Ignore the troll as usual

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 69

"You're looking upset, firecracker."

Qrow sat down on the grass next to Yang, tugging free his hip flask and, after a moment's thought, offering it to her. His niece took it without a word, unscrewed the cap and took a long swig. Immediately, she was choking and hacking for air.

"W-What the hell is this? It tastes like bleach!"

Grinning, he took it back and had a quick drink himself. "Leaving aside how you'd have any idea what bleach tastes like, it's booze."

"Like what, pure alcohol!?"

"Seventy per cent proof." He laughed at her shocked expression. "When you're a huntress yourself you'll never know how long a job you'll be sent on. Best make sure your supplies last. Wanna know a secret? I don't guzzle it. I take a sip, swirl it around my mouth and savour the taste. Also good for injuries."

"Disinfectant or taking the pain away?"

"Both. Another tip for you there, firecracker. Try and make sure everything you have serves two purposes. We already do that with our weapons but the more multi-functionality you can fit into what you're wielding, the better."

Yang scoffed and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "Is all this sudden advice to do with the mission we're being sent on?"

Caught, huh? Well, it wasn't like Summer raised dumb children. Qrow laughed and placed a hand atop her head. It was a rare moment Yang of all people would let him ruffle up her hair, but she did now.

"You got me. It's hard, you know. I still remember you as a babe. Then growing up, nearly burning the house down when you unlocked your Semblance and ran around in a panic. You seem to be taller every time I see you, and now you're running off to the Grimmlands."

"Ugh. I'll be fine, Uncle Qrow."

"I know you will, firecracker. Taiyang and I taught you. No finer teachers on Remnant."

"Arrogant much?"

"Modesty has its place. Not that I'd know." He watched from the corner of his eye as she stifled a laugh. A good sign. "Still, you're looking to be in a bit of a funk yourself. Let me guess. It's about how your old man and your egg donor are acting?"

"Egg donor…?"

"Well, Summer was your mom. Wasn't she? What else can I call Raven? I'd have said carrier but that makes you sound like a disease." He grinned. "Yellow fever?"

Yang punched his arm. "Don't pun like dad. I don't need that right now."

"What do you need?"

"I… I don't know. This is stupid." Her lips disappeared behind her knees. "The Grimm are going to attack. Salem is a thing. My team is being sent to the Grimmlands with Cinder Fall of all people. There are so many bigger things to focus on. So, why – why on Remnant – am I so bothered about dad and Raven acting like they were?"

"Hmm. I'd say it's because she's your mom, abandoned you and you have deep seated issues over it."

"It was a rhetorical question!" Yang almost screamed.

"Ow! Ow! Okay!" Rubbing a finger in his ear, Qrow hid a grin. Angry Yang wasn't the best side of his niece, but it was better than depressed Yang. "Your Uncle isn't so old he needs you to shout in his ear. Man, I'm not really the advice type normally, but I have had a few kids back in Signal come to me for advice."

"Who the hell would pick you for that!?"

"The desperate." Qrow let that sink in, the implication weighty and serious. "And the dumb," he admitted a second later, destroying the mood. "There were a fair few asking me how I'd get a girl they like to go out with them. Had one or two asking how to get you to go out with them."

"Ugh."

"Tell me about it." Qrow stuck his legs out alongside hers. "But the thing is – and I know every teenager ever won't believe this; I certainly didn't – but I was your age once. Every adult out there has been through similar stuff. Made the same dumb mistakes. Embarrassed themselves."

"I wasn't aware you'd stopped embarrassing yourself."

Heh. Snappy. That was something she got from Raven, as much as he'd never say that to her. Taiyang was a sulker when he was in a mood, and Summer had always been the type to distract herself. Go hunt, repair a weapon or read comics so she wouldn't have to think about her feelings. Raven was the snappy one. Always biting back. Had to have the last word. Much like Yang.

"You're only as old as you act. Plenty of life left in me, firecracker."

"Stop calling me that. I'm not twelve anymore."

"Whatever you say, firecracker. Anyway, I've given some advice in my time, and I doubt you've managed to do anything in Beacon to rival the level of stupid I managed, so spill. Tell me what's up. Worst I can do is not have the answer. Not like I'm going to run around waving your problems on a twenty-foot-tall placard."

"Are you my therapist now?"

