Arriving home from missions was something Jaune had long hated. Not because with his mission over he felt useless (although that was part of it), but because Ren and Nora had a habit of fussing over him, worried over the injuries he had undoubtedly acquired during his mission. Once when he had tried to arrive home in the middle of night, he had found Ren waiting for him with a pile of empty energy drink cans beside him. And on the times he came home while Ren and Nora were on a mission, Velvet or Yatsuhashi had made a point to check on him. It was a ritual he wasn't fond of, but it was one he was used to, and one he knew was needed. The fact that he frequently returned home covered in injuries, and that there was a high risk that the damage was worse than he thought, made it necessary.

Today was no exception. Nora accosted him almost as soon as he walked through the flat's front door, demanding that he show them the damage done this time, while Ren said "At least you're breathing normally." There had been several times Jaune had arrived back at the flat struggling for breath, though he had learned to go to the hospital first in those cases.

Ruby observed it all from the hallway, unsure of her place in this. During the war she had been one of the ones to force Jaune to the medical tents. But now she was unsure of where she fit in, until Nora told her that "If you're going to live with him, this is something you are going to have to do. Make sure he isn't hurt worse than he acts."

"I'm fine." Jaune said as he pulled off his pack. "It hurts, but I'm breathing. I took a hit to the side from an overgrown Ursa, and I landed funny but nothing is broken, it's just a bit of bruising. I'm fine. Everything feels fine inside too." Jaune hoped his teammates would leave it at that.

"Really." Nora said as she narrowed her eyes. He had lied about injuries before, believing that if he could heal nearly instantly it didn't matter. It did of course, wounds could become infected regardless of how fast they healed. "Prove that it's just bruising."

"Fine! I need to get all of this armour off and I'll show you." Jaune replied while fiddling with the straps of his breastplate. Despite having mastered using his aura as a shield, Jaune had never abandoned more traditional forms or armor, in part because they afforded his chest better protection, and in part because he found the familiar weight comforting.

It was an odd sight for Ruby, watching as Jaune's team fussed over him while leading him to the lounge. She was used to seeing it be the other way around during the war. Jaune incessantly worrying over Nora and Ren, making sure they were safe and that they were getting correct medical attention. During the war he had been less worried about himself, his immense aura always healed most injuries in a few days to a fortnight, compared to the weeks or months some others faced. For him medical attention had meant little more than having bones set correctly. Yang had once joked that Jaune was a starfish, and that if she cut off one of his limbs it would probably grow back in time. It wasn't until the aftermath of the final battle that Jaune had been faced with the reality that there were some injuries that even his Aura couldn't heal, though it was part of the reason he survived. His aura hadn't been fully depleted when he was hurt, but Salem's attacks had been able to cut through it with ease.

"Hey Ruby can you get the first aid kit?" Ren asked her from where he sat next to Jaune on the couch, carefully pulling gauze off of his left arm. "I think we might need it this time."

"We need it every time!" Nora interjected glaring at Jaune. "Because he seems to think he is invincible."

"Where is it?" Ruby asked, ignoring Nora's furious ranting.

"Under the sink." Nora replied. "Gods Jaune this isn't just a bit of bruising. What the hell happened to your arm?"

"Gravel rash. I slid when I landed on it." Jaune said. "I was attacked by an Ursa while I slept."

"You took half the skin off your arm!" Nora hissed as she poked at one of his bruises. "This is not fine!"

Jaune sighed while he looked at his arm. "It'll be gone in a few more days, it probably won't even scar. I'm fine."

"I found the first aid kit . . ." Ruby's voice trailed off as she re-entered the lounge.

"It's a bit of a sight ae?" Jaune said as he noticed Ruby staring at the mess of scars that covered his chest and arms. Three puncture wounds in his left bicep and thick ropy burn scaring up his right arm both from fighting Cinder. Three long parallel scars that wrapped from his left rib cage around his right side gained fighting Nevermore after the war, the injury that had made his team try to bring him back to Vale more permanently. And the mess of scars, some surgical, some not, that covered his chest from his collarbone to the bottom of his rib cage. Ruby hadn't seen him without a shirt since before the war ended. "It's why I keep it covered up all the time. It's gruesome, and I hate the stares. Though I guess you get some of that." He gestured to the way Ruby's hair hung over her eye patch.

