Author's Notes: Colours by Grouplove is appropriate
Holiday
Chapter 5
Her first week at the Xiao Long household was one of the best weeks she had honestly ever had, particularly considering the season. The Schnee family only celebrated the season in the public eye, attending balls, parties and fundraisers as was expected of them; Winter had particularly hated the winter holidays.
Their father had always expected her sister to put on the biggest show of the siblings, smile at the most stockholders and business colleagues, kiss the most babies as it were. He wanted Winter to be charming, social, dainty; clever but not too clever, talented but not a threat to him.
However, that wasn't who Winter was as a person; and her sister had rebelled against those demands as fiercely as she was able. The storm wrought by Winter and their father battling during the holidays had always created an atmosphere so tense one could have cut it with Myrtenaster.
Weiss had dreaded the season's approach every year, until finally Winter escaped into the Academy. Then Weiss had taken Winter's place as the family mascot. It hadn't exactly been pleasant to bear that mantle.
Yet her teammate's abode was likely the complete opposite of the Schnee manor, and the majority of Weiss's acquaintances in Atlas. There was not a hint of family politics or showboating to be found here, that was for certain. There was a routine, if one could consider it such, that Weiss took note of.
Each morning, either she or Blake were the first awake in the household. Weiss would typically make coffee, then go sit on the porch to enjoy the scenery and fresh air. Blake might follow her outside to make conversation, read or go do yoga in the backyard.
The faunus enjoyed her quiet time as much as Weiss did, and would take advantage of the early morning to recharge from whatever silliness they had engaged in the day before. The rustic home was quite serene, for that first hour or so. Sometimes, wildlife would rustle in the bushes or trees; once, Weiss even heard a fox barking in the woods. She had always wanted to see a fox in person.
Then Ruby would wake up and all forms of peacefulness quickly evaporated. One always knew Ruby was awake because of the immediate stampede on the staircase, as their team-leader blurred down the stairs, followed by Bo and Zwei; Ruby typically burst outside to join them as she fed the animals, pestering Weiss and Blake with a bombardment of questions and conversation. Then she'd launch enthusiastically into whatever caught her interest first.
Sometimes, it was tinkering with Crescent Rose in the shed. Other times, it was video games, or attempting to wake Yang up; such attempts usually ended in something very loud, either giggling or irritable shouting as the brawler tried to sleep.
Her partner seemed to take joy in whatever task she set about, something that Weiss had original deemed to be nearly idiotic; something simple could bring Ruby so much happiness, that Weiss had mistakenly believed must mean that the younger girl was simple herself. However, she had come to believe that Ruby wasn't simple at all; she was simple in love with being alive. It was a trait she was coming to appreciate in her partner very much.
Qrow was hit or miss, in terms of wakefulness. Occasionally, he was up before even her, already on the porch or making breakfast. Other times, he slept until the afternoon; typically on the sofa, though he had a hammock on the porch as well despite the chill.
Weiss had quickly noted that Qrow was surely as much of an alcoholic as her own mother; he had hidden stashes, and a tendency to 'sneak drink' when he thought no one was looking. Mr. Xiao Long would get frustrated looks on his face whenever his partner had hit the sauce a little heavy, indicating a long, weary argument over the man's drinking that he was choosing not to engage in for the moment; he likely didn't want to cause a scene in front of his girls.
Despite the man's rather uncouth nature and air of roguishness, Weiss found that she actually enjoyed him. He clearly loved Ruby and Yang dearly, and one morning had even passionately debated with Blake about a book series that the faunus adored. Qrow was also a very experienced huntsman, and would go into long tales of his exploits whenever Ruby prodded him, which was frequent. Ruby seemed to idolize her uncle, having designed Crescent Rose after his own strangely nameless weapon.
Mr. Xiao Long, who continuously tried to get her to call him Tai, was typically the last person awake; but once he was, he always had something planned to do. Frequently, he would get Yang to practice sparring with him in their backyard, which they all spectated in awe as both martial artists danced around one another with equal parts ferocity and grace. Other times, he would try to coral the team into some outing he had come up with, such as a trip to town or even fishing at a lake. Regardless, Mr. Xiao Long was always moving.
He was also more mature than his partner in some aspects, taking a more authoritarian and protective role with Ruby and Yang than Qrow. However, by Weiss's family's standards, he was practically bohemian; he could also come across as being a bit more naïve than Qrow on certain topics.
