video; un: shiro

[shiro2hero]

Hey, all - I see there's some new faces. I'm Shiro, longtime resident here.

[He's seated on a sofa - well, seated is probably the wrong word. He's propped up by a lot of soft things, thanks to being a Warmblood this month.]

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer - usually I'm on the Waker team, but ah, didn't get a chance this time around.

[Because of feeling like speaking, like moving, is too much effort.]

Anyway, I had a question. I'm pretty good in a fight, usually prefer hand-to-hand. [He is. Hilarious.] Weapons are a little more rusty, and this thing...

[He turns the omni to face a sword propped against the couch.] ... showed up at our house yesterday. And I could use a few pointers in swinging it.

Comments

[shiro2hero]

Yeah. You never know what new weirdness is going to come crawling out of the ocean.

[Ha ha ha.]

Not a fan of the volunteering options? Or being a Hunter?

[bolstafir]

More like, not a fan of taking orders from people I don't know well enough to trust.

[No offense to the Wayward Watcher and all but Qrow's never jived well with military structures to begin with, and has more recently had some Terrible Experiences with certain military commanders so he's even less up for being part of any kind of organization with a chain of authority like that.]

I did Huntsman work freelance back in the dream, and that still suits me fine here.

[shiro2hero]

I've heard about some Sleepers getting together to form their own Hunters. Ever think about that?

[It can't hurt to ask. He's heard bits and pieces, but it can't be a bad idea, really.]

[bolstafir]

You mean DART, right? That one wouldn't have worked for me either.

[He shrugs a shoulder.]

Let's just say Winter and I have had some...professional disagreements.

[Which is a nicer way of saying that they were like mixing oil and water and then setting that oil on fire.]

Anyway. I don't mind team-ups in general, but being part of a big group isn't really my thing.

[shiro2hero]

I didn't realize they went ahead and finalized it. Last I heard, they were all just talking about it.

[Wow, his head really hasn't been with it lately, has it?]

You sound like one of my teammates when you say that.

[bolstafir]

There might've been another one I missed, I dunno. Been kinda preoccupied with all the, uh ... [gestures...] y'know. Everything lately.

[Two wholeass people in his house have died in just the last few weeks and that's not even counting the Leviathan nonsense.

He shrugs a bit tiredly.]

That so? Haven't had teammates in some twenty years.

[shiro2hero]

Yeah. Everything. I get you.

[Part of why he's a little vague on the details, too. Hoping someone else could fill in the gaps.]

That's a long time to play lone wolf.

[bolstafir]

Eh, I guess.

[It's an echo of another conversation he had not too long ago, with a man now dead. I just found working alone tends to be for the best. Ironic, that he'd been proven right yet again, just as he was beginning to hope otherwise.]

Working that way suits me better, that's all.

[And it's not like he's truly alone, either. He's had his family with him since Deerington. This, he doesn't verbalize, much as it will be obvious he shares living space with others the moment Shiro shows up at his address. It's not exactly a secret that Ruby is his niece, but he doesn't go out of his way to advertise it, either. Some part of him that'll always have been raised a bandit cautions him not to needlessly expose a vulnerability in public.]

[shiro2hero]

Well... I guess if it works.

[It doesn't sound like it'd be effective in the long run. Not to him. But that's probably the result of working on a team for so long.]

[bolstafir]

So who's this teammate I sound like, anyway?

[He's. A little bit curious, okay.]

[shiro2hero]

Keith. He's gotten a lot better, grown up a lot. But that was how he felt for a long time.

[And he's proud of how far his adopted little bro has come. Really proud.]

[bolstafir]

[Grown up, huh. If it feels like a tiny bit of a dig, Qrow doesn't mention it. After all, he's got his reasons, but it took him seventeen years to tell his own family about them. He's certainly not prepared to explain himself to a stranger without some Trench curse to push him into it.]

Oh, I remember him. We sparred a round during the training exercise last month. He's tough.

[Definitely one of the more impressive non-Aura fights he's had with people.]

[shiro2hero]

[If it was any kind of dig, it was an unintentional one. Shiro's genuinely proud of Keith, and he'll take any opportunity to say as much to anyone who might listen.]

He is that. And determined.

[bolstafir]

Mm. Seems like it.

[They haven't really spoken since, though, so Qrow doesn't have much more to say on that front. After a moment:]

Anyway, drop me a line when you're ready to start. I'll fish up a couple practice swords in the meantime.

[shiro2hero]

All right - I'll do that.

Thank you.