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Clover gave a bemused smile as his shepherd, Fortune returned with a small black and white corgi dancing around his long legs, stubby tail wagging wildly. The pale grey and white wolfdog, Sanctus, that James had adopted sat proudly in front of him, a small dog that looked quite similar sat at his feet, though the small dog had darker grey and some black on it’s head. “Looks like Sanct found a mini-me.”
James gave him a flat look as he knelt to get a better look at the dog, checking for a tag. He had to admit that Clover’s observation was not… completely inaccurate. He couldn’t tell exactly what breed of dog it was though it seemed to be some kind of spitz dog. It also had more defined lines where the color shifted and the dark grey and black on it’s head framed it’s dark eyes. Clover was watching as Fortune and the other dog danced around each other, the little corgi with the black back darting under the larger dog frequently. Deep blue eyes looked up from the adorable pup (the black heart with the red rhinestones lining it said Harbinger in neat script) sitting between his dog’s legs to see two men approaching with leashes that matched the harnesses on the two small dogs.
One man was a handsome blond with bright blue eyes, tall and broad, while the other was a beautiful raven haired man with pale red eyes, slender and slightly shorter than the blond by a few inches. The blond saw him looking and gave a friendly wave. “Hey there!”
“Hey! These are your adorable pups, I’m guessing.” Clover stepped over to meet them, holding out a hand. “My name’s Clover and that’s James over there. The shep is my Fortune and the wolf is his Sanctus.”
“I’m Tai and this is Qrow.” The blond took the offered hand, his grip solid and his smile warm. The burnette with the soft teal eyes was about his height, though the raven behind him with the deep blue eyes was taller than any of them.
“Nice names for your dogs. Better than this guy’s name anyways. He named his corgi Zwei.” Qrow drawled, rocking back on his heels while he gave a short whistle, his pup running over to sit at his feet.
Tai turned to glare at his friend. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with his name! You're the one that can’t name pets! What kind of name is Harbinger for a dog anyways?”
“Better than naming her Two!”
“Hey! He was the second one born! It makes perfect sense!” Tai crossed his arms defiantly, glaring at the slightly shorter raven he was arguing with. “And your dog is a pomsky! Harbinger doesn’t make any sense at all!”
“Excuse you! Har is a fierce bitch!” Qrow planted his hands on his hips, eyes glinting hard in the sunlight. The small pomsky, recognizing the command, stood at her dad’s feet and flattened her ears, growling at Zwei’s dad. Qrow broke the stalemate to grin down at her, kneeling to scoop her up in his arms and give her a treat. “Atta girl!”
Tai brought a hand up to his face, sighing heavily. “I still can’t believe you taught her to do that.”
“Better trick than watering the grass.”
“They’re flowers Qrow. And it’s a useful trick!” A poorly concealed laugh made both of them turn to the two men they’d temporarily forgotten about, one of whom was doing a very poor job of hiding his smile and laughter. “Oops. Sorry about that.”
James let himself smile, shoulder nudging Clover to the side while he tried to get himself under control. “Seeing as our dogs have made friends, perhaps you’d like to walk with us?”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Qrow shrugged, letting Harbinger down so she could run off to play with the boys. He arched a brow at the taller man when Tai immediately got into a discussion with Clover over what kinds of plants were in his garden and got an amused head shake in return. At least things seemed like they were going to be interesting….
~*~
James looked over to where Sanctus and Fortune were sitting mournfully by the door, both whining pitifully. There was a heavy thunderstorm today and they weren’t able to go to the park like they usually did. Typically the two dogs had no problem with the change, had no desire to go too long into the torrent of water, but that was before Zwei and Harbinger. Now though. Now they were pawing at the door, crying to see their friends and James had no clue what to do. Especially not when he sympathized so deeply with their desire. James was honestly a little upset that he and Clover wouldn’t be able to meet up with Tai and Qrow that afternoon, though at least being able to do office work from home meant that both of them were able to complete the day’s work without needing to go out in the storm. He worried a bit more for the two men he knew commuted to get to their jobs.
He frowned when both dogs suddenly sat up, heads whipping around to stare down the hall. James followed curiously when they went running excitedly though the house, ending up at the door of Clover’s room where Tai and Qrow were on the computer monitors with Zwei and Harbinger. Clover turned to smirk at him, obviously proud to have solved the problem of their moping dogs. James smiled and shook his head, ignoring the way Clover’s smirk made his heart pick up and the way Qrow’s laugh shivered over his skin from the speakers. The tall man joined them, sitting in the second chair Clover had just for him so that the four of them could talk while their dogs tried to play with each other through the screens. It was long after the video call had ended that James decided it was a wonderful way for the day to end, though he’d wait a bit before even hinting so at Clover. The man could be impossibly smug when he was complimented about some things and James never knew how to handle him when he was in those kinds of moods.
