[ Qrow's arm goes around his back, and for a moment he is back in the snow— not that day with Jinn, but here in Deerington, with a shivering little bird tucked against his throat and Glynda's coat in his bag. Staggering home half-slung over Qrow's shoulder, wheezing through broken ribs. Finding Qrow in the storm had been a rush of warm relief unlike anything he has felt in... years, perhaps.
Having Qrow's arm around him again now is the same.
He swallows carefully, trying to breathe away the tears in his eyes before they fall. Qrow will let him, he knows. Qrow will make no comment and hold none of it against him: he is not expected to be strong, just now. He has done enough by coming back. He cannot— will not— rest as that place would have offered him, but in another sense he can rest. He can let this quiet moment stretch out and be still in it.
Qrow whispers rough words back to him, and it feels like forgiveness. ]
Thank you.
[ It is murmured back just as low. His hand finds Qrow's arm to steady himself, and stays there. ]
But I find that...
[ He turns his head to meet Qrow's eye, and for all that Ozpin looks a wreck— tired, bloodied, flushed with fever, tears threatening to fall— he quirks a raw little smile, and the look in his eyes is purely genuine. ]
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Having Qrow's arm around him again now is the same.
He swallows carefully, trying to breathe away the tears in his eyes before they fall. Qrow will let him, he knows. Qrow will make no comment and hold none of it against him: he is not expected to be strong, just now. He has done enough by coming back. He cannot— will not— rest as that place would have offered him, but in another sense he can rest. He can let this quiet moment stretch out and be still in it.
Qrow whispers rough words back to him, and it feels like forgiveness. ]
Thank you.
[ It is murmured back just as low. His hand finds Qrow's arm to steady himself, and stays there. ]
But I find that...
[ He turns his head to meet Qrow's eye, and for all that Ozpin looks a wreck— tired, bloodied, flushed with fever, tears threatening to fall— he quirks a raw little smile, and the look in his eyes is purely genuine. ]
... I have people to keep it for.