Loooove is in the air
The day after Summer and Taiyang arrived at the place where the Branwen tribe had set up camp, Raven and Qrow decided that the tribe needed to be relocated. It was a bit of a hassle, and would certainly postpone the much-needed conversation that Team STRQ had to have sooner or later, but seeing how easily Summer and Taiyang had apparently found them, neither of the twins felt like taking any chances. They didn't care if their teammates assured them that they hadn't been followed - the tribe was too important to Raven and Qrow for them to risk another Huntsman or Huntress finding them. Or worse, Ozpin.
And so, when Taiyang and Summer woke up the day after they had arrived at the camp, they were not greeted by Qrow and Raven's sleeping faces as they had expected. No, when Summer and Taiyang emerged from the depths of slumber, the Branwen twins were nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that it was actually their tent that Summer and Taiyang had been sleeping in.
For a moment, the Huntsman and Huntress panicked, terrified that their teammates had left again, terrified that everything had been a dream and they would wake up grieving and alone in their dorm room once again. But then there was the loud sound of something falling to the ground from outside the tent, followed by the familiar sounds of Raven laughing while Qrow swore violently, and Summer and Taiyang could relax slightly.
"What's going on?" Summer yawned as she stumbled out of the tent with Taiyang following close behind her, both of them messy-haired and rubbing the sleep from their eyes, the fear of their teammates leaving having been enough to rouse them from sleep, but not enough to wake them up completely.
"We're moving," Raven informed her teammates, smiling slightly when she saw how exhausted they looked. She swore they were still half-asleep; if she gave either one of them a nudge, she was certain they'd topple over and start snoring before they hit the ground. "We can't risk Ozpin or someone finding us here, so the tribe is relocating to another campsite. Although if my brother doesn't hurry up with those carts, we might be carrying everything while we move, which would be less than ideal."
"Shut the fuck up, Rae," Qrow stuck his head out from under one of the aforementioned carts, scowling as he pointed a wrench threateningly at his sister. A piece of metal lay next to him, twisted and mangled beyond belief - so that's what had fallen and led to Qrow swearing so violently. "Conan is still banned from doing anything with his hands, and I am the only other person who actually has the skill needed to rig up these carts, so stop laughing at me or I swear to the Brothers that I will let everyone except you use the carts. And then I will be the one laughing at you when you need to carry all of your shit to the camp."
Raven mirrored her brother's scowl but didn't say anything, all too aware that he could and would carry out that threat. He'd done it before, and it wasn't an experience she was eager to repeat. She could carry all of her stuff, no doubt about that. She didn't exactly have a lot of personal belongings. But Qrow would argue that as the older twin, the tent that they shared belonged to her as well. And then he'd rope her into carrying a whole bunch of other stuff that was technically hers - last time, he'd argued that the orphans the tribe took care of fell under her jurisdiction, and were therefore hers. And when she was attempting to carry a tent and up to five children, along with her own stuff, then it became an impossible task.
"Wait." Taiyang narrowed his eyes, running a hand through his hair to try and tame it. (And failing miserably, although none of his teammates besides Qrow would tell him that.) "Conan? Isn't that the blacksmith guy that Qrow had to go and replace yesterday? What happened to him?"
"I'm surprised you remember his name, seeing as you and Summer were so busy laughing when Baine told us someone had to help out at the forge," Raven remarked dryly, raising an eyebrow at her teammates, still not sure what had caused the laughing fit but willing to attribute it to nerves and relief. "But as for your question, Conan broke his hand, quite severely. One of his apprentices dropped a hammer on his fingers. He'll be out of action for the next few days until his aura heals his hand properly."
Stunned, Taiyang stared at Raven with wide eyes, not having expected that. Next to him, Summer was gaping at her teammate in just as much shock, although Taiyang was pretty sure she was more worried for the hammer than for the guy who'd had it dropped on his hand. She was strange like that.
But Taiyang loved her anyway. Although he hadn't admitted that to anyone yet - although he had a feeling Qrow knew, somehow. (Qrow definitely knew. After hearing Taiyang's heartfelt confession when they got drunk in Vale one night, Qrow knew far too much about how the other felt about both Summer and Raven.)
