Music choices: Black Water and Human by Of Monsters and Men

Eclipse

Chapter 34

The Lodge Part II

After Raven told Taiyang about their biological 'father' being a part of the King's Service, they'd concluded rather quickly that they needed to tell Summer about it. Summer was, predictably, very upset by this information; but instead of telling Nwyfre or Joan immediately, she tried to have an emergency team meeting to sort everything out. This, also predictably, didn't go well.

However, something Raven hadn't quite predicted was Qrow's ultimate reaction to all this. Her brother hadn't talked to anyone at all for three whole days. This wasn't just a stubborn, 'screw you assholes, I don't want to talk to you right now' sulky silence, either; he did have those, but often got over them relatively fast. This time was different, though.

This time her brother had completely shut down. Which was honestly something he hadn't done in a very long time, but it wasn't unprecedented; when they were little, he'd have stretches like this, where he would go days, weeks, even a month, without talking. Something would happen that would remind him of their bio family or their time with the traffickers and he would just go away inside for a bit. Get pulled under the water and disappear.

During these stretches, Raven would find him hiding somewhere and sit with him; and if he still ran off, or disappeared, she would go find his stubborn ass and doggedly follow him around. She wouldn't talk, or make him talk, because she understood instinctively that he was fighting with something and needed his energy for that instead. Sometimes though, she'd make him at least hold her hand. So they would be wandering around for days at a time, not talking, and holding hands.

Needless to say, they had freaked out some of the older raiders acting this way; and naturally, Raven had thought that was hilarious, so she would turn it into a game they could play. Ominously follow folk around the camp until they freaked out, and then try to get him to laugh about how superstitious and dumb they were. Sometimes, that would work and get him talking again.

Sometimes not.

When he would get really bad, the only person who could really get him to pull back up was Ciara. She would just carry him around with her, or sit with him in her lap and read or sing to him, or show him what she was doing when she did spirit work or read fortunes; and eventually, he'd brighten again.

However, Ciara wasn't here; and until Raven's leg finished knitting itself back together, she was NOT allowed to use her Semblance to go get her. Raven had technically reached a point in her healing where she could stand and walk a bit, but was not allowed to do so, or to use her aura for anything save healing. Otherwise she would get yelled at by her girlfriend, her boyfriend (?), her mom, several healers, and Professor Arc. Which meant she would still do it anyways, but she wasn't about to get yelled at by Ciara on top of the rest of all that; unless she had no other choice. So no extended walking - save for going to the bathroom, she refused to negotiate on that further - and no Semblance use.

That left one final option before involving the two women who were still busy trying to assist the skinchangers and whom they had yet to inform of everything else. Raven wasn't entirely sure it would work, and if it didn't, she would use her Semblance to get Cici and take potentially getting yelled at.

Right now, she was still laid up in the infirmary, as she had been for the past week. At least she wasn't out of her mind on painkillers at the moment, as she had graduated to less drastic medicine to help her deal. Summer was sitting next to her on the edge of the bed, her feet barely reaching the floor. They were waiting.

Summer had been unusually quiet herself lately, or at least she had been when she was around Raven. Which wasn't as often as Raven would have liked. They hadn't had much time together due to, well, everything; but they were gonna change that right now. Tonight was STRQ night and nobody was allowed to interrupt that.

They had put a paper sign on the door and everything.

Taiyang appeared suddenly around the corner, his arms full of, well, Qrow. He had literally carried his partner from his bunk down the hall. Upon their appearance, Summer promptly hopped down, grabbed the bed from the other side of the infirmary, and maneuvered it so that it was next to Raven's bed. Then, a blanket explosion, as both beds got covered in blankets they'd found in the Lodge and apparently washed.

That was not all, because of course it wasn't. Tai had found snacks somewhere. They were not the best snacks, but jerky and nutrition bars were tastier than canned kumquat or what the hell ever, so there was that. Summer had her scroll out and was pulling up movie options to discuss as Taiyang literally smooshed Qrow into the pillows and blankets that they had put between Raven and them to protect her leg.

Qrow did not say anything about all of this, but he was glaring a little at her from beneath the blankets. Raven smiled at him, and he continued to look grumpy. Glaring was a good sign, though. It meant somebody was home.

"Okaaay," Summer hummed, having scooted in on the other side of the Qrow-blanket-mound. Taiyang had flopped down next to Summer. "I don't have any signal down here, but! I have lots of movies already downloaded."

"Are they all romantic comedies?" Raven asked wryly.

"Jokes on you, missy, they are mostly horror flicks!" Summer wiggled her eyebrows at her. "With, a small selection….of action flicks!"

Tai chuckled, scooting closer as he rested his chin on Summer's shoulder to better see her scroll. Their contrast was extremely cute, and Raven kept staring at them sappily when they weren't paying attention.

