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“Um, hello? Qrow?”
Qrow knuckled his eyes and shoved his notebook to the side so he could lean his elbows on the table. “I’m down here,” he called. He rested his forehead on the ball of his hands and closed his eyes. “Last room on the left.”
He could hear footsteps echoing down the hallway and then the door creaked open. “Hey,” Tai said, “you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Qrow pushed himself up and blinked at Tai, trying to clear his vision. “I’m just-” his voice broke on a yawn and he rubbed his eyes again.
“Tired and worn out?” Tai suggested. He pulled out the chair opposite from Tai and spun it around so he could sit with his arms crossed over the back. “When was the last time you slept?”
“Uh…” Qrow tilted his head and frowned. “Last night?” His frown deepened. “I think it was last night.”
Tai shook his head. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Qrow. You need to sleep.”
“And I will,” Qrow said. He yawned again. “I just need to finish editing this film and then I’m done. Honestly.”
“Mmhm.” Tai gave Qrow a look. “And how much is there left before you’re done?”
Qrow shrugged. “I’m almost through the second act, shouldn’t take me more than an hour or two to finish.”
“Qrow…” Tai sighed. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself, you know that, right?”
“Do what?” Qrow asked. He bit back another yawn and glared at Tai. “I can’t just ignore my deadlines.”
“You have two more weeks before you need to turn this in,” Tai countered. “You haven’t slept, you’ve barely been eating. You almost failed your Psychology exam because you fell asleep halfway through it.” Tai scrubbed a hand through his hair, making the curls stand up. “You need to take a break, ok?”
“Tai, I don’t have time-”
“I’ll buy you your favourite pizza,” Tai said. “We can sit and watch a movie or something, enjoy a beer or two. Come on, Qrow, it won’t hurt you to take one night off.”
“I…” Qrow glanced at his laptop and then at the room around them, depressingly stark and bland, the same four walls he’d been staring at for over a day. “Yeah, fine,” he said. “I guess I can take a night off.”
“Great!” Tai beamed at him. “Come on, I’ve only got fifteen minutes on the meter and I don’t want a ticket.”
“Why are we watching Disney movies?” Qrow took a bite of his pizza – super supreme with a stuffed cheese crust – and snuggled deeper into the couch cushions.
“Because I like them,” Tai said. “You like them too, for all that you pretend you don’t.” He popped the cap off a beer and handed it to Qrow. “I’ve seen you singing along.”
Qrow grumbled something and took another bite of pizza.
Tai laughed and climbed over the couch arm to settle in beside Qrow, his own beer held loosely in his hand. “Admit it, you love trying to sing all the words to “Be Our Guest.”
“I’ll admit nothing,” Qrow said stiffly.
Tai grinned and stole a piece of pepperoni off Qrow’s pizza before pressing the play button.
Qrow wouldn’t admit it, would never in a million years admit how much he loved Disney movies. It was his little secret, his one pleasure that nobody else knew of except for Tai. But it was Tai…Tai knew everything.
He didn’t remember all the words to all the songs but he remembered most of them, the words rolling off his tongue without a thought. He hummed along during the rest of the movie, never seeing the fond smiles Tai sent him.
He tried not to cry at the ending, he really did, but the Beast being freed from the spell always hit him hard and Qrow found himself sniffling into his third beer as Belle sobbed over the Beast’s fallen body.
“Hey, come here.” Tai wrapped an arm around Qrow’s shoulder and tugged him closer.
Qrow let himself relax against Tai’s body as he watched the Beast slowly levitate into the air. “Come on,” he whispered. He clutched the beer bottle tighter. “Come on.”
“You know he lives,” Tai pointed out. He rubbed circles into Qrow’s back and reached behind the couch to grab Qrow a tissue. “You’ve seen this how many times?”
“Shut up,” Qrow muttered. He ignored the tissue Tai offered him and kept staring at the T.V. screen. “Dammit Belle, stop staring and just go to him, you know you want to.”
Tai shook his head and just held Qrow close, pretending not to notice as more tears spilled down Qrow’s cheeks.
The movie ended it as always did, with Belle and the Beast dancing together, joyful music, and Qrow turning to Tai to bury his face against Tai’s chest and cry harder.
Tai curled both his arms around Qrow and rested his chin atop Qrow’s head, crooning softly in the back of his throat as Qrow clutched at his shirt. He could feel Qrow shaking against him and Tai tightened his hold and shifted so that his back was secure against the couch arm and he could pull his legs up on the couch alongside Qrow’s.
“Hey,” he whispered when Qrow began to quiet, “you ok?”
Qrow sniffled and nodded, making Tai nod too.
“Cool. Did you want to get up?”
Qrow shook his head quickly. He gripped Tai’s shirt and pressed himself harder against Tai.
“Ok, hey, it’s fine. I wasn’t trying to make you move.” Tai stroked a hand firmly down Qrow’s back. Qrow shivered and he repeated the gesture. “I’m fine just staying here. No need to move if you don’t want to.” He kept stroking Qrow’s back, slow and firm, and felt Qrow settle. Tai sometimes forgot how strongly Qrow reacted to Beauty and the Beast until they were watching it again and Qrow was a mess in his arms. Not that Tai minded, and not that Qrow minded. Usually, at least.
They stayed tangled up together on couch long enough for Tai’s lights to dim, the automatic timers slowly starting their sleep routine. Tai blinked himself awake from his light doze and nudged Qrow. “Qrow, you awake?”
Qrow grumbled and rubbed his face against Tai’s shirt.
Tai smiled at the top of Qrow’s head. “Qrooowww,” he sang softly, “you need to get up.”
“Don’t wanna,” Qrow mumbled.
“I’m not letting you sleep on the couch,” Tai told him. “It’s a nice couch, but there’s a bed for a reason.” He carefully detangled his legs from Qrow’s and swung them off the couch. “Come on, just a few steps to the bedroom and you can go back to sleep.”
Qrow didn’t say anything, just turned his face away from Tai and fell back asleep.
Tai sighed and shook his head, but didn’t push Qrow any further. It wasn’t easy to pick Qrow up from a sitting position but he managed. It was even harder to maneuver down the hallway while carrying a sleeping Qrow but Tai managed that as well, until he was standing in his room and gently placing Qrow on the bed.
He undid Qrow’s belt, loosening it up so that he could tug Qrow’s jeans down his legs and replace them with a pair of Qrow’s lounge pants. He left Qrow’s shirt on and then pulled the covers over Qrow before changing into his own pajamas and sliding into the bed.
He pulled Qrow close once he was underneath the covers with him and didn’t miss Qrow’s sigh as he snuggled closer to Tai in his sleep. Tai leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Qrow’s head; he smiled as Qrow wriggled and draped his arms across Tai. “There you go,” Tai whispered. He rubbed at Qrow’s back. “Sleep well, Qrow.”
Qrow didn’t answer, but Tai heard him let out a sleepy sigh and felt him relax against him, Qrow’s body going boneless as he fell deeper asleep. Tai smiled, closed his own eyes, and let sleep take him as well.