"Nothing." Arthur hissed the word out with so much anger on his lips that it only served to make Hazel roll his eyes. Venom was dripping from Arthur's every pore, his every word.
They were all feeling the same frustrations as the four of them set up a camp for the night. The entire day had been spent on the road, with only one opportunity taken for them to rest. Now that it was getting late and the sky was growing dark, they were getting ready for the long night ahead of them. "We've been travelling for months, and we still find nothing."
Arthur rolled out his bedding on the hard ground, probably hoping that he'd be able to rest first.
As for Hazel, he was the most frustrated of the four of them that day. That mostly had to do with the fact that he was being expected to put up with the chatter from everyone else that he was travelling with. For instance, Arthur had been whining for most of the evening.
Tyrian had gotten more and more frustrated with the way that things were progressing. He was antsy, and that was something that Hazel understood. They all had the same problems, and seeing as the man was poorly rested it made things difficult. They needed for everyone in the group to be on top of their game.
As for their newest addition...
Cinder seemed capable enough. She was young, and Hazel was fairly certain that had he still had a family to call his own, his daughter would have been about the same age as Cinder. The girl was strong, and had a good sense for travel and followed directions well enough. That didn't mean that she'd fully proven herself yet, but she seemed more than able to stand up to a journey like the one they were on.
Hazel bit back his frustration with Watts as he dropped his own bag of gear to the ground. He paused, taking a quick look around the area so that he could check that it was indeed safe. Arthur had already made the decision that it was, but Hazel didn't always trust the man's judgement.
He trusted himself more than anything else. Hazel had managed to survive for as long as he had based on instinct, and he wasn't going to ruin a good thing now.
"Set up camp here." Hazel grumbled, looking over at Tyrian, who blinked with wide eyes at him. The man hesitated for a long moment before he nodded slowly and began to search the area for ways to set up a temporary shelter. Hazel sighed and looked over at Cinder.
Best not leave a child to the wolves.
"You." He tilted his head up to catch her attention. "With me."
Cinder nodded and stood up, grabbing her weapon and following after Hazel quietly. She seemed unsure about him, but Hazel figured that she thought it was better than sticking by the others.
He led the two of them into the forest, hoping that they'd find something that could help. Firewood was a priority, for one. "What is it?" Cinder asked.
"We need to make sure that the area is secure." Hazel grumbled quietly. "And I figure you don't want to be left with the other two."
Cinder paused, her eyes narrowed as she followed after him. Hazel paused, giving the girl a chance to catch up to him so that she didn't end up getting left behind. Out in the wilds, they didn't want to risk getting themselves hurt. Hazel wanted to take the fewest risks possible, if only because he knew how Arthur's bedside manner could be and he really didn't want to have to go through that if he didn't have to.
"They're... not so bad, I suppose." Cinder said quietly.
"You'll change your mind soon enough." Hazel answered quietly as he raised his arms so that he could check whether a tree was dead or not. He didn't want to end up signaling anyone or anything to their location by burning green wood. "Are you okay?"
Cinder blinked, watching him closely as Hazel found exactly what he'd needed. With a careful tug, Hazel managed to snap a branch off of the tree and pull it down, satisfied that the wood seemed to be dry and long dead. Hazel began to break it apart into more manageable pieces by hand. He looked over at Cinder, who got the message easily enough and began to take the wood in her arms.
"I'm curious why you'd ask." Cinder replied finally, her voice somewhat low.
"I ask because you're young." Hazel said, snapping off another bough of the tree. "And I assume you aren't used to this sort of thing."
"I have a lot of questions." Cinder said, her voice quiet. Hazel raised an eyebrow. He'd been under the impression that they'd managed to explain everything earlier. Of course, they had left a lot of gaps behind that needed to be filled in at some point.
But of course, Cinder was still new to the cause. Not the she seemed to be fully aware of it just yet.
"What kinds?" Hazel asked, figuring that it was for the best that he at least humored Cinder and gave her a chance to ask her questions. If there were gaps that he could fill in without giving too much away, it wouldn't hurt to answer.
"What is the problem with all of you?" Cinder asked, taking a step forward as Hazel began to place more wood in her arms. "You're so-" Her brow furrowed and she frowned slightly, expression twisting into something akin to a snarl. "Harsh."
That was a very good question, but it was also one that Hazel could answer easily enough.
"You have to understand," He mumbled as he turned to step away from the tree that they were harvesting their kindling from. Hazel was satisfied that they'd gotten enough firewood for now, but he still wanted to finish a perimeter check before they went to rest. "We've been travelling for a long time."
