Definitely A Real Boy!

Fenton had barely even lifted her before James was already reaching for her with a smile.

“We’re gonna go ahead inside once the foreman gets here,” Qrow said. “We need to actually get this tour done on schedule if we’re making our reservation tonight.”

This was accompanied by a very conspiratorial look to James, who paused in settling Skittles comfortably onto his shoulders to pass one back to him.

“Of course,” Fenton said, shifting his attention to his duffel bag. “All the more reason to double up on the amount of people sweeping the area. More eyes and hands on a task increases the likelihood of finishing quickly and more efficiently.”

He flashed them a smile. “Can’t speak on Clover’s behalf, but I feel safe in assuming that both of us want to make that reservation in return.”

From James’ arms, Skittles tossed her hands up in excitement. “And I can’t wait to hang out with Gandra and Winter! Girls’ night!”

Once they were gone, Qrow rolled his eyes irritably. “Shoulda punched him while he was in punching distance.”

James shook his head. “Better to let them say their piece and leave. I don’t feel like a confrontation right now.”

Qrow ‘hnned’, and instead of responding turned to Oscar and said, “So you gonna give Ozma that url?”

“I have to, don’t I?” Oscar said. “If he wants to connect to her on Mumblr that’s on him. I can’t make that choice for him.”

“Well, you can,” Qrow pointed out. “But should you is the question.”

Oscar shrugged. “I’d rather not make secrets a habit. Not this kind, anyway,” he added, with a sideways glance at Louie.

@hardheadedbighearted​

This got a smirk out of Louie, while Fenton eyed the direction in which the men had retreated. “Probably for the best that we didn’t resort to violence, if that really was the only reason for their visit.”

A pause, as he looked back towards the building. “If it was...”

From her spot on his shoulders, Skittles looked down at him. “Are you gonna go help Daddy do a sweep of the parameter, just in case?”

It was Oscar who took the paper, reading it briefly and then snorting and immediately showing it to Louie. The url read ‘orbs-to-ponder’, and Oscar was holding his breath to keep from cracking up over the obvious joke.

@hardheadedbighearted​

Louie took a glance over the URL, before pressing a hand to his bill to stifle his laugh. “Wow...”

Huey watched them for a moment, then looked back to Mark and Steelbeak with a narrowed gaze. “Alright, well, you’ve delivered it. Now leave.”

He crossed his arms. “Unless you’re actually here looking to cause more trouble by...I don’t know, kidnapping me or one of my brothers alongside our friends again.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” Louie piped up. “Pretty sure I’m due at this point.”

Steelbeak looked to Mark. “Wait, I thought I only kidnapped the blue ones that one time.”

Mark froze, and quickly grabbed his arm. “Ahaha, yeah, funny story there...one I can tell you on the way back to the tower!”

“And what’s it to you if he does?” Qrow asked, at the same time Oscar scoffed, “Of course he does, he’s a weird wizard guy. Last week he made an orb joke.”

A beat, and he added, “But what’s it to you if he does?”

“Wait, he does?” Louie asked, head whipping in Oscar’s direction.

“It’s not what it is to me,” Mark said. “It’s what it is to her.”

He looked to Steelbeak and made a gesture with a twitch of his head. Picking up what Mark was putting down, Steelbeak pulled a strip of paper from his shirt pocket. “Yeah, so Boss Lady made an account with his help and she wanted to give your guy her URL,” he elaborated, and held out the strip of paper to whoever would take it. “Guess she’s hoping to get back in touch or...something?”

Whatever James’ feelings, he said nothing, but he did push May and June behind him, some of the others closing ranks around her as he did.

“What do you want?” James repeated, once they were what he deemed “close enough for comfort”.

Huey narrowed his eyes. “What, you jerks couldn’t wait until Amity was finished being rebuilt before you tried to sabotage it again?”

Mark held up his hands in a defensive position. “Okay, look before anyone gets all punch-happy, we’re only here to deliver something.”

“What is it?” June piped up curiously.

“Don’t talk to them, June,” Fenton said, then paused. “...What is it?”

Qrow squinted at them, then rolled his eyes. “Looks like trouble. Want me to go shoo them away, Jimmy?” His hand strayed to Harbinger’s hilt pointedly.

James paused as if to consider, then shook his head. “Let’s see what they’re doing here first. Clover? Get me a parameter sweep, make sure they’re here alone.”

“On it, boss,” Clover said, dipping away to do just that.

Once he was gone, James raised his voice to call over to their visitors. “You might as well stop lurking! We can see you! What do you want?”

“I do not want to be here,” Mark whined.

“Psh, you think I wanna?” Steelbeak asked. “Oh yeah, just how I wanted to spend my day. Playing delivery boy for a couple who’s seen my dick and probably wanna punch me for nabbing a couple of their kids, real fun.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “At least you could probably take them in a fight.”

Steelbeak smirked at that. “Psh, yeah, sure, a fight,” he repeated. “But I got better things I could be doing right now.” He flexed one arm with pride. “Boss lady wants another painting done, and she always gets my good side-”

The sound of someone yelling at them silenced both in an instant, Mark’s feathers ruffling up on instinct when he realized who was hailing them. “God damn it, I was hoping we could’ve just slipped it into their mailbox or something,” he said, then sighed. “Alright, come on, let’s get it over with...”

