Ruby and Oscar were successful in finding all of team JNPR, who they were able to heal.
A bunch of other Grimm had appeared.
Jaune said to leave JNPR to handle this and concentrate on finding the others.
"We need a meeting point," Oscar said.
"There's a bigger formation over there." Pyrrha pointed to one that was shaped kind of like a knife jutting out of the ground. "Why not work our way there? It's a better defensive position, right?"
"I guess," Ruby panted.
Cinder frowned.
"Are you going to work with us?" Ren asked her tightly.
Cinder didn't want to go after any of them, but Ren pissed her off.
"No," she said.
"We could always use her with us," Ruby said, "though she'll have to say behind me," pointing to her eyes.
"You're trusting Cinder to have your back?" Nora said.
Ruby sighed. "Well, if she kills me right now, it hurts her chances of getting away from the Grimm also, right? I hope that's enough."
"Right here," Cinder said.
"Feel free to deny it." Jaune glared at her.
"Jaune." Pyrrha tugged his arm. "Please."
Jaune sighed. "Well, whatever. This isn't the time to fight."
"I think we should move toward those hills," Ren said. "People might try to run in there. That could be why we can't see them."
"On it." Ruby and Oscar took off, and Cinder followed.
"We really need to try to let it go," Pyrrha said to Jaune.
"I know I should," he said. "I...I keep the about it...but I just don't know. How can I?"
Pyrrha sighed. "Maybe we need help to forgive.... I thought I heard them say that. I...I know I need to stop pushing you. I'm just thinking of everyone's safety, though. Attacking each other is not helping. But...it's...well, it's not my burden. I shouldn't judge."
"You don't have to make excuses for me," Jaune said. "I know that this anger isn't a good thing. Or this doubt...but I can't seem to shake them."
"Maybe you're trying too hard," Nora said. "I mean, I can't really understand why you'd want to stop being angry at Cinder, but the rest of it, you know, you could just be overthinking it. Sometimes it's not even what you think--it's how you act."
"She's right," Ren said. "I don't really want to forgive Cinder either, but if you want to treat her as one of the team, then just do it. Don't wait till it feels right. Feelings cannot always be trusted."
"Well, that does make sense from you," Jaune said. "And honestly, I wish I was like that."
"Your feelings have always given your strength, Jaune." Pyrrha put a hand on his breastplate. "But I believe it's been said--they shouldn't control you. You control them. It'll be all right."
She ruffled his hair more lightly and then drew her sword. "I suppose we'd better just focus on the others for now."
"Nice to see you two finally getting along a little better." Nora had no filter.
"Nora!" Ren hissed.
"What? They were acting weird for a while," Nora said. "I just said it was nice."
"That's none of our business," Ren said.
"Oh, Ren." Nora rolled her eyes and picked up her hammer. "Let's just kill the Grimm."
So they did.
* * *
Ruby and Oscar didn't find anyone else, but they did see footprints by the rocks.
"I don't know whose those are," Oscar said.
"Want me to help?" Little asked.
"No, if we lost you in there, we'd never find you." Ruby had her hand on her scythe. "Something could be in here."
"Hmph," Cinder huffed. "That won't matter to me."
"Well, since you're so unbothered by Grimm, why don't you go that way?" Ruby pointed left. "And we'll go this way. Then I can use my Eyes and not hit you and your weird arm...ugh."
Cinder glared at her. "One of these days, Ruby--"
"What?" Ruby said, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll see," Cinder said ominously.
Ruby snorted. "You know what, Cinder? Call me after we defeat Salem. Maybe I'll care by then."
She took Oscar by his arm and went to the right.
Cinder made a face after her.
[Cinder is hilariously immature, I have to say. She's really growing on me as comic relief. She's a lot less obnoxious that way.]
"As if I care if we find anyone," she muttered, picking her way over the craggy rocks. "I just want to stop Salem so I can finally get on with my plan. And then I can kill them all...at least some of them..."
She paused. "Of course, there's not much point if there's no more Relics..."
But her plan was to take the Relics, not let them use them...right?
A little voice in her head was starting to say, "But do you really think you could? You've seen what they can do."
"I can do anything I set my mind to," she snapped at no one. "I don't care what's on their side."
"And you? You're just a half Grimm monster," another voice jeered. "You see what they do to monsters? You'd be wiser to just kill them in their sleep rather than let them get to Salem.... Just do it."
Cinder frowned.
It might be smarter to do that.
Why risk it?
