Who: Qrow and Vincent What: Drinks after work When: Late October, before the Grimm appeared Where: Local Bar Rating/Warnings Low Status: Complete!
It had taken some time, but Vincent had grown used to his new life. Thoughts of Eva lessened. In fact he barely thought about his ex wife at all, except of course when he had those strange dreams. She had such a presence in them, it was hard not to think of her. But for the most part, his life back in Paris was behind him.
One of the things that helped with this new life of his was his job. He loved teaching others about philosophy. Sharing the passion he had for it. And then of course there were the other professors. Even the ones that taught other subjects. Most were just as passionate about their work as Vincent was. There was one in particular that Vincent had really bonded with. Professor Branwen, Or Qrow. He was one of the ones Vincent actually spent time with outside of campus.
Which is precisely what they were doing tonight. Grabbing a drink after work. Vincent sat at the bar nursing his whiskey sour. “You know,” Vincent commented his mind on the upcoming holiday. “It’s been years since I’ve celebrated Halloween.” Since he was a teenager back in New Orleans to be precise.
Qrow had a bit of reputation among his fellow professors of being anti-social. It was a somewhat deserving reputation. It wasn’t as though Qrow disliked his fellow professors. It was the opposite, actually, which was why he tended to keep all of them at an arm’s length. He was bad luck. Always had been. Hang around him too much and accidents had a tendency to happen. He was just now learning, thanks to his Dreams, that those little “accidents” were thanks to his semblance. He was not, in fact, cursed as his family had once thought.
Knowing he wasn’t cursed went a long way in relaxing Qrow a little. One couldn’t exactly go through life and not have a few friends. Humans weren’t designed that way. And lately there had been a few new additions to the UC Irvine campus that seemed determined to befriend him. Vincent Griffith was one of them.
Qrow liked Vincent. Philosophy and history often worked side by side, one influencing the other throughout time. And Vincent was passionate about it and teaching it to others. It was a kind of fire that Qrow himself had almost forgotten about, but found to be a little contagious.
Tonight the two of them were at a local bar and unwinding. Qrow hadn’t even thought of Halloween until Vincent mentioned it. “That right?” He raised a brow over his glass (he had opted for scotch this evening). “Are you lookin’ forward to your first Halloween back in the States? Made any plans?”
With all the different supernatural species in his dreams it was hard for Vincent not to think about Halloween. Especially with how vampires and witches seemed to be directly associated with the holiday. And then there was Orange County in general and all the strange occurrences that seemed to happen. He couldn’t help but wonder if there was something in store for the holiday.
“Yeah, they didn’t really celebrate in France,” he shrugged taking a sip of his drink. “Under normal circumstances I would probably say yes. It’d be nice to experience the holiday again. However, I’m not so sure about what will happen here,” he emphasized the word, clearly referring to all the strangeness that seemed to happen in the county. “What about you?” He wondered if the bad luck thing that Qrow seemed to have got worse on holidays like Halloween or Friday the 13th.
He downed what remained in his glass and motioned for the bartender to refill his glass. His plan for October 31st really wasn’t much different than his plan for any other given night. Once his office hours were done and he’d put in a few hours in on his research he’d probably wind up in a bar somewhere knocking back dollar shots and laughing at other people’s homemade or store bought costumes.
At least that’s what he wanted to do. However, it would be just his luck that some kind of County Shitstorm would happen Halloween night. He’d heard a few stories from those who had been on the network longer than him and it seemed almost tradition that something happened. “Nah, not plannin’ anything,” he said as he picked up his newly refilled drink. “Halloween’s not really something I got into. We didn’t celebrate it when I was a kid.” At least not the way normal little kids would have. “Besides, I’m hesitant to plan anything considering it seems as though something happens every year about this time.”
Qrow’s comment confirmed Vincent’s suspicion. Of course something happened on Halloween. It was the perfect holiday for this place. “No trick-or-treating for you?” Vincent questioned with a raised brow. Halloween was kind of a big deal in New Orleans. Vincent had definitely participated as a child.
But right, on to the subject of Halloween here. “I had a feeling,” Vincent commented with a sip of his own drink. “What usually happens?”
Qrow laughed. “No didn’t do any of that when I was a kid. I used to take my nieces out when they were little, though. Kinda got the experience through them.” There had been a handful of years in which he had taken the girls out through the neighborhood to gather candy. Qrow himself had never done the whole trick-or-treating thing. In his misspent youth he’d done way more tricks then treats. But it had been fun to watch the girls in their costumes run up and down the neighbors’ walks until they were ready to drop and then gleefully compare their hauls once they were home again.
