Roman locked the door to his penthouse, sighing as he dropped his keys down on the fireplace mantle. Cinder had been a right pain in the ass, as usual, and now that he had arrived home, Roman just wanted to relax.

As usual, the Fates were against him. As Roman set Melodic Cudgel down and began undoing his jacket, he heard Qrow shout out. Roman turned to his left, surprise being the first emotion to cross his mind. By no means had he expected Qrow to arrive before him. The next emotion was anger.

With a bang and a bark, Roman crashed back-first into his door, sliding down onto the ground. He blinked, shifting past the sudden wave of pain as he got a good look at the monster standing on his chest.

"Zwei!" Qrow called out, trying to contain his laughter and burgeoning horror. "No! Sit!"

The corgi immediately plopped down on Roman's lap, tongue lolling out as he gazed up at Roman. Before he could shove the offending animal off of his person, Qrow had arrived and scooped the little mongrel up in his arms.

"No," Qrow scolded, but Zwei just rolled onto his back in his hold, woofing. "You can't just jump on people." Qrow held out his hand to Roman, who took it and was thusly pulled into a standing position. "I'm so sorry about him," Qrow apologized, and Roman busied himself with brushing his jacket off. "Zwei just gets excited around new people."

"Qrow," Roman began, very slowly, as if he was talking to an extremely unintelligent child. "Why is there a dog in my apartment?"

Qrow blinked and stood up a bit, cradling Zwei. "Mine doesn't allow pets and Tai is chaperoning Ruby and Yang's Signal trip. I won't be on call for a week, so I thought I'd bring him here."

Roman took a deep breath and finished undoing his overcoat, hanging it up next to Qrow's cape in the small closet across from the fireplace. He took off his hat and gloves next, counting down from ten to calm himself. Roman slipped a cigar from his jacket's pocket and put it in his pants', knowing he'd need a smoke after this.

He turned back to Qrow with a tight-lipped smile. Qrow, wisely, went on guard.

"And you didn't think to ask me? Seeing as it's my fucking apartment?"

Qrow's face fell, and he let Zwei hop on to the ground. He started sniffing around Roman's legs, and it took him everything he had not to punt the dog right into Qrow. The man in question had shoved his hands into his pockets, guilt written all over his face. "Just thought you'd like to meet him. I'd take him back to Tai's, but then I wouldn't be able to spend the week with you, and you traveling to back and forth to Patch isn't viable -"

Roman cut right through the bullshit. "So what you're saying is you're keeping a dog in my apartment, without asking me, for a week." Roman stood tall, and while he was shorter than Qrow, the elder man still grimaced.

"Not a week. Just like, a day or two." Qrow's face fell, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry. I shoulda asked."

"No fucking shit!" Roman exploded, before taking another deep breath and running a hand over his face. Zwei barked beneath him, and Roman shot the dog a glare. It grinned back, causing Roman to severely reevaluate his stance on if he allowed blood to get on his carpet.

"I'm going for a smoke," he announced, brushing past Qrow and through his living room. He slid open the balcony door, resisting the urge to slam it closed. It was made of glass, after all. "If that thing pisses on anything, you're paying for it!" Roman called over his shoulder, barely keeping a shudder at bay as his mind wandered to whatever else that animal could do.

Qrow frowned and bent down next to Zwei, scratching him behind the ears. "Sorry, buddy," he apologized, glancing through the glass at Roman bent over the railing, smoke curling around his head. "I thought he'd like you." Qrow gave Zwei a bitter smile, but the corgi just woofed and licked Qrow's face. He huffed out half a laugh, rubbing Zwei's back. "Guess we'll just have to convince him, huh?"

Zwei barked in agreement, wagging his stubby little tail.