Part Ten
Ozpin noted, without any surprise at this point, that a wicker chair with cushions had been harvested from somewhere and had cardboard on it proclaiming: Professor Ozpin's Chair Only! No Stealing! He shook his head and smiled. For now he wanted to stay standing. Oscar was by his side, observing the yard carefully. He had admitted, with much gentle poking, that he was nervous. It was very warm and would likely get hot by mid to late afternoon, and Oscar was worried that someone would question him about choosing to wear a button up shirt like his dad and a bandana around his neck.
This wasn't a surprise. Oscar liked summer for not having to always hide his scars in public. This, even with friends, required Oscar to hide his neck and invariably he was approaching teenage years worried about how he looked and what others thought of him being "odd" or some such.
Ozpin had a button up shirt as well, as he also avoided showing his scars, and he'd pulled out a bandana as well for solidarity with his son. "It's very simple," he had explained. "When you're gardening, you need something to wipe the sweat off."
Oscar had smiled and accepted the explanation, but he was still staying close to his father, helping Tai set up the picnic table and the food. Ozpin let him for now. Best to get a feel for something before trying.
"That bread smells delicious," Winter said. "I didn't know you baked."
Ozpin shrugged. "Something I do with Oscar. We enjoy it."
"So do my girls," Tai grinned. "I have to tell them to run around more to burn off the cookies and pastries you make. They don't seem to mind."
Ozpin laughed.
"I see non-baked goods," Qrow leaned over. "Potato salad?"
"A recipe from my grandmother," Ozpin replied. "I have a book of recipes that dates back two hundred years, and each generation adds a few more. Since I won't be teaching this summer, I thought I'd digitize it."
Qrow gave an easy laugh. "Not before you try out all those recipes, I'm sure."
"I will try. Some of them were made during the depression when butter was scarce, so solid grease isn't exactly in ready supply nowadays."
Tai stuttered. "Grease?"
"A form of fat leavings that have been sifted out. It should be an interesting butter substitute to experiment with. To say nothing of all the recipes based on using a fire instead of a regulated oven."
"Sounds like an interesting summer experiment," Winter said.
"Less experiment, more experimental," Qrow chuckled. "Grease? How did our ancestors survive?"
Ozpin's eyes twinkled. "How does any generation survive? How does anyone even define survival?"
Qrow offered a flat look with a wide grin. "Don't go philosophizing on me now, Professor, we're not in class anymore."
Ozpin beamed. "But isn't life it's own classroom? Aren't all interactions and experiences a form of learning?
"Oz…"
Winter cut in. "Don't try to argue with him. We learned at Berkeley that you never win against Professor Ozma."
They all laughed and kept chatting. Qrow and Tai were still setting up food, with Tai focusing more and more on the grill and Qrow running into the house for something. Oscar stuck by the picnic table to help, always watching as the three girls ran around as various distractions occurred to them.
Finally Ozpin went over and gave his son a one-armed hug. "It's alright," he said softly. "Go have fun."
"Daaaad, Oscar rolled is eyes, "I-"
Ozpin gave him a little shove. "Go on."
With a pure pre-teen pout, Oscar headed out to join the girls.
"Ah, Oscar!" Ruby shouted. "Come on! The net's detangled! We need Team Sun Garden against Team Winter Rose!"
"Okay, okay! I'm coming."
Qrow was beside him, leaning in to whisper, "Now that's some gentle parenting."
"I always did lean more towards encouraging," Ozpin agreed.
Later, Tai called them all over to the picnic table. "Time to eat!"
Naturally, all children arrived in an instant. The eight of them sat down, children on one side, adults on the other. Oz was between Qrow and Oscar, Winter across from him as they started to dig into the food. Conversation flowed easily and food was consumed until Oscar reached down to Weiss for something he had asked her to pass down.
