Part Twenty-Two

Tai was worried.

Very worried.

They had just been sitting down to dinner when they all got a text from Oscar for an SOS. Qrow had reacted fastest and called, going from dubious to swearing vociferously. He'd ordered Ruby to call him for details and told Tai to call the police and ran out of the house.

It turned out that someone from Ozpin's accident had resurfaced, and as Qrow explained the background over the phone for Tai to repeat to the police, something Tai had heard last summer but hadn't realized what it meant outside of Ozpin's ex being a complete bitch, Tai realized just what was going on and had to watch his daughter's look on in horror as the telephone tag continued.

Texts were vague, saying the police had arrived and that they were going to be a while for statements, etc.

Nothing since then. Ruby and Yang were worried and all Tai could do was say that they had to wait and hear. That going down to the station would probably make things take longer.

Then a text.

Oz and Oscar haven't eaten. Police are driving Oz's car home. I'm bringing Oz over. That okay?

Yes. I'll Order A Pizza. Favorite Toppings?

And so, at almost midnight, girls (probably not) in bed, a police car drove up and Tai watched Qrow get out and help Ozpin - without his cane - up to the house, Oscar hovering around. A policeman held open the door and Tai surged forward, grabbing Ozpin's other side.

"What the hell happened?" Tai demanded.

"I'm fine," Ozpin said. "Please, get some ice for Qrow."

"I'll get it!" Oscar said, running to the kitchen.

Tai looked to his brother (in-law) and saw a bruise along the jaw that was stretching halfway up his cheek. "Shit, Qrow! Is your jaw broken?"

Together they helped Ozpin to the couch and the professor let out a heavy sigh, leaning back as Qrow lifted his bad leg with great care to stuff pillows under it. Oscar came running back in with ice for Qrow and the police helped set things up, took the pizza when it arrived and actually got out plates while Tai forced Qrow to sit down and explain what the hell had happened.

Tai had a lot of words that weren't fit for polite company in regards to Ozpin's ex.

"Don't worry," Qrow said, barely moving his jaw. "I'll say exactly what you're thinking. She's a-"

"Oscar is still awake and in the room," Ozpin interrupted.

"I've heard all the swears already, Dad."

"That may be, but I don't particularly want to hear you using them yet."

"Good luck with that," Tai offered lightly.

"Hmm," Ozpin nodded. "Besides, Oscar, you need to go to bed."

"Daaad…"

Ozpin raised a brow. "We adults need to do things like call into work, rearrange schedules and the like. You simply need to go to bed and get sleep."

Oscar frowned heavily before turning to Qrow. "You'll get him to bed soon?"

Qrow nodded with a salut. "Yes, sir."

"No sex?"

And Tai watched both Qrow and Ozpin choke and he had to work to hold back his mirth.

"No sex," Qrow nodded, barely moving his jaw. "Your dad needs rest, first and foremost. I wasn't even thinking of it."

Oscar nodded. "Okay."

Tai stood. "The girls set up a sleeping bag in their room. Let's get you settled."

Once the children were settled, he came back to the living room to find that Qrow had grabbed a chair and set up next to Oz and was gently massaging the bad leg. Tai watched from the doorway for a moment, looking at how soft Qrow's face was and intent, as he just took care of his partner.

He hadn't seen that face on Qrow in a long, long time.

Ozpin said something, reached out, then pulled Qrow in for a kiss.

Tai smiled, gave them a moment, and decided to tease.

"No sex, remember?" he said, coming in.

"Fuck off," Qrow growled, but there was no heat.

"I assure you, Tai," Ozpin said tiredly, "I am not in the mood."

"You sound tired, Oz," Qrow said. "Want us to call Beacon for you? Let you get to sleep?"

"No," Ozpin said softly. Then, with an effort, heaved himself up to a more upright position. Qrow automatically shifted pillows around before going back to massaging the bad leg. "I needed Oscar away so that I could talk to the two of you: I have a problem."

Tai pulled a chair over as well. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Ozpin rubbed his face and let out a heavy sigh. "Salem."

"What the fuck does that bitch have to do with anything?" Qrow growled, still barely moving his jaw.

"The ex?" Tai asked.

Ozpin nodded. "You have to understand, when I escaped, I knew I had to get as far away as possible. I packed up Oscar and flew across the country to have three thousand miles between us. I changed our names, I put our house in Oscar's name, I made sure that I lived far away from where I work because I am known in academic circles. The divorce was bitter and long."