"Isn't that what an uncle is? Therapist, pocket-money generator and emergency babysitter."

Yang snorted. Her shoulders unwound just a little. "Fine. It's dad."

"Course it is. Tai always did cause trouble for women in Beacon. If he wasn't driving one up the wall, he was accidentally charming another and breaking their heart. Never realised, either. It was like watching a harem protagonist in one of those shows Summer liked. There were times I legitimately wanted to bash his head into a wall."

"Jealous?"

"Sometimes," he admitted. "Other times I was just angry at how dense he could be or genuinely upset because he unknowingly hurt someone. And once or twice, he charmed someone I was hoping to ask out, too."

Yang winced. "Sorry…"

"It's fine. Wasn't meant to be, eh? Point is, your old man is many things, most of 'em good, but he's also a bloody idiot sometimes. So don't feel bad if you're upset at him. I'm guessing this isn't a poorly hidden Elektra complex, though." He laughed when she thumped him so hard his aura crackled. "Joke! Joke! It's about Raven, I take it?"

"Of course it is!" Yang growled and kicked her legs out straight, leaning back on both hands to stare up at the starry sky. "You saw how they were – they were all over one another."

"Oh, I know. I lived that nightmare for years."

"It's just…" Yang seethed. "She abandoned us. She left us. I don't get how he can still be interested in her after that happened! How am I meant to trust her? How can I? But… But shouldn't I try if dad is interested? He's been alone ever since mom died and I don't want to be the reason he feels he can't get back with Raven." Picking at the grass next to her, she tossed it over her legs with an angry and confused huff.

"Yang…"

"I know! I know! I'm meant to let whatever happens happen. That's the mature thing to do. It's dad's life, not mine. He can be with whoever he wants. It won't even matter when I graduate, and I'll always be out on hunts with the team. And I do want him to be happy."

"Yang."

"It's just… I hate her. There. I said it. I hate her! Even though I've never known her. Like, how can I hate someone I've never properly met? What if she's actually a nice person and she had her reasons, and I'm refusing to hear them because I feel betrayed."

"Yang," he insisted.

"And it worked out, didn't it? If she didn't leave, I wouldn't have had Summer and Ruby. It's a good thing she left. So, why am I still so bothered by it? I just don't underst-mphh! Qrwww!" Lilac eyes narrowed and flashed red over the fingers covering her mouth.

"My turn, Firecracker. Let your wise uncle speak." Laughing, he removed his hand, ignoring the muttered "wise? Since when?" from her. "So," he began, dragging the word out. "Sounds like you've been putting a lot of thought into this. A lot of really adult thought. That's good. Real mature, too. You know, you might one day have to let Ruby be with someone you can't stand. I mean, I had to let Tai be with Ray, and I knew the kind of bitch she was. And I hate to say all that effort was wasted, but…." He shrugged. "It's wasted. Taiyang and Raven aren't getting back together anytime soon. Or at all. Ever. Less than zero chance."

Yang sat there, stunned. "B-But they were all over each other!" she blurted out. "They were flirting like crazy!"

"They were. That's just how they've always been. Taiyang drives Ray up the wall and she starts acting like a teenager. As you saw, she's bad at it – so she ends up looking like an idiot. Your old man on the other hand loses IQ as he gets angry. Always has. Put it together and you have that shitshow we had to witness earlier."

"They were practically stripping one another with their eyes!"

"Yeah, I know." Qrow shuddered. "I won't deny that – and I won't deny there's a chance they'll bone, too. Sorry," he said when Yang looked ill. "Figured you'd want me to be honest. Thing is, though – and I'm serious here – sex doesn't mean all that much if there aren't any proper feelings behind it. That was the problem Raven and Taiyang had the first time. Much as I hate to say it, their relationship was doomed from the start."

"Taiyang thought he was in love with my sister," he continued, knowing he had Yang's attention. "It's the typical stuff; you've probably seen it yourself. Guy likes girl. Girl likes guy. Guy and girl convince themselves they're the perfect couple instantly. All other couples can't compare. They're going to be together forever, get married, have a hundred kids, a big house and a fancy sports car. It's true love."

Yang sniggered. "I've seen it."