~*~
Clover opened the door with a smile, trying not to laugh at the sight of Qrow with Harbinger zipped up in his jacket, the little pup wiggling excitedly in her confinement. “Come on, Tai’s teaching James how to bake cupcakes so we’re in charge of keeping the pups out of the way.”
Qrow shook his head at the mental image as he entered Tai’s apartment, letting his baby girl down to go romp with the boys and hanging his jacket on the hook by the door. He turned when he noticed Clover struggling to close the door, gently pushing the taller man out of the way to grasp the handle. He lifted up slightly and slammed his body weight against the surface, finally getting it to close properly. Clover was frowning when he turned back to go into the living room, hands on his hips as if he could sternly glare the door into behaving like a good door should.
“The building is old, all the doors stick.” Some in worse ways than others.
“Not very safe is it?” Clover’s frown became a deep scowl when Qrow shrugged carelessly, far too used to it all to put in the effort of being bothered anymore.
“It’s fine if you know the trick to closing them.” It was probably better not to mention that his own door didn’t lock properly as an example. He had to bang his fist just above the lock when he turned it or it wouldn’t click into place.
Clover’s scowl didn’t lessen as they went to play with the dogs, listening to Tai laugh at something James had said. While Clover played tug-a-war with Har and talked to Qrow his mind was still on the door, on all the little things he’d noticed in the rundown building that Tai and Qrow called home. He wasn’t judging them for where they lived, he knew from past talks the two of them were struggling from losses they’d only hinted at, but he was worried about them. He made the decision, as he gently asked Qrow if his place was as bad (and learned that it was worse, apparently one of the windows wouldn’t close all the way and he had a feeling Qrow wasn’t telling him everything) to talk to James about the two of them moving in with them. The four had been friends for a while now, it wouldn’t hurt to ask. And they could always claim it was a holiday gift of sorts if the two men questioned their motives beyond wanting them to have safer housing. Whether he was emotionally invested in them being closer and safer was irrelevant to the main point.
~*~
“We have enough rooms here, the two of you could move in if your apartment building is truly so downtrodden.” James offered hopefully while they all sat around the living room.
He and Clover had talked about it already and decided that the two of them really did have more room than they needed (it was part of the reason James had asked Clover to move in with him in the first place, he’d never told Clover the rest of his reasons and probably never would) and the one visit to Tai’s apartment had left them worried about their friends’ safety. Especially after learning that Tai’s was in better condition than Qrow’s, which James hadn’t known about until Clover had told him. He’d seen the condition of Tai’s little apartment, he couldn’t even imagine how much worse Qrow’s was. His heart had clenched painfully enough at seeing what Tai lived with.
“I don’t know…” Tai glanced over at Qrow, who was biting his lip in thought. The raven was sitting on the floor, legs folded so Harbinger could curl in his lap with Zwei, Sanctus and Fortune pressed tight to the sides of his legs. He could tell that Qrow was truly considering it, he was badly tempted himself, but he didn’t want to speak for both of them. Part of him really wanted to though. Not only would it mean getting to move in with Qrow, something that they’d been making plans for anyways, it meant living with Clover and James, which was something he’d also started thinking about as they all got closer.
“Just give it a try? Please?” Clover looked between them pleadingly. “If you decide you don’t like it, the two of you could stay until you find a place to share together at least. Would that work for you?”
“I guess that would work for now.” Qrow agreed hesitantly, looking back up at Tai. “We’d talked about moving out and getting a place together anyways because we don’t feel safe in the building anymore…” Plus there was an actual yard here for their dogs to play in instead of a courtyard of weeds. Qrow knew Tai loved his little garden behind the flower shop but having one at the house, if James and Clover didn’t mind, would make the man even happier. Especially if they let him have a greenhouse so he could grow other flowers he’d been wanting to. He ignored the way his heart skipped a beat at the thought of them all sharing a home, the stupid thing could butt out before it got him into even worse trouble.
“Yea…” Tai trailed off, wondering if there would be room for Qrow to have an actual darkroom instead of blacking out his bedroom to develop his photographs. It was something to bring up later, after he had Qrow had talked more about it.
“Okay. You guys can take the rest of the week to talk about it. And if you both agree then we’ll be happy to help both of you move in before your next month’s rent is due.” James offered with a smile, trying not to show just how relieved he was that the two were even considering it. He truly hoped they did move in. Not only would it mean they got to spend more time with the two men, it also meant the dogs would be able to play together whenever they wanted and, most importantly, all of them would be safe.
