherwise. He smiles to her, encouraging, and tries to keep the sharp predatory attention from his eyes. ]

As it happens, I was just about to make a pot of hot cocoa. I'd quite like it if you joined me before you go.

[ He spreads a hand to the seat across from his, and the little table with its tray of cups. ]

Or would you prefer tea? I keep both on hand, you know, now that the house has grown.

[ qrow; following the faith confrontation. ]

[clocktowers]

[ Ozpin is irritably sipping a mug of tea under the overhang of a corner shop. It is now lightly snowing, and he is very much pretending to gaze thoughtfully out into the gentle white drifts, instead of being plainly annoyed. Everything is fine. ]

[clocktowers]

[ The eyes bloom into being, and Ozpin flinches again, as much bewildered as afraid. Death does not frighten him overmuch; he is too used to waking up the next day. This is something else, something that scratches at him like nails on metal, something that rings horrible vibrations through his soul. He feels some familiar desperation welling up to meet it: he can escape anything given power, given blood—

He can feel Oscar's sleepy awareness of his rude awakening, his distress. To the thrum of worry at the back of his mind he says, Something strange has entered my room. ]

[forwantofahorse]

Oh, um, er, I really wouldn't like to trouble you, Ozpin-san...

[PLEASE LET HER OUT OF HERE WHY IS SHE JUST NOW NOTICING THIS PLACE IS EXACTLY LIKE KINZO'S STUDY

But Shannon wouldn't outright reject Ozpin, unfortunately. Sayo vividly imagines Beatrice berating Shannon for being useless furniture with no will of her own, which calms her down enough that she doesn't feel like she's about to snap and break the facade at the very least.]

[clocktowers]

It's no trouble at all.

[ He rises to put on the kettle, to punctuate his point. ]

If anything, I have been remiss in my hospitality. I'm sure it's been a challenging adjustment.

[frogfear]

You've been hiding things - again - like, big things. Drinking blood from Sleepers, giving some of the other people who live here some pretty significant stares to the point where they're noticing and bringing to everyone else's attention. Do you really not get why I'm worried?

[She sighs. She absolutely hates everything about this conversation. She might be convinced that it's entirely the right thing to do under the circumstances, but it still feels like a betrayal.]

This isn't Deerington. You've said that yourself. Yeah, some things here follow the same pattern, but this clearly isn't, and Faith's right - this isn't the kind of thing that you can kind of just wait and see if it gets worse or better. Vampirism getting worse is a whole world of bad, and if you're... tempted... even a little bit by any of the people living in this house? It's not safe for them, or you, for you to be here right now. At least until we figure this out.

[She has no suggestions for where he should go, really, just that he not be here.]

[forwantofahorse]

[If by "challenging" Ozpin means "constantly ricocheting between wanting to stay because of a borderline unhealthy commitment to helping Ange and wanting to go because Ozpin himself is so insufferable and resembles Kinzo to an uncomfortable degree" then he's correct! Sayo is still standing near the doorway, hand extended outward halfway to the bookshelf, frozen just before she would've returned the book.]

My world was... decidedly less, er.

Monster-y? And tentacle-y? Than this place, so... it has been odd, yes.

[slayerskiss]

This whole thing's different from what we're used to. Normally we just dust 'em immediately. [There's a glint of something dangerous in her eye. The kind of thing that very much suggests that Ozpin is probably lucky this confrontation and reveal happened with Willow present, because Faith has no emotional connection to this guy, she just sees a monster trying to cover it's tracks. It takes one to know one.]

If you know who Buffy is, then you should know what a Slayer is. This could have gone a whole lot worse for you. [And it still might, if he gets worse.]

unfriendly stalking [early to mid january, after the confrontation]

[slayerskiss]

[Faith's been keeping an eye on the resident vampire for a while now, per Willow's request. Though it's not like Willow had to really ask, Faith knows that even letting Ozpin live is... unusual, so she might as well keep a close eye on the motherfucker.

He has company though, company that Faith suspects might have spotted her, if Ozpin hadn't already.

It's not like she's hiding per se. It's more important that Ozpin knows he's being watched more or less around the clock. But if she's being honest with herself... a sizable part of her is eager for a fight.]

[bolstafir]

[Qrow has been a spy entirely too long not to know when he's being tailed. He tries to lose her at first, ducking through crowds and going around in a circle or two where Faith might have expected him to keep walking forward, but eventually it becomes clear she is not going anywhere, and he is out of patience.

Harbinger is drawn, though not extended into full scythe form just yet. Merely pointing in the direction he knows she is.]

I know you're following us. What do you want?

[bolstafir]

[Oz will be treated to the familiar sight of a crow flying toward him before shifting back into a man a few paces from him, because trust Qrow to be dramatic even when the meeting place is literally right across the street.

...He looks -- unsettled? His shoulders are set with unease. He's not sure what's going on, or why Oz didn't tell anybody, and he's upset Willow escalated it like this without even asking anybody, and it's just. Really frustrating. A year and a half ago, this sort of situation would be the kind of stress that had him in the nearest bar, drowning out his anxiety until he couldn't walk home in a straight line.

But instead, here he is, emotions clearly worn on his sleeve for this man whom he had finally rebuilt his way to trusting, brick by painful brick. There's something almost plaintive in his eyes.]