"Yeah, she is a bitch," Qrow said. "If I ever meet her I'm not sure how responsible I'll be for my actions."

Ozpin gave a baleful look. "She might know how to find me now."

Tai felt something drop in his stomach and he watched Qrow's eyes widen.

"What?"

"She already knows where I work, she discovered that last year," Ozpin explained. "I expected that would happen eventually. But I have that bonus of not living close to campus and the legal name change."

"Wait," Tai interrupted. "You're not Ozpin Ozma?"

"I am," Ozpin said. "That's how she found me. But all my documents, everything I sign, is now Ozpin Pine."

"Oscar Pine," Qrow said. "Got your name from your address?"

Ozpin shrugged. "It was random and has no metaphorical meaning. Like someone choosing to use 'blowfish' for a password. Salem will look for metaphors and meaning."

"But then, how does she know where you live now?" Tai asked.

"She might," Ozpin said. "Hazel Rainhart said he'd gotten close to her over the past few years. He found me because of a video."

"Video?" Tai raised his brows.

"Of one of Oscar's fights last year," Ozpin said tiredly. "With me on the ground."

"Fuck," Qrow muttered. "Now she has a town to look at."

"Hazel Rainhart did," Ozpin nodded. "Whether he's told her or not…" He sank into the pillows, dark circles under his eyes. "My worst fear is her reappearing. Taking Oscar away. Mr. Rainhart already was easily convinced that I had kidnapped Oscar away from his mother."

"You have got to be kidding," Qrow growled. "You? Kidnapping Oscar? Did that guy not see Oscar trying to protect you?"

"Stockholm Syndrome, I'm sure," Ozpin sighed. "That I've manipulated Oscar against her, that I'm a narcissist who loves Oscar slaving over me, that I'm raising him so poorly that her sweet little boy is now getting into fights…" Ozpin stared up at the ceiling. "I was with her for over fifteen years. I can guess how she talks about me."

Tai's jaw dropped. "You're shitting me."

"Unfortunately not," Ozpin said softly, rubbing at his face. "As I've told Qrow, she has a very good public face. No one would ever know what she's like behind closed doors." He looked tiredly at them. "I don't know what to do. My instinct is to move somewhere else, but I've neither the funds for that, nor the desire now that I'm happy."

Qrow reached over and held his hand.

"It's fairly simple," Qrow said. "If she shows up I'll kick her ass."

Ozpin's lips twitched into a tired smile.

"Let's look at this differently," Tai said. "She showed up last year, right?"

"Closer to a year and a half," Ozpin said, sinking deeper into the pillows. "Trailed after me from class to class causing a scene until the restraining order was enforced."

"But she hasn't been back since?"

"No."

Tai frowned. "Why not come back to Beacon? She can find you there now."

Ozpin's mouth twitched. "She has tried."

"What?" Qrow growled, then winced for moving his jaw so much.

"Not in person," Ozpin clarified, "but emails and phone messages. The secretary of the department knows to hang up on her, after almost a year of her calling, but she can still call my direct line to leave voicemails. I don't listen. I had to make recordings of them since they filled up my voicemail. I have a folder in my school email dedicated to all her emails. I don't read those either."

"Why the fuck are you keeping them?"

"Evidence of harassment," Ozpin sighed tiredly. "Even though I'm Ozpin Pine, my school account still reads as Ozpin Ozma. Partially because it is how I'm known in academic circles, and also to obscure Oscar from her. She hopefully doesn't know I've changed our names."

Qrow started muttering a litany of curses under his breath.

"My question still stands," Tai said. "Why hasn't she appeared on campus again?"

Ozpin frowned, rubbing his face and Tai could see the exhaustion was still trying to pull him down. "My best guess is funding. Salem has always been scared of spending money. She's likely saving for another trip."

"Scared of spending?" Qrow asked. "You were a professor at Berkeley. You may not have been rolling in dough, but you were well off."

Ozpin shook his head. "Remember, we married in high school. We're from a small, very conservative town. The kind of town that views things outside the Bible as automatically lesser and amoral. That's how the two of us fell in love. We were both fed up with the constrictions of an appropriately modest and evangelical upbringing." He gave a bitter laugh. "Yet we still followed their ideals and married. Went to the same college…" He shook his head. "Too many regrets…"

Tai interjected to keep on his point. "So your ex knows where you teach but is a spendthrift."

"...More like hoarder."

"Whatever," Tai continued. "So she won't be back until she can get what she wants. Would that be a fair assessment?"

"In terms of rationality," Ozpin agreed. "She isn't rational, but she's good at pretending to be."

