#t: caeloservare (01)

[livestosave]

@caeloservare liked for a starter!

       The training rooms at Atlas Academy had always been one of Qrow’s favorite parts of visiting the frozen continent. While he rarely had the chance to use them himself, unless he had been sent on official errands for Oz, the huntsman had usually contented himself with the occasional chance to watch the goings-on. For all that he loved Beacon with heart and soul...well. Little compared to the sheer adaptability of the Atlas training rooms.

      The chance to actually participate? To draw Harbinger, and let the program throw grimm at him until he wore himself out? That was...thrilling. Or, of course, if Clover or Winter was available, to use the changing arena to make a more interesting fight? Well. How could a man resist?

      Sanguine aura flickered across his skin as the latest wave of holographic grimm faded, the program giving him a few moments to decide how he was going to proceed. A drink of water...a wince.

      Qrow’s mouth twisted in distaste as his shoulder and back twinged, the tremble of his right hand nearly enough to send Harbinger out of his grasp. Carefully, the corvid shifted his weight to settle himself on a small wall, catching his breath as sweat dripped from his graying hair and he tried to get the trembled back under control.

      He wasn’t ready for the doors to the room to open to James Ironwood, but the general and headmaster was met with a wry huff of tired laughter. At least it wasn’t one of the kids.

      “Need something, James? I may a need’a minute ta catch my breath, but ya can tell me what it is while I do.”

      And if he shifted Harbinger to his left hand, and tried to tuck his right against his stomach, well...he was a master at pretending he was fine at this point. Even sober.

[livestosave]

Qrow held James' gaze for a long moment, garnet eyes narrowed and the fingers of his good hand tapping at his thigh. After a few heartbeats, he looked away, and grudgingly let his bad hand come to fold with his good.

The trembled in his long fingers was...noticeable. He was going to chalk it up to nerves, making the usually low-level tremble noticeable.

If he couldn't trust James with this...really, who could he trust?

"...at Haven. Reinart charged his fists with lightnin' dust. I told ya that. But..." Gods, this was hard. He didn't really care if James knew, but...if it spread to the girls...they couldn't find out. They couldn't. "Durin' the fight, he tried t' hit the Pipsqueak. Oscar didn' see it comin', not til it was too late. So I pushed him outta the way, an' I took it."

A hesitation, and his trembling hand curled into a tight fist.

"...m' aura was already gone. I took it straight t' my back. Dunno what's messed up, but. I think it fucked with my nerves...maybe my eye."

“Qrow, you’re too young for Parkinson’s disease.” He didn’t buy a word of Qrow’s excuses. Definitely not with the still too fresh memory of how he moved with Harbinger in hands during the Fall of Beacon. It was way too fast and too drastic change.

“I believe you’re okay in other aspects, but this isn’t… normal.” He didn’t have time to think of a better word. Admitting that he was worried or why he was so worried didn’t cross his mind either. It probably wouldn’t help anyway. Seems neither of them handled being any vulnerable well. “Just tell me. Please.”

[livestosave]

Busted. Still, Qrow wasn't the sort of man to admit defeat until he had no other option. And even if James was being about as blunt as was possible, well. The huntsman wasn't about to just roll over.

It had been bad enough admitting he was trying to get sober. That had been...well, not as humiliating as it could have been, but. Still not a conversation he wanted to repeat.

"C'mon James. 'm just outta breath 'sall." He tipped his head slightly to the side, chuckling as he turned his eyes down to the floor. "Well, 'n I guess 'm gettin' old, but. Guess that one was always comin' down the pipe, huh?"

The corvid turned his gaze back up, hoping that if he kept talking, the general might drop his observation in favor of something else. A forlorn hope, perhaps - James was one of the most stubborn people Qrow had met on this godsforsaken planet - but, that didn't include himself.

"I'm doin' okay James."

James was just passing by the training grounds when his attention got pulled to the huntsman training in there. It wasn’t surprising to see Qrow there and he was quite glad for a chance to just observe graceful moves instead of focusing on where students should improve. Qrow had incredible fighting style and James enjoyed watching him go at holographic Grimms.

Then he started noticing hiccups. Tiny moves out of place. He thought these were from withdrawal when he saw a few subtle abd quickly hidden trembles while they talked earlier, but now he was nearly sure there was more to it. Or just as likely Qrow wasn’t getting any medical assistance in his journey which he most likely needed.

Initially, he was going to ask about something unimportant, mostly to just find an excuse to get away from everyone and everything else and maybe spend some time simply chatting with Qrow. He wouldn’t mind a sparring either. But now he had completely different purpose when he entered the room.

Of course Qrow laughed and normally James would be glad to hear it. Of course he tried to hide the trembling of his hand, which only ensured James that something isn’t as it’s supposed to. He very openly stared at Qrow’s hands for a moment, before lifting gaze to meet his eyes.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” It wasn’t an order, but it wasn’t an offer either. His voice was quiet and even, expecting a reply but not demanding it right away.