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Qrow looked up from where he was tending his garden, curious since it wasn’t common for other merfolk to make their way to his island. He’d made sure he was far removed from most others for just that reason. But occasionally others would come for varying reasons and he was pretty sure he could tell what the reason was for this triad. He could see as they got closer that the one in the middle was injured, the other two hauling him through the water more than he was swimming through it. It was a wonder they’d made it past the enchanted reef to the calmer waters of his lagoon without being attacked given the blood that was seeping past the crudely made kelp bandages.
By the time they’d reached him, Qrow had already prepared a spot for them to place the blond for treatment. Healers were common enough within the mer communities but few were as versed as he was in the different methods of healing, few knew how to initiate the regeneration ability that was within their kind but dormant in so many of them. He was one of those rare few able to do so, thanks to his teacher though he preferred not to talk much of him. Qrow pulled the wrappings away to examine the damage and frowned at what he saw. The wounds under the wrappings were deep, curved in a way he recognized with the bite marks to match.
He’d been attacked by another mer.
Honestly, he’d expected the more common wounds caused by fishing vessels but it didn’t matter. He could still heal this. He reached for the things he needed from his garden, instructing the other two on where to find the things he couldn’t reach. It took time to see to every gash, every bite, but he methodically made his way across the strong body, going for the most severe wounds first. It was after everything was done, after the healing poultice was applied and the wounds were wrapped again, that Qrow took the time to really look at his guests while forcing down the usual tension of having unknown alphas in his territory.
The blond was broad, all of them were really, with a shimmering gold tail. There were orange stripes on his tail leading into his human torso where they stopped just under the gills on his ribs. The fins on his tail were the same color as his tail where they joined and turned the color of his stripes near the edges. He had fewer along the length of his tail than some others, just one set at his hips, a slightly smaller set near the lower middle of his tail and another smaller set near the end of his tail, likely because they were thicker. He had two short fins on his back instead of one long one, the first, larger fin, between his shoulder blades and the second at the base of his human torso. They were thick like the fins on his tail, low so they didn’t get in his way and matched the ones on his forearms. The end of his tail, the caudal fin, was heterocercal and shaped like a shark’s with the top lobe being longer than the bottom. The edges of his gills were the same soft blue shade as the claws and webbing of his hands, of the tips on his frilled ears. They were the same soft shade as the eyes that cracked open to look back at him before they fell closed again.
The second mer, a brunette, had a deep green, long serpentine tail with a spiny transparent,vivid green fin running almost the length of it on the top and on part of the bottom near the end, which fanned out similar to the blonds. He had other fins for maneuvering on the sides of his tail, four sets in total given how long he was and they matched the one along the top, the ones along his human spine and forearms. His gills and other tips, instead of being the same soft teal-green of his eyes, were the same bright green of his fins. He had curled up next to the injured mer, relief clear on his face as he combed his fingers gently through the locks that swayed with the waves. Qrow could see the similarities between their tails and could tell that they both had the same kind of skin covering them that sharks did.
“Thank you for saving him. What do we owe you for your work?” Qrow turned his attention to the final guest, larger than the others if you excluded the length of the brunette’s tail, with deep blue eyes and hair as dark as Qrow’s own. The first thing Qrow noticed about his tail was that the main part of it was built similarly to the blond’s, though his had a fluked end instead. The colors were vastly different though, with it being mostly a dark blue, matching his gills and tips, and having just a descending streak of uneven white down his pelvis. Unlike the other two, the skin of his tail looked smooth and Qrow was willing to bet it would feel like a whale’s. He cleared his throat, dragging his attention back to the blond.
