wanderer's lullaby

The following day was much the same for Winter. Sarah and her mother picked her up, then they headed for the craft show. Winter helped with the money and, with her precision, they opted to hand it all over to her. She didn't exactly have good customer service skills, but money, she could handle that. Especially in a fast-paced environment. She was used to high-stress jobs, so comparatively, this wasn't that stressful. Not when compared to life-and-death missions where she could be taken out at a moment's notice. They climbed back into the car and Sarah grinned. "Thanks for the help, Miss Winter! I really appreciate it! It took a lot off my shoulders to not have to worry about the money!" Winter shrugged. "It was really no trouble." She had seen all of the offerings the day before. So she really didn't need to wander around any further. She really wasn't one to spend frivolously anyway... That stuffed animal was the biggest investment and one of the most frivolous purchases she'd ever made... but it would be nice to have a reminder of Kiyay if she was apart from him. They still had a lot of time until everything went through with the house. Three months felt like forever at this point. She was looking forward to having her own space though... She wasn't sure if Summer was around but... Are you there? She sent the intention out into the world, hoping for a response. Yup, sure am. What's up? Could you set up things with Yang and Taiyang so they can be ready by time I get back? Might as well get that out of the way... She really felt awkward about it, but she did need space that she could manipulate and make her own... Not that she'd really done that in her apartment. It was about as sterile as Schnee manor. But she wanted a betta fish (which she still needed to do research on) and just...felt stifled by the fact that things in Summer's room hadn't been moved from her death. The room was filthy and the clothes in there needed to be cleaned desperately. Not that they'd fit Winter or either of the girls most likely... But still. She hated having to step over clothes that hadn't been moved in years each and everyday. It was getting obnoxious to have to dodge around everything. Yep. See ya later. She felt a lifting of the air and a lack of presence in the empty seat in the car. It was still so beyond strange to talk with a ghost on a regular basis... How utterly bizarre. She supposed it made sense the soul didn't get destroyed upon death, but...she hadn't ever really thought about the esoteric side of things. Aura was just a shield for her, not some nebulous manifestation of the soul like it was for Qrow and Yang. Ruby probably fell more into line with Winter, but she had no real way of knowing. "If you ever need help with anything like this again, I suppose I could help," Winter offered as she looked at Sarah. The girl seemed about ready to bounce out of her seat. "That'll be real helpful, Miss Winter! I would appreciate it! You're so quick and precise! I ain't never been so quick as you were! It was real impressive!" Sarah looked over her shoulder at Winter with a wide smile. Winter shrugged. "Compared to some of the things I've done in the past, handling money is nothing." She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle working in retail, though... She saw how nasty Atlassians could get with customer service people. She ate out sometimes and had to do her own shopping at the commissary, so she did see just how terrible people could get with customer service reps... Nasty. She still felt like she was trapped in the house though. She wasn't looking forward to dealing with her sister and brother once she got them free. "Still, it's real nice. I can see why the baker and his wife let you work for them. You're practically perfect in what you do!" Perfect... She was so far from perfect that it hurt. She would never reach the height of perfection she wanted to. Her emotions kept getting in her way and driving her to break down after break down after break down. Being in Vale was so difficult. It felt like a waterfall had been broken open since arriving in Vale and nothing would stop her. She had so much to work through. She still didn't feel like she could trust anybody that wasn't Qrow... She wanted to go back to Atlas where everything made sense and had neat, tidy order. But now she lived in a world of ghosts, esoteric soul manifestation, and homosexuality. None of it made any sense. How did people live with such uncertainty and muddiness in their lives? Sarah seemed to deal with it well enough... She sighed internally, but nodded. "I can handle most things pretty well." She had no choice. It was either adapt or die. Atlas wouldn't have things any other way. She either had to come to terms with everything or else she drowned and was ripped apart by the ravenous wolves that claimed themselves to be authorities in Atlas. "Well, I'm shore glad that you helped out! Nobody was disappointed with the quick turnaround for cash. Though...craft shows are a bit hard to get to