~*~
Clover looked up at the small sprig, then over to the blond also staring at it. He wasn’t sure who had put it there, he would have bet money on Tai except the man seemed as caught off guard by it as he was. His next guess would be Qrow but he didn’t really care because it was all in good fun. Grinning, he happily leaned over to complete the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, the blond returning the kiss as good as he got. It went on longer than Clover would have thought it would, got a little deeper than he was expecting it to, but neither of them were pulling back and he knew Tai well enough to figure out that it wasn’t a compitiotion to see who’s stop first as much as it was something Tai had been wanting to do and finally getting the chance to do it.
It was something that stuck in Clover’s mind well after the kiss had ended, long after they had all gone to bed. It kept him up, tossing and turning, as he went over all the little things that he had been trying to ignore because he’d been sure Tai was in love with Qrow, for many good reasons. But then… He supposed he couldn’t say much on the matter. He’d been in love with James since he was a college freshman that ran face first into the sturdy chest of the then-senior because he’d taken a turn too fast to realize someone was in his way. Not that he’d ever regretted it. Clover still counted taking the wrong turn to be one of the best mistakes of his life after getting to know the taller man.
He had never been able to tell if James might welcome any advances though, so he’d never done more than flirt. Which was usually well received but not exactly returned. Tai flirted back but up until the kiss, Clover had thought of it more as playful banter like what he had with Qrow. Now he was seeing it in a whole new light and he liked what he saw. He just had to ask Tai if he’d be willing to try for something and risk things getting a little awkward if it didn’t work out. He could ask him in the morning, when he went out to help Tai with setting up the greenhouse. Even if Tai turned him down, he wanted to help out with the set up and planting. Clover had taken quite an interest in all the different things Tai grew for his shop after all, and was happy to learn however much Tai was willing to teach.
~*~
Qrow curled up on the end of the couch, Zwei and Har snuggled on his lap and Sanctus scooched up as close as he could get to his legs with Fortune on the other side of the large pale dog. He idly pet the four in turns while trying not to think about how close Tai and Clover had become since their kiss under the mistletoe. It wasn’t that he begrudged them their friendship or closeness. It was just that… He’d just gotten used to the way things were now that they were all living together and now they seemed to be shifting again. He wondered if James felt the same. James seemed to rely on consistency as well in his daily life, though maybe for different reasons than why Qrow did.
It had given them something to bond over a bit, back in the beginning of their friendship and it held them together as things changed and they tried to find a new steady rhythm to follow.
At some point, James helping Qrow develop and edit his pictures when he didn’t have his own work to do had become part of that routine. He wasn’t even sure when but it had grown to James helping in any way he could, even going so far as to buy a newer, better camera for Qrow to use. He’d even convinced Qrow to try digital cameras and pictures, though Qrow still preferred his own way of doing things. Qrow did concede that the digital one James had bought for him was better for letting him get into the frame when they were trying to do group photos. The admission was a peace offering of sorts, to make up for favoring the older style cameras, and James had recognized it as such with the camera Qrow used for his work now.
Qrow had been a bit surprised at how easily the four of them had fit together. There’d been minor things, small disputes of course because nothing was ever perfect but they’d been a lot less than what Qrow had expected. It made living together great, smoothing out the clashes of different personality traits much easier than it had been with others in the past. He’d like to take it as a good sign, a hint at what the four of them could be if they all wanted to be, but he wasn’t counting on it. He’d never been able to keep a strong, healthy relationship beyond Tai until meeting the other two and he wasn’t about to risk the only good things he’d managed to keep. Especially not now, when it seemed two of them may have taken a serious interest in each other.
He decided it was fine, offering nothing more than a friendly smile and a light teasing remark as the two he’d just been thinking about walked in and crashed together on the other end of the couch. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to sit back and watch Tai date someone. It wasn’t even the first time he’d also had feelings for whoever the blond was dating. It was just the first time he’d had to live in the same house as the dating couple. It would be a new adjustment but he could do it. He just needed a little time.
~*~
James blinked at the two, wondering if he’d somehow hit his head without realizing it.
“So the two of you have decided to date but… you want to date me and Qrow as well?” It wasn’t that James was against the idea, he was very much for it considering his feelings for the other three was a main motivating factor for offering them a place in his home, it was simply that he hadn’t expected them to offer such a relationship. Especially not after Tai and Clover had gotten together. If he’d imagined having a relationship with any of them at all after that point it would have been him and Qrow.
