Chapter 44 – Visionary
As Team Job licks their wounds, Jaune's faith in himself and his leadership is called into question.
Jaune felt like sinking into his couch for a month after the war they'd waged on Tyrian.
He hadn't had the worst of it by any means, with that honor arguably going to Blake for how tough her task of running had been, but that didn't mean he wasn't exhausted. The actual fight at the end had only lasted about twenty minutes, with five of those going to the Jaune and Velvet trying to stall Tyrian for Blake's great escape, ten being ascribed to their efforts to catch up to him once he'd gotten free, and the remaining five taking place during the intense fight that had followed.
The ability to go through aura might have been an incredibly dangerous one to face on the battlefield, but it actually wasn't that bad to recover from. All of the pain Jaune had endured didn't go away, but his full tank of aura meant that the bruises, broken bones, abrasions and cut skin, and other injuries he'd suffered were cleared up pretty quickly. He felt tired to his bones, but Jaune doubted he would need anything but a good night's rest.
The same couldn't be said for his teammates, however.
Blake had to go to a doctor to get a bruised rib checked out, coming from the time when Tyrian had first cornered her in that alleyway. Her aura was strong, but in her very own words, 'not as strong as Jaune's.' It actually kinda bummed him out that the only reason he was doing so well was a power not even in his control, but his own suffering wouldn't benefit Blake's.
As for Velvet, she also took a significant brunt of the scorpion Faunus' rage. It was mostly superficial stuff like cuts and bruises, as well as a sprained ankle from her having to run around so much, but she wasn't able to heal it was quickly as Jaune.
"It's the side effect of being pregnant," she explained. "I can't let my aura break, or there'll be who knows what consequences. That means I have to heal things one at a time, or sometimes even the natural, slow way."
"Should you maybe take some time off?" Jaune offered. With Blake at the doctor's and Velvet's leg bandaged so thickly that she could barely walk, he'd invited her over to their place. Ostensibly, it was so that his week-old leftovers in the fridge wouldn't go to waste, but in reality Jaune was feeling some serious guilt over coming out of the fight with the least harm to his person.
The least I can do is take care of Velvet, if she needs anything.
"Aww, fuck nah," she said, munching down another slice of Jaune's signature seven and a third cheese pizza (the third was goat cheese). "I mean, I need to recover from this past mission just like we all do, but I'm no quitter. I'll tell you when I need to stop, but until then you won't be able to pry me away from the action with a crowbar."
He understood where she was coming from there. The idea of just quitting the security consultant life (his best impression of the huntsman life) was unthinkable to him, even if only for a set period of time. Team Job was a part of Jaune, and he was a part of it; as long as he drew breath, he fully intended to make the most of his youth and live the adventurous life as long as possible.
"You got any pickles up in this bitch?" Velvet asked, sinking down as deeply into the couch as Jaune did.
Jaune pointed towards the fridge with a thumb. "Knock yourself out."
Placing both hands on her tum, Velvet blinked at Jaune with wide eyes. "Y-You'd make a pregnant, injured teenager walk all the way over there? Are you a monster?"
He couldn't help but snicker. "I guess the 'can't keep me down' attitude only applies when you aren't feeling lazy."
Getting up off the couch, he retrieved the pickles and offered them to her, as well as a fork. Velvet dug right in, even placing a few onto her slice of pizza, gulping it down in large bites.
Jaune glanced over at her, watching as she tucked in. It was kinda nice to actually have his food appreciated for once.
Blake usually eats for sustenance. I have to make something she really likes if I want her to be interested.
Velvet caught wind of his glance, so Jaune looked away.
"It's just a craving," she explained, tilting back the jar of pickles to take a sip from the juice. "You know how it is."
He actually didn't really, having been too young when his mom was pregnant to actually know how these things worked, nor had he intended for her to put her lips directly to the pickle jar.
I guess that one's a goner. Dang, I was even planning on asking her to pass one my way when she finished. But I can just get a new one with the enormous profits we raked in from the last job, which certainly weren't negative in any way shape or form.
It was the second mission that they'd completed only to go back and realize that their (Team Job's, and in this case, Velvet's) bank account had actually had a net drop from it. The price of all of the fancy gear that they'd purchased was the source of their economic downturn this time, and it had been two one-week vacations from him and Blake before that.
But now that they were fully vacationed owners of tactical gear and their own airship, it should be pure profits from here on out. Their next mission would hopefully be 25,000 lien of pure profit, minus the minor cost of Dust.