"That's what those two were like – at least, that's what Taiyang was like. See, those ambitions only make sense if you're raised like a normal person. Raven wasn't. To her, a good relationship is a strong man or woman who'll stand by your side as you beat down uppity tribe members trying to challenge you. Then you go back with them to your tent and fuck." He watched Yang's face become pinched at the word, but he'd used it on purpose. "And I do mean fuck. Not sex, not lovemaking and not an intimate moment between two people. Fucking. That's all it ever was to her. When Taiyang asked her out he saw dating. What she saw was a strong man worthy of spending time with her."

"Maybe everything would have been easier if she admitted that fact early, but she assumed Taiyang knew. It was how we grew up. It was normal to us, so we just assumed everyone else thought that way too. And Taiyang assumed she was the other way because that was normal for him. Taiyang went into this expecting a life partner, someone to stand beside him through thick and thin. Raven went into it expecting a lover-in-arms who would stick by her so long as she was strong, and who she wouldn't blame stabbing her in the back if she ever became weak. Neither got what they expected, and no matter what you might think-" He poked her temple with one finger. "-your birth wasn't the magical nail in the coffin of their marriage."

Yang's voice was incredibly small. "It wasn't…?"

"No! Hell no!" Throwing an arm around her, he pulled her in close. "Tai and Ray argued all the time. They were at each other's throats on the honeymoon. They were bitching before the wedding. Literal fireworks the moment Raven was told she'd need to wear a gown. Summer and I didn't know what to do. But I think that even if we wouldn't admit it, we both had an inkling the marriage wouldn't last. You weren't the catalyst, Yang. You didn't ruin anything. In fact, you almost fixed it. When you were born, Taiyang was so over the moon that he could have forgiven Raven anything. Anything at all because she'd given him the most precious thing in his life."

"And then she left…"

"And then she left," he said. "But to be fair, I reckon she'd been planning that during the pregnancy. Maybe hormones made the decision worse, easier or maybe they even let her make the right one. If she was going to be a shit mom and wasn't happy with Taiyang, maybe it was best she leave and let Summer take over. Hard to say. Either way, you weren't to blame for it. Everyone – and I do mean everyone – loved you to bits."

"Even her…?"

"Even Ray. The way she looked at you. She was proud of you, Yang. It's just… You've seen her. In the same way her idea of marriage and love was messed up, so too was her ideal of parenthood. To her, there was nothing wrong in leaving you to fend for yourself if it made you strong. I know it doesn't absolve her, I'm definitely not saying it does, but she didn't ditch you because she hated you. Raven ditched you because she hated being with Taiyang. Maybe she thought you'd be better off with him and Summer. Maybe she didn't think at all. My sister is…" He sighed. "We were both of us messed up by how we grew up. I got better. Raven didn't. What you see as abandonment or negligence, she genuinely sees as parenting."

"No wonder their marriage failed…"

"Yeah. Little wonder. That's how it works. Not all relationships work out. Sometimes people think they're in love when they're not, or they fall out of love or realise they're not ready for commitment. Sometimes there are just differences that you feel you should be able to work out, but you can't for whatever reason. That's life. Something for you to keep in mind as well," he added, squeezing her shoulder. "Very few people stay with the first person they date. We're not such simple creatures that one person can be `meant` for another person. We can fall out of love just as easily as we fall in it."

Yang was staring down between her knees, but she no longer looked quite so anxious. Her breathing was a lot more even and he could feel her muscles relaxing. Qrow smiled and waited for her to find the right words.

"What about how they were earlier? They were all over each other. Doesn't that show they're still interested?"

"Maybe. Raven might be," he said with a little shrug. "Like I said before, she sees the world in different ways. In her mind she sees what she did as nothing wrong, so I could imagine her thinking she can walk back in and take what she left the first time."

"Ugh. That's messed up."

"It is. Raven is a mess. Your old man isn't. The very second Raven let you down, she was gone. No amount of apologies, wheedling or seduction is going to convince him to let her back into your life. And that's not you ruining their relationship. That's Taiyang sticking up for what he considers important. You and Ruby."

"Yeah…" She leaned into him with a little smile. "I guess I'm worrying for nothing?"

"You're stressed and confused. I mean, worry to high heaven about that mission with Cinder – that worrying! Don't worry about Taiyang and Raven. That ain't going anywhere. Though, they might have sex a few times…"

"Ew!" Gone was the smile and the comfortable moment. Yang pushed away from him with a horrified expression. "What? Why? I thought you said dad hates her for what she did!"