The girls had long outgrown going door-to-door for candy. Though, Qrow could imagine Yang, at least, still putting on a costume to go to an all-night party. Ruby less so. Parties weren’t her thing.
“This’ll be my first Halloween as a part of the network,” Qrow went on with a shrug, “I heard one year people actually became whatever they dressed up as,” he gave Vincent a half-smirk, “so if you’re plannin’ on dressing up, better choose something you wouldn’t mind being for a couple of days.”
Ah taking the nieces trick-or-treating. What a nice uncle. Vincent didn’t have anyone to take out. For a brief moment he mourned the loss of the chile he almost had with Eva. Now was not the time for that though, instead he took another sip of his drink.
And on to the matter of current Halloweens. And what happens in this place. Vincent hadn’t been planning on dressing up and Qrow’s comment just solidified those plans. “They become their costume?” he questioned both confused and intrigued. “So if they dressed up as a spider they would turn into a spider? Or if they were a witch, they would become one? With powers and everything?” He was certainly more curious about that second one, give it was what he was in his dreams.
Qrow nodded. “That’s what I was told,” he said. “I don’t know if they got special powers -- or any different powers if they already had some…” he trailed, glancing around at the other patrons. No one really seemed interested in their conversation. It always seemed that whenever anyone was talking about the Network or about any of the really weird stuff in public, anyone else either didn’t hear or the words just seemed to never reach them. Qrow had wondered if that was part of the county’s power too. That same power that made anyone not on the network apparently blind to everything. Blind and deaf.
Qrow looked back at Vincent and grinned, “thinking about dressing up as a witch and trying out what being one would be like?”
Vincent gave a small laugh and shook his head. “No. I’m fine with being powerless.” Although from what he gathered from the network, what you dreamed about you became. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Becoming one of the most powerful witches in the Treme coven, in New Orleans for that matter.
“I have to teach a class on Halloween actually,” Vincent continued finishing off his drink and motioning for another. “How many of my students do you think will… change identities,” for lack of a better term. It was also a rhetorical question. He wasn’t really expecting Qrow to know the answer to that.
So far it had been Qrow’s experience that no one escaped becoming what they were in their Dreams. Physical attributes had a bad habit of carrying over. Most notable for Qrow was how Yang had lost her arm and now Ruby’s eyes were silver. The same could be said about magic or supernatural abilities. Qrow himself had always been bad luck, but he wondered now how much of that had to do with his other life than any curse or bad moon or other superstition his family or the tribe thought he’d been born with or under. So regardless of whether Vincent wanted to or not, he would likely gain his powers eventually, it was just a matter of when.
Both men’s drinks had been refilled and Qrow’s attention moved to the question of whether or not any of their students would magically become somethingelse during Halloween. He swirled the alcohol around in his glass, thoughtfully. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I thought these sort of things would only effect those on the network, but now that I think about it, no one’s actually said that exactly.” Qrow knocked back his drink in a couple of gulps. “That being said, I’ve had students show up to class wearing costumes in the past. A couple of years ago I told my 100 level students if they all showed up dressed up as someone from history, we’d take a break from my usual lecture and anyone who wanted to talk about who they were dressed up as could.” He laughed again, “either my students really wanted to dress up or my lectures really are just that boring because over half of every class actually showed up in costume. Lotta hippies and gangsters that year. One Richard Nixon and a couple of Bill Clintons. Funny, I wouldna thought kids that age would even remember Clinton.” He signaled for another refill. “I don’t think any of them actually changed into hippies, gangsters or former presidents. Though…I kinda remember a few of them really getting into their characters.”
That actually sounded like a great way to get students involved in history. Perhaps Vincent would have to encourage his students to dress up as a philosopher for Halloween. However, he doubted those would make for good Halloween costumes. But still, it was at least something to try.
“You know,” Vincent commented just as the bartender set down their next round. “I like the way you think.” Vincent was still very new to the whole being a professor thing. It was his first semester after all. He could learn a lot from Qrow. And he was.
But back to the matter at hand. “Now that you know what this place does to people. Do you think they were just really into their characters or that they actually changed?”
“You’re gonna find that you’ll like most of my ideas,” Qrow grinned at Vincent as he picked up his newly filled glass. Not to say that all of Qrow’s ideas were good ones. Even he could easily list off a good ten or twelve (or maybe fifteen or twenty) ideas he’d had in the past that had been absolutely horrible. But everyone sounded like a genius when they were plastered.