From the spot where the others had gathered, June’s expression lit up as the two started approaching. “Wait, that’s Steelbeak and Mark!”

“Steelbeak and-”

Immediately, the remaining kids shifted into more defensive positions, expressions determined. However, Fenton waved them down. “An understandable reaction, but Dr. Ironwoof has a point,” he told them. “Let’s at least see what they want first before we start swinging.”

“You say as if you wouldn’t want to get a swing in on Beaks,” Louie pointed out.

“Eh, Jimmy completely redesigned the courtyard this time,” Qrow said, reaching over to give James a steadying pat on the shoulder. “And he put a statue of his ma in the middle as the centerpiece.”

“It turned out beautifully,” James said. “I had the artist work from some of my father’s portraits of her. She was always his favorite subject to put to film. To answer your question, yes, the courtyard should be mostly completed. Most of what they have left is interior work, and some gardening that couldn’t get done until the season was right- they’re working on that part now, I’m told.”

“Lanying was the spring maiden before Raven,” Clover explained to the kids. “So we’ve taken steps to ensure that the courtyard dedicated to her will be at its most beautiful during spring- though it will still be beautiful even in the other seasons as well.”

Skittles’ eyes widened at that, and she looked down at Fenton. “Can I draw the pretty statue and flowers instead?”

“Of course you can, mija,” Fenton assured her sweetly. “You can draw whatever you want.”

“We try our best,” James said with amusement tugging at his muzzle. “And I admit I took advantage of the fact that we were rebuilding anyway to make some overdue improvements to the facility. For one thing, we have patient wards now, which will allow us to have patients from outside of the area come in for long-term treatment without needing to either take up space in the local hospital or move into a hotel for their stay, if they don’t want to.”

“I thought this was a research facility,” Oscar said. “Why would you have to worry about patient care?”

“Our research often involves patients,” James explained. “Patients who are consenting to experimental treatments, or who are allowing us to study their condition for data gathering, and need care in the meantime. By having space for them built into the facility, we make it easier to accommodate their needs while they work with us.”

“Pietro also got him to replace the slab in the crashpad,” Qrow said. “Gods, I can’t wait to-” he broke off at an elbow in the ribs from James, and quickly changed tracks to, “-take a nap in the new bed.”

“Wow, that almost sounded believable,” Louie spoke up, eyes still glued to his phone.

Huey gave him a Look, but decided not to comment on his brother’s remark as he looked to Boyd. “It’ll be really nice to come back here again, huh?”

“It will,” Boyd agreed, fondness in his tone as his gaze travelled up the side of the building. “It’s been ages since we’ve been inside, and it’ll be so wonderful to get acquainted with it all over again!”

His warm joy and excitement brought a faint flush to Huey’s cheek feathers, one he quickly tried to hide with an overdramatic clearing of his throat. An action that caused Louie to lean closer to him and mutter quiet enough for only his brother to hear: “That also almost sounded believable.”

Huey stared daggers at him, and Fenton took that as a sign to divert attention elsewhere. “So, have they finished up the courtyard yet?” he asked, and gave Skittles a gentle little tap while she sat atop his shoulders. “I know this one’s excited to finally finish her rendition of the tiled artwork.”

She took the phone from him again, gesturing for him to walk her through the steps.

“You’ll also need to pick me up a phone on your way back,” she added.

-/-

“Amity’s really coming along,” Qrow said, squinting up at the building in front of them. “It’ll be done and ready for the grand reopening any day now.”

“Not until after the wedding, though,” James said, casting his head of security a sidelong smile. “It’ll be easier to arrange everything around that instead.”

“I can’t believe you actually pushed back the reopening just so we could have our wedding here,” Clover said. “You know you didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. But this will give us a little more time to get things in order in the labs, and for Pietro to make his full inspection of everything. You know how sluggish he is during the winter months.”

“Well, whatever works,” Qrow said, reaching down to pat June’s head absently. “In the meantime, are we going in or are we going to stand around jawing?”

“A soon as the foreman joins us and gives us the clear. There are still some areas that aren’t fully safe yet.”

June’s excitement was already pretty clear, even before Qrow reached down to pat her head. “I can’t wait to see! All the other kids keep saying Amity’s one of the best places in the world!”

“It is!” Both Boyd and Skittles chimed in unison.

“One of the best places and one of the best laboratories in the world!” May added excitedly, hands clasped together. “Gyro and Ruby have told us so many stories about the impressive work all the scientists do here!”

“I’m sure I might’ve contributed one or two stories to the mix,” Fenton spoke up with amusement.

“No, they’re far too busy to send on such a small errand. Graves is scheduled for tests to his wyvern form, and I have Steelbeak posing for a painting I’m working on.”

She gave him a once over, and then sighed.

“I suppose there is always the chance to James killing you as soon as he sees you. Very well, you may borrow Stealbeak as long as you make it a quick errand. I can work on the landscape until he gets back.”

Quick meant he could get in and out of there without having to linger long enough for one of the bastards to get a swing in on him. Combined with Steelbeak being there, and hopefully distracting anyone with an eye for men long enough for them to get in and get out-