The second Cardin stepped inside his kitchen, he sighed heavily and strongly reconsidered not drinking coffee. Or maybe his distaste for alcohol. Would it be better to be caffeinated or not sober? He shook his head and went for the coffee machine, stepping over a mostly dried puddle. If Velvet was here the chances of coffee already being made was high. Thankfully, there was coffee. Still warm. Cardin poured a cup, added what Velvet would consider was too milk, then sipped it as he leaned back against the counter. The liquid warmed his hands through the mug. One Velvet had gotten for him, with the TARDIS on it, despite her dismay that he only really used it for hot chocolate.
He only drank maybe a third of the cup by the time Velvet returned to the kitchen. There was a dark towel between her hands that she was using to dry them. Without saying a word to him, she stepped over the now fully dried and dark puddle as well and poured herself a cup of coffee. Like an insane person, she drank long from the mug without adding anything to the bitter drink. Cardin grimaced just a little. At least she didn’t always drink it black. Though compared to the coffee he choked down from time to time, it may as well be. How she managed with so little sugar and cream he had no clue. It kind of scared him.
“Rough night?” Cardin asked. Velvet huffed a laugh into her mug. It was completely undignified and completely her.
“You have no idea,” Velvet groused, hopping up onto his counter and leaning back against the cupboards. She leaned forward so her elbows rested on her legs, drink cradled between her hands in the open space between them. Her black combat boots kicked lightly at the cupboards built under the counter. The dark circles that always seemed to be more at home under his own eyes were getting deeper again, making her look more tired than she ever truly got. She took another long pull from the mug. It made her look a little like an alcoholic drowning their sorrows at the bar.
“Guy give you trouble?” Cardin asked.
“Yep,” Velvet said, glaring at the puddle on the floor like it had personally insulted her. Which Cardin felt was a little uncalled for. After all, this was his kitchen, not hers. Eventually she’d have to clean up her mess. Which she for some reason kept dragging to his place.
There was a lapse of silence, punctuated by the steady rhythm of Velvet’s boots against the wooden door under her. Thump, thump, thump . Cardin’s eyes wandered again to the puddle. “You’re cleaning that up,” he said.
“Yep,” Velvet said, taking a sip of her coffee.
Cardin nodded. Good. At least she would clean up her mess. He took an absentminded sip. “And you need to stop leaving dead bodies in my kitchen.”
Velvet groaned.
“Seriously, Scarlatina.” Cardin turned to her, “What are you, a cat? Why do you have to do this here?”
“It’s easier,” Velvet said.
“How is it easier?” Cardin said.
“You help me hide the body!” Velvet said. “And dig the grave! Do you know how longandboring it would be if I had to dig a hole all by myself?”
Velvet looked at him flatly. “So have you, so I guess I was looking for an expert.”
They both glared at each other, daring the other to mention any of the ‘holes’ the other had dug themself into through the years. Personally, Cardin knew there were plenty of problems Velvet had caused- and some she made worse- that he could mention. (Of course, she had an equal amount for him, he begrudgingly admitted to himself.) The staring contest broke when Velvet looked away with a sigh.
“Let’s just bury the damn body.”
“Fine. But seriously, Scarlatina. At least leave it in the trunk next time instead of showing it off like a prize.”
“But then how would I teach you to hunt?”
“Why am I still friends with you?”
“Because you know if you killed me I’d only come back to haunt you.”
There was a tally they kept. A marking of who won each sparring session. It wasn’t actually written down or anything, they kept it in their heads and trusted the other to not lie about it. They trusted each other with a lot- from being truthful to their very lives. The trust was chosen, yes. But also natural. After as many years as they had fought together, lived together, loved together, of course it was natural. This is mostly likely off topic, though. As the point was simply thus: Cardin was one point ahead in the tally. Obviously this could not stand. Jaune would make it a tie with this fight and then she’d win the next as well to pull ahead.
She steadied her breathing and got into position in front of Cardin, lead foot pointed toward Cardin and her back foot turned sideways. Cardin mirrored her stance with a smile. With a smirk . Apparently today she was feeling cocky. It made Jaune want to win even more. Though, it did also kind of make her want to kiss her breathless. Her hand tightened around the leather under it. Both was always good.
Jaune moved first, front foot stepping forward to stab at Cardin only to be blocked. The wooden weapons clacked against each other. Over their practice swords, Cardin smiled at her. She slid her back foot back and moved to circle around Cardin, Cardin mirroring her.
Parry.
Parry.
Dodge.
Strike.
Their swords crossed together and Jaune pushed. While her strength wasn’t exactly something to be scoffed at, she was weaker than Cardin and Cardin used it to her advantage to push their swords the other way. Like an arm wrestling contest. The swords went flat between them and Jaune took the opportunity to lean forward to steal a kiss over the wooden x. She jumped backward, out of the way, before Cardin could reciprocate. Cardin glared at her as she smiled.
Cardin lunged forward in retaliation as if this wasn’t the game they played for two thirds of their spars and Jaune danced out of her way, blocking the strike she took. “You have to do better than that,” Jaune said.
“Funny.” Cardin smirked. “I recall winning last time.”
“That was last time,” Jaune said. “It won’t happen again.”
“You’ve said that before,” Cardin said.
“So have you.” Jaune lunged and Cardin turned away from it. Pulling them back into the circular dance.
Parry.
Parry.
Dodge.
Strike.
They circled each other, footsteps never crossing, swords meeting for seconds at a time. Neither quite able to deal the ‘killing’ blow.
“If you hold back on me I’m gonna think you let me win,” Jaune teased. She knew Cardin wasn’t holding back, they both did.
“I would never,” Cardin replied, taking a step to the right that Jaune followed with her eyes. She took a lunge and Jaune dodged to the left. The practice sword went past her.
Their dance seemed to go on for a long time, but it was more likely it only went for a few minutes. Banter buoyed it. Each lash from their tongues sharper than the wooden practice swords, but softer as well. It ended with pounding hearts and labored breaths. The weighted feeling of a sword against a throat. Two throats. It took Jaune a few seconds of staring to remember to attempt getting her breath back. She swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing gently against the wood.
“Fuck ,” Jaune cursed with feeling, though breathlessly. She’d really wanted to claim this one. At least Cardin didn’t really win either. Though with the smirk Cardin gave you would think she had, if not for the blade at her throat. As one they dropped their arms to hold the swords at their side. “A draw.”
“I’m still winning,” Cardin teased and the words curled satisfaction across her tongue despite the tie.
“And still only by one,” Jaune reminded lest her wife’s head get too big to properly fit in her helmet.
“Next dual it will be by two,” Cardin said.
“Next dual will be my win,” Jaune corrected.
Cardin stepped away a moment and came back with their water. “We’ll see.”
“You'll see,” Jaune said with a smile. “Right after this break, I’ll have you on the ground.”
Cardin smiled back. “I thought you said I wouldn’t win.”
Jaune paused for a good moment, and then went red as she laughed- Cardin went a bit pink as well.
Once Qrow had gone, Lazuli turned back to him. Apparently she hadn’t really seen the extent of the damage. Or maybe she had and was just echoing previous thoughts. Either way, she gave a heartfelt quiet “cazzo” before heading for the kitchen. Now, Cardin hadn’t actually seen the damage himself. All he’d done was feel it. Frankly at the time that was enough, burning red hot and melting the numb from his legs like they were made of ice as Qrow did his best. Cardin scooted himself up to lean against the arm of the couch so he could look.
Red made four rings around his legs. Two above the knee; two below. The red spread in a wider band then the actual cuts did. They didn’t seem too deep. But Cardin wasn’t sure and he didn’t want to prod them right now. He did anyway. It’s not like it was the first injury he didn’t want to mess with but had to. Though, he guessed this time he didn’t ‘have’ to. A frown pulled at his lips. Was it bad he wished that it was? That he preferred to be alone. To handle this on his own, to not make anyone else have to deal with it. After all, it was his weakness. It was only right he dealt with it himself. As the pads of his fingers gingerly pressed at skin near the cuts, he hissed lightly. At least the pain was duller now. The blood had dried- it was flaky in some areas, likely where it’d been stuck to the fabric makeshift bandages- and it’d have to be cleaned away.
He grit his teeth to stand. Pain shot up his veins, dull like a heartbeat. For a moment he steadied himself on the couch’s arm. Before he could move for the bathroom, Russel’s mamma returned with supplies. A bowl was tucked under her arm, a rag half in the water already, a second rag was over her shoulder, and in her hand she had both a bottle of something that was most likely neosporin and a roll of bandages. The look she shot him was deadly. “Sit.” Lazuli said firmly. Cardin sat. Well, more flopped.
“I can’t believeyou’d get up-” she stopped herself, a hand up, “No, I can. What were you planning? Head to the bathroom, clean up and leave? Before I returned?” She took a breath and Cardin knew she was calming herself. Calm had always seemed her default. And it seeped into those around her. Like just her presence could clear every head in the room. The only time that ever changed was whenever Russel got hurt. (Something that happened both surprisingly often and shockingly seldom.) And… apparently… possibly when he got hurt, too. That wasn’t something he’d expected. The most worry he ever got about any injury was Russel’s concerned eyes when the boy spotted the scars- especially new scars.
Especiallythe burn. The way the brown flecks had swirled in Russel’s eyes. They’d almost changed colour. Bits of gold swirling through a sea of blue. (… no seas, not right now. Later, he’d be able to drift back, but not right now. Just like when he’d gotten the burn and was left unable to make fire related analogies for a short time, the water related illusion grated across his skin.) Gold streaked through a mostly clear sky, painting the undersides of clouds. Almost distracting from the darkness attempting to swirl within. Almost, but not quite. Russel didn’t ask. But he’d seen the way Russel briefly had to bite his tongue against the questions.
“I don’t want you to have to deal with it,” Cardin said, answering all the questions in one. It was odd to see the way Lazuli’s face twisted, trying to figure out whether it wanted to harden or soften. Eventually it settled. The look on her face was soft but the blue of her eyes took on the appearance of tempered glass.
“You’re my kid. I want to do this.” Her voice was as firm as her eyes. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this… with anyof this alone.”
“I’m fine,” Cardin said.
“Maybe,” Lazuli said and set to cleaning Cardin’s leg. It throbbed as she worked, but the pain was at a manageable level. The water was warm against his skin. Slowly, as she washed away dried blood, the water in the bowl tinted more and more red. Until the blood was gone. And the bowl seemed stained red. The pain returned when she used the neosporin. It cut hot tingles across his nerves and he hissed. “Sorry,” Lazuli murmured, blowing gently against it. Cardin shook his head but she ignored it in favour of wrapping clean bandages around the wounds. When she was done, she pat his knee and stood. Like it was a signal, Cardin heard the door open. They both looked toward it. Simin entered with Russel trailing just behind him. Cardin pulled his legs close before Russel spotted him.
“Cardin!” Russel broke out from behind his papai. Like Cardin had never shown up at night before. Though, he’d admit usually when they hung out at night Cardin came through the window. He didn’t want to disturb Lazuli or Simin so late. And he… didn’t want to answer any questions. Thankfully, Russel was good at not asking. Instead he’d just open the window and let Cardin crawl in next to him without a word. Without making him feel weak. His friend landed on the couch next to him and his eyes immediately locked onto the bandages. Once again, worry swirled golden through hazel irises. Once again, Russel didn’t ask. This time, though, he looked over to Lazuli. Cardin’s heartbeat shot up in response, worried what Lazuli might say. There wasn’t much she could, he hadn’t told anyone how he’d… ended up where he had. Or how he had. She frowned slightly and Cardin had no hope that she hadn’t been thinking about exactly that. It wasn’t often a huntsman showed up at your house, brought you a teen with rope wounds around their legs, and told you he drowned. Or, Cardin hoped it wasn’t often. The feeling- the pain of feeling slowly coming back from pins and needles to skin rubbed bloody and torn- wasn’t something he’d want anyone else to experience. After a moment, Lazuli shook her head and pulled Simin into the kitchen.
