1 new message from the six million lien man.

I made it home. Do you know when you'll be back? x

Ruby smiled as she read the message, she was in an area with service, at a small tavern that served the first hot food she'd seen in weeks. She'd just bathed, washing off the grime of the road, and was waiting for her dinner to be brought to her when she checked her messages.

I'm glad you did. I miss you. x

She put her scroll down as she stared into the crowded tavern, she wasn't the only licensed hunter here, and there were more than a few unlicensed ones as well. She guessed that when you ran the only accommodation in town you did good business.

I miss you too. x

She glanced at the time when she read the message. What was 6 pm for her was nearly midnight in Vale and she was slightly disappointed in Jaune's sleeping habits. But still it warmed her heart reading it. She'd missed him.

Shouldn't you be in bed? In Vale time?

The reply was almost instant. He'd been lying awake in the dark, trying to sleep but his mind was racing, wondering about how he hadn't heard from her.

Yeah.

A second message followed the first.

But I saw your message as I was falling asleep.

Ruby sighed, struggling not to giggle like a schoolgirl over a crush.

You should sleep. I'm fine. I know that was what has been keeping you up.

But I want to talk to you.

Good night Jaune.

Good night Ruby.

The beep of the alarm on his scroll woke Jaune up. No that wasn't right. Jaune didn't have an alarm on his scroll, not while he was within the city at least. And it was still dark out, usually he let himself be woken by the sun. Groggily he reached over to his side table, grabbing his scroll, fumbling for the buttons to make it shut up. Then he let himself fall asleep again, scroll still in hand.

He woke up properly four hours later, and wandered into the kitchen for coffee before he checked his scroll for the time.

1 message from Scarface at 3:19 am.

Ruby. He broke into a smile as he opened the message. It had been a week since her last message. Two weeks since she was supposed to make it back to Vale.

Mission over. I arrive on the 8:15 airship in. ox

Jaune glanced at the time. 7:34. If he ran he could just make it. He tapped at the screen trying to send a message to Ruby, frustrated at himself for not having realised why his scroll has woken him up. He'd set it to beep loudly if Ruby messaged him.

I'll see you then. x

The next few minutes were a frantic scramble for clothing, shoes, and keys. A dirty set of jeans were grabbed from the floor and he buttoned his coat over the t-shirt he wore as pyjamas. He glanced at the time again as he locked the apartment door. He'd make it, but only if he hurried.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the elevator, thinking to himself that what he had to do outweighed the importance of all the things of the other tenants. A part of him chastised himself for that thought.

On his way he stopped at the convenience store briefly to buy an energy drink and a granola bar. He didn't even try to deny it when the owner asked him if he was going pick up his girlfriend. He just nodded and hurriedly punched in his pin number.

Every stoplight felt like a nuisance, every person dawdling on their way to work a pain in the ass. And when he got to the station he fought through the sea of people to reach the arrivals gate. He checked his watch. He had made it with time to spare.

Relieved he sat in one of the cold plastic chairs, fiddling with his scroll, checking for unread messages. He wasn't the only one waiting. There were a few hunters he recognised by face from the war, and people he knew were the partners of others. And there were half a dozen families waiting to be reunited. He recognised the wife and daughter of one of Ironwoods old deputy's who Jaune had worked closely with after Ironwoods death.

He turned his attention back to the gate as people began to trickle out of it. Some heading for the main exit of the station, some stopping for tearful and heartfelt reunions with loved ones. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a child giving a drawing to someone that was obviously his grandmother.

And then he saw her, wrapped in her mud caked red cloak and looking utterly exhausted. Her left arm was wrapped in bandages. He had to stop himself from yelling her name as he almost ran towards her, enveloping her in a hug, while trying to be careful of her arm. He felt her wrap her right arm around him.

"I missed you." Ruby whispered into his chest, willing her eyes not to well up. She hadn't been prepared for how hard it was to see him again.

"I missed you too." He said. "You made it back."

"Of course I did, I'm the best around, why wouldn't I?" She said.

"You're a cocky little shit is what you are." Jaune murmured into her hair

She just smiled at that, burying her face further into his clothing. "You smell, you know that?"

"Sorry."

"Don't be," She said. "It's a good smell. It makes me think of home and safety."
Jaune smiled as he rested one hand on her hair. "It's actually the smell of me not showering and then running here."

"You're never allowed to shower again." Ruby said, her voice muffled by his coat.

Ruby would have been content to stay there forever, drawing solace from having Jaune near again, but Jaune had other plans.

"Let's get you home okay?" He said as he disentangled from the hug but still holding her right hand. "I'm sure you want to sleep in a real bed for a change. And I want to hear all about the mission."

A dark cloud drew across Ruby's face. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What happened?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it." She snapped at him, roughly grabbing her bag and walking towards the exit. Jaune followed suit.

"I won't bring it up." He said as he fell into step with her, and grabbed the handles of her bad, slinging it over his back. "I will however take that bag."

