Applecider

Happy Halloween. I don't own any of this beyond my crappy ideas.

The settlement was quite well fortified, Qrow had to admit. The walls were sturdy, defences ready and they even had the money for an airship. Towns with money for an airship meant towns with a well-stocked bar, as a side-effect. Which is where Qrow found himself, overlooking the village from a window with a warm drink in hand as they finished preparing for a Halloween festival. It looked like it would be a fun time, and most of the town was outside as the finishing touches were applied; even the barman and waitresses had stepped out to cheer with the crowd.

Qrow didn't hate Halloween, so much as he disliked working during it. He was usually lucky enough to get time off around the holiday for Ruby's birthday, and the look on her face when he came in with birthday presents always made his year. It was nice to have a period of time where most years he could get the time off to just unwind, see the kids and make fun of Tai. This year, he wasn't so lucky to be free. Instead, Qrow was on glorified babysitting duties. A derogatory way to refer to being protector of a Maiden, but Qrow could afford to be a sourpuss.

He didn't hate Amber either; he quite liked the young woman. A lot of the time, Maidens who inherited the powers had trouble under the burden- Spring was proof enough of that. But Amber kept her head above the water. She was still learning the ropes, and she had a hell of a long way to go before she mastered the powers, but damn if she wasn't a fast learner. Qrow would be almost sad to see her go when they finally got to Haven. But once this festival was over, they'd be back on the road.

A scent filled Qrow's nose, of leaves in the autumn, a crisp night saturated with rain from early in the day, and frost rising through the soil. An eclectic mixture. But Maidens were nothing if not unusual. Sure enough, the chair across from him scraped across the wooden floor as Amber sat in it, flashing a smile at Qrow. It was odd, Qrow mused for a second, how Amber's travelling gear, a mixture of browns and whites, stood in an unintended contrast to the power Amber always seemed to radiate. Even when in the safety of a village, the powers could never lie dormant like the muted browns around her.

"Hey kid," he rasped. Amber had a glass of water she placed on the table.

"Hey yourself. Why're you up here? Looks like the entire town's outside right now." Amber eyed Qrow's drink, reaching forward and snatching the bottle out of his grasp. Before Qrow could so much as react, Amber blew gently on the top, a gentle crackling sound filling the air as ice travelled along the glass. Amber passed the now-freezing drink back to Qrow, smile only widening.

"… I forgot you could do that," Qrow admitted.

"I made your beer cold, now talk. Why're you hiding up here?"

"I'm not hiding." Qrow and Amber made faces at each other. "I just… wouldn't mind being alone tonight."

"Why? If you don't mind me prying, that is."

"Nah. Just my kid's birthday tomorrow. Was hoping to get time free to pay her a visit before…" Qrow shrugged. "Well."

"And now I feel bad for existing," Amber muttered sardonically. "Wait, you're a father?"

"Uh, nah. Not really cut out to be a father." Qrow chuckled awkwardly, taking a quick drink. "They're my nieces. I just helped raise them a lot when their dad had some trouble a few years back. I taught one of them how to fight, she's at Signal right now. I'd at least give her a call, but the CCT's acting up."

"Huh." Amber leaned forward. "So your new plan is just to sit here all night looking grumpy?"

Qrow paused. "I'm not grumpy."

"Yeah, sure, and I'm a Schnee. If you're not, you're doing a damn good impression Mr Branwen."

Qrow put his drink down, setting his face into his hands. "Oh gods, don't call me that again. When you were calling me that at the start it made me feel so old."

It had been an awkward first few weeks between Qrow and Amber. While Amber took well to the Fall Maiden powers, she'd been insanely formal at first when talking to Qrow since she wanted to make a good first impression. Finally the two had shared a few drinks and broken the ice, but comparing the Amber then to the one in front of him was a sharp culture clash.

Amber chuckled as Qrow grabbed his drink again, a light eventually entering her eyes. "Hey! We should head out there together!"

Qrow looked flatly at her. "You're a bit young for me," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "and I've seen some of your partners. I'm a little too masculine for you."

"Shut up, you know what I mean." She waved a hand casually. "But I mean, you're my protector, right? And I'm going out to the festival. So why not come with me?"

"Heh. I think you'll be fine. 'Sides, I'm good with this." Qrow began to take another drink.

Amber nodded, frowning a little. "I suppose. It's fine, and understandable." The frown became a small catlike smirk. "Old men like you risk breaking a hip just by walking."

Half of Qrow's drink went down the wrong tube in his throat and he spluttered, holding a hand to his mouth as Amber snickered. The sound reminded him a little of Ruby. "Oh, you did not just play the age card."

"Think I did." She leaned forward. "So, what do you say: Wanna come on out for a night on the town? Or do you wanna stay in like some fun-hating loner?"

Qrow's eyebrow rose. "I can be fun." He replied laconically.

"I'm not hearing a no…"

He sighed. "Fine. But if you're on one of those games where you throw a ball to dunk someone in a pool? I won't hesitate. And I will laugh my socks off."

"Then it'll be worth every second." Amber got up, fastening her cloak and holding a hand out to Qrow. "Shall we?"