Ozpin was aware that his arms and legs were very scarred from the accident. During the school year, he was always in a suit and that covered it. In the summer, he still wore pants, but he would wear short-sleeved button ups. The button ups were necessary to hide his neck, but after… everything, Ozpin accepted that he'd been in an accident and the scars showed he'd survived. His scars on his neck were far too complicated to accept. He also had the advantage of being incredibly pale, so that his scars weren't the first thing someone noticed unless they were up close.
Weiss did a double take upon seeing his arm and stuttered. "Ahh, oh.. Um…."
Winter hissed, "Weiss, don't stare, that's rude."
Of course, that drew attention to his outstretched arm.
"Cool!" Yang immediately leaned forward to check out all the scars. Ozpin pulled his arm back while Oscar beside him went very, very still. "Ruby, did you see those scars?"
"Girls," Tai started but Ozpin turned and shook his head.
"Tell me, Miss Xiao Long," Ozpin turned and offered a bright smile. "How does one acquire scars?"
"Cuts," she answered promptly, still trying to lean forward and around to better see his arms again. "I have a scar on my knee from when I fell on the driveway when I was a kid."
"Very good. Now, Miss Xiao Long, how does one get many scars?"
Yang paused, looking up to Ozpin now. "Lots of cuts?" she replied, unsure.
"Indeed. And how do you think one feels when it's many cuts?"
"It's just cuts."
Ozpin held out his arms for inspections "Compare the size of these to the size of the scar on your knee."
"They're a lot bigger! And wider! Ohhh…"
Ozpin nodded. "I was in a very bad car accident. It's why I need my cane, and where I got these scars." He pulled his arms back. "It took a long time to heal. I don't hide these scars because they are a sign of my survival. It is natural for other people to notice them and wonder." He looked directly into Yang's lavender eyes. "Most people can figure out that something happened."
Yang looked down. "Sorry, Professor," she said. "I wasn't thinking."
He gave her a gentle smile. "You are still very young. You are learning. Let this be a lesson. I am many years older than you and I still learn something every day. Learning is a good thing. Painful, sometimes, but always a good thing."
"Sure, Professor."
Ozpin turned to Winter. "I believe you can take a guess at the timing?"
Winter nodded solemnly. "It's why you left Berkely, isn't it? You needed to heal."
"In a manner of speaking." The needing to heal part was correct. He hadn't left Berkely because of the accident. That was merely the beginning. "I have found many lessons since that accident. It was painful, frustrating, and terrifying. But ultimately," Ozpin looked to Oscar and hugged him close, "I believe the accident was a good thing for me. Much may have changed, and violently, but I am far better off now than I was before."
Oscar glanced up with a small smile, and nodded.
"Okay," Tai said firmly, "heavy life lessons over. Pass the salad down here already!"
Later, after volleyball had devolved to soccer, had devolved to chasing each other around the yard, Ozpin was sitting with Winter and Qrow. Tai was making a run to the grocery store, and Ozpin had to admit, he was grateful that the chair had been reserved for him. It was even in the shade.
"Weiss!" Winter called out. "Sunscreen! It's been two hours!"
"Now?" Weiss whined.
"Now, young lady!"
"Yang, Ruby, you two as well!" Qrow called. "You don't want to go to school tomorrow looking like tomatoes."
Still smiling and laughing, they all trucked inside to apply another round of sunscreen, Oscar smiling and laughing included.
As the girls passed by, Ozpin heard Weiss explaining to them that not only had she brought sunscreen, she'd also brought shampoo and conditioner. "I'm taking a shower before we leave and changing back into the dress. That way, my dad won't know I've been out playing around like this."
Ozpin doubted Winter or Qrow heard it, given how they were sniping at each other. He sighed and interrupted.
"Winter," he said seriously, cutting through the banter and insults. "Weiss and her brother can't stay with your father."
Both Winter and Qrow looked at him surprised, before Winter looked away.
"Once upon a time, at Berkeley, you were finally free to make your own choices. Look at the results. You are better now than when you were under Jaques Schnee's thumb. Now Weiss and Whitley are the ones who deal with him every day."
Winter let out a heavy sigh, and rubbed her head. "I've been disowned. I can't do anything."
