Silence falls over them in the wake of Qrow's abrupt exit.
All this had begun as an attempt to get answers. Now there are more questions buzzing around in his head than ever before, ones that Clover knows will likely never be answered. The odd instances of Grimm appearances throughout the kingdom. The shift in not only his own behavior, but also those around him. The inconsistencies with his memory, where the state of things don't quite fall in line with what he thinks he remembers. The dream. All of it coincides with Qrow's sharp downward spiral.
If Qrow had refused to explain anything when his mood hadn't been quite as bad, then he most certainly won't now, since this incident has only served to drive him further away. What's more is that Clover knows, deep in his heart, that Qrow has the answers he seeks. Why else would Qrow act the way he does? His response to them is proof enough of that.
The first to move is James. He turns on his heel and walks back to his desk, all but falling into his chair. Clover watches as James leans against the desk, pressing his intertwined hands against his forehead, keeping his gaze downward to avoid looking at any of them.
Clenched fists trembling, Yang rounds on him, eyes blazing.
"I told you it was a bad idea," she growls. When James doesn't respond, she takes a step forward, raising her voice. "Seriously, what made you think that was gonna work? You know what he's been like lately, and you still—!"
"Yang," Ruby whispers.
When Ruby reaches out to grab hold of her sister's arm, Yang jerks away, her eyes snapping down to Ruby. She stares for a moment before turning away and storming out of the room, Ruby trailing close behind.
Winter, for her part, lets out a soft breath and shakes her head. "I should head back to Weiss. She must be worried at this point."
With that said, she takes her leave.
Torn between staying and following the others, Clover finds himself standing frozen.
Until James, his voice low, mutters, "Go."
"Sir..."
"Go, Clover," he repeats.
The coldness of the response makes Clover go rigid. There is no use in saying anything, not when James refuses to so much as glance at him. Unable to bring himself to salute, he simply chooses to do as he is told and leave the room. Standing at the end of the hallway are the two sisters, Ruby making a futile attempt to calm a still fuming Yang. Even from a distance, Clover can see her heaving shoulders, her hands clenching and unfurling at a constant pace.
When he approaches, Yang glares at him over Ruby's shoulder, looking ready to lunge at him at a moment's notice. Ruby herself simply looks at him with sadness in her eyes.
"We shouldn't have told Ironwood," she mumbles.
Clover agrees. Despite knowing that it was a bad idea, he had gone along with it anyway. What he should have done was say no. If he had put his foot down and refused and instead tried to make a different plan to talk to Qrow, maybe it would have gone better. But in the end he had stepped aside and followed orders as he always does. This is just the natural result.
"No," Yang hisses, narrowing her eyes. "We shouldn't have listened to him."
It hurts, but she isn't wrong. Reporting to the General is second nature to him, even if he has recently been having doubts about his superior.
Conflicted, Ruby looks between them, uncertain of what to say. Eventually she settles on, "He was just trying to help."
That clearly doesn't sit well with Yang. "Fat lot of good it did. First thing he does is run to Ironwood to blab, and now Qrow is even more pissed off at us."
"I thought..." What did Clover think? He knew from the start that Qrow was uncomfortable around James and still decided to go to him. And for what? James has never been the best with such things. Of course it ended badly. It was bound to, regardless of his good fortune.
"You're right," he says softly. "I'm sorry."
Ruby's face falls.
"He's never gonna tell us anything now," Yang mutters.
What can he say? That they should just give Qrow an hour or two? If a week wasn't long enough for Qrow's mood to improve, what are a few measly hours going to do for him?
"We agreed to it," Ruby says, her tone sharper than expected, and Yang looks away. "We could've said no, and we didn't. You can't just put all the blame on them."
The two fall quiet, and Clover rubs his neck, glancing down the hallway. Where would Qrow have gone after he left? He could be anywhere on the Academy grounds. His room, a lounge, and the roof are his usual spots, but if he wanted to hide away from them, those places are out of the question. Clover wouldn't be surprised if Qrow has fled into the city at this point, knowing how quickly the man can move. Should Clover seek him out and apologize? If he does, it could upset Qrow further, but leaving things as they are won't help either. It isn't like a promise not to dig further into his private matters will fix this. The damage has already been done.
Is Qrow still in Atlas at all? The thought makes Clover's chest ache. Why would he stay after the way he stormed out? After how hurt and angry he was with them? The easiest way to avoid interacting with any of them would be to remove himself entirely.
"I, uh..."
He shifts his gaze back to his companions. Yang has her back turned to him, hands still clenched. Ruby offers Clover a shaky smile.