He took a generous drought from his glass as he considered Vincent’s next question. About the students actually turning into their selected costumes. “I don’t really know,” he admitted. “That’s just one of the weird things about this place. If you’re on the network, you know what really happens around here. If you’re not, you haven’t gotta clue. I can’t tell if it’s a willful blindness or not. I’ve lived here a good twenty years and I noticed what started happening a few years ago, but it wasn’t until I signed on to the network that I really noticed it, if that makes any sense. Before then, if something weird happened, it was all just explained away by some news story and I just accepted it like everyone else. So did my students actually change a couple of years ago? Probably. Do I know for sure? No.”
As strange as that network was. Even with the weird dreams it brought. Vincent was somewhat glad he had joined it. He certainly preferred knowing what the hell was going on, instead of buying stories the media threw out. It was interesting though, how that seemed to work. And of course it piqued Vincent’s curiosity. But Qrow probably didn’t know much more than he did.
“I supposed we will just have to see what this Halloween brings,” Vincent said with another sip of his drink. “Pay more attention now that we are both on it.” He had no idea how long Qrow had been on the network. Longer than Vincent for sure, but he had stated that it would be his first Halloween, so not quite a year yet. It would be interesting to see what this year brought, to say the least.
“It’s not like we have any other choice,” Qrow agreed. So far since joining the network he’d seen invasion after invasion. “It would be nice to not have to cleave and shoot my way through nameless enemies from someone else’s Dreams for a change,” he emptied his drink and set the glass down for another round with a sigh, “but I’m not holding my breath.”
The bartender made his way back towards the pair and reached for Qrow’s glass to refill it. The man glanced at Vincent to see if he was looking for a refill as well.
Once the bartender had refilled his glass and offered another refill to Vincent, Qrow switched the focus of their conversation. “What would you do if, say, you woke up and found that you did have the powers here that you had in your dreams?” Because at some point it was going to happen, whether Vincent liked it or not.
Vincent had only dealt with one invasion so far, although there were apparently demons running around when he first arrived, but he hadn’t noticed. Of course that was before he joined the network, proving Qrow’s theory even more. “You think we would only have to deal with our own dreams, instead of ours and others.” It hardly seemed fair, but then again when was life ever fair?
When the bartender approached Vincent gave a nod allowing his drink to be refilled as well. He needed to start slowing down though, before he became completely wasted. He’d make sure to take his time with this refill. However, Qrow’s question caused him to take a long drink. “I’m not sure,” he replied honestly. “Perhaps just hone them. Learn how to use them properly.” Even though he had been one of the most powerful witches in the Treme cove, Vincent had never wanted it, or the power that came with it. He just wanted a normal life, which was almost impossible in New Orleans, and here too apparently.
Qrow would be the first to tell Vincent that there was no such thing as a normal life no matter where you were: New Orleans, Orange County, Paris France. There was no normal life, just life. That was it. It was what you made of it that counted. Qrow grunted before taking another deep pull from his glass. He was pretty good at giving advice, especially to his nieces. It was a shame he didn’t follow even half of what he said. Maybe it was just too late for him.
He watched Vincent take a long pull from his own drink. He felt bad for the guy. He, just like most people on the network, hadn’t asked for this shit. Qrow’d always been unlucky. From the day he was born he’d been a living, breathing bad luck charm, bringing misfortune to friends and family wherever he went. It had gotten more pronounced once he’d joined the network and it was easier to think of it as his semblance – his special ability – than to think of it as the curse the clan believed it was. He was used to it though, was the point. It would have been different had he woken up one morning and suddenly out of the blue he’d been the bringer of bad luck. His nieces had each had their lives changed by the Dreams. Yang her arm, Ruby her eyes. Qrow frowned. It happened to all of them. It would happen to Vincent. The other man had become a friend. Unlike so many others, he hadn’t left at the first sign of Qrow’s bad luck.
“That’s a good idea,” was all he could say. He was quiet a moment, looking at what remained in his glass. “I’m sorry about all of this, Vincent,” he said. “I know you didn’t ask for this. No one asks for this.”
There was nothing for Qrow to be sorry for. This wasn’t his fault. Yes, Vincent’s dreams weren’t the best, he did have to relive everything that had happened with Eva in them. A crazier version of Eva at that, something Vincent didn’t know was possible. And yeah, his town had a vampire problem. But they could be worse. Being a powerful witch wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It could definitely be worse. He could be walking around causing bad luck.
“Don’t worry about it,” Vincent gave a shrug and a small smile. “There are worse things.” Of course he left the bad luck part to himself. While he might have considered that a worse fate, that didn’t necessarily mean Qrow did. And if he did? Well Vincent certainly didn’t want to bring up a sore spot for his friend. “At least we can face it together.” As in the Orange County strangeness. Not so much Vincent’s powers, if those ever came.