VARNAÐR

"Robyn? No, you'd only end up making her the martyr and a reason for Mantle to revolt in the middle of lockdown while we're trying to prepare for Salem's visit. Not even my best people can fight her and our own citizens same time."

"Fine, fine..." The world had enough insanity right now, she supposed she could spare him that much.

Yang pouts when she says that she couldn't have missed her that much, but before she can reply, Raven scoops her up into her arms, and the little girl lets out a happy shriek instead of words, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck as she settles her on her hip.

"I did too miss you," she insists, but there's a happy smile on her face as her mother nuzzles her nose against her, and its almost as though Yang was lit up from the inside with how brightly she's smiling. Her mother was home and wanted to know what she'd been up to.

She could show off what she'd been learning, and what she'd been trying (and mostly failing; Ruby was still too young to really understand) to teach her baby sister.

"I missed you too, little dragon."

The confession falls more easily than she would have expected. Even after all these years, openly admitting her feelings was not something that came with ease... except for her daughter. She was the one who Raven could hide nothing from. Nuzzling her nose gently into Yang's hair, she takes a moment to just enjoy holding her, the scent of her little girl -- she'd been using Summer's shampoo again, and the two scents together are a pleasing one.

Tai gets to his feet, ignoring Zwei's protests and crosses the room, so he's more on an eye level with Raven, even if there's still space between them. If they were going to talk about this, talk about his daughters, one of whom was hers, then they were going to be on equal footing.

Everything Raven was telling him…., it just got worse and worse, didn't it? Oz being back should have been some comfort, but he knows it's not that simple, that there's a hell of a lot involved with that, including whoever was carrying him…., Ironwood…., Tai hadn't seen James Ironwood in a while, but he'd hoped the man he had known, the man who had sent Yang a state-of-the-art prosthetic without even being asked could be counted on.

Salem had a maiden on her side, there was one in Atlas…., and now Ruby was fighting all of those forces combined.

Of course, there was always the possibility that Raven was lying….., but there wouldn't be any point to that. No, she was telling him the truth, which made it all that much worse.

"I know you think I'm crazy for wanting to go towards all of that," he started, and there was fire behind his eyes, steel in his voice, "But our daughter is there, in all of that. And don't you dare try to lie to me, to tell me that you don't care, that she made her choice and has to live with it. You wouldn't be here if you truly didn't care."

He was crazy, but she held her tongue on that matter. 

When he so accurately dresses her down, Raven scoffed and turned her head, unable to meet that gaze of his. He had that look in his eye, the one he'd had all those years ago at Beacon. That fire that she had always been drawn to, the dragon which had become his namesake. She doesn't deny his accusation; there was no point, not when they both knew he was right.

Tai steps closer, and it takes everything in Raven not to retreat.

"I..." She starts without thinking, crimson gaze locking onto his own once again. Her throat tightens almost painfully, and she has to force out her words: "I don't know. I shouldn't have come -- I just... I needed..." She exhales a sharp breath, hand moving to hold her side. Wounds which should have healed by now, but she hasn't stopped to give her Aura the chance it truly needs.

She hadn't come here for pity, or sympathy, or any of that. She came here because of her daughter. Because she knew what was going to happen to Atlas. She'd been telling Ozpin and his followers as much for the last twenty years.

"I'm not bitching out--" Her tone is a bit sharper than the bored voice she had been speaking with only moments earlier, tossing the pillow off her bed at him. Far from an effective projectile, it barely manages to make contact with her pest of a brother. "And I don't need to go to a party to see Tai make a fool of himself."

as for raven : summer knew she was secretive , that she kept herself guarded & reserved for a reason . summer had been that way too once , & it had almost destroyed her . she wanted nothing more than to prevent raven from going down that dangerous path , but there was nothing she could do . she learned that you couldn’t simply force others to accept your help , & she had offered it . now , she’d wait for raven to come to her , whenever she was ready . summer wouldn’t stop waiting for her .

“ i think you look beautiful tonight , ” she grinned , genuine adoration in her tone . raven was absolutely the most gorgeous woman summer had ever seen . she carried herself with such confidence & poise & summer had spent all year striving just to be like her . deep down , part of her believed that raven should have been elected as their leader .

She wants to confess it all, but she knows that it would be her undoing -- and she cannot do it without dragging Qrow down along with her. She can't bring herself to take all of this away from him, as well.

"That, little Rose, is because I hardly look like myself." She's grateful for the shift in conversation, for the remark that gives her a chance to return to a more casual tone. Something familiar. "Trust me, you don't want to know how long it took to get my hair to look like this. And it's only because Qrow's stubborn that he managed it."

Bolder, now, with the more relaxed air: it's her turn to spin Summer outward and pull her back in, closer than they had been before. The hand on her waist shifts to hold the small of her back, humming out low in her throat as she contemplates how to answer. "...I like it well enough. Enough to not want to leave."