We've finally got everything we need to be real, successful 'security consultants.' No more investments really needed.
That didn't mean he was free to quit looking towards the future. With the Callows job complete, Jaune had a new vision to pursue.
"Hey, Velvet. I was hoping to ask you something."
Velvet's bunny ears perked up as she set down the pickle jar.
"It's something involving us…and I mean, you, me, and Blake us. All three."
The ears perked up even higher. Jaune could tell he had her undivided attention.
"An idea I had for something the three of us might be able to do in our free time."
"Hhuyeah?" Velvet breathed eagerly.
Okay. Jaune needed to be careful in how he phrased the idea of Team Job's Juniors to her (he wasn't married to the name, but he had nothing else to call it yet). He and Blake had been discussing her history as a White Fang member and Faunus rights activist, and Jaune had suggested that they do something to keep the spirit of progress alive. Since they were hunters in all but name, the idea of volunteering in or even opening up a training school for Faunus children (or any poor children who couldn't afford classes) had been his go to idea.
However, he couldn't really explain the full truth to Velvet, as she didn't know about Blake's White Fang history. As he'd kept her secret about the baby, he would maintain Blake's privacy with equal determination, meaning he had to justify why they were interested in this carefully.
"You know how I'm only the 'leader' of Team Job because I'm a guy and I'm a human?" Jaune asked, finger quoting the word leader. "Because of all of that?"
Velvet seemed a little disappointed. "Y-Yeah, but what does…what are you suggesting Jaune?"
It was difficult; Jaune had to make it sound like he'd only just realized that racism was a bad thing and decided he wanted to do something about it. This, this right here, this was why Jaune hated lying with a vengeance.
E̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶e̶v̶e̶r̶a̶l̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶.̶ ̶ ̶E̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶e̶r̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶.̶ ̶ ̶E̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶r̶u̶s̶h̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶i̶c̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶u̶s̶h̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶l̶e̶w̶ ̶a̶ ̶G̶r̶i̶m̶m̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶c̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶B̶l̶a̶k̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶w̶o̶r̶d̶ ̶d̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶p̶a̶r̶.̶
My teammates, he decided. It's lying to the people I care about that rubs me the wrong way.
It pained him to not be honest with her, but it wasn't Jaune's secret to tell.
Instead, he resorted to the old blending of half-truths to sell the lie. "Well, I was talking with Blake about some of the discrimination she faced before Team Job formed. Did she ever tell you that she tried to get a bunch of jobs before she went into security? Well, she did, and she was turned away, but the second I showed up, we cruised right through those problems. It got me thinking…the three of us, we have resources. We have talents and skills. In between missions, we have a lot of time on our hands. Wouldn't it be nice if we, you know, did something with all that?"
Velvet cocked her head and crunched another pickle. "Something?"
"My idea was us opening up a free training school for kids who wanna be hunters but can't because of money, species, grades…whatever reason. Not gonna lie, to me personally, it does have something to do with being turned away from Beacon at the door, but –"
"Who cares why?" Velvet asked all of a sudden. Her pickle cravings forgotten, she set down the jar and sat up in her spot on the couch. "Jaune, that's an amazing idea! Oh, I feel bad for not thinking of it myself."
Jaune frowned for a second. "A-Are you being sarcastic?"
He didn't think she was, but the sudden avalanche of praise and unexpected support shook him a little. He'd been expecting his idea to be something he would have to defend with his all, and even then he would make sacrifices as the girls reshaped Team Job's Juniors into something more workable.
"What? No, no no, I'm serious. It does feel like we've been lounging between missions, and huntresses are supposed to…" Velvet sucked in her lips at her faux pas. "…good people are supposed to use their means to help others to the fullest extent. We'll need to plan it out, and I don't think I have the energy to right now, but I'm totes on board."
"Blake wasn't keen on it," Jaune mumbled. "Not immediately."
W̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶?̶ ̶ ̶B̶l̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶,̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶c̶r̶a̶p̶p̶i̶n̶g̶.̶
̶G̶o̶d̶s̶,̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶p̶ ̶f̶i̶s̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶i̶m̶e̶n̶t̶s̶,̶ ̶J̶a̶u̶n̶e̶.̶
But Velvet lavished Jaune in the validation he'd secretly been wanting.