"Heh. Alright, let's go." Taking her hand, the two went out to the festivities.

Zwei stirred feebly against Ruby's chest as her scroll began vibrating. Ruby's eyes fluttered open, hand coming up to suppress a yawn. Her eyes widened slightly at the time before she unlocked her scroll, while Zwei hopped off of Ruby's chest and made for the door.

The messages were from Qrow. A collection of pictures with a short text at the start.

"Hey there Ruby. I'm a friend of your Uncle Qrow and he told me today was your birthday, so have a good one! Sorry he wasn't able to make it, but these missions don't fix themselves. I might have snatched Qrow's scroll while we were out, so enjoy some holiday snaps.
- Amber."

Ruby loaded up the pictures, eyes widening again as the first one showed Qrow on a dunking platform mid-fall. His eyes were wide, hands thrown out and he was mid shout. A video file came attached which showed the dunking in full, Ruby pausing to grab her headphones before hitting play.

The video loaded to Qrow standing on the platform, sans his cape. He was glaring at a point right above the camera, which was shaking with suppressed laughter.

"It's not my fault you missed," a female voice rang out. "you've just got some rotten luck Qrow."

Qrow started to mutter something about the game being rigged before the woman's arm came into view, tossing a ball with unerring accuracy. A bell sounded and the platform retracted. Qrow barely had time to yelp before he fell into the water, resurfacing with a howl. Amber's laughter was at this point so bad she nearly dropped the scroll.

A wet squelching sound came closer as Amber kept laughing. "You said you wouldn't record this," Qrow's low voice said gruffly. There was a slight warmth to it, though.

"I lied, so what?" The camera moved up to show Qrow, sodding wet. "Now say hi to the camera."

Qrow glowered as the video ended. Ruby had to bury her face into a pillow to keep her laughter from waking up Dad or Yang. Several more pictures followed of Qrow eyeing some odd concoctions, a shot of Amber accepting a flower crown from some children with a warm smile, Amber wearing said crown and making a pose for Qrow with an easygoing smile (Ruby wasn't sure if Qrow and Amber were dating or not and she really didn't want to know). Shots of both Qrow and Amber playing a game where they tried to pick up apples bobbing in water with their teeth. The next shot made Ruby stop to rub her eyes in disbelief. Someone must have thrown an Ice Dust crystal into the water, as Amber was frantically trying to pry Qrow free of the ice block his head was now stuck in.

Barring that one shot, the majority of photos and videos that were sent to Ruby had a common occurrence: Qrow becoming more relaxed and smiling more freely as the night progressed.

One final text came in a few minutes later, the writing a bit different.

"Sorry about that, finally got my scroll back. Sorry for waking you up Petal, forgot about the time difference between Mistral and Patch. And sorry I can't make it for your birthday. I'll make it up to ya when I see you again.

And no, I'm not dating Amber, she's half my age. Get your head out of the gutter.

Happy birthday Ruby. Stay safe. I love you.- Qrow."

Ruby smiled softly, closing her scroll and getting back into bed.

Again, happy Halloween. I submitted this idea for a prompts poll and when it lost I decided to do it myself.

And because I like to hurt myself, a little post-credits thing:

"Hey Ruby?" Ruby was sharpening Crescent Rose on the roof of the inn RNJR were staying in just outside of Mistral when Qrow climbed up after her. Tomorrow they'd finally make it and talk to Professor Lionheart. Qrow was still carrying himself heavily from his wounds, but he was far more active than he'd been previously.

"Yeah?"

"Bit of a random question, but can I see your scroll?" Qrow's eyes glinted a little in the dim light coming from the moon.

"Yeah, sure," Ruby reached into her pouch, unlocking her scroll and passing it over. "Why do you wanna see it?"

Qrow ignored the question as he opened up the messaging client. "You got a new one?" He asked.

"Had to after Beacon. Last one got shot out of my hand by Mercury."

"Hmm. But you still got your old messages back. Mine got hit by that Tyrian jackass so I'm out of touch until I get a new one in Mistral."

Ruby nodded. "But why do you-" She peeked over his shoulder. Qrow had pulled up his own messaging history and had stopped at last Halloween, when his friend Amber had snatched Qrow's scroll. "Oh." She blinked. "What happened to her? You only mentioned her at the campfire, but…"

Qrow looked away for a second, mouth open slightly like he was trying to force the words out. "She, uh… she died," he eventually forced out. "At Beacon."

Not even a year ago, Ruby would have reacted more to the news. But between the Vytal Festival and what RNJR had seen on the way to Mistral, her only reaction was a sad expression as that familiar cold sensation spread over her. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Qrow exhaled. "Yeah. So am I."

Ruby scooted closer to Qrow, coming in for a hug. Qrow hissed a little at the strain on his still-healing torso, but didn't push Ruby away. One of his hands ruffled her hair as they watched the night sky.

"Qrow? What was she like?"

Another sigh. "She was a good person Ruby. One of the best people I knew. I wish I could have met her sooner. She didn't deserve all the bad things that happened to her."

"Can you tell me about her then?"

A slight smile came to Qrow's lips. "Sure."

Hope you liked it.