"Bullshit," Qrow growled. "You bought a home here, right? Why don't you-"
Ozpin held up a hand. He knew how long, how many wasted years it had taken him to realize that he needed to leave Salem. No one could have told him, he'd had too many excuses. It wasn't until he'd analyzed his excuses that he realized that they were just excuses.
"Very well," Ozpin said. "But perhaps you can visit? I'm not saying going back to that house is good for you and that you should, but checking in on your siblings? Providing them a safe space?"
Winter grimaced. "I swore that I'd never see my father again outside of obligations."
"I believe you have some obligations to your siblings. And those weigh more than those of your father."
"You think I don't know that? I'm here aren't I?"
Ozpin nodded. "Think about it. That's all I ask. I don't believe Weiss or Whitley deserve what their father is capable of."
Qrow scowled. "You don't know the half of it. He came here to pick them up once. Your father's a real ass, you know that, right?"
Winter's jaw tightened in a way that looked just like Weiss. Ozpin nodded to himself. The point had been made. Pushing wouldn't help. Time to switch topics. "You know, we never did find out why your senior class decided to set up beer pong tables all around the campus in the middle of December."
Winter smiled and jumped at the change of topic.
It was a fun day. Eventually, with all the running around, and after coming back for food such as cake, bread, more burgers and hot dogs, and a notable tackle that had the children falling into some bushes, the children started to get tired and sat down to talk. Oscar, unsurprisingly, brought the gardening tools and he went to the bush to start pruning and making sure not too much damage was done.
Ozpin was talking with Tai at the grill as he put a pork shoulder onto it for dinner.
"Thanks for coming," Tai said as he sprinkled more salt onto the meat. "Usually it's just us. It was nice to have company over for a change."
"It was our pleasure," Oz replied, leaning on his cane and feeling the breeze. "I imagine Qrow has told you… some of my history. Having a place to go has been nice."
Tai offered a hooded look. "My brother-in-law, has only stated that your life could rival his in the whole fuck my life competition. He's been remarkably protective of you."
There was a definite, heavy pause.
Ozpin ignored the implied question. "Meeting Qrow, getting to know your family and becoming friends," he looked up to the blue, hazy sky. "I'd say this has perhaps been the most I've healed."
Tai blinked, clearly not expecting such an answer. "Ahhh, so you're not ready yet," he muttered.
Ozpin offered a polite, questioning look.
But Tai smiled. "Good to know my family can heal other families," he said. He shrugged. "Assuming we can survive their teenage years, I think we'll be good. I'm not looking forward to teaching my two devils how to drive."
Ozpin laughed.
There was a distinct screech of laughter, and all adults looked to see that Ruby had a garden hose and was aiming at her friends. Oscar was already drenched, working to push hair out of his eyes, Yang was already on the run, and Weiss had her hands up in a vain attempt to block the spray. "Ruby!" she was laughing. "Ruby! Knock it off! Hahahaha!"
"Ah, so this is where my daughters have gone."
All the adults turned to the new voice.
"Father," Winter hissed.
Oh dear.
Jacques Schnee, by Tai's estimation, was currently worth five hundred dollars in the summer suit he was in, brand watch on his wrist, and perfectly oiled hair and moustache. His eyes drifted across the backyard at Weiss, soaked through in her tank and shorts, staring at him in horror with Ruby next to her, also staring with wide, silver eyes. His immediate thought was to get the kids inside and away from Schnee, and he said as much.
"Girls, go inside."
"But-"
"Go," he said, summoning his grounding voice. Ozpin, next to him, added, "Oscar, you too."
"Dad…"
"This is not a conversation you will want to hear," the professor said.
Next thing to take care of was the wild card:
"Qrow, take care of them."
His brother(-in-law) glared red daggers, but hunched forward and started corralling.
"Whitley," Schnee said, "Go with them."
"Yes, Father."
