Chapter Thirty-Two

It was late summer, and Ozpin was relishing it. There were finally random days where the weather was tolerable, different random days when the humidity decreased, and he was looking forward to the cooler weather that he greatly preferred. As he had agreed with Oscar, he'd only been working during the mornings. His regulars were already back with weekly or monthly readings, having sent crows with good tidings for his return to soothsaying and wishes for his continued good health. Some of his clients had even insisted on paying extra for their readings because, for the moment, they could afford to. Most of his half days still didn't have a full day of clients, not everyone had the money for soothsaying, but he did get the occasional walk-in.

There was also something comforting about Qrow walking him to work. With Qrow as the crowmaster for the building, training the crows to be better than average postal birds, training them to be more akin to the crows they had back at Nana Calavera's, they always ended up walking together. Qrow still hid. He pretended like Oz was just a neighbor, not wanting Salem to know of their closeness, and Ozpin was fine with that and acted the same.

But having Qrow by his side was still a blessing of the Brothers that he delighted quietly in. During the hours without clients, Ozpin was looking through mail orders to see if anyone had access to maize for a Valean ceremony he wished to do with Qrow. So far, such searches proved fruitless, but it filled the time.

Today was truly special, however.

Today, Oscar was finally returning to soothsaying. Oscar finally felt he had enough strength to get to the office, Pietro had declared he was fit for basic light work, nothing heavy, and Ozpin hoped the return to something normal might lift that dark look that he sometimes got in his eyes, or the faraway stare when he was remembering.

The walk was still an adjustment for the eyes. The empty lots now had gardens, with families going to their designated section and yelling at anyone who dared encroach on their share of food. The people were fuller in the face, and Oscar had quietly wondered if they were aware that food needed to be stored away for the winter as well….

Ozpin watched his son as they waited at the crosswalk for the traffic to thin. Something that hadn't been necessary back at the start of summer when everyone was still terrified of further fires or imperials coming down the mountain. Oscar was dressed like an apprentice heading to work, and Ozpin hoped that no one who looked their way saw a family, if only because Salem was still out there.

Oscar still had a cane, mostly in case he became fatigued. He rarely used it back home. Sadly, this wasn't an uncommon sight. Many youths had canes or missing limbs now after all the fighting. The draft meant that Midwinter would likely be incredibly solemn for many Mistralans as they remembered lost family.

They and the rest of the crowd crossed the street and Ozpin glanced ahead to Leo's building. Oscar hadn't said anything, but Ozpin knew that this might be difficult. Oscar had tried to work alone after Ozpin had been hospitalized, but it would indeed be difficult to come back after what winter had done to both of them. Ozpin on his first day back had felt strange about it. It was another example of the time he'd lost, the things he'd lost. But being on a different floor and in a different office had helped him separate things out. He was certain this would be the same for Oscar, but…

He worried. Like any father would.

At the building, Qrow went to the mailboxes for long distance mail, used for the more traditional post that needed to be taken somewhere by land or by sea, things like deliveries and parcels. There was a locked box there for people to drop off messages for when Qrow wasn't up in the aviary.

It also gave Qrow an excuse to watch Ozpin head upstairs without being obvious and a chance to catch him if Salem was there to push again.

Ozpin loved that man. He really needed to find maize soon.

But it was Oscar that Ozpin watched.

His son was staring at the stairs, gave a small shake of his head, and headed up like everything was normal. Ozpin followed behind him at his much slower pace. It was like before he had fallen: He reached the top of the stairs and Oscar already had the door to the office open and was doing his usual chores when Ozpin arrived. The desk had the proper files and calendars open, the ledger was out, the stove already had a kettle warming, and Oscar was at the chalkboard that now hung on the wall, one knee on the shelves, to reach up and put in the schedule for the day.

Ozpin went by him and sat behind his desk, beaming.

"And how are you?" he asked, when Oscar leaned back from the chalkboard.

