Qrow gave the screwdriver one more twist, then lifted the sword off the table. With a sudden move he activated the scythe mode, the hilt extending into a long sturdy handle as the blade smoothly slid apart into its curved, articulated form.

And that was the problem. It was supposed to go one segment at a time, with a jolt that had knocked Summer off her feet the first time he had let her try it. It wasn't just for show, either—trying to do all the segments at once led to a blade that would collapse back to a straight line if the tip got stuck. A sword was one thing, a scythe was another, but a right angle was just a blade on a stick, and not one he could put any muscle behind. Although maybe a javelin form…

At the moment Qrow was in his own small second-floor apartment in Vale, and one of the advantages of having his own place was that he could strew his tools all across his kitchen table to work on his weapon without anyone complaining. As close as Team STRQ had become while still at Beacon, four years of sharing a dorm room was enough for any of them. Qrow had gotten an apartment right in the middle of town, which made it easy to walk back from the bars. Summer was back at home, saving her Lien like a responsible young woman.

Tai and Raven, astonishingly, had decided to move in together, finding a place on the other side of the river only a stone's throw from the edge of the city. Raven made no secret of the fact that she spent many of her days outside the city walls even when not out on a mission—not that the other three members of the team expected anything else.

Qrow collapsed the scythe back to a sword, and only then did he notice his Scroll ringing. It was one of the fancy new flatscreen models, something he never would have bought for himself but which he was perfectly happy to lord over Tai. Reconnaissance photography, he remembered the official justification being.

And speaking of Tai…

"Yeah," he said, picking up the Scroll with his free hand.

"Qrow, we were supposed to meet at the station at 1," Tai said without any preamble.

"Yeah," replied Qrow, wondering what was going on. "That's in…"

The clock on his wall said 1:15.

He set the sword down to put a hand to his forehead. "Sorry, Tai, I got caught up in…"

His teammate cut him off. "Don't worry, I planned for this."

Something about the way Tai said that sounded suspicious. Or, no, it wasn't the way he said it…

Qrow looked over just as the door to his apartment swung open, revealing Tai in his usual leather combat gear. Still holding his Scroll, the blond man grinned cheekily before hanging up.

Qrow sighed and tucked his own Scroll into a pocket. "You got me," he admitted, looking down at the still-misbehaving sword sitting innocuously on the table.

Tai closed the door and crossed to Qrow's side of the room. "What's wrong with it this time?" he asked, clearly humoring his partner.

Qrow answered anyway. "Scythe form's not sticking. Must've been that Hartless that hacked all over it last week."

Tai winced sympathetically. "Now that was a fiasco. I think even Raven regrets getting us into that one."

"She doesn't know the meaning of the word 'regret'," Qrow replied, his tone a bit more acid than he'd usually use for teasing his sister. It's entirely her fault we ended up having to brawl our way out instead of just sneaking away. And now my scythe's not working. "Well, she does, but only so she can induce it in others."

Tai laughed obligingly, then put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the arm of the couch. "Well, we've still got a bit of time before the airship gets here. Go ahead and finish it off."

"Glad I have your permission," Qrow said dryly, already inserting the screwdriver into the second segment of the sword.

"Hey, I am second-in-command of Team STRQ, you know," Tai quipped. "It's right there in the name." An old joke at this point, but the familiarity made it comfortable.

As Qrow moved on to the next segment of the sword, however, he realized that something was off. Tai was jiggling his leg, and alternately looking at Qrow and then looking away. This was the man who usually treated these search-and-destroy missions as casually as going to the movies. That meant something was up, something his teammate wanted to tell him but felt nervous bringing up.

"Spit it out, Tai," he said finally, watching his partner practically vibrate off the couch arm.

Tai looked startled for a moment, then grinned sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. "I should have known I couldn't hide it from you."

Qrow mentally rolled his eyes at the weak delaying tactic. "What is it?"

"All right." Tai's face became serious. "Raven's pregnant."

Qrow went still. He nodded slowly, not wanting to commit to a particular reaction until he'd heard the rest of it.

Thankfully, Tai's serious visage cracked, and a wide grin split his face. "And she's keeping it. We're gonna raise it on Patch together."

"Tai, that's great!" Qrow left the screwdriver sticking out of the sword and grabbed his friend in a hug, eliciting a startled gasp. "Congratulations to both of you."

"Thanks, Qrow." Tai sounded surprised but pleased. Well, maybe Qrow wasn't usually one for excitement or physical gestures, but that was because so few things were really worth celebrating. New life—and new family? That was one of those things.

"So what're you gonna name 'em?" he asked teasingly, pulling back from the embrace.

Tai rolled his eyes and shook his head, but the grin remained. "Obviously it's still early. We've barely talked about it."

"But…?" Qrow prompted.

His friend blushed slightly. "Well…I've always kind of wanted a Junior, you know? Like I always thought that'd be a nice family tradition."

"Aw, Tai!" Qrow mock-groaned and turned back to his sword. "That's like the most arrogant thing you can do, naming your kid after yourself."

"No it's not!" his friend said indignantly. "It's a connection; it goes both ways. Besides, it's my parents who chose the name, so it's not really like I'm praising myself."

Qrow shook his head and got to adjusting the second-to-last segment of the sword. "And what does Raven think about all this?"

"Honestly, she didn't seem to care about the first name," Tai answered, shrugging. "For the family name, though…well, it's funny, actually, how we both came in preferring the other's name."

"Oh?" Qrow tried to keep his tone casual. He knew where Raven's preference came from; it was a serious thing for both of the twins.

"It's just a pain sometimes having a two-word family name, you know?" Tai went on. "But Raven wouldn't hear of it. She said 'Branwen' wasn't really a family name at all; it's your tribe. And since this baby's not being raised in the tribe…" He shrugged.

"That makes sense," Qrow said mildly. It might have been a problem if Tai had pushed harder, but it sounded like that wasn't going to be an issue. Besides, this was between the two of them; Qrow didn't need to pry. Tai was a big boy.

"Anyway, we're already looking for a real home on Patch." Tai pushed himself away from the couch and came over to the table. "The place here in town is convenient and all, but it ain't no way to raise a family."

Qrow finished up the last segment of the sword. "Summer'll be disappointed to have us all spread out, but I guess that's the way it goes." And I'm sure Raven's on the same page with this one. She's never liked cities.

He grasped the hilt and lifted his weapon off the table. "Stand back."

Tai obediently took a step backward. Once again, Qrow activated the sword's transformation, swinging it around as it reformed into its scythe mode. This time, the segments locked into place one-by-one, as designed.

"Well?" prompted Tai.

Qrow grunted. "Good enough for today's work, but I'm gonna have to take it apart and do it over soon enough."

"Well, you reap what you sow," Tai offered, smirking. Qrow groaned, and his teammate shrugged. "Hey, I'd be more sympathetic if I didn't know how much you enjoy that kind of thing. Now, come on, are we doing this?"

"All right, all right." Shaking his head again, Qrow collapsed the scythe back to a sword and then down to the compact bundle meant for carrying on his back. "Let's get going."

On the way out Qrow paused once more at the door. "Hey, Tai?" His friend turned towards him. "Congratulations. Really."

"Thanks, Qrow," Tai answered, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Now let's go make the world a better place for my kid." He grinned.

A/N: A "Hartless" is a fanmade Grimm by Shadowpool95, who runs the incorrect-strq-quotes Tumblr that's helped shape this story. You can see her drawing of one as post 167279474368 (don't feel like fighting FF's link restrictions right now). She has her own STRQ story over on AO3 called "Invicta".