Every father instinct in Tai cringed at the tone and response, and something in him burned, but he instead lifted his eyebrows and stepped forward. "Hi!" he said brightly. "You must be Jacques Schnee, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Taiyang Xiao Long, we talked on the phone when Weiss came for a sleepover. Did she tell you all the stories, she was so happy-"
"Don't pay dumb with me, Xiao Long," Schnee said, blue gaze dark. "Not when I know you orchestrated all this."
"All what?" Tai asked, continuing to play dumb. "It's Memorial Day, we have a cook out every year, and we invited some friends. Qrow and Winter hit it right off."
"If by 'hit it off' you mean nearly coming to blows," Winter said, a completely different woman. She went from cool to downright cold. "What's this all about?"
"As if you didn't know," Schnee said. "Weiss is forbidden from associating with these criminals. They're all con artists, they only care about our money. I thought you were smarter than that."
"What do you mean con artists?" Winter asked in a deceptively mild voice. "I was invited by Professor Ozma. You of course remember how distinguished he is."
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Schnee," Ozpin said.
Schnee looked at the professor, eyes darting up and down, taking in the white hair, the accident scars, and he sneered. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," he said. "Look at you, associating with riffraff like them."
"I'm sorry," Tai said, crossing his arm. "I didn't know there was a 'them' here. If you really did the background check like you said you did then you know that we aren't criminals, and you know that after all of that we have some friends on the force. Should I call them and say there's a trespasser in my backyard?"
Schnee looked at him. "Should I say that you've kidnapped my daughters?"
"Should I point out that they are here on invitation? If there's a misunderstanding over that I'm sure the girls, Winter, Qrow, Professor Ozpin, and myself will all say the exact same thing."
"And I for one didn't know there were people Weiss wasn't to associate with," Winter said, arms crossed as well and finger tapping on a bicep. "I told you I was taking Weiss out for the day. Did it occur to you to let me know of any restrictions to Weiss' movements? Or were you afraid that I wouldn't agree and disobey you?"
"It looks like you did regardless."
"It's not disobeying if it's done in ignorance, Father."
"I feel that this is escalating," Ozpin said, "Perhaps we should instead ask-"
"You're not involved in this, Ozma," Schnee all but spat. Then he sneered. "You hardly have a leg to stand on."
Tai stepped forward, getting in Schnee's face, and then he smiled. "Mr. Schnee," he said, carefully modulating his voice, "I'm going to talk from one father to another, okay? Weiss was having a really good time today, and it's nice to give children as many social experiences as possible so they can grow up to be healthy adults. Weiss has had her first sleepover, her first cookout to my knowledge, and she's learning a lot about leadership when she helps the girls with their homework, and she's always conducted herself perfectly. I would be proud of everything she's done so far, and even without being her father I love what I see in her. I would hope that fear over her safety won't accidentally smother her in the process. I mean, every day I'm afraid Yang and Ruby will get into trouble they can't get out of, and there are a lot of lessons they learned the hard way. The good news is that they learned, though. Don't you want Weiss to learn?"
Schnee sneered again. "You tried that on me the night you called," he said. "But what lesson is there to learn in being in the presence of criminals like yourself?"
"What lesson is there in having a father like you?" Tai said, putting his hands on his hips. "Look, nobody here is perfect, and it would be stupid to hold people to every mistake they ever made. By that logic no one would be worthy of having kids."
"Oh, I don't know," Schnee said, "Some of us are more worthy than others."
"That depends entirely on the parent and on the kid," Tai countered. "You might not want to have Weiss around with us but I need to let you know as a father - the more tightly you hold her the more quickly she'll slip away. And you have to ask yourself if you want her gone that badly."
"You seem to think you have any say in this," Schnee said. "I'm here to take my daughters home."
"And no one is stopping you," Tai said quickly, "But I am asking if that's the right thing to do for either of them."
"You don't know anything about my daughters."
"And you don't know anything about mine," Tai said. "Maybe you can stay awhile and get to know us a little better. Maybe first hand research would be better than second hand background checks."
Schnee glared at them: Tai, Oz, and Winter. Tai pushed: "We have hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, fresh baked bread by the professor, just got cake from the store, rolls."
