"Um, hi" Winter sputtered out, "I think I might be lost, sorry for disturbing you," Winter said in a daze, turning to walk away quickly. But before she could get too far the woman stuck out her cane, catching Winter's arm and forcing her to turn back.
"That's not an answer, Missy!" The woman chastised, scrunching her eyes at Winter. "Who are you?"
"My name's Winter, I'm looking for Qrow"
"Hm, and why are you looking for a lollygagger like him?" Winter could swear she could hear the woman growling at her.
"No reason" Lied Winter, but the woman looked less than convinced and even angrier. "They invited me over to family game night. I brought cookies" Winter corrected quickly, holding up the bag in her hand.
Winter heard a sharp intake of breath from inside the house, on the other side of the door. The woman cast a look in the direction and the sounds stopped abruptly.
"Ruby?" Winter said aloud.
"Hi, Winter-"
"Shut it!" Yang cut her off, followed by muffled noises. The woman let out a deep sigh as she rubbed her forehead, her eyes closed.
"Girls, I asked for a few minutes alone, with your new friend. Now, could I please get them!" The woman exploded, Winter could hear the two girls run away.
"Ew, my hands soaked! How was your tongue that wet!" Yang complained quietly while Rubys giggle faded into the distance.
"How about fixing your game thing!" Maria called out to the girls, "Ugh, those two never listen. Think they're being sneaky or something" The woman shook her head slowly, before looking up at Winter, her anger all but evaporated, replaced with a bored tone, "Name's Maria Calavera. You can call me Granny, everyone else does. So, you're the Winter they won't stop blabbering about?" Maria looked her up and down, not looking too enthusiastic about what she saw. "Well they were right about one thing, you are pretty"
Winter felt herself blush, "Thank you" Winter smiled, trying to fix up her bun. Maria turned around and was slowly walking into the home.
"Don't let it get to your head, kid. Shoes on the stairs" Maria grunted as she walked away, pointing her cane at the basement steps, leaving Winter by herself. She stepped through the threshold into the home and found herself standing on a small landing made of white tiles. But they weren't made out of stone, instead, it looked like they were made of some kind of old plastic.
From the landing, there were two sets of stairs, one short set leading up, and a long set leading down into the basement. It was pitch black in the basement and Winter could practically smell the dampness and feel the cold on her skin from where she was standing. There were shoes piled on the steps leading down, so she took off her heels and put them on top, hoping they didn't fall.
Winter walked after Maria, going up the small set of stairs that led into the kitchen. Her bare feet stuck to the tiles and it felt like she had to peel her feet off the ground with every step. Winter wasn't sure if it was because the floor was dirty or if it was because her feet were sweaty. Winter sort of hoped it was because the floor was dirty.
The kitchen was brightly lit and looked homey, but everything in the room looked to be about ten years out of date. The oven door looked like a slight tug could send it flying it was so plastered in rust, and the fridge was almost as bad. At least the fridge was covered in pictures of Yang, Qrow, Ruby, and even one or two of Maria, hiding the rust. When she took a step closer to the fridge she couldn't help but smile at all of the pictures, all of them looked pretty recent too.
There was a small dining room next to the kitchen, with enough room for a wooden table with four chairs, enough for everyone but Winter. For some reason looking at the chairs made her feel… Off. When she pictured tonight, she always imagined they'd sit down and all enjoy a nice meal together. But now she'd be lucky if she stood in the corner. Walking past the table she noticed a small pile of money on the table with a sticky note on it that read, Not for Yang!
Around the corner from the dining room, she found Ruby and Yang on the floor, messing with something that was resting underneath a large television. Maria was sitting on a black leather chair, watching them work and eating from a bowl of popcorn in her lap that looked like it could feed everyone in the room. There was also a black leather sofa that could probably fit three. It was a small room and it didn't feel cramped, but intimate, in a good way. There was also the sound of running water coming from somewhere down the hall.
"Why isn't it working?" Yang questioned, leaning into her sisters' side and trying to tickle her, but Ruby shoved her away with a laugh.
"You guys keep messing it up when you move it! This wouldn't happen if you guys let me keep it out here" Ruby explained, a hint of pleading in her voice.
"If we did that, then we'd never get to use the tv" Yang teased as she picked up the remote and started to mess with it, flipping between inputs.
"I wouldn't play it that much, only at night!"
"Then we'd never get to sleep"
"You're lucky I don't live here or else I'd throw the thing out! I swear, these games are gonna rot your brains" ranted Maria, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
"Granny, video games aren't that bad. If they were, Ruby would be a walking zombie. Oh, wait, she is" Yang chuckled, dodging Rubys attempts to kick her while she was still working under the tv. Snickering, Yang suddenly spun around, but stopped dead when her eyes met Winters "Crap! I forgot!" Yang jumped over the couch and walked down a small hallway, stopping at the first door on the left.
Yang pounded on the door loudly, "Uncle Qrow, Winters here! Get dressed!" The water suddenly stopped and Winter could hear movement behind the door.
"In the house, or is Granny stalling?"
