Chapter Text
“Do you want to get married? That way we won’t have to sit through all those bullshit dinners and parties just to realize that we won’t find who we’re looking for in the ones being offered. Instead, we can just have each other. My parents don’t care who the hell I marry and neither do yours. We’re just appeasing the assholes here in Atlas, so our families aren’t thrown to the fucking curb. So, how about it, Cloves? You and me as husband and wife.”
Rain danced a song upon the large windows as lightning cracked through the night sky with thunder booming so slowly behind it. Wind could be heard in the background, fast enough to blow leaves off of trees but not branches, and clouds blocked the rising sun from breaching the blinds. Light snores coming from the pair in the large canopy bed echoed throughout the large master bedroom as well as slight rustling from the male. It was overall a sleep-inducing morning, for the most part anyway.
A considerably loud spark of thunder erupted from the sky, causing minty green eyes to snap open with a gasp. Amethyst eyes soon followed suit, only slowly awakening instead of all at once. The woman looked to her husband, face filled with concern. She slowly sat up and put her hand on the broad man’s shoulder to calm him. “It’s okay, Clover. It’s just thunder. We’re okay.”
The husband, Clover, took a few deep breaths before sitting up and glancing at the clock after rubbing his eyes with a sigh. “Sorry, bad dream,” he informed her calmly before glimpsing at the clock once more.
“How did you sleep the rest of the night?” she asked him, voice laced with worry.
“Like shit, but whatever I guess. I have to go to work,” Clover said before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up.
“Maybe, you should call in and get into therapy today. Your PTSD hasn’t been very controlled lately. I think it’s time you took a day for yourself for once.” She watched as her man smiled and looked back at her.
“Thanks, Robyn, but I think it’ll help me more to go to work. You know why, so don’t ask,” he chuckled once he saw her begin to open her with that ornery smirk. She laughed before getting up herself. “You know just how much I love going to work,” he continued, earning a “shut up” and a thrown pillow aimed at him. The two busted out in cackles as they stripped to get ready for the day.
“Gods, you’re such a loser. Why did I marry you?” Robyn questioned with a grin upon her beautiful features, light hair a tangled mess.
“Hey, it was your idea,” Clover laughed.
“I didn’t think you would be so high maintenance.”
“I’m an Ebi. Of course, I’m high maintenance. Now,” the brunette continued while holding up his clothes for the day. “I’m going to take a shower. You can regret marrying me while you wait for me to get out, deal?”
“I’ll always regret marrying you.”
“Likewise, Mrs. Ebi.”
Clover watched as the object of his affection stood without a single word, the clock striking five and signaling the end of the work day. The man was handsome, incredibly so, with his five o’clock shadow and grayish black hair. He moved in a way that simply screamed nonchalant, and that drove Clover wild. Jade eyes followed as hips just barely swayed while leaving out the door, the man’s high heeled shoes clacking as he walked. Clover could feel his pants tighten a bit in the crotch at just the sound.
He had to wonder if the man had an umbrella, as it was positively pouring outside. Clover could hear thunder roar and see lightning still striking outside as it had done earlier that morning, yet it didn’t seem as though the man had any protection from the rain whatsoever. He probably didn’t care seeing as though he rarely cared about anything else, only living to work and go home with no other responsibility in the world. From what Clover knew, the man had a wife, but no kids. He always kept quiet, but when he did speak it was always about his nieces - the very ones he had on his desktop.
The brunette couldn’t help but feel a tad bit of jealousy for the man’s wife - to have such a good-looking husband was his dream. But alas, there was simply no way Atlas would take to one of the Ebis marrying the same sex too well. That was just how things went there. Looking down at his wedding ring as he walked through the doors exiting the office, his thoughts wandered to his own wife, who had the exact same reason as he did for being wed. After a few moments, he got out his phone to text the woman of his thoughts.
The heavy drops of rain began to hit his shoulder, slightly wetting his phone, once he walked outside, causing him to open his umbrella. He hadn’t even noticed he had reached the actual exit yet. He had walked that path out of work so often that he didn’t even need to watch where he was going anymore. Clover sighed as he wiped the screen of his cell on his suit jacket to dry it, looking up as he did so.
