Work Text:
It felt so nice to sleep in an actual bed again, and even better to actually sleep in pajamas. Ruby stretched her arms, falling back onto the mattress, happily exhaling. When they were all on the road, none of them ever changed really. Just in case of a sudden Grimm attack or anything that would cause them to have to move quickly. The few times they were able to find inns were nice, but they were always having to leave early in the morning, anxious to make as much progress as they could. But now, they’d finally made it to Mistral and could let themselves breathe. Especially now that Qrow was okay.
It’d barely been a day since he woke up and he was already up and about, insisting that he was fine and he had things to take care of. Ruby wasn’t even sure if he even rested at all anymore. Now that she thought about it, ever since she was a kid, she could remember him always moving. Even when he visited he was always active, whether it was playing with her and Yang or even helping their dad make dinner. As they got older, his visits were less frequent. He was always going on a new mission somewhere far away. But she and Yang loved it, because he would always bring back a brand new story to tell when he came home.
A lot of his work came from Professor Ozpin; two peas in a pod , as her dad would always say. After Beacon fell and their journey to Mistral, she’d learned just how big it was. Her Uncle was risking his life all the time carrying out Ozpin’s work, but whenever he talked about he never seemed scared or upset. It seemed like whenever he even talked about Ozpin, he was more reposed.
I guess he and Professor Ozpin were really close. Ruby thought to herself. Sitting up, she pulled up the covers, settling underneath them. She laid on her side facing Qrow’s bed. She frowned looking at the empty bed. Her uncle really did do so much, but did he ever really take time to rest? She nuzzled into the pillow thinking back to the day they were attacked by Tyrian. After it was all over, they patched up Qrow. She’d asked him a million times if he was okay, and each time he insisted he was. And after revealing everything to them: the maidens, the relics, Salem, and his semblance….he wandered off, just like he always did at home. Only that time, she truly saw what it meant. She’d waited by the fire for him for a while. Ren volunteered to take watch at one point, but she insisted on staying. Eventually, she laid down in her sleeping bag, after almost falling forward into the fire from sleepiness; Qrow still wasn’t back. The next morning he was there, far away from them and-
Ruby gripped the pillow, squeezing her eyes shut to not think about it. He was fine now. He was fine. The empty bed across from her still left her uneasy. It bothered her. Uncle Qrow was awake before them and always later to bed. Her Uncle seemed so much different to her now. She closed her eyes, listening to the crickets outside, slowly drifting off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ruby’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked in the darkness, staring at the wall. Her eyes were sliding shut again before a noise reached her ears. She blinked again, listening; short rasps and moans sounded behind her. Slowly, she sat up looking over towards Qrow’s bed.
He was on his side, away from her, flinching and writhing. Short gasps and moans echo off the walls; A few tangible words slurring out.
“No….. no …...you can’t…..”
Immediately, Ruby throws off the covers, tiptoeing to the other side of Qrow’s bed. He’s still in his normal clothes. His face strained in pain and drenched in sweat. She flinched back as a louder cry escaped him.
“You can’t...you can’t go…..Oz…..no…”
“Uncle Qrow?” She whispered.
He continued to shake, hands in a death grip on the sheets. “I’m sorry….I-i’m sorry….Tai..come back….I-” He let out another cry, almost as if he was trying to scream out in pain. He curled in further, his knuckles as white as the sheets now. Ruby shot forward, shaking him by the shoulder.
“Uncle Qrow, wake up! Uncle Qrow!”
His eyes shot open, flickering around the room, gasping for air. They finally settled on Ruby. Sitting up, he looked away from her, running a hand through his hair. Ruby rose up slowly, tilting to try and see his face.
“Uncle Qrow...are you okay?” His breaths had slowed, but still shaky as he stared down at the covers.
“Yeah….” he breathed out, “I’m fine. I-...Go back to bed.”
Ruby looked down, rubbing her thumb over her hand. “Are you sure?”
He glanced over at her, brows furrowed in his trademark “worried uncle” look. “It was nothing, kiddo. Alright?”
“Okay.” Ruby slowly walked back toward her bed.
Qrow took his hand from his hair, cupping it over his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. After a few moments he laid back down, he could try to get a little more sleep; emphasis on the word try. He sighed as he tried to stop himself from shaking, the chill of the nightmare still ran up his spine.
Suddenly, he felt the covers lift for a second and the bed shift. He felt warmth against his chest. He opened his eyes to see Ruby laying in front of him.
“Ruby-”
“You had a nightmare.” She gave an awkward smile. “I remember when Yang and I were little and we had nightmares, you always did this. I know it always helped me,” she let out a small laugh, “You were the slayer of Grimm and nightmares.”
Qrow’s eyes sauntered up toward the ceiling, laughing a little himself. “Well, someone had to keep ya safe. I wasn’t gonna let any monster, real or fake hurt my nieces,” he chuckled pinching her nose. She giggled, swatting his hand away.
Quietly, she shifted closer, hugging Qrow; her head nuzzled right below his. “Well, someone has to keep you safe. And I think i’m old enough now.”
Qrow breathed out, smiling. “Maybe, kid. Just try not to make a habit out of it. You’ll cramp my style.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Ruby was happy to see Qrow peacefully sleeping again. Quietly, she got dressed and headed downstairs with Jaune and the others for breakfast; he deserved to sleep in and for once wake up later than them.