"So she knows where you teach, if this Rainhart guy could figure out our town, would your ex?"

Ozpin brought his free hand to his chin, tired eyes thinking. "It's hard to say. At this point I've been free from her for years. When we were together, I would judge no. She would have left that to me."

"But now?"

"She doesn't have me to do everything for her," Ozpin offered a wan smile. "She would have had to either do it herself or get someone else to. At the moment, I'd wager she has Mr. Rainhart doing things for her. The question, I suppose, is if he has had a chance to tell her or not."

"Doesn't matter," Tai said. "Rainhart-less will get bail and a phone call eventually. It's best to assume she knows. The most telling thing is that Rainheart-less didn't find you at your home or the school. He doesn't know where you live."

Ozpin sighed all the way down, his eyes fluttering shut. "Then we're safe…"

Qrow stood and leaned over, kissing Ozpin lightly. "Get some rest, Oz."

He gave a sleepy nod, but Tai was pretty sure Ozpin was already falling asleep.

Qrow looked over to him, face worried.

"Yeah," Tai said. "Yeah."


Yang and Ruby were more than happy to give gory details on Uncle Qrow swooping in to save his boyfriend Professor Ozpin to their friends in school, all four of them reflecting that it was equal parts scary but very romantic. For three days they oogled over it as they walked to the middle school; Yang and Ruby still spied from around the corner for some kind of loving kiss, but Oscar had informed them that, after the fight, they were way more discrete.

They were finally allowed to the professor's house once Oscar's grounding was over, and after so many weeks of seeing him sulking Yang was pleased to see he was much brighter - he smiled more, and when they sat down for homework while Uncle Qrow and the professor were in the kitchen, he explained:

"When I was growing up, it was just my dad and me," he said. "I always wanted someone to come in and rescue us, but no one ever did. And I guess, over time… I just assumed no one would. Dad says that's why I was so against Qrow - no offense."

"None taken," Ruby said quickly.

"That's why I was so against Qrow. I didn't trust him to look out for us, even for the little stuff. He asked how to help with Dad, and I told him, but I didn't believe it, I didn't trust it." Oscar shrugged his shoulders. "But he came. He came for both of us, and… I don't know… it changes how you look at people."

"Yes, it would," Blake said, sipping her water bottle. "You know who really loves you when they do something like that." Her gaze blurred, and Yang knew she was thinking about That Night, and Yang was, too: she could still remember the feeling of her front wheel bending as she ran it into Adam, and she could still remember the snap of her arm breaking. Her hands shook a little, and she hid them under the coffee table.

Blake looked over, somehow always knowing when Yang was having a little trouble, and she reached over and touched her arm.

It was getting weird - at least for Yang. Sometimes they would see each other across the classroom, and Yang's eyes were drawn to all that thick dark hair, and her gold eyes, and she would have to look down before something weird and different pooled inside her. She didn't have a word for it, yet - at least not one she wanted to say in her own head, let alone out loud, and it was easier to talk about Uncle Qrow and Professor Ozpin. Them being together didn't… excite… her in new ways, but seeing them holding hands on the couch or Uncle Qrow leaning in for a kiss, they could fire up a fantasy in her head. One she would play with at night when she was going to sleep, and-

"Yang? You with us?"

"Uh, yeah," she said quickly. "Five paragraph essays and transitional sentences."

Blake shifted next to her, edging closer to look at her notes, and her hair brushed against Yang's arm, silky and soft, and what was she supposed to do. Yang held her breath, covering her mouth before Blake leaned back.

"You always word things really well," Blake said, "I'm a little envious."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing," Yang said quickly. "I can't keep all those civil rights stuff straight in my head, so. Yeah. I don't know how you do it."

Blake shrugged her shoulders, she was in a sleeveless button up with some sheer black gloves that went up to her biceps, and something about the curve of her arm… Yang shook her head.

"Cookies!" Ruby said, and Yang was grateful for the distraction. Uncle Qrow came in with the plate, the professor trailing after and taking his reserved seat and putting his leg up. Today were snickerdoodles and Yang's sister took three automatically, Oscar reaching simultaneously and Weiss studying the pile before discreetly taking one. Yang took two, just for something to do, and Blake asked if they were vegan.

"Rest assured," Professor Ozpin said kindly, "All the cookies I make are now vegan."

Nodding, she reached over to take one, and Yang quickly looked down to her notes before anything else happened in her head. Why was today so bad, sometimes she could control it but today…! Ugh, what was wrong with her?

