08 . family drama

[necrolord]

Who: necrolord, Gideon, Harrow, Paul; Oscar, Ruby, Ozpin, maybe Qrow and Ange; possibly others.
What: Some kids robbed a lich and got their hands melted off. The fallout is messy.
When: April, following the party, network post, and Oscar's log.
Where: Bone House & Clockhouse

Content Warnings: Marked as needed. Note all the usual warnings of this character.

Comments

[terriblepurpose]

[Half a year ago, Paul would have dismissed that warning. It would have rolled off of him like water from the sleek hide of a seal, or struck him as a well-intentioned but misguided appeal to fundamental human weakness.

But he's learned things about loss since then. He looks at the fern, its soft, curling fronds, and the black eyes he thinks of are only nearly black, lapped at the edges with residual grief. He thinks of ash grey, of heart red. He thinks of blue, shadeless and bright, reflected back at him, the empty color of a world without.]

I know.

[He readjusts the fern like a little animal, as if its roots can sense his cradling, and gives Oscar a wan, careworn smile.]

So the trick is not getting myself hurt, isn't it? [The smile drops, seriousness filling the space it leaves.] Maybe I should start with not picking fights with mysterious strangers. Even ones who turn out to be excellent gardeners.

[He knows, now, what it is to lose. It's a hard-earned lesson, and one he won't forget any time soon. So what that leaves him as a choice is simple: whatever he does, he needs to make sure he can't fail at doing, whatever it takes.]

[justoscar]

[Oscar returned the careworn smile with one of his own, despite how concerning and frightening the ideas that Paul was suggesting were. This wasn't his fight, and yet Oscar couldn't help but watch, wonder, and worry.]

"...It's more than getting yourself hurt," [He explained with the tired patience of someone who had seen all of this and done all of this. Jaune's face when they finally met up after Oscar's fall in Mantle was still impressed on his memory-- the fear, the pain, and the relief he had read on the normally goofy blond's face wasn't something he could forget no matter how hard he tried.

"Sometimes, it's also thinking about how your actions might be hurting the people you're trying to help. But... you're the only one who can make these decisions."

He laughed softly, bitterly. "I'm just that guy who likes to garden."

[terriblepurpose]

[Reconciling Oscar's dual nature fully will take time, but Paul slots another piece of the puzzle into place now, that weary set of experience on a face too young and innocent to bear it. He's seen it before, on the face of someone who may have said much the same, if in less gentle terms.

I'm just a baliset player, he'd told Paul, once, tired and undone, What do I know?]

I don't think you're just anything. [He says, as quietly as he answered then.] Someone who was just anything wouldn't have made it this far.

[Through the life he described before this place, through the life he lived in the dream, then this place, all the way to here, leveraging all the might of a fern against the will of a god. What can Paul do but be impressed?]

I'd heard it said only a fool keeps sole council with himself. Do they say anything like that where you come from? It's good advice.

[justoscar]

[the comment earned a bitter little laugh from the farmlad.]

Yeah, but the people with power didn't actually listen to it.

[His world would have been a very different place if his predecessors hadn't fostered a culture of hiding your shame and not talking about the truth of their reality with others. The reasoning for it was sound... But it could been been done so differently. Oscar, head tilted in interest, regarded Paul with curiosity. ]

What are you suggesting?

[terriblepurpose]

[If Oscar is asking that, he's half-way to accepting the answer, in Paul's estimation. He shrugs fluidly, jiggling the fern in the crook of his arm as he does so, with a contained, but warm, slight smile.]

You're the only person I know with the experience you have. Maybe I ask you about things more often.

[He came here expecting to defend against an enemy, but what better defense could there be than transforming the relationship between them to cooperation? All he has to do is accept a hand being offered, and he can surely still remember how to do that.]

I can't always promise I'll follow it, but I'll listen.

Now In the right spot.

[justoscar]

[Oscar watched him with the eyes of a woodland creature-- one the had reasons to be wary but was gauging to see if this oddity could be trusted. There was a truth to Paul's words, no matter how much he tried to refute it. Few others in their age bracket had the understanding of the world that he had.]

...I might not say things that you want to hear, [he ventured cautiously, knowing that transparency was the only strength he had going for him.]

But, what you're suggesting sounds like a fairy tale. A brave, young warrior seeks the help of a stranger in their gardens to take on a foe they can't beat.

[Oscar mulled over this for a moment.]

Change a few details and that's blow for blow a fairy tale back home. Too bad neither of us have Silver Eyes.

[terriblepurpose]

[The things that reassure him always seem to be strange, these days. Oscar gives him that fey, half-wild look, and Paul is steadied. He stays that way as Oscar goes on, still and quiet, until Oscar mentions silver eyes.

He does his best to suppress his laughter, more surprised than amused, a bright breaking tension sound he cuts off with a cleared throat.]

I do, sometimes. It's the Paleblood.

[A coincidence, he's almost sure. The way Oscar said it suggested something more significant than an eye color alone.]

If you only said things I wanted to hear, what kind of advice would it be? [He tips his head to one side with a loose shrug.] I'd like to hear that story, some day.

[The Professor asks for stories in payment for his teachings, Oscar cites one readily. Paul wonders if that's a product of their world, or of their household.]

Should we head back to dinner? Before they send a search party.

[justoscar]

I mean... I'm one, too. but that doesn't...

[He trailed, not knowing how to explain the significance of Silver Eyes with someone that didn't hail from Remnant. So much of their history and folklore were intertwined by what he now knew was design, and the Great War that embroiled the whole of his world did no favors in the name of historical preservation. Still...]

We'll do that sometime. Trade stories. [He chuckled, sheepish. The next words to come would only solidify Paul's observations of him being somewhat fey--]

I actually memorized a lot of them. The signals for communication networks are weak outside the cities, so I did a lot of reading. It was easier than fighting the TV...

['Reading' was putting it mildly. He devoured any words written on a page, be they in novella format or encyclopedia reference guides. All he could do was shoot Paul a grin.]

You're probably right, we should. I don't wanna see what Gideon would do if she saw all this.

[Probably lose her bone-headed mind]

[terriblepurpose]

[Privately, Paul suspects that after finding out some of the leaves of these plants were edible, Gideon might experiment with more of them. Her cheerful indifference to the possibility that anything she could put in her mouth might hurt her has been another of the small things that will one day grey Paul's hair before its time.

He keeps that to himself. Gideon's dignity is something he will always strive to protect.]

She'd be impressed. [Affection and admiration warm the words; Oscar already knows what Paul cares about. There's no harm in letting it be known.] It sounds like we already have a place to start. You can tell me why silver eyes matter so much, and I'll tell you...

[He is quiet with his thoughts for the first few steps back towards the door, tracing the edge of the fern's pot.]

I'll tell you about Illion. It's a place my ancestors fought a long time ago.

[justoscar]

[If given half a chance, Oscar would show her the choice leaves-- the ones that were crisp on the tongue and tasted like winter, ones that smelled like a verdant coastline and were a great addition to brines and soups, still others with cool textures that could be mixed with other vegetables to make a salad...

It would be fun. If they had the chance.

Until then...]

We definitely have a place to start. I look forward to it!