"I'm… Okay," Oscar said brightly. "Better than I thought. I was certain I'd… remember."

Ozpin's smile softened. "I told you that being on the second floor makes a difference. The office is mirrored. It's not the same."

"It's bigger," Oscar said. "Not by much, but… I don't feel so crowded here."

He nodded. "The reading room has more space as well, not that we have a table. We'll still do our readings in there."

Oscar nodded.

"With you here now, I was thinking we could do full days again. I'll do a reading, then you'll do the next. That way neither of us are exhausted."

Oscar considered. "That might work," he gave a flat stare, "I want to see how hot it gets here before we do that."

Ozpin chuckled. "I don't recall signing up for these conditions."

His son smiled. "You did."

"Shall we get started?"

They began their day. Their first client wasn't due for another hour, so it was a chance for Ozpin to check ledgers, see Qrow, who was still downstairs, about any mail from the aviary about appointments and the like, while Oscar kept working on an essay that Ozpin had asked of him the prior week. There were more books in the office for him to use for research.

"You got a delivery, Professor," Qrow said, sorting through all the parcels and papers.

"Thank you, Mr. Branwen."

"Keep that window open, it looks like another hot day."

Ozpin gave a dramatic sigh. "I will be glad when summer is over."

"Have a good day, Professor."

Ozpin nodded and headed back up. Once inside, as Qrow suggested, Ozpin opened a window. To his delighted surprise, a crow came in, swooping over to his desk in the reading room.

Oscar came to the door of the reading room. "Why is a crow in here?"

"I've an educated guess," Ozpin said lightly, looking at the package Qrow had given him. He cut the string and opened to reveal a small nest and a bag of feed. "I believe our mutual friend wishes to ensure I have a means of communication."

Oscar snorted. "If he wants to hide, he's not doing a good job."

"Ah, but an indicated occupation isn't a definite, and who's to say from whence this came?" Oz reached out and gently rubbed the crow's nape and mantle.

"Does he really think she just has a spyglass and is watching?" Oscar asked softly.

"I don't know what he thinks," Ozpin replied. "We can ask later. But I believe she isn't to be found in the city. If she's working her little reader without anyone on the other side, she's asking questions to find out things. She won't know anything else. You've seen the sands, they aren't that specific."

Oscar nodded.

"Regardless, you have an essay to write, and I have the morning paper."

Oscar returned to the front desk and Ozpin sat at the desk in his reading room. This paper wasn't his usual, which was delivered to Nana Calavera. This was Miss Hill's first article on the series of interviews she'd been doing with him.

What is Soothsaying?

A Look at the Fall of a Profession

And How Makers Curse the World

He had been looking forward to this. He'd been offering clarifications and corrections on her drafts since that first interview, and each time they met, it was clear she was getting a better and better understanding of how soothsaying actually worked. He had mostly treated it like he was teaching, but Robyn was persistent in her questions and research. It seemed she'd taken several library books out to verify everything he explained.

Of course, this was only the first article, and Ozpin had to admit, Robyn had a deft hand when it came to writing. Everything was clear and backed up, but it wasn't a dry academic read, despite the title. There was a narrative that left one wishing for more by the end. And the best part was that absolutely nothing in the article referenced him.

A few pages later was also the advert that Robyn insisted would be there, free of charge.

Idly, Ozpin wondered if anyone would read it. No one had truly cared about soothsayers for years now.

The first client was an appointment, the shopkeeper who came very week, and both Ozpin and Oscar greeted him warmly.

"It's good to see you open again," the shopkeeper said. "And it's doubly good to see you back, young man."

Oscar smiled. They all went into the reading room. The shopkeeper already knew about the lack of a reader, and Ozpin sat down. There was a small table between him and the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper already had his hand out.

"Mr. Pine, like before, keep your hand on my shoulder and just feel."

"Yes, Professor."