"Okay, that takes care of English," Weiss said, traditional homework leader. "We all did math in study hall and science requires several pages of reading. I recommend we take a break before continuing."

"Well, I still have a reading log to do," Oscar said. "I can do that in my room where it's quiet." Deftly he snatched another cookie just ahead of Ruby.

"Ah! How dare you! A cookie grudge is a terrible thing!"

"You'll forget by the time you go home," Weiss said, rolling her eyes.

"No I won't!"

"Well," Yang said, "If we're on break I'm going to go for a walk. Sitting still just hurts after a while."

She ducked out of the house as fast as she could reasonably be expected to do. It was warm outside, and she pulled into a light jog - no one would question her red cheeks if she'd been exercising.

Seriously, what was wrong with her? She would go to bed at night imagining all these things. Like, that was normal, she'd been in health class enough to know that - but reading about it and living through it were two different things. Yang felt weird in her own body, and guilty that she was a stereotypical girl.

Except…

Boys weren't what sparked those thoughts in her, and she was really starting to struggle with that. She kept thinking about all those sleepovers the four of them would have, sharing her bed with Blake or sometimes Weiss, and now nice it felt, and wondering if this had always been with her. Uncle Qrow teased her all the time, but she always thought it was because he was the Bi-Disaster, that the title came with some kind of right to tease everybody because he could be into anybody.

Yang played her fighter games and she always wanted to be the strongest girl character in the game - and usually that meant the one with the best figure, and Yang would just stare at the idle animations until Ruby asked what she was doing. She slowed to a walk and put her hands to her cheeks, then ran her hands through her hair. God, she was so distracted today. Was she due, was that it? Ugh, the thought made her even more red.

Yang made two laps around the block, alternating between running and walking, and as she made it back to the professor's house she pulled her hair up into a tail. She was sweating all along her back, and she didn't feel much better as she looked up to the house.

Blake was on the porch, sitting in the two-person seat (not calling it a loveseat) with her bare feet up on the railing. Her cat ears were dangling dangerously low on her head, her nose buried in a book.

She looked beautiful.

God. Play it cool, Yang, play it cool.

"Let me guess," she said, climbing the front steps, "Ruby and Weiss are fighting."

"On whether Eros or Eurus was the Greed god of sex for World History," Blake said gravely. "Mr. Qrow was making weird faces and Professor Ozpin was telling him not to ruin us. I took that as a sign to come out here."

"I can imagine," Yang said. And, well… the seat was free, it wasn't weird to sit next to a friend. Justification made, she sat next to Blake and put her feet up, too.

"Good run?"

"Kinda," Yang said. "Good book?"

"Kinda."

They laughed.

"What's it about?"

"It's one of the earliest versions of Beauty and the Beast. Professor Ozpin leant it to me. Some of the words are really hard, but I like the challenge."

… Dead conversation again. Yang, honestly, think of something!

"How have you been doing?" she asked, staring intensely at her sneakers.

A heavy pause drew out, and Yang winced that she asked such a sensitive question. Her hands started to shake a little.

"Better… I think," Blake said, putting her book down. She pulled her feet off the rail and shifted her weight to sit cross legged, turning slightly to fit more neatly into the corner of the love seat. "I don't have as many night terrors, and my crisis counselor has pulled me through a lot. I can raise my hand in school now - I'm still anxious, but now I know I'm anxious. I know that it's in my head instead of telling myself it's in my head, if that makes sense."

"It does," Yang said. "I remember when you first came back to school. You were so skittish."

Blake blushed, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Damn it, Yang.

"Hey, sorry," she said quickly, putting her feet down and turning to face her more fully. "I didn't mean to bring it all back up."

"No, it's fine," Blake said. "It's just… I've always been a weak person, I guess. I didn't really know it at the time, but Adam... people like him pick weak people because they're easy to manipulate. I thought I was so smart, so mature, and he took that and got in my head. He made me feel small." She looked up, cat ears now even lower on her head. "I'm not small," she said. "I know that now. Kinda. But I'm still weak, and I don't know if I'll ever be strong."

"Well," Yang said, trying to find the right words. "For now, you don't have to be. I mean, we're teenagers but we're still kids. The whole point of high school is to get us ready for the real world, right?"

"Maybe," Blake said, looking down and her headband dipping even lower. "But sometimes I feel like everyone else is so strong. Weiss escaped from her dad, Oscar is younger than all of us but he stood up to someone twice his size. And you… even with all the danger you dove right in anyway. I love you for that." She said I love- "But I hate myself too. Because I put you in that position in the first place."