"Fine," he said, marching forward and taking Oz's seat in the shade. Tai pursed his lips and threw a glance at the professor, but he gave no reaction, instead moving with his cane over to the bench in the sun and began picking up empty plates to make room for another guest. "What kind of wine do you have?" Schnee demanded.
Tai sat down across from Schnee as Winter all but disappeared into the house. "We don't drink in this home," Tai said, keeping his voice warm. "We have soda, orange and apple juice, milk-"
"No wine? Barbarians."
"Not at all," Tai said quickly, feeling his smile strain. "Just a quality of life choice. What do you want?"
"Nothing. For now."
"Sure," Tai said, making himself agreeable. "What do you want to eat? Hot dogs? Burgers?"
"What kind of meat?"
"Ground beef, nothing special. Seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, paprika."
"Tch, tasteless. Very well, I'll have a hamburger."
"Great!" Tai said, getting up and moving to the grill. He glanced in the house, saw Oscar staring out the window, his hazel eyes pressed with worry. Tai caught his gaze, but the boy shook his head. Qrow came out, gave a dark, dirty glare to Schnee, and moved right to the grill. "Why's he still here?" he growled, low.
"Because I invited him," Tai said. "We have to make ourselves look as nice as possible so when he tries to throw money at us he'll get nothing to show for it. He can't make a fight if we've been nothing but polite to him."
"That's pretty optimistic if you ask me," Qrow said. "How long are we supposed to entertain him?"
"At least until Weiss feels strong enough to come out," Tai said softly. "Then it will be her decision. Where's her sister, Winter?"
"Waiting for Weiss to finish her shower. She's not happy, I wouldn't be either if my dad came to one of my parties with you."
"I know," Tai said, flipping the burger. "You wanna try and explain this to DCF?"
"Hell no," Qrow said. "He'd throw so much money around there's no point."
"Can you handle talking to him?" Tai asked.
Qrow frowned, considering. "Not without starting a fight. Oz holding up okay?"
"Hasn't even frowned yet," Tai said. "It's a little scary how little he reacts."
Qrow snorted. "You shoulda seen him when he broke his leg. Didn't even squeak."
Tai winced. "It's unhealthy to hold pain like that in."
"I'm waiting."
Tai turned to Schnee. "Be right there!" he said brightly. He turned back to Qrow. "Keep an eye on the girls. I got this."
"You and your Big Dad energy."
"Heh, better than your Bi-Disaster energy."
Qrow snorted and grabbed the bowl of potato salad and moved back into the house. Tai flipped the burger onto a bun, added some lettuce, cut a fresh slice of tomato, and drizzled it with ketchup. He turned back around and saw that Oz had finished clearing the picnic table and was sitting awkwardly at the end of the bench. His bad leg was curled instead of straight, he was making a show of sitting normally, and Tai could only imagine how much that was going to hurt his leg later.
"No publications for four years?" Schnee was saying. "What have you been doing?"
"Raising my son, mostly," Ozpin said simply. "Setting up at Beacon. I have recently been inspired for a new paper: determining the difference between a life - meaning the act of being alive - and a life - the sum total of experiences of an individual. I've already started on some preliminary research to see if I can focus the idea." He tilted his head. "Qrow gave me the idea."
Tai blinked. "Wait, Qrow inspired you to write a paper?"
Ozpin smiled. "I haven't told him yet, I've yet to determine his reaction to such a discovery."
Tai laughed, giving the burger to Schnee. "He wouldn't know what to do with it," he said brightly. "But I should warn you, I'm totally telling Clover. We love having something over Qrow."
"Duly noted," Ozpin replied. "And you, Mr. Schnee? What sort of duties occur being manager of a company as large as yours?"
"I'm the decision maker," Schnee said, ankle up on his knee. "I know how to run my company best, and I do it."
"Yes, but what does the day-to-day look like? What is a typical meeting consist of? Who do you work with the most?"
"Does it matter? It's not like you have any experience in that sort of thing."
