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FERN |
Ooo slang part the second |
) |
FERN |
i think we just shared electrons, because i'm feeling a covalent bond between us |
) |
LANCE |
Pidge, I need your help. I gotta send a meme to Chloe but ... |
) |
DIPPER |
Hey Varian. You know those crazy alchemy bombs you used... |
) |
PETER |
Hey Varian, this is Peter. Um, Peter Graham. |
) |
USAGI |
Soooooooo~ How'd the date go? |
) |
MAKO |
Varianβ Checking in. |
) |
SHIRO |
i think one of us put a chicken patty in my toaster |
) |
EDDIE |
Hey. We need to talk. |
) |
MELIUS |
π»πΎ. πΌ ππππ πΎπ πππππ πππΎππΉ πΆππΉ πΎπ πΎπ πππ ππ½πππ |
) |
EDA |
Hey, kid. I... owe you an apology. |
) |
LUZ |
Valentines |
) |
MAUL |
I have a proposition for a project I think you'll be interested in |
) |
USAGI |
I LOVE YOU |
) |
FERN |
DUDE you still have your bandana! |
) |
BUZZ |
Morning. I heard from Fern you wanted to go out into the blizzard. |
) |
FERN |
dude your profile changed |
) |
USAGI |
Ruby told me about the breakup. |
) |
GLITCH |
Varian, I'm gonna go live somewhere else for now |
) |
MAKO |
A "nerd" is somebody smart... |
) |
MAUL |
Gifts |
) |
FERN |
heeyyyy quick question |
) |
FERN |
Christmas is coming up!!! |
) |
CHLOE |
god who the FUCK ever thought emojis were a good idea??? |
) |
KRISTOFF |
Varian,It's getting colder so I thought you could use this |
) |
FERN |
heyyyy Variable |
) |
RAPUNZEL |
okay not to put you on the spot but... |
) |
EDA |
Potion time |
) |
NEO |
Dude, I can mine antidote shit here! |
) |
GLITCH |
Got this in my basket. |
) |
EDA |
hey smart kid |
) |
TEN |
Hallo |
) |
ADAM |
Hey, k-- uh, Varian. I just wanted to check in |
) |
USAGI |
I'm sorry I worried you and fainted on you yesterday. |
) |
AMARA |
i lived, bitch |
) |
NEO |
Debatably good news, asshole |
) |
USAGI |
Hey Varian! It's Usagi |
) |
OSCAR |
I'm sorry, Varian. Tell me what you need |
) |
FERN |
a dark past huh |
) |
MAUL |
Varian. I am in great need of your assistance |
) |
FERN |
Varian VARIAN I CAN EAT FOOD |
) |
USAGI |
How much moon essence do you have? |
) |
USAGI |
VIVI-KUN, VIVI-KUN GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT! |
) |
RICHIE |
well I promised |
) |
FERN |
A TOTALLY INCOMPLETE LIST OF OOO WORDS 'N SLANG |
) |
GLITCH |
VARIAN ARE THERE BUGS IN THE WATER?!
|
) |
USAGI |
To help with restless nights and the... |
) |
VIRA-LORR |
Little alchemist. I have a gift for you. |
) |
MARTIN |
Hi, Varian. This is Martin. I wanted to reach out... |
) |
USAGI |
Hi Varian, sweetie! I have a question for you. |
) |
GLITCH |
varian I need to talk to you. it's important. |
) |
USAGI |
I need you not to panic after what I tell you. |
) |
FERN |
dog you have so many vests |
) |
IRONHIDE |
HONK HONK |
) |
USAGI |
... I'm sorry I couldn't help you better, Varian |
) |
EMERALD |
Hey, V. Not that I care that much or anything... |
) |
FERN |
tell me when you're alive |
) |
FERN |
Varian i stabbed two people |
) |
AMARA |
hey weirdo i have something for you
|
) |
FERN |
is the Rapunzel in town your Rapunzel? |
) |
PENNY |
Salutations!! You do not know me, but my name is Penny Polendina |
) |
YANG |
Hey, is this Varian? I think we've met once before. |
) |
FERN |
hey can we talk |
) |
FERN |
you told ruby |
) |
MAUL |
Surviving another year is always an occasion worth celebrating |
) |
USAGI |
Hey I wanted to apologise |
) |
USAGI |
VARIAN-KUUUUNNN!!!! |
) |
FERN |
birth |
) |
MAUL |
Look what just arrived for me. |
) |
KATHERINE |
Do you want to get paid to make more purple goo things? |
) |
FERN |
ok i know you're good with plants but what about animals |
) |
FERN |
dog interested in means girls or guys |
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She stares at the text briefly before she answers. Giving herself a second to take in what he was saying.]
