Qrow coolly made his way up to the bar, looking up to be met with piercing green eyes as the bartender caught his attention, "What can I get you?"

"I, uh, I'll just have a water...thanks." The bartender sat the glass down in front of him and began to clean up after his previous guests. While cleaning, he observed the customer before him; he took notice of how, as the music played, he became less tense, unwinding from what seemed to be a long day. The fine lines on his face were faint around his mouth, but deeper on his forehead and near his eyes.

As he tipped the glass back to get the last few drops of water, the bartender returned, "You seem like a whiskey guy. We have a few new brands that came in, if you'd like to try them."

The dark haired one shook is head, "No thanks, I don't drink anymore."

The bartender cocked an eyebrow, "Then what brings you here of all places?"

Qrow chuckled softly, "I just find the atmosphere relaxing, one that's hard to replicate anywhere else." The bartender nodded in response.

"So what's got you so tightly wound? It took you a while to relax."

Qrow let out a heavy sigh as he stared down into the empty glass, "I just can't seem to catch much of a break these days. My job has me running around like a mad man, and it feels like it's all for nothing." His thoughts were interrupted as his glass was being refilled.

"I'm sure it'll all come to fruition sooner or later, maybe the end result isn't as obvious as you might think it is."

A small smile crept across his face, "You might be right. What's your name, by the way?"

Crimson eyes met with jade as the bartender spoke, "My name's Clover. And you?"

Leaning back into his chair, the raven haired man responded, "The name's Qrow."

Clover started to put away some glasses, "Well, Qrow, what do you do for work?"

Qrow was clearly lost in the music when asked, eyes staring dreamily ahead of him, so he cleared his throat before speaking. "Oh work? I'm a detective. Not much of one that's for sure, my team does great without me." His eyes wandered down to his glass as he considered his own words.

Before he could continue, Clover interjected, "I highly doubt that, I'm sure you're a great help to your team. You shouldn't put yourself down so easily, not everyone can do what you do, after all."

Soft red eyes widened in surprise before he looked away and scratched his head in mild embarrassment at the reassurance, "I guess you're right, thanks."

It wasn't much longer before closing and Qrow was starting to take his leave, but not before Clover slipped him his receipt. Looking at the paper, Qrow read what seemed to be a phone number, "For whenever you need someone to talk to," The brunet man shot him a wink. After he was gone, Clover found a napkin on the counter with some writing on it next to a very generous tip:

I appreciate the extra mile you took to turn my night around. I had a good time. Hope to see you again soon. -Qrow

He smiled, shook his head, and put the napkin in his shirt pocket to finish closing down the bar for the night.

The following months were a blur of Qrow coming in to bother Clover. Some days he would bring him his favorite warm drink, being a medium roast coffee with light cream and sugar. Other days he stopped by with some Chinese take out and fresh cinnamon rolls from the bakery down the street. On the days he didn't show up, Clover watched the door all night, waiting for him. His line of work was potentially dangerous, and he hoped he was safe. And some days, Qrow would come in to see that Clover had taken the day off, due to a flu or what ever other bugs the cold and rain brought with it

One night as he was polishing the counter top his attention was grabbed, "When's your shift over? "

Without looking away from what he was doing, "In an hour, what's up?"

Qrow nervously tapped his glass before giving an answer, "Um, I was wondering if you had any plans after work. Thinking maybe we could go get something to eat and I could take you home after?" Clover brought his head up to look at him.

"So a date?" He smirked when he saw the panic on Qrow's beet red face.

"I um -ahem- if you wanna call it a date we can call it a date I dunno... up to you though."

All Clover could do was laugh, hard enough to bring a tear to his eye. When he finally settled down, he gave his response, "Yeah, it's a date then. Let me go home and get out of these clothes and then I'll send you my address."

Exhaling loudly, as he was clearly holding his breath in suspense, "Sounds like a plan, I'll see you then, Cloves." shooting him a wink before he walked out the door.

He paced his living room floor hundreds of times and with each turn he checked to see if he had forgotten anything while waiting for Clover to text him and let him know he was ready. Amidst all of his over-thinking, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and he knew it was time. He knocked firmly and, after a few seconds, a waft of cologne greeted him as Clover opened the door, "You take a long time to get ready, y'know," Qrow laughed.

"Would you prefer my bar sweat?"

