Winter quickly and angrily stepped along the streets of Vale. She had only been away from Atlas for a few hours and she was already sick of the quaint, comparatively tiny city. Of course, that had less to do with Vale and more to do with the reason she was there. Winter tried to keep her emotions in check as she marched into the building she had been searching for: The Fallen Nevermore.
It was mostly empty, with the exception of the bartender, two patrons, and the reason Winter was there. She reflexively grabbed her sword upon seeing his own. Though he never turned around, Winter could tell that he noticed her. She approached him, preparing her speech on her way.
"Rocky, do you feel a draft?" groaned Qrow, downing the shot the bartender put before him. "It's almost the queen bitch of ice walked in."
"Branwen," said Winter flatly.
"Schnee. We done here?" Qrow slammed the empty glass onto the counter. "What do you want, Winter?"
"General Ironwood sent me to retrieve you and return you home. He's concerned for your safety." Qrow snickered dubiously. "Well, Ozpin convinced the General to be concerned."
"Well, tell Oz that I'm fine," grumbled Qrow. "And tell Jimmy to bite me."
"Must you be a child at all times?"
"Rocky, give me another." Qrow ignored Winter entirely, which greatly infuriated her. "And give Specialist Schnee here a shot. Or a map back to Atlas, whichever you have laying around."
"I don't drink," said Winter.
"No wonder I hate you."
"Branwen, what are you doing here?" sighed Winter. She crossed the bar and took a seat next to Qrow. "You're making things difficult." Rocky the bartender arrived with two shots, one of which was consumed immediately by Qrow. "My career depends on this. I need to bring you back home."
"I'm not leaving until I'm thoroughly plastered," chuckled Qrow. "Only way to beat me…" He slid the second shot closer to Winter. "Is to join me." Winter stared at the clear liquid for a moment before sighing, grabbing up the glass and draining it. As soon as she swallowed the shot, her chest and throat burst into burning pain.
"Ack! Dear lord, this is strong!" coughed Winter. Qrow chuckled.
"Lightweight."
"I already told you, I don't drink," said Winter. "Now hurry along. I need to return to Atlas by 0500." Qrow grumbled, then gestured for Rocky.
"Alright, alright, one more," said Qrow. Rocky quickly came along and filled Qrow's glass. "C'mon, Rocks, you know what I meant." Rocky nodded, turned to the shelf, and placed a bottle of scotch on the table. Qrow downed the shot, then popped open the whiskey and took a sip straight from the bottle.
"You're… You don't intend to drink that whole thing, do you?" asked Winter. Qrow shrugged.
"I paid for the bottle, someone better drink it," said Qrow. "Normally, my buddy Goldie is here to finish it off with me."
"Where is he?"
"The stomach of an Ursa," said Qrow. He took another big gulp of whiskey, looking down at the table. Winter watched the dejection in his face, and made a decision she was sure she'd regret.
"Barkeep, bring me a glass," commanded Winter. Rocky slid an old fashioned glass across the table. Winter yanked the whiskey from Qrow's grasp, filled her own glass, then downed it.
"What are you doing?" asked Qrow. Winter would've responded, if she wasn't busy choking on the fire of the scotch.
"I cannot let you drink that whole bottle by yourself," said Winter. "The General would be furious if I let you drink yourself to death." Qrow grinned, refilled Winter's glass, and drank with his bitter rival. By Winter's second drink, her speech began to degrade, much to Qrow's amusement. By drink number four, she was officially tipsy. When the bottle was finished and Qrow paid his tab, it became clear that Winter would not be leaving Vale any time soon.
"You got a place to stay?" asked Qrow. Winter slowly shook her head, rocking in her seat slightly. She slumped forward, leaning her chin on Qrow's shoulder.
"Nope, but I bet you knew that," she slurred. To Qrow's surprise, Winter ran her finger down his chest. "But maybe you can do something about that?"
"Are you asking to crash at my place?" asked Qrow. Winter giggled, which was frankly terrifying.
"I wouldn't expect you to let me stay for free," said Winter, winking slyly. "I'd be more than happy to pay you back for your hospitality."
"I don't want your Lien, Schnee."
Winter grabbed Qrow's hand and placed it on her hip, the rested her palm on Qrow's chest.
"Who said anything about Lien?" she asked. Qrow looked concerned for a bit, worried about Winter's erratic behavior and her attempt at seduction. When she woke up, she would be absolutely furious at Qrow. Then, he considered that she'd probably be angry at him anyway, so he reached the logical conclusion.
"Fuck it," said Qrow. "Let's head home."
When Winter woke up, she instantly went into full-out panic mode. Where was she? What happened the night before? Why did her head feel like death? How did she end up in her bed? Except…
She wasn't in her bed. Just a bed. She sat up, realizing as the sheet slipped that she was naked, and she now had a dimension of anger on top of her confusion. Winter did not recall taking her clothes off, she was in a strange bedroom, and she remembered nothing of the night before. She leaned over to the side of her bed and grabbed her sword. Just to her left, she noticed another sword. Qrow's sword.
Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place.
"Son of a bitch," whispered Winter.
