Rated: T
Ships: Archester (Jaune Arc/Cardin Winchester)
Word Count: ~11k
A/N: Past mpreg with Volume One-era Jaune several decades in the future
Between one blink and the next the room around Jaune changes. Sudden like a freefall with no warning. He shivers, being reminded of getting thrown from the cliff during initiation last year. There is no spear or tree this time. Just a man he doesn't recognize. He is a little taller than Jaune is, with brown hair and mostly green hazel eyes. The orange outfit he is in isn’t a suit, but it almost has the air of one. Like this is someone important and his wardrobe is doing its best to show it, despite the awkward way the man shifted and the baby face making him appear younger than Jaune guesses he is. In all, it sits as more uncanny valley than Important Adult. Not that Jaune can say much. If he wore the same thing, he has the feeling he would give off the same effect. Looking at him, there is no definitive answer on if Jaune is older or not.
“Who are you?”
The young man’s eyes grow wide. Jaune's question seems to throw him into a surprised panic. As if the question is an unexpected one or one Jaune isn't supposed to ask, which is kinda unfair given he just appeared out of nowhere. “O- oh shit.” Aura flashes worriedly around him– mottled colours swirling. Orange and green being the strongest, with the orange right at the surface and the green close behind. Jaune pauses just slightly, squinting like that might get the green to show better, because he swears the green looks familiar. Which is… weird. Since he is pretty sure he's never met this person before. The man puts a hand to his own chest. “I'm, uh, Oscar.”
That… doesn’t help. Some part of him thought it would and he honestly doesn’t know why. His eyes go to the room instead. Which is a lot easier to figure out why it looks familiar. There’s a large window right behind a desk, overlooking a front courtyard with a statue dead center. A place to watch the beings below like a commander looking out for their soldiers. The thought sends a shiver down his spine, an uncomfortable reminder of what almost happened at the tournament last year. Of robotic soldiers and Maidens. Of Ozpin dying and rebuilding the school. Thank Oum it didn't go as bad as it likely could've. The school held and Pyrrha received Maiden powers- and, with it, extra duties that as her partner he helped with as much as possible. All of team JNPR helped as much as possible. This is Headmaster Glynda’s office. Yet, it also isn’t. Smaller things look different. The desk isn't the same. It’s smaller, the wood darker. Covered in papers. The plotted plants are in different places; tomatoes ripening on their vine in a corner. If this is both her office and not, where is he?
There's a rattle at the doorknob and Jaune feels his instincts kick up when Oscar tenses at it. He doesn’t have his sword with him but that’s okay. Nora had started them practicing hand to hand. Sure he wasn't great at it. But it'd do in a pinch.
“Hey, ma?” A voice he doesn’t recognize enters the room before the person does. Oscar visibly relaxed at it. Short, blonde hair on a short teen catches his attention. Then eyes the colour of cherry blossoms meet his own. And it feels strangely like he’s seeing double. Because outside the eyes, the body shape-- that’s Marion. Marion’s hair, Marion’s nose, Marion’s complexion. Which means it’s his too. “What the fuck?” Glasses were pushed up. She blinks, takes them off, cleans them, puts them back on. “What the fuck. Oscar, tell me this is some… weird magic thing.”
“Uh…”
“Oscar!” The girl snaps. Despite being at least ten years older, Oscar jumps.
“We were testing my semblance and they swapped!” Oscar rushes out. The nervousness from when Jaune first got here returned. Not that it'd really left.
“Oh Brothers,” she sighs and it’s like he can see the years drain from her. Tiredness and worry swirl together in a pink aura. It isn’t a lot of aura. “Papa’s gonna lose his shit.” Jaune looks between the two of them as the girl seems to gather herself before she shoves her hands into her hoodie pocket. “How long?”
“I'm not sure?” Oscar says, voice tilted up awkwardly. “We just wanted to see what'd happen if he gave me as much aura as possible. We… weren't expecting this.”
“No shit!” She laughs and that is not a sound he knows from Marion. It’s something more similar to one he knows from someone else. Someone he'd found himself paying more attention to lately. And now that his mind is there, he can’t help but notice the similar body types. Or the sudden connection of the way her expression pinched earlier with how his would sometimes do the same thing around his team and Velvet.
