Scars of the Soul

Mirror and Image

It was the first time in about three days that Qrow felt anything resembling human. He'd had a fever, the chills, nausea, congestion, the works. Some strange bastard of a flu and head-cold all rolled up into a ball of misery. But this morning he woke up feeling alive for the first time in what felt like forever. He had energy, he could breath (though the sniffles were lingering), and above all, he could finally get down and keep down a meal. So he had taken a shower, rinsed the sick off of him, dressed in clean clothes and decided to enjoy feeling alive.

The sun was shining. He was feeling good.

So Qrow arrived at school about a half-hour before the bell rang for dismissal, intent on picking up his nieces. He'd already texted them that he'd pick them up instead of them taking the bus, and he parked in the parent pick-up zone just beyond the driveway that wove to the sidewalk in front of the main doors. Then he got out of his car and gleefully sat on the hood to just enjoy the sunshine and the crisp autumn air. Skys were just never as blue as they were in the fall.

He was enjoying the breeze and the smell of leaves when a car pulled into the handicapped spot beside him and Qrow watched a man with silver hair get out of the car and hobble faster than any man with a cane had any right to up to the school to get buzzed in. Absently, Qrow wondered what had pissed the man off, because the only reason he could think of to go running into a school was if either of his nieces had done something monumentally stupid. (His little firecracker playing with firecrackers on school grounds came to mind….)

Still, the day was too damn nice to dwell on it as the buses started to rumble up to the sidewalk and then park, letting the engines tick down while waiting for the bell to ring and to fill up with students.

There were only half the buses parked when the man from the handicap spot exited the school, still leaning heavily on his cane, a young boy by his side sporting quite the ice-pack to his face, thick black hair, and freckles dotting his tanned skin. The man was clearly fretting.

"We're going straight to the doctor-"

"Dad, I'm fine-"

"You're going to need stitches on that lip-"

"I promise, I'm fine, it doesn't even hurt any more-"

They stopped just past the buses, not quite to the parking lot, as the dad let out along, heavy sigh.

"Oscar..." he said so softly, Qrow could barely hear. He tried to ignore them by playing on his phone to give them some semblance of privacy.

"I'm fine, Dad."

Then the dad pulled his son into a close hug, despite how awkward it clearly was to lean forward.

"We're still seeing the doctor. Just humor me."

The kid let out a sigh as well. "Fine. I'll help you up the stairs."

Qrow was still "absorbed" in his phone and he watched the Dad and the kid get in the car and carefully pull away.

Moments later, the school bell rang and Qrow had an armload of red.

"Ruby," he smiled, twirling her around. "You know I'm probably contagious as hell right now, don't you?"

"Don't care!" she squealed, then laughed and hugged him closer.

Yang's smile was just as huge as she easily sat in the front seat, shotgun taken. "Uncle Qrow!" Yang said excitedly as he tried to pull Ruby off him. "There was a fight today!"

Qrow rolled his eyes and worked to herd his nieces into the car.


Naturally, the following week, the bastard offspring of the cold/flu that Qrow suffered through went through his nieces, then the following week it hit their father Tai. And once again, Qrow was babysitting and picking up the nieces to bring them home.

The second day of doing so, Qrow was once again early and just sitting on the hood of his car, playing with his phone. The weather was still too nice to just stay in the car. A car pulled up into the handicap spot next to him, and Qrow noticed the man from before. Silver hair, pale skin, tired eyes. The man leaned back with a sigh, before also stepping gently out of his car. Though where Qrow was just enjoying the weather, it was clear that this man was trying to stretch out a bad leg.

"Hey," Qrow offered, putting his phone away.

"Greetings," the man replied politely, clearly trying to stretch without being obvious.

"I'm here for my nieces," Qrow continued, figuring interaction with another adult was better than sinking down to his nieces's maturity level.

"My son," the man said, walking around to lean against the passenger side. "I'm Ozpin Ozma."