Qrow shook his head, "Anything is fine for me as long as you're here," They went to his car and sat for a moment before he spoke again, "So where do you want to eat?"

Clover thought it over for a second, "Breakfast for dinner feels right. There's a neat little pancake place a couple blocks from here, if you're up for it."

He whipped his head around in excitement with jet black hair soon to follow, "I bet I can eat more pancakes than you."

Clover gave him a side glance, "Is that a challenge?"

Returning the look as he pulled into the parking lot, "I don't know, you tell me."

Many stacks of pancakes later, the men left the restaurant and waddled back to the car, falling into their seats with contented sighs, "Well it was a tie, but at what cost?" Clover groaned while holding his stomach. They both looked at each other and laughed, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea, but at least we had fun doing it."

A loud burp came from the driver's seat, "That waitress is gonna have a ball with that tip too. I kinda wanna sit here for a moment before we get outta here, I seriously ate too much."

Clover gave him a soft smile, "That's okay, take your time." They sat in a peaceful silence, their hands finding their way to each others, yet neither minded.

Once they reached Clover's place where they were to part, Qrow nervously put his hands in his pockets, "I guess this is goodnight, huh?"

Emerald eyes gleamed with mischief, "Or is it?" he unlocked his door and stepped aside, "Come on in." 

As they both stepped inside Qrow took a quick look around, taking note of the well coordinated and obviously comfy furniture, "Nice place you got here." He took a seat on the couch.

"It's looks even better now that you're in it."

Messing with the edge of a couch cushion, "I don't know about all that." He tried to hide his clearly blushing face as inconspicuously as possible, unbeknownst to him Clover had already seen it.

Clover laughed, "Nah, you're wonderful. Even if you don't think so." Seating himself next to Qrow, he turned on some music, "Hope you don't mind my taste." It was apparent he could care less what he was listening to, he was wrapped up in the moment.

A song came on that caught Qrow's attention and he began to tap his fingers to the beat, "I haven't heard this in a long time." Unable to sit still, "Mind if I do something right quick, Cloves? Just promise you won't be too upset." 

He gestured his hand outward, "Go for it." Qrow sprung up and started to rearrange furniture more out of the way to create space. When finished, he grabbed Clover's arm and pulled him up out of his seat. Curiously looking at Qrow while trying to decipher what his plan was after moving everything to his liking.

"C'mon, dance with me." Their eyes locked and the sand in the hourglass stopped, it was as if they knew this was where they were supposed to be. Qrow began to twirl Clover around and their energy became magnetic as they fell in sync. As they cheerfully made use of the makeshift dance floor, laughter filled the room with the casual exchanging of warm gazes. Worries melted from Qrow's shoulders the more time he had spent with his optimistic parallel.

A whole playlist later they were worked up into a sweat, out of breath, and falling onto the couch together. Crimson eyes glistened in the lamp light while looking down at Clover, "Who needs bar sweat when you have dance sweat." They both chuckled in between labored breaths, working their way into a comfortable embrace.

Clover looked up at Qrow, "Thanks for the night out, you sure know how to treat a guy." Eyelids growing heavy, he inched his way up to steal a kiss while being met with equal, unwavering passion.

As they pulled away and they finally began to settle down, something fell from Clover's shirt pocket. Before he could put it away, it was already spotted, "What's that?"

A sigh of defeat, warm against Qrow's chest, "It's the napkin from the night I met you. I always keep it in this pocket for good luck." Trying to appear unfazed at his own failed attempt to hide his memorabilia by giving a confident smile.

The pallid man took the folded up napkin, staring at it as he recalled that day. He felt his heartbeat quicken and his body had a newfound warmth, "Thinking about it too huh?" Clover's voice pulled him from his daydream and back into this moment.

Qrow leaned his head back against the armrest, "Yeah...yeah I was." His eyes glassed over once again, "I don't really deserve this...any of this."

The brunet stared at him in wonder of how someone could hold so much self deprecation in their heart, "You should give yourself more credit you know, it hurts to hear you talk about yourself like that. Besides, if you didn't deserve this then you wouldn't be here."

A smirk creeped across Qrow's face, "You always know what to say don't you?" Wrapping his arms a little tighter around Clover, a yawn escaped his lips. 

"Well someone has to stand up for you against yourself if it isn't gonna be you." Clover's eyes softened when he looked at Qrow, but soon exhaustion overcame him. It wasn't long before they drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep in each other's arms.