“Are you okay?” Russel asked once they were alone.
“I’m tired,” Cardin answered with half a smile.
Russel nodded and left the room. One of the blankets from his bed was in his hands when he returned. It was a thick brown blanket just this shade of the bronze with squares sectioned off by lines of silver thread the same shade as Russel’s hair. The blanket was softer than it looked. But just as warm as its cushy appearance said it’d be. He plopped down on the couch and pulled the blanket over them. Cardin lowered his legs when Russel scooted closer. But that’s the most Russel did. If Cardin wanted physical touch in this moment, Russel was there for it, but he’d have to initiate. A small smile curved his mouth. A true smile- the first of the whole day. Somehow Russel could always tell his tactile mood. Could always tell what he needed physically. Cardin shifted closer to him and settled at his side. For a while, Cardin drifted. He’s not even sure if he falls back asleep. But he knew Russel didn’t sleep. Though he wished he did. Between one moment and the next, Russel’s parents were gone and back. Simin sat on the couch next to them.
“Russel, can you leave the room for a time?” Simin asked.
“I don’t-” Russel looked over at Cardin with a frown. To Cardin’s own surprise, he took Russel’s hand. “want to.”
For a moment Simin just looked at them. Then the tiny smile curled his lip. “Alright.” He moved the table closer and sat on it, Lazuli joining him on its edge. “So Cardin, tell us what happened.”
Cardin looked down at his lap, unable to really meet Simin’s earnest red-brown eyes. There was a squeeze around his hand and he glanced up out of the corner of his eye to see Russel smile small. It was encouraging. Though not in the way Cardin knew he’d meant. It was meant to help gently nudge the truth out of him. “Nothing,” he said clearly, though he still didn’t look Simin in the eye.
“You know.” Simin rested his arms against his knees. “Wounds like those don’t usually come from drowning.” The truth behind those words had Cardin flinch, if just barely. “Whatever it was we won’t think lesser of you for it.” He didn’t say anything, just pulled at the skin between his thumb and forefinger. “Filho. Please.”
He… was really worried about him. A glance up told him they all were. It caused a sensation to creep along his skin, rankling his nerves. All while a very different heat spread out from his chest, different from the instinctual distaste at worryatweakness, filling his stomach and tingling at his fingertips. Embarrassment,
Words slowly clogged his throat.
I was thrown in.
I was tied up.
“I don’t have a semblance.” It came out more tired and less bitter than he’d expect. After all this time, he must’ve accepted it without even realizing. Russel’s parents looked at each other.
“We know,” Simin said.
Cardin looked at them. Vaguely he remembered what Lazuli’d told Qrow. ‘ Low aura. His ma was the same way. ’ (‘Weak.’ Barked. Scoffed. ‘Just like your mother.’ ) “… How did you know about my aura?” How’d you know about my ma’s wasn’t asked, but he thought she heard it.
Instead of answering, Lazuli looked at him. Really looked at him, it seemed. Light blue eyes traced his features. Like she could suss out any lies or half truths. “Is this what thisis about?” She asked gently, gesturing to his knees. Cardin didn’t answer. She sighed. “It’s a part of my semblance. I’m able to track aura.”
Cardin frowned and looked down again. “Then, do you.” There seemed to be a lump in his throat. He swallowed past it. “Do you know what’s wrong with me?”
“Absolutely nothing. Some people are simply born with less aura,” Lazuli said and though the words were soft, they were firm.
“So that’s why-”
“Yes. You just don’t have enough to support a semblance, no matter what happens. And your healing is…” Lazuli gestured to his legs, still under the blanket and tucked close to his chest. “delayed.”
“Like ma,” Cardin said, and he couldn’t help but think of finding out she’d collapsed when she was getting food. About how she’d apparently been sick and how her body had failed to heal. Because she didn’t have enough aura.
Lazuli nodded. “Like your ma.”
And just like that, he’s told he isweak. That he’ll never be strong. Some part of him had already known he was like his ma. That he’d never have a semblance. But it was one thing to feel it inside of you and another for someone to tell you it was true. Before, he thought the weight on his chest would lift with confirmation. He’d be told he’d never get a semblance and the weight would dissipate. It’d fade like it hadn’t really been there, a mess of words untangled to float away. The pain would still be there, of course. With the confirmation it’d probably increase. But the weight would be gone and that’d be enough. Except the weight didn’t leave. It didn’t fade, it didn’t unravel, it didn’t float away to never come back. It simply shifted. Like a cat, finding a new place to settle and get comfortable. A little closer to his lungs. A little snugger against his throat.
A hand squeezed around his. “But that doesn’t make you weak.”
Right. Cardin wanted to scoff, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get the sound past his throat.
“I knew your ma. And she was one of the strongest people I ever knew. Even without a semblance. I’ve also seen you. You’re strong Cardin. And you might not believe me now. Or in years. But it’s true. You’re determined and protective and that’s where your strength lies. Now! That’s enough heart to heart for me, you know that’s more Simin’s thing anyhow.” Lazuli clapped her hands on her thighs and winked before she stood up. “Get some sleep, you were dead on your feet when you got here and you were being carried.”
Cardin stared at her but didn’t argue. There was no point. It was true, he was tired and they both knew it. He tried to hold what she said in his mind and think on it then but it slipped from his grasp. With it, a bit of the weight at his throat.
“Thank you.”
She smiled. “Of course.”
In the morning his body wasn’t on the couch where he’d left it. He wiggled out of Russel’s loose grip, almost rolling off the edge of the bed before he caught his feet under himself. The action hurt his wounds but he gritted past that. Who’d moved him, he wasn’t really sure. (Though he had the feeling it’d been Simin.) Unlike his house, when he woke someone was always already in the kitchen. The smell of bacon wafted out from where Simin stood at the stove. Further down the counter, Lazuli was making chocolate chip waffles. It was Simin who noticed him first.
“Good morning, Cardin,” Simin greeted with a bright smile that he hesitantly, and a bit forcefully, returned.
“You’re awake early,” Lazuli said. “It’s a nice change. Usually I have to drag Russ out of bed.” The smile became a little smaller. A little more forced. This was the first time he’d ever spent the full night. Previously, whenever he visited Russel after the sun had fallen it was through his window and he’d left before the sun had risen once more. As far as they knew neither of Russel’s parents even knew he was ever over at night.
“Though that’s to be expected. You’ve always been an earlier riser, haven’t you?” Simin asked with a twinkle in his eye. He had the feeling those secret nights weren’t as secret as they thought. A bit of panic spiked through him. It wasn’t given time to grow. The spatula waved toward him, flat part twirled in a dismissive circle. “It was never a problem.”
Cardin stared at him, mouth agape. So they hadknown? And said nothing. His mouth clicked shut before they could fully catch his shock. Once again he was hit by just how different his father was from Russel’s parents. He swallowed. If they hadn’t been awake, he would’ve snuck out to return home. Now, though. At least he’d have breakfast before he left. The walk wasn’t far, but his legs still smarted so he wanted to take it slow while he could and it’d be easier to do after eating at least some food.
Russel came out of the room looking wide awake almost the minute breakfast was finished being made. A smile was shared between Cardin and Russel’s parents. The other boy had spectacular timing. “It smells great out here.”
“Thank you, filhinho,” Simin said with a smile and Russel gave him one just as sunny.
“Now that you’re awake, help Cardin get out the juice,” Lazuli said.
“Alright, mamma,” Russel nodded. Cardin already had out the cups, juice, and ice tray which he was twisting to loosen. He grabbed the juice from the table. “You do the ice and I’ll pour?”
Cardin nodded. Together the work went quickly and before Cardin knew it, four cups of juice had joined the plates and silverware. The food was set down right after.
It was… nice, to eat breakfast with others. The table was partly quiet; hazy and soft with the start of the day. The only true noise was Russel’s soft chatter. It filled the spaces between them, made them fluffy with noise. Until Cardin couldn’t really focus on anything but the food and the words and the people. He smiled and breathed easily. Eventually he would have to return to his house. But this was nice while he had it.
‘Eventually’ came with empty plates. It came with helping clear the table and washing the dishes. It came with humming from Simin that eventually morphed into whistling. Cardin looked at the three moving together through the kitchen, a morning dance that each knew, and felt a pang in his heart that he pushed down and away. A part of him didn’t want to leave. He wanted to learn that dance. Wanted to stay for the mornings and the quiets and the colours that weren’t actually there but could be felt in every soft look and unspoken action. But it wasn’t his place. The time had come to go and he closed his eyes. “I'll… go home now.” There’s a pause as Cardin took a moment to get the word out. Because there was more than just this morning. There was last night too. There was Qrow and Lazuli and blood and bandages and half believed encouragements. They’d helpedhim. Lazuli helped him. Simin helped him. Russel helped him. And it was respectable to say after that. It wasn't… out of place here. Not like it would be at his house. But it still wasn’t completely normal for him, not like this when it was basically an admission that he’d been given help. That he’d been weak enough to need help. To accept it without question. “Thank you.”
Worry lit up Russel’s eyes and he averted his own to ignore it, hand still awkwardly gripping the back of the chair. In his peripheral he noticed Simin and Lazuli share a look. “You’re not… going back,” Lazuli said gently. That made him pause, blinking hollowly.
“… what?” His heart started again- it had stopped?- and his first word felt distant, fair from his own ears like it was in a tunnel- but his next were better. Louder; more there. “I have to go back. My father- I have to.”
But did he really?
Of course he had to. It was his father. Since he lived, had an obligation to return home. He’d help the wounds as best he could, wait for them to scar, and continue with training. Just as he always did, nevermind his own desires. The obligation of a Winchester. The destiny of a Winchester. Be strong. Have a strong semblance. Become a strong huntsman.
…
His fingers worried at his sleeve. Of course, he’d already failed at one of those. Failed just by being born, presumably. Too low aura. Not even the capability to develop a semblance. ‘If this doesn’t work don’t bother returning.’ “I have to.” The words sound weak and doubtful, even to his own ears. What would even happen if he returned? Surely he’d still have to follow the rest of the Winchester legacy, even if he failed at one of the most basic steps. Be strong. Become a strong huntsman. But could he even do that, without a semblance? ‘Weak. Just like your mother.’
‘I knew your ma. And she was one of the strongest people I ever knew.’
He breathed.
Even without a semblance, he could still be a huntsman. It wasn’t what he wanted, wasn’t the strength he thought he had. But he had to be, so he would be. There was no other choice for him. The name ‘Winchester’ cemented him there. So he would return. He would become a huntsman like it was required of him and then… And then maybe next time he wouldn’t be saved.
“We talked to Oliver,” Lazuli said and Cardin looked up at her. Something passed through his body. But he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. An omen, maybe. A cocktail of worry and fear and questioning why they’d even do that- a sudden wish that he hadwoken up early like he’d planned to. That he was home already, in his bedroom like he’d never left it and mostly ready for the day. Curiosity to what his father even said and a deep dread at what the words might’ve been. “He said we could- keep you.”
Cardin swallowed. What? Just like that he’d been… given up? Given away? A problem that had no solution, that could only be moved and forgotten about. There was a lump in Cardin’s throat. He didn’t even have the choice to return now, did he? Weak. Unwanted. Unusable. Part of him wanted to curl into a ball. Take that stupid cape with him and sink back to the bottom of the lake where he was warm and floated higher and higher, thoughts far away and unnecessary. His fingers dug into his sleeve and his teeth bit into the inside of his lip. He blinked, and his eyes met red. It was like Simin could see past him, yet he didn’t. Simin looked like he could but he chose to look right at Cardin instead.
