video; un: ushiromiya (cw: mentions of house fires, arson, murder)

[entreats]

So for those not in the know, our house burned down last month.

[ What a way to open a post, right. And yet Ange manages to say it with something very close to a pokerface. Those who know her well may see something at its edges though. An annoyance that starts to bleed more and more into the girl's tone as she speaks on. ]

And not in the 'dumb accident' sense. No, it's because apparently it's socially acceptable in this place to come to someone's house and set it on fire, before bringing your friends inside to start murdering its inhabitants. [ Okay, yes. At this point it's not thiny veiled annoyance anymore. This is obvious annoyance that she doesn't bother to hide. ] And before anyone asks me if I'm alright— I'm fine. Totally fine. I mean, I half-turned into a beast back there, but it's clearly cool. It's fine.

[ It's clearly not fine. The sarcasm is thick.

Though Ange seems to realise that's not why she was supposed to make this message, and manages to snap herself out of passive-aggressive-ville for just long enough to sigh and sound a little bit more neutral as she speaks on. ]

Anyway, we want to rebuild the house, but that's obviously something we need help with. None of us are exactly architects.. I think. I've learned to not question weird Remnant hobbies. [ You never know what those Remnant people are capable of. ] Not to mention we'd need help with the actual physical rebuilding itself too.

We could use help from a lot of people, so if anyone would be willing to help, that'd be great.

Comments

[payingfordeliverance]

[Baltus, who is under the table chewing up a corn cob, snickers on Break's behalf. Cute, cute, cute.]

And yet, that girl decided she wanted to be you when she grew up all the same.

[Break doesn't even need to comment on the idea of Qrow following his nieces around to the point of working at their damn school. Of course he'd think no one else could do it properly and quite frankly he probably wasn't wrong. Ruby's general existence is all the damnation he needs, going around with her big red scythe and her magical soul creature being another crow.]

I bet you did your best to be grouchy. And then, from time to time, you undid it all by giving out headpats and praise. "Great work today, kid," and then slouching off with your hands in your pockets all cool.

[He imitates Qrow's rasp and he does not nail it but it is unmistakable what he is doing all the same. Break is bad actually]

[bolstafir]

[Qrow can truly only stand there vaguely slack-jawed as his boyfriend comes out here for his entire life like this. He will have his revenge, Xerxes Break, mark his words. Or his devastating silence, in this particular case.]

...That's not what I sound like.

[The final, pitiful, defense of a man who has been utterly defeated.]

[payingfordeliverance]

[Break is not above having a merry cackle over this. But he does reach out and affectionately give Qrow's nose a single boop.]

No, but you realized I was trying, didn't you? Don't worry, don't worry. I'll not tell a soul your terrible secrets, and I've gone horribly soft in this place besides. So long as you stand next to me, you'll be the prickly one in comparison.

[He handles his ruthless victories with grace, sometimes, when he feels like it.]

Such a face. Come, come, tell me what you want for lunch. If we have the stuff around, I'll make it for you.

[bolstafir]

[Boop'd ... Qrow has himself a hearty sulk for some moments longer, before Break says the magic word 'lunch' and he brightens. Quite frankly Break could give him a hunk of unidentified meat served on a knife and Qrow would happily wolf it down, but he does take a moment to consider this question.

And soon enough, the lightbulb moment comes to him.]

...Pizza. Definitely pizza.

[That had been among his favorite food magic experiments for sure. Bread and cheese and meat all in one place, what could be better!!!]

[payingfordeliverance]

[So easy to please.

...Break thinks and does not say, because Ange said the exact same thing after she conjured up a root beer float for him to try when he was sulking at Tanabata. Instead, he turns his feeling of fondness into a brief kiss to Qrow's cheek and smiles faintly as he begins gathering things up -- a jar of the preserved tomato sauce he keeps around for easier meals and so on. While his own conjuring is going better than it isn't, he's found that his powers want him to create things from scratch, so magicking up only a few ingredients and then putting them together is substantially easier than trying to pull a whole pizza into reality on the spot.]

It'll be weird here, when you lot are able to move back out and eat in your own kitchen again. To rebuild is a good thing, but -- it'll be very weird.

[He says it with his back turned, hands busy. Losing his own Oz has been rough. It's only right and proper to restore the Clockhouse and Break will help where he can. But, he really isn't looking forward to having four people suddenly move back out when it's finished.]

[bolstafir]

[Qrow cheerfully watches over his shoulder like the nosy bird he is as Break conjures up his pizza-making ingredients one by one. He gets dinner and a show today (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ

That slightly wistful comment Break distracts him for a moment, though, sending a little flicker of guilt-surprise-affection across the Bond. Qrow still...is not entirely used to feeling the weight of someone's desire for his presence, or disappointment at his absence. It's not as though he didn't know intellectually, before--given the multiple Trench curses it took to get them to talk about it--but it's different having the evidence right in front of his face.

Qrow slides over to where Break is kneading the dough for the pizza and rests his chin on the man's shoulder.]

Hey...you know we'll make sure there's a new lamp there, right? You'll always be able to see us anytime. And we'll definitely barge in to drive you guys crazy with our Remnant ways all the time, too. Won't give you a minute's peace around here, Huntsman's honor.

[payingfordeliverance]

IIIIIIII knoooooooooow. I'm being a sap, don't mind me.

[Some of the kids have picked up on Qrow's singular talent for sticking firmly to Break's side with open devotion while simultaneously acting as though he's just been nailed in the face with a full-strength garden hose if someone dares to utter "boyfriend" at him. Break has told them outright that it doesn't bother him, and this sort of thing is why. Qrow can have as much angst as he pleases about silly things like words and terminology; it doesn't stop him from quite literally being at Break's back in moments like these, reaching out to offer comfort and affection even if Break is, to his own mind, being dumb. That's the sort of thing he really needs, and he gets without having to ask, so why fuss about the rest?

Even as his hands continue to work, he leans back a little against the other man, tilting his head to bump it gently against Qrow's for a moment in appreciation at having his silly woes acknowledged.]

It's only that...in just a little while, it will have been a year, you know? Since we arrived. To look at things as they are now compared to how they were then is...a year doesn't seem like much when you've as many of them as we have, but what a distance between those two moments. And...things go much more quickly here, I notice, compared to what I'm used to.

[Given that he and Sharon didn't age for so long, they were rather caught in a bubble for quite some time. Trench moves much faster.]

I like it, very much. But, I'm afraid I'm a little helpless to it, too.