Work Text:
“I’m home!”
Clover’s voice rang out through the house without a response. Placing his groceries down, he called out again.
“Qrow? Girls?”
No response.
He was just about to enter a mild panic when he felt his scroll buzz in his pocket.
A simple message greeted him when he opened the scroll: “Come find us.”
Clover groaned, though he couldn’t resist smiling.
“So that’s how it is?” He called out to the house at large. “I’ve been abandoned, left behind, by my own husband and nieces?” He sighed theatrically. “I guess I have no choice but to wander the house and look for mementos of our time together to soothe my pain.”
There was giggling coming from the study. Clover made his way over, his steps purposefully heavy. He glanced around as he entered the room, plucking a frame off of the desk.
“Oh, Qrow...” He held the picture frame tenderly. “To think I would lose the man I love so quickly. Qrow, my heart, my lovebird, my harbinger of all things joyful and bright...”
There was the giggling again. Clover turned carefully without moving his feet. It wasn’t coming from the desk area, nor was it coming from near the door... He paused, noticing two small shoes sticking out from behind the curtain.
He gently placed the frame back before slowly walking towards the window.
“Oh, what I would do if Qrow was here. How I long to hold his hand, to hug him, to kiss him—“
“Ew!” came a little voice from behind the curtain.
“Aha!” Clover leapt forward, pulling the curtain back to reveal one Ruby Rose. “What do we have here?”
She stuck out her tongue before bursting into more giggles.
He crouched down to her level. “Why, Miss Ruby, I thought you were long gone!” He pretended to think. “Wait... if you’re here, then are Qrow and Yang here too?”
She nodded.
“Then, I don’t suppose you’d know where they are?”
“No!” She pouted. “They wouldn’t let me know. They said I’d tell you.”
“Would you?” Clover asked gently.
Ruby immediately shook her head before nodding only seconds later. “Maybe...”
“Well,” he reached out and grabbed the five year old, hoisting her onto his back. “How about we go find them together?”
She squealed in joy as he made his way out of the study.
“We have to play it cool, okay?” He whispered. “If they know we’re on to them then they’ll scatter, we have to surprise them, like spies.”
“Like spies!” She chirped.
They cleared the first floor quietly, Ruby whispering to Clover which spots she would have personally chosen. As he climbed the stairs, Clover explained the plan to Ruby.
“We’ll try drawing Yang out this time, see if we can get a response.”
“Oh, what a shame!” He made sure his voice was slightly louder than necessary. “I was looking forward to spending the afternoon with my two nieces, but it looks like Yang isn’t going to show. I guess it’s just you and me, Ruby. What should we do?”
“Eat candy!” She cried. “And sword-fight!”
There it was, a tiny thump. Clover spun on his heel, making his way towards his bedroom.
“That all sounds great, Ruby. If only Yang could join us, I’m sure she’d love that.”
He crouched down to let Ruby slide off his back before heading into the master bathroom. No one behind the shower curtain and no one in the cabinet. Back in the bedroom, he checked the first closet before laying down to peek underneath the bed, finding himself staring into lilac eyes.
“There you are!”
The girl huffed and rolled over to face away from him.
“Yang?”
“Would you really have eaten candy and done sword-fights without me?”
“We only would have done that if we couldn’t find you and we found you, didn’t we?”
Yang slowly turned over. “I guess...”
“Come on, let’s go find Uncle Qrow and then we can go play.” He scooted over so she had room to get up.
As she stood up, Yang pointed to the second closet. “I think I heard something from the closet.”
Oh Brothers.
“You two stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Opening the closet, Clover was unsurprised to find the ladder already hanging down from the hatch in the ceiling, though he was disappointed.
“Seriously, Qrow?” He muttered under his breath as he climbed the ladder, pushing open the hatch.
He emerged onto a small balcony built into the roof of the house. Sprawled across it, his arm propped up to support his head, was one Qrow Branwen. He gazed lazily at Clover.
“Hey, handsome.”
Clover sighed, pulling himself onto the balcony. “Don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous to be up here while two kids are wandering alone in the house?”
“They weren’t wandering. Tai dropped off baby monitors, I set them up while the girls were hiding.” Qrow held up his scroll to show a feed of the study, swiping to show Yang and Ruby currently sitting in their bedroom.
“Baby monitors, seriously?” Clover rubbed at his eyes, but his annoyance was quickly fading.
“Come on, Cloves, you’re not actually going to be upset with your lovebird, are you?” Qrow fluttered his eyelashes as he spoke.
“No, I suppose I’m not.”
Clover leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on his husband’s lips before leaning back with a mischievous grin. “You know, I think I deserve a reward for finding all of you.”
“Oh?” Qrow shifted closer to him. “You have something in mind?” His free hand moved to rest at the base of Clover’s neck.
“Mmm...” Clover leaned in again, waiting until Qrow moved to meet him. “I was thinking you should clean the house instead of pushing it off again.”
Qrow immediately pushed away from him, letting out an offended laugh. “Tease, you just want me for my cleaning abilities.”
“Oh, if that was all I was interested in then I wouldn’t be here.”
Qrow gave a mock gasp. “What, just because I avoid cleaning? I’ll show you, just you wait.”
Clover raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t we just establish that me waiting was the issue?”
Qrow stuck out his tongue.
“Anyway,” Clover continued, “as much as I’d love to continue this,” he rolled his eyes as Qrow winked, “I promised those two candy and sword-fights.”
Qrow laughed. “Do I get candy and sword-fights too?”
Clover grinned. “Ask me that again after you’ve cleaned the house.”