Qrow had done quite a bit of sparring with his teammates throughout his time at Beacon Academy. Coupled with his upbringing as an assassin, he had developed several strategies against each other member of STRQ and some of OKRA without their knowledge. He had learned Summer's eccentricities in combat, such as her habit of squinting her eyes ever so slightly just before going for an overhead blow with her long mace. The resulting hmph from the girl every time he dodged the telegraphed swings amused him to no end, as did the fact that she had accused him of somehow cheating in combat several times. Summer didn't seem to appreciate Qrow's joke that he, too, had future sight, but he had never once skipped making it.
Over time, Qrow noticed that Taiyang changed his grip upon Reel Talk before engaging any of the wire mechanisms on the trident. Eventually, things reached the point where Qrow could anticipate the firing off of tines and react quickly enough to catch their attached wires. More than once, he had managed to reel Taiyang in and turn a fight around entirely. After falling victim to his own weapon more times than he cared to admit, Taiyang had stopped utilizing that feature of his weapon entirely when going up against Qrow. The two had formed a solid understanding that the Branwen boy was the better fighter, and so, their bouts were few and far between.
When it came to Raven, Qrow knew everything about her style… but she knew his own in kind. Years upon years of training together had brought too much familiarity for trickery and too much mutual respect to pull punches. A Branwen sparring match was a sight to behold, and quite often, became a public event on campus during which lien freely changed hands between onlookers. Their matches ended in stalemates more often than not, but the siblings both knew deep down that if it ever came to a fight to the death, luck, or the lack thereof, would decide the victor.
Oddly enough, despite being so evenly matched with his sister, Qrow found Kali to be his most enjoyable and challenging opponent. Something about the faunus' reckless style and the sheer joy she radiated in combat was infectious, and Qrow couldn't get enough of friendly brawls with her. The thrill and spectacle of dodging well-timed explosions, her capability at both range and up close, and her habit of trash-talking throughout the entire fight was something Qrow lived for. He made a point of starting play-fights over nebulous things with Kali throughout the school year, and she was more than happy to reciprocate whenever she was bored.
In contrast, Roman was Qrow's least favorite opponent by far. The boy's repeating semblance required setup and concentration that Qrow was unwilling to afford him, and so, their fights ended up being incredibly one-sided and dull. The few times Roman had landed a blow and caught him off guard, Qrow had retaliated with a far bigger hit to his opponent's aura. Nothing was really exciting about the process, and Qrow routinely pulled his punches to allow Roman to get some practice in against a more skilled opponent. In truth, Qrow felt bad about the uneven nature of their matches, but he also found them incredibly boring. Or at least, he had until that day outside of the beach house.
Qrow had never really understood the expression "seeing stars" until Roman had landed a brutal diagonal upswing into the right side of his jaw. The impact had sent him reeling backward, and he had very nearly dropped Harbinger onto the concrete. Roman's rushing follow-up blow to his stomach caused him to double over, and he barely got a forearm up in time to block the subsequent phantom hit manifested by an orange blaze that repeated the motion. Qrow straightened himself up as he watched Roman begin to circle, twirling his cane and looking livid.
It was like fighting someone else entirely, or like another fighter was controlling Roman's body. Roman moved with a speed and determination that Qrow had never seen from his friend before, and his strikes were far harder than ever before. Though he had built up some muscle, Roman's arms were still slender and lithe, and his weapon was harder weighty. Regardless, the impacts were doing quite a number on Qrow, and he couldn't help but enjoy the sudden change.
"Not bad," Qrow praised as he rubbed the side of his jaw. "Not bad at all. What's the occasion? Forgot to pack your favorite ascot?"
"Nah, fighting my favorite ass-hole," Roman retorted as he gave his cane a spin. "Shut up and come at me. I'm not done with you yet."
"Yeah, I can see that," Qrow retorted as the gears within his weapon began to whirr and click. "Alright, if you want a real match, then let's get one going!"
"Cocky prick," Roman accused as he swept his cane upward. The head of the device glowed an intense red on account of the fire dust crystal embedded within in, and the air began to heat around Qrow's location. "Eat this!"
Just as Harbinger converted into scythe form, Qrow leapt to the side to avoid the telegraphed explosion. The moment the fire faded, he dodged back into place and moved to rush forward, knowing that Roman would be open.
Qrow's heart nearly stopped as he felt the air around himself begin to heat up again as he landed. Roman lifted his free hand and snapped his fingers, resulting in a mirrored explosion of sheer aura that copied the dust explosion exactly. Qrow was thrown backward by the force, and Harbinger clattered across the concrete as his aura shattered. The teen was sent rolling and bouncing along as Roman stared in confusion. By the time Qrow had come to a stop, his clothing was singed, and Adam, Bartholomew, and Taiyang were running in from the sidelines.
"Holy shit!" Taiyang exclaimed as he made his way over. "I thought you couldn't copy dust!?"
"I… can't…" Roman said slowly. "I mean, I didn't think I could. I was just so pissed off I thought I'd try…"
"Yeah, well, you did it," Qrow said with a series of coughs as he sat up and grabbed his weapon off the ground. "And I think you amplified it, too. That hurt."
