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Qrow wasn’t exactly fond of the city in the sky, specifically because of the people who occupied it. But, one thing was for sure: The view of the night sky from Atlas was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.
Especially when he was soaring through the cold winter air himself.
Admittedly, Qrow had begun having these nightly flights around Atlas a lot recently. It was a good chance for him to get his mind off of certain things, and just be at ease without anything to trouble him. He didn’t expect to continue this nightly routine after entering the harsh cold of Atlas, however, the longer the shapeshifter was in Atlas, the less the cold harsh winds bothered him. Which, of course, led to nightly flights in the Atlesian Breeze.
And of course, tonight was no exception.
After finishing taking out a small Grimm infestation located far into the tundra, which was moving dangerously close to Amity’s launch site, he felt as if he could pass out any second. The more he moved, the more he felt every part of his body aching. He had taken a pretty hard hit from a Sabyr after being distracted by Ruby being cornered by the rest of its pack. Qrow hadn’t exactly heard the young huntress call out to him or her older sister who was also in the vicinity, it was as if he felt like something was going to go wrong.
His semblance didn’t make that feeling any easier.
So, as he looked around at the other huntsmen that had been sent with him, he saw Ruby, backed into one of many rocks that had scattered the area. Qrow could feel the panic begin to seep in only for pain to sweep through his body as a Sabyr landed a hit on his left side.A
Surprisingly, the hit hadn’t depleted his aura completely, and he was able to continue the fight without any of the other huntsmen being aware of his low aura level...until of course, the ride back to Atlas. His nieces had noticed something was off, and immediately after checking the groups aura levels, they pestered him for not telling them sooner that he was injured, especially if it was bad enough to almost knock his aura level into the red.
Qrow considered himself lucky that was his only mission he had today, due to the length of the task itself, and due to his nieces constantly asking Ironwood to let him rest , Qrow was happy to see his aura was in the green by the time he would usually have his nightly flight to just...take in everything the day had dealt him, and after all the standing around he had to deal with today after Ruby telling, rather than asking , him to just take a breather and relax so he wouldn’t go into any other missions with an unhealed aura, he needed to get out of the stark halls of the academy. Honestly, it was as if every single part of Atlas was built the same. At least; Everything looked the same to him.
The sun had already begun setting as Qrow leapt out of the window of his personal quarters, and flew high up into the sky after shapeshifting, his wings gliding through the cold Atlesian air as he flew through the sky mixed with oranges and yellows.
Qrow kept all of his thoughts from when he was in his corvid form, the only thing that would change after shifting into a bird would be his strange fixation on shiny objects. Whenever they’d be in his point of view, Qrow would immediately lose focus, all attention drawn to the bright shiny trinket that was near him.
Though, after years of shapeshifting back and forth, he was able to begin controlling his tendencies as a crow. Instead of straight up going after the shiny object in question then being confused as to why he’d have it with him after shapeshifting, he was able to resist that urge; only having his attention drawn to the lustrous object before focusing on what he was preoccupied with beforehand.
Qrow had been distracted by his own thoughts before he had realised he had been able to reach the landing space that most of the airships had used, to have huntsmen go to and come from missions, right as the Ace Ops had arrived from their own mission out in the tundra. From what Qrow had remembered after a quick glance at the mission board, their mission was related to directing supplies to Amity, and making sure they were used to benefit the launch of the tower.
Qrow had internally sighed at that.
He wasn’t blind to how the materials they were directing at Amity were meant to be used to benefit Mantle, and specifically, to repair the bad condition of Mantle’s outer wall. And Ironwood redirecting the materials to launch the communications tower instead of helping the city underneath his own had really irritated Qrow, and had definitely annoyed the kids as well.
He really hoped the Ace ops knew that this wasn’t going to end well, the more they ignored Mantle.
But deep down, he was beginning to think that they hadn’t even thought about that once during their time working on this project.
He preferred to ignore that thought, even though the more they worked on Amity, the more that thought kept making its way to the front of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to push it deep, deep down.
He shook the thought out of his head once more, fixing his attention on the Ace Ops leaving one of the many airships in the landing space, His eyes landing on the leader more often than he’d like to admit.
He couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying due to being perched so high up and so far away from the group of huntsmen he was watching, but soon after landing and putting some equipment away, the group had started making their way towards the academy, as expected.
Except, one of them didn’t go with the group like they usually would, the leader himself strayed from his other teammates, walking closer to Atlas’s edge.
Odd. Qrow had thought to himself, before deciding to follow the man in question.
The Ace Operative Qrow had decided to follow hadn’t gone far, instead, he had stopped once he neared the edge of Atlas and sat at one of the many benches that had lined the edge of the city in the sky.
Qrow laughed internally at the sight.
Of course Clover would be the type of person to watch the sunset. To be honest, it didn’t surprise Qrow in the slightest.
Well, that was one other thing that two men had in common, a love for the sunset. They didn’t have much in common to begin with, but the more Qrow had spent time with the teal eyed man, the more he began to learn more about him, there were more similarities between the two then he had anticipated.