Under the blankets, Qrow snorted softly.

She glanced at him. He was just barely smirking at her and after a moment, she shrugged.

Yea, you caught me. So what? Say something about it.

He rolled his eyes a little, and disappeared back under the blankets. Which was also acceptable. They weren't trying to force him to start talking right now. They just wanted him to know he was included in things, even if he didn't feel good.

"What are we going for then? Spooky movie? Or if not, we can always try Tai's phone," Summer teased, glancing up at Taiyang.

"I don't have any movies on mine, though," Tai confessed, shaking his head. "I have lots of funny stuff, but it's like, lots of short clips that make me laugh. And a few science documentaries-"

"Science documentaries?" Raven drawled, peering at the pair over the pillow mountain. "About what?"

"I dunno, ok, science stuff that I want to understand," Tai laughed, habitually holding up his fingers. "Um, Dust experiments, physics, technology doodads. That kind of thing."

"Wow, Tai's a nerd, too," Raven cocked an eyebrow. "Who knew?"

Qrow raised his hand slightly, getting a giggle out of Summer, who peeked over his shoulder. He glanced at her, smiling a little.

"Hey man, we were supposed to keep that a secret,"Taiyang protested playfully. "I have a reputation to maintain? Because everyone knows that I am the coolest person on our team, and somebody has to protect STRQ's social standing. Otherwise we are all going to get totally bullied at school."

Qrow sat up a little, giving Taiyang the driest look Raven had possibly ever seen in her life; and she had seen looks so dry, they'd dehydrate any ocean on Remnant. Then he flopped back down, shaking his head in disbelief as he pretended to ignore him.

"It's true," Tai insisted, grinning cheesily as he pressed his hand to his chest. "I am literally carrying this whole team, because everyone knows that you, Summer and Raven are mega geeks."

"Hey, I am not a mega geek, ok?" Raven insisted, prompting an impish giggle out of Summer. "I am normal levels of...actually, you know what? Compared to you three? I'm the cool kid. And that's saying a lot."

"Oh yea?" Taiyang taunted. "Lemme see that scroll, Raven. Whatcha got on there?"

Raven glared at both Tai and Summer, who were conspiring together, because of course they were.

"I bet it's all super serious and sciencey," Tai's head nodded. "Isn't it?"

Her eyes narrowed in challenge.

"Let's up the stakes, then, if you're so certain," Raven said after a moment, cocking a brow at her mischievous paramours. "If I have nothing but super geeky sciencey stuff on my scroll, then you win. If not, though? I win."

"Ok," Taiyang nodded playfully. "What do I get when I win, though?"

"You are awfully confident for a guy taking a bet this stacked," Raven observed wryly.

"Because you're a total geek. 100%. This isn't a secret, Raven," Tai chuckled.

Summer was glancing between the two of them with an extremely amused expression on her face. Raven met her eyes and Summer beamed at her innocently, before squishing Qrow. Qrow allowed himself to be squished.

"Well. If you win...I'll um…do something embarrassing I guess?" she trailed off.

"You think everything is embarrassing, though," Tai snickered, shaking his head. "Ok, if I win? We go on a proper date."

Summer made a bizarre, happy squeaking noise somewhere under the blanket pile.

"We were going to do that anyways though, weren't we?" she asked, tilting her head to appraise him.

More strangled squeaking. Raven found herself laughing at it.

"Yea, but now I'll get to pick and not tell you anything. It'll be a total surprise," he insisted. "No questions asked, and you have to go along with it. No chickening out."

Hmmm.

"Ok," Raven smirked sly. "But if I win? Then the same rules apply."

"Deal," Tai said quickly. "Hand the scroll over, Rae. Let's see it."

Someone's a little overconfident….

Still smirking, Raven handed her scroll over to Summer, who continued to squish Qrow while also being an unbiased moderator.

"Ok, let's see!" Summer chirped. "We haaaave! Lots of instructional videos for different sword kata-"

"Ha!" Taiyang grinned, still way too cocky.

"Cute little puppy videos!" Summer squealed. "Aww!"

Raven chuckled, even if her ears were a little red. Some of them were of Yin, when they were alone at the dorm and Raven got to play with her. The rest were just clips she'd found and saved for when she needed a pick-me-up.

"Uh. Those are still kinda sciencey," Tai insisted.

The cope is strong with this one….

"Ok, what else! Some….Raven, are these…? Are these romantic comedies? " Summer whispered, silver eyes wide and 'scandalized'.

"Not all of them," Raven sniffed. "Most are just stand up."

Taiyang looked shocked, and kept looking over Summer's shoulder for confirmation. Summer meanwhile kept giving her impish glances.

