th-nocturne

[th-nocturne]

✧ continued from x with @fatesunwritten ✧

Shadow's right eye twitched. What an impertinent question to ask. "I didn't bother asking you that." He was half the size of the Faunus woman, though she held no intimidation factor in his perception. "I'm a hedgehog."

He was usually miffed at one thing or another, but this was a new level of irk. Whatever Doctor Robotnik had done to shift them to this new planet, it left Shadow wandering from place to place until he sensed a pulse of Chaos energy to this island. And this animalistic person's rudeness wasn't helping to his mood.

"Have you seen anything strange here lately?" Business first, correction of rudeness later.

[th-nocturne]

Qrow gave a shrug at Neo's jab. His honor had been sullied plenty of times and he had no pride in it. "I'm not a Rose," he emphasized. "I'm a Branwen." Thieves, murderers, and marauders. And he was a spy who had shamed himself enough to sully any honor he might have been able to claim.

"The one thing I care about is my family. And I think you can understand that." If either Ruby or Yang were taken away, Qrow would spiral and take down anyone responsible with him. "Or have you not lost someone you care about?"

@th-nocturne / @twilighthavens | cont from (x)

that struck a nerve. truth be told, neopolitan didn't know exactly what was up with those three. despite adam taurus' — gods, were they happy that prick was dead — obsessions over blake, and the litany of files he demanded cinder make everyone read, the files on little red and blondie got fuzzy even just that short up the family tree. the three were definitely somehow related, and with neo's past actions towards those two? well, it was a good thing that look on qrow's face couldn't kill them.

'a huntsmen willingly working with criminals? i thought your kind were too principled,' a sharp pause for emphasis, as though using that sign as an insult, 'to work with people like me.'

[th-nocturne]

Qrow's left brow raised, offering an expression that screamed Oh really? He personally had no experience with the councilman. Oz delt with the politicians of Vale. But he'd have to keep an eye on Jack Horner for a few days. Something about him gave Qrow the impression of a King Taijitu.

"Well, if you say so. But if he starts asking you for favors outside the norm, I'd be careful. Slime has a way of making a slippery downhill slide."

While he wanted to guide her better and, hopefully, be friends, Qrow and Aurelia had only met earlier in the afternoon. As far as he knew, this Mistrali student might be involved in something shady. Both her and Horner needed an eye on them.

Aurelia nodded in agreement with the councilman and waved goodbye as he toddled off to go to his box for the upcoming match. Just as she was about to turn on her heel to join her own team, a newly familiar voice catching her attention. She was a little surprised to see Qrow beside her. Shouldn't he have made it to his own seat by now? What was he doing here? Was he following her?

"Oh, him? That's just councilman Horner. He's just a sweetheart! Just checking in on the team since we are nearly late is all. He is who sponsored and recommended our team to represent Haven Academy. As for Oz, I simply think he was just kind enough to rearrange the schedule as a courtesy. But I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details."

[th-nocturne]

"A little faith, sunbeam? C'mon, I'd never drop you." Never on purpose, anyhow. And he prayed to the gods he placed no faith in that his Semblance wouldn't kick in amid their romantic fireside dance.

"Only think?" It was a flirtatious tease, segueing into his own response. "I love you too." Arms wrapped around her waist, chin tucked against her head, they felt like one person. Qrow hadn't felt embraced like this, a stable foundation in his life, in years. How could Aurelia somehow love a wretch like him? Right now, he didn't care. Everything else faded away in this moment.

"Just don't drop me."

She teased as he pulled her back up, bringing her in close as if she was light as a feather. While you couldn't quite tell from just looking at him, hiding under that familiar grey button up was an agile strength earned from carrying a deceptively heavy scythe for the greater portion of his life.

As they twirled around each other on the grass surrounding their campfire, with his arm around her waist, she felt safe. Protected. Even surrounded by the Mistrali forests inundated with creatures of darkness, it didn't matter. Not in their little bubble, away from the world.

Though as he finished twirling her around and wrapped both of his arms around her, her back flush against his stomach, she couldn't help but confess what she was feeling.

"I..I think I'm starting to fall in love with you."

[th-nocturne]

🎂 Happy birthday to Shadow! 🎂

[th-nocturne]

He shook his head gently. It wasn't enough to jerk away from her touch. Qrow just wanted to be near her. Apologies weren't necessary. Yet his throat had tightened to the point of discomfort. He had to force the words out to get his throat to cooperate.

"Just tell me next time if you need to be somewhere. I'll come with you."