"All the more reason to learn," Ozpin said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hmph. Well, if you must know, mostly I look at ledgers, bottom lines. The point of the company is to do the most with the least. My primary job is to trim the fat, cut extra costs, maximize profit. My CFO…" He paused, then sneered, "That Chief Financial Officer, in case you didn't know, he crunches most of the numbers, and I look at the bottom line and the policy write ups. I choose the ones that actually make us money."
"Really?" Tai asked. "I can't imagine what those kinds of write ups might look like. How big a presence is your union?"
"You forget, we're a family owned company. Since we're not publicly traded, we don't need a union."
Somehow Tai wasn't surprised. "What are you most proud of?" he asked, sitting next to Oz on the bench.
"Wouldn't that be obvious?" Schnee asked. "My cost effectiveness."
Tai blinked, staring at the man.
"What?" Schnee asked, oily smooth.
"Nothing," Tai said, trying to recover. "Just… not what I expected you to say."
He snorted again; it seemed like his default noise of contempt. "Well what else is there to be proud of?"
"I think perhaps there is a missing context," Ozpin said, leaning forward slightly to adjust his seat. Tai, next to him, could sense the discomfort. "Perhaps as an example, my proudest accomplishment is my son. He's grown to be sensitive, thoughtful, academic and considerate. Tell me, Mr. Xiao Long, what are you most proud of?"
"My daughters," Tai said, grateful for the opening. "Yang is so strong, especially emotionally. She's protective and quick to defend people; she stands up for what's right. Ruby, too - she kind of like Oscar, very empathetic. She has this air about her where she always knows what someone needs and she tries to give it to them. She's just so sincere in everything she does."
Schnee sensed his faux pas, at least, because he coughed and shifted in his seat. "I'm proud of my son, of course," he said quickly. "He's going to take over one day, he's the only one of the three that has the competitive edge the business world needs."
"My condolences," Ozpin said softly, "that he appears to be so cutthroat so young. Children do not normally grow that affect, and it's sad that he's demonstrated it so young. How old is he?"
Schnee snorted again, biting into his hamburger. He made a face. "He's ten and perfectly fine. I don't need a crippled has-been judging me on my parenting when your son is starting fights at school. It's a wonder I keep them in public education, they're nothing but animals there."
"And now we're back to a full range of social experiences," Tai said, leaning his back against the picnic table. "What do you think-"
"Father."
Schnee turned immediately. "Yes, Whitley."
"Weiss has finished showering and dressing. Winter has been with her the whole time. The blond girl glared at me the entire time, and the boy's been looking out the window every time I looked, and the red haired girl said everything was very sad. The criminal sat on the couch and turned on the TV."
Finally, Schnee smiled. "Good job, Whitley," he said, putting his hamburger down and standing. "Let's get going."
Tai rushed to his feet. "But we've hardly started-"
"I've entertained you long enough," Schnee said. "We're going home, and you're never seeing my family again. My lawyers will be delivering a restraining order immediately."
Tai had to follow Schnee passed the grill and to the back door, but Qrow was there, blocking the way. "You got a lot of nerve," his brother(-in-law) said, "ruining that girl's holiday."
"And you have a lot of nerve thinking you have a say in this," Schnee said.
Qrow smirked. "Nerve is one of my best features. That and pissing off assholes." He leaned against the frame, looking perfectly laid back but Tai could see the tension in his brother's shoulders, and he knew if Schnee tried to get inside there would be a fight.
"... Mr. Qrow, it's okay..."
Tai looked past Qrow as he turned around, seeing Weiss in her summer dress and wide brimmed hat she had arrived in. Her face and nose were red, and Tai's heart absolutely broke. Winter was at her side, hands folded behind her back in a nearly military posture, face completely closed off.
"Weiss and I have talked," she said in her rich alto voice. "She knows to come clean about restrictions to her movement in the future. This won't happen again."
"I'm surprised," Schnee said. "You haven't been so… accommodating in years."
