It was a bright and sunny day out, and Summer and Tai had gone into Vale to get supplies for their upcoming mission. Raven had declined to go with them, and Qrow…

Qrow was sitting at his desk, staring at the notebook in front of him, and wishing that whoever had thought up the idea of "mini-essays" could be spontaneously quizzed on their "landing strategy". A practical exam, of course.

At least it was a bright and sunny day out. He hated those.

"I've heard people call me emo, but that's just overdoing it."

"Shut up and let me tell the story."

Qrow glared at the measly sentences at the top of the page, then sighed and picked up his pen once more. Before he could, though, he felt the back of his neck prickle, and a wave of uneasiness swept through him.

"Raven," he said without turning around. "Stop staring at me."

The feeling remained.

Qrow sighed, and set his pen down again before turning around in his chair. "What?" he said grumpily.

"Nothing," Raven answered in the same voice. As he had known, his sister was sitting in her bed staring in his direction. She had her sword out of its scabbard with a rag in her other hand, heedless of what the cleaning might do to her sheets. It was a familiar sight, despite Summer's grumbling about "no weapons work in the dorm"; cleaning had eventually been deemed an exception to that rule, a compromise between the two women.

But today both the sword and rag were resting on Raven's knees, and she was staring at Qrow, making it absolutely impossible to get any work done.

"It's clearly not nothing," he grumbled, "so let's just talk about it and get it over with. I need to focus." He leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head.

"Oh, like you ever do your homework on time," Raven replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, so what do you think this is?" Qrow jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Essay number 8 of 12, before the end of term. As in, tomorrow."

Raven's face flickered with equal parts apology and amusement before returning to its stoic default. But, Qrow noticed, there was something intense in her eyes, intense and…apprehensive? Whatever this was, Raven was serious about it.

He sighed and lowered his hands to his lap, tried to put a smile on his face. "What is it, Rae?"

Uncharacteristically, she avoided his eye contact. "Tai asked me out yesterday."

For a moment Qrow froze. It wasn't like this was such a surprising turn of events—they'd all seen how Tai was hanging on to Raven's words more and more, and how she'd even, slowly, started reciprocating the attention. But for Raven, of all people, to be wrestling with indecision…

Qrow struggled not to laugh, but saw his sister's face harden anyway. "And?" he said, trying to keep his voice neutral.

Raven's expression continued to darken, then she looked away. "And I told him I'd think about it."

Qrow raised his eyebrows. "That's new," he said. "You're into him, right?"

Raven gave him a look, the one that meant "of course I am, but if you try to force me to say it outright I'll break your arm". Qrow had been on the receiving end enough times that it was more informative than threatening by now.

"So what's the problem?" he went on. "I mean, I know you usually like to do the asking…"

"It's different," Raven answered, not meeting his eyes.

Qrow scratched his head. "Well, yeah, it's different here, but that hasn't stopped you before, right?" Raven may not have been as, well, promiscuous at Beacon as he had, but he was pretty sure she hadn't exactly been celibate either.

"No, Qrow." Her tone was frustrated. "It's…different." She pulled her shoulders in and hunched over, looking down at her sword.

A slow smile grew on Qrow's face. "Ra~ven," he said in a singsong. "You actually like him."

"Shut. Up."

Qrow shook his head. "Look, you're making a big deal out of nothing," he said. "If you like him, just say yes. Go on the date."

"It's not that simple!" Raven burst out. "He's not one of us." She looked down again and then shook herself.

Qrow knew what she meant. The brash, young Taiyang Xiao Long couldn't really have any idea what life was like in the Branwen Tribe. The twins had been carefully circumspect about their lives growing up, not to mention the…activities that were necessary for the group's survival. Qrow suspected the other two members of their team would be less than understanding if they knew he and Raven still planned to return to that life.

But all that aside…

"No," he acknowledged. "He's not. But neither is Summer." Raven turned her head away sharply again, and Qrow went on. "And look, now she's your best friend, and you're hers. You told me that yourself."

"That's…" Raven stopped herself and tried again. "That's already one connection I have outside the Tribe. I can't afford to make any more."

"That's a load of crap, and you shouldn't let it stop you," Qrow scoffed. "Ah—!" He held up a finger as Raven opened her mouth; she glared at him and closed it again. "Going on a date with this guy isn't some kind of betrayal. Hell, even a long-term relationship isn't a betrayal. Rhydderch's husband lives in Mistral, right?"

"And of all people, why did it have to be Taiyang Xiao Long?" Raven went on, and Qrow knew he had won. "The guy who can't go fifteen minutes without telling a joke. The guy who tried punching a tree barehanded to see how much Aura he had left. The guy who eats his french fries with ketchup!"

"Everybody eats their french fries with ketchup," Qrow replied exasperatedly, momentarily derailed. "It's just you who doesn't like that!"

"Ketchup is what you get if you asked someone to make a tomato sauce and that person doesn't like tomatoes."

Qrow groaned. "You've said that before and it didn't make any sense then either!" he complained, then saw a hint of a smirk on his sister's face. He shook his head and waved a hand in dismissal. "Anyway, he's a guy who tries to make you smile, and a guy who can keep up with you in a fight. Sounds like a pretty good match to me."

Raven paused. "Hang on. Why are you trying to talk me into this? What happened to your whole 'the world bores me' thing?"

"Hm?"

Qrow tilted his head. Why was he trying to talk her into it? Raven's concerns about their different backgrounds and their post-graduation plans weren't unfounded, and neither of them had brought up what it might do to their team dynamic. And yet…

"Relentless self-interest," he finally said, adding a smirk for effect. "I just don't want to deal with the two of you moping around for weeks because you didn't go on a date you both wanted." Easily he lifted an arm and snatched the pillow he had known Raven would throw at his face. "And because I know you, Rae, and you do want to go on this date."

Raven sighed, then swung her legs off the bed. "It's not going to be easy," she warned, as much to herself as to Qrow.

"We never were ones for doing things the easy way," Qrow replied, feeling a rueful smile rise to his face.

Raven stood and stretched, then looked over at the desk. "Case in point?"

Qrow groaned again and slowly turned his chair back around. Behind him, he heard Raven pick up her gear, and looked up once more to see her heading for the door. She paused with her hand on the doorknob.

"Qrow?" she said, looking at him. He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Thanks for the advice."

Qrow smiled. "Any time, sis. Any time."

Author's note: If Remnant can have Brussels sprouts then it can have French fries.

Planned updates on weekends. The story is already fully written, so there shouldn't be an issue. Watch for double updates roughly every three chapters.