If this dewy darkness was what Aurelia needed to soothe herself, Qrow wouldn't be the reason her coping mechanism was taken away. Nor could he easily accept an empty bed in the middle of the night. Not now that Aurelia had started sharing one with Qrow.

"Even if it's late. Don't shut me out."

As he moved in closer to her, the sharp, familiar scent of his whiskey caught in her nose and her focus snapped from her own woes to those of her person. While he always vaguely smelled like the bottom of a bottle, it was usually accompanied by the smell of a warm caramel; smoky and nutty with just a hint of sweetness. This was pungent. Fresh. He must have downed several glasses worth in the short time between awakening and finding her on the lawn.

She slowly turns, pressing her forehead against his and cupping the side of his face with her hand. In her panic, she hadn't been thinking about the effect her being missing would have on him. Knowing the details of what happened that night years ago turned her sadness about her brother into the heavy weight of guilt. As she whispered to him, she promised herself to never let her absence be the cause of his pain.

"I'm sorry."

[th-nocturne]

"Good, good!" Horner used both hands to pat each of Aurelia's shoulders. "Then I must get to my box to watch the match. I have high hopes for OPAL, my dear! I wish you the best of luck! And please, come see me if you have any other needs."

For once, Qrow was lucky. He managed to keep out of sight as the councilman passed by, then slipped down the passage to where Aurelia had conversed with him. "That guy doesn't have anything better to do than bother you?" He'd seen that behavior before, but it was usually reserved for criminals or rogue Huntsmen, not a dignified representative of a kingdom. "Thought Oz had you taken care of already?" He sensed digging deeper into this might be worthwhile at the least...dangerous at worst.

"Thankfully the headmaster was kind enough to rearrange the schedule."

While Aurelia didn't understand why, the charming demeanor of Team OPAL's sponsor easily drew her in and she felt surprisingly comfortable. Whether it was the lack of her own father-figure in her life or something else, she didn't know. But what she did know was that she wanted to make her sponsor proud of their performance. Her own exuberant energy radiates off of her and all she could hope was that he was reassured by her own confidences.

"The last thing we would want to do is let you down, sir."

[th-nocturne]

He waggled his finger at Aurelia as she approached, smiling with dashingly white teeth. "You had me worried! Aren't going to make me regret my sponsorship yet, are you?" Horner tried to be what he assumed was an uncle-figure with his jovial jests. "You nearly missed your first round of combat. Thought we'd have to cancel for a moment."

By someone's bad luck, Qrow had made his way along the same path as Aurelia shortly after their parting. He'd only turned away from the combatant's entrance for the stands when he recognized her voice speaking with someone. He paused, deciding in the moment to eavesdrop on them.

Aurelia left Qrow's company and walked through the hallway with a spring in her step, joining up with Percy first and then the rest of her team. He takes her hand and greets her with a twirl before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. If it hadn't been for the perception of Olivia, it was likely that Aurelia wouldn't have noticed the older man calling her over.

Reassuring her team that she would join them in just a few minutes, she ushered them to go ahead before adorning a more professional demeanor to greet their sponsor. Although that wouldn't stop her usual cheerfulness from shining through.

"Councilman Horner! How may I be of assistance?"

[th-nocturne]

"Nightmares aren't silly," Qrow said under his breath. His own drove him to the bottle. Aure's sent her running outside. He curled against her, needing the reassurance of her body against his to know she was there.

"I heard a noise, and I..." He took a steadying breath, trying to keep both his voice and hands from shaking. "...and you weren't there." Qrow's breath against her neck had the sharp scent of whiskey on it. He'd drank an entire pint before putting himself together enough to search for Aurelia.

Aurelia exhales a ragged breath, accepting his arm around her waist and slowly leaned into the touch. Normally, she would have felt embarrassed for anyone to see her in this kind of vulnerable state or any kind of state other than her usual aloofness. But this was Qrow. Outside of any romantic feelings, her friend for nearly thirty years. The last person she had ever cried in front of was Summer. But maybe, this time it would be okay too.

"Just...a really bad dream. It's....it's silly honestly."

After a few calming breaths, her panic began to dissipate and her logic returned to her. Which begged the question, how did he even find her out here? While she hadn't been thinking clearly when she had initially ran off, she was certain he was still in bed and asleep.

"What are you doing awake anyways?"

[th-nocturne]

'you can quit looking at me like that.' the pointed demand is accompanied with crossed arms, looking up at the much older and taller huntsmen. it was bad enough to be working with little red, but her father — uncle? family friend? brothers, their family tree was weird — was almost as bad. grumbling silently, they continue, 'i'm not gonna touch your precious children, old man.' a half-truth at best, as neopolitan leaves out the unsaid 'unless i can't get cinder first.' \\ random late vol 6/early vol 7 neo for qrow!