"In the house" Winter called out, beating Yang to the punch.
"Shit," He said quietly, but the walls were so thin everyone could hear him, "One minute"
"Take your time" Winter called back, smiling.
The tv, which had been black up this point, exploded in a flash of bright light, loud booming noises and cartoon characters fighting. Winter jumped about a foot in the air and yelped in terror. Thankfully, Yang was the only one who had noticed, and she tried her best to hold in her laughter at Winter's face.
"Got it!" Ruby squeaked while scooting out from underneath the tv. Yang vaulted over the couch and gave her sister a sharp high five.
"Oh yay, the game thing is working, how about that" Maria grumbled, but the two girls ignored her.
"Can we start?" Yang yelled, already grabbing a controller.
"Not yet!" Qrow called from the bathroom.
"Can I get the black one this time?" Ruby complained, reaching out for the sleek black controller in Yang's grasp.
"What? No! the black controller's the best one" Yang held it as high as she could, trying her best to keep it out of her jumping sisters short reach.
"Then why do you get it?"
"Because every time you get to pick what we do for game night, you pick video games, and whenever we play video games you always win! It's time to put a stop to it!" Yang grinned, looking back at Winter. Before anyone knew what was going on, the controller was in the air, moving fast towards Winter.
"Yang!" Winter cried as her hands flew out in front of her face. When the controller hit, she flung it back into the air. Winter's heart exploded as she dove and somehow managed to catch it before it shattered on the ground. Adrenaline had exploded into her system and she could feel her hands shake badly. She gripped the controller tight, trying to calm her breathing.
"That was awesome!" Yang yelled with her fists in the air. Ruby, on the other hand, didn't look too excited. Her mouth was wide open and her silver eyes were oceans looking at Winter, her hand was clutching her chest as if her heart had stopped.
Rubys gaze moved to her sister, changing from shock to mock anger, "Zwei! Get her!" Ruby boomed, pointing at her sister.
Winter heard something from down the hall, and turned her head to see… A fat, adorable, corgi charge down the hall for all it was worth barking the whole way. The dog ran past Winter and went right for Yang, jumping on her over and over. Yang looked down at her 'attacker' and smiled.
"Oh no! He got me!" Yang chuckled as she slowly fell onto the floor, getting kisses from the dog the whole way. She picked him and started to roll around with him on the floor, giggling.
"Zwei, you're supposed to destroy her, not play with her!" Ruby sighed before jumping on the ground and trying to rip Zwei away from her sister.
A creak came from down the hall, but Winter couldn't look away from the war for Zwei. The two girls were tickling, licking, and even pinching each other for all they were worth. Zwei seemed to enjoy the attention more than anything, kissing both the sisters as much as he could.
"What the heck happened here?" Qrow asked standing beside Winter wearing basketball shorts, a teeshirt, and his tilted cross necklace. His hair was still wet, but he had spent some time combing it. It was still messy but in a controlled way.
"I guess they're fighting for Zwei" Winter chuckled, turning back to the girls. Qrow clapped his hands, and everyone turned to face him, even Zwei.
"Alright you two, make a treaty, it's time to play," Qrow said as he vaulted over the couch and claimed his seat.
"Yay!" Ruby smiled, grabbing a random controller and moving around the games menu. She and Yang sat down on the ground in front of the couch with Zwei cuddled between them.
Winter walked around the couch, like a sane person, and sat down on the couch. She watched as Qrow glanced at her outfit, if for only a moment, before meeting her eyes, "Don't you look nice" Winter couldn't tell if he was teasing or being for real.
"I see you went with a more, relaxed approach" Winter shot back at him with a grin, "So what exactly happened on the phone earlier? Ruby said you broke a water bucket or something?" Qrow looked at her like she'd spoken to him in a different language, "You said something about oil?"
"Oh! I was at the shop earlier and I broke a Water pump. Then I hit cut a line accidentally and oil started to go everywhere. I was covered in after that, been in there for over an hour trying to get it all off" He chuckled like it was normal.
"I had to give them their money back, you dope!" Maria called from across the room, waving her cane at him. Qrow shrugged at her, and Winter thought she was gonna throw something at him.
"It came out of my pay, Granny. Plus, Ruby and I fixed it no sweat, isn't that right?" Ruby turned and looked at him and gave him a thumbs up.
"Easy peasy!" Maria groaned, sounding like she'd been punched or something.
"See? No harm no foul" Qrow chuckled.
"I don't know why I ever hired you" She grumbled in agony.
"Because you love us" Ruby chirped, surfing through the game screen with a smile. Maria sighed, but she smiled at the girls.
"Something like that"
"So, think you can help us take down, Ruby?" Qrow asked with a smile as he looking down at his beaming niece. Ruby turned and flashed them a warm smile, "She's a monster" Winter laughed, but Qrows face didn't change.
"How hard could it be?" Winter asked with a smile as Ruby started the game.
-Authors Note-
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you guys like these chapters and have a great holiday season! Having everyone read this story means the world to me and has been a pretty awesome gift! Thanks again, everyone!