“I…” He didn’t have a ready answer. So few people came to him that he rarely charged for his aid, figuring that if they were desperate enough to come all the way out to find him then that was payment enough. However, the blond was badly hurt and would need time to recover, which meant them staying with him in his home. And while Qrow found the idea of actually charging to save a life distasteful, he could use some help around the island while they were here. “Your friend will need time to heal before it’s safe for him to return home.” Wherever that was. “If you wouldn’t mind, I could use some help moving some things that are too large or heavy for me…”
“Of course. Just direct us to wherever you need us.” Deep blue eyes regarded the two resting mers fondly, turning back to Qrow with a soft light. “Truly, we can’t thank you enough. My name is James, the one you saved is Taiyang and the one with him is Clover. You are Qrow, correct?”
“Ah, yea.” It wasn’t a surprise that they already knew his name. There were stories of him after all and they would have had to have heard them to know to bring Taiyang here to be saved. He waved a hand at the bedding he’d made. “You may need to make it a bit bigger to fit all of you but I’m guessing you won’t have any problems sharing?”
“No, we will be perfectly fine.”
“Okay. If you need me, I sleep in that cove over there.” Qrow pointed to a spot, far off but still within sight. “If anything happens, don’t hesitate to call. Some of those wounds are deep and if he moves wrong they could reopen.” He waited until after James had sworn to call for him if anything happened before he turned and made his way to his sleeping place.
James watched their savior swim away, fins flaring as he made his way through the water. The healer was smaller than them, explaining his request for aid in moving things. James knew it wasn’t a matter of strength so much as it was likely the awkwardness of moving things so much larger than himself. His tail was long, though not in the same way Clover’s was, and had pale shimmering pearlescent scales that were so small they nearly blended into each other. He had more fins along the length of it, thin translucent things that matched his tail where they joined before shading into a pale red and then into black at the tips. The fins at the end were the same colors, but there were more than the usual two, creating an almost ruffle effect like the ones lining his tail. The one on his back was a long, low, soft looking thing that paired beautifully with the ones on his forearms. The gills were edged the same pale red as his fins and eyes while his tips were colored with faint black. The ruffle that caught James's eyes, that was meant to catch their eyes, was the pelvic ruffle that indicated a female or a male omega.
It was the same thing that was likely the cause of Qrow living so far away from other merfolk.
James had met very few omega males among their kind and only one alpha female because of their rarity but he knew from past experience that that particular ruffle meant Qrow was an omega. And despite them all growing up in different families and villages, all of them had shared one distinct trait. They’d all been defensive and confrontational because they were treated as prizes more than people. Seen for their ability to both sire and birth young in a society that was constantly being hunted without being seen for who they were. If Qrow was such a skilled healer on top of that, well, it was no wonder he’d come all the way out to this island to make his home. And being so far away and on his own may explain why he seemed less defensive than the others he’d met in the past. Hopefully the smaller male would be comfortable with them being around while Tai healed. He didn’t want Qrow to be stressed in his own home but it didn’t seem like they had much choice but to stick around.
He turned back to the others once the pale form was out of sight, making the adjustments he needed to make so that the three of them could sleep comfortably. Despite what many might think, it wasn’t too uncommon for alphas to bond together since omegas were so rare and betas couldn’t fully understand what they went through because of their dynamic. It was slightly less common for three of them to bond together but still not unheard of with their dwindling numbers. As he drifted off into sleep curled with the other two, he wondered if the three of them being together would help put Qrow at ease.
~*~
Tai woke up to both James and Clover with him, his injuries wrapped and the pain less than he was expecting. He didn’t recognize the area they were in, so it wasn’t one of their usual spots to take refuge in, though given what he remembered last that wasn’t too surprising. He wondered what happened to the two females that had attacked him but brushed it aside for later when movement caught his eyes. The pale face approaching looked familiar, though Tai wasn’t sure if that was because it was similar to one of the females that had hurt him or if it was because he had a vague memory of this mer working on him after they’d gotten away.
“Hello. My name is Qrow. How are you feeling Taiyang?” Long fingers touched lightly along the wrappings, checking for anything that needed changed or further tending.
“Better than I was before I got here. And just Tai is fine.” Tai’s eyes trailed over the lean form, lingering briefly on the ruffled frills that weren’t usually there before traveling back up to meet patient red.