On the other hand...how would she ever get out of this if she was alone? Salem had to think she was on their side based on that message from her in Vacuo...and she wouldn't take any excuses unless Cinder brought both Relics.
And even if she did and got the powers...the curse was acting up so much, it might make her weaker, not stronger.
Cinder was rather unwillingly realizing that she'd been hedged into a corner.
She bet that was Shine's plan all along.
And yet...they could have just killed her. She still hadn't figured out why they hadn't. There'd been so many chances lately...
But it wasn't Cinder's nature to be grateful to anyone or to admit they had any virtue...so she remained in sullen confusion.
While she was lost in thought, she forgot to watch her back. [Something Cinder often does, I notice.]
Finally she spotted Torchwick not that far ahead, trying to hide in hollow rock.
Great. The buffoon.
She would have liked to just kill him, but she couldn't explain that later.
"Get up, you worthless fool," she said, flying over.
Roman didn't answer her. He just careened away.
Cinder hated cowardice, and this was making her angry.
"Honestly, you all disgust me," she said. "Why do you even bother?... What's in it for you? Heroes are so asinine."
She held up a hand. "But, we do what we have to."
She shot out her spooky arm, seizing his jacket, starting dragging him back.
She always felt more violent when the Grimm arm was active, but she knew better than to give into it just at the moment.
But without warning, someone rammed a sword through her torso.
Cinder gasped and turned, staring at...Neo!
Neo was still in a frenzy, but she seemed to be capable of attacking despite that. Perhaps it was her first instinct.
She pulled her sword out of Cinder, with blood on it.
Cinder put a hand to her stomach. She was bleeding.
"You...you b----!" she yelled at Neo.
Neo hit her sideways, and she fell down the rocks to the bottom.
Then Neo looked at Torchwick...and she shook her head like she was dizzy. And fell over.
Torchwick scrambled away, not really aware of what just happened.
[Well...that was interesting. If Cinder really goes out that way, I think it'll disappoint a lot of people...kind of fitting for her though.]
* * *
Qrow found Hazel, but Hazel was mostly recovered from the toxin by then. He ran too fast from the Grimm-goo thing for everyone else.
Qrow kept a respectful distance and told him to follow him.
Then Qrow spotted Emerald and Mercury making their way west and flew down to them.
"Well, it's about time." Mercury sounded tersr.
"None of your attitude, kid." Qrow was mad that he hadn't found Winter yet. "Did you see anyone else?"
"No, no one," Emerald said. "I swear we'd have tried to help if we did." She seemed scared.
Qrow felt bad for scaring her. "I know," he said more evenly. "But it's just..."
"Ah, your girlfriend is lost, right?" Mercury said.
Qrow frowned at him.
"Mercury, not now," Emerald said. "Besides, I like Winter."
"You would," Mercury said.
"I thought you liked her too," Emerald said.
"Of course you too..." Qrow sighed. "She's not the only one, but..."
"You should be looking for them," Emerald said. "We're okay. Hazel, you're good?"
"I'm...functional," was Hazel's most positive take on it.
"Then we should meet the others," Mercury said, since Qrow had told them where they were heading. "Provided no one's dead yet."
"Mercury!" Emerald said.
"Em, I'm not the optimist, all right? It's not looking good," Mercury said.
"There's still hope," Emerald argued. "I mean, it's been miraculous so far."
"It better be again then," Mercury said.
Qrow wondered if that's what he sounded like to people.... No wonder they wanted to punch him.
"All right, kid, lay off," he said aloud. "Just go."
"Big coming from the bad luck guy," Mercury muttered. "Let's go, Em."
"You were supposed to stop embarrassing me," she hissed at him, and they walked away.
"One lecture is bad enough," Mercury replied.
"Just walk," Hazel said curtly.
They both shut up.
Qrow thought that he would do well as a teacher--no one would ever start crap in his class.
He took off again. He thought he'd seen Meridian helping Weiss--but no sign of Winter still and few other people also.
He was afraid to think about what that could mean...but if.... Well, he was a fool...
But none of that really mattered. He just wanted them to be alive...
* * *
Winter's next coherent thought that she remembered was that she'd either flown or climbed to the top of one of the overhanging rocks...
They all stuck out here like big knives, some larger than others, and she just was just at the top of one.
The god of darkness certainly had trash taste for landscaping.
Winter didn't know how she got there or why she stopped at the edge of it, but she'd almost run right off it in blind panic.
But somehow she realized she was on the precipice and stumbled back.