"I can carry it myself." Ruby said petulantly.

"You're hurt."

Ruby sighed. "I'm fine, a gryphon scratch. You don't need to worry about me."

"Well it's not often I get to worry about someone else instead of the other way around." Jaune said with a smile.

"If you didn't use yourself as a meat shield it wouldn't happen." Ruby said, a tinge of humour creeping back into her voice. "Healing doesn't equal indestructible."

The doctors' orders for Ruby had been that she wasn't allowed to move her arm too much, to prevent further damage and encourage healing. Unfortunately, Ruby didn't seem to agree. Jaune constantly caught her doing things she shouldn't, or things that were made more difficult than needed by her bandages. To him it felt like he was babysitting an extremely dangerous and armed toddler whose favourite toy had been taken from her.

That didn't mean he didn't love every minute of looking after her though.

"Hey." Jaune leant against the doorframe, watching as Ruby fiddled with the cap of her nail polish.
"Hey Jaune." She didn't look up, she'd been trying to get the cap off it for the past half hour.

"Do you want some help with that?" Jaune asked, already halfway to her bed.

Ruby sighed putting the polish down on her pink blossom printed duvet. "No, it's stupid. Plus, it smells bad and you hate when I do them in the lounge anyway."

"I don't hate when you do your nails, I hate that whoever invented nail polish made it stink."

Jaune said as he sat on the bed, ignoring his knees protesting when he pulled them into a cross legged position. "And I know you like to have them painted when you're in the city so I want to do them for you. To see you smile." He took the bottle gently from her.

"Thanks Jaune." She smiled as he unscrewed the cap on her basecoat. "It means a lot."

"I'm just being a good boyfriend." Jaune shrugged as he took her left hand and gently started painting her nails.

Ruby froze. "Boyfriend?"

"Are you not cool with me calling us boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"No, no, it's just, it caught me off guard." Ruby said, anxiety coursing through her veins. Boyfriend. The word still rang in her ears, it sounded so real, so serious.

"We don't have to put labels on this if you don't want to," Jaune continued. "I'm not to bothered by them. Better let that dry for a second, right?"

"Yeah, right." Ruby said, her mind half a world away as she thought.

"And anyway, I'm just worried about you," Jaune continued. "Since you've been back, even though I told you to rely on me and let me help you you've been so wrapped up in your own head and trying to do everything for yourself. You know you can depend on me, right?"

Ruby sighed, "I know it's just – "

"Not in your programming? Yeah, I know." Jaune gave a small smile as he began painting Ruby's favourite maroon polish on her thumb. It had just the slightest hint of gold shimmer in it. "I'm exactly the same way, remember? Or I was. You just need to learn that just because you're the leader doesn't mean you can't depend on your team. And now I'm part of that team."

"Thanks, Jaune." Ruby smiled, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Also, because you are going to hurt that arm more and then I'll have to deal with you being hurt for longer." Jaune said. "It's like I need childproof locks on everything to stop you from trying to do things."

"I'm not that bad." Ruby protested with a shake of her head

"You tried to make breakfast this morning," Jaune said. "I found you standing on a chair trying to reach the backup jar of apricot jam."

"You were asleep when I started."

"You could have woken me up and I wouldn't have cared," Jaune said, a stern edge to his voice.

"Hell you dropping things was what woke me up."

Ruby looked down at her bed. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Jaune said as he undid the polish again. "Just let me help."

"I'll try."

They sat together in silence while Jaune finished painting Ruby's nails, being careful not to get any of it on her skin. She wouldn't admit it but he did a pretty good job, almost better than what she usually did. And it was nice to have someone doting on her.

"Thank you." She whispered when he finished applying her topcoat.

"It's no biggie." Jaune shrugged.

"It is to me," Ruby said, emotion thick in her voice. "Painting my nails is about more than just them looking pretty. It's about feeling normal, feeling like a civilian and not having to worry about if I'm going to die today. I can't keep polish on in the field, it chips so easily with everything we do. But when I'm home, whether it's Patch, or Vale, or Atlas it's like a reminder. That I'm safe here, and while this safety might be fleeting, I can relax here and pretend I'm normal, that I'm just some girl who paints her nails because It looks nice. That I'm not just a ruthless killing machine, I'm a normal person."

"You aren't a ruthless killing machine." Jaune said as he wiped away the tear that was creeping out of Ruby's good eye. "Maybe to the Grimm, but they don't have souls."

"Jaune That's not what I'm-"

"I know that's not what you're talking about, but we all have blood on our hands, and it was them or us." Jaune said scratching at his stubble, he hadn't shaved since the day before. "That's one past we cannot dwell on Ruby."

Ruby nodded as she processed what he was saying. "You're right. Yep. I gotta move past it right?"

"Exactly," Jaune said. "Also, we gotta go grocery shopping so I need you to smile. Let them think

we live in domestic bliss."

