A/N: The rest of the story should be up over the next few days, so prepare yourself for an influx of chapters from 21-30. I'm excited to finish this fic!
Let me know what you think!
Scribbles
-competing-
When did it first begin?
Was it during the first time Glynda had been teaching Team STRQ and coaching them through the tournament rounds? Had it begun the night before that very first opening ceremony in the teachers' lounge, where James had first boldly announced that his teams would take the cup over Beacon's students?
Or had it really, truly begun years earlier, when a brash seventeen-year-old boy kept stealing her seat in class to get her attention?
Either way, it didn't matter. All that really mattered was that, despite all of their intimate moments and kind words and nights spent in each other's arms, the basis of their relationship was competition. And nothing felt sweeter than watching the panic on smug, stupid little James Ironwood's face when her students demolished his in the Vytal Festival Tournament every two years.
She wasn't keeping count. It was just healthy competition. (She was winning. He hated it.)
Although she would never admit it, her favourite times were when the competition was held in Vacuo. Their liquor was cheaper, the professors rowdier, and even though she couldn't see herself working there in the long-term, Shade Academy was a fun place to be for those few weeks during the tournament proper.
There was also just the possibility that she preferred attending the tournament as far away across Remnant as possible. Whenever it was held it Beacon, she invariably had to take on far too much of the planning by herself. Organizing international student schedules wasn't an easy task, after all.
There was also another issue with hosting the tournament. Whenever their teams competed in Vale, Walter was always there in the audience, ready to give unwanted commentary. Without fail, he would always end up in Crow Bar just when Glynda and the other Huntsmen went out to celebrate (and mourn) their students' achievements, or lack thereof. The others never noticed his presence- but Glynda always saw him, whether she wanted to or not.
James and his damned tattoos. If it weren't for his Semblance, she would have gotten rid of the southern man years earlier.
As the years wore on, however, she began to avoid Walter more explicitly. Whether he realized it or not, his demeanor had changed since she had first met him nearly a decade earlier. No longer was he made of coy smiles and teasing comments, trying to get under her skin. Glynda almost wished he had kept doing that.
"Your students won again," he commented dryly after a particularly rousing match between her students and James'. "I'm not surprised. You've always been the better fighter. No wonder your students are more capable."
"Is that so?" she replied, deadpan.
He hummed, draping his arms over the countertop in Crow Bar casually. "You always were the stronger one. I'm surprised he's made it this far."
She frowned, standing up from her chair. A few of her nearby colleagues sent her surprised looks, but she merely nodded cordially at them, indicating that she would be leaving. Once that was done, she paid her tab, and began to head out the door without a second glance.
Walter scurried after her. "What's the rush?"
"James Ironwood is good at what he does. You would do well to remember that, Walter."
She would always remember how his expression hardened at that statement, any trace of joy or connection falling away to apathy. "Alright then, little Miss Beacon. I'll be going, then."
She didn't say a word, simply turning back up to the airship docks as she always did in order to head back to campus. She didn't want to acknowledge his words- after all, no one called her that, James notwithstanding.
It took her some weeks to realize just how serious those words had been, though. From then on, Walter Brown didn't show up at the Crow Bar anymore, nor did she see him in Amity Colosseum during the tournaments. He was just… gone.
She didn't care. On home territory, she had enough things to worry about- her students, Professor Ozpin and his private missions, sometimes her peers.
Either way, the Vytal Festival Tournament did always manage to do at least one thing right at the end of the day- bring James back to her, if only for a little while. That was enough.