"Don't hate yourself for that," Yang said, fierce. She put a hand on Blake's and leaned in, getting her attention. "I did it because I care - I wouldn't have otherwise. I've always cared."

God, what was she even saying…!

Blake looked up, startled by the declaration, and they were so close now and Yang's entire body was vibrating; Blake's eyes were a bright gold and so beautiful, and her lips were parted in a way that looked really interesting for reasons Yang didn't fully understand yet and she was right there and Yang was starting to lean in and it looked a little bit like Blake was too and-

Her cat ears finally fell, thwacking Yang right on her nose and startling both of them.

They pulled apart immediately, Blake fumbling for her headband. They stared at each other, wide eyed, over what had almost happened. Yang was weirdly out of breath, her body was still on fire, and a random, idle thought sprung up in her head: is this why people always talked about cold showers?

"... Science."

"Yeah. Science. Definitely. We uh, have reading to do."

"Yeah. Yeah, Weiss and Ruby should be done fighting."

"Definitely."

"Definitely."

They got up, Yang was actually shaking with untapped energy, and they moved back into the house. Ruby and Weiss were in separate corners, Uncle Qrow somewhere else in the house, and Professor Ozpin in his seat. He smiled on their reentry. "Welcome back," he said warmly. "I didn't realize how hot it was outside."

"W-what?" Yang stuttered.

"I assume the humidity has ticked up if even Miss Belladonna is red in the face, I'll have to tell Oscar to think about air conditioning instead of leaving the window open."

"Y-yeah. Of course. Totally hot outside."

Yang thought she was going insane.


Qrow was just finishing packing a meal for going into work. He had a double, so he had to go in early. He'd barely had time to pick up Oscar and bring him home, mostly because the two of them were working on fixing Oz's cane, before he had to rush home to prepare to go in.

His phone rang, and he picked it up and put it on speaker.

"Hey boss," he greeted his manager. "I'm heading in now. Let me get my keys and I'll be in my car."

"That's what we need to talk about…"

"Did John call in sick? He wasn't looking good the other day."

"No. Qrow, are you sitting down?"

"I will be in just a sec," he said, grabbing his phone. He locked his apartment door behind him and started heading downstairs. "And hey, for once I'll be early. Hold your applause."

"Qrow… that's what-"

"Just a sec," Qrow opened his car and sat down. "You can just tell me when I get there…"

"Qrow!"

He paused, looking at his phone. "Boss?"

There was a heavy sigh. "I lost the fight."

"What fight?"

"Corporate. They've been wanting to fire you. I've argued against it for almost a month."

Qrow blinked, the news washing over him. "... What?"

"You know how corporate is. They just look at bottom lines and not nuances." His manager let out a long, heavy sigh. "Look, I know you're a great worker, very responsible, I like you. But all corporate sees is how late you always are."

"Boss, I have a family. Nieces to babysit, schedules to arrange. I'm never that late-"

"Corporate doesn't see it that way. They see all the lates, the times you've run out of work without any say, the time you didn't show up with no notice. Sure, I know it's been due to your niece going to the hospital or your squeeze's crazy ex, but they don't care about those details."

"So.. what? I'm fired?"

His manager sighed again, heavy and upset. "Yeah. I did a lot of fast talking, and I was able to get you a small severance package. You're considered laid off officially. You've got two months of pay, I made sure of that." There was a bitter laugh. "You need a letter of recommendation, you tell me."

"I… thanks… but… I'm fired?"

"Yeah."

"I… what do I even…" Qrow leaned forward against the steering wheel, everything swirling around him. "I don't know what to…"

"Qrow, listen, consider this a night off. Consider this vacation. Don't look at it as no job yet. Take the time to plan. You hated corporate anyway."

"I… yeah…" Qrow looked around, at a loss. "Thanks. Thanks for calling and telling me and not being a dick about it."

"Don't worry. Corporate's being the dick. They probably sent out your letter yesterday. I just… I didn't want you finding out that way."

"Thanks, Boss."

"Hah. You can't call me that anymore." And his manager's voice broke. "Sorry, Qrow. Gotta go."

"Yeah…."

Qrow sat there.

He didn't know how long he sat there.

But he sat there.

Finally, he turned the key and drove.

He blinked when he pulled into the driveway.

Still in a daze, he walked up and went through the door.

"Qrow?" Ozpin asked, eyes brightening up. "Did your shifts get rearranged?"

