[Whatever quip he had in response goes dead in his throat at that last bit. Vyng will find, Qrow is rather, ah, sensitive to comments about luck. He notably flinches, something shuttering in his expression as he looks off to the side.]
I guess. [He rolls a shoulder, vaguely.] Someone else would've probably done it if they'd seen him first.
[ Vyng notices the shift in Qrow's demeanor. But he barely registers what he just said, much less why it might hit a nerve. Because he was more concerned with the feeling behind it.
A sincere sentiment, in other words — clumsily packaged inside a careless, offhanded phrase. ]
You're selling yourself short, buddy. If I had to pick a guide, it'd totally be you. Hands down. Wouldn't even think twice about it.
Yeah? I'd have thought someone like you would have more options.
[Not quite snapped back, but flat and blunt. Defensive. He's been wearing thin for months, since Ruby died. Sometimes it's easy to get lost in the self-loathing. And Vyng? Qrow hasn't known the man long, but he's friendly and outgoing and easy to talk to. He heard about Qrow's Semblance and the conversation moved on like it was nothing. He won't deny his own skills, but he can't imagine someone like that wouldn't have some significantly less cursed choices.
Ones that are suited to leadership and don't tend to work alone, too.]
[ A flat tone creeps into Vyng's voice too. Partly because he doesn't exactly appreciate being called one — but the majority of it comes from feeling like he missed a step in this weird dance they've got going on: Stay away. Let's be friends. Not too close, now. One two three, one two three...
But people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. And to be honest, Vyng would rather figure out where the misstep happened to begin with. Because he clearly did something wrong. ]
[He's definitely forgotten about the plurality thing already, whoops. He scoffs, faintly.]
You must have noticed the difference in our personalities by now.
[The irony being ... they're perhaps more alike than Qrow realizes. But that little dance of theirs keeps him from knowing much about Vyng below the surface....and he's deeply, intimately aware of his own flaws. He's had decades to stew in them, the last several months of which have been painfully sober.]
[ Unseen on the other side of the call, Vyng props his chin with his hand...and gives a thoughtful hum. When he speaks next, the flat quality from before has already melted away like a thin patch of snow. ]
Okay. So maybe you're kinda like a cactus. And I lean more toward the jade-plant side of the succulent spectrum — the succ-trum, if you will. But we've got plenty in common too.
[He's being ATTACKED by this PUNNERY. It's Taiyang all over again. He's done his time and is supposed to be making the dad uncle jokes around here tyvm!!
...Meanwhile, this is the part where he's supposed to get huffy about how his temperament isn't suited toward leading or guiding people, but the pun has effectively disarmed this prickly pear, so he actually sounds almost neutral when he asks--]
[ Puns always take the sting out of things! That's one reason why Vyng throws them around at even the most inappropriate times.
As for their similarities, their shared ability to shapeshift is probably the most obvious one. But it's only skin deep. Transmutation magic is a separate beast from druidism — technically and philosophically — and so there's little overlap to speak of.
So, instead, Vyng tries to highlight what he's learned or observed about Qrow since first meeting him. ]
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I guess. [He rolls a shoulder, vaguely.] Someone else would've probably done it if they'd seen him first.
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A sincere sentiment, in other words — clumsily packaged inside a careless, offhanded phrase. ]
You're selling yourself short, buddy. If I had to pick a guide, it'd totally be you. Hands down. Wouldn't even think twice about it.
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[Not quite snapped back, but flat and blunt. Defensive. He's been wearing thin for months, since Ruby died. Sometimes it's easy to get lost in the self-loathing. And Vyng? Qrow hasn't known the man long, but he's friendly and outgoing and easy to talk to. He heard about Qrow's Semblance and the conversation moved on like it was nothing. He won't deny his own skills, but he can't imagine someone like that wouldn't have some significantly less cursed choices.
Ones that are suited to leadership and don't tend to work alone, too.]
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[ A flat tone creeps into Vyng's voice too. Partly because he doesn't exactly appreciate being called one — but the majority of it comes from feeling like he missed a step in this weird dance they've got going on: Stay away. Let's be friends. Not too close, now. One two three, one two three...
But people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. And to be honest, Vyng would rather figure out where the misstep happened to begin with. Because he clearly did something wrong. ]
Care to explain what you mean there, pal?
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You must have noticed the difference in our personalities by now.
[The irony being ... they're perhaps more alike than Qrow realizes. But that little dance of theirs keeps him from knowing much about Vyng below the surface....and he's deeply, intimately aware of his own flaws. He's had decades to stew in them, the last several months of which have been painfully sober.]
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Okay. So maybe you're kinda like a cactus. And I lean more toward the jade-plant side of the succulent spectrum — the succ-trum, if you will. But we've got plenty in common too.
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[He's being ATTACKED by this PUNNERY. It's Taiyang all over again. He's done his time and is supposed to be making the
daduncle jokes around here tyvm!!...Meanwhile, this is the part where he's supposed to get huffy about how his temperament isn't suited toward leading or guiding people, but the pun has effectively disarmed this prickly pear, so he actually sounds almost neutral when he asks--]
How do you figure? The bird thing, or...?
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As for their similarities, their shared ability to shapeshift is probably the most obvious one. But it's only skin deep. Transmutation magic is a separate beast from druidism — technically and philosophically — and so there's little overlap to speak of.
So, instead, Vyng tries to highlight what he's learned or observed about Qrow since first meeting him. ]
We're both family men, for one thing.