Qrow offered a small, gentle smile. “Tai it is then. I don’t know who decided to take an issue with you but they did quite a bit of damage. You’ll need to stay down while you recover so if there’s anything you need, ask one of us to get it for you.”
Tai snorted softly, shoulders hitching. “I don’t know what their problem was. They just came at me out of nowhere.” It was difficult to keep his voice down to avoid waking the two men sleeping. Usually they were light sleepers and if they hadn’t woken yet with all the talking then they must have been truly exhausted. “It was weird though. Like they were trying to hurt me only enough to catch me but if I happened to die then it wasn’t a big deal…” Qrow’s hands froze while in the process of checking a particularly deep bite on his shoulder so Tai was able to see the way sharp teeth pressed into the soft bottom lip. “You either know what was going on or have an idea.”
It wasn’t a question and Qrow didn’t treat it as one. “Was one of them a woman with red eyes and a black and red tail?”
“Yea. Looked a bit like you but I thought I was just imagining it.”
Qrow sighed as he resumed his task, ignoring the way the other two men were stirring awake. “No. If it was who I think it was then you met my twin, Raven. Our tribe…” He shook his head, floating back so that the others had room to move now that he was finished. “Our tribe takes whatever they want from other tribes and settlements. I never understood the purpose, we have more than enough enemies with humans and predators in the water but arguing with my grandmother, Salem, was… not wise. From the sounds of it they were planning to take you either for labor or breeding. Hard to tell really, though it probably would have ended up being both.”
“Is… breeding… common with your tribe?” James tried to keep the judgement from his tone but he was certain some of his distaste leaked through. Even in his home near the coast, where death was common, such measures weren’t taken to keep their numbers up.
Qrow grimaced, nodding sullenly. “Even amongst ourselves. It’s one of the things that finally drove me to leave them and come here. There was a warrior, an alpha, in the tribe, skilled at killing, that Grandmother favored. She promised him a reward after an exceptionally fruitful raid and… he asked for me.” A shudder ran through the pale mer from the top of his head to the tips of his tail as he remembered how gold eyes had run over him eagerly, hungrily.
“And she granted him that?” Clover was aghast that the woman would give away a member of her own family as a gift. In the settlement where he was raised, family bonds were closely cherished just like the one Tai grew up in. Green eyes flickered to James, the only that had grown up in a settlement near a human port but even he was frowning. Which told Clover that even in a village where bonds were valued but easily lost, Qrow’s grandmother wouldn’t have been accepted for the actions she took.
“Without hesitating.” There was no hiding the bitterness in his tone and he didn’t even try. He could match any warrior in the tribe, if not best them, but he’d been given away as if his own skill meant nothing. He had hated going on the raids, despised killing innocent people but he’d done it because he’d feared what his grandmother would do if he didn’t. And in the end it hadn’t even mattered. He’d still been disposable in her eyes, easily offered to one whom she favored more. One who took joy in every kill, who made a game of it. He shook his head to clear it. “Anyways, yea, that was what finally drove me to run away. I hadn’t been happy living with my tribe but… It was home, you know? But after that… It didn’t feel like home anymore.”
Tai’s lips pursed, eyes out to the wide ocean beyond the barriers Qrow kept and for just a moment, he wondered what kinds of things the wounded blond was seeing. Wondered if maybe someone else might know how it felt to be so betrayed. Part of him would have liked someone else to understand the feeling but more of him hoped none of them had ever been faced with that kind of treachery. As nice as it would be to have a kindred spirit, he wouldn’t wish that kind of thing on anyone. He sighed, shaking the thought away.
“Well, it’ll take two or three weeks, at the least, for you to heal enough to travel, even with my help, so why don’t we get you guys set up a little better for the stay?”