Ozpin opened his magic, behind him he felt Oscar open his magic, and he reached for the patterns to answer the shopkeeper's question. Without the sandtable, more magic was required, pushing through the world in front of him, to see the patterns underneath. To see the patterns, and find the ones needed. Ozpin had always used a reader, and it was oddly fascinating to soothsay like this. He wondered if this was how the sayers of old would see the patterns and how much focus it must have taken to see only what was needed instead of everything that was spread out so far all around him.

Ah, that was Oscar's curiosity peaking through.

"Focus," he murmured.

Ah, there was the pattern. He blinked, closing his magic, and smiled to the shopkeeper. "My advice is as follows…"

It was a relatively quiet day, and Ozpin smiled at Oscar agreeing that full days were allowed given that, while still unbearably warm, the office wasn't stifling enough for Ozpin to exhaust himself.

The next day, however, was a surprise. It seemed every time they came out of the reading room, there was a walk-in, waiting with a question.

"Hn," Ozpin mused. "It would seem Miss Hill's article might have done something."

Qrow dunked his head into a bucket of rainwater that was kept on the roof, then shook his head out, letting the warm water roll down his face and neck in an attempt to cool off against the raging summer sun. At Maria's, he had the option of the shade of the greenhouse, or the shed for some of the supplies. And, of course, because it was home, he could go down to his apartment and cool off. Here, though, it was miserable. No garden with plants that provided shade, the shed for supplies was little more than a trunk by the aviary. The crows themselves could overheat. How the filth had the previous crowmaster done anything?

He had spent the first week here just dragging blankets and wood from home to provide some shade for the birds. The message booth was at least at the base of the stairs, so he could pretend to hide from the beating sun, but given how much time he needed to spend just making sure the crows were okay in this weather, it left patrons having to come up into the sauna of a roof and they rarely appreciated it.

The one good thing was that the crows were appreciative of him doing what he could. He had still needed to bring some crows from back home to explain things to this little flock, and the training he'd been doing with them since Ozpin had started was starting to show off. Instead of sending one of his crows from back home, Qrow was now sending one of the office crows down to Ozpin and Oscar in case anything happened.

There was also an uptick of traffic to the building. From what Ozpin said once they were safe at home, Robyn's articles were quite the success, and people were starting to seek out soothsayers again. And Ozpin was one of the few in the city who wasn't up at the palace. Qrow didn't trust it to last, but for now they both had income and it was being saved. Or more likely, paying bills from the past winter. Pietro and Penny had both been paid. The hospital... less so, but Ozpin was still sending up payments as he could.

Of course, with the uptick in traffic, Leo was gliding around to the newcomers, mentioning that he had affordable offices if anyone was interested, and a tavern waiting for some new chef. Word was that some Vacuoan chef was interested, but couldn't get the capital together because of all the filth the Emperor had done over the winter. A Mistralan chef was also interested, and Qrow didn't need to be able to read to know who would likely get the tavern. He just hoped the chef made good food.

Qrow shook his head out, then grabbed a bucket full of the rainwater to bring in for the crows. The smart ones knew what this meant and all came down to him. He took them one at a time, to carefully check feathers before letting them bath, which they very much enjoyed. Once they were set, he checked the nests, cleaned them out, and adjusted the shade. After this, he was checking the post downstairs, curse it. He needed some time out of the sun.

Downstairs, he sat at the postal booth, and slouched back, rubbing at the headache the sun had given him. After a few minutes, once he'd adjusted to the shadows of the interior and cooled off, such as it was, he opened up the message box to see how many he'd need to send off. He squinted at one of the addresses, scowled, and climbed to the third floor to ask what the filth that address was supposed to be.

And Qrow thought his handwriting was bad…

It was while he was sorting city to out-of-city that there was a knock and a head peaked in.

"There a soothsayer here?" said the delivery man.

"Second floor." Qrow said, everything in him now at full attention as he casually leaned back and looked. "They got a delivery?"