At first, Qrow simply stared at the beautiful sight. And, no, the sight in question wasn’t the sunset.
Though, Qrow didn’t even notice he was staring until a sudden movement from the man he was staring at knocked him back into reality.
Eventually, Qrow realised that he was in his corvid form, and James had informed him that the Ace Ops didn’t know about his ability to shapeshift yet. So he could just sit right next to the man that he had technically been watching the sunset with.
And so he did, making his way over to one of the many benches in the area, sitting right next to Clover. Making sure to not make any other movements that would catch the man’s attention, he simply just sat and looked at the wonderful sight in the sky.
Though, Clover eventually noticed that he had company. His attention shifted to the avian that had decided to perch next to him.
“Oh! Hello there, little guy.” Qrow looked up at his partner, suddenly very aware of how tall Clover seemed to be well he was in this form. Qrow gave a small click in response. Clover smiled down at him before shifting his attention towards the sky.
Gods, that smile.
“It’s a nice sight, isn’t it? Perfect for me to just sit back and...unwind.” Clover said, his voice quiet, a relaxed look on his face. “I usually look at the view from my own room...but, nothing can beat the view from here.”
Qrow couldn’t agree more. Though, flying through the sky on his own made it easier for him to get to heights that he would obviously never reach as human, it would make the view of the sun setting simply breathtaking. But, being able to share a moment like this with someone was...nice. It was better to have company.
Qrow cawed up at the man in front of him, before hopping onto his outstretched hand that had been sitting on the bench next to him. Clover chuckled under his breath, moving his hand to hold Qrow in front of him.
“Friendly, are we?” Qrow simply cooed in response, his attention shifting to Clover's pin for a moment, before looking back to face Clover directly into his teal eyes. Clover didn’t take his sight off the corvid he had been holding, either. “Y’know, I've never seen crows in Atlas, I've never seen one with such striking red eyes either.” Qrow didn’t know how to respond, though his feathers fluffed up at the compliment, Clover laughed in response, before setting him down on the bench next to him.
“It’s a bit funny, actually. My partner's name is Qrow. Though, their name is spelt with a Q instead of a C. I’ve never asked why but, I have a feeling it’ll be an interesting story.” Qrow immediately turned away from the sunset to stare up at Clover, curious as to why his name had been mentioned.
“He has the same colour as your eyes as well.” Clover put his hands behind his head, and crossed his legs over one another, staring up at the sky directly above him. “Though, his are a different shade, a very nice colour if you ask me.” Qrow was surprised Clover knew these things about him, especially his specific eye colour. Qrow cawed up at his partner, half wanting him to continue, the other half already feeling a bit flushed due to the sudden focus on him.
“He’s...incredible. Though, I don’t think he’d ever let me say that to his face. After all, he isn’t exactly the best at accepting any sort of praise or compliments, but, I’m trying to make him...better, at it. I don’t know if it’s working or not, but I hope it is.” Clover's tone had become a bit wistful, whether he meant it to or not.
Qrow didn’t know how to respond to Clover’s sudden … talk, about him in this way. The more Clover went on, the more embarrassed he was for the man, and how he didn’t know he was already saying these things to the man he was talking about.
Qrow had an idea of where this was going, and the longer it lasted, the longer he felt as if he shouldn’t be here. But, he stuck around anyways. He was...enjoying the company. Said company glanced down at him, his smile bigger than Qrow had ever seen before.
“I haven’t known Qrow for long, but I think I really... really like him. And, to be honest, I haven’t known what exactly to do with those...feelings. Ironwood suggested that if we ever were to pursue a relationship, it would be best to be with someone outside the field I'm working in. But...it’s hard to ignore that...surge of happiness I get whenever I see him or talk to him. And frankly, I haven’t liked anyone this way in a...long time. It’s refreshing. To be able to grow closer to someone this way.”
Oh.
Qrow didn’t respond.
How could he? What was he supposed to do in response to that?
The corvid could already hear his mind racing with thoughts exiting as quickly as they entered his mind. He looked around frantically, trying to focus on something else to avoid this...conversation, they were having.
It didn’t matter though, Qrow decided to take off into the sky that had already become dark, stars slowly appearing and twinkling in the night. He hadn’t heard Clover say anything after he left, so Qrow took one last glance back at the younger man, who hadn’t moved from his spot, though, he was still smiling. Qrow stared for a moment, before making his way towards the academy, remembering that he had made sure to keep his window open for when he eventually returned.
Qrow stood in his room in silence for a moment with his hands on his hips, before the conversation he had with Clover made its way back into his mind again.
“ --I think I really... really like him.”
Surely it was meant to be … in a platonic way right? All huntsmen and huntresses needed to get along well with their allies on the field if they wanted to work well together.
However, the more he thought about it, the more everything started making sense. The lingering touches, the winks that were thrown at him, and what he had previously passed off as friendly banter...Clover had been…. flirting with him?
Qrow laughed at himself.
“I’m such an idiot.”