"Qrow Branwen," he replied, reaching out and shaking hands. "Nice meeting you, Oz."

A corner of a lip twitched up. "A pleasure, Mr. Branwen."

"Qrow, please."

They simply stood for a moment, watching another bus pull up to the driveway and park in front of the school. "How old are your nieces?"

Right. Awkward parent small talk. Qrow offered a slanted smile. "They'd tell you they were over a hundred and when you ask what they mean, Yang would solemnly swear they have old souls and Ruby would just say that they had to be old in order to put up with me and their dad."

Ozpin's mouth twitched again. "I'd imagine Oscar might say something similar about having to take care of his old man if he'd ever heard the concept." Ozpin's mouth twitched again. "Then again, I've never ventured teaching him that sort of metaphor or allegory."

"Ah, staying ahead of it," Qrow smiled. "Good luck with that. It won't last."

Ozpin's smile was a quick flash. "Oscar is far too busy to even consider it. I've always made sure of that."

Qrow chuckled.

Of course, by then, the bell had rung and there was a screech of "Uncle Qrooooooooow!"s as his nieces plowed into him, making Qrow stumble back.

"Hey pipsqueaks," he laughed. "Ready for me to babysit again?"

"Of course!" Yang shouted. "Dad should get sick more often to have you babysit! We can actually play video-games!"

Ozpin raised a brow. But Qrow didn't see it. "Yang, you know the rules."

"Yeah, yeah, when the homework's done, but I finished most of it in class today! It's just the math-"

Qrow gave a very flat look.

Ruby was chortling. "Uh-oh, you mentioned math! Now Uncle Qrow's going to sit you down like he did with me and social studies yesterday."

"Psh," Yang waved it off. "No one ever gets math."

"Oh, you're on," Qrow pulled Yang close and started messing up her long blond hair because he knew it would annoy her. "You'll understand this math well enough to ace the quiz I'll be giving you later this week."

"What?"

"He's giving me a quiz in social studies too."

"Uncle Qroooooooooooow!"

Qrow smiled at the chaos.

"Hey, Dad."

"Oscar," Ozpin said softly, running a hand through the thick dark hair of his son. "How was your first day back?"

"Fine."

"Oscar?"

"Fine."

Qrow didn't hear the conversation with the controlled chaos he was managing, but Qrow did get his nieces to settle down enough. "Okay girls, this is Mr. Ozma. Say hello."

Both Yang and Ruby turned with sudden interest.

"Hello Mr. Ozma," they both said together with matching smiles.

"Ozpin is fine," he greeted, an arm around Oscar's shoulder. He gave a mischievous smile. "Professor works as well. It's the only name I ever hear all day long, I sometimes wonder if I've forgotten my name. Sometimes I just introduce myself as Professor Ozma." He looked off into the middle distance, face scrunched in concentration. "I wonder. Perhaps my name really is Professor and I've just created the name Ozpin in a flight of fancy and alliteration."

"Daaaaad," Oscar drawled. "You've always told me that alliteration is for consonants. For vowels, it's assonance."

"So I have," Ozpin gave a wide, beaming smile, and Qrow couldn't stop the chuckle.

"Why not have both names," Ruby said brightly, "Professor Ozpin?"

Clear surprise flashed across Ozpin's face and then he smiled gently. "What a novel idea…"

"Okay," Qrow interrupted. "I want to leave before the buses make the parking lot a traffic jam." He turned to Yang. "You are explaining what you're going over in class on the way home."

"Fractions," she replied promptly with disgust.

"Really?" Qrow said flatly. "Fractions are the easiest thing to deal with and you need them for proportions and statistics." He turned to Ozpin and Oscar. "See you around."

Ozpin gave his twitch of a smile, and turned to Oscar, also to get ready to go home.