thanks to school." Sarah sighed. Winter nodded a bit. She supposed she would have some trouble when she started her own schooling... She still wasn't sure where she wanted to go or apply to or anything like that. She would need the AI's help. She had only one goal: take down the SDC. She wasn't sure what all business courses would work well for that... And she wasn't sure if she'd be able to be accepted anywhere since she didn't have transcripts due to being privately tutored. There was no way in hell Gele was going to release her grades to her so she could apply for higher education... She supposed she could focus on the GED program for the time being... That would stand in place for a high school diploma… "I can imagine." She actually couldn't, but she didn't want to come across as rude or anything. The rest of the car trip posed to just be Sarah talking excitedly about plans she had for more jewelry which Winter placidly listened to. She had no desire to really join the girl in doing her hobby to make money, but if she enjoyed it, who was Winter to say anything against it? She returned to the house and she saw Taiyang and Yang sitting in the living room, Yang's eyes a deep shade of crimson. She looked about ready to explode. Winter felt like she had walked into a ticking time bomb but she could understand Yang's hatred of her father. She hated her own father and would do anything to see him come down. She really wished that he would keel over already... Though Weiss would be subjected to a regent while she was too young to be engaged and married off. Even twelve was a bit too young for Atlas, but thirteen wasn't... She didn't have much time until Weiss could be married off. Her birthday was in January, after all. "So, uh, Summer said you wanted to talk to us?" Taiyang asked. Winter nodded. "I can understand your reasons for not changing her room around but..." She sighed. No point in beating around the bush. "...I'm alive and I'll be here until the house goes through with Qrow. Summer feels like I should have the ability to do with her room as I please." Yeah, best to just keep things straight to the point. She wasn't trying to upset anybody. It was just what Summer herself said. "In Summer's own words, 'they can kiss my ass' if you didn't like me changing things up." She shook her head. She was just quoting what Summer had said to some degree. She was very vulgar. Winter mostly kept her curses internal. Taiyang sighed and Yang unfolded her arms, looking down, though her eyes remained a noticeable shade of red. "That...is a good point. We kept her room the same so we could grieve whenever we needed to but..." "You're a person that's alive. Being stifled by our grief isn't something that should happen," Yang reluctantly agreed. "You should feel comfortable here." She paused, but when she spoke next, her voice shook and was quiet. "You...You won't get rid of everything, will you...?" Winter shook her head. "No. If I personalise it, I'm not going to make drastic changes like get rid of the piano or all of the composition notebooks. I would mostly plan to clean up a little bit and perhaps get a fish. I would move things off the desk space and rearrange that, but I wouldn't get rid of the piano, the bookcase, or any of that. I just need some sort of space that I can use for myself, especially to study for my GED." It was still Summer's room in the end. She wasn't planning on getting rid of everything. She just wanted it tidier and to have it functional for studying. That was about it. She would have to go through Summer's papers with her. She might move some of the books to the library, but she doubted that putting books in their proper place to have a little bit of shelf space for herself was the end of the world. "Maybe move some of the books to the library to make a bit of shelf space for myself, but no, I wouldn't throw things out unless she wants them gone." Yang nodded slightly. "Okay..." She wasn't really sure how to reassure Yang that she wasn't going to completely demolish the room and get rid of everything. She'd just get the dirty clothes off the floor, move some books, and make the desk usable. Though she would need Summer's help for that... She didn't want to get rid of anything that was going to be important to the woman. "I might talk to Qrow about getting the piano tuned. She mentioned Ruby would probably enjoy it?" Yang blinked. "Yeah. Rubes loves music. She'd have a blast learning to play. Assuming you'd be okay with us coming in there to do so." Winter nodded. "If you want to play the piano or look at the composition notebooks, just ask to come in. At worst, I'll say no because I'm busy. Does that sound reasonable?" She didn't want to bar them from going into the room entirely. It was still their house in the end. Summer was still their mother. She was just using the room temporarily. Until they could get the house they put an offer in for, or any other house for that matter, she would have to stay in there. Three months minimum if everything went smoothly. That house was