Gift

Prompt: No shipping! Character A has found the perfect gift to show character B how much they love them. (500 words)

"What should I get him?" Vesper asked as he moved from one display to the next.

From his side, Neo jerked her shoulders upwards. Which made him sigh, since girls were supposed to know better what guys wanted, right?

Well she didn't, and that left him with the need to figure it out himself. That turned out harder than he'd anticipated.

'Let's start by profiling him. Build a list of his interests,' Neo suggested, tapping on her scroll.

That made Vesper sigh again, more deeply. He wanted to give Qrow a gift, a symbol of his gratitude for the training and wisdom he'd recieved from him. But what could he get a guy like him that he couldn't get himself?

"Alcohol fills the top three spots, and women fill the next two..." he pondered.

'Some fine bourbon?' Neo wrote.

"Nah," Vesper answered. "I've never seen him care what he drinks, he only cares it's alcohol. A whisky tanker maybe," he joked.

As they scoured the mall, they came across an alcohol shop. With no progress in narrowing down any idea, Vesper decided to check it out.

He skipped the bottle filled shelves and made his way to the back of the room. A few stands packed with flasks greeted him, arranged from affordable to outright theft.

'Do you like any?' Neo asked.

He nodded his head, a silent no leaving his lips. The flasks were amazing, with intricate patterns on their surfaces. Especially the more expensive ones, ornated with gold and jewels and whatnot. But Qrow didn't fancy flashy from what he could tell, so all of that meant next to nothing.

"They're all neat, but it has to mean something..."

Neo tapped his shoulder and pointed at another stand. To a flask in particular, which she handed to him.

Keep Moving Forward was engraved on it's front, the words flowing over a ribbon that tied together two joined hands.

'It's made of silver too, so it's not some cheap piece of crap,' she wrote.

"I'll take it," he answered with excitement.

Neo reched for it, but he kept it away from her. He knew what she planned, so he took off towards the register.

"You're not stealing it for me, I gotta buy it myself," he told her.

'Suit yourself,' she answered.

Back at Vesper's appartment, they found Qrow in his usual spot in the kitchen. Vesper approached him slowly, his left hand behind his back.

"Hey, so..." he mumbled as he pulled out a rectangle wrapped in gift paper, "I got you something."

Qrow's eyes widened with surprise, and a smile appeared on his lips. Vesper placed the present down in front of him, and Qrow reached for it with giddy hands.

"What's the occasion?" He asked as he tore through the paper.

"It's a thank you. For your training, for believing in me, for everything you've done..." Vesper mumbled as his cheeks reddened.

Qrow pulled the flask out and held it in his hands. Looked at it intently, but didn't mutter a word.

"I know it can't make up for that, but..."

"I love it!" Qrow burst out and clutched it. "Thank you, kid..." his voice grew weaker. "Now come, sit your ass down and let's finish this bottle together."