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”Scruff him!”
James frowned in confusion as Clover’s voice echoed in the confined space after the lift jerked to a stop.
“He’s not a gods damned dog!” Tai was glaring in the direction of the camera, obviously with no intention of following the command.
But James was already moving, hand stretching out to clamp down on the back of Qrow’s neck. He squeezed lightly, stepping close when the shifter’s long legs buckled to pull him against his chest. Tai’s head whipped around from where he’d been glaring at the camera to give him a flat look. James kind of wished Clover was with them in the lift to run interference but he was also grateful he’d sent the Captain ahead to clear their path, the three of them already exhausted enough from clearing the rest of the tunnels. Still, it left him meeting Tai’s unamused eyes alone while he held Qrow up.
“Once a soldier, always a soldier. Huh?” The blond had crossed his arms while he turned that glare on the General and James glanced down at his “captive” to avoid meeting his eyes.
A broad shoulder shrugged lightly at what he saw and he nodded at Qrow. “It’s working, isn’t it?”
Crystal blue dropped to where Qrow was leaning heavily against the taller man. The softly shaded red eyes were still too wide, his breathing still too quick, but not as quick as before. He was a little calmer, not enough for Tai’s tastes, but a little. He sighed, conceding the point, even if he didn’t like it. Qrow’s hands came up to clutch weakly at James’s coat, tugging at the lapes while his forehead dropped against James’s shoulder.
”Ask him what his level is.”
James’s eyes flicked up to the speaker where Clover’s order came from before dropping back down to where he could see Qrow’s pulse pounding in his veins. He didn’t understand what the question meant but he trusted Clover with their lives, especially since so far the burnette seemed to know what Qrow needed. “Qrow… What’s your level?”
“Seven…” The word was mumbled quietly into his shoulder and James saw Tai move, caught a glimpse of him holding up seven finger to the camera for Clover. At least the blond was willing to go along with whatever Clover was doing, was willing to trust him with Qrow as long as it seemed to be working.
He heard Clover swear quietly. “Too high…” His voice was low before he raised it enough to be heard clearly again. “James, you need to take your tie and bind his wrists, use Tai’s bandanna to blindfold him and take one of your belts to put around his neck like a collar.”
”Excuse me!?” Any patience Tai had was gone in that moment, blue eyes furious as he glared at the camera again. James took advantage of his turned back to loosen his tie, struggling to tie it one handed around Qrow’s wrists, keeping one hand locked firmly on the nape of Qrow’s neck. Clover hadn’t said anything about letting go yet and it was obviously helping to keep Qrow calm. He refused to let go before he knew it was okay to do so. It wasn’t until he yanked the red bandanna from Tai’s arm that the enraged look was turned on him. He did his best to ignore it while he blindfolded Qrow, already noticing that the beat of Qrow’s heart was slowing. He hesitated after the bandanna, meeting Tai’s narrowed eyes before looking over to the camera.
”It helps to keep him calm. It’s a control thing, he can’t control himself but he feels calmer when someone else he trusts is in control of him.” Clover’s sigh echoed heavily around them and James could almost feel the frustration contained in that one breath. ”Ask him. Ask him again what his level is.”
“What level are we even asking about?” Ta growled, taking in the way Qrow had tipped his head back in expectation for the belt Clover had told them to use. He wasn’t sure about any of this, certainly wasn’t comfortable with the way Qrow seemed trained to accept being tied up so easily. But it was helping to keep him calm. Qrow’s breathing had steadied and deepened, the trembling had nearly stopped. He hated to think it but Tai was beginning to believe that putting a belt around Qrow’s neck would be what stopped it completely. He heard James ask again but he was already sliding his belt out of the loops when Qrow gave an answer of five.
He didn’t actually need an answer to his question and Clover seemed to realize it since he didn’t offer one while Tai stepped close enough to cinch the belt around Qrow’s neck. He spent some time fixing it so that it would be tight enough Qrow could feel it but loose enough he could still breathe comfortably, tucking the end back in so it didn’t dangle. He heard Qrow sigh out a two when he stepped back, sharing a look with James while the man secured his grip. Tai held up two fingers for Clover to see and heard the man sigh again, this time with relief.