He was surprised to see that his infatuation was still standing there, now soaked from head to toe with his shirt clinging to what looked to be a six pack. Clover couldn’t help himself but stare. He was sure that the girls across the street, waiting for the sign to cross, were doing the same as well.
“Hey,” Clover spoke softly, trying not to scare the slightly shorter male. Beautiful red eyes met his own. This was quite possibly the first time he had ever held eye contact with the man other than for work related reasons. Such was the reason the brunette hesitated. He had never seen how truly gorgeous those almost pink eyes were until now. He gulped after a moment of simply staring, mentally shaking himself out of the trance and continuing with his proposal. “I, uh, can walk with you, you know, so you don’t have to stand in the rain. I wouldn’t want you getting a cold.”
“Oh, uh, thanks,” the bird, Qrow was his name, said before moving to stand beside the larger one underneath the umbrella. “Clover, was it?”
“Yep, and you’re Qrow, right?” He knows my name!
“Yeah.” The two sat in silence, waiting for the sign to switch. “Would you mind walking with me back home? My umbrella blew away this morning. You can stay for supper,” Qrow asked with a hint of pink on his cheeks, probably embarrassed at the fact that he needed walked home. “Fi would be absolutely fuming if I got the new wood floors wet, not that I won’t already.”
Clover smiled. “Sure thing. Like I said, I wouldn’t want you getting sick.” And so, the walk to Qrow’s house began. The two chatted about little things such as life with their wives and family stories. The whole ordeal was unbelievable, but Clover could only count himself lucky that he could spend time with the corvid.
It was an hour walk to Qrow’s (Qrow had been sure to tell Clover of his absolute hatred of public transportation as well as traffic in the city), the two ending up in the upscale part of the city. “Wow, I didn’t know you were rich,” Clover laughed as he followed the other man into the mansion.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know, lucky charm,” Qrow responded with a chuckle of his own as he opened the front door to the beautiful home. “Fi, I’m home with a guest! Could you bring me a towel?” the raspy voice echoed throughout the entrance.
The living room was beautiful, almost as beautiful as its owner. The large, white couch sat across from the white stone fireplace on top of a black fur rug. On the opposite side of the door were huge windows that had a gorgeous view of the city as the property was on top of a large hill. The entire place was incredible.
“Qrow, what the heck happened to you?” a young, feminine voice called out suddenly, causing Clover to turn his head. He watched as an adorable sheep faunus with short white hair and olive eyes appeared in his line of sight, adorned in a cute, green dress. She looked to be quite a bit younger than Qrow. The woman handed his coworker the towel he had asked for with a small giggle and a shake of her head.
After he was done drying himself, Qrow looked at the little lamb with his hand motioning towards Clover. “Fi, this is Clover. He’s a coworker of mine. He was nice enough to offer to walk me home so I wouldn’t get soaked. I offered for him to stay over for dinner. Clover,” the lithe male turned to the buff one. “This is my wife, Fiona. She’s young but does a nice job at playing an adult role,” he joked, earning a playful jab from the woman in question. “I’m kidding. You’re a lovely adult,” he reassured her before bringing her in close and placing a kiss upon her head. The action stirred a bit of jealousy in Clover’s chest.
“You’re not so bad yourself, old man ,” Fiona mocked with a laugh as she stepped away from her husband, earning a “hey!” from him. Clover chuckled at their antics, trying to forget the negative feeling he had inside. “Anyway,” the young woman began, turning to Clover with a smile. “Dinner will be ready here shortly. I hope you like chicken pot pie.”
“That sounds amazing, Fiona. My wife isn’t the best at cooking, so I’ll eat pretty much anything at this point.”
“Well, maybe I’ll have to teach her sometime! She can join me and the other girls in my group during our weekly cooking antics! Oh, that would be so much fun to have another person! Please, tell her that she is invited anytime!” It was cute how excited the faunus got at the idea.