"And how," the man grunted. "At least it's the second floor. I'm going to need some strong backs to lug this cursed thing upstairs."

Qrow narrowed his eyes. He put his stacks of messages back into the locked box and stood. "Well, I've got a decent back. Let's take a look."

"You the crowmaster?"

"Yup."

The delivery man gave a grateful smile.

"Want to do the other parcels first?" Qrow asked.

"Brothers no, I want this monstrosity off my wagon first."

They headed out to the wagon and the delivery man unlocked the back and went in with Qrow.

Qrow stared, eyes wide.

"That's what the soothsayer is getting?"

"It took four men just to heave this thing into the wagon," he replied. "Two of us needed to secure it so that the ride down the mountain didn't damage anything because this thing is so cursed big, and it's so unwieldy. At least when delivering flour or salt barrels, those can be stacked."

Qrow just kept staring.

What the filth…

"I'll go up and get the soothsayer," he said. "See if he or the apprentice know anything on how to transport this."

"You do that. Maybe they can help unload this thing."

Qrow shook his head. "Backbreaker. The sayer can't walk very well. Apprentice is still young."

"Brothers. How are we going to-"

"I'll do some asking," Qrow replied. "Don't worry. We'll get this straightened out."

"...I just want it out…"

Qrow headed back inside and headed up the stairs two at a time, working to keep his face neutral before knocking on Oz's door.

No response. He was doing a reading then. So Qrow headed up to the fourth floor to see Leo.

"Know any strong backs in the building willing to help the soothsayer?" he asked.

Leo blinked, taking a moment to process. "Backs? Ozpin?"

"He's got a delivery and it'll take more than me and the delivery man to get it upstairs."

"I…" Leo shook his head. "Let me think. Does Oz know?"

"He's doing a reading right now. They don't take too long. I'm about to head back down to check again."

"I'll go knocking on some doors."

Qrow headed back down and was just coming down the hall when he saw Oscar bidding a good day to some client at the door.

"Hey, kid," Qrow called. "You got a delivery."

Oscar blinked, eyes wide. "Delivery?"

"Yup. We need you to sign for it," he said, coming to Ozpin's door and poking his head in. Ozpin was sitting at the desk, looking paler than Qrow would prefer, but curious. "Frankly, we need a sayer's advice on the cursed thing."

"I do believe you're being deliberately vague," Ozpin said lightly, eyes glimmering.

Qrow shrugged innocently with a shining smile. "It's a surprise."

"Oh?" Ozpin smiled mischievously. "Is this another bit of Mistralan euphemism?"

"Tch, please," Qrow said. "I wouldn't need the kid for that. I'd just send him off and talk to you in your reading room." Qrow turned to Oscar. "So, you wanna go down and sign while I talk to the Professor?"

Oscar openly sputtered.

Qrow chuckled. "Come on, kid, I'll show you what's going on and you can help us figure it out."

"Ah, yes. Please don't say anything else like that." Oscar shook his head. "Aren't adults supposed to be all prudish?"

"Aren't kids supposed to do all that experimentation?" Qrow countered. "Did I ever tell you about the time I got drunk at a brothel and-"

"I'm going, I'm going!"

"Don't embarrass him too much!" Ozpin called as Qrow followed him down.

Oscar was still slow with stairs, keeping his cane nearby, but by Qrow's view that was more a precaution than an actual need.

The delivery man was packing away the ropes that had kept the delivery safe. Qrow climbed up and started checking around it for any scratches or dents while Oscar just stared.

"Is that…"

"It is," Qrow replied. "Don't ask me."

Oscar's face blossomed into a massive smile and a giddy giggle escaped. "Really? This is for us? Really?"

"Yes," the delivery man said. "We need to figure out how to move it."

Another giddy sound that Oscar had to quickly reach up and hold his mouth to keep contained.

"You know you can cheer," Qrow said. "You've been working without one for how long now?"

Oscar dissolved into an excited laugh as he launched himself into the wagon. "This is real? Really real?"