"Yeah well, not as bad as you would but a bit." Ruby tugged at the hair covering the eye. She had her own scars too, they all did, it was part of the lives they chose. But Jaune, his scars were something else, something worse than most huntsmen would ever have. "Here Ren."

"Thank you." said Ren as he rifled through the first aid kit looking for anti-sceptic. "How does the bruising look Nora?"

"Not too bad actually." Nora replied as she poked at the dark bruising that stretched from Jaune's rib cage to the waistband of his jeans, ignoring his hisses of complaint. "It's turning yellow around the edges, and he's not screaming when I do this," She pressed on Jaune's ribcage. "So no breaks, and probably no internal damage."

"See, I told you that I'm fine!" Jaune complained as he pulled away from Nora. "Don't poke me again it does hurt you know! Can I go to bed now? I'm tired, I didn't sleep much last night."

"Let me just treat this." Said Ren as he unscrewed the anti-sceptic. "Nora, hold him still."

"Oh gods not that shit." Jaune had spotted the bottle Ren was holding. "When have I ever gotten an infection from a wound?"

"Not recently because we treat them with this." Ren answered. "It's not that bad, you're just being a big baby."

"It burns worse than fire you asshole and you know it!" Jaune hissed through clenched teeth as Ren started dabbing as the gravel rash with a cotton swab.

"What is it?" Ruby asked as she picked up the bottle. "Tea tree oil? Oh come on it can't be that bad, it's only 15%."

"Actually the lower percentages sting more." Nora said as she clamped her hands on Jaune's shoulders keeping him in place. "And that stuff has some other treatment that Ren and I were taught to use back when we were kids mixed in, I can't remember what it is exactly."

"It's a dust compound." Ren said.

"Yeah that." Nora's cheerful voice stood out in sharp contrast to Jaune's scowling.

"Are you done yet?" Jaune asked Ren, ignoring the other conversation.

"I'm just about to re-bandage it." Ren said, reaching for the bandages. "I think there is some leftovers in the fridge-"

"Nora ate them." Ruby interrupted.

"I can make you something to eat if you are hungry." Ren tried again.

"I ate on the Airship." Jaune said as he stood up and pulled on his shirt. "I just really want to rest right now. I promise that if I star coughing up blood I'll get one of you to take me to the hospital."

For Jaune resting generally meant getting some goddamn peace and quiet so he could check his messages or do some other mind-numbing activity, and relax. So here he was, lying on his bed, shoes still on (he could hear his mother yelling at him in the back of his mind), and playing a simply designed but stupidly difficult scroll game.

"So how was the mission really?"

Jaune looked up from his scroll to see Ruby standing by his door, arms crossed and smiling slightly.

"That part kinda got skipped in all the drama about your arm." She continued. "So how was it?"

"I spent 5 days fighting ursai in a swamp. What do you expect?" Jaune smiled. "There was nobody constantly worried about if I was looking after myself. It was peaceful."

"They only worry because you get hurt all the time. I mean seriously, I've watched you cook before, you nearly sliced your thumb off." Ruby said. "I'm being serious. How was the mission?"

"It was good. I got less hurt than usual I guess, which is nice." Jaune said while scratching at his stubble. "Got a few chances for a shower, but no time for shaving obviously."

"At least you didn't try using Crocea Mors to shave again." Ruby said as she remembered the time shortly after leaving Beacon when he had. Blood had been shed the day he shaved with Crocea Mors, and Jaune had resigned himself to being permanently stubbly or bearded when too far from civilisation. Not that anyone minded too much.

"You can't flirt with death too much, otherwise she starts to think you want something a bit more serious." Jaune joked.

"How is that sword anyway?" Ruby asked as she gravitated towards the stand it rested in.

"It's fine, no breaks, and it's barely dulled." Jaune said. "Because unlike some people I don't stick my blade in the ground at every opportunity."

"I only do it when I need to." Ruby defended herself. "It's part of how I fight."

"Or when you want to look like a badass." Jaune teased "I'm kidding, how did looking at apartments go?"

"Actually pretty good."

"Oh?"

"There were a lot of places that I liked the look of, and that were keen even though we're both hunters." Ruby said. "I compiled a list of the top five, and while with the Real estate agents I took the liberty of organising another visit to them, for the day after tomorrow. There is this one I really like, it's in a district mostly populated by hunters, and the Apartment itself is located over a gym, so that is helpful as fuck. And there are supermarkets, parks and fast food places all within walking distance."

"That description is missing a huge but I think."