"And you were giving me crap earlier! Miss, 'Oh what's on your scroll, Summer? Romantic comedies ? Project much, you little butt?!" Summer laughed, gently pushing her shoulder. "You're so full of it!"

Raven shrugged, sharing a look with her twin who was still being squished by Summer, who had latched onto him like a koala. Raven patted his face briefly.

"Yup," she grinned a little. "I still won though."

Tai scratched the back of his head bashfully.

"Yea, I guess. Man, I had a good idea and everything."

"Awww," Raven sighed facetiously. " Bummer . I guess it sucks to be a loser, huh? I really wouldn't know."

Tai glared at her playfully as Summer continued to quietly lose her shit.

"Ok, listen-" Tai blustered.

"Sorry, I don't listen to nerds," Raven tossed her hair, holding her hand out. Summer slapped her palm. "Shouldn't have been talking so much shit, Taiyang."

Qrow chuckled, just barely.

"Uh huh, ok. I see how it is," he glanced suspiciously between Summer and Raven. "You guys are just gonna team up and bully me."

"Oh, poor baaabyyy," Raven teased.

"Hey, we will only do that if you ask us really nicely ," Summer winked back at him, before falling apart into another giggle fit. Raven rolled her eyes.

Taiyang sulked, milking it for all it was worth and absolutely not fooling her in the slightest.

Guess I should think about what we're going to do.

She had ideas. Most of them were legal. After the past two weeks, she figured they had both had their fill of illegal hijinks. For now. So, something fun but not too wild. Or, she could pick something completely out of left field and they could go to a science fair or sail-boating or something.

"Ok, Qrow. What have ya got?" Summer prompted.

Qrow didn't respond at first. Then he finally managed to push his scroll above the blanket mountain and hand it off to Summer, before disappearing back into his nest. Raven noticed that he was holding her hand now, and she smiled.

"So, we've goooot…," Summer murmured, flipping through Qrow's folders. "We've got cute little indie films! Animated shorts, and….more romances- oooh, hey, some of these are pretty spicy! Good tastes, Qrow!"

Qrow held his palm up and Summer slapped it.

"Wow, you two are such saps, who would have ever guessed?" Tai teased, peeking at them between Summer's pointy ears.

Summer raised her hand immediately, and Raven glared at her in betrayal.

"I did! Now, from this wide array of cinematic options!" Summer held up their various scrolls. "What shall we watch?"

There was a brief moment of silence, as everyone considered their choices. Qrow's hand snuck out of the blankets again and gingerly picked Taiyang's scroll out of the scroll collective. The trio watched as he pulled up dumb, funny clips that Tai had apparently been harvesting from other people at school and around Vale in general. He had close to a thousand.

"Mindless brain soup it is," Raven drawled, earning a finger in her ear. "Hey, get out of there."

"It is not brain soup," Tai blew a raspberry her way. "It is dopamine on the go and an excellent choice!"

"Yea! You have Emerald Epperson on here, Rae, you don't get to accuse people of having brain soup for personal tastes," Summer laughed as Raven flipped her off and tried to get her scroll back. "We have concrete evidence of your brain soup right here!"

"I didn't know who she was, ok?" Raven grumbled, unable to reach. "These were just recommended to me-"

"Yo, who the fuck was recommending you Emerald?!" Taiyang hooted, grinning. "No wait - Who was giving you stand up comics ?! I have questions?"

"And I protect my sources. Tough titty," she shrugged, earning an outraged noise. She hid her smile, but not very well.

"No shh, we've gotta stop yelling about titties and watch this," Summer insisted, holding the scroll up. "It's very serious!"

A shaking. Raven glanced down and noticed her brother was chuckling a little.

Ah...Ok.

"Mhm, yes," Raven smirked, pretending to stroke her chin. "Very serious. Let's break out the boxed wine and critique these um, visual shitposts."

"Do you even know what a shitpost is?" Taiyang scoffed.

"Sure," Raven nodded.

She didn't actually know what a shitpost was.

"Oh yea?" he squinted at her suspiciously.

"Did you want to lose another bet? Orrrrrr?" she smirked at him tauntingly.

Summer broke out into more giggling, glancing between the pair. She whispered something to Qrow, who nodded slightly.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you back, don't you worry. So, enjoy being all smug for now, lady."

She shrugged again, enjoying his mock offense. This was fun.

"I will."

Taiyang settled for grumbling playfully as he squished Summer, enveloping her in a hug like a much larger, blonde koala; Summer was of course quite happy with this arrangement, and braced the scroll on Qrow's hip for them all to watch. Qrow wasn't really paying attention to the visual shitposts, but that was ok. He half dozed in the blanket pile, still holding Raven's hand and being squished by dorks as they all giggled at silly videos together for hours on end.

They would all be found piled up together in the morning, scroll still running and covered in way too many blankets.