Jaune felt himself in a pool of darkness, rather like warm water up to his chin. He couldn't breathe, he realized, but the choking sensation was somehow... Irrelevant. He couldn't find the energy to concern himself with it.

Slowly, a light began to form above him, but even as a pinprick, it was blindingly brilliant.

As his eyes adjusted at an agonizing pace, Jaune was certain that he could hear someone calling his name, desperately.

Jaune, the voice seemed to cry, Jaune, please wake up!

He squinted into the light, but Jaune couldn't make out anything distinct.

Except the voice, clearer now, and distinctly female.

And so familiar.

The world was a blur as Jaune opened his eyes in the real world.

The haze of sleep and tears the night before combined to make a dense fog.

But through it all, Jaune could make out a face, framed in red, staring down at him with kind eyes.

The name was on his tongue before his rational brain could stop it, but he cut himself off before he made a huge mistake.

"Hey, Crater Face," he said, his usual false smile coming back to him, "How's it going?"

Jaune could read Ruby's reaction well enough to know that she was upset. He also knew that it was probably because of his actions.

"Jaune, you can't keep doing this," Ruby said, her voice trembling slightly, "You're going to make yourself sick."

"Yeah... Yeah, I know. Sorry, Ruby. I didn't mean to, y'know, cause a big commotion or anything."

Ruby sighed and picked Jaune's jacket up from where he'd left it on Pyrrha's grave.

"You know we all care about you," she said as she draped it over him, "Right?"

Jaune stared intently away from the conversation, no longer capable of maintaining eye contact.

Ruby offered a hand to help him up and a smile to feebly try to defuse the tension their conversations always had these days.

Jaune stood up on his own.

Ren held out a paper bag, a still warm breakfast he'd packed for when they inevitably found Jaune alone in a cemetery.

"You need to eat."

Jaune wiped away the remnants of his tears and smiled at Ren.

"Thanks, man," he said, "I don't know where I'd be without you."

Probably the ground beside her, Ren thought darkly. He wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, face as impassive as ever.

The trio went back to Ren's apartment together by bus.

It wasn't a particularly large apartment, only two bedrooms, but it was home. Sort of.

Ren was at home wherever Nora was, but she was away on a mission and wouldn't be back for a few days.

Jaune, having taken up the second bedroom, felt more at home with a tombstone for company, but none of them really wanted to think about that.

Nora would be happy to just be with Ren, but her appetite for violence had to be sated now and then.

Ruby wondered what it was like for the remaining members of Team JNPR, to all be living together like that. In a way, she envied the sense of family they maintained despite everything they'd been through.

She thought of her own team, and the Balkanization that occurred following Cinder's defeat.

Then she thought of Pyrrha and resolved to stop thinking for a bit.

Ren sat Jaune down at their table and forced him to eat. As soon as Jaune was done, Ren ushered him into the bathroom, demanding that he bathe himself.

With Jaune out of the way and only Ruby for company, Ren felt it safe to take a quiet moment to break down on the couch.

"I don't know what to do, Ruby. I try everything I can think of, but I can't force him to want to live. Only she could do that, but she's gone."

Ren's voice shook as he spoke; for once he allowed his words to tumble out of their own accord.

"Every day, I have to remind him to eat, to sleep, to just perform basic self-maintenance. He doesn't fight, but-"

Ruby placed a hand on Ren's shoulder, startling him. She mulled over her options for a moment before speaking.

"I worry about him all the time, too. Maybe we can see if he'd do better at my place? I mean, it's not a big place, but I miss him. I live further away, so he can't sneak out as easily. You and Nora could probably use a break... And maybe some privacy."

Ren's eyes narrowed at the implication.

"And what do you mean by that?"

Ruby stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.

"Oh, nothing, Ren. I guess I'm just being silly."

The two of them talked for a while longer as they waited for Jaune to finish bathing.

As they spoke, he showered quickly and toweled himself off.

Jaune decided, on a whim, to shave; and suddenly he found another excuse to not leave the bathroom yet.

Jaune stared at his reflection when he finished. He found himself disgusted by what he saw.

The dull blue eyes, the heavy bags under them.

He had never considered himself handsome before, but Jaune was certain he didn't always look this bad.

For a brief moment, the world stopped. The lights flickered, and in the darkness, Jaune saw something.

Heard something.

Something familiar.

Ruby let a sentence trail off as the door to the bathroom creaked open. She looked over and saw Jaune, towel around his waist, ducking into his bedroom.

Her heart skipped a beat a little when she realized something.

He was still muscular. He hadn't been neglecting his body as much as she thought.

A smile crept onto her face.

"Ren, be sure to tell him about my idea. I gotta jet."

Ren nodded, somewhat perplexed by Ruby's newfound energy, but he dared not question it.

Ruby felt better than she had in a long time as she walked back to her own apartment. Something about seeing Jaune's body made her feel a lot better about the situation he was in.

She tried not to think too hard about that. That'd just be awkward.