"But it's unfurnished." Ruby took a deep breath. "And it has shag pile in one of the bedrooms. Only like part of the room though. I'll take that one."

"If we sign on to that apartment." Jaune said. "I mean other than that it does sound ideal."

"And it's currently empty." Ruby said. "The real estate agent seemed to like me, she said she would hold off letting anyone else sign until I gave her an answer."

"That sounds promising. Did you take any photos while there?" Jaune patted the space on the bed beside him. "Come sit down, it's awkward speaking to you with you standing up."

"It's actually pretty nice inside the apartment. The ceilings are high, but you're tall enough to change lightbulbs." Ruby said as she sat on the bed. "The kitchen has lino that looks like stone though."

"Is it that bad?"

"Jaune, it's almost a deal breaker for me." Ruby deadpanned. "Okay well maybe not that bad, but it's horribly cartoonish."

"Let me see?"

Ruby waved him off as she thumbed through the picture album on her phone, scrolling past endless selfies taken with Nora when she had declared they were having a wine night and Ren could go busy himself elsewhere. "This is it." She shoved the screen in his face.

"That - that's pretty bad." Jaune said as he looked at the photo. "But we could rip it out and put in new lino maybe?"

"When? I like to relax when I'm not out defending the kingdoms." Ruby said. "You're okay with taking a few extra weeks off before your next mission right? To get settled in."

"That I am." Jaune said. "I'll stick around until you get your stuff from Weiss's place. How is that going by the way?"

"Nora and I are going to do it once I'm in the new place and have some furniture. I bought flat pack bed yesterday."

"I'm not helping you assemble that." Jaune said.

"I'm bi, isn't the stereotype that we can build shit?" Ruby joked. "Dude If I can field strip Crescent Rose blind, I can build flat pack furniture."

"Good because I am fairly certain I would fuck it up." Jaune said pointing across the room. "You see that bookcase? I assembled it."

Ruby tilted her head while examining the bookcase in question, the sides were at uneven angles and the shelves were slanted, a few nails sticking out of it as well. The whole thing looked like it might collapse at any moment. "I mean it's - I'm sorry, I can't even fake it. How did you fuck up that badly?"

"Ren thinks I went wrong when I used nails instead of the provided screws." Jaune said. "Nora thinks I just can't follow instructions."

"I think it's the following instructions bit, given that using the screws provided is part of the instructions." Ruby said as she stood up to get a closer look at the bookshelf. "It's almost a masterpiece really. Like modern art or some shit."

"Why thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment." Ruby turned back to Jaune. "New flat rule though."

"We haven't even moved into a place yet but yeah what is it?"

"I build all the furniture."

"Fair enough." Jaune said looking back at his phone. "What about the other apartments you looked at?"

"There is one on Grange-"

"I'm not living on Grange." Jaune cut her off. "Too goddamn loud."

"Okay then." Ruby said. "And there are two places that are part of a complex near the agricultural district."

"Did it smell too much like the agricultural district when you were there?" Jaune asked.

"No actually." Ruby said. "They were nice inside, but a little on the small side. Good area though."

"Uh huh."

"You okay?" Ruby asked Jaune.

"Just more tired than I thought." Jaune said before yawning loudly. "I think I'm going to go to sleep."

"Night then." Ruby said as she left the room, switching off the light as she did.

"Ah it is so good to actually have a real bed again." Ruby said as she sprawled herself over the mattress. She and Jaune were almost finished moving in, having eventually decided on the apartment above the gym. True to her word she had taken the room with the shag pile carmer covering half the floor.

"Yes, it's very impressive that you built that, now could you help me get the rest of the flat packs upstairs?" Jaune complained as he pushed his own mattress past Ruby's room, thankful that he hadn't had to disassemble his bedframe too much to get it into the apartment. "Or build some more stuff?"

"You could try to build things too, the instructions are deliberately easy to follow." Ruby stood up, adjusting her tool belt on her hips as she did so. "What needs built next?"

"I dunno, the kitchen table and chairs?" Jaune said. "Sorry, mattresses are just really unwieldy, especially when bringing them up stairs."

"How about we just get everything inside for today and then call it quits?" Ruby plopped back down on her bed and pulled out her scroll. "It's 5:30 and I'm hungry."

"What are we going to eat?" Jaune asked. "I'm not pulling out fresh clothes to go to a restaurant, and I'm pretty sure neither of us want to cook."