Qrow just stared at him dumbly.

"Qrow?"

"I… uh…"

Oz's face was concerned and he guided Qrow to sit at the couch.

"Qrow?"

God, he had to say it. Qrow took a deep breath. "I just got fired."

"What?" that was Oscar. Qrow blinked and looked over to him.

"Yeah," he coughed. "I'm fired. Laid off, I suppose. My manager was able to wrangle a small severance package… Two months pay." Qrow shook his head. "Sweet fucking Christ, I'm fired."

He buried his head in his hands. "Shit. Tai still has, what… ten more payments for Summer's hospital bills? Fuck he won't be able to make them."

A hand was on his knee and he looked up to Ozpin. "Tai?"

"Yeah," Qrow said. "Summer's cancer, it lasted a few years. All the chemo, hospital visits, the hospital stay at the end, and then care at home for when she finally reached the end. We've been paying it off for years."

"I wasn't aware you were helping." Oz said softly.

"How could I not? Summer… She was the heart of us. Me, Tai, Raven, Summer, we were inseparable in college. When Raven skipped out, she helped put Tai back together. Almost had me put back together before...

"I was fucking fired…"

"Was reasoning provided?"

Qrow barked out a bitter laugh. "Tardiness. See, I'll admit I have a habit of being late, it comes with wrangling nieces and family. But I've also up and disappeared from work and not shown up. Corporate decided I wasn't a good little worker, and that my services were no longer necessary."

Oz's hand on his knee squeezed sympathetically. A can of soda was put in front of him, and Qrow looked up to Oscar. "Thanks," he said softly.

Oscar nodded.

"It's my own damn luck but… fuck what do I do now?"

Ozpin smiled gently at him. "Yell. Scream. Rage. Let out everything you're feeling. Then we can figure things out in the morning."


Qrow woke up slowly, his brain somewhere between asleep and numb. He could feel Ozpin spooned around him, bad leg over Qrow's as he usually did. Sighing, he reached for his watch to try and figure out what time it was.

"'S'alright," Ozpin said sleepily, nuzzling in closer. "...rest…"

Qrow was about to say he had to worry about work when it all hit him again.

Shit. He looked around and realized it was still dark out, no dawn light filtering in at all. It was going to take forever to straighten out his sleep schedule. God, he was going to have to find a job… It had been hard enough the first time. The only reason he got it was because Clover went to bat for him. No one ever wanted to hire a recovering alcoholic. Add on that a simple google search would bring up the Poledinas and that whole mess… How the fuck would he answer those questions if that came up in an interview? He groaned. Just his luck… Always just his luck…

"...sleep…" Ozpin whispered in his ear. "...face everythin' w' fresh eyes…"

"Oz…"

"...dusty old crow…" Arms squeezed around him as Oz sleepily tried to pull him closer.

With great care for Oz's leg, Qrow turned around in Oz's arms and rested his head on Oz's chest. A hand lazily came up to Qrow's hair and Oz let out a contented hum. The air conditioner kicked on and Qrow just… lay there, held by a man he loved and tried to focus on the good instead of his shitty luck.

When he woke up again, it was because Oz's alarm went off and given how fitfully he'd slept, Qrow wanted to chuck the thing across the room. Even at five thirty in the morning, there was enough light to maneuver about the room without actually having to turn on the lights. But there was a problem. Ozpin wasn't in bed.

Wha…?

Ozpin needed to stretch before he could even get up. Qrow rubbed at his eyes and got up. He found Ozpin in his office, dressed and ready for the day, by his laptop.

"Oz," Qrow rubbed more sleep out of his eyes. "What the hell?"

His partner looked over and there was fatigue in his eyes, but he smiled brightly. "Good morning," he greeted.

"What the hell?" Qrow repeated. "What time did you get up?"

Ozpin shrugged. "An hour or so ago." He got up and leaned on the wooden replacement cane that was four inches too short, making him hunch. "I had some research to do."

Qrow looked at him. "Research."

"Yes," Ozpin said brightly. "Why don't you shower and get dressed. We can talk over breakfast. Oscar is definitely going to sleep in. He always does in the summer."

Qrow gave a flat look. "Oz, you're being mysterious. It isn't a good look on you right now."

Ozpin had hobbled over, leaned in and kissed Qrow soundly, the freehand feathering up Qrow's bare chest, thumbing one of Qrow's sensitive spots and moving his fingers to run through his hair before tracing down an arm. And damn if that didn't just go straight to certain organs.

"Shower and get dressed. I do have to leave for my classes."