~*~
James looked around the little space they’d been given after settling the grumbling Tai down into the nest Qrow had made for him. The other alpha had wanted to swim over to their new space on his own but a glare from the omega and a stern look from both the other alphas had kept him in bed. Not quietly but still, he’d obeyed and allowed himself to be carried and really, that was far more than James had expected. Tai was used to being the caretaker of the triad. He was the one always making sure, sometimes with force, that James and Clover were resting enough. He was the one who took care of them when they were sick or injured. Being forced to sit and do nothing while he recovered was probably more than a little weird, if not outright uncomfortable, for Tai, as irrational as James knew the feelings to be.
Qrow may have said Tai could travel in a few weeks but the tone he’d said it in made James believe that it would be risky to try so soon and their stay was likely to be a month or more which was something he wanted to bring up the first chance he had with Qrow alone. He got the chance later when Clover was helping make the spot they’d been given into a temporary home. Qrow had asked for James’s help with moving one of the larger objects that had washed into his home and of course he had agreed to help. He waited until after they had finished to bring up his concerns.
“Qrow, I have a question for you if you don’t mind sparing some time.”
“I don’t mind. There’s really not a lot to do around here once the plants are tended to and I always do that first thing when I wake.”
James nodded absently, he had seen Qrow doing so earlier and Clover had needed to wrap his tail around a squirming Tai to keep him from going to help before James had settled him. “You said it would take a while for Tai to heal but…. I am fairly certain that the time you gave is longer than it should be with your help?” It was a question more than a statement as he didn’t want to come across as confrontational to the omega who hadn’t needed to help them.
Qrow dipped his head, letting out a soft sigh. “My sister and I have poison that we can release through our claws.” He held out his hand, allowing the large alpha to take it and peer more closely at his nails, seeing the faint lines that ran through them to carry the poison.
“I see.” James cradled the slender but strong hand in his own gently, not quite ready to let go as he realized just how close they had come to losing Tai. “In that case we owe you even more for saving him. We never would have known what to do about poison, if we’d even realized he had been poisoned.”
Qrow cleared his throat, tugging his hand free of the light grasp as he drifted back in the current. “Like I said, you don’t really owe me anything but I’ll happily accept any help you’re willing to give while you’re around.”
“Whatever you need. Just let us know.”
~*~
Qrow watched with critical eyes as Tai swam a careful circle, testing the healing injuries. He knew he was helping the wounds to mend much more quickly than they usually would but he knew there hadn’t been enough time to pass for Tai to have healed enough to do too much. Still, he stayed back and let the restless mer work out the muscles that were probably twitching with the need to be used. As long as Tai was careful and kept his swims down to short periods of time, Qrow thought they could let him move about a bit. He was also fairly certain that it was only because he was watching that James was keeping Clover back, though even from a distance he could see the way the long serpentine tail writhed against the sand.
He was relieved that James was half pinning the young alpha to the ground to keep him in place because he worried that if Clover were free he might try to force Tai back into the nest he’d made them and risk reopening the wounds. So far Tai was being very careful not to push himself too far or too hard and as long as he kept that up Qrow was okay with letting him move around a bit. He didn’t want to risk the muscles atrophying too much after all. Even with this small bit of movement, Tai was going to need time to rebuild his strength. It was going to take time though. Until then maybe he could let the blond help him with tending the garden he kept. The blond alpha had shown an interest when he’d first arrived.
~*~
Clover jolted when Qrow cleared his throat, startling him from looking at all the shells and other containers of cultured plants and poultice. He blushed slightly at the raised eyebrow, scratching at his heated cheek. “I uh, I was just… Looking?”
Qrow’s lips quirked into a small smile as he sawm closer, fingers trailing over the various items on his shelf. “Do you want to learn?”
Wide eyes jumped to meet his. “What?”
“Healing. Do you want to learn?”
“Wha-....” Clover cleared his own throat nervously. “What makes you think I would want to, or that I can?”
A quiet laugh filled the space between them. “Well, for one, when I was first helping Tai you were the one doing the most to help me whenever I needed a hand. You barely gave James a chance to do anything. Secondly, you’ve been poking around my things.” He waved at the cave where most of his healing things were stored to indicate what he meant. “And you have been asking things about what I do.”