"Time away has helped me gain perspective," Winter said, no emotion in her voice. "Atlas is going to be building a branch location here, and I've decided to put my name in the hat for head of development. It will be good to be near family again."
Schnee smiled, and Tai had to quickly grab Qrow's arm to prevent him from doing something.
"It's good to have you back," Schnee said.
"Of course, Father. Let's go. Come along, Weiss."
"... Yes."
Winter led the way, Weiss trailing after her. Schnee turned to give one last smug smile, and put a hand on Whitley's shoulder as they, too, left.
"That goddamned son of a bitch bastard," Qrow cursed. "And the bitch! Yelling at Weiss like that."
"No," Ruby said quietly, appearing next to Qrow. "I heard them talking in the bathroom. Winter has a plan, but it's going to take a little time and she has to play nice in the meantime. Weiss gave her permission to yell at her."
"What?" Tai said as they moved back outside. Ozpin had managed to work himself to his feet and was outright limping to his chair, Oscar running to his side. Qrow's eyes wandered over to the scene, and he looked ready to commit murder, and Tai strengthened his grip on his brother before he decided to give chase.
"I didn't hear everything," she said, trailing after them and sitting on the bench, Yang pacing beside her. "But I got the impression that Weiss might be moving in with her sister."
Qrow's eyes doubled in size and then snapped his gaze to Ozpin. "You planned this," he accused.
"No," Oz said, leg out and up and Oscar running practiced fingers over parts of it. His eyes were closed, and the grip on his cane was firm. "Not exactly. But I remembered what Miss Winter was like when I had her, and how much she grew by the time she'd graduated. I wanted her to see that Weiss needed similar guidance. I had hoped… but I did not expect this." His mouth closed into a sudden pout as Oscar did something, and then his face relaxed, exhaling. "I certainly wasn't planning on sitting on a bench with weight on my leg. I'm sorry, Oscar."
"I know, Dad. I don't mind."
Ruby straightened, and then grabbed her phone. "It's Weiss," she said, eyes darting over the screen. "She says she can't come over for the rest of the year, but we're all invited to the summer house for Fourth of July. Winter will be chaperone and make sure their dad doesn't decide to drop by without letting us know."
Qrow grinned. "Looks like Big Dad energy won the day."
"More like Big Sister energy."
"And the restraining order?" Ozpin asked, eyes still closed.
Ruby tapped the question out on her phone and everyone waited for a reply.
Then, at last, a buzz. "She says Winter will work on it. We're all on a group chat now."
"We'll need a separate chat for the adults," Tai said, "To keep all the legal jargon from confusing you."
"Dad, we're teenagers now," Yang said.
Tai grinned. "Don't tell me you understood everything from the trial transcripts you read," he said brightly. "Because even I didn't understand all of it. What's Winter's number," he added, pulling out his phone, "Better get everyone on the same loop now."
To: Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, From: Weiss Schnee
Before I start I remind you that I have to delete this chain before the end of the school day. Winter just texted me: on the last day of school she will begin airing out the lake house in the Berkshires. It will take a while, but she's going to take me there on a 'retreat' to 'help me get my head on straight.' All of you are invited. It will be the first two weeks of July, right after the Fourth.
Wait. REALLY?
I dnt kno if I can make it my parents r gonna take me 2 Boston for the 4th
Blake! It's a LAKE HOUSE. How are you not on board with this?
if its a lake house will there be a beach? should yang and i pack swimsuits?
Yes, and yes. Also Ruby, why doesn't your auto-correct fix all those lowercase letters?
because i turned off autocorrect. i like lowercase. it's aesthetic.
OMG WE NEED TO GO SHOPPING.
yang stop shouting. we should totally invite oscar and uncle qrow.
Yeah, we definitely should!
Huh? Why?
because uncle qrow and professor ozpin are DATING
What? How did I not know this?
Y when did this hppn?
Oh come on, you know how much time they're spending together. Let's text Oscar.
To: Weiss, Ruby, Blake, Oscar. From: Yang.
Oscar you're invited.