"Yup. Can we break it down to make it easier to lug upstairs?" Qrow asked.

"Brother of Light! Brother of Light! I can't believe this!" Oscar gave an another thrilled giggle. "Oh Brothers! Ah, yes, we can pull apart some of this to make it easier, but… Brothers!"

The delivery man gave a small smile. "Glad this is a good delivery."

"Oh, ah, tools!" Oscar was vibrating in excitement. "Tools, were there tools with it? I never checked the office, I don't know if they were taken… I didn't see the original set over the winter up there… I should run up to the office and check!"

Laughing, Qrow reached out to grab Oscar's shoulder before he took off. "Slow down, pipsqueak." He turned to the delivery man. "Did this come with tools?"

The man pulled out his forms and read through them. "No, no accoutrements, just this thing."

Oscar looked at Qrow. "I think when it was requisitioned, they didn't know where the maintenance tools were. I'll go get the original set from the office."

"Don't let the Professor know," Qrow said, holding a finger to his lips. "I want to see his face."

Oscar beamed and took off. While he was getting the tools, Qrow and the delivery man cleared out a path to move the huge thing and Leo came down with some of the other tenants of the building.

"Strong backs?" he asked. Qrow gestured into the wagon. Leo climbed in enough to see. "Oh yes, strong backs," he said with a large smile.

"Not a word," Qrow said.

Leo's smile grew larger.

Oscar came rushing back, a small pouch in hand and almost leapt into the wagon before hissing and sinking to his knees, holding his side.

"Kid?"

Oscar sucked in a dark breath. "Sorry," he said. "Running around too much." He took a deep breath, then came forward a good deal more cautiously, leaning on his cane, and opened the pouch, pulling out special tools that were just as pretty and clearly part of a set with the giant thing. With careful precision, he pulled apart piece after piece, setting them aside carefully. The delivery man wrapped each piece carefully in cloth and set them further back. Once Oscar was set, came the heaving, so Oscar headed out and sat down at the steps, a hand on his side, but still smiling and vibrating with glee.

It took a lot of maneuvering, careful calling out of instructions, and a good deal of swearing, but the cursed thing was pulled out and carefully put onto a wheeled cart that Leo had pulled from somewhere in the building. It was rolled to the steps, then more cursing and instructions to get it inside, Leo following with the cart, setting it down and rolling it down the hall to the stairs.

Then came manhandling the thing up the stairs as carefully as possible.

Whomever had sent the thing had put it into a half-opened crate, surrounded by sandbags to keep it moderately safe, and it was a good thing as the four of them almost knocked each other off balance at one point and ended up putting a hole in the plaster of the wall.

"I don't mind!" Leo crooned. "I'll have it fixed!" Oscar followed behind them, all the unwieldy parts carefully wrapped and held in his arms, still beaming.

At the top of the steps, all of them sweating, Qrow stated, "Take five. We still need to lift this to the table in the office. The stairs were a beast. Kid, help me wheel this down to the office. We'll get the placement set so it's easy for everyone to move."

"Yes!"

Wiping his forehead with his forearm, Qrow carefully grabbed one end, Oscar the other, and they slowly wheeled it down the hall.

Once Ozpin saw it, his jaw dropped.

He gasped.

And fye and filth if his eyes didn't water.

"Oh…."

"Yeah."

"Oh….."

Qrow grinned.

"Oh…."

"You'll need to say something else, Oz," Qrow said softly. "I usually hear those oh's in a different context."

"I must be dreaming…." he said, utterly still.

"You aren't," Oscar almost giggled. "It's back."

"My master's reader…."

"Your reader," Qrow said. "Back safe and sound."

"But… how?"

Qrow shrugged. "No idea. Kid, let's get this into the side room."