"Blake's a leader, an organizer, and a manager," she explained. "Her responsibility is greater. She has the weight of the team's success on her shoulders, so I can understand why she's hesitant to make changes. But, Jaune, the world would be a sad, sad place if we never had dreamers like you who came up with new ways to improve it. You said before that you're only the 'leader' because you're human, but I don't see you that way. Every experience I've had on Team Job has shown me that you're just as important a boss as Blake. She's our commander, but you're our visionary. You get people, better than Blake does and certainly better than I do. There's no one I'd rather have as one of Team Job's two co-bosses than you, Jaune."
It was such a kind thing to say that Jaune didn't even know how to properly respond. He wanted to thank her in just as eloquently a speech, but nothing he could say would truly match Velvet's honeyed words, the exact phrasing of the exact words that he'd needed to hear in that very moment.
"Th-Thanks," was all Jaune ended up managing. "Thank you, Vel, seriously."
Around 9:30pm, they got a call from Blake's scroll.
"Yello?" Jaune answered.
"Jaune, if I recall correctly from your sword, shield, and armor, you're a knight. Please come slay the dragons and rescue me from the tower in which they're confining me."
Jaune was about to say something in response when he realized he had no idea what any of that meant.
Is…Is she speaking in code or something? S-word, is she being held hostage and can't talk freely?!
"Blake, what's wrong?" Jaune asked frantically. Beside him, Velvet sat up at the sound of his aggressive tone and set down her empty pickle jar.
There was some shuffling on the other end. A moment before Jaune declared a state of emergency and went to get his weapons, Blake spoke again.
"Sorry, crappy joke. The doctors are telling me I'm going to have to stay with them for the rest of the night under observation."
"Are you safe?" Jaune desperately begged. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about the knight thing, I was being coy. Not too keen on sleeping with a bunch of sickos and paying through the nose for it."
"H-Healthcare is free in Vale," Jaune said, winking towards the camera and giving the audience a thumbs up. "It was made so by the council twenty years ago."
"What did she say?" Velvet asked, leaning in to hear the conversation. "Who's Blake sleeping with? Sickos? Please advise."
Blake once again spoke in muffled tones on the other side of the scroll, presumably speaking with the doctors overseeing her treatment. "To answer your question, Arc, I'm gonna be okay. However, because aura heals faster than the body is meant to, they need to watch me and make sure my ribs don't reset in the wrong position. It's basically a big something over absolutely nothing, and I'm a little bit pissy over it, but there's no real danger. I wouldn't have opened with calling these sanitarium clerks dragons if there had been."
Jaune let out a tender sigh of relief. Velvet hadn't been the only one he'd been worrying over with his survivor's guilt, and for a moment there, he'd really been about to storm the hospital and rescue her.
"Just tonight, you said?" Jaune asked to confirm.
"Yup," Blake said. "Until the bone's back in place. A healthy aura means it should be back to normal by morning."
Based on his own experiences with aura, Jaune would've thought it much faster. He could typically heal his own wounds, minor or major, fairly quickly, with his record being the time Blake accidentally shot him at the Lake of Lost Voles. The entire hole was already closed up before her gun had finished smoking.
She says its me having a lot of aura, but I would've thought that the amount of aura would matter less to the speed than the aura control. And that's a place Blake should definitely have me beaten.
Jaune looked down at Velvet's bandaged foot.
Her as well.
Weird.
"I'll call you again when I'm clear." More shuffling came through the speaker. "YES, GODS DAMN IT, WHEN! I SAID WHEN! YOU QUACKS CAN'T KEEP ME HERE FOREVER!"
"Alright, Blake." Jaune waved to her through the scroll in spite of the fact that she wouldn't be able to see such an action. "Have fun. Oh, hey, do you mind if Velvet stays over?"
"…SNAKE OIL PEDDLERS WHO…huh? Sure, whatever. Just don't let her lay a finger on my bed, or anything in my room. Give her the couch or something. WHAT'S THAT? NO, IF YOU DON'T CALM DOWN, I'LL CALL AN ORDERLY!"
Jaune ended the call before he could be a witness to whatever crime Blake committed next.
"Well, you heard the woman," he said to Velvet.
"Um…I actually didn't." She wiggled her ears. "You had your volume on low."
"R-Right, sorry. She's fine with you staying over if you want."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly," Velvet protested weakly.
It was already dark outside, as the sun set early in this time of year, and Velvet was barely ambulatory as it was. Forcing her to walk home, regardless of her token protestations, wasn't something Jaune was going to be doing.
