deercountry | 003: Seems to me quite clear, now — now that you are here

"It's a great one. I think we've got more than a few walking the streets here. Even among the Patrons."

But Ruby doesn't really want to focus on the crazies this place tended to collect. Not when Break and Baltus were in pestering proximity. She keeps on ruffling the omen's fur for the fun of it.

Then he calls her the onliest and she let's out an awkward little laugh. "That she is- And she's doing her Rubesty too." She thinks back to the time she spent as a kid, what she had said to Break and well... The topic of Uncle had come up. Perhaps it was time for some follow up on that.

"Actually, Breaky." She conveniently leaves out the Uncy for now. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about. If you have a few minutes to spare."

Baltus sits his long, noodley bum down right on Ruby's foot and leans against her leg. He will stay right here, thank you.

"Oh? Baltus certainly thinks we do," Break observes, and Baltus makes a dog burble. Like Break actually wants to go confess his recent sins, feh. "Then, fire away."

Truthfully, Break expected there were going to be kids up his nose for important conversations the instant he dared to wear a scrap of red in this household, given Qrow's nervous explanation, so he is not unprepared and suspects that's what's on her mind. But, perhaps Ruby will surprise him with a different topic entirely? If it were Sharon she'd be making horrifying Jabberwock noises, but Sharon's Girl Mode was rather unmatched in its ferocity. Ruby's may well be calmer, which is...

...let's be real, Break would not call Ruby "calm," most days. On the other hand, she's more cunning about this and that than she generally presents herself, Break feels. He also wouldn't actually put it past her to notice something important and log it away for later the same way he himself often does. Not when it's about someone as important to her as her uncle.

Ruby looks down at Baltus and gives him a little look. He was foiling her master plan a little but she could adapt, she was good at adapting. Plus she could not get mad a that face and continues to scritch behind Baltus' ear.

"That's because Baltus is super smart, isn't he? Yes he is, yes he is." She leans in a little closer toward the omen's face before turning to look at Break.

"But yeah. We have a couple things to talk about. One of them involving some title bestowing but there's a trial you have to pass before that." Look. She was quick to catch the bit of red in Break's attire. And she was definitely ready to squeal like a school girl over that. But she had duties she had to attend to before that.

"First off I think we should talk about shovels. Do you have a favorite kind of shovel, Break?"

Mmmyes he is. Baltus grins smugly with his many teeth.

Break, however, thinks he knows where this is going right until Ruby diverts into shovels for some reason. Now, he is totally lost. He blinks a few times as he considers the matter.

"Shovels," he echoes. He exchanges a (blind) glance with his omen. "Shovels?"

"Mrrf," answers Baltus, and shrugs, even though he is a dog.

"Shovels," Break concludes. Then, he shrugs, too. "I don't know, probably the sort with a smallish scoopy bit that's pointy on the end? Speed is my priority in a fight, you know. I wouldn't want to go waving some big wide thing about if I could avoid it."

What else would Break be doing with a shovel.

Ruby looks between both Break and Baltus as they contemplate this and feels a bit of a smile curl up on her lips. She was not an expert when it came to shovel talks. Mostly because it had been partway through her own relationship that she realized what they were actually supposed to be about it. But she liked her own swing on the concept more anyways.

"Good answer. I feel the same way when it comes to fight." Her scythe was ridiculous and huge but she was a pretty fast when it came to wielding it.

"And if someone were to come at you and Uncle Qrow you'd feel comfortable bashing them in the head with that kind of shovel then?"

Oh.

It is the "break his heart and I'll break your neck" chat, except it's much more charming because Ruby is framing it as Qrow needing looking after by Break rather than her, and it...involves shovels for Mysterious Ruby Reasons that he may well never understand.

Break is so delighted he is obliged to turn a bout of laughter into a wheezing little cough, and take a moment to recover so he doesn't just crack up.

"Why, Miss Ruby, do you impugn my honor?"

He gives his cane an expert twirl and then thunks the end of it firmly on the floor.

"Very well! Once this leviathan business has passed, we duel, you and I. And we shall duel over and over again if we must, until you are quite satisfied that I'm worthy of standing at your uncle's side. Even if I haven't got a shovel at hand for head-bashing. I promise you I can kick like a mule."

This is a genuine offer. Break has always figured Ruby would end up one of his sparring partners eventually, and he's recently had it painfully rubbed in his face that the time for relaxing is over. No doubt with her semblance and blood powers both she'll manage to knock him over plenty, but that just means he'll be getting the practice he needs. Everyone wins.

The wheezing cough definitely covers up the laugh but Ruby can't help but wonder if maybe this was the wrong choice. What if Break broke down like this in some sort of crisis?

