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In this world, birds would imprint on humans and assist them in finding their soulmates, in turn they would often find their own mates in the process. The humans would get markings of a feather their bird has which is how they learn when the bird imprints. How they understood when they found the soulmate of their human was unknown but it worked. The birds find their human’s soulmate in many different ways but sometimes they take longer then others.
Qrow Branwen was one of these cases. A crow had imprinted on him, the crow spent most of her time comforting him and being with him so he wasn’t alone that she hadn’t gotten much chance to be out and about. He had been through a lot in his life and the crow was a welcome addition to his life. He was a teacher and it was nice to have company to grade papers with.
Clover Ebi was another one of these cases. He had a kingfisher and the kingfisher had a bit of separation anxiety so she never got the chance to leave her human’s side. She herself only found her human because she got caught in some fishing net but luckily Clover found her and nursed her back to health. Recently he was hired as a teacher at the local academy of his new town he moved to. He’d met some cool teachers already and one he really liked but he was still adjusting to his move.
There was a loud croak from the closed window of the messy office. Professor Qrow Branwen jolted a bit at the sudden croak as realization came across his face. He forgot to open the window for his crow. In moments he was on his feet and opening the window. A large crow hopped in, she was much larger then normal with beady red eyes and a feather crest. In her beak there was a feather, it was small and a unique shade of blue. “Callie, what’s this?” Qrow asks as he takes the feather, it was quite small. The crow squawks and jumps, flapping her wings with excitement. “Wait, is this… Callie, did you find them?” She nods as she calms herself. It was odd for a bird to find a person with a different species of bird. “Are you sure?” She croaks, seeming offended. He took a moment to think, he thought he’d seen this feather before. It was someone on staff but he couldn’t place his finger on who.
“Morning, Qrow, I brought coffee,” a cheerful voice greets as they walked past the open door to their office. It was Clover Ebi, a semi new professor here but one Qrow had gotten quite close to in recent months. His thoughts were derailed by the sound of his voice and he spun on his heel, heading for the doorway. He stops as Clover pops out of his office holding a coffee cup from the place the pair often got their coffee from.
“Thank you,” he says with a small nod as he brings it to his lips. He needed this, he didn’t get much sleep last night, especially with Callie gone all night. Zephyr, Clover’s kingfisher, popped her head out of Clover’s chest pocket which brought a small smile to Qrow’s lips. “She’s gotten much less shy around me, huh?”
“She really has,” Clover muses as his eyes stay trained on Qrow, he was hopelessly in love with him but terrified to admit it. He ripped himself from his thoughts as Zephyr fully removed herself from the pocket and flew into the room. “She actually found my soulmate today. She brought me a black feather.”
“That’s funny, Callie did the same. It’s going to take some time to figure out which bird the feather belongs to but I guess I’m excited,” he says with a dry chuckle. Clover has been a main support in Qrow’s life lately and he had to admit there were feelings there. It was kind of painful to hear about the feather but then again he was a step closer to finding his own soulmate. Before he could ask more about the feather there was the sound of someone clearing their throat, it was Weiss Schnee.
“Professor Ebi, may I speak with you?” She asks. The professor nods and he flashes Qrow a smile before the two disappear into the office. He sighs and slumps against the doorframe as he looks into his office and finds Zephyr sitting on Callie’s back. He chuckles lightly as he leans forward a bit before pushing off the door frame and walking back to his chair. The little kingfisher stayed with him most of that day but when she left to go to her human’s office or classroom, Callie went with her. It was odd but Qrow thought nothing of it till his walk home.
Qrow walked with his hands in his pockets, Callie was soaring above him with just the wind carrying her, occasionally she’d flap her wings to keep her on course but otherwise just relaxed and enjoyed being in the air. He felt at peace as the sun set in the distance. He glanced up at his bird and smiled as she looked back down at him. He wondered what it felt like, to be above it all, what was it like to fly? He let his thoughts travel down that road until he realized that he was messing with the small blue feather. He pulled it out of his pocket and studied it a bit. He’s seen this feather before, or at least the color before. He was nearly home by now but he slowed his pace so he could continue to think. Realization hit, a kingfisher. He stopped in his tracks and Callie began to circle, a small questioning croak coming from her.