"He does."

"Then why-?"

"Come on, Yang." Qrow laughed. "You can't spell hate sex without hate. Even if she let him down, she's still someone he fancied the pants off."

"But… he… she… I… gah!" Yang covered her face with both hands. "Why is my family so messed up? You and Raven were raised by psychos. What excuse does dad have!?"

"Dated a psycho? About the best I can come up with." Qrow stood up and held a hand out for her. "Come on, firecracker. No need to sit out here feeling sorry for yourself. Whether they bang or not isn't something you need to worry about. It's definitely not something either of us want to think about. You need to unwind, and I need to refill my hip flask." He grinned. "Let's go visit a bar."

Yang stared at him for a moment and then snorted. "Should my own uncle be taking me out to get drunk?"

"I'm sorry. Did I make you think I was a responsible uncle…?"

"Ha." Yang's hand gripped his. "Never."

/-/

"It needs to be capable of killing a lot of Grimm at once."

Ruby sighed. "Dad, I make weapons."

"Perfect! I'm after a weapon."

"No," she said kindly, reasonably and slowly. She hefted Crescent Rose. "This is a weapon. What you're talking about is an armament. One that is fit on a battleship. I can't make something like that. Where would I ever learn to?"

"You made Crescent Rose."

"I did."

"It's a sniper rifle."

"It's more than just a sniper rifle," Ruby said petulantly. "It's an expression. It's a message. It's a deep look into my soul represented in mechanical form. It is art."

"Fine. It's art." He rolled his eyes, not understanding her vision. "It's still a gun." Ruby made a pained sound at hearing her baby reduced to that. "If you can make a gun that fires bullets, why can't you make one that fires warheads?"

"Dad."

"Yes, baby?"

"How are you a teacher…?"

As patiently as she could, she explained the differences between a bullet and a warhead. Taiyang listened, but never had it been more apparent where Yang for her lack of attention span from than now. By the end of it he was scratching his cheek and counting blades of grass. Ruby's eyes were twitching wildly.

"And that's why I can't turn some kind of Atlas cannon into a handhold doomsday launcher. You'd need someone from Atlas. Probably a professional engineer. Why is this so important anyway? You already have a good weapon."

"It's not enough to beat Raven's kill count."

And there it was – the moment where she, at sixteen, had to sigh and bemoan her father acting more the child than her. Not even her and Weiss had been that bad when they'd all but hated one another.

"Is Raven going to become our mother-in-law?"

"What? No! Ugh. Just the thought is horrible. I'd never let her near you two."

Well, that's a relief.

"But I need to beat her! Then, when she's at her weakest and most vulnerable, I'll tell her I'm about to do to her what she did to us – and then." He rubbed his hands together. "I walk away."

"Wow." Ruby said it slowly. Very unimpressed. While she loved her father dearly, his dating techniques – if one could call these that – left a lot to be desired. "What did mom see in you again? I forget."

"Summer always did say she loved my big-"

"Argh! I don't want to know!"

"-heart," he finished with a frown. "How big my heart was. What were you thinking?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I'm just not sure what I can do with…" Ruby struggled for the right word and eventually just pointed. "That!"

The monstrous thing laying on the grass beside them might have been a cannon. It was honestly hard to tell since it was at least eight metres long, three metres tall and so big she could have stood in the barrel. Ruby couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of payload it would have carried or – and more importantly – how her father managed to not only acquire it but lug it onto Beacon's grounds. Or anywhere, in fact. That thing had to weigh several tonnes.

"Can't you just make it more compact or something?"

"I'm an engineer, dad! Not a witch! I don't know what you want from me – to put wheels on it?"

"Good idea! If I can ride it into battle, it's still technically my weapon."

"Ugh." Ruby clutched her face. "Fine. I'll put wheels on it. At least that's just a case of a few tyres, some axles and a motor. Fair warning, I have no idea what the recoil will look like on that. Or how you could ever reload it."

"So what you're saying is that I should have multiple that I fire one at a time?"

"That's not what I… you know what, sure. Yes. Go for it. I have enough to think about without trying to make sense of you and not-mom's stupid relationship."

"There is no relationship. I'm trying to get back at her for hurting Yang. And it's not like I'm blind to what you're going through." He ruffled her hair before she could pull away. "I just know that if you want to talk, you'll come to me, and that if I try and push, you'll pull back."