"Well, that explains why Qrow is taking over the forge and blacksmithing duties," Taiyang coughed, forcing himself not to shudder as he imagined the pain Conan must be going through. Taiyang himself had once done something similar to his foot, and had been unable to walk for up to a week. He never wanted to go through that again. "No offense, Rae, but I'm glad that Qrow's the one who decided to help out, and not you. You're not exactly the best in the forge."
"Hah!" Qrow's voice drifted up from where he'd once again disappeared underneath the cart, smugness practically dripping from his voice. His three teammates didn't even have to try to picture the smirk that was sure to be on his face. "Suck on that, Raven. Even your boytoy knows that I'm better than you when it comes to this kind of thing."
Raven scowled, kicking her brother harshly in the side before stalking away from them, thankful that they couldn't see the red hue spreading across her cheeks, not seeing the identical blush on Taiyang's face as he glanced between Qrow, Summer and Raven, stumbling over his words. "No, I'm not ... we're not ... you .... Qrow..."
"Don't lie to me." Qrow shimmied out from under the cart, waving the wrench in his hands threateningly at Taiyang and Summer, smirking when he saw how red the former had become, resembling a tomato more than the sun the Branwen twins had always compared him to. "I have been watching you three dance around each other for the last four years, and I'm fucking sick of it. Tai, you literally told me that you loved my sister after you and I got drunk in Vale in first year. Sum, you've been pining after these two idiots since we all met in the Emerald Forest. Now, both of you go after Rae and confess your love to her, and to each other, and leave me to fix this fucking wagon in peace."
And with that, Qrow slid back under the cart and went back to fixing whatever had broken, acting like he hadn't just upended his team's entire world.
For a few minutes, Summer and Taiyang attempted to protest the younger Branwen's words, but when it became clear that he wasn't listening to a word they said, the two members of Team STRQ gave up and left, disappearing in opposite directions with blushes painting their cheeks and shy smiles on their lips.
Summer and Taiyang spent the rest of the morning helping the tribe pack up, avoiding each other as well as their friends. They weren't sure how to broach the topic Qrow called them out on just a few hours before; they weren't sure whether they wanted to deny everything or come clean about their feelings. In the end, the decision was made for them, with Qrow pulling them aside just half an hour before the tribe was going to leave.
"I'm not good with ... feelings," the Branwen admitted, running a hand through his hair anxiously. "Neither is Raven. But you two are ... well, you're better than us. So please go and tell my sister that you love her before she overanalyzes every conversation you've ever had and tears this team apart because she's too stubborn to admit that she loves you. And later, once you've all sorted your shit out, we'll have a long talk about how you treat my sister. Okay? Thanks."
With a smile that felt more like a threat than anything else, Qrow shoved them gently towards a clearing on his right and left, not wanting to stick around to hear his sister and his two best friends confess their love to each other. He'd watched the three of them dance around their feelings for years, always flirting and touching but never once actually confessing, and frankly, he was sick of it. If him revealing their feelings to each other was what it took for them to finally get together, Qrow would gladly do so.
His sister deserved to be happy.
//
Summer and Taiyang didn't wander into the clearing immediately. They didn't find Raven and confess their undying love to her, even though both of them desperately wanted to.
Instead, they turned to each other.
"You love her?" Summer murmured, hands twisting together anxiously as she looked anywhere other than Taiyang, grateful for the protection of her hood as it fell over her face, hiding her from the world. She'd loved Taiyang for years, ever since she'd gone to the supermarket and he'd accidentally run into her, knocking her into a shelf full of strawberries, which had proceeded to fall and stain her cloak. (It had taken forever to get her cloak white again.) And she'd loved Raven for years, too, since she'd landed in the Emerald Forest and found the elder Branwen standing in front of her, scarlet eyes only softening when Summer had smiled and introduced herself. And then she'd spent the next four years pining after both the blonde-haired boy and the prickly female, never admitting her feelings but always wishing she would. Summer desperately wanted Qrow's words to be true, desperately wanted her affections returned ... but what if he'd been wrong? "Do ... do you love me, too? Or was Qrow wrong?"