"You didn't go before I got home?" Ruby said with an eyeroll.

"I did but you dropped it all on the floor!" Jaune said standing up and offering Ruby his hand.

"Okay, totally not my fault!" Ruby defended herself. "Absolutely the griffin's fault."

"I'm not saying you're at fault, I'm saying you should have asked me for help." Jaune said before kissing Ruby on the forehead. "And that you need to look after yourself."

"I hate you, asshole." Ruby said a smile on her face before leaning on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"I hate you too, bitch." Jaune murmured as he followed her out the door, grabbing a backpack on the way out.

They were still bickering when they arrived at the supermarket.

"Are you going to behave or do I have to treat you like a child?" Jaune asked a teasing smile on his face as he pushed their trolley into the store.

Ruby didn't look up from the shopping list on her scroll, she'd made it as they walked to the store, only a few blocks from their apartment. "I'm going to go grab the potatoes."

"Child it is." Jaune muttered scooping Ruby up in his arms and depositing her in the trolley, an irritated look on her face.

"Jaune!" Ruby almost yelled. "For fucks sake, why?" She knew she couldn't get out of the trolley without breaking anything else, she barely could with 4 functioning limbs. Though the last time she had had to they had been racing trolleys drunk during the war to blow off some steam from an awful battle. That had been when she learned the real reason her uncle drank.

"I'm not letting you lift anything too heavy and hurt yourself." He said. "Because I'm a responsible adult."

"You're a pain in the ass."

"A pain in the ass that cares about you." He said as he lifted a sack of potatoes and positioned them in the cart next to her. "What's next?"

Ruby sighed, glancing at her scroll. "Broccoli. And cauliflower."

Jaune wrinkled his nose. "Ew."

"Don't be a baby." Ruby said with an eye roll. "They're good for you. Now who's adulting, bitch?"

"Still me, you're only 21."

"22 next month. And I've been legally an adult since I was 18."
Jaune smiled down at Ruby where she sat cross legged in the cart. "Your vegetables, Miss Adult."

"Sweet potato next."

They continued around the store like this, up and down each aisle, Ruby calling out grocery items and Jaune grabbing them from the shelves, while also returning the random items Ruby filled the trolley with anytime there was something within arm's reach.

"I'm fairly certain we don't need anchovies," Jaune said as he stacked five jars of them back onto a shelf. "Put that tuna back I know you are grabbing it." He didn't even have to look at her to know what she was doing by now.

"Blakes coming over next week we need it!" Ruby argued.

"We don't need ten cans." Jaune said, a little frustration creeping into his voice. "Hell we don't even need one, I checked and we have some in the pantry. About the only thing that survived Cyclone Ruby this morning."

"I wasn't a cyclone, I was a tropical storm at worst." Ruby said, a slight smile in her eyes. "Fine

I'll put the tuna back." Ruby said stacking it back onto the shelf with her good arm.

"Thank you," Jaune said as he pushed the trolley off to finish the shopping. "What else do we need?"

"Just bread." Ruby said as she tapped the check boxes beside the canned goods they had bought. "And cookies."

"Are they on the list?"

"No but I want them." Ruby said.

"Then cookies it is." Jaune said as he steered them towards the snack aisle. "What kind?"

"Triple Choc Chunk, Hokey Pokey, and Red Velvet if they have them." Ruby rattled off, almost by memory. She always requested the same flavours.

Jaune grabbed the bags of cookies from the shelves and passed them to Ruby for inspection.

"Do they have the other brand of Red Velvet?"

"Yes, but these ones are cheaper."

Ruby nodded putting the packet down. "Fair enough."

"How about we get out of here?" Jaune said, pushing the cart towards the check outs.

"Bread." Ruby reminded him.

"Right." He said, sharply turning the trolley in the direction of the bread aisle. "Same as always?"

"Yep."

With that they finished their shopping and headed to the checkouts, Ruby fishing through her purse for their membership card while Jaune loaded their shopping onto the conveyer belt before helping her out of the trolley. When Jaune was finished packing most of the grocery's into his backpack, and the rest into reusable bags, he passed a bag with a loaf of bread in it to Ruby.

"I'm injured, I don't have to carry shit!" She claimed waving her bandaged arm in his face.

"And if I hadn't given it to you, you would have complained I was babying you." Jaune said.

"Yeah I would have." Ruby said with a goofy smile. "You know me too well."
Jaune smiled down at her, before leaning down ands kissing her on the forehead. "I don't think I ever could."

Hi guys, so it's been... A while since I updated. Not because I don't love the story, I love the basic idea of it so much I want to create an Original Work around it. I've just been dealing with a lot, between postgrad study, major mental health issues, and trying to maintain a semblance of a social life - it been a lot to deal with. And for a while, I really wasn't coping. And so writing, which I find quite freeing most of the time became a bit of a burden.

Major shout out to Bryce as always. He's a fantastic beta reader, and an absolute true friend. This story really wouldn't be here without him.