"Blake told me her bed has lice in it, so you can have mine while I take the couch," Jaune said.
If she's gonna be nitpicky, she can expect the slander that comes with it. Not my fault you insisted one of us sleep on the couch when there's an empty bed open for the taking, Blake.
Jaune was fortunate that he had a spare pair of clean sheets to put onto his own bed so that Velvet wouldn't be forced to sleep amongst his used ones. Piling up the bedding and pillows, he carried it all out of his room and heaped it onto the couch, then went back to his room to take out the extra set of blankets and stuff for his houseguest.
"You really don't have to," Velvet said, lagging just behind him as he transferred the grub. "I don't mind the couch."
"It's more about me not feeling like an absolute D-bag than it is about who gets which sleeping accommodation," Jaune admitted.
"Great." Velvet folded her arms. "Now I'm the absolute D-bag." Her face softened. "Thank you, Jaune."
He smiled at her. "My pleasure."
Blake hadn't said anything about Velvet not using her toothbrush, so Jaune made sure to offer it. And no, he wasn't at all feeling petty about being worried half to death by the notion that she'd been in danger after their harrowing ordeal with Tyrian.
It was probably around 10:15pm when Jaune finally finished readying himself for bed and readying Velvet's bed for her.
I know it's not actually hers, but I really don't wanna think 'readying my bed for Velvet.'
"I've got an alarm set for 8am on my scroll," Jaune said as Velvet brushed. Her face was to the mirror and her back to him, so all he could see was her reflection. "Is that too early?"
"S'actually later than I usually wake up," Velvet admitted, gargling her mouth with water and spitting but a moment later. "Unrelated, but do you wanna have sex?"
Jaune was lucky that Velvet had been the one who was brushing her teeth, because had he been in her position, he would have probably spat out the cup's worth of water. Instead, all he did was splutter like an idiot and nearly pass out in the doorway.
What? What the…oh my god, I so F-wording misheard her badly just now. I really need to get my mind out of the gutter with all that 'Velvet in my bed' stuff if I'm hearing things because of it.
Jaune trilled his lips for a few seconds to let out the air he'd been holding in his lungs and shook his head, his long hair flopping into his face. "Sorry, Vel. Ha, whew, I really…never mind. Care to repeat what you just said? I was kinda distracted and didn't catch it."
Velvet's face, or rather her reflection, was no longer brushing or gargling water. "I was wondering if you wanted to have sex with me tonight."
Jaune blinked.
She really…
He hadn't…?
What? Just what?
Velvet watched her view of his own reflection in the mirror, and Jaune realized that he needed to give her some sort of answer. But how could he? How was he supposed to answer that? What even was his answer?
"I, uh, I think I'll pass," he said unsurely. A no was the first thing he could think of, so it was what Jaune went with.
Wait, is that rude? Is spurning her offensive?
Jaune tried to think up a reason to justify saying no, but his brain utterly failed him and only came up with even worse, definitely offensive stuff. Insulting her pre-bed appearance, implying he wasn't interested in pregnant girls, falsely claiming to be gay…it would probably be better if he just didn't explain himself rather than use any of those reasons to say no.
"Alright. I'm done with the bathroom if you need it. 8am, right?"
Jaune weakly nodded as Velvet walked past him in the doorway, returning his nod with a her own, joined by a smile.
"Night, Jaune."
He hadn't brushed his teeth, used mouthwash, or flossed, as per his usual routine, but the idea of even using the bathroom after that was unthinkable, not when Velvet had just been in there.
I feel like an idiot schoolboy obsessed with cooties. But I'm not…I can't…not when she…when that was where she…
After two hours of replaying the scene over and over in his head, Jaune gave up and went to sleep on the couch with unbrushed teeth.
Coming Soon: Part of the Team
Jaune puts some distance between himself and Velvet to gather his thoughts and come up with a proper justification for rejecting her.
Author's Notes
A little meme, if you feel so inclined: i dot imgur dot com slash V3wHHgX dot png
I had to write this chapter very carefully. There were so many ways it could have fallen apart had the pacing or wording not been exactly what I intended. I had to carefully pick apart Jaune's words and make sure there weren't any indications or even suggestions of flirtatious behavior on his part, or it all would have been ruined.
Out of necessity, we're going to have another Jaune POV next update, but then it'll be two Blakes in a row to balance it out and keep things fair.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!