"You can come in, Winter," Said a low voice from behind the door. He wasn't loud, but Winter flinched when she heard him speak. She opened the door slowly like she was afraid it was about to fall off its hinges.
This was the first time Winter had been in office, and it was almost exactly what she pictured. His desk was a large dark stained oak that eas like hers, but a few shades darker and a bit bigger. He had a large window behind him as well that had a view of the city that was as breathtaking as her own office. A big sofa that was a deep black leather and a matching chair took up a big middle chunk of the office. There were a few degrees framed on the wall, and all of the papers on his desk seemed to be at a ninety-degree angle. Just like she pictured. Then, there was everything else.
Sloppily drawn crayon drawings were all over the office, some of them were taped up on the windows, some were hanging up in frames. He had an open toy chest that was overflowing with new and old toys alike, putting her mismatched box to shame. There were also two state of the art looking beanbags if those were even a thing, they both looked well used.
sat behind his desk, his eyes were on Winters the moment the door was open. Winter looked into his eyes, and for a single instant they weren't his normal dark brown, she could have sworn they were a sharp icy blue. They were back to normal before she could think about it too much, thankfully, but the sight of those all too familiar eyes shook her to her core, making her shiver even worse than before.
Now that Winter was looking at his eyes, there was no escape. They were glued to him with no hope of freedom. "Please, have a seat," He said, waving to the two chairs in front of his desk.
"How did you know it was me, Sir?" Winter's voice trembled as she sat down, glad she could finally stop using her wobbly legs.
"You've been early Monday and Sunday, so imagined the pattern would continue today, and the only other person who I would expect to come in here for the next few hours is Amy. She always walks in without any warning" She was surprised he's picked up on her habit so quickly, but at the same time, he didn't seem like the type to miss small details.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Winter gulped after a moment of silence. She already knew the answer but didn't want to wait for him to bring it up. Her hands were clasped together so tightly her knuckles hurt, she also started to twidling her thumbs together, glad her hands were too low under the table for to see. "What did you think of Jaune and Mercury?" He asked leaning forward over his desk.
"What do you mean?"
"Jaune and Mercury, what did you think of them? Were they nice, mean, interesting? What's your professional opinion on them?" Winter wasn't sure what answer he was looking for, what she could say to help herself, so she just decided to be honest.
"They were good. Jaune just needs a bit confidence while Mercury has so much anger. But they both seemed like good kids, they just need a bit of help I think. Sir." Winter stuttered when she talked so it came out a bit choppy, but seemed to get the message.
"They didn't overwhelm you or anything? I've worked a little with them both, and they seem like they'll be tough to get to. Jaune had trouble saying his name while Mercury didn't seem to listen to a word I had to say. Interesting kids" didn't sound angry or anything, he genuinely sounded interested.
"Not too overwhelmed, Sir. Just a little weird at the start. It was my first time talking with patients one on one, Sir" Winter tried her best to only say the facts like she was giving a report.
"That's good. I would have briefed you about them beforehand, but something came up, sorry about that. Now, do you have any questions?" Winter was now thoroughly stumped as to what was going on. Why isn't he mad with me?
"I don't think so" Winter wasn't sure what to say anymore.
"Alright then, glad to hear you're doing well. I'll let you get back to your office then" He said with a small smile and a nod before turning to his computer to type. Winter looked at him working, transfixed.
"That's all?" Winter blurted out, blushing after she realized what she'd said. looked up at her curiously.
"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" He had stopped working and turned towards her again.
"Sir, aren't you… Upset with me?" He looked lost.
"Winter, why would I have any reason to be upset with you?"
Maybe because I left work in the middle of the day for no reason, canceled my third ever appointment with no notice, and went out t get ice cream? Winter's mind was churning out reasons like cars off an assembly line that was perfectly in sync reasons, her guilt swelling inside of her like a balloon.
"Because I left work yesterday" Winter finally admitted, wanting him to fire her and get it over with.
"Ah, Amy said you had something important to take care of, correct?" Winter felt her throat tighten up and felt the water at the corner of her eyes, she tried her best to blink them away before he noticed.
"Yes, Sir"
"And was it important?"
Winter thought of Ruby, Yang, and Qrow. Sure they had gotten ice cream and went for a walk, but she learned a lot about all of them out there, and wouldn't have if she had stayed in the office. They might never have spoken to her again if she had stayed up there. "Yes, Sir, very important" her eyes hardened at the memory, knowing she was right.
"Alright then. I believe you" smiled lightly at her.
"Y-you aren't mad at me?" Winter asked, totally dumbfounded.
"No, I'm not mad at you. Things come up, especially in our line of work. If you say it was important, I trust you. If you feel like talking to me about why you can, but I don't need to know if you aren't comfortable. Try not to do it every week though, then Amy will start copying you" He chuckled softly.
Winter felt odd. Sort of numb, but also airy and weightless. "So I can still work here?"
"Of course" He maintained.
"Thank you , thank you so much," Winter thought about what she should tell him if anything. If she told him, he might charge Qrow a little bit more than the nothing she'd promised… "Sir, yesterday I went to talk to some kids I wanted to do pro bono work for" Winter stated firmly. This piqued his interest, causing him to look at her curiously.
"Usually people apply for pro bono through the office. How'd you find these people?" Winter looked away and blushed lightly.
"Um, my car died in the middle of nowhere and two young girls fixed it while their uncle watched" Winter admitted quietly, hoping he believed her. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"The two girls fixed your car, so you're treating them as a favor?"
"Well an eleven-year-old fixed my car, the rest of us watched. They also made me promise them I wasn't going to be their therapist, so now I'm their friend and I'm trying to help them" Winter explained, sounding more insane with every word she spoke. Now her face was burning hot and it was impossible to look at .
"Looks like you found some interesting friends" started to laugh harder then she thought possible, a big smile on his face while he belly laughed. "As long as you feel safe, you can keep helping them. Make sure they send in the right forms to the office, so we know the details" was starting to come down from his laughter, wiping the water from his eyes.
"Of course, Sir" Winter smiled, her guilt deflating rapidly.
"You should get back to your office, your first appointment will be here soon" he eyed her with his smile still on his lips, like she was entertaining in some way.
"Thank you again, " Winter nodded before walking out the door without another word.
Winter walked right past her office door and took a turn down the hall. She ended up knocking on a door that had a small stick woman on it. When nobody answered she walked in, locking the door behind her and turning on the sink. Then she kneeled in front of the toilet and lifted the seat, before promptly tossing her cookies. Then again. And again. And again.
Winter leaned against the wall with her legs sprawled out and her arms limp at her side. She took deep, slow breaths, listening to the sink run. Her eyes were closed and she felt like she could fall asleep right there. She thought about how had those piercing blue eyes for a moment and chuckled to herself. He's nothing like father, was the only thing that came to her mind.
After a few minutes of rest, she forced herself up, washed out her mouth, then walked out of the bathroom making sure it was as nice as she left it.
She walked over to Amy who had just finished handing a mother some paperwork. She knocked at the wall, Amy turned to her with a smile, "Hey, Winter, feeling any better?"
"A bit, actually, yeah. Hey Amy. . . do you have any mints?"