We really suck at this, don't we?
How's Glitch doing?
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We're not winning any prizes, that's for sure.
He's okay. I think he's still kinda mad but he's healing.
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I don't know. I want to think so but it feels like everything's just getting worse.
That's what counts. He seemed upset when I talked to him last. Mad that we didn't tell him this was going on.
[Which... Made her feel kind of like Oz and that did not sit well with her at all.]
I don't know what we could have said... I didn't think it was just going to blow up like that.
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[And he's so godamn tired of it now. He was pushed to his last limits with the whole thing and he didn't make anything any easier. ]
I probably shouldn't have yelled as much as I did. I doubt that helped. I'm sorry, I was just frustrated and I wasn't in a good mood anyway.
[You know, what with Qrow making him feel like a useless child who didn't understand the craft he's studied his entire life and everything.]
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[She wasn't really comfortable with getting someone else involved with this. But that ship sailed once Glitch got hurt. Someone had been involved and it had made a mess of everything.]
Maybe... But you weren't wrong to be frustrated with what happened either.
I'm the one with the experience dealing with teams. I should have found a way to make things work.
Or... Maybe I just shouldn't have brought up anything with teams in the first place.
...Did something else happen?
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[Not without one or both of them just going into Avoidance Mode anyway. The boy has reached his limit. ]
He probably didn't like that, no. But you can't walk around eggshells around each other forever, and I sure as heck can't.
[He doesn't respond right away, because it's still bothering him a lot. What Qrow said has fed into his insecurities and made him feel less for the first time in a while. It hurt and he's still angry about it.]
Your uncle deciding that I blatantly didn't know what I was doing with my own chemical compounds and telling me so happened. Because I guess any sort of capability begins and ends with coming from Remnant.
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I talked with Glitch a little about it. I don't really like it but he did have a good point. It might not matter how much we want to make things work if Fern doesn't want them. Forcing it might not do any good.
[That was good point. Between her talk with Clover and Glitch outside of the cave she was starting to realize her approach to this problem hadn't been working.]
You're right though. We can't keep doing what we're doing. And we shouldn't be putting you through it.
[She's used to breaks between there texts. At least ever since he told her about his life back home. She's patient and waits for it.
...And she doesn't really like what she reads but it's more on her Uncle than that. She had been a little wrapped up in what was going on to pay attention to everything her Uncle had been saying. She had only managed to try and do the damage control on him talking to Fern. She felt bad something had slipped through the cracks.
She thinks back on what Clover told her in the cabin and it finally clicks.]
I'll have a talk with him.
I... I don't think he really thinks that way about you or your skills. I think this might have had a bit more to do with what happened to me.
I don't think he took the whole... me dying thing very well. And I think he was scared that it might happen again.
It doesn't excuse what he said. He shouldn't have lashed at you like that.
You're one of the most talented people I know Varian. Whether it's just inventing or out in the field. Please don't forget that.
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[Maybe before, he would have tried to nudge things along anyway- do his part. But he's tired. He's not got the interpersonal skills of his friends back home. He doesn't know how to manage this any more. Not for the first time, he desperately wishes Rapunzel were here. She'd know what to do. ]
I'm sorry. I wish I had answers for you. But I don't. I don't know what I can do any more to help this work. It's just getting hard.
[The mixed-up feelings for Fern are not helping matters, not in the least. Why can't he ever make anything easy for himself? Even his own emotions have to be needlessly complicated and self-destructive. ]
It sure came across that way. I'm very much aware I'm not perfect and that was people go I'm pretty much floundering just above 'complete human disaster'. I know this. But my alchemy is the one thing about myself I know I'm not a complete mess at. That hurt.
[And he knows, oh he knows that Ruby worships her Uncle. He's not wholly convinced she would say anything- but he's aware that's more his festering self-worth issues overriding common sense. Because why would she defend him against a man who means everything to her? ]
But yeah. Fine. I get it. He lashed out and I was the perfect target. Yay me.
[He doesn't respond to the last comment. He doesn't really feel talented at anything right now.]
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I'm sorry.
[It's all she can really think of to say there. She couldn't make things better between her and Fern. She didn't know how to make this any less hard between all of them.
Reading the next comment hurt. She had been so preoccupied trying to put out another fire that she hadn't been focusing on how rough Varian had got it.]