“Ah, yea.” Clover let himself laugh a little too, his shoulder easing down from the defensive hitch they’d risen into. “I guess you’re right.”
“So… Do you?”
“Would you teach me?” Clover perked up at the idea of being allowed to learn from the more experienced healer.
“I’d be happy to. Come over here, we’ll start with the plants in the garden and what they’re best used for.”
Clover happily followed after Qrow, the spines of his fins flexing with contained excitement. While he knew how to fight as well as the other two alphas could, none of them knew how to really heal and while he had become fairly skilled at tending injuries, Clover was looking forward to the chance to learn how to improve his skills. It would be a great help for when they got back on the move, though Clover was beginning to wish they could settle down here as a home. With Qrow’s permission and consent of course. It was something he hadn’t had since before he’d met the other two, not since his birth village had been attacked and the people scattered.
It was nice to have a place to sleep peacefully without having to worry about what might happen upon them while they were vulnerable. They didn’t have to take shifts if they feared they were being hunted, didn’t need to constantly keep on guard here. It was a proper home here, with all the safeguards and wards in place to keep it hidden and protected but to them it was a temporary as anything Tai put together when they were travelling and it made his heart ache tho think that once Tai had healed, once he’d learned everything he could from Qrow, they would have to leave.
~*~
James came back from his hunting to see Clover crowded near Qrow, earnestly watching over his shoulder while the smaller mer mixed certain things together. He couldn’t hear what was being said but he could see Qrow’s lips moving as he explained what he was doing and why. Over in the garden, Tai was slowly swimming over the plants, settling down between the beds of different plants while he tended to them and rested at the same time. The blond alpha had more or less taken over caring for the garden while he healed as it gave him something to do that wouldn’t strain his injuries and made him feel useful in some way while he was recovering. Qrow had allowed it once he realized Tai already knew everything he needed to know about raising the plants to be strong and healthy. It was as James brought what he’d caught over that he realized just how easily they’d settled into Qrow’s home.
It had been so easy to find a place for each of them, almost too easy, and he wondered if it was because they took so well to Qrow if it was the reason or if it was because they had been so long without a real home.
At least Qrow didn’t seem to mind the three of them invading his territory. The hesitation he’d shown initially had vanished after the first few days and weeks later it had no signs of returning. Considering how Qrow had grown up in a tribe where he had to constantly be on guard around even his own family, James didn’t take the trust they were being shown lightly. He also recognized that most of them had fallen into courting habits, though he wasn’t sure if Qrow had noticed. Given his tribe’s penchant for simply gifting each other as a reward or taking what they wanted from outsiders, he highly doubted courting was much of ritual for them, if courting was done at all.
James wanted to know more of what Qrow was familiar with, both so they could try to court in a way he might recognize and so that they didn’t do anything that might trigger a bad memory, but asking could very well do the exact thing he was trying not to do. The simple fact was, there was no way to avoid bringing up the painful past if they wanted to know anything about Qrow at all. As Qrow caught sight of him and swam over, leaving a slightly panicked Clover to practice on his own, James decided it might be best to start by sharing some of his own history. He could do it after they had all eaten. Qrow had mentioned something about making an archway for one of the doors and James had volunteered his help with it.
~*~
Qrow couldn’t help the soft smile as he gave James instructions on what he wanted. He didn’t tell James how to build the archway, the large alpha knew more about building than he did, but he did give a detailed description of what he wanted for James to work with. He had to admit that it was nice to have the three of them around. There was always the soft murmur of voices in the water nearby when they talked, the gentle shift in the waves from their movements. And though he’d never admit it, he felt safer with them around. James had taken the unofficial job of guarding the territory on top of hunting for them and Qrow was fairly certain it was the reason he hadn’t had to fight off any stray alphas that occasionally floundered into his home.