”Okay, okay. Good. Just. Keep him holding him like that while we get the lift moving again.”
~*~
Clover drew in a deep breath before he walked through the door. The first thing he saw was Tai walking out of the kitchen with drinks for the four of them. The second thing he saw was James on the couch with Qrow curled against his side, hand still on the nape of his neck. Thankfully Qrow was completely calm as he stayed curled under James’s arm. Deep blue eyes looked up at him as he took a seat and he realized that Qrow was on the verge of falling asleep against James. It was almost cute, save for the way two sets of blue eyes seemed to scrutinize every move he made. That part was a little unsettling but he could understand their caution. After all, tying someone up was not generally what one did when they had a panic attack but it had been Qrow’s idea, not his. He just had to explain that and get them to believe it.
James took one of the glasses and nudged the straw against Qrow’s mouth while Tai got settled, watching carefully as he stirred enough to drink before going back to his almost nap. “You know we have questions.”
“Yea.” Clover took his own cup, releasing a heavy breath. “It was Qrow’s idea. Apparently it’s something that he and Raven did as kids when he felt like his semblance was running out of control? I don’t know the full story behind it, it sounded like a touchy subject, but he said it worked back then so… We figured we would try it now.”
“I didn’t know that.” Tai pursed his lips thoughtfully. It wasn’t that he expected to know everything about Qrow, people were constantly changing and there was always something new to learn, but this was something that was from before Beacon. Something he’d never heard of and he wondered if he ever would have without Clover.
“Well, we do things a bit different than they did, obviously.”
“Of course.” James squeezed lightly when Qrow shifted, feeling the way he melted into the touch. It was actually reassuring to know that even with their past, fraught with arguments and disagreements as it was, Qrow trusted him so completely to keep him safe while he was so vulnerable. “He hasn’t asked to be freed yet so, until he feels safe enough we can let him have his way.”
“Right.” Tai pushed to a stand tipping his head towards the kitchen. “Clover, you wanna give me a hand with the cooking?”
“Yea, sure.” Clover tossed one last look over his shoulder to see James already on his scroll, working while Qrow dozed against him.
~*~
Qrow woke to the sound of quiet laughter and the scent of food. He shifted, humming pleasantly at the calming feel of James’s hand still on his neck. He wondered if his hand was getting tired with how long he’d been holding him but that he hadn’t let go even while he slept sent a buzzing rush of warmth through him. There was a straw put to his lips again and he drank obediently. Really, he should tell them to let him go but… There was a security in letting them have control over him. Safety in feeling like they wouldn’t let him ruin anything. Something else was brought to his mouth, the scent telling him it was the food that had woken him. He took the bite, unsure who it was that was feeding him but not concerned as long as he knew it was one of the three of them.
Clover watched as Tai finished feeding Qrow, taking in the way they all seemed to be drawn towards Qrow, how all of them seemed more relaxed while caring for him. Took careful note of how at ease Qrow was with the three of them around him. It made him wonder if they would all benefit from being in Qrow’s place at some point. James could certainly use some taking care of. He knew he wouldn’t mind not having to worry about anything for a few hours and Tai could probably use a break as well.
He’d bring it up another time, after Qrow had asked to be freed. Maybe he could even get the older man to help him convince the other two. If he told them how relaxing, how freeing it was, then maybe they would agree to at least try. He started planning what to say while he cleaned up, thinking what would be the best way to word it. Maybe if he suggested going first, let them see how he was affected, then they would try. They would need to look into proper bindings, ropes and actual blindfolds. James came in to help him in the cleaning, apparently having turned Qrow over to Tai, Clover let his eyes trail up the tall form. The differences in height meant that he was reminded that collars would be needed to. It was always the last thing Qrow took off when he came down and Clover wanted to get him a proper one. He may as well get them all their own while he was at it, just to be ready.
The time for the rest of the night, while they waited for Qrow to ask to be freed, was spent with Clover discreetly making a shopping list of what kinds of things they would need to make this a regular occurrence. Even if he couldn’t convinve Tai and James to try (and he wasn’t going to give up that fight easily), he and Qrow could certainly do this from time to time. He was a little excited to try actually and he only hoped that Qrow would be calm enough to take control of him when he asked.