“It will be different,” Simin said and the words sounded kind. “But we hope it’ll be a good kind of different.”
He blinked. And the other half of the sentence, the other half of the meaning filtered in. ‘We could keep you.’ They- But he was broken and weak. A future huntsman without something as basic as a semblance. Someone who could never even develop one.
A glance over at Russel, who smiled small at him and kicked his ankle under the table. Not meanly, just… there. A simple touch, a small connection, so Cardin knewhe was there.
‘We could keep you.’
They wanted to keep him. Against all odds they actuallywanted to keep him.
“Why?” Cardin asked. He wasn’t sure where to look, who to look at, but he had to know. “Why?”
Simin put a hand in front of Cardin, for him to take if he chose to. Cardin didn’t move. “You’re a part of this família. We care about you, Cardin. And we want you here. For more than just a night.”
It felt like he was reeling. Like he’d been tossed into the sky to fall only to be thrown back upwards before he could hit the ground, again and again. If he hadn’t just woken an hour ago, he’d go back to bed. Russel reached out and this time, he took the hand offered him.
“I think it’ll be nice, to have you. It’ll be fun, we’ll be brothers!” Russel smiled at him and even now, his joy was a bit infectious. Soothing. He swallowed.
“Why would I want to give you more opportunities to annoy me?” Cardin asked, tightening his hold on Russel.
“Because you know I enjoy it,” Russel said. “And because you know you’re not getting rid of me at this point. No matter what you do, you’re stuck with me.”
And Cardin knew it was true. There was no uncertainly there- not with the rare show of stubbornness on Russel’s face. He was stuck with Russel. No choice given. It was comfortable and warm, suddenly. “Alright.”
“Alright?” Lazuli asked.
“I’ll… stay. Past the night,” Cardin said. All three seemed to breath at once, something relieved that still left Cardin confused. But maybe for right now, that was okay. Right now he had someone he knew truly believed he would stick by him. Right now, he believed it too. And maybe that was all that mattered.
Maybe one day, it would be okay. And next time, he wouldn’t have to be saved.
“Here.” Cold metal pressed to the side of Cardin’s face and he jolted. He looked to the can, now hovering just next to his cheek instead of against it. It was a soda. Something cherry flavoured, though he wasn’t sure past that. Even when he was younger he wasn’t much of a pop drinker. An eyebrow raised, he looked further up to Velvet who held the can. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”
The other went up to join the first. Velvet rolled her eyes at it. When the can pressed incessantly against the skin of his arm, he took it from her. Once he did she sat next to him, her ankles crossed and her hands clasped in the space between her legs. He tapped the top with a finger. It didn’t look like she’d shaken it beforehand. But it was better to be safe than sorry. Something he’d learned through experience. And plenty pranks. The can fizzed when he opened the tab, but it didn’t overflow. Thankfully. After the cross country run Russel had gotten him to join, he needed something to drink. He’d forgotten to bring a water bottle, mostly because cross country was Russel’s club, not his, and he hadn’t expected to join them today. How Russel could go from running a few miles to marching band, Cardin was a little too scared to ask.
“You seemed tired and dehydrated,” Velvet answered his question with a shrug. “I figured a soda might help. It’s a good one, too. Ginger ale.”
Cardin turned the can to look at the label: cherry Ale-8. He took a sip. Yeah, she was right, it did taste good. Fizz bubbles popped along his tongue. “Does pop actually help with hydration?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Velvet snarked, pushing her shoulder against his. “Next time I’ll bean you with a Gatorade bottle.”
He snorted at that. “Lemon lime?”
“You mean yellow, you fucking cop?” Velvet gasped, all dramatic. Like she wasn’t used to him saying the names instead of the colours. Like she didn’t know he did that just because it jokingly bothered her- and Russel. He smirked at her.
“Yeah, lemon lime.”
Velvet made a face at him. “Weirdo.” There was a smile there, in her eyes, even if it wasn’t on her face. Though he could tell it struggled to be there too. His own expression was attempting to twist from smirk to a truer smile, too. But he bit it down. Hid it behind another sip from the can. Another moment and Velvet smiled unabashedly, unable to hide it behind something like he was and no doubt not caring to hide it anyway. They sat together to watch the rest of Russel’s practice in relative silence. Velvet readjusted to lean back against the bench with a foot up on the seat. Cardin rested his chin against the backpack in the middle of his folded legs. It’d be a while longer before it ended. The music filled the space again as the marching band restarted from the top of their set. He took out his script to memorize his lines as they listened.
When Cardin had gotten into this relationship, he didn’t expect to be needy . Or very touchy at all. Of course he was touchy with Russel, but they were basically raised together. Same with Velvet. Except instead of being raised together, they just clicked in such a way it was like they’d known each other their whole lives. It was natural to reach out to them. And they reached back. Same with Sky and even Dove sometimes, if he was to be honest. Now that the team had finally worked their issues. That he’d finally started to really work his issues. (Touch starved, is what Russel, Velvet, and Sky jokingly called him and he hated it but he couldn’t really argue with it either.) But this was… certainly different. Of course it was all Jaune’s fault too.
Okay, his fault. Partly Jaune’s though, too. But not in a bad way. In a good way. A very good way. Though it did also very quickly become Jaune’s fault in a spiral he wasn’t prepared for nor did he actually hate. Jaune was a menace. Because Jaune realized he wanted to reach out constantly and wouldn’t so he reached out himself. Knew that he wanted to kiss his stupid face at any given moment so Jaune kissed him whenever he could. Anytime he reasonably could, since. They were secret to anybody who wasn’t CRDL or Velvet. It just seemed easier at the time. Given the blackmail. Cardin didn’t think any of Jaune’s first friends would ever trust him.
He couldn’t blame them.
But back to what Cardin was actually thinking about. The Incident. Not the Ursa one, but the one that had happened ten days into dating this personification of a star. Because he was an idiot. An idiot that things went surprisingly well for and he didn’t really know what that said about Jaune given he was dating him, but he has witnessed Jaune do some pretty dumb things. Dumb, dumb sacrificial things. Things that still make bile rise to his throat. Like pulling him out of the way of a shot he should’vetaken.
(A hand grabbed his collar- they weren’t in their armour, why weren’t they in their armour they were in Forever Fall, it had grimm, they knew that personally - and yanked him back. Claws swiped down and connected . It was an ursa. Because of course it had to be. There was a shout from both of them. Jaune fell back into Cardin and Cardin backpedaled them toward the closest trees.
Blood. So much blood, seeping past the new tears in Jaune’s shirt. A lump crawled into his throat. By the time he dispatched the ursa and its ash floated off into the air, the wound had already started to stitch back together. But the blood… Red soaked the midsection of Jaune’s shirt. Three jagged lines cut into it. It was the most blood he’d seen spilt from another person. It felt like that was all he could focus on. Not the defeated grimm, not the nearly healed skin, not even the cuts in the shirt, just red seeped dark into brown. That red was life . And suddenly Cardin could focus on one more thing.
That shot had been meant for him . Those wounds had been meant for him . And Jaune had moved him out of the way. Anger pulsed heavy and red hot. Blood hot. Did Jaune even think ? His hand pressed against the newly healed skin. Drying blood smeared under his fingers and he knew they’d be stained red when he pulled away. But the skin under his hand was soft and pale. No scars. No sign at all that his gut had been torn to shreds just minutes before. None but the tears in his shirt. Cardin’s heart pounded and he punched the dirt next to Jaune with the hand not currently against Jaune’s stomach. It shuddered under his hand with a breath. Sure, he couldn’t heal like Jaune could, but that didn’t mean he had to… take shots for him.
“ Cazzo. Idiot. Never do that again, I can handle myself you idiot ,” Cardin hissed under his breath.
“I know.” Jaune smiled up at him and he felt his heart clench . This was the stupidest man he’d ever met. And then, as easy as breathing, “I love you.”
Cardin glared. He could feel his heart pound harder, his face flush at the words. Wanted to return them but… It was like the words got stuck behind his teeth with the curls of anger that still lingered there and the relief that Jaune wasn’t like him, that Jaune had the normal healing, had above normal healing with the larger pool of aura he had. So instead he bent down and kissed him for the first time. It held the words he couldn’t say and the anger that didn’t want to fade until Jaune softened it with a huff of laughter through his nose. Until Jaune softened it and only the silent ‘ I love you too ’ remained. It filled Cardin with warmth as Jaune tilted his head to the side, as Jaune breathed into his mouth like he wanted him to know he was fine and alive, as Jaune pressed a warm hand against Cardin’s cheek that was a little tacky with his blood and it wasn’t really what Cardin was expecting from a first kiss, but it was soft and kind of perfect.
So maybe it was another Ursa Incident. In a way. They haven’t had a date in Forever Fall since.)
“Cardin?” Cardin blinked.
“Yes?” Cardin asked, cheeks heated from the memory and the realization Jaune’d apparently asked him a question he fully missed.
“You didn’t hear me, did you?” Jaune asked with a smile in his eyes. It was incredibly knowing.
Cardin pulled at his long sleeve shirt. “No.”
“That’s okay,” Jaune asked. “I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out, since my friends are going to be busy away from Vale for the weekend…”
It was easy to pick up Jaune’s meaning. Teams RWBY and JNPR, minus Jaune of course, would be gone, so they’d be free to do really anything without having to sneak around.
“Yeah,” Cardin said. For some reason, Jaune turned sheepish after his answer. He looked away and his cheeks pinked.
“I was wondering if you might want to sleepover in my dorm, too? Since everyone will be gone.”
A sleepover? Cardin felt a little frozen at the question. That was the first time Jaune had ever asked about that. Obviously. He’d never had the dorm to himself like this before.
It was the first time he’d ever been able to ask that. It wasn’t like Cardin’d never had a sleepover before. Growing up, he’d slept at Russel’s plenty of times. Nowadays CRDL slept in a pile more often than they didn’t. But, that was his team and his brother. This was his boyfriend . He looked at the hopeful look in Jaune’s eyes that started to slightly dim as Jaune shifted and oh no, how long had Cardin been taking, thinking about it? Slightly panicked, he cleared his throat so it wouldn’t show in his voice. “Yeah, sure. That’d be cool.”
Immediately Jaune lit back up with a smile. “Awesome! I’ll get extra blankets, and we can share the bed, and we can watch a movie on my scroll.” Jaune blushed a little harder. “I mean, if you want to. Sleep in my bed. With me.”
“Yeah,” Cardin said, adding after a pause, “I wouldn’t mind.”
“Cool,” Jaune’s smile widened and it almost felt like his face couldn’t handle it, but he couldn’t stop. There was a heat uncurling in his chest, like flower blossoms. A whole weekend of just them. No sneaking around. No hiding from his friends. “Cool cool. So, I’ll find you after they leave?”
Cardin nodded. “Cool,” Jaune said, like it was the only word in his vocabulary. He kissed Cardin real quick- just a peck on the lips- and headed out. There was a skip to his step. It made Cardin roll his eyes. Since Jaune couldn’t see him, he didn’t bother suppressing the fond smile.
Friday (after school)
The weekend came quickly, yet also much too slow. By the time Jaune saw his team off, he was practically vibrating. It felt impossible to hide his excitement.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Pyrrha asked for the nth time and Jaune chuckled, maybe a little more hysterically than he should’ve, but give him a break, he was excited.
“Yeah, I’m sure Pyrrha. Go on, have fun!” He shooed her off. She lingered, but eventually Yang walked over with amusement to save Jaune from her worried looks. Two years at Beacon and Pyrrha had slowly transformed from ‘distant’ to ‘dad’. (Ren was adamant he was the mom of this family and Jaune had to agree.) “Thanks, Yang.”
“No problem, Jaune,” Yang said, dropping an arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders.
“I’m just worried,” Pyrrha said.