The feeling of company and safety from the alphas was a powerful thing and he’d caught himself more than once trying to word an offer for them to stay that didn’t sound like he was trying to guilt them or like bonding him would be required for them to call his place home. Not that Qrow was against being mated to the three, only that he wanted to make sure it was something they actually wanted as well. He didn’t want them to feel like they had to to stay. Qrow’s tribe may have been brutally different than most mer villages but he knew what was usually done in courtships and he knew that it was usually the alpha who provided the territory for building a home. Beyond that though, he thought he recognized some of their behavior. He just had to determine if it was because they were interested in him, if it was because they wanted to stay, or if it was just them trying to be helpful while they were living with him.
He sighed heavily to himself, frustrated with how hard it was to determine their motives but it was partially his own fault. By isolating himself so thoroughly from the rest of his kind, he’d also negatively impacted his ability to read social cues. He didn’t regret it entirely but he wished it hadn’t been necessary to stay safe.
“I can understand why you built your home out here. It’s beautiful and very peaceful.” James’s voice brought his eyes back from where they’d wandered to Clover excitedly telling a slightly bemused Tai everything he’d learned that morning about healing. “The village I grew up in was along the coast.” Qrow felt his stomach clench, guessing what the next words were before they were spoken. “The humans built a port city not far from us and… Well, we were never really safe after that. Always had to be on guard for ships and fishermen…”
Qrow moved closer, lightly running his hand down the side of James’s back in comfort. “Back when my tribe had an actual village, when my grandmother was still young, they were along the coast. They were raided and most of them were caught and killed. My grandmother lost nearly everyone when it happened and… That’s what made her change the way things were. She decided if we didn’t settle into one place, they would have a harder time finding us and well… You’ve got an idea as to what all else she changed.”
“We were raided too.” James twisted, catching Qrow’s hand in his own. “We fled to another village further out and unfortunately we brought the ships after us. That village was also attacked.” He wished desperately that Clover’s home hadn’t paid the price for his own village trying to find safety and shelter but he was grateful that Clover had never blamed him for it. It would have been so easy to do but never once had he. Not even in their worst arguments had Clover thrown the past at him.
“That’s on the humans for hunting us. Not on you or yours for trying to escape.” The words were similar to what Clover had insisted over and over again and this time, James let them sink into him. Hearing them from Qrow, from someone who owed him nothing and hadn’t had an attachment to him allowed him to believe it a little more than when Clover told him. Clover, he had always reasoned, had been stealthily courting James shortly after their arrival in the village (or as stealthily as Clover got anyways, which meant that only half the village knew what he was doing instead of all) and James had saved him from being caught in a net when they’d escaped. The green tailed mer had reasons to comfort James’s guilt. Qrow didn’t have either of those reasons. James closed his eyes letting his body relax a little. Qrow caught him as he drifted down, pulling his head to his shoulder and carefully wrapping his arms around the wide shoulders.
Qrow took James’s weight, keeping them both afloat in the water as the alpha sagged into his arms. He wondered, as he ran the tips of his fingers through the other’s hair soothingly, how long James had been blaming himself for something he held no real responsibility for. It took a moment for Qrow to realize that the distant voices had fallen silent. A discrete peek showed him that both the other alphas had paused what they were doing to watch them and while he’d expect some kind of frown or visual displeasure at their bondmate being with him in such an open manner, all he could see was relief and a touch of confusion. Obviously they felt James needed this, though they didn’t know what had caused it, and they didn’t seem to mind at all that he was the one James had finally turned to. It gave him a little hope that maybe they might want to stay, he just had to offer.
~*~
Deciding to ask the three to stay and actually doing it were two completely different things, Qrow realized. It had been weeks since he’d finally made the decision to ask them if they wanted to stay and he still hadn’t done it. Now Tai was healed enough that he was able to move about without hurting or being worried about reopening any injuries. He’d spent the last several days rebuilding his strength so he could swim with his two bondmates while they travelled and be able to keep up. He’d still need more breaks than before but he was nearly back to full strength after his recovery.
