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Clover smiled as he took the path hidden by the house inside the tree, warnings to be careful being shouted after him by the three living inside the home. While Raven had been coaxed into settling into the house with her two lovers, Tai and Summer, her twin was usually found in the trees around their home. It made visiting Qrow a bit more difficult but he found no need to try to tame the wild fey. Not when he enjoyed the company as it was. Clover hiked up the hill to the top of the waterfall, the first place he always looked when he visited. It was also usually the only place he needed to look as Qrow was almost always waiting for him at the top. The one time he’d asked how, Qrow had given an enigmatic little smile and told him the trees and animals gave him away.
The knight wasn’t sure what they actually meant but he was grateful all the same because it meant he rarely had to go looking for Qrow.
Luckily this was not a day for searching.
Curled against a tree at the top of the waterfall was Qrow with a young fawn settled in his lap. Clover grinned, fighting to make sure his excitement didn’t startle the delicate creature. One of his favorite parts of these visits was the wild animals Qrow would bring for him to meet. The river otter was still his very favorite but he could already tell this little beauty was going to be a close second.
Not counting the man holding it of course.
“Beautiful isn’t she?” Qrow’s voice was kept low as he petted gently along her neck.
Clover smiled, answering in kind. “Very.” He reached out to carefully copy the fey’s motions, marvelling at the way the small fawn was content to be held and petted. Green eyes flicked up to the peaceful look on Qrow’s face and Clover bit his lip, swallowing as he finally asked the question that had been echoing in his head for months. “Qrow… What did Summer mean when she had mentioned putting Tai to the test again if he drove her off?”
“Hm? Oh! That. It was mostly a joke really. She’d never leave him or Raven but, well, Summer is a fairy fey. Raven and I are forest fey and the thing is all fey will set a challenge to anyone who wants to court them. We’re wild and free things you know. If you want us, you have to earn us.” Qrow gave a sharp smile, the wild light in his eyes lending truth to the words.
Clover felt his heart pick up, wetting his lips. “So, what kind of challenge does someone have to complete?”
“Oh, it depends.” Qrow leaned back against the tree, allowing the fawn to get up and wander off now that she was no longer getting attention. “If we like the person, it’s usually something small and easy. If we don’t the task is almost always something that’s nearly impossible to do.”
Clover hummed thoughtfully, looking at where the animal had vanished into the trees and catching a quick glimpse of a doe running by. “So… Say if I were to court you…” He turned to look at Qrow, watching the smile form. “What task would you put me to?”
They fey bit back his smile as best he could, looking away while he thought of something. He had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do, easy but funny, and he slid a ring from his finger. Qrow looked back to the curious knight, tossing the ring up in the air a few times. “I will marry you, if you bring back my ring.” The fey flicked his wrist, sending the small piece of metal over the edge of the waterfall. He could imagine he heard it bounce off one of the rocks before splashing into the water below but of course it was all in his head. All because of the weight behind what the ring meant, to them and to what they could be.
Clover watched the ring fly off, glinting brightly in the sunlight. Teal eyes flicked back to red before Clover was up and diving over the cliff, into the water below. He heard Qrow shout his name in surprise before he was submerged, swimming down to the bottom to find the shining silver. Qrow stared down at the rippling water with wide eyes, mouth open as he tried to get over the shock. He’d known Clover would take the challenge of course, but he’d expected the human to walk down the cliff before he dived into the water. Not dive straight down from the top! Huffing in disbelief, Qrow stood up, brushing himself off as he turned and hurried down the path he’d thought Clover would take to reach the bottom.
By the time he came to the pool below the waterfall, Clover was breaking the surface, hand held up triumphantly. The brunette swam to the edge, holding out the ring with the widest grin Qrow had ever seen on the cheerful face and he laughed, reaching out to take it back. He knelt down, leaning over to press a kiss to the wet lips, trying not to laugh at just how ridiculous his human was, because Clover was indeed his human and had been for a long time. He supposed it was only fair that he belonged to Clover as well.