“He'll find a way back,” Oscar assures.
“I know,” she sighs again, and it is a less aged sound. “Try explaining that to Papa, though.” That has Oscar wincing. Finally Jaune decides to butt in.
“What's happening here?”
Both startle like they'd forgotten he’s here. It was possible. Because Jaune knows his own mind is awhirl. This girl seems so worried. But in a tired way, like his m’man would sometimes get. For some reason, Jaune wants to reach out to her and just… stop that. She is obviously younger than him. Yet she seems older and he just wants to wrap her in a hug. It’s probably how much she looks like family. If she wasn't at least part Arc, he'd eat his own left shoe and sock.
She blinks at him. Big pink eyes behind black framed glasses. “Did you tell him anything?”
“I was getting to it,” Oscar says.
“Well.” The girl turns to him, a wry smile curling her lips. “Welcome to the future, ma.” The ‘ma’ thing doesn’t surprise him as much as he feels like it should. The girl looks enough like him. The future part has him reeling, though. You'd think if he could accept being this girl’s ma it wouldn't. Daughter = future. It was the logical leap. And yet. His brain turns and turns and turns and can’t wrap around that he's apparently been sent to the future.
“What?”
“Yep.” The girl plays with the sleeve of her pink hoodie– a nervous habit. A nervous habit very similar to one he's seen before. It plays in his memories, overlaid on his… daughter. Suddenly he has an idea of who ‘papa’ could be. Though how he ended up married to him, he has no idea. He doesn’t even like him that much. It was simple curiosity which even made him look at him, when he does. Sometime before second semester Cardin had formed an odd relationship with Velvet, the second year who Jaune once saw him pulling the ears of. Jaune watched as the two seemed to grow even closer over the year. Curious. Because it seemed unusual. There are so many things he suddenly recognizes in this girl, though, now that the idea has popped into his head, and none of them are from Marion or himself. Things he very likely wouldn't recognize if he hadn't been staring. Firmly, he throws that idea out of his head. No way.
“I have a kid.” There's no inflection to the words. They're just a simple statement, a confirmation of what she said.
“Three.” The girl holds up two fingers and a thumb and smiles, something more teasing than happy. Though definitely not devoid of joy.
“Three kids?” Now his voice almost sounds strangled. And the girl has the gall to laugh at him. At least someone is getting joy out of his confusion.
“Yup,” she pops the ‘p’, rocking back on her heels. “I'm the eldest. Cherry Cathal Arc.” She follows it up with something he never thought he'd hear parroted back at himself. “Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it.”
Jaune blinks, and laughs. It definitely sounds a little strangled now.
(It finally occurs to him a little later, as Cherry leads him out of the room, why the green in Oscar’s aura looked familiar. Ozpin. It was headmaster Ozpin’s aura, which meant somehow Oscar has taken him in like Pyrrha took the Maiden powers last year. And honestly, Jaune doesn’t want to question it further. He’ll leave that for whenever he’s actually supposed to learn it because boy ishe having a fucking day already.)
Somehow, Jaune can believe he lives here. The house Cherry brings him to actually looks pretty much like the house he imagined living in one day. A wooden cabin, with windows and a small porch lined by a red railing. There’s a garden in the front and one at the side. He wants to walk around the cabin, to see the bits which he knows must be from his future self and those likely placed by his future spouse, but knows he wouldn’t be able to. Not with Cherry pulling him along. The cabin is nestled close enough to civilization to walk if you wanted to– exactly how they got here– but far enough away to still be considered remote in its nook of the woods. Though, the placement of it is a little odd. He didn’t expect anyone to ever live in Forever Fall. It feels like more evidence to his thrown away idea. An idea he refuses to entertain because the other boy doesn’t even like him like that. Doesn’t even pay attention to him. As far as he knows, after that day in Forever Fall, he’s been completely forgotten about. Which is perfect! Because Jaune doesn’t want to be remembered, nevermind that he’d saved the other’s life or that his team had won the Vytal Tournament last year. (Circumstantially. They kind of canceled the tournament for that year after the incident and the almost-fall of Beacon. But before that, Pyrrha had technically won her 1v1 match. Though… they still didn’t really talk about that. Still, being the only student to compete in and win her 1v1, their team was declared the winners after everything calmed down.) But Jaune is fine with that. He’d told him to fuck off, and he’d fucked off just as Jaune had asked him to. Fucked off so hard that Jaune doesn’t even really know anything that’s going on, even with the other’s team, except what he saw from the distance when he observed them. (Observed. Not watched creepily. Nora and Yang.)