“I know,” Jaune said. “But you don’t have to. I’m a big boy. Seriously, Pyrrha. Go have fun with everybody else. Take a vacation.”
“Yeah,” Yang agreed. She squeezed Pyrrha closer to her. “Oum knows you deserve a vacation from vomit boy.”
“Hey!” Jaune protested, eyebrows lowered in only half mocked annoyance. Seriously, would he ever live that nickname down? Yang just smiled at him, a glitter of amusement in her aura, and he sighed. Now he wanted to be saved from Yang. “ Please , Pyrrha?”
Pyrrha looked between the two of them, and seeming to deem him worthy of being saved from Yang, she nodded. “Alright. Don’t get into trouble while we’re gone.”
“Me?” Jaune put a hand on his chest and Pyrrha simply gave him a Look that Ren had definitely been teaching her in secret. She was getting good at it. “I promise.” It was just for a weekend anyhow. Pyrrha nodded and let Yang lead her away so finally, finally they were all leaving. Jaune waved goodbye to them all. Feeling only a little sorry to see them go. Once the ship was out of sight, he booked it for his team room. While the others were still here he couldn’t exactly set up for the weekend. Now that they were gone he wanted to do so as fast as possible before he got Cardin or Cardin came looking. It wasn’t exactly a hard setup. He just grabbed as many blankets as he could- he threw the blankets the others had left behind in the wash to use- and piled them onto his bed. He spread them out as well as he could while keeping them in a sort of bunched, nest shape. Like his siblings and him have always done. Then he left to grab Cardin.
Cardin was in his room, seemingly actively pretending he wasn’t waiting while Russel amusedly watched. The second Jaune slipped in Cardin’s eyes snapped to the door. There were a few seconds where Jaune saw a smile. Then Cardin’s face morphed into something approximating false nonchalance that really didn’t fit the moment. But Jaune decided against mentioning it. “Hey,” Jaune said instead.
“Hey,” Cardin said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. A bag was on his bed. It wasn’t too big, but it made Jaune crook his eyebrow. Their dorms weren’t too far away, since they were both in first year dorms. If Cardin really needed anything he could easily return for it. Plus, while the bag wasn’t big, it did bulge. He knew Cardin many used a military fold and it did not fill him with confidence over what was in that bag. Or could be in that bag.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” Russel said with a shrug.
“What? What’s wrong with it?” Cardin glared at the both of them.
“It looks like you’re planning to move in for a week instead of just spending the weekend,” Jaune laughed.
Cardin’s cheeks and ears reddened. “I didn’t know what to bring.”
“I told you what!” Russel protested.
“When have we ever had a sleepover, Russ?” Cardin asked. Russel opened his mouth then closed it.
“Point.”
“I guess I don’t have to ask you if you’re ready,” Jaune said.
“Shut up,” Cardin said.
Jaune bit his lip to keep from laughing again.
Cardin stared at Jaune’s bed once they made it into JNPR’s dorm room and the nest he’d made curiously before he moved to drop his bag and pillow at the desk. Despite the days Jaune spent thinking about this, there were only really a few things he knew he wanted to do. He wanted to watch at least one movie; he wanted to cuddle (and sleep ) on the bed; he wanted to see the stars because he knew Cardin would like that. Outside of that… he didn’t really mind what they did. As long as it was together. And in this room. Maybe it was selfish- actually it was definitely selfish- but Jaune wanted Cardin to himself fully for these few days that he would be able to have that. At least he wasn’t sure that was totally bad. Or unwanted.
Still at the desk, Cardin leaned back against it and crossed his arms over his chest. His glasses were on now. It was weird to learn that Cardin actually needed glasses. Like, permanently. He still never wore them during class or anything, but Russel had gotten him to wear them in the dorm. About a month ago he’d started wearing them around him, Sky, and Dove. It felt good to be one of the people Cardin felt okay enough to wear glasses around. Though he didn’t really know why Cardin didn’t wear his glasses as he was supposed to. “So what do we do?” Cardin asked.
“Uh,” Jaune paused and shifted his weight as he looked around the room. Was it too early to watch a movie? It wasn’t evening yet but it was after school and classes so maybe not. He really wasn’t sure. Boy did he wish he was sure. He swore he wasn’t normally awkward like this but he’d never actually dated anyone before. And while he was comfortable with Cardin- more than comfortable- he felt a little unprepared. He took a breath and let it out maybe a little awkwardly. “I’m not really sure. I have a movie if you want to do that now but we can also save it for later and do something else. I know I have a board game or two around here somewhere if you’d rather that and I’ve definitely got comic books if you want to read. Or we could eat. Is it too early to eat?”
“What movie?” Cardin asked, effectively redirecting his thoughts away from the spiral of ‘there’s nothing else I actually do’ and the sudden realization that unless they wanted to eat just snacks (and possibly risk angering Nora and Ren) they’d have to leave the room.
“Howl’s Moving Castle,” Jaune went over to his laptop where he already had the movie downloaded. Not from his own doing! Marion had downloaded it years ago. Though Kiki’s Delivery Service had been his download.
Cardin nodded. It didn’t look like an 'I know what you’re talking about’ nod. More an 'I have absolutely no fucking idea what you’re talking about but I’m gonna pretend I do and I know you’ll explain eventually’. Just, without the cursing. Because it was Cardin who somehow didn’t curse. Which was something he’d expect from somebody like Pyrrha. Who also did not curse. Or Weiss. Who actually did curse but rarely and Jaune had a theory that was actually Nora and Yang’s influence. Also a bit Ruby. All three girls cursed pretty heavily. Though he couldn’t really say anything. Not without being a hypocrite.
“It’s an animated movie, I think you’ll like it,” Jaune said. He more-or-less flopped onto the bed, but that was fine. It was technically his. At least for this year. (The thought that, eventually, they’d leave these dorms was weird. Though that was still half a year away.) He squirmed down into the covers, holding his laptop up from them until he was comfortable. Once he was he sat the laptop on his lap and patted the space next to him. “Come sit and bring your pillow.”
With another nod, Cardin pushed himself from the desk and grabbed his pillow. He sat down a lot more gracefully than Jaune chose to. Or even cared to. Jaune waited for Cardin to position himself within the blankets as well. It really should not have surprised him as much as it did when Cardin ended up against his side.
“Are you ready?” Jaune asked.
“Yeah,” Cardin said. He gestured to the paused screen. “You can play it.”
The movie, to Jaune’s satisfaction, was a hit. (Though now he’d have to find the book before Cardin did. Jaune thought it would make for a good surprise.) When his laptop immediately started to play the next saved video, he scrambled as fast as he could out from under the blankets at the sound of his own voice. Only to have Cardin catch his wrist and pull him back down. In a move that was the meanest thing Cardin had done since he’d blackmailed him. Possibly even meaner.
“Cardin, let me change it,” Jaune said.
“I kinda want to see it,” Cardin said. And he smiled at Jaune.
Definitely meaner.
“Cardin ,” Jaune whined.
“…” Cardin looked away from him. Not even back toward the laptop, but instead at the wall where Ruby had stuck a poster of historical swords when Jaune had made a passing comment about his weapon compared to every other student. It’d been embarrassing, but he’d appreciated it. “If it’s okay.”
Jaune settled back against Cardin and Cardin turned to give him a questioning look. “ One ,” he said and held a finger up for emphasis. Cardin smiled at him briefly before his attention redirected back to the laptop. This one wasn’t a particularly embarrassing video, at least. It was from about two years ago, when Marion, Saphron, and him went to a park at like midnight. Saphron rocked on one of those spring riders that was shaped like a kelpie, touching the ground on each rock backwards. Marion went along the monkey bars upside down just to show off. At one point Jaune slid down the pole like a stripper. They were good memories. Cardin pointed at the screen when Marion was there.
“Who are they? Marion?” Cardin asked.
“Yeah.” Jaune nodded. He paused it on a shot of Marion briefly and then did the same thing with Saphron, introducing both. “This is Marion, my twin. This is Saphron, who’s the second oldest.” Despite what he’d said about only showing that one video, it sent him down a spiral of showing videos of all his siblings and his parents, introducing Cardin to all of them. Part of him kind of felt bad for it. They all looked pretty alike, both his parents were blonde and the Arc genes- his m’man’s side- were strong . It was probably all scrambled in his brain by the end. But Cardin did laugh and there was, like, a pleased feeling from him so Jaune was sure it was fine. Probably.
“You’re okay with this?” Jaune asked, just to be sure.
“Yeah?” Cardin glanced at him, an eyebrow slightly raised. “Of course.”
“Oh,” Jaune nodded and barely kept himself from breathing a sigh of relief. “Okay. Okay, good. Cool.”
Cardin rolled his eyes with a slight smile. “ Cool.”
Jaune stuck his tongue out at the light hearted teasing.
“Anyway , I need to show you the time Gwen made this like super layered cake only for Phineas to trip onto it- Cake and icing went everywhere , it was fucking great.”
“Delphine?” Cardin asked, to be sure he actually got the names.
“Yep!” Jaune went back to the videos to search through for the one he wanted. On the way he ended up detouring to two other videos. One being a rather… vicious pillow fight between Maëlys, Chamois, Marion, and him. Saph almost got hurt just taking the bit of video she got. The other was a clip from a funny card game- Gwen snorted on screen and Cardin echoed it next to him.
It was late by the time Jaune got half through the videos and he’d never realized how much of a ‘camera family’ they were. Though the only reason he even stopped was because Cardin yawned. Which apparently triggered his stomach to growl. Jaune held it, a bit embarrassed, and quietly shushed it.
“I’ll make us food.” Cardin moved to struggle his way out of the nest.
“Nooo,” Jaune whined. “I wanna stay.”
“You will.” Cardin kissed him on the forehead. Before Jaune could grab him, he was out of reach. Just how had he gotten out so easily. “ I’m getting the food. Don’t want us to be poisoned.” Cardin smirked at him and Jaune frowned. Out of the goodness of his heart, he ignored the joke about his cooking skills. (It was true anyway.)
“But I want you to stay too,” Jaune said.
“I’ll be back soon enough,” Cardin said. The door closed behind him and Jaune sunk into the blankets with a pout. He didn’t want either of them to leave this room. This quiet space where it was just them and they could be themselves. With nothing better to do, Jaune looked through some other things on his laptop. A new meme was going around tunglr. He looked through a bit to figure out what it was. Thankfully Cardin wasn’t long, like he said, and he closed the tab. Jaune took the food from him so he could sit back down and get comfortable again. Once he did, instead of handing the food back he plastered himself to Cardin’s side.
Neither of them left the rest of the night except to use the bathroom and get ready for bed.
Saturday
Jaune woke up cold and alone. Or, alone . There were too many blankets to really feel cold but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he’d gone to sleep with someone else in this bed. He stretched out and yawned, still groggy, before he slowly went to find Cardin. Only to practically run into him point-blank when he returned to the room.
“Cardin!” Jaune exclaimed, perhaps a bit too loudly since the door was open. Cardin walked past him to put the food down on the desk then turned to him. He held his right arm folded in front of him and brought his left arm under, folding his left hand in front of his right wrist. It wasn’t an action Jaune really recognized. Somehow he didn’t think he’d get an answer if he asked right now, though. So instead he handed Cardin his glasses off the bedside table instead of asking. Cardin took them with a nod. And Jaune’s eyebrows rose because he’d never seen Cardin just take his glasses without hesitation unless he was actively annoyed at not being able to see properly, but Jaune still didn’t have a lot of brain power yet and couldn’t really process anything at the moment. How early even was it?
