Chapter 21: Side Story- Summer and Raptaryn; the journey together [2]

                                    

                                          
Chapter 21: Side Story- Summer and Raptaryn; the journey together [2]
"You know," Qrow mused, his silver eyes glinting with mischief, "we really outdid ourselves with Operation Silver Scholar."
Summer's head snapped up. "Operation what now?"
Lailah burst into laughter, her lavender hair shaking. "Oh yes, we had an actual planning session. Raven made charts."
"Strategic intervention required strategic planning," Raven defended, though her red eyes sparkled with rare humor. "The flowcharts were essential."
"You didn't," Raptaryn groaned, realization dawning. "All those 'coincidental' meetings..."
"Oh, we did," Taiyang grinned. "Remember that 'urgent' meeting about cross-cultural combat techniques that Professor Ozpin called you both to? The one where the door mysteriously jammed for two hours?"
Summer gasped. "That was YOU?"
"Actually, that was Glynda," Lailah admitted. "She said, and I quote, 'If I have to watch them pine over each other in one more faculty meeting, I'm going to start throwing things.'"
"The entire faculty was in on it?" Raptaryn asked, looking mortified.
"Professor Port volunteered to be a diversion whenever we needed one," Qrow confirmed. "All we had to do was mention his golden days of monster hunting, and he'd keep anyone else occupied for hours."
"Remember the 'accidental' booking mix-up for the Spring Festival?" Raven smirked. "When you two somehow ended up sharing the last available transport to the venue?"
"And the transport just happened to break down halfway there," Summer remembered, realization dawning. "In a spot with a perfect view of the sunset..."
"Tai's finest mechanical sabotage," Qrow praised, clapping his friend on the back.
"Though not as elaborate as Operation Manuscript Crisis," Lailah added, causing Raptaryn to cover his face with his hands.
"The missing ancient texts?" he asked through his fingers. "The ones that Summer helped me search for all night?"
"Safely in the restricted section the whole time," Taiyang confirmed cheerfully. "But you two were so cute, getting excited over every dusty book you found instead."
"Or the Great Cookie Catastrophe," Raven added. "When all of Summer's baking supplies mysteriously vanished right before the cultural exchange festival..."
"Except for the ones in Raptaryn's office," Lailah finished. "Which he 'graciously' offered to share his space for the baking."
"The fire alarm that went off during that study session?" Summer asked suspiciously.
"Dust malfunction," Qrow said quickly. Too quickly. "Totally unplanned. The fact that the only dry spot to wait was under that romantic courtyard gazebo was pure coincidence."
"What about the mission assignment board 'glitch' that kept partnering them up?" Taiyang reminisced. "Ozpin's face when we suggested his system had been tampered with..."
"He knew exactly what we were doing," Lailah laughed. "He just raised an eyebrow and said 'How fascinating' in that way of his."
"Don't forget the 'urgent cultural consultation' meetings we kept scheduling," Raven added. "Always in the most romantic spots on campus."
"Or the training session where all the practice dummies mysteriously moved closer together until they had to work back-to-back," Qrow grinned.
"The Valentine's Day mix-up was my personal favorite," Lailah declared. "When both of their secret admirer cards somehow got switched..."
"That was YOU?" Summer and Raptaryn exclaimed simultaneously.
"The handwriting analysis you both did trying to figure it out was adorable," Taiyang snickered. "You literally spent hours studying each other's writing samples without realizing you were proving your own feelings."
"Though the Festival of Stars setup was our masterpiece," Raven said proudly. "Getting the entire dark elven delegation to participate in the traditional couples' dance..."
"While ensuring Summer was the only available human partner for the visiting scholar," Lailah finished. "The ancient texts were very clear about the romantic implications of that particular dance."
"Which none of you bothered to mention until afterward," Summer muttered, though she was fighting a smile.
"The look on both your faces when the elders started planning the courtship ceremony," Qrow chuckled. "Priceless."
"I still can't believe you convinced Professor Oobleck to give an entire lecture on historical human-elven romances," Raptaryn marveled. "Complete with suspiciously familiar examples."
"He got really into it," Taiyang admitted. "Added it to his regular curriculum and everything."
"Though nothing beats the time we convinced you both that researching ancient partnership rituals required practical demonstrations," Lailah added innocently.
"The ancient texts mentioned nothing about candlelight or mood music," Raptaryn pointed out dryly.
"Cultural interpretation is an art form," Raven said solemnly, though her red eyes danced with amusement.
Summer and Raptaryn looked at each other, then at their grinning friends, all pretense of scholarly dignity forgotten as they burst into laughter.
"I suppose we owe you all a thank you," Summer finally managed, wiping tears of mirth from her silver eyes.
"Indeed," Raptaryn agreed, pulling her close. "Though perhaps with less property damage next time?"
"Next time?" Lailah perked up, exchanging meaningful glances with the others. "Are we planning a wedding already?"
The fresh wave of blushing and stammering from the couple set their friends off again, already mentally preparing their charts for Operation Wedding Bells.
To be continued in Chapter 22: Side Story II- Romance and Friendship; The Matchmakers Tale