“Callie, is this Zephyr’s?” He asks looking up at his corvid. She lets out a loud caw as she circles and Qrow’s eyes widen. Of course, of course it was the person right in front of him, but what if Clover didn’t like him like that? What if he was disgusted to know Qrow was his soulmate? What if it wasn’t actually Zephyr’s? Just what if? Talons dug into his right shoulder and he was broken free of those thoughts as Callie stood on his shoulder and tapped her beak to his forehead. He dug through his mind for the address, he had spent the night a few times during finals week since Clover lives closer to campus while Qrow does not as well as a few other times when there were late nights spent at the school and Clover didn’t like the idea of Qrow walking so far when it was dark, or when they graded papers together. His crow took flight and Qrow ran after her.
It felt like hours before Qrow found himself in front of the apartment door. It was a dark green, it was a nice color that matched with the white walls of the hall and fitting for the man who lived in this apartment. Nerves overtook him as Callie sat on his shoulder impatiently. She kept him grounded, she also kept him from running since she had a habit of nipping his ear or hair when he did something he shouldn’t. He apparently took too long because the crow leaned forward and tapped on the door with her large beak.
The dark green door swings open and the familiar figure of Clover Ebi becomes visible, his normal friendly smile on his face. He was in grey sweatpants and a green tank top, his hair seemingly fresh from the shower yet perfectly styled, other then a few out of place strands here and there. “Qrow? Come on in,” he says moving out of the way and opening the door fully. Qrow gives a nervous smile as he walks in. Callie takes flight, loud croaks escaping her but she pauses to listen. A sharp call responds and she takes off down the hall. “Those two have really gotten close.” Qrow nods as he fidgets with the blue feather. “Something on your mind?”
“Y-yeah, you could say that,” Qrow says, it was an understatement to say he was nervous. He avoided eye contact as much as he could despite how he normally loved to stare into the other professor’s eyes.
“Then let’s chat, come sit down,” Clover says, placing a hand on the others lower back and guiding him more into the familiar apartment and to the couch. The pair sit down, their knees touching as Clover sits facing Qrow with his left elbow resting on the back with his cheek against his fist. Qrow was sitting in the corner, tilted slightly towards Clover, with his hands still fidgeting with the feather as he stared at it. “This is a safe place, Qrow, you can share as much as you want but I really am worried about you right now.” His free hand was resting on the knee pressed with Qrow’s, he was tempted to rest it on the other’s knee but he didn’t want to push it with the physical contact.
“T-this,” he pauses to clear his throat, “is the feather Callie brought me this morning. I thought you might find it familiar.” He holds it out to the other who takes it carefully. He spins it slowly in front of his eyes and studies it.
“This is for sure a kingfisher feather,” he says, failing to hide the excitement and curiosity in his voice. The corners of Qrow’s mouth twitched upwards but he still had doubts.
“Is it Zephyr’s?” He manages to ask. Clover shrugs and whistles. The small bird flew into the room and was on her human’s thigh in seconds while the massive corvid landed carefully on her human’s head, which got a laugh from Clover. Qrow couldn’t hide the smile that blossomed when he heard the beautiful noise that was the other professor’s laugh.
“Hey, is this yours?” He asks holding the feather in front of the small kingfisher who seemed more interested in Callie. She looks at it, tilting her head before hopping forward and taking it. Clover stared at her in silence as Callie dropped down onto his other thigh and the two nuzzled beaks. He lifts his turquoise eyes to the beautiful crimson of the other’s. They both were speechless for a moment at the clear answer they were given. ”Hey, I guess I can ask you out on that date now.”
“You wanted to ask me out on a date?” Qrow asks, he could feel the heat rising to his face as he held eye contact.
“Y-yeah, nothing too fancy, just a simple before work coffee date at our coffee place,” he replies rubbing the back of his neck, his own face was quite flushed. “So will you join me tomorrow morning for coffee?”
“Of course,” Qrow replies smiling. He had met his soulmate and it turned out to be the man he hoped it would be. It seemed Qrow Branwen’s luck was finally changing.