He walked back to the bed for his scroll to check the time. “ 7 :30,” Jaune said, surprised. Even for classes he never woke that early. Most of the time, Pyrrha or Nora had to wake the group. And on weekends Pyrrha didn’t wake any of them till late, because the three of them slept in. As far as he knew, even Pyrrha actually slept in a little bit. But Cardin never slept in, he remembered that from their slightly darker time, though it wasn’t really ‘dark’. From the blackmail and the late nights doing homework- his own and CRDL’s, of Cardin correcting essays and berating him on the little things, on his grammar and his punctuation and his spelling. Of mornings, way way too early mornings when even the rest of CRDL weren’t up and it was just Cardin and him and the haziness of morning. Cardin was completely quiet those mornings, too. At the time he allowed it without question. Let it provide him with an excuse to doze- overly drowsy still and feeling soft with it. Jaune felt soft with the drowsiness and the early hour of the morning and let it direct his feet light to Cardin so he could drape himself over the slightly taller boy and just exist. Fade in and out of the world and dreams. Let Cardin lead them slow and dreamlike around the room so Jaune could move his feet enough to follow, enough to stay attached, as Cardin did things quietly enough to be mistaken for a shadow made solid. The food was cold, anyway, and Jaune preferred to stay right where he was. Though eventually he woke up enough for his stomach to growl and Cardin nudged them toward the food with an amused huff.
“What was that motion?” Jaune asked as they ate.
“What motion?” Cardin asked.
“From this morning,” Jaune clarified and he mimed the motion Cardin had done.
Cardin looked down at his breakfast. At the cereal and fruit and the orange juice. It seemed less like interest and more like a desire to redirect his gaze so he didn’t have to look at Jaune. “It was sign language. It meant 'morning’.”
“Oh,” Jaune said. Maybe that was why Cardin was so quiet. “You’ll have to teach me some.”
“What?” Cardin looked up at him. There was a flash of surprise before it flattened back to Cardin’s more typical neutral expression. A flat look with no real substance- no smile, no frown, seemingly no emotion. Usually around Russel, Velvet, or him and slowly around Dove and Sky it would soften to something pleased. Not a smile, but pleased . Happy. And every so often it would shutter and close off like this. Jaune never knew what to do about that.
“Teach me some sign,“ Jaune said. "That way I’ll know what you’re saying next time.”
Cardin blinked at him. Eyes wide behind his rectangular frames. His expression shuttered again, but the tips of his ears went red and Jaune smiled. He bit his lip on a laugh as Cardin ducked his head. “I can do that. If you can actually manage to learn it.”
“Hey!” Jaune laughed. “That’s so rude. Just watch me, I’m gonna learn it even faster now.”
“Sure you will,” Cardin said.
Russel had told him once that Cardin and him never really played video games growing up. It wasn’t exactly that they couldn’t, it was just that neither of them had much of an interest in it. They did a lot of stuff outside. Nothing ever confirmed that tid bit quite like playing a game with Cardin. Which was always infinitely funny. Because Russel was actually pretty good at games, especially shooters, though nobody on CRDL had quite the skill of Dove on pretty much every game. Something that was also funny and almost insulting to Jaune given Dove’s track record of beating him in games- especially shooters- when Dove also said he’d only ever played video games once or twice while growing up. Because apparently Dove was somehow the most boring member of CRDL. Also the most academical, right under Cardin, and that was definitely related in Jaune’s mind. Cardin seemed to do well at the Kirby game he had, though.
“Wait, there’s a-” Jaune cut himself off as an enemy hit Cardin and killed him. Jaune winced in sympathy. With a sigh Cardin took off his glasses to rub at his eyes. He absently cleaned the lenses on his shirt while he had them off.
“Maybe I should just watch,” Cardin said.
“What? No, you were doing great!” Jaune said.
Cardin put his glasses back on, presumably just so he could look over them at him like a disappointed teacher. “Jaune.”
“You were,” Jaune insisted. Cardin sighed and rolled his eyes, but started the level again. No doubt to Cardin’s annoyance, Jaune cheered when he did.
The dating sim Jaune booted up on his laptop next was probably the best idea he’d had. Cardin’s look of confusion when Ryouta- a rock dove- was introduced as the protagonist’s childhood friend was something Jaune would carry with him forever. It just got better when he confirmed that, yes, he was a possible love interest. To his immense pleasure, Cardin really seemed to enjoy the game. Jaune made a note on his imaginary ‘win’ column and wrote a note on his scroll that just read ‘story/reading games’. Something subtle enough that if Nora went through his scroll again or someone else saw it they wouldn’t understand and pointed enough Jaune would hopefully remember.
Eventually it cycled back to Cardin watching as Jaune played a game. Jaune didn’t mind. Especially since Cardin leaned against his side the whole time. Sure, there was at least one moment where Cardin moved weird and the alien almost got him and Jaune almost died . Worth it.
Cardin reached down to take Jaune’s hand and pull him up onto the roof. Could they have gone through the stairs? Yes, but why bother when JNPR’s window led directly there, just as CRDL’s did. Speaking of, Cardin directed them more to the middle of the roof. Just in case anybody- Sky or Russel- got nosey. He didn’t want them being weird. Or hearing them. Or honestly both because it would likely be both. At least the second year dorms were further so he didn’t have to worry about Scarlatina.
“Brothers, Arc, did you bring enough blankets?” Cardin asked. There was a pile at his feet where Jaune dropped them, though it only really looked like three. It was still a lot.
Jaune hummed as if in thought. “Nope, I don’t think so.” He turned around as if to go back and get more. Cardin caught his arm with a quiet laugh.
“Jaune ,” Cardin said and Jaune turned back to him with a bright smile.
“Yes?” Jaune blinked innocently at him.
“Just lie down,” Cardin said.
“Alright but if I get cold you have to cuddle me,” Jaune said.
Cardin rolled his eyes. As if that wouldn’t be happening either way. Predictably, the second Cardin lied next to Jaune the other boy plastered himself to him. Being the accommodating and kind boyfriend he was, Cardin wrapped an arm around Jaune and pulled him closer. Because he was kind and accommodating. Not because he wanted Jaune closer. Jaune snuggled into Cardin’s side and Cardin felt something inside himself loosen and settle. Like he hadn’t been calm enough already. If he became any calmer, if he settled any further, he’d fade away. He tightened his hold on Jaune. Like that would keep him from becoming unmoored. Looking at him from the corner of his eye, Cardin was pretty sure it would.
“So.” Jaune laced their fingers together. “Tell me stories, starboy.”
“You’re the star,” Cardin said quietly with an amused huff. Jaune looked at him with surprise and Cardin steadfastly ignored him. Ignored the wondering fond look in blue eyes made darker with the lack of light. It made him wonder, though. Had he never said it outloud? Had he never called him ‘light’? Louder, he said, “Pick a constellation,” and Jaune did.
They were up on that roof, under a pile of blankets, for a long time. The chill wasn’t quiet as bad as Vacuo could get at night. And the stars weren’t quite as bright with Beacon’s light. Still Jaune pointed and he told. Told until his throat felt sore. Told even past that. Jaune was a solid line of heat against his side the entire time. At some point Jaune’s hand had wandered to Cardin’s chest. To rest over his heart.
Cardin didn’t want to leave this moment.
Sunday
“You don’t really talk in the mornings, do you?” Jaune asked him and Cardin forced down a flinch. Shook his head instead, tried not to feel bad. Before, when he was still in his own dorm room, when he could worry about this with Russel, Russel had told him Jaune wouldn’t be upset over the quiet. That Jaune was kind and understanding- so, so kind, so understanding ‘ He agreed to date you, after all. Even after everything ’- and Cardin trusted Russel. Trusted his brother. He did . So he shook his head and he pushed everything back down again. Where it belonged, deep, deep in his soul.
Jaune nodded. Not a true nod, just a small bobbing of his head. Cardin felt it against his shoulder. Just like the day before, Jaune was plastered to him. Some part of Cardin felt he should be annoyed. Instead it just felt… warm. Except for where Jaune’s chin dug into his shoulder when he was done nodding. “Alright. That’s cool.”
Cardin smiled and gave a single nod. A quiet thank you. When Jaune turned his head and pressed his lips to his neck, Cardin felt he understood that.
The rest of their time together was spent split between card games- an equal amount of wins somehow between them- and cuddled in the nest with a movie. There were only a short few hours left after the first movie. Part of Cardin wanted to leave right then. He didn’t want to risk Jaune’s team returning earlier than expected. Cardin carded his fingers through Jaune’s hair, tugged gently at the strands. Jaune sighed and melted further into him. The press of weight against him helped Cardin try to secure himself in this moment. To press those thoughts and the worry down until he could better ignore it.
All things had to end, though. Soon enough Cardin had to rouse Jaune so they could put things back the way they were meant to be. Or close to that.
“If everything’s perfect it’ll be weird,” Jaune said.
Cardin nodded. “I wouldn’t exactly call you neat.”
Jaune threw a pillow at his face and made an annoyed sound when he caught it. “That’s not fair , you’re not supposed to catch it. You’re supposed to get hit by it and be surprised.”
“You threw it while I was looking directly at you,” Cardin said. He put the pillow on the desk with his backpack when he noticed it was his.
“It would’ve been funny,” Jaune said petulantly and Cardin rolled his eyes. A child. He was dating a child. Though he wasn’t too upset with his taste in men when Jaune made his way over, arms loaded with blankets, just to kiss him. Before he could pull fully away Cardin pulled Jaune’s hood over his head and tugged the strings right. As Jaune struggled with his new predicament, Cardin grabbed the blankets from him. He practically whistled as he walked away. Content in his small revenge.
This time, the pillow was a direct hit.
The ensuing pillow fight brought them dangerously close to RWBY and NPR’s return, but it also distracted Cardin enough for him to not care. Both of them were panting and flushed by its end. Cardin seriously considered whether a pillow could cause a bruise. Any remaining time was taken up by their mouths on each other’s. Kisses slow and lingering. Cloying like candy on Cardin’s lips. Once more he found himself reluctant to leave. But he knew he had to. Jaune was not yet ready to share their relationship with his group of friends. And to be quite frank, Cardin was still scared of their reaction when he did. The anger would be called for. It would be just and right. But he feared them taking Jaune from him. Feared them making Jaune realize that he wasn’t good, that he wasn’t worth it. Wasn’t worth him . (Because he wasn’t- no matter what Jaune said. Cardin didn’t realize he could fear losing something as much as he feared losing Russel and Russel’s parents. As much as he’d begrudgingly began to fear losing Velvet and Sky and Dove.) Jaune melted sweetly into him and Cardin opened his mouth and silently begged whatever to listen to let his mind forget for a moment longer. The kiss turned sharp like cinnamon and Cardin’s thoughts hazed out.
Sunday (evening)
“Jaune!” Nora bounded down the dock and tackled him, knocking the both of them to the ground.
“Hey Nora,” Jaune laughed and hugged her back just as hard. Already he missed the thought that Cardin would be back in the room when he returned. But that was okay. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t see each other every day. Though they’d have to go back to secret affection. Or more secret than it had been between the two of them, alone in his dorm room. Even still, it was nice to have the rest of his team and RWBY back. He looked over Nora’s shoulder to the others. “How was it?”
“Well -” Ruby began as she pulled him up from the ground after Nora stood up.
Cardin never had to find his soulmate. He’d just always been there, seemingly from birth, though he knew they’d been five when their parents- also soulmates- had met. And he considered himself lucky. As he got older, he learned just how long some had to wait to meet their soulmate. The years or decades they had to wonder- who would share my semblance? When all he’d had to do was follow his máthair to find his other half.
Going to Shade was strange, in a way. He hadn’t really had the desire to be a huntsman. But Russel had wanted to go, and he had followed. Followed all throughout schooling; through Oscuro into Shade.
There was never a question that Russel Thrush was his soulmate. That he had a bright boy who he sometimes didn’t feel like he deserved, who rambled and smiled and valued other’s happiness above his own. It had just never occurred to Cardin that Russel wasn’t his only soulmate. That the two of them would run into more.