I'm sorry... I should have stepped in there. I was trying to put out another fire. You weren't the only target.
[And... She's not 100% comfortable doing this because it was set to private but she'll send screen shots of the conversation she had with Qrow during all of this.]
I was trying. I'm sorry.
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Thank you for trying to diffuse the stuff with Fern. I really appreciate that. I can see you trying... it means a lot.
[He's quiet a little longer the '...' just dancing along there. He's been avoiding this for a long time, but Usagi was right. He can't keep it to himself forever. It's certainly not fair to keep Ruby in the dark.]
I think we need to talk. In person. Not like this.
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I will talk him to about that. You didn't deserve that.
[She's just... Really tired of watching her best blow up in front of her face.
The waiting doesn't bother her so much. She's used to that with their conversations. The actual replies makes her tense up in dread. She's more than a little scared to find out what's going on.
So a simple response comes back after a long pause.]
Where? When?
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[And yet, here he is, giving her more to worry about, when he wants nothing more than for her to be able to relax. Just for a little bit. Is it fair to dump this on her when she's already struggling so much? Is it fair to keep her in the dark about it?]
Whenever you feel ready. It's a lot. Probably not my place.
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I think it's best if I try to talk to him. We can take a break after that, I promise.
[She hopes. She's not sure how to feel about any of this. She knows she has try and make things right and that's why she's scrambling right now, because everything just feels broken.]
...I think now might be for the best.
Somewhere private? Maybe the park?
Warehouse?
[Wherever they end up agreeing to meet. There will be a long wait as Ruby inevitably ends up dragging her feet, getting off at the wrong bus stop and just over all dreads going to have whatever talk they're about to have.
It may be the second time that she's done this now.]
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[He doesn't know if it's Ozpin showing up or just the town's general awfulness- but he's starting to see the cracks in her resolve. He's scared something will eventually break her.
He'll he's scared what he's going to tell her will break her.]
Warehouse is good.
[Because there will be no prying eyes there and also there's plenty of things Ruby can throw at him if she so desires. He genuinely wouldn't blame her. So off he goes, leaning on one of their workbenches, arms folded, staring a hole in the ground. ]
Action
I'll be okay.
[And unfortunately she leaves him waiting long than she should. She steps into the warehouse silently and awkwardly, eventually finding her way to a workbench beside him which she hops up onto to sit down.
Her hands play at the hem of her skirt as she sits nervously for a moment.]
H-hey.
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But he knows Usagi was right. That eventually this will just explode and then everyone will be hurt. He doesn't want that. He doesn't want either of them to hurt.
When she arrives, he offers her a fleeting smile- it doesn't quite meet his eyes. ]
...Hey. [Great start. Fabulous start. He sucks in a breath, staring at the ground a few beats more, before turning to his backpack and pulling out a Tupperware box.]
I um- I made cookies.
[You know. Bad/medium news cookies. Those cookies. He's been stress-baking again.]
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Her eyes glance at the cookies and they light up for just a second, but her stomach is in so many knots that she knows she can't even think about eating them quite yet.
The memory of the last bad news cookies flash through her mind. She swallows. They got through that. They could get through this too. She just had to keep holding on to that thought for now.]
...Maybe in a little. I'm not hungry right now.
[Famous words that showed that something was terribly wrong, but she pushed through.]
Y-you wanted to talk?
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Okay. That's... fair.
[He folds his arms around himself again, looking at the floor. ]
I don't know if this will make things worse. Things are already pretty bad for you.
no subject
She felt her heart sink at his next words and didn't help the pile of thoughts going through her head.
She knew they could beat around the bush at this for hours but she wasn't sure her heart would last through it.]
...That sounds pretty bad, but I'm pretty tough. I can handle bad news.
[She sucks in breath. Then she decides maybe she should move this forward.]
Is this about you and Fern?
no subject
[Even with all the worry and stress weighing down on him, his tone is still affectionate when he says that. Because even if everything else, he does still love her. An awful lot.
He looks up, surprised when she asks him directly. Maybe Usagi was right. Maybe it was really, really obvious and he's been hurting her this whole time. ]
I... [he lets out a slow, uneasy breath] yeah. Yeah, it's about me and Fern.