Yang and Tai would occasionally get into arguments, or at least what Weiss had thought were arguments; one moment they would be bantering back and forth with one another, the next butting heads and raising their voices, before going back to laughing. In the Schnee household, raised voices were very dangerous. With Yang and Tai, Weiss eventually deduced that they were not actually angry, but just enjoyed being loud for some reason. They seemed to think it was fun.
Despite the seeming chaos and like of propriety, however, the household was in its own way extremely refreshing from what she was accustomed to. Weiss had decided after several days, that she was glad she had chosen to spend her time here.
So it was that Weiss had woken up earlier that morning than she did typically. The sun had yet to rise, however she felt quite rested and decided to go ahead and get up. She wanted to practice her glyphs at some point before everyone was awake anyways.
After making her coffee, Weiss stepped quietly out onto the porch with a blanket over her shoulders, her breath fogging the air. The gray light of early morning was the only illumination. With a pleased hum, Weiss took a seat in the rocking chair.
She sat there undisturbed for quite some time, before a fluttering shadow landed on the railing to her left. The bird from the other day looked down at her, tilting its head. Weiss smiled at it as she took a sip of coffee.
"Hello again."
The bird croaked, tilting its head. More movement caught her attention; Qrow, still in his pajamas, was for whatever reason sneaking up behind the bird from behind, tiptoeing around the house. Weiss raised an eyebrow in confusion, as Qrow winked at her before lifting an air-horn behind the hapless animal. He squeezed the trigger, and an obnoxiously loud trumpet sounded.
"Get fucked," he laughed as the bird squawked in surprise, shooting into the air.
Weiss gaped at him as he laughed almost manically.
"No trash-pigeons on the porch!" he shouted. The poor bird flapped overhead, squawking in outrage; it swooped down at his head to peck at him once before flying off into the trees.
"Why did you do that?" exclaimed Weiss. "That was so mean-"
"Nah, she's fine," Qrow laughed again, climbing over the railing.
Weiss shook her head at the bizarre, likely intoxicated hunter. Qrow was still chuckling to himself, as Weiss huffed and finished her coffee. So much for the morning quiet then.
"Mornin," he grinned, flopping into his hammock.
"Good morning," Weiss grumbled.
"You're up early, eh?" he sighed, rocking the hammock. The ropes creaked as he swung.
"I typically am," Weiss said. "Are you always so harsh to wildlife?"
"Nah. Just her," he chuckled again. "What you got planned for today?"
Weiss set her cup down on the wooden side table between the rocking chairs.
"Nothing, as far as I am aware."
"Well, I've heard that Rubes has something in the works," Qrow said, smirking.
Weiss raised her eyebrows cautiously. Ruby plans could be…interesting.
"And that would be?"
"Hm, well if I tell, ya gotta act really surprised ok?" he drawled. In the forest, an owl hooted eerily.
"I can manage that," Weiss smiled. She was an excellent actor.
"Rubes wants to go horseback ridin," Qrow said after a minute, hands behind his messy hair as he rocked.
"Really?!" Weiss exclaimed, before flushing and whispering. "Really?"
Qrow chuckled again.
"Yea, she ah, heard you like horses I think. And she's always wanted to try. She's scared of motorcycles, though, is the funny thing."
"Horses are nothing like motorcycles," Weiss sniffed. Though she had come to appreciate that motorcycles had their own appeal. "That should be fun. I think she'll really like that."
"Me too," grinned Qrow. The older hunter was studying her with a sly look in his eyes that reminded Weiss briefly of Coco Adel.
"So you and Ruby had a bit of a rocky start, yea?" he asked after a moment.
Weiss appraised him carefully, uncertain as to his angle.
"I suppose," she admitted. "I can be a bit…difficult, to get along with initially. And I wasn't sure what to make of her."
To her surprise, Qrow laughed again, a rough but genuine sound.
"Ahhh. Life's funny," he said after a moment. "It really does just…go in circles."
Weiss studied the older hunter as he lounged carelessly. She got the feeling in that moment that he was a good actor too.
"I like you, Weiss. I'm glad you two are getting along."
Weiss blinked at the admission, uncertain.
"I'm glad we're getting along too," she admitted. "You really care about her, don't you?"
She surprised herself with that question; however, it was too late to take it back. Qrow rocked in his hammock, turning his head to smile at her.
"I do. She's a good kid. Yang too."
Weiss nodded. He seemed nearly melancholy, despite the smile.
"Can you promise a dusty old crow something?" he asked.
"I can try," she replied.
"Take care of her?"
"Of course," she said immediately.
Qrow hummed, nodding as he relaxed in his hammock. They didn't really speak much after that, simply taking in the morning as the sun slowly rose.