Still, neither man in front of him seemed thrown by his question of confusion. Tai actually smiled, reaching out to lightly hold his hand. “Yea. I mean, I’ve had it bad for Qrow for a while and Clover’s apparently had a thing for you but neither of us ever said anything and now that we’re getting together, well… We’ve encouraged each other to be more open and honest. So you know. Confessing. You guys don’t have to say yes if you aren’t comfortable with it of course, but… We’re asking.”
Deep blue eyes turned to Clover curiously. “How long?”
Clover blushed, ducking his head with a small smile. “Uh let’s just say I fell for you in every way when I first ran into you.”
James made a small, shocked noise, realizing that he and Clover could have been more this whole time. He went back on the thought almost immediately though, because there was always the chance that if they had been together, then they wouldn’t have considered dating Tai and Qrow. He was fairly certain that the only reason it was possible for all of them to try being together was because Tai and Clover were both very bold when it came to something they wanted. Or at the least, they were bold about going for it when they had someone else encouraging them, like they currently were with each other.
James smiled, breathing out softly with relief that things may seem to actually work out for all of them. “I accept… Have you spoken to Qrow already?”
There was a light grimace on Tai’s face and Clover pouted, taking over the conversation. “No. He’s been… Well, a bit distant? Since we got together. Which, you know, hurts cause we’re friends, but also makes us think that there’s a chance he feels the same and is trying to not get hurt.”
“Qrow’s got some history with relationships and he’s acting the same way he always did before when he was expecting to get dumped by a shitty ex.”
That tracked, since James had noticed Qrow had taken over caring for the four dogs when the others were working, often letting Tai go to the flower shop alone when before he would have tagged along to help if he didn’t have any work that day. James had some questions about that that he wasn’t sure he should ask but Clover interrupted his train of thought before he could even consider opening his mouth. “So we were thinking that since you guys spend so much time together, maybe you could ask him? He’s not pulling away from you.”
James nodded in understanding. “I can ask him later today when he gets back. We’ll be developing the newest rolls of film. I can bring it up while we're talking….” He hoped it would be an alright time to do so. It would be quiet and they wouldn’t be interrupted by anything so it was going to be his best chance but he prayed Qrow wouldn’t feel trapped in the darkroom.
~*~
“You… what?” Qrow’s hands nearly froze as he was pinning up the paper to dry. The two of them were nearly finished with their work and he was fairly certain James had timed his revelation to be so close to their finishing so that he would feel free to leave if he needed to. James might be oblivious to when someone was flirting with him (sometimes not as subtly as Qrow wanted to) but he had always caught on to when he was making someone uncomfortable and tried to fix it in his own (adorably) awkward way. Giving Qrow a door to run out at the end was something he’d think was a good idea and it was enough that Qrow almost smiled for him.
“They asked me to date them. I said yes. They want us to date you as well but they thought you might feel too overwhelmed if all three of us were there at the time. And Tai said that you were a little distant from them so they thought you might take it best if I asked.” James put up the last of the photographs to dry, turning to properly face Qrow for the first time since he’d recounted the offer he’d been given earlier.
It occurred to him that this may not have been as good a time as he’d hoped. The shadows in the room with the weak red lighting made reading Qrow’s expression more difficult than he would have liked and he had to focus to keep from scowling at it. He didn’t want Qrow to misunderstand what was bothering him, not when what little he could see of Qrow’s face gave him hope.
“They want… all four of us to date?” The idea of it had been in Qrow’s head for so long, longer than they’d even been living together, but he hadn’t dared to think it would ever come true.
“Yes. They were hopeful enough that you’d be willing to at least give us a chance that they were planning to turn dinner into an in-house date.” James stepped a little closer. “You know… Things wouldn’t change much from what they already are. We’d just have a little more is all.” One hand lifted to cup Qrow’s cheek, smiling softly at the soft sigh ghosting over his wrist when Qrow nuzzled into the touch. “Will you give us a chance Qrow?”
“Yea. Yea, of course I will.” Qrow smiled when the hand slid around the thread into his hair, pulling in forward so James could wrap both arms around him. He leaned into the sturdy form, closing his eyes briefly as he allowed himself to think that maybe, for once, things were going to be okay and stay that way.
~*~
Qrow smiled as they cleared away the dishes from their dinner date, still a little giddy at the thought of all of them being together.
In the corner snuggled together on the largest doggie bed, the four pups were piled together sleeping. He was incredibly thankful that Zwei and Har had run off that day to bring them all together and he was looking forward to a chance to grow as close as the dog had been from the beginning.