Then he turns to face her in the most Ozpin (Affectionate and Derogatory) like act she had seen in ages. She can't help but snort and grin at the act.

"No, no. No offense was meant at all, promise!" But that grin shifts into a more confident smirk from here on out and while she doesn't reach for her own weapon she does find her fingers flexing eagerly.

"Very well, Mr.Break! I suggest in the meantime you keep up with your training. Once I've taken down the Leviathan I'll be coming for you and I wont be holding back. I'll be working you like a dog to prove that worth." She then glances down to Baltus.

"No offense, bud. It's a figure of speech."

"Oh, you needn't worry about that," Break drawls amiably. "Baltus isn't really a dog."

Baltus, who has been quite content to be ruffled on during this conversation, tilts his head back to peer up at Ruby. He is huge, so his snoot is not terribly far away from her. And then he grins in a decidedly undoglike fashion, revealing entirely too many teeth.

There's nothing threatening about it, really, just. That many teeth should not fit in a dog mouth, even one as long as his.

"Wait- He isn't?" Ruby glances down at Baltus and sees all the teeth. And sure that may be a lot of teeth for a dog but Ruby came from a world with Grimm and other horrors like them. So she doesn't seem all that bothered by the revelation.

"...What is he then? Because I'm drawing a blank here. Because he doesn't look like a wolf." She probably should be more bothered by this- But... She just isn't.

"The monsters of your world are called 'Grimm'. We have that word, too, but in my world a grim simply a sort of ghost."

Break always starts off this way if he's telling this to one of the Remnant people. A couple of months ago, a winter mourning sent him into one of Qrow's memories, and he learned that some of the Grimm have the power to literally sap you of your will to live. Knowing that, he's not about to give any heart attacks by casually dropping such a word.

"In the old rural folklore, it is said that -- the first soul buried in a churchyard is damned to linger in it, watching over and guiding all the souls that come after. To spare a human such a fate, an animal of some sort would be sacrificed for that purpose, and that's the churchyard grim. Baltus is one of these. He's a graveyard guardian."

The omen is sitting up proudly, ears erect. He really does look like a noble ghost in this moment -- and he is, as always, a reflection of Break. If Ruby's heard about Break's fighting ability at all, it will have been in the form of Qrow going around with stars in his eyes about how he "fights like a Huntsman" without having an Aura, something you might not guess from the way Break sparkles and flaps and sings around and has a penchant for musical princess movies. Of course his omen would be something like a spectral graveyard guardian, disguised as a weird noodley horse-dog who likes to chew on things.

Ruby's excitement dies down a touch when Break starts to describe the Grimm of his world, replaced by a sort of eager interest. It was amazing how a word that generally brought so much anxiety in her world could be used for a such a noble sort of purpose in his world. She really couldn't help but wonder how different her life might have been if she had born in another world.

She can't help but smile when Baltus takes that moment to sit up proudly. She leans in and gives him a few more scratches beneath his ears.

"I didn't know I was hanging out with such a distinguished guardian here. I'm very flattered Sir Baltus." And she says it with all the love in the world.

She had heard of Break's fighting prowess from her Uncle. And while she wasn't the type to discount anyone's fighting style just because they weren't trained under the same circumstances here, she wasn't one to doubt her uncles taste in fighters. He was one of the fiercest fighters she knew, if he thought Break could hold his own then he certainly could too.

"Not going to lie- I'd take your version of a Grimm over my own, any day of the week. They kind of sound like how we talk about Huntsmen and Huntresses where I'm from."

Break winces noticeably enough at the "sir" that his omen turns back toward him, despite Ruby's lovely scritches. Baltus does politely boop his nose against her hand in thanks before he unfolds himself and returns to Break's side, though, leaning right up on him in much the same way. Other than that, Break doesn't seem outright upset, and he isn't, really. It's just that that particular bit of his past has been thrown at him several times this month, and having it pop up yet again reminds him of the actual errand he is supposed to be running today.

"I never did tell you of the Chains as I promised, did I? How awful of me."

For a moment, he waffles. He could go ahead and launch into all that backstory, and keep procrastinating that way. But another of the waves of pain that's been hitting him, a side effect of the "hex", chooses this moment to surge up on him. This, Break doesn't actually react much to, beyond a stiffening of his shoulders and a weirdly timed silence. He's accustomed to this sort of thing, which is why it took him so long to catch on to the hex being its own issue and not one of his usual problems in the first place. But it's a warning all the same and Break's tolerance for it is just another reason why he needs to go now, before it gets so bad that he can't move as it did with the heartstrings that tied him to Qrow just a few weeks previous.