Everything was still kind of distorted, but some part of her must have known that it was madness to jump off, even in a panic.
Grimm had found her by this time, but thankfully none of them were in the air, so they hadn't caught up yet.
Winter didn't really see them. Everything was still kind of spinning, and she didn't really know what she was doing.
The toxin was still in her, clearly, and she only knew vaguely that she was trying to flee something...but it was like a bad dream that you know something is wrong in but you don't know what, and you just feel fear and dread.
Everything seemed like it could be the thing.
Winter put her hands over head and burst into tears.
"Just leave me alone..." she was saying.
Then she screamed something else, and for some reason, she remembered this clearly later:
"Help! I need help.... Save me!..."
It wasn't clear in her mind at the time, just words more than thought.
But she remembered what followed.
It didn't seem strange at the moment, but suddenly there was a shaft of light from overhead that looked like natural sunlight.
It wasn't that large, but it was about 3 feet in diameter, enough to encompass her whole form.
Winter looked up, distracted for the moment.
Up in that reddish-purple sky, some of the haze had cleared, just for a short time....She couldn't see the sun, but its rays were peeping through.
The Grimm who were right in front of her, ignored by her, looked at it warily, and then they turned and ran from it. Like they knew it wasn't normal for it to be there.
Winter glanced at them running away and came to her senses rather abruptly.
Well, not entirely. She was still confused, but she understood that she'd been afraid of nothing and that it was the Grimm's toxin that had done it.
"Oh..." she gasped, realizing that she'd had a very close call.
Then she promptly fainted.... Either it was the toxin or the sudden loss of adrenaline.
* * *
Qrow probably wouldn't have found Winter if not for that ray of light--at least not quickly.
By the time he even got to it, the haze had moved and covered it up again, but he saw where it had been. Winter was lying on the rocks, not moving...
Qrow wasn't sure what to think of the light shaft, but it gave him chills even in bird form. [I have no idea if that's possible, but he's magic, so...]
He circled down and resumed human form.
"Winter?" he said.
Winter was still out cold.
Some Grimm were still watching, like they were just waiting for the light to leave, and they suddenly jumped forward.
Qrow sliced one of them in half with ease and glared, and the others decided not to get too cocky.
(Qrow hadn't noticed that the Grimm had been acting afraid of them all more and more over time spent around the DJs, like they were picking up some of their essence.)
He ran up to Winter and checked her. To his relief, she was still alive, but she didn't wake up.
Qrow really hoped that was just because of the toxin and not any other injuries, though he didn't see any.
He looked at the edge of the cliff and realized that she could have been 15 feet from falling to her death.
He wondered what had stopped her...
He looked up.
"Whoa..." he said slowly. "No...it couldn't be..."
But he knew it was.
"What else did you think?" he almost heard a voice in his head say forcefully. "What is it going to take, Qrow?"
Qrow blinked...but no one was around.... Was he losing his mind?
"I've been out here too long..." he muttered.
Time to think of that later. He needed to get Winter back to someone who could help, and fast.
"Hang in there, Ice Queen," he said in a low voice, picking her up. This was...deja vu-sih.
Too bad he couldn't fly. Maybe Wally was right about Ozpin not making the bird thing resizable. Well, hindsight...
He expected more of the Grimm would bother him, but none of them did.
Weird...
Really weird...
Qrow was still processing the fact that he'd just seen another miracle--again.
"I think I need to rethink my life," he muttered to himself. "This has been one weird week..."
Winter stirred suddenly.
Good, she wasn't totally out of it.
Qrow doubted he was going to make it all the way to the other rock. Maybe West would find them...
* * *
Winter began to dimly regain consciousness with the impression that she'd been found, but it took longer for her to really form coherent thoughts.
And she felt numb for a while, but the toxin must have worn off bit by bit, because gradually she was able to move her arms and legs again.
It was after a while of this that her mind suddenly cleared entirely and she woke up.
She was being carried.
Qrow!
She moved too fast.
Well, she threw him off by doing that, and he almost tripped.
"What on Remnant?!" Winter jerked frantically and fell to the ground.
Then she pushed herself up and looked around.
"Good, you're awake." Qrow rubbed his arm where she had just kicked it.
"What...what are you doing?" Winter sputtered.
"Sorry, but I really didn't have much choice. There were Grimm around," Qrow said.
He looked embarrassed.
Winter felt beet red.
Of course she knew that it was only necessary, but she was still embarrassed.