"Are you sure?" Qrow said, mind spinning. "Are you… in the mood?" Because Ozpin didn't usually kiss that thoroughly.

"I am in a mood," Ozpin replied lightly. "I acknowledge I've probably aroused you-"

"Yes."

"-but you need to get to that shower to work it off."

"Christ, Oz."

"I'll be getting breakfast."

Right. After his shower, Qrow got into his clothes from the previous day and came out to the kitchen, finding Ozpin sprinkling chives on to a pair of fresh omelettes… he sniffed… mushroom omelettes. At the table was a laptop and Ozpin turned to see Qrow and smiled. "Good morning. Again."

"Hey, Oz. What's got you so perky?"

"I believe I have a solution."

"You prancing around making breakfast like a housewife and using arousal as a distraction is a solution?" Qrow offered flatly even as his mouth twitched.

"Ah, you saw through that distraction?"

"You had me worked up enough I needed to jack off in the shower. You were very insistent on the shower. And working me up enough that I needed that shower."

Ozpin's eyes glittered gold. "It seems my attempts at seduction are lacking."

"Oh, fucking you doesn't need much seduction, Oz," Qrow replied, sitting at the table. "You're a walking seduction."

Oz blushed. "Regardless, I have a small presentation I wanted to make and you interrupted."

Qrow gave a flat look. "You successfully got my attention this morning."

Ozpin ignored the look and gestured to the laptop, sitting beside Qrow with a small sigh at not having to hunch over any more. "I was considering your predicament last night."

Qrow grimaced before he even had a bite of his omelette. "Don't remind me. I need to look at temp agencies today."

"Perhaps not," Ozpin said. "I know you didn't care for the hours you worked, so this is an opportunity for you to find a job with better hours and more consistency. I had some thoughts and I awoke early to do some research."

"You found me a job?"

"I found you a path," Ozpin replied. He pulled up some websites. "I've watched you teaching Ruby and Yang, and also Oscar. I think you'd make an excellent teacher."

Qrow blinked.

"You already have your bachelor's degree, so that takes care of part of the requirements. You are particularly accomplished in physics and mathematics," Ozpin clicked on a link, "and there are shortages of math teachers across the country." He turned with a smile. "You could get a durational shortage area permit, get a teaching job, and then work on the requirements for certification. It would require you to enroll into a program to get your certification, but I believe you could handle that."

"You want me to teach?"

Ozpin gave a soft smile. "I want you to be happy. But I think you could be happy as a teacher. Signal is looking for math teachers, quite a few. It looks like several in their department have been retiring. They're desperate. I could write a letter of recommendation as well…"

"A teacher?" Qrow shook his head. "I'm a no good drunk. I might as well have a criminal record. There's no way any school would hire me."

"I'd argue there's no one better to be a teacher," Oz said softly. "You've survived difficult life experiences and came out a dedicated family man, keen advisor, and are wise. Who better to teach disaffected teenagers who speak sarcasm and cynicism than one like you?"

"This is… wow…"

Oz got up with his too-short cane. "Think about it. Do the reading. I still need to get to my morning classes for the summer session."

Qrow reached out to grab a wrist. Ozpin turned and Qrow stood to drag Oz further down to a searing kiss. Because Ozpin cared. Ozpin was treating this like a problem for them and not just Qrow. Shit, they weren't even living together and Ozpin was acting like they'd been together for years.

Qrow loved this man.

Ozpin hummed. "Don't thank me unless it works. Don't decide till you've done more research of your own. But I think this will let you have proper sleeping hours, match your strengths, and still challenge you. It will take a lot of work to get your temporary certification, start enrollment for an actual certification, any job won't start till the end of August…"

"Don't care," Qrow said, kissing Ozpin again. "You've given me options. That's more than I had last night. Hell, that's more than I had this morning when I woke up."

"I do try."

Qrow smiled.


About a week later, Ozpin woke slowly on Qrow's chest. It was the weekend and Qrow had come over "for peace and quiet to study this shit", which Ozpin took to mean that his nieces were being pests. Having been together since New Years, Qrow regularly spent the night over, so much so that Ozpin smiled. To think that he'd worried about waking up with someone next to him. While it had seemed so valid at the time, it couldn't be the furthest from reality. He nuzzled closer to Qrow, feeling that strength, and Qrow sleepily tightened his grip. Qrow was still worried about his lack of job, and was following Ozpin's suggestions of teaching after doing his own research. He was stressed as he had given Tai most of his severance pay before dropping the bomb about losing his job.