Cinder nodded slowly. "How long have you been travelling, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Months." Hazel did his best to mask any emotional uprising in his face. He didn't need Cinder prying too much into his own life. "In some cases, longer than others. Spending a lot of time on the road has made us..." He hesitated. "Testy."
The word wasn't quite good enough.
Cinder nodded, following close after him as he checked the night for something. He stared out into the woods, scanning for anything that could tell them that something was wrong. Nothing was presenting itself, and that almost made Hazel feel more secure. Of course, they were going to need to set up a rotation for people to stand watch.
It wasn't so simple, after all.
"So why are you travelling with them?" Cinder asked him.
"The same reason anyone wanders."
Hazel couldn't help the grimace. He couldn't pretend as though he'd just managed to give a legitimate reason to Cinder by any means because to think of matters as such was disingenuous at best. However, this was a child. While it seemed that the girl was well aware of some of the horrors of the world, that didn't mean that Hazel wanted to be the one with the displeasure of exposing her to them.
Besides, he reminded himself. This girl didn't know him. This was just a child trying to find her way just the same as anyone else was.
The only difference is that he had some sort of greater destiny thing hanging over his head. While it appeared that the same may be true for Cinder, Hazel couldn't be sure. At the end of the day, she was barely over the age of twenty and getting thrown into things much bigger than herself.
She stared him down, her mouth opening just slightly as she tried to find the words that she wanted to say to him but none reached her lips. Cinder's eyes flickered away from him, and that was how Hazel knew that he'd managed to get through that line of questioning. For now, some of his secrets would be safe. He didn't have to give up any part of himself to this girl just yet.
Slowly, the two continued along on their patrol. It carried them away from the camp, further and further from what was left of humanity before they finally would back around. When the two of them made their appearance, it seemed that the camp was finally in order.
They didn't have a tent, because it seemed that Arthur and Tyrian had decided that it was more beneficial to use the canvas that they had on them as a canopy above them. It wouldn't serve to keep any bugs out but that wasn't something that Hazel worried about. He was used to bugs.
They all were.
Some for different reasons than others, Hazel had to remind himself.
Cinder and him made their way into the center of the camp, where it looked like Tyrian had constructed a fire pit. Hazel beckoned Cinder over to his side, and soon she was right there, dropping the wood that the two of them had gathered. Hazel didn't think about anything more than he had to.
He just decided to go ahead and begin setting up firewood in a way that would give them the best results.
The only sign that something was amiss was when he had turned after some hesitation so that he could get a flint from his pack. It was an act that he'd done thousands of times before, but still Hazel didn't like lighting fires. Cinder realized what he was doing and spoke.
"Wait." She said. "You don't-"
Hazel's eyes narrowed in some annoyance that he had to fight back so that it couldn't show. "Afraid of fire?" Hypocrisy sat bitter on his tongue at the question.
Cinder's eyes narrowed in response. She raised a hand, and Hazel could practically feel the flare in her aura that came with it. She thrust her open palm forward, and a billow of flame left it, striking the wood and setting it alight.
Everyone in the camp stared at the girl. She sneered slightly and dropped her hand back down to her side. None of them dared speak.
The first to break the quiet was Tyrian, with his typical cackling laughter. "The dear Ember truly burns brightly!" Tyrian exclaimed standing up from the spot where he'd been resting. "Why, Haze-"
"Quiet, insect." Watts spoke up, sneering. "Nobody wants to hear your..." He grimaced. "Outbursts."
The words made Tyrian shrink back wordlessly as he dragged himself back over to his small spot on the ground. He seemed obviously dejected, and Hazel couldn't fight back yet another grimace.
He needed to get control over these people if they were going to coexist.
"Food." He mumbled, looking at Arthur.
"Rations are in my bag." Arthur answered, calmly as he leaned in towards the fire so that he could begin checking over their plans in his dossier book. He raised a hand so that he could rub at the back of his neck once more. "We should have found it today."
Hazel grimaced. "We both anticipated that it would be difficult to locate." He spoke as calmly as he could manage. He hoped that it was going to be enough for him to hide some of his exhaustion. "Every day is progress."
Arthur glared at him across the fire. "There's no such thing as progress when we're finding nothing." He leaned back again, snapping his dossier book closed. "This failure-"
"Not a failure." Hazel cut him off, frowning as he leaned back against a tree and just let himself soak in some of the warmth, even if it was just for a little while. "We have suffered no losses, and haven't met much trouble besides-"
He knew that everyone at that campfire saw the way that his eyes flicked between Cinder and Tyrian both.
"It doesn't matter." Hazel decided to finish. "This isn't a failure."
Arthur glared at him still, obviously sneering behind that mustache of his. "Tomorrow, I will lead, and I'll find that spawning pool. When we meet victory, I'll be sure to see to it that neither of you see credit for it."
Every word was a barb. Somehow, Hazel didn't find that they stung so much anymore as much as they merely irritated.
Hazel didn't want to hear from Arthur anymore. He let himself sit there just long enough to warm his bones before he finally got up and stretched. "I'll take first watch." He muttered. "Tyrian, second watch."
Arthur rolled his eyes and let out a sound of frustration. "Very well," he sneered. "Run away."
Hazel rolled his eyes, turning his back and checking his pockets to make sure that he'd be okay with everything he had on him. "Goodnight, Arthur."
With that, he slipped off to the edges of their camp, ready to fight at the first chance that something was wrong. In a way, it was a redundant effort, but to Hazel that wasn't what mattered. The knowledge that Grimm weren't a likely concern didn't impact his decisions whatsoever.
This was mostly a force of habit.
When Hazel took his position to wait and watch, he ignored the flare of pain in his chest, more severe and intense than it had been before.
"I see you're once again wandering the grounds of my academy."
Ozpin's voice jolted Weiss out of the haze that she'd fallen into as she stared up at the old hunters statue that had somehow survived Beacon's first fall. The girl forced herself to stand up tall, reminding herself that she was a Schnee. Appearances mattered, more than anything else.
Even now, at the crack of dawn before anyone had gotten up, they mattered.
And Weiss was out of her element. She wasn't wearing the white snowflake emblem that marked her family name. It left her feeling almost naked.
The lack of Myrtenaster at her side made her feel more vulnerable.
She'd just gotten up early in the morning and slipped away from the suite where her family was staying in the hopes that she'd be able to get some air. Her father and Whitley didn't know that she was out of bed.
And so now, Weiss couldn't help but be on edge.
After all, Weiss knew fully well that if even a word about her sneaking out made it to her father, she would suffer consequences.
So Weiss had to think fast to come up with an answer for Ozpin that would be able to be called 'acceptable.' Her mind rushed and she took a breath, schooling her expression into something diplomatic before turning to face Professor Ozpin for the first time.
"Good morning, Headmaster Ozpin." Weiss said, bowing just slightly at the man. "I was simply trying to get some fresh air."
Ozpin hummed calmly, looking up at the statue in front of the both of them. "And so you came here?"
"I'd heard about it." Weiss replied, hoping that it was going to be a good enough cover. "And how it survived the fall years ago."
Ozpin hummed again. "So it did." He turned to face Weiss, hazel eyes flicking over her expression quickly. "You know that you may tell me the truth about why you're up."
Weiss froze in place. She knew that her eyes had widened a lot more than she would have preferred. She knew that she was showing her weakness, and so Weiss had to do her best to hide it. She reminded herself of her schooling, and of her mother's words.
Frozen iron never cracks.
"I was telling you the truth." Weiss said in a deadpan. "I wanted to get some fresh air."
"Air without your father to contaminate it?"
Weiss grit her teeth. "How-"
"Your father and I have done business in the past. I suppose you've heard about that?" Ozpin answered her question in a manner that was so calm that it was almost horrifying. If Ozpin knew about how her father could be, how was he able to hide any fear? Surely he knew how her father would react to this meeting alone. "He's not a kind man."
"Yes, well-" Weiss stared up at the statue. "I was telling the truth. I wanted to get away from him and my brother."
Ozpin nodded slowly, sipping from a mug of coffee as he did. "If it gives you any comfort, I will be sure not to inform him of our meeting."
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin." Weiss said slowly. "You've done me a great service."
"I suppose I have." Ozpin replied calmly, watching Weiss closely like there was something in particular that he was looking for. Weiss couldn't help the feeling that there was something about it that almost felt creepy but she was sure not to mention it. "I've heard about your activities during your stay." The words slipped out almost absentmindedly.
"You've-" Weiss cut herself off before she could say too much. Tact was important here, she couldn't let herself forget that fact. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Ozpin smirked. "I'm the headmaster. Things make it to me." He paused for a moment before speaking up again. "Why have you been going to so many combat classes, Weiss? Surely your father would have something to say about that?"
Weiss blinked. She knew a minefield when she saw one, and this was one that she didn't dare wish to tread in. But she needed to say something. "I find interest in tournaments."
"Is that it?"
Weiss paused, letting out a quiet sigh. "My older sister trained me." She explained herself calmly. "She saw training from-"
"General Ironwood?." Ozpin cut Weiss off. "I've heard plenty about Winter from him. She's talented. He takes great pride in her progress." They smiled slightly, watching Weiss again before letting his eyes slip shut. "If that talent is familial, I'm sure you have some mettle of your own."
Weiss paused, realizing right then what she might have been offered right then. If she was going to get out from under her father's grip, then this might have been her best chance to appeal for that freedom. She swallowed hard and stood up, straight and tall, knowing that she didn't look like a fighter, unarmed and in her street clothes as she was.
But she needed to do something instead of letting this opportunity slip by her. "I could show you." She kept her voice hard. "I have a weapon in my family's quarters-"
Ozpin raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by Weiss' offer. That was a good thing, Weiss supposed. If she could catch Ozpin by surprise, show her skill, and see entrance, then this was her chance.
"You have a weapon here in Vale with you?"
"Yes." Weiss answered, holding her head up high and trying to make herself look a little bit more physically imposing. It would never work, but she needed to put on a good show for this to work. "And if I can get away from my father long enough to show you what I'm capable of-"
"With all due respect," Ozpin spoke up with a slight smile of sorts. "You're a Schnee, Weiss. You have a family name to uphold, and I'm sure that fighting talent runs in your veins." Ozpin stared at her, eyes so intense that it almost felt like Weiss was having someone stare straight into her soul itself. "But I need to know-"
"Yes?"
"What does your name mean to you?"
Weiss' eyes dropped. She turned slightly, looking down at the inscription on the statue and facing it properly as she tried to find the words. Somehow, it felt like nothing that she ever said was ever going to be enough to really answer Ozpin's question. "I don't know, Sir." She paused. "It's-" Another pause, this time accompanied by a deep breath. "Complicated."
Ozpin had seemed to flinch at Weiss' words, something that she'd seen just out of the corner of her eye. He took a deep breath and nodded slowly, taking a step towards the statue and looking up at it instead of at the inscription like Weiss. "I believe you've answered my question." He said calmly. "If you wish to prove your mettle, I would recommend trying to make your way to one of the practice rooms here at the academy. They tend to empty out at around-" Ozpin paused, glancing up at the sky before turning back to Weiss. "Let's say, eight o'clock at night. I'm sure that you'd find it's a comfortable solitary experience."
Weiss felt the breath catch in her throat. This was really her being given a chance, she realized. Ozpin's was choosing words for the sake of making it an informal meeting rather than something like an appointment.
Ozpin was throwing her a lifeline in case Weiss got found out.
So Weiss weighed her own words as carefully as she possibly could, mostly because she was afraid to find out what would happen should she fail to. Her eyes flickered down to the statue again before she plastered on that fake smile that she always had to.
"I will be sure to look at them, Professor Ozpin." She said coolly, knowing that it wasn't enough to hide how relieved she was feeling. "Thank you for informing me of this."
Ozpin nodded along. He knew exactly what Weiss was doing as well, and it almost made her feel just a little bit less alone. She didn't know that she could call Ozpin a friend, but Weiss could take solace in his offer and comforting words.
"Very well then." Ozpin said calmly, sipping from his mug of coffee. "I suppose that I'll be hearing about you soon enough, Miss Schnee." He took the first step away from her and seemed to pause, hesitating for just a moment before deciding to speak again. "Though I suppose I should tell you-"
"Sir?"
"Not Sir." Ozpin said, voice deathly serious. "Nor he. Nor anything else like that."
Weiss' expression sank as she began to realize what she was being told. It made her heart ache and made her worry that she had been offending Ozpin the entire time. She shifted uncomfortably, searching for the words to use. Her voice was quiet when she finally found them.
"What should I call you then?" She asked, glancing up at Ozpin from behind her bangs and lacing her fingers together behind her back.
"Well," Ozpin began, smiling slightly. "I suppose that they would suffice, although…"
"Professor?"
"I do prefer my name, Miss Schnee." They paused, watching her closely. "Or do you prefer Weiss?"
"Weiss." She answered, standing up just a little bit straighter. "I'm terribly sorry for any-"
"Nonsense." Ozpin replied. "I'm sure that you've only known what your father has told you, Weiss. I can't hold that against you."
With that, Weiss was able to relax, even if it was only slightly. Ozpin had offered her and olive branch, and she wasn't going to turn it down. Especially not now. She picked her head up and stared up at Ozpin.
"Thank you, Professor Ozpin." She said, her voice strong. "For everything."
Ozpin smiled down at her. "Don't be thanking me just yet, Weiss." They took the first two steps away from her, pausing to sip their coffee one last time. "I'm sure you and I have unfinished business to take care of."
"Right." Weiss said, watching them. "Of course."
Ozpin nodded slowly, still smiling. "I look forward to hearing from you again soon, Weiss. Do enjoy the rest of your morning."
With that, they were gone, and Weiss was alone.
She needed to start preparing.
"So it's definitely getting closer, right?"
The immediate reaction that Qrow won from his friend upon his arrival was that James Ironwood, the supposedly unshakable General of Atlas, Headmaster of Atlas Academy, and possibly the most politically powerful person in the world, had jumped. He'd jolted rather violently, his coffee spilling over out of its mug and onto his left hand where Qrow could only assume it had scalded.
Normally Qrow wouldn't have tried to scare the poor guy, but today he was just in a different mood from normal, and he wanted a chance to give his reports to everyone that he needed to talk to. Ozpin was out of their office, and so that meant that Qrow only had James and Glynda to bother.
And Glynda was even less fun than James was, even on a good day.
James swore under his breath and looked up at Qrow. "What do you want?" He asked in an already irritated deadpan as he searched for something to mop up his spilled coffee with.
"To give my morning report, for one." Qrow said with a slight shrug, still sitting on James' windowsill, cross-legged. "But scaring you was pretty worth it."
"Qrow..." James growled his name, and Qrow rolled his eyes at the reaction.
"Something wrong, Jimmy?"
The General grit his teeth in very obvious annoyance before letting out a heavy sigh and giving in to Qrow's pestering. "No." he muttered. "Just wanted to enjoy my morning before it got..." James clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head. "Doesn't matter."
"Schnee's dragging you that bad?" Qrow asked, feeling a slight pang of sympathy. It was no secret that there were certain things about his position that James very distinctly disliked.
"Yes," James mumbled. "Something like that." With those words, James took his seat again and rested his hands on his chest, lacing those gloved hands of his together and trying to look relaxed. It wasn't a convincing show, if only because Qrow knew fully well that James was probably secretly panicking under the veneer of strength he put up.
It was a good show, but far from reality. The James Ironwood he knew tended to emotionally range between scared shitless and angry, with close to nothing in between.
"So my report?" Qrow asked, deciding to drag the attention away from whatever was going on with the General and to the actual reason for his visit. "You still want that or not?"
James nodded, raising a hand and gently waving it to signal to Qrow to go on. It was the arrogant move of someone used to Atlesian high society, and seeing James using it made Qrow's blood boil. Mostly because he knew that James wasn't like that normally.
This was mostly a show, put on for the sake of Jacques Schnee. Almost like James was a method actor.
"Alright." Qrow said bitterly. "So I went out for my morning patrol. Nothing really interesting to pay attention to. Roads out of Vale are still pretty clear, but it looked like they'd seen a bit of traffic." He wracked his mind, thinking of everything and everything that he'd seen on his patrol.
James probably wouldn't be interested to know that the markers needed to be cleared off again, or that there was an abandoned wheel somewhere near the fifteen marker. That was the sort of thing that didn't really matter.
"Anything else?" James asked, reaching for a pen and paper and scribbling down a couple of notes on it. Qrow figured that this was going to get transferred to digital later, but for now James needed to get things down as quick as possible. He figured a lot of the reason for James' method being the way that it was had to do with the fact that the guy's handwriting was close to garbage, regardless of which hand he used to write with.
"Yeah," Qrow said, finally unfolding his legs from underneath him and climbing down from his perch. "It's been getting closer."
"How much closer?"
"About half a mile." Qrow said, pursing his lips and staring down at the floor as he flopped into one of the two extra chairs that James kept by his desk. "Not the worst that it could be, but we still have to keep our eyes open and stay alert."
James nodded, scribbling the number down before nervously capping and uncapping his pen while he was deep in thought. "Have you reported to Ozpin about this yet?"
"Nah," Qrow said with a shrug. "They weren't in their office this morning."
"And Glynda?"
"I didn't want to ruin my morning that quickly." Qrow laughed. It just earned him a glare from James, but Qrow couldn't help to roll his eyes over the reaction from the other man. He figured that it was something that he had to expect, but it was typical. "I usually don't go to her directly." Qrow began to explain himself, a little bit more seriously now. "Typically she hears everything from Ozpin before I get to her anyways."
He smirked, his eyes narrowing playfully. "At least, I assume it's from Ozpin-"
"I see." James spoke, a little too quickly. There were absolutely no illusions about what Qrow had been intending to say. This was a common game that he ended up playing with James, mostly because getting the guy irritated enough that he'd snap was fun. It was a game that Qrow had played a lot of times, and James fell into it about half the time.
The other half of the time, James ended up ready to throttle him.
Or Qrow would end up ready to do the same to James.
It depended on the day more often than not.
"Think you and Ozpin are going to start working on a team to go after it?" Qrow asked, leaning back in his seat and casting a glance around the office to see whether or not James had a pot with extra coffee laying around. "Or are you going to call in your specialists?"
James frowned slightly, some annoyance showing rather obviously in his expression. Qrow figured he had to expect that, if only because work tended to be a sore topic.
"No." James mumbled. "Unfortunately a grimm that close to Vale is outside of my jurisdiction and most of the decision making will fall to Ozpin."
There wasn't anything in the world that could have possibly been enough to keep Qrow from barking out a laugh at that response. It was the sort of fake, rehearsed thing that James would throw around whenever he felt the need to. Definitely not the sort of thing that the guy actually felt.
"Nice answer." Qrow laughed, leaning back in the spare seat a little bit further than he should have. He felt it tilt back just slightly. "You practice that one for the media or-"
James shot him a glare as a response. "It's the actual answer." The man spoke, words scarily steady and never betraying any actual emotion. "That's not to say that I won't have involvement in fighting it, but I'm not getting the specialists involved unless..."
"Unless?" Qrow leaned in, the legs of the chair hitting the floor with a crack.
"Unless the situation presents itself as being too difficult for Ozpin's students to handle." James said, his voice hard and sitting up straight.
Qrow nodded, figuring that was about the best that he was going to get out of James on this topic. It was James, he could only expect so much from the guy most of the time. He was sure that James was still going to end up fighting with Ozpin when it came to actually making things happening. But for now, James was going to give his canned media-friendly answers that he'd gotten so used to giving.
"Got it." Qrow mumbled, looking around the office. "That's all I had for my morning report." He announced, wondering whether or not it was going to be enough to distract James away from the topic.
"And you're still here?" James deadpanned. "I'm almost thinking you might like me." The man raised his mug of coffee to his lips, drinking from it and relaxing slightly as he consumed the hot drink. "Why are you still here?"
"Wanted to ask you about your little guests." Qrow said with a slight shrug. "Jacques Schnee, huh?"
"Yes." James said, frowning bitterly. There was always some sort of weird history that the guy wouldn't talk about with the Schnees, but Qrow had never been able to get it out of James. It wasn't that much of a surprise, but he wished he knew. "He's here to work on a contract."
"What kind?"
"Classified."
"Ah." Qrow laughed, reaching into his pocket so that he could have a morning refreshment of his own. "That kind then."
"Military, if you really must know." James answered.
"But you're from Atlas, Jimmy." Qrow replied, ignoring the fact that James had glared at him again for it. "Military and your academy-"
"Are tied together, yes." James let out a heavy sigh with the words. "It's tedious work."
Qrow felt a pang of sympathy for James, but decided that it was for the best if he just didn't let it show too much. "Sorry about the guy." He said with a slight shrug. "You're not going to give in to him, right?"
James nodded slowly. "If I can avoid it, I'm going to keep it from becoming a problem." James explained as calmly as he could manage. "Jacques is obnoxious but manageable. Just..." He seemed like there was something that he wanted to say, and Qrow even leaned in towards James just slightly in interest. "Never mind." James cut himself off before he could say anything else on the matter. "It's just him trying to get into his head.
Oh, how that left Qrow worried.
He felt his scroll buzz in his pocket, and Qrow figured that was probably the sign that he had to leave for a little while. He fished it out to see that it was a message from Ozpin, asking for his morning report.
Qrow frowned slightly and slipped his scroll back away. "If you don't think it matters, I guess it doesn't, right General?" He laughed nonchalantly, getting up now. "I"ll see you around Jimmy."
"Right." James replied with a quiet sigh. "I'll talk to you soon."
"Yeah," Qrow chuckled as he went to the door to James' office. "After my late patrol."
"Of course."
Qrow didn't let himself linger any longer than he needed to before slipping out of the office and leaving James to his own devices.