And it reminded her of what happened in Vacuo.... That felt like ages ago...
She brushed herself off. She had Grimm goo all over her clothes...gross. She hoped it came off in water.
Anything to not think about anything else right now...
"We-Weiss?" She remembered.
"I saw her earlier," Qrow said. "She's okay, I think. Meridian was with her."
"Of course he was."
"He's a good kid," Qrow said. "I'm sure she's fine, with his Semblance..."
Winter didn't like to hear this from him right about then.
"Well, I'm not sure what happened." She struggled to get up and found that she wasn't up to it yet, so she sank back down. "I think I was...poisoned...but it seems to be mostly gone..." Then she thought. "There was light.... What..?"
"Yeah, it was close." Qrow seemed to read her thoughts. "You stopped about 15 feet from the edge.... It must have been a miracle. I saw...a light. Seemed to scare the Grimm too. But then it was gone."
Perfect, Qrow had used it to find her.... Well...Providence sure had an odd sense of humor.
She glanced at the sky a bit rebelliously, but she couldn't complain about help.
"How long was I unconscious?" she asked icily.
"I think at least 20 minutes."
Why that would make her feel worse, Winter didn't know, but it did.... How humiliating!
"We should be moving," Qrow said awkwardly. "The Grimm are still out there.... Pine can fix this, I think. He did it for us."
He held out a hand.
Winter stared at it like it was a snake.
"I'd rather walk," she said shortly. "I'm sure you've done your duty as a teammate. I can manage."
Which was a lie, since she couldn't manage at all, at least not for a while.
"Is this the time for that?" Qrow said.
"Was it the time for it before?" Winter snapped without thinking of it.
But then she regretted it.
Qrow looked like he'd been slapped.
"I didn't mean that," Winter amended. "That's not fair...but.... Oh..." She put her hand to her face. "I can't do this right now..." She burst into tears.
It wasn't really the argument. The panic was still in her, and she was completely wrung out.
But she hated that she was acting like this, again...even if she knew why.
"Winter." Qrow bent down.
"Don't!" Winter held up a hand angrily. "It's the Grimm. I can't help it. This is not me."
"Fine, so it's not, but it's still hard to watch," Qrow said. "Could you just let me help?"
Winter was losing her will to fight rapidly.
"Whatever." She held out a hand very reluctantly.
Qrow pulled her up. "We'll just go slow for now."
Winter didn't bother to answer.
She kept crying for a while, though she kept trying to get a grip, but the more she tried, the worse it got, as sometimes happens when we've hidden things for too long.
Qrow felt miserable watching her--and honestly was kind of upset himself after the effect of the Deimos. He wondered if Ruby and Yang were okay, or if anyone else had gotten lost.
Then it got worse, because Winter couldn't even hold herself up with help and collapsed again.
Qrow decided to just let her rest for a while, so he went to the nearest rock formation that might at least provide cover.
Winter finally stopped crying and just focused on taking deep breaths and calming down.
Qrow kept looking at her but not saying anything.
Winter's mind slowly settled a bit more into her usual level of composure--not quite though.
"I think it's mostly passed," she said, more evenly. "I apologize for that...display. It was not my choice."
"There's no reason to apologize for what's because of some Grimm," Qrow said.
Winter didn't quite know what to make of that, but she looked at her hands. "Yes...well, I still didn't like it. I apologize for yesterday also."
"Please don't," Qrow said. "That was my fault, if anyone's."
"I swear, Qrow," Winter said, "if you say that one more time--"
"I didn't mean my Semblance," Qrow cut her off.
She stopped, surprised.
"I mean I shouldn't have left things the way they were when we know what could happen with the Grimm," Qrow said. "It was stupid, and I probably really deserved what happened. But you stopped...so it doesn't matter."
Utter silence.
Winter was surprised that Qrow had admitted to something being his fault that wasn't his Semblance.
But it didn't strike her as that much better.
The whole thing seemed hopeless.
"We probably need to talk," Qrow said, breaking the silence. "But not right now. You're too rattled from what just happened."
Winter looked up again. "No, go ahead."
"I don't want to make this worse."
"It couldn't possibly get worse, and I don't really care. Knowing you, it'd be better to just hear it now before something else can go wrong."
Qrow glanced at her oddly.
"I meant with Grimm," Winter said. "That should be obvious by now."
"Right..."
"Though I can't imagine what you want to say." Winter was still angry. "But if it's pertinent..."
"About what you said a couple days ago," Qrow said.
Winter frowned.