"We can handle it," she grumbled.

"Yeah? There you have it. What am I meant to say to that? Jaune wouldn't send you in if he didn't have complete faith in you to pull this off, and as much as I'm your dad, he's your teacher. He knows what you can and can't handle. And if you do need help, Raven has to help you."

"If we can trust her…"

"You can trust her to be a coward – and that means you can trust her to save your lives if the alternative is letting Salem have the Relic of Destruction. If it's a choice between putting a little effort in to help you or having to run for her life and be hunted down by an immortal monster, I think we both know which she's going to choose."

"And the flirting…?"

Taiyang blushed and shrugged. "It's how we've always been. I can't help it. I'd say you'll understand some day, but I kind of hope your relationships are of the me and Summer variety, not me and Raven."

"Yeah. You loved mom, didn't you?"

"Like a fish loves water."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Fishes need water."

"And I needed her," he teased, leaning across to flick her forehead. "It just took me a while to realise it. And to notice how much better she was for me than Raven. Still, can't say I regret anything that happened." He smiled. "Got Yang out of the deal. That's a win, right?"

"Sometimes…"

"Oh? What's she done this time?"

"Didn't come to the dorm last night," she complained. "We were all worried and then she finally answers Blake's call, only to sing karaoke down the line and slur that she's out having fun with Uncle Qrow. Can you even imagine? I was afraid she'd been kidnapped!"

"Sounds like her. And him. You know, in a different world Raven could have taken Yang away and I bet she'd have thrived in that tribe. Your sister is strong as hell and defiant to boot. They'd have turned her into a monster." He looked over Ruby's shoulder, winced and slapped her arm, quickly standing. "Got to look on the bright side. Better a Drunkle Qrow version of Yang than a Psycho Raven version. Anyway, got to scram. Talk to you later, sweetie."

"See you later…?" Ruby watched him scurry away with a confused expression.

It lasted until two pairs of feet came to a stop behind her and a man coughed. "Miss Rose."

Turning, she saw General Ironwood standing next to Penny. Penny was smiling, though the General wasn't. Not an entirely unusual state of affairs. He'd always been kind of scary, though after fighting alongside him in Atlas, she felt comfortable enough to say it was only because he cared about his people.

"General Ironwood!" she chirped happily, jumping up and offering a sloppy salute. "Sir!"

The tiniest smile teased the edges of his lips. "At ease, huntress."

Giggling, she brought her hand down. "Is there some way I can help you, sir?"

"Perhaps. I was hoping you could explain why you are standing next to an M4-Class Anti-matter battle cannon. One that happened to have gone missing from a battleship we had docked outside Beacon last night."

Ruby's jaw dropped. Damn it, dad.

"I cannot believe you would steal this from us, friend Ruby!" Penny said loudly.

"Whoah. Whoah. Whoah!" Ruby waved her hands between them. "I didn't! Penny, you can't think I'd steal this!"

"I know you couldn't have. Is that not what I said?"

"Eh…?"

Penny tilted her head. "I said that I cannot believe you would steal this from us. I cannot. You are at best five foot two and at most one hundred pounds in weight. Your Semblance is a registered speed one. I cannot feasibly see a way for you to have dismantled and transported a weapon of his mass to its current location. Therefore, I cannot believe you would steal this from us."

"Uh. Y-Yeah. That." Ruby swallowed. "M-Maybe not say it like that in the future?"

"Why not? I was assuaging you of any guilt."

General Ironwood chuckled. "Penny. The phrase `I cannot believe you would do this` is used to accuse someone of guilt."

"It is?" Penny recoiled, eyes almost crossing. "But why? How? It is literally saying you can't believe someone would do this. How does that translate as fully believing they have done it? It's grammatically incoherent."

"It's an expression of shock; an implication of broken trust."

"Would not `wow` and `you stole this, you thief` serve better…? There would be less misunderstanding." Penny made an unhappy face. "Is this a repeat of the `I could care less` scenario?"

"Yes. When the private said he could care less about your hobbies, he wasn't referring to that as a literal fact and was not asking to spend the rest of the day with you going through magazines on make-up."

"He said that he could care less," Penny argued. "That literally means he had a heightened level of interest for spending time with me than what he was currently doing. If he'd wanted to imply he didn't want to spend time with me, he should have said he couldn't have cared less. Or he could have just said no!"