A week later and Tai was better but so far behind on his work he asked Qrow to keep picking up the girls for another week. He needed the extra hours just to catch up, and Qrow working third shift made him available. So Qrow dragged himself out of bed at the crack of noon, had his breakfast of eggs and soda and drove to the school to pick up his nieces again.

The professor guy was there in the handicap spot, but Qrow didn't get his spot next to it, instead putting his fifteen year old junker a couple of rows back and - since the weather was still nice, set up on the hood of his car again. He hadn't gotten home until dawn and was in bed for all of four hours before he had to pick up the girls, so the idea of a nap while waiting for the bell to ring sounded swell.

He had closed his eyes for all of thirty seconds before someone was poking him, and that made him sit bolt upright - only to forget he was on the hood of his car and overbalance, sliding down the hood and crashing into the asphalt. He cursed - loudly, and pulled at his palms to rub the loose gravel and tar out of them.

"Terribly sorry," said a voice above him.

Qrow turned and looked up, ready to swear at whoever had done that, but saw the cane guy - Ozpin, looking down at him. "It seemed you were deeper asleep than I initially predicted," he said, reaching down. "I apologize."

Qrow rolled his eyes, getting on his knees and then standing up on his own - Ozpin looked like he would fall over if Qrow even blinked at him. "It's fine," he said, waving it off. He clapped his hands together, trying to get the bits out. "It's just my luck."

Ozpin smiled, awkwardly, not understanding the joke.

"Did I miss the bell?"

"No, but I saw you in the rearview," he said, gesturing to his car, "And thought I would say hello."

Qrow blinked at him, still tired. "Well," he said, "Hi."

Ozpin smiled again. "The spot next to me has opened up, if that is your preferred parking space," he said, before turning and walking - limping - back to his car. Qrow wondered - not for the first time - what happened to make the guy limp so bad. He followed the man with his eyes, seeing that the parking spot next to him was, in fact, empty. Shrugging, he got in his car and turned the ignition. Sun was better over there anyway.

Once properly where he was supposed to be he got on the hood again, and Ozpin, leaning against his car door, was smiling again. "You are like a bird," he said, "Sunning yourself as high as possible."

"Hey, pal, if I was as high as possible I'd be on the roof," Qrow said, "As it is I'm lucky this clunker hasn't popped a tire." He knocked on the windshield for emphasis, and - per Qrow Branwen tradition - there was a pop and a hiss, and the back corner of his junker started to sink. He turned and hopped off the car immediately, walking around to Oz's side of the car and seeing the tire deflate. "Sunnofa-" he muttered, kicking his car door. "Great, just great." Muttering curses he pulled out his phone to text Tai about the flat.

"Do you have a ride?"

He looked up, having forgotten Ozpin was even there, still leaning against his station wagon, cane leaning against the side view.

"What?"

"Do you have a ride?" Oz asked again, shifting his weight. "Or a mechanic? The bell is about to ring."

"I have a mechanic," Qrow said, scrolling through his phone. "But not a ride, Tai's gonna kill me."

"Then I offer my services."

… There was no way Qrow heard that right. Four hours wasn't enough sleep. "What?" he asked again.

Oz's white head tilted to his wagon. "I can fit all of you in my car," he said, "and take you where you need to go. Or I can entertain your nieces while you wait for your mechanic to pick you up."

That… that was… "You always this nice to people?" Qrow asked.

Oz shrugged his shoulders. "Do unto others as you would have done unto you," he said, "That's the quote, is it not? I find the principle largely ignored in this day and age, but I always liked the idea of 'paying it forward,' to use more modern parlance."

Qrow shook his head, disbelieving. "You always use big words like that?"

The other man blinked, and gave a self-deprecating smile. "Forgive me," he said. "I am a professor, and I make a point of modeling the kind of vocabulary I wish to see in my students' papers."

Qrow laughed, a burst of an exhalation more than an actual chuckle, and leaned against the passenger door. "Fine," he said, "You can take the girls. Where do you live?"