Qrow was running out of time and he could feel the weight of that decision weighing on him more heavily with every day he went without acting on it. He felt it more now than ever as he sat in his underwater grove, alone and surrounded by painfully familiar silence while the three alphas made a circuit around the island to test Tai’s stamina. He was certain he wanted them to stay, was almost as certain they wanted to stay, but he was still trying to figure out why. It wasn’t the first time he’d let someone stay with him while they recovered but every other time in the past had come with a feeling of being invaded. His skin and scales had practically chafed at the feeling of someone else moving through his waters. Their voices had been jarring, too loud and out of place.
Why were these three different?
Qrow thought that it might be in part because they had spent so much time making sure to treat him as an equal. Getting to know him and his boundaries as opposed to assuming he would conform to them. It was also nice that they’d tried to find a place to fit into his home while they stayed. He could also admit that it was fun teaching Clover how to heal, though he’d learned most of what he could use with their nomadic lifestyle already. He could learn more of course, but it would only do him good if they found a home and settled down for him to have all the supplies he needed to use the skills. Which brought his mind back to them staying with him instead of moving on and leaving him behind like so many others, with the biggest difference being that this time, he didn’t want them to go.
Qrow was so caught up in the solitude and isolation of being on his own again that the sudden laugh from Clover startled him when the alphas returned. He let out a deep breath slowly as he calmed back down, swimming over to greet them and ask how things had gone. Tonight. Qrow would ask them to stay later that night before they all retired to bed.
~*~
“Qrow, is something wrong? You’ve seemed on edge a bit the last few days…” Tai brushed his hand against Qrow’s shoulder lightly, calling for the other’s attention without being too forceful about it.
Qrow allowed a small smile, eyes drifting across the three waiting for his answer. “I’ve just been thinking…” He looked out across his home and remembered how painfully quiet and empty it had felt without the other mers with him. “I was wondering if the three of you would like to stay here? You’ve all found a place in my home and Tai has already set up your cave. I can still teach Clover more if he wants…” Qrow bit his tongue, silencing himself as it started to feel like he was attempting to convince them to remain. Not that it seemed to be an issue as both Tai and Clover threw hopeful looks at James.
The largest alpha gave them a soft smile. “We were worried about intruding on your territory but I think we would love to finally have a home and the one you’ve made here is beautiful.”
Qrow couldn’t quite fight the smile, an almost giddy feeling bubbling inside him, as both Clover and Tai cheered, swimming around excitedly as they immediately began debating what changes to make to their living chamber to make it more permanent. Soft red eyes met deep blue when James chuckled, a similar smile being on his face.
“Thank you for opening your home to us.”
“Thank you for bringing more life to it.”
~*~
Qrow looked up when Tai nudged his side, suppressing a sigh as he saw who was swimming into the lagoon. At least it would give Clover a chance to practice what he’d been learning. Junior showed up fairly often, usually for small things that didn’t actually need Qrow’s help to heal properly, so whatever it was should be easily handled by the novice healer. He noticed Junior slowing down some as he got close enough to realize Qrow wasn’t alone, approaching more slowly as he sized up who else was in Qrow’s home. By the time he’d reached them, Qrow had already called Clover over to where he treated the wounded and had gotten a good enough look to see the long but shallow gash that ran from under Junior’s ribs to almost the midpoint of his black and white striped tail.
There was a subtle look on Junior’s face that Qrow couldn’t quite place while the alpha settled into the bed. It sharpened into something more definable as Qrow directed Clover on what to do, becoming something like distaste. Qrow could feel tension in Cover’s muscles when he settled a hand on his shoulder, carefully explaining which salve needed to be used for the greatest effect. He could feel Tai and James moving closer though the currents of the water, likely reacting to the tension in Clover, and the look on Junior’s face shifted to something that resembled a sneer.