Sky Lark is… fun, in a way. He reminds Cardin of Russel. Smiling and rambling. A class clown in all ways minus funny shoes and red nose. Sometimes he questions Sky being made leader, but then he sees the way Sky’s eyes flick between them and he thinks he understands. It’s Russel who realizes that Sky is their soulmate. He’d come barging into the room, eyes wide and brown swirling almost widely in blue. It was rare for Russel to get too worried. Usually that was Cardin’s job. After all, he’d kept them both from dying throughout their childhood. But Russel didn’t notice the role reversal, just rushed up to Cardin and grabbed onto his forearms. If not for their size difference, Russel would likely be shaking him. The boy certainly gave a valiant try. “Cardin- Sky- I saw- semblance!”
Cardin blinked down at Russel, trying subtly to remove himself from the grip before his brains were scrambled. “You saw Sky’s semblance?” He didn’t understand why that was important.
“Yes!!” Russel said emphatically. His whole face lit up as he smiled, every bit of worry melted into excitement like it hadn’t even been there.
“Okay…?” Cardin said, still not understanding.
“He rewound time,” Russel said, trusting Cardin to understand. And he finally did. It felt like his heart hammered to a sudden stop. He wasn’t sure what emotion he felt at the moment. They had a third soulmate.
Russel had a third soulmate.
Had he not been enough?
In front of him, Russel’s face dropped, and he cursed himself for apparently being too obvious. Being raised together did him no favours with hiding his emotions. Immediately Russel’s hands squished his cheeks and he leaned his forehead down against Cardin’s. “Absolutely not,” Russel said with certainty, with the rare tone that left no room for arguments. The one that was serious and said he was right- The one that Cardin couldn’t help but trust even on his worst days, when his brain really had it out for him, because he used it with Cardin and Cardin alone. Cardin wondered if that would change, now. “You’re always enough. Fate just knew our hearts were big, that they’d have so much room it’d be a shame to share between only two soulmates.”
Cardin snorted despite himself. It was dumb and cheesy. He knew it was almost exactly what he himself would say, in the quiet between the two of them. Especially about Russel. Cardin had never known anyone with a bigger heart. That was one of a hundred different things he loved about Russel. His hands came up to cover Russel’s. “Fate knew we could love multiple people.”
“Exactly.” Russel smiled and kissed him. After they parted, Cardin gently pushed him away.
“Worry and being poetic, you’re taking my jobs today,” Cardin said and crossed his arms. Russel grinned at him.
“I guess this means you have to smile more, then,” Russel said.
Cardin rolled his eyes. “I smile plenty.” Russel took his cheeks again and pushed them upward into a faux smile until the faux faded to real at Russel’s ridiculousness. His soulmate- one of his soulmates? first soulmate? - always had a desire to make everyone happy. Something that seemed to go double for him. He wondered how much a third soulmate would change that.
Not much, turns out. Which Cardin really should have expected. Looking at Russel now, Cardin felt bad for ever doubting Russel. Because Russel was right, despite what his brain wanted to say, they really did work well in a group.
And Fate just seemed to want to keep that going.
Now, if he wanted to, Cardin could deny that Sage Ayana made his mouth go dry. But as stated, that’d be a denial. Sage was tall and seemed to be built like a tree and had neck tattoos and Cardin felt his chest stop and go hot just seeing him, like he was some protagonist in a cheesy romance novel. It was a purely aesthetic attraction, really. Though the way his heart seemed to want to stutter the longer they got to know team SSSN and the longer golden eyes looked at him was scarily reminiscent of the effect Russel had always had on him and Sky had long begun to have. When Cardin saw him use his semblance, it seemed fitting. He’d have to tell Russel their little group got larger.
From the way Russel brightened, he didn’t seem to mind.
Somehow, Cardin managed to find the next one as well. Dove Bronzewing. Somehow it only seemed appropriate their team was seemingly fated to be together. Though Cardin wasn’t sure about the strategic advantage of having a team built up of the same semblance. Dove seemed convinced they could use it, though. And Cardin found he believed him.
Russel did as well. Which Cardin wanted to say was a good sign. But he knew it wasn’t. Ever since they were kids, he saw the good in everybody even to his own endangerment. So Cardin had to make sure he was more wary in his views of those around him. He wasn’t sure if it was the soulmate thing or not, but as he said, he found himself trusting Dove even despite the boy’s prickly nature.
Scarlet David was next, discovered by Russel. Cardin began to wonder what they would do for a bed. Or beds. Multiple would be better- there were some nights he felt sure Russel would feel more comfortable alone. Though the idiot refused to say anything. Too kind for his own good. That was one reason he liked Scarlet. The boy was stubborn and confident in a way even Sky wasn’t. He was good for Russel, even when Cardin worried about his influence on him— because not only was Scarlet confident, he was chaotic in a way that matched Russel perfectly. Something that was beautiful yet terrifying nonetheless.
During a training exercise Russel found Sun Wukong. The boy saved him from what would’ve been a nasty wound by rewinding time a few seconds to provide him with enough to move out of the way. Whether or not the grimm almost got him because he wasn’t paying attention, he wouldn’t answer. (Which was an answer in itself.) Either way, Cardin was eternally grateful to Sun for saving Russel. He was incredibly kind and bright like Russel. But he also had the foulest mouth Cardin had ever heard (and that was saying something) and was a spitfire- though not as much as Scarlet was. Nobody could out spitfire Scarlet. (It was probably a safety measure for the world.)
They figured out Neptune Vasilias together. One semblance tying two complete teams together. Somehow, Cardin knew they were done now. And Russel agreed with the feeling. The boy was quiet and a serial flirt. Especially after the soulmate realization. Cardin personally had been flirted with multiple times and winked at more times then he could count- his face heating treacherously with each. It was unfair that the others didn’t seem particularly prone to blushing except on the rarest occasions.
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
photoqueen: do you guys want to see something?
We’re_Soar’n: Velvet no
photoqueen: velvet yes
photoqueen:so?
Official_TeamMom: I already don’t trust this.
photoqueen: how dare. this is the thanks i get for being your loving older sister?
Official_TeamMom: I definitely don’t trust this. Don’t say yes.
We’re_Flying’n: now im curious
There’s_NotAStar: me too
BLACKMAIL PICTURES ‘JUST INCASE’
Dove, photoqueen
Dove: Velvet Scarlatina don’t you dare
Dove: You know they’re not supposed to see these
Dove: This is a breach of contract
photoqueen: you know i never sign anything baby boy
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
We’re_Soar’n: You’re dead to me
photoqueen: such sweet words
photoqueen:[weissiconicclass.jpg]
winterhatsunemiku: EXCUSE ME?!
We’re_Soar’n: I’m disappointed in you
We’re_Flying’n:…
hereforthememeories: how do you even have that?
winterhatsunemiku:Howdare you have that, you’re not even in our class!
winterhatsunemiku: And what I do while we wait for Professor Peach is my own business
There’s_NotAStar: i don’t think we want to know how
Official_TeamMom: Definitely not.
photoqueen: i see all
photoqueen: i know all
photoqueen: you fuckers cant hide shit
We’re_Flying’n: oh fuck
We’re_Flying’n has changed ‘photoqueen’ to ‘psychoqueen’
psychoqueen: hahahahah
Official_TeamMom: You guys never listen to me.
hereforthememeories: we apologize for our transgressions mom
We’re_Flying’n: wait dove seemed to know about this too
We’re_Flying’n has changed We’re_Soar’n to Traitor
There’s_NotAStar: wait but the shared name T.T
We’re_Flying’n has changed Traitor to We’re_Soar’n
There’s_NotAStar: : D
We’re_Flying’n: youre lucky i love that movie
There’s_NotAStar: only the movie? :(
We’re_Flying’n:yes
There’s_NotAStar::(
There’s_NotAStar: but i didnt do anything
Official_TeamMom: I hate you all.
electricslide:Really?
Official_TeamMom: Amended: I hate all of you except Pens.
electricslide:｡^‿^｡
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
winterhatsunemiku : i can’t stand him
winterhatsunemiku : he’s like a music man
winterhatsunemiku : and i hate it and that’s coming from me
winterhatsunemiku : miss ‘won a singing award at eleven and hosted multiple concerts before escaping to beacon’
We’re_Flying’n: hes a what? (hes a what?)
Official_TeamMom: He’s a music man and he sells clarinets to the kids in the town with the big trombones
We’re_Flying’n: and the ratta tat drums
Official_TeamMom: And the big brass bass
hereforthememeories: WHAT just happened?
psychoqueen: cardin musical theatre real?
There’s_NotAStar: definitely not, car couldnt sing to save his life
Official_TeamMom: Which is why I do it.
There’s_NotAStar:no!!
psychoqueen:no!!
hereforthememeories: sooooo what happened?
winterhatsunemiku : jaune serenaded me to try to get me to go to the dance with him in the middle of the damn hallway! people saw!!
hereforthememeories:Oof
psychoqueen:f
We’re_Soar’n: If you finally ask out Pyrrha I bet he’d stop
hereforthememeories: we all know thats not gonna happen
winterhatsunemiku: Nora we both know you haven’t asked your crush to the dance yet either
hereforthememeories: rude but true
hereforthememeories: but if i did it will you do it?
winterhatsunemiku: You know what, sure. If you manage to do it, I’ll do it
hereforthememeories: @electricslide go to the dance with me? (edited)
electricslide:Me?
hereforthememeories: yeah. if that’s okay
electricslide: I’d love to, Nora!
hereforthememeories:yeeeeeeeeeees
hereforthememeories: well have the best time ill make sure of it penny!
electricslide: I know you will! I’m excited! o(^▽^)o
hereforthememeories: me too!!!
hereforthememeories: and now its your turn weiss
winterhatsunemiku: Fine. A deal is a deal
winterhatsunemiku: I am happy for you, Nora
hereforthememeories: i know
hereforthememeories: and im always here if you need strength!
electricslide: Me as well! ୧(๑•̀ㅁ•́๑)૭✧
winterhatsunemiku:…
winterhatsunemiku: Thank you, Nora, Penny
winterhatsunemiku:Genuinely
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
hereforthememeories: f in the chat for sky’s butterfingers
There’s_NotAStar:f
hereforthememeories:f
We’re_Soar'n’ : F
electricslide: Oh no, what did he do?
We’re_Flying’n: i didnt do anything!
hereforthememeories: cut his thumb on a knife
hereforthememeories: hes bleeding all over the counter now
Official_TeamMom:What?!
winterhatsunemiku: The summons
We’re_Flying’n: nora sprained her hand last week and never said anything about it and didnt go to the nurse!!
Official_TeamMom: Nora did WHAT?!?
hereforthememeories:BETRAYAL????
psychoqueen: sky prepare yourself he comin
hereforthememeories: oh lordy he comin
winterhatsunemiku: Aren’t you in the kitchens too?
hereforthememeories: ive moved to the corner
There’s_NotAStar: smart but also very very dumb
hereforthememeories:?
We’re_Soar'n’: You are much quicker to forget betrayal than I am
hereforthememeories: OH SHIT
hereforthememeories is offline
There’s_NotAStar: its been pretty quiet for a while now
psychoqueen: no it hasnt
psychoqueen: i can hear the scolding from here
electricslide: Are they okay?
winterhatsunemiku: Probably not
We’re_Flying’n: IVE ESCAPED
There’s_NotAStar: what happened??
electricslide: Is Nora okay?
We’re_Flying’n: wow yes thanks im fine
winterhatsunemiku: Don’t be rude
We’re_Flying’n: youre being rude by letting your lesbianism blind you to the true worry: me
winterhatsunemiku: EXCUSE ME?
We’re_Flying’n: also i dont think so
electricslide: ＼(º □ º l|l)/
We’re_Flying’n: he brought ren with him
psychoqueen:[youreindanger.jpeg]
We’re_Flying’n: why do you have such a specific one?
psychoqueen:cardin
There’s_NotAStar:cardin
winterhatsunemiku: You realize you’re just delaying your own scolding by running?