"Pine Woods, if you know where that is."

"Off of Main? By the old gas station?"

"The other side, actually. Passed the gym before they closed it, two lights and then the fourth house on the left if you're going to the highway."

"Used to drive by there all the time," Qrow said, pulling it up on his phone. "What's your number? I'll call when the mechanic's here."

Oz rattled off his numbers right as the bell rang and the kids flooded out. Ruby all but appeared, jumping up to his back and nearly knocking him over. Yang was close behind, grabbing Qrow's wrist in excitement and pointing. "Do you see her?" she asked. "Do you see her?"

Qrow was trying to catch up. "Who?"

"Over there, black pants, white shirt - don't look like you're looking!"

Kids. Qrow straightened, tugging Ruby off and looked between the buses. A girl walked by, black pants, white shirt, black ribbon up in her hair. Yang ran over to her, waving. "Hi!" she said. "I… I really like your bow!"

"... Right…"

The girl kept walking to the far side of the parking lot. Yang spun around, goofy smile on her face and cheeks bright pink.

"Isn't she amazing?" she asked. "She's new this year! She's from the city, she said, her parents are big in politics and she's just so cool."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "You're pretty cool, too, firecracker," he said, running his hand through her hair just to annoy her. "Let me know when you two start dating."

"Uncle Qrow!"

"Anyway," he said, pointing to his flat. "We got a problem and a solution."

"Dad…?"

"Oscar," Ozpin said as the girls looked at the junker. He reached a hand out and Oscar obediently drew in for a hug. "I've offered the services of our car to these two lovely young women here," he said. "While their uncle procures the means to have his car fixed."

Oscar looked at the two girls, both of them staring at him. Almost subconsciously, he started to duck behind his father. Shy, Qrow guessed.

Qrow finally called Oz's number, and the two of them worked through their contacts to label everything. Qrow texted Tai while the girls piled into the back of Oz's car, while the professor climbed in and worked his leg into the wagon as well, Oscar taking the passenger seat.

"Okay, ladies," Qrow said. "You two are to be on your best behavior. No fighting, no poking, and no teasing. They don't know what our kind of teasing looks like you got it?"

"No problem, Uncle Qrow!"

"Good. Now if they decide to kidnap you and hide you in a tower somewhere, text me immediately - but don't look like you're texting or else Oz here will take your phone."

"Uncle Qrow, he's hearing every word you're saying."

"Exactly," Qrow said, nodding his head. "He's learning the rules, same way you are. Best behavior."

"I assure you, Mr. Branwen, they're in the most capable of hands."


Three hours later Qrow had his rental and was driving down Pine Wood to the Ozma household. He honked twice as he pulled up, and Ruby and Yang immediately piled out of the tiny house, filled with adventures and stories of the man who made cookies, a wall full of books bigger than theirs - and all their done homework. Qrow nodded his thanks to Ozpin, who nodded back, and they piled into the rental to take them home.

It ended up being Qrow's thing. He enjoyed picking up his nieces, having a chance to chat with Professor Ozpin, and it gave Tai a few extra hours at his job for a little extra cash. Qrow got more time with his girls, and he couldn't say no to that, and it didn't interrupt his shifts either. All around, it was a win-win.

One day, Qrow was putting on his heavy jacket to head to school, he got a text from Ozpin.

I won't be able to pick up Oscar. Can you take him for the afternoon?

It was such a surprise, Qrow needed a minute to blink and process.

You okay?

Something's come up. I won't be home till late in the evening.

Qrow frowned. He called his job and had to do some fast talking about switching shifts, but once arranged, he texted back.

All set. Text me when you're on your way?

Will do. I'll text Oscar.

Qrow texted his girls that they'd be having company.

It was clear that Ruby and Yang had collected Oscar in the building and were dragging him out to the car, chatting excitedly about how much fun they were going to have. They even agreed, very generously, to give Oscar shotgun. Qrow let them chatter, but he watched from the corner of his eye quietly.