"I think we're gonna head to the training room," she says.
Not wanting to say something else that might upset Yang, he simply nods. Once Ruby manages to usher her sister down the hallway, Clover leans against the wall and rubs his eyes.
For a reason he can't explain, he is fairly certain that Qrow will leave for Mantle. If he hasn't already. It makes the most sense with what he knows of Qrow. The question is, what should he do with that information? With how prone Qrow is to making reckless decisions and needlessly throwing himself into danger, it seems unwise not to at least find him and check on him. Then again, if he hasn't already, that might drive him to, and what would Clover do then? But what kind of friend would he be if he knowingly let Qrow endanger himself?
What should I do? He drops his hands to his sides, staring up at the ceiling. What can I do?
"Nothing I do matters," Qrow had said.
Clover is starting to feel that way himself.
He will wait, at least for a while. Chasing after Qrow so soon after that fiasco won't do either of them any good. Take a few hours, try to clear his head, and then go down to Mantle. He isn't quite sure what to do once he finds Qrow other than apologize. Depending on Qrow's mental state, he could tell him to simply take as many days off as he sees fit. While Clover can technically grant leave, it still needs to be approved by the General. If he gives a sufficient explanation, James might be willing to permit it.
Given how James reacted to Qrow's little jab, though, he may not be so gracious.
It is an exceedingly rare occurrence for Clover to want to scream, but the urge is rather strong at the moment. In fact, he can't quite remember the last time he felt this frustrated.
With a heavy sigh, he pushes himself away from the wall. He might as well do something productive to see if that might help get his mind off things.
The first thing he does is take a look at the training schedule to confirm that his team has finished their routines. Just as Ruby said, she and Yang have gone to the training room, claiming an hour-long slot. Hopefully Yang can work out her anger, as he doesn't want to be on the wrong end of her fists. There are only two other groups who have scheduled use for the room later in the day, so he has to cross that off his list of ways to spend time.
The ding of a notification makes him glance at his messages.
Well, it seems he'll be heading to the mess hall instead. He was planning on checking in with his teammates anyway.
As he enters the room, he finds only Marrow there, tapping his fingers on the table he is sitting at. The sound of Clover approaching makes Marrow raise his head, concern clear on his face.
"Is everything okay?" Marrow asks. "When we left, we passed Ruby and Yang, and they both seemed pretty upset. I know they were looking for you earlier. Did something happen?"
Even though Qrow might not be here, Clover doesn't want to air any more of the man's personal issues and so settles on a more simple explanation.
"We were trying to talk to Qrow," he says, glancing away. "It didn't go well."
"Oh." Tail drooping, Marrow looks down, his hand stilling. "Should I go check on him?"
Clover huffs. "If you could even find him."
"You...think he left?"
"With how upset he was? I do." There is no reason for him to stay, after all. Were there any urgent matters Clover has no doubt that Qrow would stay, but with that not being the case, nothing is holding him back from running. "I suspect he's made it to Mantle by now."
Marrow opens his mouth, only to pause as he reconsiders his words. "Yeah, I could see that. He can move pretty fast when he wants to. So, what are you going to do?"
"I'll head down to Mantle later. Doubtful that a couple of hours will be long enough for him to cool down, but I'm not willing to wait longer than that."
"And if you do find him?"
Maybe it would be better for him to say nothing, since he feels speaking to Qrow at all will have negative results.
"Most likely leave, once I'm certain he isn't going to be reckless."
"It's Qrow," Marrow says, deadpan, and Clover bites back another sigh. "When has he not done something reckless?"
The answer to that being before the start of his odd behavior. The only time Clover can recall Qrow not actively putting himself in the line of fire would be the Centinel mission, and even then he had lunged at the enemy with little warning. Over the course of such a short span of time, Qrow has grown to care so little for his own well-being that he is more than willing to let himself be hurt, and for what? It's not as if pain will make his troubles easier to deal with.
Clover wishes he could understand Qrow better. The chance of them ever growing close enough for him to learn more is dashed at this point. At the very least, Clover can keep Qrow from hurting himself.
Or worse.
"You sure you don't want anyone going down there with you? I mean, more eyes and all that."
"No. One of us will make him angry enough."
"Right. Okay. Well, you know where we'll be if you need backup."
He hopes he won't need any backup, especially when his only goal is to check on Qrow. Still, he nods and drops a hand on Marrow's shoulder with a forced smile. It must not be as reassuring as he hopes, because the worry in Marrow's eyes doesn't lessen in the slightest. Pulling away, he nods again and walks off, hoping that Marrow doesn't notice the dread he feels.