absolutely stunning and she hoped they'd be able to move in there... She doubted anybody else would put in for it despite the low price for the amount of land they had. "Okay. That seems fair." Yang still seemed a bit upset by all of this, but it wasn't like she'd asked to be married to Qrow... She'd agreed so that way she could get out of Atlas unscathed. Well. As unscathed as a married woman could. It was that or some maniac from the Atlassian upper class married her and forced her to have babies until she died from the lack of proper medical care... "Thank you for your understanding." She dipped her head and excused herself, then started to clean up the room. She tossed all of Summer's dirty clothes into the basket then started to move around her desk with a frown. "Can you help me figure out what's what?" No point in denying Summer was there at this point. She had the door closed, but she could speak aloud... She wasn't sure if Ruby knew Summer was still around or not, but everyone else did. Yeah, sure, that's no problem. Winter started to sort through the various pages and notebooks, directing them into a plastic storage tote in the closet. There were quite a few totes there and she peered into them. Notebooks on notebooks on notebooks. If you're interested...a lot of that is dust stuff. I have a number of volumes of dust journals in my library. If you want to dig through them, I can help you. You won't be able to understand them past a certain point simply due to how my mind works. She felt a lift in the air which implied a shrug. "That...would be a good way to spend my time, yes." She had months until she could get into the winter semester and months until she could get her work visa. She frowned a bit. "AI Summer." She had left the laptop open that way it could focus on finding tutors for the girls and her siblings. "Whatcha need, Winter?" "I need some help with figuring out how to apply for the protection program. Can you do that for me?" She wanted to take Qrow up on that offer. She would be given citizenship if she could prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was in danger from being in Atlas. She looked down at her pocket. "Coco, do you think you could help the AI build a case for me?" "Yeah, sure, Wint, can do." She heard the muffled reply come from her pocket. It took only a few moments for her to hear some sort of notification noise on the laptop. She looked over at the screen and saw a large file transfer begin to take place. "Man, this is wild, working with a legitimate AI... The Atlassian military would be frothing at the mouth to have this sorta tech." "Just don't expect to go looking into my code." The AI huffed a bit. "Nah, not planning on it. Anyway, can you build a chat window to my computer?" With that, they quieted down though Winter could hear the signature clacking of Coco's keys. The laptop had a built-in webcam, so she didn't need to worry about an external one like she'd had on her TV. Winter pulled the totes out of the closet and started to dig through them. They were filled with single-subject and five-subject notebooks with a lot of folders. Winter rubbed the back of her neck. "How do you keep everything organised?" It was an absolute mess. She knew Summer had her methods behind her madness, but this felt like a different beast altogether. She really had no idea how any of this was organised. Ah, in this case, this was just storage for stuff I wasn't planning on touching again for quite a while... So there is no real organisation system. But I can help you figure things out and make a new system. It'd help if you had some sort of filing cabinet... All the ones in my office are full.Of course they were. Well. There were file folder boxes. It was a bit late in the day though... She could hopefully get a few tomorrow. That would make organising this a lot easier. For now, though, we can start getting things separated by date. Summer told her how to decode her dating system (which...was not normal. But typical for Summer Rose) and how to get things into order. Thankfully, things were generally organised into notebooks; it was just a matter of finding where things were and putting them where they belonged. The folders of loose paper were mostly just notes she jotted down for later. Eventually, they had numerous stacks of notebooks which had insanely complicated dust calculations in them. She hadn't taken time to study them, but simply looking at them told her it was more than enough to keep her busy for a very long time. She needed to look at them more in depth. Between this and studying for the GED, she'd have her work cut out for her. Night fell by time she finished sorting through everything and getting things organised into chronological order. "Time for dinner, I suppose." She was a bit peckish at this point... She'd eaten that morning and had had a small lunch, but definitely not enough to keep her full through the day. The caloric deficit made it hard on her, but she was used to not eating enough... She headed downstairs where Qrow sat