Ozpin, complete with bum leg, zipped ahead of them into the reading room, shoving chairs to the back by the desk. The large, ornate table that the sand basin was designed to rest on was quickly cleared, and Ozpin pulled out a damp cloth to wipe it down. The crow in the room was all atwitter, flapping around with excitement before Qrow clicked his tongue. With disappointment, the crow settled onto the ledge of the open window.

The table took longer to dry than Ozpin clearly wanted as he hovered around the basin, already running fingers over it to feel for any damage. For a moment, Qrow saw golden eyes.

"Mr. Pine, we need a charging wreath. I'd have thought we'd need more…"

"It was charged regularly over the winter," Oscar said. "I saw to it."

But Leo came in with the delivery man and the others, all who were just as soaked with sweat as Qrow was in the late summer, ready to pull it out of the crate and place it on the table. Ozpin puttered around before going to the small desk in back and standing there, leaning back as far as possible to stay out of the way, eyes fixed on the reader and sparkling.

"Okay boys," the delivery man said. "One more heave, then this thing won't be going anywhere ever again."

"I really can't thank all of you enough," Ozpin said.

The delivery man gave a quick smile. "Think nothing of it. I usually don't get to see anyone so happy with a simple delivery."

Ozpin nodded, beaming. "A proper sand reader for a soothsayer-"

"I've read the articles," the delivery man said. "Makes it easier, right?"

"Yes. Much easier."

"Okay boys. One lift, three steps, and place. We're almost done."

Qrow took his place, ignored the protest of his arms and back, and heaved. Straight up for Leo to wheel out the crate and the sandbags, three steps over, and a careful placement watching out for fingers and making sure it was centered.

Once it was down, Ozpin rushed forward, pulling out some sort of level from one of his shelves, placing it at various points of the reader, asking for small adjustments for a few minutes, before standing back looking incredibly satisfied, happy, and overjoyed. "Truly, thank all of you."

"Okay everyone," Leo said. "After all that, drinks are on me."

"I'll help the Professor tidy up," Qrow said. "I'll skip the drinks."

"Your loss," one of the tenants said, brushing back sweaty hair.

Qrow walked them all out and shut the door.

Oscar had already set out all the copper for the fulcrum of the reader, pulling out tools from the pouch he'd grabbed earlier, while Ozpin was digging through another shelf to pull out oil and polish.

"This is marvelous," Ozpin was saying. "Unbelievable and marvelous. Who would… how did…. I don't even know where to start." He looked at Qrow, came over, and hugged him tightly. "I don't have the words for this."

"I'll happily take credit, Oz, but it wasn't me."

Ozpin kissed him. Nothing hot or steamy, but seeing all that delight, the small little "oh"s earlier, and that bubbling infectious joy were certainly doing things to Qrow's particular anatomy.

"I don't care, beloved," Ozpin said softly. "You still brought this to me."

Brothers, Ozpin was so very hot when he was this happy.

Oz turned to his son. "Mr. Pine, we need to polish the fulcrum."

"You know, Oz, we can send Oscar out and I can polish your fulcrum."

Ozpin, as usual, was oblivious to what he was suggesting. "Excellent! Here, I have some oil to clean the fulcrum before we rub it down. Oscar, we need to check the sandbags it was brought with, but I think if we sift it out…."

Qrow choked. Then he smiled.

In spite of all the worry about what the coming winter would bring for food, all the worry about the tense ceasefire up the mountain, the worry about where the white witch bitch was…

In spite of all of that worry, Ozpin was still happy.

Qrow was in awe. Inspired. Whatever sappy word fit the occasion.

He would defend this man and his son with everything he had.

Author's Notes: Only two scenes. Chapters are going to be on the short side for a little bit as we set some things up. Both scenes have an impact though - the first is Oscar going back to work and confronting one of the things that has been causing him so much stress: the stairs where Ozpin fell and working in the building where it happened. And as an added bonus we get the adorable scene of the sand reader being returned - there's a story there, but more on that later.

Next chapter: Oscar finally confronts his trauma, and Robyn spitting fire per usual.