Once he leaves the room, he decides to go ahead and check in with the other members of his team. He ends up fielding questions from Elm and Vine as they echo Marrow's concerns. Harriet, meanwhile, is more dismissive of the situation. Clover makes a note to reprimand her for it later; he isn't in the mood right now. After that he pays a visit to the rest of his young compatriots to see how they are faring. Things go rather well, though Blake eyes him with suspicion when he tries to skirt around the truth.
Until he stumbles upon Weiss and Winter.
Weiss zeroes in on him the instant he walks into the lounge, and he steps back when she rushes toward him.
"What happened?" Weiss demands. "First Winter gets called in by Ironwood, then she comes back upset, and now she won't tell me what's wrong."
He glances at Winter, who looks utterly exasperated with her sister.
"Weiss," Winter says, earning a glare in response, "please."
"No. I want to know what's going on." Folding her arms, Weiss turns back to Clover, anger brewing in her eyes. "If you know, then tell me."
Has Clover somehow ended up with Qrow's misfortune? With how his luck has been exceptionally terrible of late, he is starting to believe it is a possibility.
"It was nothing more than a tense conversation with Qrow," he explains, and immediately regrets it when the fury on Weiss's face intensifies.
"You upset Qrow again?" Weiss hisses. "Can you not just leave him alone? Or are you doing it because you enjoy it?"
His own anger sparks at that. When has he shown anything other than concern for Qrow? Yes, he has made mistakes in how he has dealt with the situation, but he has never treated Qrow with any malice, nor has he ever wanted to. He would never hurt a friend, and that is exactly what Qrow is to him. Clover has done his best to look after Qrow's well-being. Mistakes or no, how could that warrant such an accusation? Why would she jump to such an outrageous conclusion?
"Ruby and Yang wanted to talk to him," he says. "I made the mistake of going to Ironwood about it, but I had no intention of upsetting Qrow."
Weiss glares at him and then stomps past, bumping his shoulder along the way.
"Where are you going?" Winter asks.
"To find Ruby and Yang."
"Not a wise idea," Clover mutters.
"I don't really care what you think is 'wise'," Weiss responds.
As the door closes, Clover takes a deep breath. He holds it for a few moments before releasing it, his shoulders dropping.
"I'm sorry," Winter says. Clover shakes his head, but she continues. "I didn't think she would... I'll talk to her later."
"It's fine. Things have been stressful for everyone."
"Maybe. It isn't a reason to treat you unfairly, though."
He is split on that. It's the truth, but he has seen the effect these past several days have had, and he is among those whose moods have been more negative as a result. Before he could have handled all this better, but now it seems he is unable to brush off a single jab. And could he truly blame Weiss? Even if the accusation is false, he has upset Qrow quite a few times. The assumption isn't entirely baseless, regardless of how he feels about it.
This is a conversation he doesn't want to continue, so he quietly excuses himself and leaves before anything else can be said.
Unsure of what to do, he goes off to find a way to preoccupy himself. It proves to be a rather difficult task. He does pass by the General's office, but when he sees James still sitting hunched over, he moves on. No good will come of trying to speak with James at present.
Taking a look at reports helps Clover waste a bit of time, but not near enough. With it being a much slower day, there aren't as many to read. When he finishes, he checks the clock to find that it has only been an hour since Qrow stormed out of the office.
Great. Leaning back, he groans and scrubs his face with his hands.
He might as well head out into the city.
The next two hours pass by at a crawl. Trudging through the streets of Atlas takes up a good chunk of his time, but it feels as if the world itself has slowed to a snail's pace. Clover receives the occasional message, almost all from Marrow. Worried, probably, but he can't bring himself to reply to any of them. More than once a fan recognizes him and stops him to talk, and he does his best to speak to them with a smile on his face. He ducks into random shops to look at various wares, lets people take photos with him, and listens to the various stories told to him, but he finds himself struggling to pay attention to any of it. It isn't easy when his mind constantly drifts back to Qrow.
Is he taking care of himself? Has he gotten into trouble? Did Clover make another mistake by not choosing to go after him sooner?
It takes a while for him to work up the nerve to make his way down to Mantle. Actually finding Qrow is going to be quite the challenge. While Clover would never describe him and Qrow as being close, he has spent enough time around the brooding man to learn his favorite spots around Atlas Academy. In Mantle, though, he is utterly clueless as to where Qrow might lurk. If he does succeed in his search, he will do as he told Marrow and leave Qrow be, as long as Qrow isn't in need of immediate help.