Qrow shifted, noticing Junior’s tail drifting towards his own, something that happened often when he was treating the alpha. At least with Clover being the main one to tend to the injury it meant that Qrow was out of range for Junior to conveniently brush up against him at every opportunity under the guise of not being able to hold still. He was also unusually silent while Qrow gave Clover instructions. There was none of the aggressive flirting Qrow usually had to navigate though Qrow wasn’t completely certain the angry, sullen sulking was much better. Qrow had turned the alpha down more times than he cared to count but Junior had never given up. It was uncomfortable, at the least, when he’d do it while injured because Qrow had never turned away an injured mer asking for treatment and no matter how persistent Junior was, Qrow had a job to do.
Even though Junior’s eyes kept drifting over him, obviously looking for any claiming mark, there was a small, budding hope that maybe with the three alphas now living with him that maybe Junior would stop showing up for every scrape and scratch as an excuse to harass him. The hope bloomed into something a little more when the alpha left, still without saying a word, only glaring at the way Tai threw an arm around both his and Clover’s shoulders to cheer the green alpha on for having taken care of his first patient. It was nice, comfortable, safe, to feel Tai’s arm around him and he laughed lightly as he was dragged by the gold mer along with Clover to “properly celebrate” the success.
~*~
Qrow glared down at his treacherous tail with chagrin. It was late morning, long past time for him to have left his sleeping chamber to join the others for their morning meal and he knew if he didn’t go soon they would come looking for him in concern. The problem was that they would know what the colored scales covering him meant and this wasn’t how he’d intended for them to find out. He’d wanted to feel things out a bit more with the triad, figure out if they were even open to having a fourth mate join their bond, and then, if they were willing, working on building a relationship from there. Apparently his biology had decided to jump ahead of those plans and completely ruin everything.
“Qrow? Are you alright?”
Qrow’s heart leapt up into his throat at the sound of Clover’s voice right outside his chamber and he darted to hide behind a rock table that was too small to actually do much to hide his tail.
“Qrow? I’m coming in.”
Shit! Qrow should have said something! If he had, he could have convinced Clover to go back to the other two. He could have bought himself more time, tried to come up with some way of hiding the revealing scales. Instead he was now looking into the wide teal eyes of the youngest alpha as he caught sight of the bands of color on Qrow’s tail. Soft red hesitantly lifted only to see a delighted little smile on Clover’s face, though he still stayed semi-hidden.
“I’ll, uh… I’ll tell the others you’re going to be a few minutes longer.”
Qrow’s head lightly thunked against the table when Clover shot back into the open water, thoughts racing with all the things that might happen. At least, if Clover’s reaction to the revelation was any indication, his feelings for them would be well received. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Qrow followed the same path Clover had just taken, finding the three alphas converged in the garden. From the looks of things Tai had been in the process of tending to it when the other two had joined him. There was a hopeful light in both James and tai’s blue eyes as they looked over to him, both gazes locking on the banding on his tail. He fought back a blush at the way they all looked at him with something edging towards joy.
“I was gonna say something… eventually. After…” He waved his hand, eddies swirling around in the water, while he tried to get across that he’d meant to take things slow before his tail decided they were going to dive right in.
“We had been discussing ways to court you as well. This,” James made a small motion towards the deep pink and dark silver shading, “only means that we don’t have to spend time discovering if you would accept it.”
“Yea! You just saved us a lot of time and awkward talking.”
Qrow rolled his eyes at Tai, allowing a small laugh as he finally relaxed a little. So maybe his tail giving his interest away wasn’t ideal and it certainly hadn’t been part of the plan but at least it worked out in his favor. He let Clover pull him into his side, tails twining together as they drifted down to the sand while James and Tai debated what they should do for their first courting date. There was an immense sense of relief that even if his tail was telling them he was interested and ready to be bonded, they still wanted to go through the steps of courting to build the relationship like he’d intended to. He was looking forward to whatever the alphas decided on as he curled closer to Clover. Whatever it was, he was sure they knew him well enough to pick something they’d all enjoy.