✧ unprompted starters // always accepting ✧

Qrow had kept his eyes narrowed, sharpening daggers against the shorter woman. Did she know something? How? Who would have told her? Ironwood? If a secret had been spilled, he'd have to act fast.

"I've worked with thieves and bandits before. I don't think there's anything you can say or tell me that I'll trust." If Neo had been Branwen, he would've dismissed everything she said on principle. "Just keep that blade to yourself and we'll get along fine."

[th-nocturne]

"There are ways to light fires without Dust or flint with steel," Qrow acknowledged. "But the fewer tools you have, the harder that job is." He kept knelt beside Weiss, watching as she figured things out. "If you'd like, we'll go camping sometime and I'll show you how to start one without tools."

He recognized that Dust had been as much a staple in Weiss's upbringing as wilderness and Grimm had been in his. To ask her to imagine life without it was likely the same as asking Qrow to fill every aspect of his life with technology. "Dust is a tool and resource like everything else. And all of those things take skill to use. But it's smart to have other skills for when other resources are gone."

And the fire took. He smiled and patted between her shoulders and took the flint and steel back. "Good job, snowpuff. You took to it fast." He planned to ask her to start the fires from hereon until Weiss's skill set in and became second-nature. "I'll tend to it from here."

Weiss was one of the few people who liked learning. The knowledge she had from reading books, from her tutors, from Klein? It made her the person she was. However, there were somethings that her father felt there were things that she hadn't needed to learn. And she was grateful for Qrow for teaching her. Even if she could be a brat about it sometimes.

She watched and listened with intent curiosity, one might mistake her for Ruby, who had often shown inept for being excited about different things. Though, most of those things involved weapons. Weiss however had more poise than Ruby and could tamper down that emotion that she was feeling. Ruby, however, you had to practically grab her shoulders and forced her to stand still.

"What would you do if you don't have anything?? I assume Dust would still be out of the question?" It was something she had wanted to ask. But she suspected she knew what the answer would be. Qrow was old school, if he didn't need to use Dust, he wouldn't. And Weiss was quick to learn that. "I mean, I know there's Dust..."

Weiss let the thought linger for a moment before taking the flint and steel from his hand and gave it a go. She saw the same kind of sparks that Qrow did but she wasn't one to give up. So she kept trying.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK

Eventually, Weiss was able to get it to light, an accomplished smile appeared on her face. "Here." She said, handing it back to him." Not sure if he wanted to be the one to light the fire.

[th-nocturne]

Qrow shrugged. "I have approximate knowledge of lots of stuff, Jimmy. Just not where two lil' blips might be on the map of Mantle." Even a professional could miss one or two details.

When prompted for his own coins, he smirked wryly. "Only one." He pulled out a misprinted silver Vale coin with two duplicate tails to it. "I've got shit luck, so I make my own when someone asks for a coin flip."

Digging around in his pockets, he soon came up empty. "Let's just go." Qrow started in the direction his gut said would lead them where they needed to be.

"Aren't you the spy? Isn't knowing stuff your thing?" To tell the truth, he was easily annoyed by many things, but it took at least some level of friendship for him to show it so openly. He couldn't afford to be prickly to anyone.

"I'd suggest splitting too, but sadly you're right." He checked his pocket. Then the other pocket. Then... "...I don't have coins. Do you?"

[th-nocturne]

✧ Found yet another indie game that I wanna make a muse from once it's released: Dead as Disco main character, Charlie Disco. Dunno what the story is just yet, but I love the vibes. Plus, who can say no to a beat-'em-up style rhythm game that lets you import your own songs??

[th-nocturne]

Seemed the time had come to open up about his family history. Trust had to be a two-way bridge. "My family is a long line of bandit chiefs that has roamed Mistral for generations. Not exactly a caring environment to raise kids in at the best of times." Stinger out and the wound cleaned, Qrow began the bandaging process.

"There's a rite of passage one has to take to become the next chief." And he wouldn't go into the details of that vicious ceremony. Weiss didn't need that information rattling around in her mind. "And my old man set his mind to making Raven and I as strong as him. He'd have us fight him twice a week, and he'd use that opportunity to beat us." Raven was his favorite. She always got off easy. "I think he used me as an example. Try to show my sister what would happen if she slipped."

She flinched when he removed the stinger. it was habitual, she suppose. But she knew what he was doing, the longer the stinger had been embedded in her skin, she knew it wouldn't have been good. The venom that was already pumping through her veins wasn't enough to cause a ton of pain or discomfort. Although she was feeling some discomfort, to tell the truth, but maybe not from the bee.