I am? To what?
Weiss' LAKE HOUSE.
Wait. What?
winter is taking her up there for a retreat and she invited all of us. since uncle qrow and your dad are dating we figured we'd invite you, too.
Since when is my Dad dating?
OMG how are Ruby and me the only ones who see this? Isn't it OBVIOUS?
Can't talk now just gotta txt from my bf
Blake, he's too clingy, you should dump him.
Hes going thru a lot rit now I shold b there 4 him
Blake, your typing is atrocious. Yes, Oscar, I just asked Winter, and she said she would love to have Professor Ozma as part of the retreat. Blake can't come because of family obligations. It would be a pleasure to have you.
Hang on, let me ask my dad.
will there be ice cream? cookies? well if the professor's there there's obviously going to be cookies but what if there's ice cream too? can we bring zwei, he'd love to go swimming!
Winter is allergic to dogs, so I don't think Zwei can come, unfortunately. But rest assured there will be ice cream, and I'm trying to figure out if we can have fireworks. She didn't say no but she didn't say yes, either.
Don't worry, we got it. We'll ask Uncle Qrow. He's great for stuff like that.
ooooooo what if we get a ride? what if weiss' butler picks us up?
He's a personal assistant! How many times do I have to tell you?!
Dad just texted, he's going to talk to Winter first before he says yes.
To: Winter Schnee, Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow. From: Ozpin Ozma
Oscar has just given me the most peculiar of texts. He says Weiss has invited him to a lake house retreat. Given current circumstances I feel the need to verify this before committing an answer.
Actually, I think that's a good idea, Professor. You were there for Memorial Day, so this affects you, too. I've just been confirmed as the lead director in making a New England Branch office. With that out of the way I'm going to try and sue for custody of Weiss and Whitley.
I see. Congratulations. Forgive me, but what does this have to do with a lake house retreat?
To let Weiss visit her friends, away from Father. I've spent the last two weeks convincing him I'm back in the fold to get this to happen, specifically so her friends can visit under my supervision.
Then Why Invite Us? Also Hi. Qrow's Probably Asleep Right Now So I'll Have To Answer For Him.
I'm inviting you because I want you all to feel comfortable. I can only imagine the concerns you have trusting your children to a Schnee after what my father pulled on Memorial Day, and I don't want you to worry.
Very well. I'll inform Oscar that we'll be joining you, I'm sure it will make him very happy.
I Agree. Ruby And Yang Would Love To Come. Qrow Would Too, If He Can Get The Vacation Time.
Would alla you stfu i'm trying to sleep here and you keep makn my phone buzz.
Then Put It On Silent Qrow! You Know How To Do That!
Author's Notes: Jacques Schnee is a Bad Man, we can all agree on that right? But the big thing for this chapter is that it's Winter's chapter, and we start to see the shape of Weiss' arc as a result. Oz manages to get Winter to see just how bad it is for the other Schnee children and as an added bonus she decides to take matters into her own hands. This is also the moment where the two of us sat down and said, "Hey. If we have all these ideas maybe we should make an outline." From here on out you'll see much more attention paid to time of year as we pace out when certain story beats hit compared to which plate is spinning.
We also get to see how everyone handles stress in a nutshell. Qrow is aggressively belligerent until he's banished, Oz gives absolutely nothing away and Tai - the healthy one - tries to turn it around with mixed results. Winter gets devious, Oscar religiously watches the adults out of concern for his dad, Yang want to hit something and Ruby is the token empath. We didn't realize how much was happening in this chapter until we did a final proof-read. So much character...
And as an added detail we know now that Oz's scars are in two types: the accident scars and the ones on his neck. And Oscar really wants to cover his neck too...
Also texting. We tried to make everyone identifiable: i.e. Blake can't spell and Ruby is all lowercase and Tai capitalizes everything. It's easier in the AO3 posts, because the texts are color coded for exactly this reason.
Next chapter: Winter gets advice from a lot of people and we add another notch to Oz's Year of Hell checklist.