...If you say you've got it under control, I believe you. That's why...why I want to help. It's--the friend I told you about. The one who fights like a Huntsman. His place is out of the way, and if things get worse, or--something goes wrong, we could be there.

[He doesn't say "please" again, but it's written all over his face. He's worried. The last time Oz withdrew from them was that day in the snow. After everything they've been through, Qrow doesn't want to lose him again.]

[clocktowers]

Ah, I'm given to understand that most worlds are. [ The kettle clinks as he drops the little Lunar Orb into it. ] Remnant, my own world of origin, was remarkably similar in many ways. And after a full year in the dream of Deerington, I've become accustomed to... shall we say, a heightened level of strangeness.

[ He disregards the frozen awkwardness, eyes on his tea set. ]

I'm afraid I've not yet heard much of your world from Miss Ushiromiya.

[clocktowers]

[ Ozpin is silent a long moment. He can hear it in Qrow's voice, see it spelled across his face, how much weight this moment carries.

A year ago, Qrow would have come looking like a thundercloud and yelling by the time he touched the ground. If he were to come at all.

Ozpin takes another sip of his tea, steam haloing his face and fogging his glasses, before he speaks. ]

It is not so bad I fear for anyone's safety. [ This he says slowly, words chosen carefully, held to the scrutiny of Qrow's moonlit blood. ] Not in any immediate sense. I do hesitate to put this friend of yours to inconvenience, Qrow, particularly on my behalf.

[ A beat hangs. It is almost a but. ]

Still. I understand what inconvenience this has already caused for you. If you truly think it the best step, I will follow.

[ His other option, in honesty, is Winter Schnee. She owes him a certain degree of favor, after he welcomed her to town, and he trusts her pragmatism. But he is more interested in soothing Qrow's loyalty.

It's not an apology, but it feels like the next best thing. ]

[clocktowers]

[ Ozpin simply sips his tea and follows the path Qrow sets. He may have chosen his spy, but it's been a long time indeed since he tried to live that lifestyle himself; he has always done best in the shadows or in the sunlight, not walking the line between. Better to defer to Qrow's instincts, Qrow's cognizance, Qrow's professional paranoia.

(And perhaps there's something pleasant in relinquishing control and letting Qrow make the calls awhile. It has been a very long day.)

When the tension finally breaks, he stops at Qrow's side and turns to follow the angle of his blade. ]

To keep an eye on me, I assume.

[clocktowers]

[ He does not deny any of it. Cannot deny any of it. This is still ridiculous.

The look he gives Faith is deeply affronted: he is too powerfully offended for fear. She does not know him; she does not belong in his mansion; Willow is taking this all much harder than he finds necessary. ]

I find all this concern for 'my safety' very interesting. [ It is perhaps unhelpful to sound openly bitter, but, well. ] Very well. I will step out for the remainder of the evening, until you can consider our next course of action. Perhaps we can resume this conversation once everyone has had a chance to think carefully.

[slayerskiss]

[Oh good.

She was getting sick of hiding. She was better at the whole assassination thing than Buffy ever was, maybe because she wasn't quite so colourful, but even she knew she wasn't the stalking kind of predator.

She steps out of her half-hearted hiding spot, a crossbow hanging limply at her side and flashes them both a grin.

With an awful british accent, she aims her response at Ozpin.] Got it in one, guvner.

Problem?

[forwantofahorse]

I... gathered as much from what I've read.

[What she's read about Remnant felt more like The Simarillion than an actual historical record. It sounded- well, not nice considering how dangerous it was, but it was more interesting than Earth.

(Sayo may have drawn a Huntersona for herself, unconcerned with the thorny issue of interworld cultural appropriation.)]

Earth is nowhere as exciting as Remnant, really... there wasn't anything exciting about it, especially the part that I lived in.

Well. Um.

...one... exciting... thing happened, I guess. But it wasn't really an Earth thing.

[She still isn't making any moves toward the tea set.]

[frogfear]

[Willow's tone rises sharply at Faith's threat.]

Hey! No one's getting dusted!

[She takes a breath, even with the mess of everything, she's about as willing to put up with threats against Ozpin as she would be against any of her friends from home, and of course she's worried for him as well and the road he's on right now.

To Ozpin, she nods. She already has a plan. A little magic to keep him from sneaking back in, warn the others, then hit the Archives to find a solution. Maybe she'll even get lucky and find something helpful right away.]

I think that's a good idea. I don't want see you end up doing something you're going to regret later. You'll hear from me as soon as I have something useful, I promise.

[slayerskiss]

[She shoots Willow a look halfway between confused and irritated. This entire situation goes against pretty much everything her Watcher taught her, and the very miniscule amount that Giles ever bothered to teach her too. But fine, she's new here, she can understand that.

She crosses her arms and shakes her head. She'll have words with Willow later. They can do their weird passive aggressive dance to their hearts content.]

[bolstafir]

[Qrow narrows his eyes.]

So you're what Willow meant by "taking care of it", huh? Real cute that she got all offended about being willing to hurt him.

[Cool, great, in addition to kicking him out of his own house, she's sent a stranger to stalk him with a crossbow. He was right to have come along.]

I've got this covered. You can go.