Oscar was very much a quiet, hard-working kid. Incredibly shy, even after having been exposed to Qrow's nieces for a good chunk of the school year at this point. He tended to worry his hands, stare at his feet, and glance around. He sat in the front seat very closed off, hands in his lap, hunched forward, glancing around nervously, and Qrow felt something like a pit settle in his stomach. Most of the afternoon, he just let Ruby and Yang drag him around and never said a word.

"Uncle Qrow?" Yang asked softly while Ruby was playing a racing game with Oscar in the front room. "Is everything okay?"

"Don't know, firecracker," Qrow replied. "For now, we help. It's up to Oscar to share."

Yang nodded solemnly.

It was a line of society. One didn't butt into the business of others. One could see something wrong from afar, but one didn't interfere. Bystander syndrome. There was always the thought that someone else would help. After all, Qrow reasoned, Ozpin clearly had his life together. He was a professor at a university almost an hour away. But he was always there for his son. Qrow didn't observe any sign of money trouble, just a very close family. Nothing unusual. But watching Oscar, Qrow wondered if he'd misjudged something. Qrow himself was fairly open about his life. While he wouldn't initiate it, he'd mentioned to Ozpin that his sister, Yang's mom, was in jail, that Summer, Ruby's mom had died and that the girls raised the adults just as much as the adults raised them. Too many friends knew the sad story, so there was never an instinct to hold back what was normal about their lives.

But watching Oscar barely interact with anything or only acting mechanically…

Well, Qrow had some questions.

But asking a clearly worried child wasn't going to produce answers.

Ruby had been dancing around the subject all afternoon, but Oscar hadn't broken his silence yet, despite Ruby's best puppy eyes. He kept any conversation he did manage on anything but why he was there. Tai arrived to pick up the girls with a box of pizza and the five of them ended up sitting down to dinner. Oscar was unerringly polite, and very quiet.

Tai looked at Qrow, concerned, but Qrow could only shake his head.

Tai nodded and herded the girls out to head home.

"So, kid, what do you want to do?"

Oscar checked his phone. "Anything is fine," he said softly.

"No word from your dad?"

Oscar shook his head.

"Did he say why he was going to be so late?"

Oscar shook his head.

Qrow let out a heavy sigh. "Alright kid, we're going to sit down and you're going to tell me your favorite fairy tale. I'm pretty sure I got a copy of it somewhere around here."

Oscar actually looked up and didn't look so… lost. "Fairy tale?"

Qrow was already at the bookcase pulling out several volumes. "Yeah, yeah," he replied. "You're too old for that, yadda, yadda, yadda, but you need escape right now and if video-games, the most immersive form of escapism man currently has isn't cutting it, we're going to try old school."

But Oscar was no longer at the counter, he was politely standing behind Qrow, hands held together, eyes roving over the volumes that he was pulling out.

"Which editions do you have?" Oscar asked quietly.

Qrow turned with a smile. "Oh, I'm sure your dad has the originals somewhere. I'm not that fancy. Whatever print I could find. Both Ruby and Yang devoured fairy tales when they were toddlers. Of course, now that I've said that, I'm sure to be murdered in my sleep for sharing something 'embarrassing' or whatever. I bought any fantasy story I could find. Anything that had magic and legends to it."

Oscar had glanced nervously at Qrow before stepping forward and looking over the titles. "David and Leigh Eddings?"

"Very fantasy, but had some funny bits that the girls liked. The legend of Belgarion solving the tragedy of Mandorallen and Nerina. One of the funniest chapters I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Eddings should have used more sarcasm of that level." After all, no one could appreciate sarcasm as well as Qrow could.

"L.E. Modesitt?"

"Probably a little old for you. Not so much adventure as characters that think too much and work hard to improve either themselves or their situation. Longest series is the whole chaos and order conflict. I was more fond of the Imager Portfolio."