We’re_Flying’n: oh i made sure to smile and nod until he was done and turned on nora with ren
winterhatsunemiku: Of course
hereforthememeories: SKY YOU FUCK
hereforthememeories: YOU LEFT ME
hereforthememeories: COME BACK AND FACE YOUR PUNISHMENT
We’re_Flying’n: i did!
We’re_Flying’n: having to listen to him scold me for something dumb is punishment enough
psychoqueen:oooooo
We’re_Flying’n: which reminds me. i have to do something for our mom
We’re_Flying’n is offline
winterhatsunemiku:Hm
Official_TeamMom has added Ren to group chat
Official_TeamMom has named group chat to PARENTS
Ren: why’ve you created a group chat for us?
Official_TeamMom: What? I didn’t do anything.
Official_TeamMom:Wait.
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
Official_TeamMom:SKY!
We’re_Soar’n: What did you do?
hereforthememeories:sky
There’s_NotAStar:sky
psychoqueen:sky
electricslide:Sky.
hereforthememeories: @winterhatunemiku j o i n
winterhatsunemiku: What are we doing?
hereforthememeories: shaming sky
hereforthememeories: or summoning him back
winterhatsunemiku: … Alright
winterhatsunemiku:Sky
We’re_Flying’n: ive never done anything wrong ever in my life
Official_TeamMom:Bullshit
There’s_NotAScar: oh shit, hes cursed!
psychoqueen: hahaha were terrible influences
winterhatsunemiku: Yes you are
psychoqueen: you curse more than he does
winterhatsunemiku: Yes and I never did before I was put in a group with you rapscallions
winterhatsunemiku: Hence you are a terrible influence
hereforthememeories:rapscallions?
electricslide: It’s an archaic word that means mischievous!
hereforthememeories: thanks pens!
hereforthememeories: also thanks weiss!
winterhatsunemiku: It was not a compliment!
Official_TeamMom: She’s calling you villains and I’m inclined to agree
We’re_Flying’n: old woman weiss strikes again
We’re_Soar’n’: I’ll take it as one
PARENTS
Official_TeamMom, Ren
Official_TeamMom has renamed group chat to ONLY SENSIBLE ONES
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
winterhatsunemiku: You guys are terrible influences
There’s_NotAStar: whatd we do?
winterhatsunemiku: I cursed in front of team RWBY
winterhatsunemiku: I think Yang almost had a heart attack
We’re_Flying’n: doesnt yang curse?
winterhatsunemiku: Yes but apparently since I haven’t done it before and am an heiress it’s not expected of me
winterhatsunemiku: Which is fair, I’d never expected myself to use such uncouth language as well
winterhatsunemiku: Then I had to get tricked into being friends with youassholes
hereforthememeories: you love us
winterhatsunemiku: Unfortunately it would appear so
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
We’re_Flying’n: so weiss tongue is purple
hereforthememeories: why is her tongue purple?
winterhatsunemiku: Well Pyrrha and I had slushies
winterhatsunemiku: I had a red one
winterhatsunemiku: And Pyrrha had a blue one
hereforthememeories:…
hereforthememeories:OH
electricslide: You drank each other’s slushies?
hereforthememeories: oh honey no
electricslide:No?
electricslide: How else would Weiss’ tongue become purple if they didn’t share?
We’re_Flying’n: oh they shared alright
hereforthememeories has changed electricslide to confused_quarter
We’re_Flying’n: win wink nudge nudge
winterhatsunemiku: Sky I’m not sure I appreciate those… Whatever they are
winterhatsunemiku: Implications, I suppose
We’re_Flying’n: oh you made all the implications yourself
We’re_Flying’n: im just drawing light to them
confused_quarter: I don’t understand
hereforthememeories: pyrrha and weiss drank slushies then made out
confused_quarter:Huh
confused_quarter: Oh! I see
confused_quarter: Congratulations, Weiss!
winterhatsunemiku: Thank you Penny
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, hereforthememeories, and 4 others
We’re_Flying’n:@Official_TeamMomslut
Official_TeamMom:W
Official_TeamMom: What did you just call me?
We’re_Flying’n: oh im sorry you must notve heard me
We’re_Flying’n: S L U T
winterhatsunemiku: Don’t call your team leader that
psychoqueen: yeah dont call your mom that
Official_TeamMom: Thank you!
Official_TeamMom:Velvet.
psychoqueen:cardin
Official_TeamMom: How many times do I have to say: I’m not their mom!
psychoqueen: bold words for someone with that username
Official_TeamMom: Anytime I try to change it it ‘mysteriously’ turns back!
We’re_Flying’n: haha bet
confused_quarter: You’re not?
Official_TeamMom:Uh
We’re_Flying’n: uh oh
Official_TeamMom: Copper and Valkyrie get a pass
hereforthememeories: haha im a chosen!
hereforthememeories changed name to kidone
confused_quarter:｡^‿^｡
psychoqueen: i feel like a kid is missing
winterhatsunemiku: I give my permission
Official_TeamMom: And Schnee.
winterhatsunemiku: So why’d you call him that?
We’re_Soar’n: We passed Jaune in the hallway
winterhatsunemiku:And?
We’re_Soar’n:…
There’s_NotAStar: how long have you been a part of this group?
winterhatsunemiku: A little less time than Nora but I don’t know what that has to do with my question
Official_TeamMom: Nothing and there’s no question.
kidone: ABD YOU HAVENT BOTICED???
winterhatsunemiku: Nora that looks atrocious
winterhatsunemiku: And apparently not
kidone: geez i thought penny was bad with pyrrha and you
Official_TeamMom: You and Pyrrha
winterhatsunemiku: What’s that supposed to mean?!
kidone has changed winterhatsunemiku to confused_snowflake
confused_snowflake: Excuse me??
We’re_Soar'n’: You’re excused, heiress
psychoqueen: cardins liked jaune since he saved his ass in forever fall
There’s_NotAStar: sorry but thats wrong
There’s_NotAStar: cardins liked jaune since teams were made
Official_TeamMom: You’re all dead to me
psychoqueen:all?
Official_TeamMom: Correction: You’re all dead to me except Valkyrie and Copper
We’re_Flying’n:whipped
There’s_NotAStar: blatant favouritism
confused_snowflake: You have a crush on that imbecile?
psychoqueen:yup
confused_snowflake:Why?
Official_TeamMom: I don’t know! Just drop it!
psychoqueen: ‘don’t know?m
psychoqueen: he’s so bright he outshines the stars on the darkest night
There’s_NotAStar: his eyes are like the ocean on a cloudless sunny day
We’re_Soar'n’: They change shades, too, with his emotions. Did you see the other day, while training? The blue darkened like a thunderstorm and lightning zinged through them whenever he did something right
We’re_Flying’n: outside, when the sun hits it, his hair shines like a halo formed around him
There’s_NotAStar: and have you heard him sing? its like the god apollo blessed his very voice
confused_snowflake:…
confused_snowflake: What was I just forced to read?
Official_TeamMom:Nothing!!
psychoqueen: a portion of what weve been forced to listen to for the past year
kidone: this is great
kidone: im saving all of this
kidone: it is screenshotted now
Official_TeamMom: I change my mind I hate all of you
Official_TeamMom: Except Copper
Official_TeamMom is offline
psychoqueen: running from it doesn’t change it
There’s_NotAStar: nora how did you know if youve never heard any of that?
We’re_Flying’n: and how did you escape hearing it? asking for a friend. the friend is me
kidone: oh ive just seen the way he moons at jaune when jaunes not looking
kidone: its probably cause jaunes my team leader
We’re_Flying’n: is jaune taking in any new team members?
kidone: i dont think thats allowed
kidone: plus jaune looks at him like that too so im not sure its much better
We’re_Flying’n: as long as he doesnt wax poetic i dont care
There’s_NotAStar: wait jaune looks at him too???
kidone: love works in mysterious ways
We’re_Soar'n’: Has been for a few months
There’s_NotAStar: dove!! youve noticed??
We’re_Soar'n’: Hard not to
There’s_NotAStar: and youve never mentioned it??
We’re_Soar'n’: Don’t care enough to
There’s_NotAStar: >: (
confused_snowflake: Surely you all must be exaggerating
psychoqueen: not as much as youd hope
We’re_Flying’n: pray you never have to hear it
There’s_NotAStar: hes not.. thatbad
There’s_NotAStar: and its nice to hear him talk
confused_snowflake:?
There’s_NotAStar: there were a few years he didnt
There’s_NotAStar: he was completely mute when we met
psychoqueen: fuck, sometimes i forget about that
psychoqueen: like hes naturally more quiet then us. but he still talks even if its just to tell us not to do something stupid
There’s_NotAStar:yeah
There’s_NotAStar:@Official_TeamMom come baaaaaack were sorry
psychoqueen:yeah
There’s_NotAStar: or atleast some of us are
kidone:mooooooom
Official_TeamMom: It’s fine, guys.
Official_TeamMom: I’ll try to be less annoying.
There’s_NotAStar:car
kidone:mom
confused_snowflake:mom
confused_quarter:mom
psychoqueen:car
There’s_NotAStar: dont worry about it youre not annoying
psychoqueen: and even when you are it’s not like were much better
psychoqueen: we’re a family. we’re annoying together
Official_TeamMom: How can you guys be so reassuring and exhausting at the same time?
psychoqueen: our special talent
Official_TeamMom:Yeah.
Official_TeamMom: … thank you.
There’s_NotAStar: of course! <3
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, kidone, and 4 others
Official_TeamMom: I am so done today (edited)
We’re_Flying’n:boner
psychoqueen:boner
kidone:boner
confused_snowflake:Boner
We’re_Soar’n:Boner
There’s_NotAStar:boner
confused_quarter: What are you doing?
Official_TeamMom: Annoying me
kidone: making fun of moms typo
Official_TeamMom: Other people in this chat make typos too and you never mock them! Why is it always only me?
We’re_Flying’n: other people arent the mom
psychoqueen: it’s how we show are love
psychoqueen:*our
Official_TeamMom:Are
We’re_Soar’n:Nope
We’re_Soar’n: Not the same
There’s_NotAStar: not the same
There’s_NotAStar:jinx
We’re_Flying’n has renamed group chat to boner
Official_TeamMom: I hate you all
confused_snowflake: Yang’s done this to me before
confused_snowflake: She’s right, it isfun!
confused_quarter:Hm
confused_quarter:Boner
There’s_NotAStar: thats the spirit pens!
confused_quarter: (* ^ ω ^)
—-
boner
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, kidone, and 4 others
Official_TeamMom: Fine, that’s it, im the mom?
Official_TeamMom: Then the ones in my class, you’re in time out
kidone: GET ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE GET UP THERE
We’re_Flying’n: THIS HOUSE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE
psychoqueen:?
psychoqueen: what happened?
confused_snowflake: One of us got Cardin in trouble during class
We’re_Flying’n: ‘one of us’. i saw you shoot a rubber band too miss ‘im so much more mature than you’
confused_snowflake:Iwasn’t the one who got our matriarch in trouble
We’re_Flying’n: youre still included in the time out
There’s_NotAStar: that was me
There’s_NotAStar: sorry about that
Official_TeamMom: Was it? Or are you just saying that so everyone else won’t get in trouble?
We’re_Flying’n: i did!!
Official_TeamMom: You didn’t hit the teacher
We’re_Flying’n: hoe do you know?!
Official_TeamMom: It doesn’t really matter, anyway. None of you should’ve been shooting rubber bands during class
Official_TeamMom: Which one of you idiots even started it?
confused_snowflake:Rude
Official_TeamMom: Actually nevermind, I’m pretty sure I know
Official_TeamMom:Sky.