"...unfortunately, I do have an unpleasant task to get to this afternoon. Unless you've some great urge to walk an old man off to church, I'm afraid I'll have to deny you a little longer."

He should be flapping around and swanning away and dropping zero information whatsoever about his plans. Calling it a task to attend to should be enough. After all the upheavals this month, though, Break is worn down enough that he can't actually be bothered to be as cagey as he should.

She realizes quickly that she's obviously said something that hit a soft spot that she didn't intend to. From the quick change in Break's demeanor and the way Baltus moves to his side it's pretty obvious. Her expression changes to sort of match the mood, for she certainly hadn't meant to cause any sort of harm.

"You didn't, but that's okay. I'm not going to rush you talk about something if you aren't ready."

She notes the change in his movements too. It reminds her a bit of how her dad was after her mom passed away. And how he still tended to get from time to time. She rises up fully after Baltus returns to Break.

"If you don't mind me coming along, I'd like to at least join you to make sure you get there safe. But if you'd rather be alone I respect that too."

Break has no problem at all talking about the Chains, but it matters that Ruby says it all the same, given his present circumstances. After all that's happened over the past few weeks, he's feeling vulnerable enough that he honestly considers just accepting her offer. He enjoys Ruby's company, and more of her typical casual, silly positivity would be welcome.

He's quiet long enough that it's painfully noticeable. Especially for those who understand the ways of cagey uncles who are full of angst.

"...you have my thanks, but -- I'm only going to the Pale Sanctuary," he answers at last. "My understanding is that it's a place to alleviate some of this month's nonsense, and there's a lamp there. Since that's the case, I can't imagine I'm heading into truly dangerous territory."

Between her dad, her uncle, Ozpin and Ironwood Ruby was incredibly used to cagey adults who had a lot of angst in many different forms. So she does catch that long pause but she doesn't seem bothered by it at all, she's patient and understanding.

"You're probably right about that. But safe from monsters isn't the only danger out there. Maybe I just want to keep you safe from loneliness for a little. That's plenty important too. You know?"

Kablammo. Break makes a horrible face as Ruby sinks the hell out of his metaphorical battleship.

"I had a hunch this would be where your true power rested," he grumbles. "Well, if you're going to say such gross things at me, I've really no choice but to fall for it. A tired old man like me is too exhausted to fight such things anymore."

While Break hauls off into his bitching, Baltus turns over his shoulder to give Ruby a sly grin, tail thumping traitorously against the floor. Strong work, Rubes.

Ruby sees that face and she immediately knows that she's won. Break has been utterly destroyed in both body and spirit and that remains is a cold and empty husk of his former self. Does she seem to care? no. The sweet smile on her face doesn't seem phased at all by the devastation she has unleashed.

"I've always been told that sometimes victory lies in more simple and honest things." She returns that grin to Baltus before she moves to join the two of them, sliding in at Break's side opposite of his omen. Her arm moves to slide around his linking them like the chain he had promised to tell her about.

"So... Is it story time now, old man?"

Ugh ugh ugh grabbed by well-meaning children who love him bluh.

Having the personality of a shitty housecat, Break loves touches and cuddles and walking around arm in arm with people -- if and only if it was his idea. This time it is not his idea, but he is also blind and feels grody, and does not actually really want her out of his personal space. He fidgets for a moment, and the cat-logics his way a few steps to the left in his brain.

"Very well. However, I shan't do any voices."

This is the first thing he finds that gives him some illusion of control. There. Now the situation is more acceptable.

Look. Break is not the first ornery house cat family member or team mate she has had to contend with. This is par for the for the course for her. She notices the fidgets but the fact that he hasn't pulled away and she's fine with this.

She just grins up at him with her mismatched eyes.

"That's fine, but I'm still going to imagine the voices. Deal?" She will resort to making a pouty face quite yet.

"Very well," Break snoots. Baltus proceeds to betray him by trotting off ahead of them in the direction of the Clockhouse lamp, effectively abandoning Break to Ruby's arm. He takes a moment to scowl blindly at his omen's receding posterior before he collects himself and gets dramatic.

"Then," he begins, "the first thing to know is that there is a dimension running parallel to my world, known as the Abyss. In the core of the Abyss is written every possible timeline, infinite stories that come about from infinite divergences. If one is able to access the core's power, one can change the past by rewriting a timeline, or grant life to insentient objects. The Abyss itself has its own story that everyone in my household was caught up in, but as for what you've actually asked of me -- within the Abyss live the monsters known as Chains."

003: Seems to me quite clear, now — now that you are here — how easily I could begin again

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Sorry! the last week has been crazy

No worries!