Except… maybe he should have entertained it a little more. Because the door opens before Cherry completely reaches it and… It is Cardin. It’s Cardin and he stares at him and Cardin stares back. Time has definitely passed. This Cardin seems more worn down than his— Than the other, in his time. The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up, but still damp. There are dark circles that aren’t supposed to be there under glasses that also aren’t supposed to be there and his hair is tied back in a bun that has so many fly-away strands, he doesn’t really see the point in even having it up. Stubble is dark and red on his face, practically making up half a beard, and Jaune wonders how long he’s gone without shaving for it to look like that. The sides of his head seem to be shaved pretty cleanly, though. And even with all the markers of tiredness… he seems happier. Like there was a weight that has left his shoulders in the years that have passed. Even his aura seems somehow lighter. Though, the curious thing, there is noticeably less of it. Like he's just come from a fight or something. If Nora or Ren or Pyrrha’s aura looked like that, he wouldn’t even let them participate in a fight. He'd make them take a break, even though with Pyrrha especially it'd likely turn into another, smaller fight. (Though she was getting better with that. It was… hard for her, to allow herself to be sidelined when she'd spent so long telling herself that she not only could but had to handle everything.) All in all, he looks… good. Objectively, for his age.
Finally, Cardin blinks at him, though he doesn’t say anything to him. Instead he silently turns to Cherry.
Cherry shrugs. “I don’t know. He was here when I got there.”
“Cherry?” Cardin says, eyebrows raised.
“I swear!” Cherry says. “Ma and Oscar were doin’ some semblance shit and apparently ma got swapped with this chump.”
“Hey!” Jaune protests.
Cardin slides a hand over his face with a sigh, briefly disrupting his glasses. “I can’t beli-” He cuts himself off with another sigh that sounds like ‘nevermind’. “Alright, idiot, get in here.”
“Hey!” Jaune protests, again. But was once again ignored. For the most part. Cherry ushers him in when Cardin moves away from the door and further into the– their– house.
“Why am I an idiot,” Jaune mumbles as he moves.
“Because you're the one who'll turn into the moron who decides it's a good idea to boost a time semblance,” Cardin snaps, eyes turned back to them. “I thought you would’ve learned with Nora, but no!” His aura flashes weakly in annoyance. Once again Jaune can’t help but notice how drastically low it is. Just what had Cardin done while Cherry was away? While his future self was with Oscar? And whatever it was, had his team helped? He can’t imagine they wouldn’t want to. But the impression he’s gotten from the brief time he actually spent in Cardin’s presence… Well, he can’t imagine Cardin would ask for help, either.
Jaune raises his hands in a hopefully placating gesture and wisely decides to not say anything else about it. “So,” he hedges instead, “did you get into a fight?”
Cardin snorts and looks away. “Guess you could say that.”
“Twins give you trouble while I was away?” Cherry asks.
“Bath time,” Cardin says and Cherry makes a sound of understanding.
“What?” Jaune asks as he toes off his shoes and leaves them next to Cherry’s white sneakers.
“Lotus wanted to help weed my husband’s garden,” Cardin says. And Jaune is not prepared for the fond sort of way Cardin says ‘my husband’. Or for the way his own face lightly heats as it feels like his heart does a backflip at the words. ‘My husband’ sounded… good. On Cardin’s lips. Better than he thought it would.
If he’d ever thought about that.
(Can denial still work, if he is literally in the future?)
“I have a garden?” Jaune asks.
“One day,” Cardin says.
“Lotus helps out a lot,” Cherry says. “When and where he can, at least. Since the twins’ are still pretty young.”
“How old are they?” Jaune asks. Then, in quick succession, as he realizes he doesn’t know any ages, “How old are you? How old am I?”
Cherry opens her mouth to answer, but Cardin cuts in. “Nope.”