We’re_Flying’n: why are you pointing fingers at me asshole?!
Official_TeamMom: Because it’s usually you
We’re_Flying’n: ey fuck you!
We’re_Flying’n: its true
We’re_Flying’n: but fuck you!
We’re_Flying’n: and it wasnt me this time
kidone: it was me
Official_TeamMom:Nora
kidone: wait no plaese dont say it
Official_TeamMom: Say what?
kidone: that your disappointed in me
Official_TeamMom: I won’t?
Official_TeamMom: Nora, there are very few things you could do that would disappoint me
kidone: there are?
Official_TeamMom:Yeah
Official_TeamMom: I might be disappointed if you stabbed someone
Official_TeamMom: Especially during class and more if you didn’t stab them properly
kidone:oh
kidone:okay
Official_TeamMom: You good, Nora?
kidone: yeah im good
kidone:genuinely
Official_TeamMom:Good
kidone:good
We’re_Flying’n: does this mean we get out of the timeout?
Official_TeamMom: Absolutely not
We’re_Flying’n:damn
—-
CHAOS FAMILY
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, kidone, and 4 others
There’s_NotAStar : okay who keeps stealing my cheetos?
There’s_NotAStar: because im usually willing to share but its jusy mean at this point :(
kidone: you had cheetos???
There’s_NotAStar:idid
There’s_NotAStar: a whole brand new bag too
We’re_Flying’n: someone please fess up
We’re_Flying’n: hes pouting and not even kissing is saving it now
confused_snowflake: That’s worrying
We’re_Soar’n: Not really, it’s more worrying when it doesn’t work on Sky
We’re_Flying’n: its still worrying!
We’re_Soar’n:True
There’s_NotAStar: a whole bag
There’s_NotAStar:just
There’s_NotAStar:gone
There’s_NotAStar:woosh
psychoqueen:fuck, i forgot to ask
Official_TeamMom: Smooth, Scarlatina
psychoqueen: dont ‘scarlatina’ me asshole, you were part of this
There’s_NotAStar:betrayed?
There’s_NotAStar: by my own siblings?
psychoqueen: im sorry russ, we’ll buy you more
psychoqueen:right, cardin?
Official_TeamMom:Yeah
Official_TeamMom: We’ll buy you a bag of those spicy ones you like along with the regular
There’s_NotAStar: thank you!!
—-
boner
We’re_Flying’n, We’re_Soar’n, There’s_NotAStar, kidone, and 4 others
kidone has renamed group chat to CLOWN BRIGADE
psychoqueen: not that i dont agree
psychoqueen: but why?
kidone : well i was trying to figure out what out team name would be
kidone:andobviously mom has to be the leader
kidone: because mom
confused_snowflake:Obviously
kidone: so iwrhought itd be easiest to put crdl fiest
kidone: so crdlpwns
kidone: but autocorrect wanted to change it to clowns and i thought it was fitting!
Yang:*Stretches arms above head, draws classmates attention* So…anybody know why tall, blonde and goofy looks so chill up there?
Pyrrha:*Crosses arms* I’m…uncertain. Jaune was quite instrumental in our takedown of the Grimm at initiation and I have no doubt he’ll impress us here as well, but…well perhaps–
Weiss:*Scoffs* Well if he ‘flirts’ *sarcastic airquotes* as well as he does fight then at least we won’t have to wait long for that Winchester oaf to end this.
Pyrrha:*Glares but says nothing*
Ruby: I-I don’t really wanna agree with Weiss on this one, but she might be right. Jaune doesn’t even carry a weapon.
*Weiss throws up her hands and scowls*
Pyrrha:*Trying to defend Jaune* Even still, Jaune showed a good grasp of group tactics. *Uncertain* Maybe he fights differently than us?
Yang:*Immediately bored* Oh yay. So he’s gonna talk his way to a win.
Blake:*Eyes on the stage as Glynda explains*Thereismore than one way to win a battle, Yang. And to be fair, he doesn’t look like he’s even remotely worried. *Eyes narrow* He almost looks bored. *To Nora and Ren* Did you two see how he fought in initiation?
Nora:*Grins* Nope! Way too busy crushing Grimm into paste and flyin’ around!
Weiss:*Looking really grouchy* Lovely. How interesting–
Ren:*Quietly* He’s fast.
Weiss:*Snaps at him* What?
Ren:Jaune. He was fast. Not as fast as Ruby but when the Deathstalker tried to get him with its stinger, Jaune only saw it about two seconds before it would have killed him and he dodged it and directed Pyrrha towards the stinger. *Looks back at the stage* The reflexes, reaction time and speed to pull that off is a bit unnerving, even for a future Huntsman, but it also suggests Jaune knows how to fight.
*The two teams are now quiet, even Weiss who is now actually looking at Jaune*
Cardin:*Sneers* Don’t worry too much, Jauney boy. I can’t make this painless but it’ll definitely be quick. *RDL laughs nearby*
Jaune:*Says nothing, just stands there in his jeans and his bunny hoodie with a long sleeved orange shirt beneath it and white surgical gloves covering his hands, a white surgical mask over his face*
Glynda: –with that said, are there any questions from our combatants?
Jaune:*When Cardin remains silent* Is this an assessment of our skill or a display?
Glynda:*A bit taken aback at the blunt tone* Excuse me?
Jaune:*Sighs tiredly, puts dull blue eyes on Glynda* This fight.
Glynda:*Perturbed* Both, Mr. Arc. But we do not expect to see the full scope of your capabilities as a Huntsman in just one fight, if that’s what you’re asking.
Jaune:*Just looks back at Cardin, removes his right glove and holds it it in his other hand*
Glynda:If that is all *steps back* then begin!
Cardin:*Shoots forward*Don’t worry, bunny boy, I’m sure next fight you’ll get to show off all that 'skill’ of yours!
*Despite being only a foot away and about to bring his mace down, Cardin isn’t fast enough*
Jaune:*Inside only a second or two, Jaune crouches down and moves forward in the same instant and places two fingers on Cardin’s neck*
Cardin:The fuck was tha–GGGKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! *Trails off into a scream as his flesh seems to suddenly grow large goosebumps, which rapidly become large bubbles*
*Shocked screams from the audience*
Cardin:*Explodes into a massive shower of gore, his upper half missing and leaving only his legs*
Glynda: *So shocked that she just stares in horror as the students start panicking*
Random Student: Oh gods, h-he killedhim!
Random Student #2: Somebody call the headmaster, no the police!
Jaune:*Deeply irritated* Calm down. *People gape and Jaune sighs, leans forward and touches Cardin’s blood*
*Instead of frantic screams of terror, disgust and anger there is now dead silence as Cardin brutally reforms and gasps, pales and falls on his ass, crabwalking backwards and beginning to hyperventilate while staring at Jaune*
Jaune:*Melancholy*Still so disgusting. *Puts on glove, to Glynda* That’s my win. *Walks off*
Cardin:*Scampers closer to Glynda who’s staring at her scroll and then at Cardin, Cardin is suddenly almost polite* T-the hell was that, Arc?
Jaune:*Shoulders slumped* My semblance. It’s matter manipulation. Anything I touch I can disassemble or reassemble into anything I want. If I want to destroy, I destroy. If I want to create, I create. If I want to reshape matter into something else, the sky’s the limit. *Stops before a pale Pyrrha, a solemn looking Ren with widened eyes and a fidgeting, nervous Nora* Or if I want to revive the dead, I revive the dead. *Shrugs* Family was attacked when I was young. I was hurt. Mother unlocked my aura just in time for me to see some White Fang asshole pulp her skull with his mace. When you’re 6 years old and just watched your mother die, the only thing your soul wants is to save her.
*Blake shifts uneasily, looking away while Yang has an arm around a stunned, terrified Ruby’s shoulders with a complicated look on her face and Weiss can’t stop staring at the boy she dismissed, a hand over her mouth since she was close to vomiting*
Jaune:*Sighs again* Do whatever you want with that information. It makes no difference to me. I’m used to Overhaul.
Weiss:*Shakily*O-Overhaul?
Jaune:*Slouches into a seat* My semblance. It’s called Overhaul.
——————————————————————————
One final post for the day. I like the idea of different semblances and the impact they would have on a character. For those unaware, this is a quirk from My Hero Academia called Overhaul, used by a character of the same name.
I’m well aware it doesn’t really work as a semblance since semblances don’t really work the same way as quirks; but this is just for fun.
And in this case, I think if Jaune hadOverhaul as his semblance, his behavior makes sense. This would be a Jaune who’s seen his mother die at a young age, revived her and then since his semblance is tied to his soul and his emotions can effect that (Yang getting angry and activating Burn), he’s probably accidentally killed a lot of people, possibly including his family (hence the gloves). So he’s just kind of depressed, a bit done with everything, has never really faced any challenges and is a little bit adverse to the messes he makes (I can’t imagine getting blood in your mouth being a pleasant experience).
He’s no Overhaul, but he’s not a fan of the germs. He’s also flippant, cold and aloof not to mention big with the reflexes/RT/speed and would be hard to get along with, I think, even if he’s the same lovable goof he is in canon beneath layers of trauma.
I could picture either either Nora or Ruby really being the one to help Jaune the most, although I think Yang could be a good enough of a friend after a time to do the same.
Jaune was let into Beacon not because he was the strongest, the fastest, the most skilled, or talented, no it was because he fulfilled a certain niche, that was annoyingly empty.
To keep the other students in check, without them ever noticing, in other words a glorified baby-sitter.
—
How to deal with Red-heads
—
Jaune: Alright this ought to keep them busy.
He looks at the skeet-shooter he had assembled on the roof, then turned it on, sending a clay plate flying into the air.
Instantly Pyrrha rolled out onto to the roof in a crouch and shot the disk.
Pyrrha: What? What just happened.
Jaune nods: Good it’s working as intended.
He press a remote that cause’s several hard-light targets to spring up on the roof moving back and forth.
May Zedong and Ruby appear on the roof top and line up shots on the target.
May: Huh, how’d I get up here?
Ruby: Dang it! He did it again!
Jaune smiles and drops a box of ammo nexts to Pyrrha, and bows to the girls on the roof.
Jaune: I’ve left you some ammo up there, have a good afternoon.
Jaune exits to the stair to see Nora holding several boxes of grenades.
Nora: Oh, hey Jaune! Don’t try and stop me, I have a whole afternoon of fun ahead of me.
Jaune nods his head and reaches behind himself, bringing out a paddle ball: If you can reach one hundred with out breaking it, I’ll make all the pancakes you can eat.
Nora drops the explosives: Really?!
Jaune nods: Yep. *Tosses the paddle over* There you go.
Nora catches the paddle excitedly: One two three *Crack* Ah I broke it!
Jaune: Don’t worry about it. *Pulls another paddle out* Here you go.
Nora: Nice! One two *Crack* AHHH!
Jaune slides a box of paddles over: Don’t get mad, there’s plenty.
Nora: Thanks Jaune-Jaune!
Jaune smiles, and casually takes the grenades: Anytime.
Then walks away to hide the explosives.
Where he meets Penny.
Penny: Salutation!
Jaune: Hi Penny.
Penny looks around curiously: Aren’t you going to distract me?
Jaune: Nope. *Pats her head* You’re perfect.
Penny blushes and eye’s turn into heart before turning into error sigh: What is Love? What is Love? What is Love?
Jaune cracks his back and walks away: And that should free up my afternoon.
You forgot one
Cardin: “What are you doing Jauney boy?”
Jaune: *Signing out a delivery form for a very large package* “Its a new weight machine that goes up to sixty tons.”
Cardin: *Salivating* “I-is it for anyone to use?”
Jaune:“Yup but there’s a sign out sheet to make sure everyone can use it. Everyone gets an hour with it at a time. Have fun.”