"He was right," Taiyang admitted, a soft smile on his face as he stepped forwards, slowly lowering Summer's hood and gently grabbing her chin, turning her face towards him. He'd fallen in love with her the moment he'd seen her across the store, with her too big cape pinned over her shoulders and that warm smile that he swore could make ice melt. (He'd never admit it, but the reason he'd run into her and caused her to fall into the strawberry shelf was because she'd laughed, and he'd been so blinded by her beauty he hadn't seen where he was going.) "I love you, Sum," Taiyang murmured, thumb stroking his cheek as he leaned forwards, his nose barely brushing hers. "Can I kiss you, or should that wait until after the first date?"
Summer smiled, the pure happiness on her face nearly blinding. "Screw the first date," she beamed, and then she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. Taiyang would never be ashamed to admit that his knees buckled, just a bit. "Now," Summer drew back after a long moment, grinning when Taiyang chased after her, his lips forming a pout at the abrupt end of the kiss. Giving in to his pleading face, Summer pressed another kiss to his lips, lingering there for a few seconds before stepping away, feeling much more confident now that her affections were returned from at least one of the people she adored. "Let's go find Rae."
It wasn't difficult to find the Branwen. She was just over a hundred metres away from the camp, perched on a fallen log with a whetstone in her hand and a troubled expression on her face, slowly sharpening Omen's blade. She didn't give any visible signs to show that she had noticed Summer and Taiyang entering the clearing, but they knew that she was aware that they were there. Raven never let her guard down enough for someone to sneak up on her. She'd been around her brother and his love of pranking too much to ever not know when someone was approaching her.
(Qrow was the only one who was ever able to sneak up on her. No one had any idea how he did it, but Raven swore that if he dyed her hair pink one more time she would find out how he kept surprising her and then she would trap him the next time he tried to do it and leave him tied to a tree for the next four days.)
"Hey, Rae!" Summer bounced over to Raven, sitting down next to her and greeting her friend with a blinding smile and a kiss to the cheek. As soon as her lips made contact with her teammate's skin, Raven's head jerked up, eyes wide with shock as she stared at Summer. Summer had always been a tactile person, everyone knew that, but never before had she done something like this. Never before had she ... kissed ... Raven, even if it was only on the cheek.
"So, we wanted to talk to you," Tai grinned, sitting down on Raven's other side and taking her hand in his, twining their fingers together and barely resisting the urge to laugh when he saw her startled face. He and Summer had decided that approaching Raven directly was their best bet - unaccustomed to relationships and feelings as she was, if they tried to subtly hint that they were interested in her, she might never understand what they were trying to say. And so, they had decided to go in with all the force of a sledgehammer. "We love you. And we love each other. And we want to date you and quite possibly marry you."
Raven blinked. Shook her head. Blinked again. And then, finally, in the quietest voice either of them had ever heard, spoke. "Why me?"
"Why not you?" Taiyang said, gazing at Raven with so much adoration she felt like she would be sick. "You're smart and strong and confident, and even though you like to act so tough you're really a big softie when it comes to Qrow or us. Don't even argue - I saw you snuggling with Summer in our second year."
"And we know that you don't understand feelings sometimes," Summer continued, prompting Raven's head to turn to her, "it's part of how you grew up. And before you argue that we don't know what we're getting into, we do. We know you. We know that you have a temper, and that you are willing to kill anyone who says anything bad about your team. We know that you hate not getting enough food because it reminds you of when you and Qrow lived on the streets. We know that you will never leave the tribe, because they are the reason you survived. And knowing all of this, we still love you. We've loved you for years, Rae. We were just too scared to say it."
Looking between the two of them, Raven hesitated, scanning their faces for any signs of deceit or mischief. Upon finding none, she slowly allowed herself to relax and, for the first time in many years, a completely unguarded, genuine smile lit up her face. Needless to say, Qrow was very pleased to find that his plan to get them all together had worked.
Although he did wish he hadn't walked in on their snogging session - that was a sight he'd never needed to see!