Oscar's hand snaked out to take a book and start reading the summary on the back.

"Find one you like and you can keep it till you're done. These may not be fairy tales-"

"-but they're inspired by the magic and mystery of them," Oscar muttered, taking another book to read the back.

Qrow let him be and went to check his own phone.

No word yet.

What the hell was going on, Ozpin?


It was nine o'clock when both of their phones chimed.

I'm heading home now.

"An hour's drive, right?" Qrow asked.

Oscar nodded, all that tension back in his frame.

"You got your keys?"

Oscar's nod was so very solemn. "Dad always said to keep my keys, phone, and id on me at all times."

Sound advice, but something of that pit in Qrow's stomach stirred at hearing the way Oscar intoned that. "Let's get you home. The less your dad has to do when he gets home, the faster both of you can get some sleep."

That sent a small spark of a smile and Oscar's eyes lit up. Clearly the kid had some idea in mind of what to do.

"Come on."

Oscar nodded, put his homework neatly back into his backpack and put the book he'd been reading back onto the shelf. Qrow chuckled, grabbed the book, and gave it back. "I told you. Give it back when you're done."

The smile was shy, but bright. "Thanks, Mr. Branwen."

"Might as well call me Qrow."

The ride to the Ozma home was very quiet, but while Oscar's posture was still very contained, there was an energy to him. He had a purpose now, and he was intent on it. As soon as Qrow was able to park, the kid was out the door.

The house was small, and Qrow understood immediately why they lived here once Oscar was zooming around the house. The master bedroom was downstairs, making for Ozpin to rarely ever need the stairs. Upstairs was probably Oscar's room and some sort of bathroom. Oscar's focus as he bustled around was setting up a chair in the living room that was next to an ottoman and getting lots of pillows piled high on both.

Ozpin's chair, no doubt.

Pajamas were pulled out, the bed turned down, and Oscar was in the middle of setting up the bathroom when Qrow heard a car pull up.

Ozpin came in slowly and stiffly, his walk barely a shuffle, and Qrow moved on instinct, helping him across the short walk to the chair and ottoman that Oscar had set up, letting Ozpin settle with a pained hiss.

"Rough day?" he asked softly.

"That's putting it mildly," Ozpin said tiredly.

"Dad! You're home!" And restrained, quiet Oscar came running up to crush his father into a bear hug. Ozpin hugged back like a man starved and Qrow headed to the kitchen to give them a minute. One of the things Oscar had set up was a cup and a packet for hot chocolate, so Qrow got the kettle going. There were quiet whispers behind him, but he ignored it all politely and focused on the steaming kettle.

Suddenly Oscar was running to the bathroom and getting the faucet of the tub going.

"Oscar," Ozpin called, "I appreciate all of this, but you need to get to bed. You're still going to school tomorrow."

"Sure thing!" Oscar called back, still bustling about and pulling out bath salts and dumping them in. "Once your bath's ready I'll go upstairs."

"Now, young man."

"Daaaaad!"

"Don't make me get up, Oscar!"

"But-"

With a pained grunt, Qrow turned and watched as Ozpin struggled to stand and start hobbling over to a poleaxed Oscar.

"Dad!"

When Ozpin got there he pulled Oscar close into another starved hug, despite how awkward it was to lean down and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you," he said softly. "Now get to bed."

"Y-Yeah, okay Dad."

Oscar headed upstairs and Ozpin deflated.

"Need help for that chair again?"

Ozpin's sigh was rattling and emotional. "If I'm this close to the bath, I might as well get settled into it."

With the door to the bathroom shut, Qrow looked around. Manners and polite society dictated this was the best time to leave. Ozpin was home, Oscar was settled, they'd be fine. But Qrow couldn't quite bring himself to leave. Instead he just sat in the living room, pulled out his phone and played with it.