Their guest smiled warmly. “Will do. I’m sure she’d enjoy spending some time with fellow women instead of just me.” Suddenly, the beeping of an oven interrupted them, causing Fiona to slightly jump and run to the kitchen.
“Always so energetic,” Clover heard Qrow whisper under his breath. “I’ll show you to the kitchen, and then I’m going to get into some dry clothes.” The brunette nodded before following the elder into the massive room before discreetly watching him as he went to go get dressed. He then sat at the dining table, waiting for the two to get back.
It was a few minutes before Fiona showed back up with a large pot pie in oven mit-protected hands. “Ah, Qrow must be getting changed,” she said to herself while placing the food on the large dinner table.
“Do you need any help with anything? I’d be glad to do so. I hate to watch you do all the work when I have functioning hands and feet.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet! No, please stay exactly where you are. I wouldn’t want our company to worry himself over something we should be doing. Make yourself at home! Relax a bit!” Qrow had been right in the sheep being energetic. He snickered to himself before making himself comfortable in the chair, watching as the female faunus danced around the kitchen, grabbing utensils, glasses, plates, fruits, vegetables - all manner of things - certainly the perfect wife.
Qrow returned in fresh clothes, much more dry than his previous outfit, and sat at the table across from Clover. The brunette opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Fiona, who placed the plates and silverware along with the food and drinks on the table. “Bon appetit,” she said, sitting down next to Qrow.
They allowed Clover to dig in first as he was a guest. He thanked them before getting a slice of pot pie as well as a scoop of fruit and one of the salad bowls the young woman had laid out. “I hope you like it! This is one of Qrow’s favorite meals,” she stated as she followed suit and retrieved her food. “So, Clover, you work in the same department as my dear husband?”
Clover felt a sting of jealousy at the words. He cleared his throat before replying, “Ah, yes, I’m in the financial department as well - came from Atlas to help out at the branch here actually.”
“Ah, so, you know, good ol’ Jimmy?” Qrow questioned with a grin before taking a bite of his pie.
“If you mean, James Ironwood, then yes. I was actually his left hand man,” Clover replied before eating his own meal. He nearly drooled at how delicious it was. “Fiona, I must tell you. You are a very talented chef!”
“Aw~, thank you!” she responded happily.
“So, Qrow, I assume you know James then,” Clover looked to Qrow before taking a sip of his lemonade.
“Oh yeah, Jimmy and I go way back. But, that’s neither here nor there. I’m just glad you were able to leave Atlas.”
“Yes, Atlas does have its downfalls, but it still has its perks.” He heard Fiona whisper something to herself but ignored it seeing as it was too quiet for anyone to hear. “My baby sister is currently attending the preschool there, and it is very nice for the children.”
“Yes, I have to agree with that. They certainly put a lot of funding into education in Atlas. So, I guess that is one thing,” agreed Qrow. “So, lucky charm, what’s your wife like?”
“Lucky charm?”
“Oh, don’t mind him, Clover. He always has a nickname for people. With your name, I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes up with multiple,” Fiona told him.
“I already have multiple; thank you. But anyway, back to the subject. What’s your wife like?”
“My wife? Well, she’s, um, interesting. We grew up together and decided to get married at some point,” Clover informed them - technically not a lie.
“What’s her name? I might know her if she’s in Atlas.”
“Robyn Hill.” Suddenly, Fiona started to cough with Qrow wearing a shit eating grin beside.
“You, uh, know her?”
“I would say she knows her,” Qrow laughed before being hit in the side.
Fiona controlled her coughing and cleared her throat. “I, um, yes, I know her. It’s a long story, but why don’t we quit the chit chat. We wouldn’t want our food getting cold.” Clover nodded in agreement while Qrow continued to hide his very obvious laugh.
After they had finished eating and Clover was getting ready to leave, Qrow came up to him. “You know,” he began with a blush on his face. “I’m not straight,” he said simply before turning to look towards the kitchen where Fiona still was. “Anyway, see you later, Cloves. I got shit to do. Thanks for walking me home.”
Clover’s mind blanked. What did he mean by- wait, he wasn’t straight. He wasn’t straight. That meant. Was he aware?