"I saw a place advertising Mistrali pizza takeaways down the road, we could try that?" Ruby said. "And pizza doesn't need utensils. Could get some beer at the bottle store on the way back."

"Ah yes, the builder needs her cheap shitty beer." Jaune said as he dodged the screwdriver Ruby threw at him. "Relax, we can have the beer. And don't damage the walls, we've only been here a few hours. C'mon, let's go get food."

"I don't drink shitty beer." Ruby mumbled as she removed her tool belt and grabbed her wallet.

"What was that?" Jaune called behind him.

"I said you could go to hell!"

"You know, this pizza is pretty good. I mean, I know I had better in Mistral, and that Pyrrha's mom makes the best pizza, but this shit is good." Ruby spoke with her mouth full and the pieces for their kitchen table surrounding her.

"It is good pizza." Jaune agreed from the corner of the kitchen, where Ruby had confined him after he messed with her screws. "I still don't understand how you can do that." He gestured to the table.

"Well there is this thing called following instructions." Ruby said.

"I've been told that I'm shit at that." Jaune said, a grin on his face. "Most recently by you."

"Yeah well I told you to put the flatpacks in the rooms they needed to be built in, but you didn't." Ruby said. "So yeah, you are shit at following instructions." Ruby took a swig of her beer. "I guess that's why Ozpin made you team leader. Then you just had to give orders, and not follow them."

"Why am i friends with you again?" Jaune asked.

"Because I didn't laugh too much when you got launched into the forest at beacon?" Ruby answered. "And because you know, I'm fucking awesome and you would be lost in a sea of unmade furniture without me."

Jaune scowled at her as He reached for his own beer. "I could build it eventually. With help from like Yatsuhashi or something."

"You would be lost without all of us." Ruby sighed and shook her head. "So helpless."

"Bitch."

"Asshole."

Jaune stared at her for a long minute, pizza in one hand , and the instructions for making the table in the other. It reminded him of during the war, when the remaining team leaders had been forced to take charge after Ironwood's death. They had voted Jaune as General, though he rescinded the title as soon as he could, he was a huntsman, nothing more. Ruby had been his second in command, although she was more a co-leader, ever ready with maps or news from supply chains.

"So what are your plans?" Ruby asked, breaking the silence.

"For what?"

"You know, the future." Ruby said. "What are you going to do for the rest of your life?"

"I'm going to hunt, and if I survive until forced retirement I'll teach." Jaune said. "I don't have any grandiose plans. Honestly, I don't think I could handle any. So what about you? What are your plans?"

Ruby sighed as she put down the instruction sheet. "Well they were to eventually settle down properly with Weiss, you know, when I was ready, and I wasn't still able to work as a huntress. Then I was going to become a blacksmith." Ruby said, a small smile on her lips. "I guess I'm just going to hunt until I don't want to now. After seeing Yang and Blake adopt Serafina I decided that I wanted kids eventually."

"You'd be a good Mum." Jaune cut in. "Even If you would train all your kids to use Crescent Rose by the time they were seven."

"Well, I mean they would have to learn eventually." Ruby said. "Better it be early so they are prepared for when it all goes to shit."

"It's not going to do that again." Jaune said slowly. He knew about Ruby's paranoia from Yang and from Weiss, and he knew from them that the best way to help Ruby was with calm reassurance. "It didn't for thousands of years before us, and it won't for thousands of years into the future."

"I know that." Ruby snapped back at him. "But what if -"

"Then we'll deal with it when It happens. And not before then." Jaune said. "Grimm activity hasn't changed from what it was before the war."

"Yeah but they still exist."

"And they always will." Jaune told her. They had found out that Salem was never the origin of Grimm, that she was merely making them stronger, using them to her own ends. "Look, I'm sorry for bringing them up."

Ruby shook her head. "Don't be."

"Do you want a hand with the table?" Jaune asked as he reached towards the leg that Ruby had left within his reach.

"Touch that and I'll skin you alive." Ruby said before grabbing her pizza box. "If you want to be helpful you can recycle this."

"Fine." Jaune took the box.

"And start unpacking some of the shopping we did for house shit." Ruby yelled after him as he left the room. House shit was how Ruby referred to the linen and kitchen items Ruby and Jaune had spent hours shopping for over the weekend.

"I'll get right on that!" Jaune replied.

Once again, a massive thanks to /u/BryceWilliam for beta reading (if only you could all see his commentary).