“Aw, Papa, why not?” Cherry asks and Jaune silently wonders the same.
“He’s from the past, he’s already going to learn a bunch just by staying here for however long that’ll be,” Cardin replies.
“Do you really think our ages could mess with the timeline that much?” Cherry asks and Cardin shrugs.
“I’d rather not risk too much.”
Much as Jaune agrees with Cherry, he can see what Cardin means. Their house is nice, there is apparently a garden in the back, and even when Cardin snapped at him he could see the affection and-- dare he say-- worry that underlined it. Not to mention, the singular kid he’s met already seems cool. And he really wants to be able to meet her again in the future-- along with her younger siblings. “Alright,” he says and definitely doesn’t pout. Cardin nods, pleased at his acceptance. “So what can I know?”
“Everything you currently do,” Cardin says. Translation: nothing. Jaune rolls his eyes, in the time away from Cardin he's forgotten how careful he could be. Which he understands! This here is Cardin’s life. But fuck is it boring to be in his own future and have someone tell him he can’t even know anything. Nothing past what he already knows, of course. Some kid named Oscar will take over for Headmaster Goodwitch one day. Somehow, he will end up married to Cardin. And together they will have a house in the woods like he's always wanted (though he still questions the choice of Forever Fall) and three children.
“Can I at least know the third kid’s name?” Jaune asks.
“What?” Cardin asks.
“The third kid,” Jaune repeats and expands, “I know Cherry and Lotus, but Cherry said Lotus is a twin?”
Cardin squints at him, like he’s deciding if there’s some other, hidden reason behind his question. Apparently finding none, he answers. “Amarante.”
The name seems familiar to him, and he frowns for a second before he has to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Cherry, Lotus, Amarante. All three are named after flowers. Apparently they have a naming theme going on for some reason. Though only one of the names was French— which he'd thought he would continue the Arc tradition of French names but apparently he didn't. It was likely something they'd talked about, when pregnant.
Which… is a weird thought. It is clear Cherry wasn't adopted, so one of them… He can feel himself get red but he doesn’t want to think about the possibilities of why. The knowledge he marries to Cardin is enough, he doesn’t want to think about all the implications kids brought with that. The question of who'd gotten pregnant. (It’d probably been him. Be him? Not thinking about it!) And everything that… goes with it.
“So,” Jaune squeaks and frantically clears his throat. Cherry gives him an amused look. “Flowers?”
“Not happening, Arc,” Cardin says and leaves the room, though not without giving Cherry a pointed look. Cherry shrugs at him. It looks much less understanding and a lot more amused. Honestly, Jaune is just glad Cardin had called him ‘Arc’ and not something else. At least that hasn’t changed. Or, maybe it has and Cardin has simply fallen back on his last name, to keep even the future nicknames from him. He frowns.
… Cherry Cathal Arc.
Well, he knows who takes whose last name in the future.
...
Cardin Arc isn’t too bad.
Come dinner time, Cherry and him are relegated to ‘twin roundup duty’. Luckily they haven’t really had to explain what happened to their mam. A simple ‘this is him right now’ and the twins are set. The joys of being young.
Because they are young. Two tiny beings that barely look like each other outside shared freckles but look so much like Cardin and him. The boy, Lotus, has Cardin’s exact hair colour, Cardin’s eye shape and nose, and Cherry’s pink eyes. The girl, Amarante, has Jaune’s hair and nose and he thinks even his eyes, though the colour was so in between Cardin’s and his own it’s hard to tell, but she has Cardin’s eye shape. He wonders how the features will grow with them.
Saphron and Terra met when Adrian was two, three years ago now. For that first year before Beacon Jaune had taken care of Adrian occasionally. Really all of the Arc kids had. Lotus and Amarante look to be about that age. Maybe younger. He doesn’t really remember Adrian being this rowdy back then, though. Not that they’re bad or anything. They just move. Everywhere. So quickly. He’s honestly starting to think they've gotten their semblances already. It sure feels like they have speed semblances. But… their aura is still small and it flickers in a way Jaune hasn’t really seen since before he finally realized just what he was seeing when he saw similar flashes of colour around friends. He assumes it is because of how young they are.