on the couch, flipping through some sort of book. But he looked up when she came down. "Hey snowdrop." The nickname still caused a light dusting of pink to cover her face. "It's a bit late... You should've eaten a while ago." "Summer was helping me sort through her old dust calculation notebooks." She knew the mention of Summer would pain him, but...was there anything she could really do to avoid it? Summer had simply inserted her into Winter's life. She wasn't going anywhere via AI or ghost. There was no way around her being a presence in Winter's life. She would try to keep it to a minimum but... He sighed but nodded. "I see. It is like her to not want her stuff to go to waste... If anyone can make sense of her old stuff, it's prolly you, Winter. Anyway, want me to heat up dinner for you?" She was used to cooking for herself but...it was just kind of nice to sit and talk with him at meals. It wasn't as lonely as just sitting in her empty apartment with bare minimum essentials in absolute silence (barring her neighbors). She nodded a bit and they headed into the kitchen. She sat at the table and he got into the freezer, then pulled out her meal. "So how was the craft show?" he asked. "I found one thing I liked yesterday. I also commissioned a plushie maker to make one of Kiyay; that's why I asked for the photos." She was surprised he hadn't asked about it. Asking for pictures of Kiyay out of the blue like that... She already missed the bird. He had been such a constant in her life for the few days Qrow had been with her in Atlas. It was strange to have bonded with an animal so quickly, but she legitimately felt kinship with him. She couldn't wait to start hunting with him... "Well, next weekend we can go huntin' with 'em, or at least get you more familiar with how they function. Raven said she's still exploring the property, but there are a lot of wide-open areas that are perfect for waiting-on flights. Plus, the lake has a ton of ducks and swans. Waterfowl aren't their usual prey, but they can take it." Winter nodded a bit at Qrow's words. She was looking forward to getting to see the birds again. She missed them so much. "Very well." She frowned a bit. "I won't see you tomorrow until you get off of work." That just hit her as well. He was starting work tomorrow. She understood why and was glad he had a job but still... Well. Not that being a Hunter wasn't a job but...something that wouldn't potentially kill him every time he went out. It would help keep payments for the house and such consistent. Especially since she wouldn't be able to really help out. The general was giving her a stipend so she didn't have to worry about draining her savings, but it was hardly enough to pay for a house and such. Qrow blinked but nodded. "Yeah, that's right. It will be kinda hard to not be around you, snowdrop. I've gotten so used to it over the past week or so. But it'll be fine. We'll still see each other when I get off. It's not like it's the end of the world." Yeah, that was true, but she had come to rely on him quite a bit. It was going to be hard not being able to turn to him each time she needed something... She really would need those file folder boxes or a filing cabinet... "By the way, is there anybody I can ask to take me to an office supply store? I need either file folder boxes or a filing cabinet to put those notebooks in..." She didn't want to lose the order she'd so carefully cultivated. At least she could follow things chronologically. It looked like they stretched back as far as when Summer would've been in Beacon, just going off the dates. She was looking forward to delving into them. Plus, there were the dust journals too. She would have to dig through those to see what Summer had come up with. But starting at the beginning would probably be best. "Yeah, sure, I'll call Ope and have her pick you up tomorrow. You got the cash for it?" Winter nodded. "Yeah. I have plenty of money in my account and with the stipend the general is giving me..." A couple of file folder boxes with hanging folders wouldn't be enough to cause her significant financial distress. She was really looking forward to seeing what all Summer had come up with. It was crazy to think this was an entirely untapped reservoir of dust knowledge. Who knew what would happen when she started to really get into things? "All right then." He texted someone and headed off to go talk to them while she finished up eating. She put her plate and silverware in the dishwasher, then headed to get ready for the night. She was going to bed early, but she was tired from being around that many people for so long. "Can I close the laptop or can you somehow black the screen out?" Winter asked. She heard Coco still typing furiously and the AI kept having reactions to whatever Coco was doing. "Yeah, I can black out the screen." With that, it flipped off. She could still hear the faint sound of Coco typing but it was nothing unusual to her at this point. She got dressed and took her meds, then turned out the lights. What a day... What a day...