Tai of course, had tried to return it to no avail. Qrow was determinedly stubborn sometimes. But that did leave the summer with very little money. He hadn't talked about it much, but Ozpin had seen Qrow going through his checkbook earlier in the day to try and figure out how to make the money stretch another month. Ozpin had thought the answer obvious, but Qrow hadn't seemed to think of it yet.

So Ozpin settled himself on Qrow's chest and just admired him in the filtered light peaking through the light-dimming shades for the summer morning. Absently, he traced a finger in circles along Qrow's chest, observed the morning scruff along his chin, the way the gray streaks seemed to blend in in the shadows, making Qrow look younger, especially without the crinkle at his eyes in the true rest of sleep.

He loved this man. He loved him so much. He gave a contended hum just watching.

Qrow blinked blearily and those wine colored eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim light.

Ozpin may have hummed again.

"...Oz…?" Qrow asked sleepily, finally taking a deep breath. He looked more fully. "Pretty sight for first thing…" he said thickly, still half asleep.

Ozpin chuckled, scooted up, and kissed him.

"Mmm," Qrow sounded more awake. "You plan on getting me going?"

"Just trying to awaken you."

"You're succeeding," Qrow grumbled. "It's too early." A hand traced along Ozpin's back and Ozpin smiled.

"Can you process anything?" Ozpin said lightly.

"With coffee, maybe."

Ozpin hummed.

"Fuck, Oz, you know what humming does to me."

"Move in with us."

Qrow blinked, looking far more awake. "What?"

Ozpin looked down, still tracing a finger along Qrow's chest. "You can't make what you've saved last through the summer. I love you with all my heart. You love me. Oscar's far more comfortable with you and actually smiles when you come over." Ozpin stopped making circles and reached out to run a hand along the side of Qrow's face, scratch with stubble. "I believe the solution is obvious. Don't spend rent on your apartment, move in with us. We both know we would eventua-mmmmmph!"

Qrow kissed him soundly, hands running through his hair to pull their faces as close as possible and Ozpin let out a low hum.

When Qrow finally let go Ozpin was almost light-headed and desperate to catch his breath. After a moment, he finally focused on Qrow. "I take it, that's a yes?"

"Fuck yes," Qrow replied. "Sweet fuck, I'm going to fuck you into the mattress."

Ozpin hummed, smiling. "You'll be doing laundry again."

"Don't fucking care. You are just too damn much."

Well, Ozpin reflected as they carefully flipped and Ozpin was on his back, laughing as Qrow's hands started to wander, that was a better reaction than he thought.


Author's Notes: Happy Thanksgiving! We won't be near a computer on Saturday so hear's a chapter early!

Somewhere in here is a deleted fifteen pages where the official relationship upgrade happens. We talked about it in some comment responses, but our students have occasionally found our social media spaces even though we keep them pretty hidden, and as improbable as it is we don't want teens to read lemons from us and go complaining to admin. A lot happened in those fifteen pages, but for the purposes of the fic:

One: Oz tends to hum when he feels good. This does ALL THE THINGS to Qrow.

Two: Oz doesn't get it, but talking dirty also does ALL THE THINGS to Qrow, so he tries to make a sentence or two.

Three: Qrow is very meticulous in finding all of Oz's sensitive spots and worshipping all corners of his lover. His mouth is very talented.

Other stuff happens but these points may or may not be referenced in the fic. In the meantime, we get a nice, mostly fluffy transition chapter as we start working back to other arcs that have been on the back burner. Yang's arc hits her second phase, poor thing - and we yet again nod to the bumblebees out there.

Oscar has finally accepted that Qrow can and will come to the rescue when he's needed (literally) and that he'll do what he has to to keep Oz safe, so that half of his arc is now closed and he can focus on actually getting to know Qrow in a way unique to them.

Also, Qrow's luck hits him in the job. We never had the chance to really get into it, but we figured him to be in some kind of manufacturing job - one of us works in a tech school - and of course the two of us were going to transition him to being a teacher. Gotta represent our field, y'know?

And yeah; Salem's been lurking in the background this whole time, very insistent in learning where Oz is. And yeah, we also have a folder dedicated to emails and voicemails in case legal action ever needs to be required. Poor guy.

Next chapter: more bumblebee fluff, and Oscar/Qrow fluff - we did mention wildly switching from drama to fluff right?

Also, holy god ep2 of Volume 8. We are terrified, utterly terrified, for Oscar. Ep 3 can't come out soon enough...