"I-" She didn't want to say I'm sorry. She knew that wasn't the right thing to say and she hated when people said that to her. Especially when they found out about the kind of torment and abuse she'd suffered. But not that many people knew and she wanted to keep it that way. "How--" She seemed to couldn't have find the right words to voice the question she wanted to ask.

"What happened?" Weiss finally managed, her voice barely above a whisper but she knew he could hear her.

[th-nocturne]

Not-as-spicy sinday asks.

For those of us out there that would like to participate, but also find some of the sinday memes out there a little too spicy. Consider this the mild sauce of the ask memes for sinday.

What is your muse’s sexuality?

Is your muse sexually active?

Where does your muse’s libido fall on the scale? 10 being hyper-sexual, 1 being the opposite.

Do they like to listen to any music or are they more of a fan of silence during the act?

Is your muse a top, bottom, or a switch? Why?

Are they dominant or submissive?

What kind of underwear do they wear on the day-to-day?

Are they polite or do they have a dirty mouth?

Do they get embarrassed easily when it comes to nsfw things? Or are they shameless?

What kind of things are they into?

Are they a virgin? When did they lose their virginity? If they haven’t, do you think they ever will? Are they waiting for someone special, or do they just not care?

Would you consider them kinky or tame?

Are they loud in bed or quiet? Talkative or more of a noise maker?

Give us a random sinday headcanon or fact about your muse!

[th-nocturne]

"Thanks."

While she was off, Qrow assessed more of the situation. The water had no rank of sewage, though it had the filth of food chopped in the disposal. This could be messy. He prepared the towels around the sink's lower cabinet in time for Weiss to drop the tools. "Now we take the first step." Arguably the most important. He tapped the oval handle towards the back of the cabinet. "This controls the water flow. Whenever you're messing with plumbing, you always turn this off so no extra water comes in while you're working."

He did so, then began to dig through his tools. "What we need now is a pipe wrench. It's the biggest and heaviest wrench in the bag. We'll use it to detach the sink from the J-bend. My guess is there's something in there that's clogging the drain. Once it comes undone, all that water's gonna splash down. No bucket, so we'll have to clean it up ourselves with the towels and mop it."

She watches as he explains the different parts. It still didn't make sense to her but she was smart and a quick learner. Even if she wasn't, her stubbornness alone had made it impossible to not finish a task until it was completed. That and perhaps she wanted to make Qrow proud of her.

"Alright, I think I can do that." Weiss sauntered off towards the back door that happened to lead towards the backyard, pulling it open and making her way towards the shed. She opened the door, allowing the halo of sunlight be her guide into the dark shed. Heels clicked against the dusty floor as she walked in and she easily spotted the bag Qrow spoke about. She grabbed it and let it rest on her shoulder before walking out, but not before closing the door to the shed.

Weiss walked back towards Qrow and the task at hand. "Got it." She mumbled, setting the bag on the counter with a thump. "Now what?"

[th-nocturne]

His pink eyes were foggy and near-hollow. "I thought that was already decided?" Or was his mind already cleaved by the drink? "Yang has that bike of hers. There's probably some trailer around here for hauling crops, tools, or livestock." Qrow knew about living on the land and the sort of equipment it required in small communities like this one. Seeing this farm village brought to ruin pricked a thorn into his heart at the realization Patch could end up like that one day.

"We fix that to the bike and move on from here." He swilled the contents of a bottle down his throat, then looked to Weiss. "I got half of you kids to Haven, but that's about it." If Weiss hadn't gone chasing after Qrow and Aurelia in some bribed airship, she wouldn't have gotten captured by the Branwen tribe. So he couldn't even count her safe arrival to Haven as any success of his. That was by Yang's merit...and Weiss almost died. Too much was happening, and Qrow couldn't handle it anymore.

"Please...just give me an hour or two."

@th-nocturne cont. from here

"That's not true." She snapped. Perhaps she had been hanging around Ruby for far too long. The younger huntress was beginning to rub off on her, but she didn't mind. in fact, she relished in how much she has grown since leaving her blood family behind. her ideals no longer matched theirs and she wanted nothing to do with her father.

"We both know you've done a lot more than just sit on your butt and drink. You've guided us this far, haven't you?" She asked, crossing her arm over her body. "So instead of wallowing in self pity, maybe you should help us figure out what to do once that blizzard stops."

She knew the rest of the team didn't want to be shacked up in this house any longer than they needed to. But it wasn't as if they could go anywhere, when the storm was still coming down with heavy snow.