[He hesitates again. He knows he needs to press on with this. She brought to topic up, he can't just leave her to keep needling it out of him. He still looks scared, he doesn't want to hurt her and it feels like this is inevitable. ]
I uh... Ruby, it's important you know that my feelings for you haven't changed at all. Not even a tiny bit. I still love you a lot. Y-you're still one of the most important people in my life. I need you to know that.
no subject
She eyes him briefly and sees how scared he looks. She feels the tension in her gut ease out of her as he starts to speak again. There's a reassurance in his tone that manages to wash over the hurt and the confusion. Those feelings were still there but this didn't feel like the worst case scenario that she had assumed it was. Or at least there was more to it than that.]
O-okay...
[Her voice cracks. She hadn't quite realized how much she had needed to hear that through all of this. She takes a deep breath and tries again.]
I understand. I think.
Just... Just tell me what's going on.
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I don't know. [A genuine, honest answer. His tone is still nervous- he doesn't know if this means he'll lose her or not- and he knows she has every right to walk away.] I- I think I've started having feelings for him too.
[He knows he has, he's just been ignoring them as much as he can.]
Nothing's been going on. [Because it's important she knows that. Usagi had warned her Ruby might start to worry about that.] I wouldn't- I wouldn't do that. Fern doesn't even know. I've- I've been trying to push it down hoping it'll all just... just go away. Because I love you, I know that. But it... that's not going away, either. The... feelings for him.
[He hugs his arms around himself a little tighter. ]
I don't know what to do anymore.
no subject
I... I got that impression. I saw the two of you when we were leaving the cave.
I-
Well I know you well enough to know when you're happy with someone.
[She pauses on that. Her thoughts on Fern were murky at best. He had gone from someone who wanted to kill her to... Well honestly she had no idea where they actually stood. It wasn't anywhere good and it still made her blood to think of that sneer he sent her way when Glitch was in trouble. She had been trying for months to try and find some way to make things better between the two of them and she hadn't gotten anywhere. She didn't really have the words Varian might be hoping to hear from her.]
...I think you should do what makes you happy.
[She lets those words sit for a moment.]
But-
Well-
I think you should be honest with how you feel... Especially when we made an agreement to do just that.
And well... I think you should be honest with Fern too.
[A part of her wants to go over and comfort him. But she just can't quite bring herself to do that. She sympathizes with how he's feeling immensely but she's still hurt that she had to find out about this before he told her.
She rubs at the back of her head nervously.]
I don't have a lot of experience with something like this. This whole relationship thing is kind of new to me. But... Well my dad, Yang's mom, and my mom might have done something like this when they were our age. I don't actually know what happened but it tore their team apart. ...Raven left, she outright abandoned Yang. My mom, well...
[She died.]
And my dad took years to recover from that. I don't want that to be what happens to us. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
no subject
[But it hasn't gone away. It's just got stronger. Going away isn't an option any more.
He'd be lying if he said that his feelings didn't compound the issues between Fern and Ruby. What already made him feel like he was being torn into two separate directions became being torn over a gaping chasm. There's no chance for a peaceful, painless resolution. ]
You both make me happy... but- but I know you make each other miserable. I think I've made that worse and I'm sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you again.
[But there he is. Hurting the people he loves again like an old pro. He wasn't expecting the story- that this has happened already to her parents and Yang's mother He knew Yang was only Ruby's half sister (they have different surnames for a start) but he never really thought about the connotations for that.]
Oh. [He lets that sad, miserable 'oh' hang there in the air between them.] I didn't know that. I... I don't want anyone to come out of this hurting like that.
no subject
Varian. ...There's nothing wrong with feeling the way that you do. Whether the feelings come and go.
But hiding thing it like that isn't what we agreed on. Whether it was to protect me or not, that wasn't for you to decide.
I want to be able to help and support you however I can, but I can't do that if you don't tell me how you're feeling or what's bothering you.
And... I've already had my fair share of people hide the truth from me before. I've got my got my own fair share of burdens to bear because of it.
[She... Didn't want to feel like she was dealing with another situation like Ozpin. She really didn't. She didn't believe Varian would ever get to that level. Not when he knew what she had been through already.]
...You didn't want to hurt either of us. You wanted to be happy. You wanted the both of us to happy. I don't blame you for that.
I've been trying my best to help. Maybe I've been trying too hard. I can't force him to like me if he doesn't want to.
[She let's out a breath as that 'oh' hangs in the air briefly.]
Dad and Uncle Qrow don't talk about it a lot, and it was before I was born so I don't really know what happened myself.
...But I got to see the results of whatever did happen.
I don't want that for us either. But... I think if you want something like this to work that it can't just be just you trying to make it work. Or even two of us trying to make it work. It would be the have to be all of us working together to make it work.
And I don't think that's something that's going to happen right now.
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