"It's sarcasm, Penny."

"With all due respect that isn't sarcasm, General Ironwood. It's poor grammar. The squiggly blue lines say so."

Ironwood sighed. "I really need to have a word with Pietro about him deciding to install that spellchecker. Ahem." He cleared his throat and turned back to her. "May I take this weapon back now, Miss Rose? I'd like to remove it from Beacon's grounds before it intrinsically becomes a part of the architecture, an avant-garde display or a tree that just happens to look incredibly similar in shape, colour and functionality to a battle cannon. Atlas military hardware seems to have a tendency for that in this Kingdom."

Giggling, Ruby stepped away from the machine. "Aheh. Sure."

"Thank you. And please don't put wheels on anything else brought to you."

Damn it, Dad.

/-/

"Our unmanned drones have managed to locate Salem's horde," Winter said, eyes twitching. "It's currently located on the western tip of Vale, close to where we believe the Grimmlands to be. There is no sign of her, however."

"Hm." Jaune tapped his fingers on his desk. "Do you think she's left to take the Relic to her tower alone?"

"It's the belief General Ironwood has. Moving that many Grimm across the ocean only to have to move them back would be inefficient. At the same time, she's unlikely to trust anyone to take the Relic back but herself."

"Is it possible for your drones to find her?"

"I'm afraid not. They were intercepted by Nevermore soon after sending images back."

Damn. That was a shame – but he supposed she'd have planned that out. Though they hadn't considered it, ambushing her to take the Relic would have been an option. A reckless one given she was her most powerful in the Grimmlands, but an option all the same.

"There is one benefit to this," Winter said. "With more picture proof of the Grimm, it shouldn't be hard to convince Atlas of the threat. General Ironwood is already planning to call a meeting with Atlas' Council to show the imagery and begin evacuation of Vale's civilian population."

"Nice. That's a relief."

"Hm. We're fortunate Salem isn't there too since it lets us show the images publicly. I'll have them send through to Glynda as well. I'm sure Vale's Council will also want to see them. In the meantime, we're sending out more drones to monitor the horde from a distance. We'll have advance warning of when it finally starts to march again."

"How far out are they?"

"By the Grimm's speed, I'd say ten days."

Ten days, huh? That wasn't much but also more than he'd hoped for. That was ten days from when they started moving too, which wouldn't be until Salem returned. He had no idea how long it would take her to travel to her tower, stash the Relic and come back, but it could be a while, especially if she decided to hide it or wasted time plotting her strategy or even just questioning whether she wanted to leave the Relic and attack at all. They could have anywhere from ten days to ten weeks. It all depended on her.

"Thank you for letting me know, Winter." Jaune waited for her to leave but she made no move to. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"I heard your relationship with Glynda came to a mutual end."

The statement didn't hurt as much as he thought it might have. "It has. I'm not sure why that's any business of yours…"

"It is my business," she said, "Because…." Winter sighed. "Because mother has also heard and was commenting to Mrs Belladonna this morning about how after being with Jacques Schnee for so long, she might try her hand with a younger, more virile, man."

It really wasn't fair that someone else could say something so ridiculous and yet it was he who had to feel embarrassed. He did either way, leaning back and picking at his cheek as Winter gave him the flattest stare imaginable.

"The, uh, sentiment is… well, I'm not really looking for that."

"I'm glad to hear it. Is that likely to change any time soon…?"

Jaune winced. "You're really on this, aren't you? Can't you take the hint and leave it be?"

"I refuse to call you daddy."

"I bet you'd like to call Ironwood that."

Winter raised an eyebrow. And a hand to the hilt of her weapon.

"Okay. Okay. No, it's not happening – not at all. Glynda and I fell in love. We dated. It didn't work out. I'm not about to go out my way to woo another older woman, especially not one with children my age. Satisfied?"

"For now. Good day, headmaster." Winter moved to the doorway but paused before leaving. "A word of warning. Avoid the cafeteria today. Mrs Belladonna had… interesting ideas on how mother could draw your attention. I'd rather not see them put into practice."

The door closed behind her. Cringing, Jaune picked up his scroll. "Guess I'm ordering takeout. Let's see if the delivery man came make it past Port unmolested this time."

There we go.

Next Chapter: 30th July

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur