Ruby was sitting up with the aid of her hospital bed, fiddling with loose strings on her blanket. The doctor still had her on pain medication for her ribs, but not enough to make her groggy. Ozpin had explained the situation briefly, but left Ruby and Qrow alone together shortly afterward, claiming that he had paperwork to get to.
The room had been silent since his departure with the exception of the TV humming quietly in the background. Qrow had moved back to sit in his chair by the door, crossing and uncrossing his fingers.
"You knew my mom?" Ruby asked, turning to look at him. "That's what Dr. Ozpin said."
"Sort of." He turned to look at her. She was looking at him for the first time since Ozpin told her about what had happened in the accident. Her big silver eyes were wet, but she wasn't crying. "She and I were friends with a long time ago."
Ruby went back to tugging at the strings on her blanket. "How come she never talked about you before?"
"I can't really answer that. Your mom tended to do what she wanted to do."
She looked back at him. "Why do you want to take care of me? Why wouldn't you just say no?"
"It's what your mom wanted." He looked back at his lap. "Besides, you remind me of her a lot."
"How could you know that?" She looked up at him. Her eyes were still wet, but now they looked red with anger. "You just met me an hour ago."
"Ruby, listen—"
She looked back down. He knew that face, and he stopped.
"Why do you always have to be drunk?" Summer tucked Qrow into bed, making sure he was still on his side.
"I jus had a few."
She blinked, sitting at the edge of the bed before running her fingers through his hair. There were tears in her eyes.
"Please, you've got to stop."
"Yeah." Her voice sobered him up a little. He closed his eyes. "I know."
He let out a steady breath. "I'm really sorry about your mom."
She blinked hard, her hands curling into tiny fists against the sheets.
"And I'm going to try really hard to take good care of you."
She looked up at him. "Uncle Qrow?"
That was the first time she'd said his name.
"What's that?"
She sniffled, carefully bringing up a hand to wipe at her eyes. "What was your favorite thing about my mom?"
He stood, moving to sit back beside her on the bed. "She made the most amazing chocolate chip cookies."
"Yeah." She sniffled. "Every time I was sad."
"It's okay to be sad, Kiddo."
She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder as she started to cry. He closed his eyes, reaching around to rub her back. She was small and shaking. It took him back to the night that Summer had to work late, and he was taking care of Ruby by himself for the first time.
"Come on, Kiddo." He kept whispering, bouncing the sobbing infant gently as he walked in circles around her nursery. He'd fed her. He'd changed her. He'd burped her. He just couldn't figure out why she wouldn't stop crying.
"Ruby, baby, come on." He pulled her out so he could wipe the fat tears from her cheeks. "I'm trying so hard. I don't know what you want."
The infant had proceeded to cry, so eventually, he just went to lay on the couch, holding the crying baby to his chest, rubbing her little back. When Summer got home that night, she found the two of them on the couch, asleep; little Ruby had nestled herself tight against Qrow's chest, meaty fists curled in the tear stained fabric.
Ruby sniffled, keeping her head buried in his shoulder. He was still rubbing her back, leaning his cheek to rest atop her head. This was just like before. Just like when she was a baby; her fisting his shirt and staining it with tears just like that night he couldn't figure out what was wrong.
But this time he knew.
"You smell like alcohol." She pulled away, wiping her eyes.
"Yeah." His flask suddenly felt heavy in his pocket. "I know."
His hand slid from her back to rest in his lap.
"That was something your mom wasn't the biggest fan of."
Ruby looked at him. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure." He smiled, reaching to ruffle her hair, like he used to do to Summer, but then he stopped himself, dropping his hand back into his lap. "Anything you want, Kiddo."