"Oh, that language, Schnee." Winter's eyes darted up and to the right, where Qrow stood in the door, shirtless. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"What did you do to me?" demanded Winter.
"Not so much what I did to you, more like what I did for you." Qrow grinned in satisfaction. "Gotta say, you're a lot more fun when you're drunk."
"What time is it?"
"Noon."
"Damn it all, damn it all!" snapped Winter. She wrapped the sheet around her body, scrambling search of her Scroll. "Oh, this is it, my career is over! I'll be dishonorably discharged, I'll have to move back in with Father, if he even lets me! How could I let this happen?!"
"Calm your tits, Specialist," said Qrow. "It'll be fine."
"It will not be fine! I cannot believe I allowed you to distract me to such a degree that I did something as reprimandable and, frankly, disgusting as… What we did!"
"Schnee, I'm—"
"Qrow, it's over for me! I will be lucky if I'm allowed to be a secretary for the Atlesian government!" shouted Winter. "Now where is my damned Scroll?!" Qrow waved the communicator through the air. Winter leapt forward, missing her target entirely as Qrow sidestepped her.
"Give it back, Branwen!" ordered Winter.
"Your nipples are showing," said Qrow. Winter blushed, then quickly pulled the sheet up. "Shut up, Schnee, I'm calling Ironwood."
Winter's heart dropped into her gut. She choked on her own breath, the fear of a child striking through her. Her eyes welled up with tears, the prospect of her soiled career almost too much for her to bear.
"Qrow, I am begging you, and begging is not a thing I typically do," said Winter, her voice scarcely higher than a whisper. "Please do not do this. This job is my life. If I get booted from the Special Forces, everything about my life is over."
"Shut up, Schnee," repeated Qrow. He dialed a number on Winter's Scroll, setting it on speaker mode. It didn't take long for the line to connect.
"Schnee, I was expecting you back in Atlas hours ago," said the voice on the other line, General Ironwood. "I hope you have a good reason for this little excursion. I gave you a simple task, and your tardiness is, frankly, unacceptable."
"Y-yes, of course, General Ironwood," stammered Winter. "I apologize, I have no excuse, it was completely—"
"My fault, I got this, Winter," said Qrow suddenly. "I don't need you to cover for me."
"Oh. Hello, Qrow. What exactly do you mean?" asked Ironwood, irritation creeping into his voice.
"Winter came to the bar to pick me up just like you told her. Only thing is I was kinda belligerent and I may have taken a swing or three at her," said Qrow sheepishly. "She dealt with me, secured me down, but she took a bit of a beating. She kept an eye on me to make sure I didn't do any stupid."
"You attacked Winter?"
"Yeah, and if I wasn't drunk I would've beaten her." He grinned playfully at Winter. "But, this time, I only managed to bruise her a bit. I'll bring her back tomorrow, but she didn't sleep last night and I may have fractured her leg. She's not leaving Vale until the morning."
"That's not a decision for you to make," said Ironwood.
"I disagree. I'll call you when we're on our way." Qrow disconnected the call and threw it onto the bed. "There, I did a good thing."
"Why?" demanded Winter. "Why would you lie to the General like that?"
"Technically, I didn't. I was drunk, I was belligerent, as the prints on your ass can attest to." Winter blushed, which only made Qrow smile. "And take a beating? Well—"
"Okay, I get it!" Winter blushed fiercely. "Where are my clothes?"
Qrow chuckled, then left the room for a second. He returned with Winter's clothes, cleaned and ironed. He threw them to her and, after she glared at him for several moments, he turned his back while she dressed.
"You do realize that this is entirely pointless, right?" asked Qrow. "After last night, I've seen more Winter Schnee than I could ever need to see."
"My money. I had my Schnee card and twelve hundred Lien in my pocket," said Winter, ignoring Qrow's teasing. Qrow pulled the cash and credit from his pocket and handed it to a now fully-dressed Winter.
"I figured you'd be pissed if I got your credit card wet in the wash," said Qrow. "So, I just freed up your day. What do you plan to do in Vale?"
Winter had already made a series of decisions that were questionable at best, flat-out stupid at worst. And, based on the way she felt, she'd soon be making several more.
"May I… May I take you out for a coffee?" Winter almost couldn't get the words out without vomiting.
"You have it out of order, Schnee. You're supposed to ask me out first, and then we fuck," snickered Qrow.
"You are such a child. I am a lady, and it is rude to just… Have relations and leave. We should at least have a coffee," said Winter. "Plus… I wanted to talk to you about last night. I don't remember much."
"I was amazing," said Qrow simply. Winter groaned, her blush growing more intense. She actually remembered that much.
"That's not exactly what I meant. This is a big deal for me," explained Winter. "When I dreamed of my first time, I never expected it to be you."
Qrow was about to deliver a witty retort, no doubt about how glad she should be now, when Winter's comment actually registered in his brain. When it did, a wide grin spread on his face.
"Oh my God, I deflowered a Schnee," said Qrow, a tiny laugh in his voice. Winter gave a blushing nod. "Well, I don't just corrupt and dash. Coffee, you said?"
"And something for this god-awful hangover," said Winter. Qrow smirked. This wasn't what he was expecting, but that's what made it fun.
"Coffee it is, then."