Almost an hour later, certainly a good long hot soak for that bum leg, Qrow heard the sounds of Ozpin getting out of the bath and Qrow headed back into the kitchen to get a fresh mug of hot chocolate ready. He didn't care that it was near midnight. To Qrow's mind, the last thing Ozpin needed was to be alone after whatever had clearly stressed both him and Oscar all day long.

The hot chocolate was ready when the bathroom door opened and Ozpin, in pajamas, blinked blearily at both the mug and Qrow. After staring for a minute, Ozpin's eyes looked up to Qrow. "You're still here?" he asked in quiet disbelief.

Qrow offered his usual crooked smile. "You need a friend."

"Ahhhh, I suppose that's true," he replied softly.

Qrow offered an arm and while it was clear Ozpin's leg wasn't so stiff, it was still obviously painful. Qrow helped Ozpin through the house to the bedroom where Oscar had pulled down the sheets and had a heating pad plugged in and ready.

"I really don't deserve that boy," Ozpin muttered as Qrow helped him into bed. After a moment of getting settled, Qrow pulled over a counter-high chair that was by the closet of the room.

"You okay?"

Ozpin leaned back into the mass of pillows Oscar had piled and sighed. "No. But I will be."

Qrow's foot bounced a little, as he considered things. "What happened?"

Ozpin didn't look up. "I had an unexpected visitor to my 8:00 this morning. Most of the day was spent dealing with that."

"The whole day?"

Ozpin took a long sip of his chocolate. "The visitor wouldn't leave. At first I ignored it, but I was followed to all my classes today."

"You called the police?"

"I had no other option. Rational discussion wasn't getting anywhere."

"Restraining order?"

"It was enforced," Ozpin replied softly, and Qrow didn't think Ozpin was aware that that had even slipped out. Qrow had asked thinking that a restraining order was needed, not that one existed and needed enforcement.

"You're not going back to school tomorrow."

Ozpin gave a tired, broken laugh. "No. I won't have enough sleep as it is. I've posted that tomorrow's classes are canceled." Every word sounded like it took a mountain of energy to get out. "... Likely the day after as well."

Qrow nodded. "So you've got a plan. Oscar's safe. You're home in one piece. Today was a win."

"...I suppose," Ozpin slurred, exhaustion clearly pulling at him. "... not exactly in one piece…."

Qrow went very still. "Oh?" he asked as lightly and softly as he could.

"... none ever sees…. scars to the soul….."

Raven flashed across Qrow's mind so sharply Qrow thought he felt his heart stop. He took a moment to just breathe after that, settle his nerves, because damages to the soul? He understood that far too well.

"That's all too true," he murmured. Standing, he took Ozpin's mug back out to the kitchen and considered things. Then he grabbed a blanket off the sofa and stretched out. Ozpin needed a friend.

There was no way Qrow was going to leave after all that.

Qrow would be the support he had needed after everything that had happened with Raven.


Author's Notes: Welcome to the madness! We started back in April when the whole world shut down, in a desperate need to find fluff. Of course, the two of us are drama writers, not fluff writers, so this fic is going to yo-yo between the two genres as we alternate writing things that make us smile and things that make us excited - you see as much here as Qrow playfully talks about his nieces being kidnapped to a tower and then having Oz's Bad Day. There's no outline, not idea of what this fic is doing of where it's going. We're just... we're playing, in all the messy glory that word entails.

300 pages later and we're still going but we have at least a LITTLE structure. For new readers, the fic will be updated once a week. No beta as yet - if you're a beta and are interested in seeing OzQrow fluff/drama let us know.

We did some slight playing with ages, either aging up or down to make things slightly more convenient. The cast gets pretty big but we don't include everyone so set expectations accordingly. If things go well we'll occasionally have echoes of a moment in the show rather than a direct story beat, there's no semblances of faunus, and the two of us are teachers IRL so in theory the kids will act like kids and the adults will act like adults.

Hope you all enjoy, see you next week!