Cutting himself off from a friend is painful, but since he has done nothing but hurt Qrow, it seems to be the only thing he can do. Maybe if he proves he will no longer push the issue, it will be enough to convince Qrow that he cares.
Or Qrow will take it the wrong way and think Clover has finally given up on him.
The thought of having a stiff drink is rather appealing right now. Not that he would; it would be in poor taste to drink while on the lookout for Qrow, considering the guilt in Qrow's voice during his rooftop confession. So he walks along, listening to the conversations of those passing him by. Most are typical day-to-day conversations, but he does overhear a few people discussing a recent sighting of Grimm smoke off in the distance. From what he can piece together, it happened within the past half-hour or so, right around when he was still in Atlas.
He has the distinct feeling that Qrow is involved with it.
Though he doesn't like the idea, he does pop into a few bars just to be sure Qrow hasn't broken his sobriety. It's a relief to find that Qrow hasn't so much as visited any of them, let alone made any purchases. With that concern abated, he starts looking around in more out of the way spots. There are a large number of places to hide away in Mantle, and even with years of experience navigating the city, Clover wouldn't be surprised if there are some he doesn't know about.
His search turns up no leads. No one has seen Qrow, or no one is willing to tell him they have. He knows the people of Mantle have mixed opinions towards Atlas, some of which are well-deserved, but it is frustrating to deal with when all he wants to do is find his friend.
An all too-familiar voice interrupts his brooding, calling out, "Well, if it isn't Lucky Charm!"
Of course. Stifling a groan, he turns to watch Robyn approach him, a faux smile on her face. She comes to a stop a couple of feet from him, placing her hands on her hips.
"What brings you down here? Doesn't look like your posse is with you today."
"They're not. I'm just here looking for—" He stumbles over himself and clears his throat. "A friend."
Cocking an eyebrow, she tilts her head. "Oh, is that so? And what's the name of this friend?"
He doesn't have the patience to deal with her. Not today. Stepping away, he mutters, "I don't have time for this."
"You're looking for Qrow, right?"
Clover freezes, glancing over his shoulder at her.
"Yeah, I know him," she continues, shrugging. "We had lunch the other day. Told me how annoying he thinks you Atlas dorks are."
That makes Clover sigh. Whether or not she's telling the truth, he can easily imagine Qrow complaining about his Atlesian coworkers.
"How did you know I was looking for him?"
"Lucky guess."
It seems she is making an effort to try his patience. Wonderful.
"Do you know where he is?"
"If I did, do you think I'd tell you?" she asks, her smile becoming more of a smirk.
"Robyn..." He takes in a deep breath, trying to keep his rising irritation at bay. "I just want to make sure he's okay."
"Sure you do," she says, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "And once you do, you're gonna drag him back up to Atlas to work."
"No, I'm not," he says, tone clipped. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't work because he's spent the past week running himself ragged and insisting on doing missions despite being told not to."
The look he receives in response is one of skepticism, a clear sign that Robyn doesn't believe a word he says.
"If you say so. But I don't think running around like a chicken with its head cut off is going to help. You're better off giving him some time instead of chasing after him."
"With his penchant for getting into trouble?"
Rolling her eyes, Robyn lets her mouth fall into a frown. "Have you stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, there might be a reason why he's doing this?"
"Like what?"
"Don't know. He likes keeping secrets too much to actually explain anything."
What a boost in confidence that is.
"Look, I just..." Clover pinches the bridge of his nose. "I just want to know if he's alright."
"It's Qrow," Robyn says, an echo of Marrow but far more positive. "He'll be fine."
If only he could share that sentiment. "I want that to be true."
"You don't have much faith in him, do you?"
As much as he wants to refute it, he knows he can't. Like James told him before, Qrow is a man who can be trusted on the battlefield, not hesitating to help a comrade in need. That is something Clover won't deny, having seen it himself, and it is for that reason that he doesn't think Qrow would ever turn his back on them. That is the least of Clover's concerns about Qrow. The insistence on secrecy and reluctance to explain anything regarding his personal issues makes it hard to believe that Qrow cares enough about himself to not get killed.
Their talk with him today was rather eye-opening in that regard.
Robyn snorts. "Nothing to say to that, huh?"
"I'll head back to Atlas," he says, relenting, "but if you do see Qrow, tell him to at least message his nieces. They're worried enough as is."
"Not making any promises."
As she walks away, Clover lets himself slump.
All he can do is hope Robyn is right.