Which part of it?
She felt a little strange again...
"You were right." Qrow looked down. "I was being a coward. I was avoiding the truth, and I didn't even think about what that would make something else feel like. Which is...probably why I avoided it, I guess. I don't know anything about what other people think and feel, usually. Which I'm starting to realize is because I'm selfish, but then, I never thought I was anything but that. It wasn't fair."
That wasn't what she wanted to hear, but she didn't know what she wanted to hear.
She sighed. "Well...I suppose that's something."
"I know, it doesn't make up for it," Qrow said.
"What can I expect?" Winter shrugged. "Things are what they are. And...truthfully, I did realize something today that made me see it a little differently."
"Differently?"
"Not that I changed my mind," Winter clarified firmly, "but I can...be...rather one-note about my opinion. I've never been one to see a grey area.... However, I think after losing control like that, I understand somewhat the horror of thinking about what that would be like full time. I wouldn't live my life by it, but I understand it...slightly. It's not as simple as I made it sound. I suppose that's the nearest I can offer of an apology for what I said. I'm still very angry."
"I can kind of tell," Qrow said.
Winter frowned at him.
"But you probably should be," Qrow admitted. "The thing is, that whole thing was really an excuse. You were right. I'm still not sure what else to do. I don't really blame you for despising me now, but it's the honest truth that I don't really know much else, and it's a little late for me to learn, even if I should."
"I'd concur with that last part," Winter said. "But I'm not sure what you mean. Why would I despise you?"
Qrow had a strange look. "Well, you seemed pretty angry."
"You of all people know I get angry a lot." Winter was too worn out to deny this fact. "At everyone. It doesn't matter what I think of them. I have...certain problems keeping my head."
She hated admitting that. "But that's how I am.... I hope I'll outgrow that, eventually. But I don't actually...usually hate people. With a few exceptions." She thought of Ciner...well, at least at first.... Now she was indifferent.
And her father...though even that was fading into indifference.
Qrow laughed very wryly. "I know that only too well."
If he actually made fun of that--
"You know, you have a temper also," Winter snapped.
"I know I do," Qrow said. "Kinda funny, isn't it?"
"We all have our flaws," Winter said sullenly.
"Yeah, but I like it," Qrow said. "It's actually reassuring that people aren't really as in control as they try to act."
Winter felt herself flush again.
She turned away. "Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Don't start saying things like that, not after before," Winter said tightly. "I promised I wouldn't bring this up, but if you start, I'm going to have a hard time not getting angry."
Qrow watched her closely.
"You know, I really didn't know what to think of what you said before," he said in a different tone that made Winter have chills--but not unpleasant ones. "I think you're just trying to be polite, but it's almost like..."
Winter made no answer. She just sighed uneasily.
"I'm a little afraid to ask after before," Qrow said, "but, it was all me, right?"
Winter had really hoped he wouldn't ask her that.
She wasn't going to answer, no way!
Besides he'd already decided anyway--and she was too embarrassed.
"It doesn't matter, does it?" She didn't look back. "I told you I didn't really think about it. And it won't make any difference. You said it yourself."
"And you said that was stupid."
"Not the word I used," Winter said as calmly as she could manage.
"That wasn't a no," Qrow noted.
"It wasn't a yes," Winter said. "I can't believe you asked me that question."
Qrow looked like he was debating whether or not to try the move of before--but then decided against it.
[Ah, dang it.]
"Yeah, I guess so." He looked down. "Wouldn't be fair."
That pissed Winter off more.
"Really, Qrow, you make no sense to me," she said. "I expect this from me, but you're really not one to give half an answer. I still don't know how to understand what you told me. It was the most cockeyed thing I've ever heard. You don't really expect me to answer it one way or the other. I don't know what it is."
Qrow sighed. "You know, if you give something a name it makes it harder to let go of it."
Winter was silent for a moment.
"Well, perhaps you'd better risk it," she said finally. "I'm tired of this. You brought it up, so I didn't go back on my word...and I'm tired of thinking about it."
"And how much have you been thinking about it?"
"I'm not answering that either." Winter felt embarrassed all over again. "You started this..."
She rubbed her arms. "Then again, what do I expect?..." she sighed. "I'm not the person to talk to about these matters. Maybe I shouldn't really be asking after all."
"The point isn't to blame my inability to have normal interactions on you," Qrow said. "It's also only been a couple months that we've really known each other..."