"…sorry," Roman offered, sounding a bit deflated as he walked over toward Qrow. "You, uh… you good?"
"I've had way worse," Qrow answered with a wave of his hand. "Are you? What the hell is all this about, anyway?"
"Something incredibly stupid," Adam muttered.
"…he's not wrong," Roman admitted as he offered Qrow a hand. "At least, I hope. We should talk in private."
"…sure?" Qrow replied uncertainly as he took Roman's hand and pulled himself up. "I always thought you and I got along just fine."
"All of us have gotten along well enough," Bartholomew reminded. "Though rough patches happen here and there. Why don't you two just… talk right now instead of letting this snowball?"
"Yeah, probably a good idea," Roman admitted as he brushed off his hand upon his shirt. "We won't be long- I want to head back into Vacuo and get some exploring done."
"Exploring?" Taiyang questioned. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
"One or two things, yeah," Roman answered as he looked away from Qrow. "Would be better if you guys come along, though."
"Right," Adam agreed. "Besides… I wanted to see Professor Calavera. I'll go and get ready, and then we can all head out after your… talk."
"Simple enough," Bartholomew said. "Come, Tai- let's head back inside for a bit, and wait for these two to reconcile. Afterward… I'd like to get a bout to myself before we head out."
Taiyang nodded and headed back toward the house with Bartholomew and Adam in tow. Roman and Qrow watched the trio go in silence for a moment before Roman reached up and scratched the back of his head.
"…starting to feel kinda stupid for getting all bent out of shape," Roman admitted. "I uh… went through Kali's scroll this morning and got hit with a dick pic from you."
"…what?" Qrow asked, taken aback. After several seconds, he seemed to come to a revelation, and he smiled sheepishly. "Oh, that. Kali said she got rid of it…"
"She didn't," Roman sneered. "And I got hit with it."
"…sorry, I guess?" Qrow offered as he sat down and rolled his t-shirt off. "That was literally the first interaction we had after we exchanged numbers. She sent me nudes, so I returned the favor. That was way before you two started hitting it off. That's actually why I asked her to get rid of the pic- I've got no interest in making things into a competition."
"I probably should've been able to figure that out on my own," Roman grumbled as he idly played with his fringe. "I guess I'm just… stressed out. Figuring out what to do about Kal, my dad being an asshole, and just… stuff. My bad. I'll buy you some new clothes."
"Heh, thanks," Qrow acknowledged as he rolled his ruined shirt into a ball. "Thankfully I packed more than I need, but yeah. Look on the bright side- your semblance improved."
"Unless it was a one-time thing," Roman said with a sigh. "I almost don't want to find out…"
"Just go for it," Qrow advised. "Rip off the bandage instead of letting it linger."
Roman mumbled something rude before raising his weapon and beginning to focus. With a quick flourish, Roman's cane began to belch a torrent of fire, spreading back and forth in a serpentine pattern in front of him. After calling off the stream of fire, the boy did a quick spin for added flair before raising his arm dramatically and snapping his fingers. A second, more orange stream of 'fire' in the form of aura repeated the pattern of the first before fizzling out into thin air.
"…see? You've got it down," Qrow mused. "Maybe all that temporary angst was worth it."
"Or maybe your dick is magic," Roman considered. "That must be it."
"…can we stop talking about my junk already?" Qrow requested. "Now I'm the one that's uncomfortable…"
"Yeah? Good," Roman snarked as he tucked his cane into a loop upon his belt. "A little stress is healthy."
'Uh-huh," Qrow replied with a roll of his eyes. "Anything else we need to talk about before we grab the other three?"
Roman paused to consider the notion, fixing his hair once again.
"…how about we make a pact. You go for Willow, and I'll go for Kali, before we head back to Beacon. I know the idea's been thrown around before for both of us, but… a hard line, this time. I've never really meant it when I said I'd talk to her, but… let's get it done, man. You game?"
Qrow took a deep breath as a hand was offered to him. While he did indeed want to talk to Willow about a possible future, he had never really committed to the idea, either. Every time he had said he was planning on it, it was nothing more than a ploy to get whoever asked to stop talking about it. Something about the situation felt somehow different, as though it could be his last chance. There was also the unspoken other side of the coin- Qrow knew that Roman needed him to have his back, or the other boy would never actually make his move, either. The notion made him feel closer to Roman in an odd way that he didn't quite mind.
"…fine," Qrow agreed as he took the proffered hand. "But don't be surprised if it's on the literal last day."
"Yeah. For me, too," Roman said with a shake. "Your sister really wants me to go for it, but… whatever. I'm doing this on my time… and I plan to enjoy Vacuo while I'm here. I'm not thinking about Kal tonight. Not after knowing you told her to delete that pic and she didn't."
"What happened to stress being good for you?" Qrow asked as he stood back up and stretched.
"A little stress," Roman reminded as he brought two fingers close together. "How about you and I go somewhere tonight? Let me make it up to you for being a dumbass."
"Fine with me," Qrow accepted. "For now, though… I need to change. Let's not keep the others waiting."
"The boys, anyway," Roman replied as he and Qrow began to head back to the house.
"Right. Let's not keep the boys waiting…"
Author's Note:
Crisis averted… for now.
Next time- the Winchester Patriarch…
-RD