He chuckled dryly. "That's probably why I didn't think to try to stop what was happening... I dunno when it happened, but we went from enemies to...well, friends, I guess. I've not had that many friends out there to begin with. Not ones who were women."
He got a frosty glare there.
"It's just a thing about me," Qrow said. "I strike people as the hit it and quit it type. I guess I just have that vibe."
Winter frowned. "That is not helpful."
"Yeah...if it would help, most of the time it amounted to nothing," Qrow said in a low tone. "Just don't tell Yang I said that. Or Tai. I've never been that close to anyone, except my team, and... that didn't end well. So I didn't think much of it, right? Being friends or otherwise. I mean, I was so out of it for half the time, I didn't think about much at all."
"Well, that would explain a lot," Winter said.
Qrow paused.
"I'm sorry." Winter wanted to kick herself. "That was uncalled for."
"At least you're recovering." Qrow took it in stride.
He got a rock thrown at him for that.
[Now even Winter is stoning the Qrow.]
"I didn't mean for everyone to know," Qrow said. "They kept making jokes about it, but they always did that. Raven started it years ago."
"She told me as much." Winter shouldn't have said that.
"When did you talk about this?" Qrow said.
"A...few times." Winter didn't make eye contact. "Forget it, just finish."
"When it hit me that I wasn't just thinking of it as friendship anymore, it was too late to do anything except think about undoing it...and that didn't really work. Turns out that when you just go silent on someone, they don't think nothing is wrong...go figure."
"I really, really hope that was a joke."
"Yeah, I guess I'm a moron," Qrow said. "I don't know why I thought it would work. I guess... it usually does. That's what I do--I go off, and no one says anything about it."
"Hmm," Winter said. "I have noticed your family is rather odd about how they express their concern for anyone. But mine is very different."
"You're telling me," Qrow said dryly. "And you're not the only one embarrassed. I hate that I get my hopes up and then it doesn't work out, so I try not to get my hopes up...but it's really hard when...well, feelings get involved like that."
Winter sighed... She wasn't even angry now.
She wondered if that meant she had softened toward him more than she'd realized.... She would have thought she'd be livid about this even now.
"I want to say I don't really understand that," she said aloud, "but I do. I wish I didn't. I could be much harsher. But in this case, there's plenty of times I've not known what to do in personal matters... more than I used think, actually. I'm beginning to think that my anger was hypocritical."
"No, it wasn't. You're always honest, if nothing else. That's different."
"I'm not always honest," Winter said. "You think I have not refused to do things I should've out of fear? I'm sure you've noticed how things were with my brother and my mother, but... well, as you say, I didn't know how else to be. So... I suppose what you told me frightened me also, in a way. Because I didn't know what to do."
This wasn't as hard to say now for some reason.
"That's reasonable," Qrow said. "The way I went about it would have freaked anyone out... I can't ask everyone to understand why I'm this way, but I never meant for it to be any personal reflection on you."
Winter frowned at him. "That really doesn't help."
"I honestly don't think you're as harsh as you think you are," Qrow said. "I can imagine what Raven would be saying right about now...so..."
"Your sister has her own way of saying things that I don't particularly care for," Winter said. "But she often has a point. I don't feel I'm in a position to judge as harshly this time--provided you don't assume because of that I'm saying I'm wrong." She glared at him.
Qrow almost laughed again, but it wasn't that funny. "Well, that's one way to look at it."
"Not that it's any excuse for what you said." Winter was still Winter. "But I won't talk about it anymore."
She sighed yet again. This wasn't making her feel any happier.
"One thing I can't quite figure out about all this," Qrow said, "it's interesting, because even after all that, is I really didn't think your anger was just being mad about me being stupid. I mean, why do you care?"
"What do you mean?" Winter tried not to make eye contact again.
"I mean that you sure seem concerned about my life," Qrow said.
"I'm an observer," Winter said.
"I don't know, what you said was pretty on point, sounded like someone who'd thought about it way too hard to be a coincidence," Qrow said to annoy her.
"Just observations." Winter was staring at her shoes.
"Well, I figured." Qrow looked away. "That'd be just my luck."
He hit a nerve.
"Qrow!" Winter snapped, forgetting herself. "I am so sick of hearing that. I thought I told you I didn't care about that! What I cared about was that you made up your mind over something so trivial! Which apparently is not trivial to you, but it is to everyone else. If you really still don't understand that, I--"
She suddenly stopped.
Qrow was giving her a very intent look.
Oh... no...
[One does have to remember that he's really good at playing her. Too bad she didn't.]