Cherry scoops Amarante off the floor and tosses her into the air. A loud, high pitched giggle fills the air as she falls back down and into Cherry’s arms. When Cherry throws her again, Lotus stops to stare expectantly at him. Jaune laughs and copies Cherry, picking up Lotus to throw him in the air before catching him when he falls back down. Soon there is a pair of squeals, happy noises in harmony. For a short time they entertain the twins like that. Cardin has them watch and entertain the twins while he cooks. But Jaune finds his eyes wandering back to Cardin more and more. More than he usually did, back at school. When he was distracted by his interactions with Velvet and the rest of team CRDL. Now it’s because he knows what Cardin’s aura should look like. How much there normally was. There is still a lot he doesn’t know about aura. But he is fairly certain you don’t lose aura with age– that your ‘full amount’ never changes. From the time he first spotted this Cardin to now, Cardin’s aura is so low. The amount had crawled upward since he got here but it still wasn't anywhere near where Jaune knows it should be. Still, Cardin cooks and whistles something that definitely isn’t a tune despite how his shoulders minutely sag with what Jaune can only guess is aura exhaustion. Also probably just plain exhaustion.
“Are you sure I shouldn't cook?” Jaune asks as he tears his eyes from those broad shoulders again, over to Cherry. She has the same broad shoulders.
Cherry rolls her eyes. It’s weird how much of Marion he sees in that action. “Ma, we want him to rest, not stress out.”
Again, Jaune’s eyes go to Cardin. Like there is a string that pulls him to the other boy. His future husband. Abruptly the string breaks and Jaune’s eyes snap away, to Lotus who squirms in his arms to get more comfortable. He adjusts his grip for Lotus. “But are you sure?”
There's a snort. Jaune frowns at Cherry. “I'm sure. You're kind of banned from the kitchen, anyhow.”
“Wait, what?” Jaune gapes at her. Yeah, he knows he isn’t a great cook now. Like at all. But he can’t still be that bad, can he? “Why?”
“I don’t know. Papa won’t talk about it.” Cherry shrugs. She tucks Amarante under her arm like her little sister is a football. Jaune’s mouth remains open. There is at the very least a decade between now and then, given how old Cherry looks, and he really still hasn’t gotten better at cooking. It had been a joke-- and it had hurt, at the time-- but maybe Gwendoline was right. Maybe he just wasn't made to cook. Or bake. Or operate in the kitchen in general. He looks forlornly in the direction of the stove like that would actually change things.
“Ah, come on Ma,” Cherry says, obviously catching it. “There's plenty of things you can do that Papa can't. Like sing!”
“Are you telling me Cardin doesn't have a good singing voice?” Jaune asks.
Another snort. “If you call cats in a cheese grater good, sure.”
“I can hear you both,” Cardin says, the whistling pauses for a moment.
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Cherry says back. She winks at Jaune, who bites back an amused smile. Though he isn’t technically her ma yet, he isn’t sure he should be supporting her antics. It’s kind of hard not to. Especially when Cardin sends a glare that doesn’t really seem that upset their way. Jaune shifts Lotus to sit on his hip so he can have a hand unoccupied to raise in a defensive gesture. A silent ‘I didn't say it, I just got here’. Cardin rolls his eyes and turns back to whatever he is making. The twins have him occupied enough that he doesn’t know what it is. So the only solution is to head over and snoop. He holds a finger to his lips so Lotus will hopefully be silent and sneaks over, ignoring Cherry’s amused look.
He stands on his tiptoes to look over Cardin’s shoulder. There is a pot of red bubbling on the stove. Without even turning around, Cardin holds the spoon up to his lips. “Taste this.”
Jaune does so without thinking. He licks a bit from his lips afterward with a hum. It is good. Even when he’d been around Cardin more than his own team, there’d never been any indication Cardin could cook. It makes him wonder if this is a recent thing. Lotus reaches for the spoon and Cardin lifts it without a word so Lotus can taste it as well.
“Yum,” Lotus says, and Cardin smiles.
“It's good,” Jaune agrees. Cardin nods and lowers the burner to just keep the pot warm. Then he pours spaghetti noodles into it and stirs till they mix together.
Cherry walks up with Amarante on her hip to look in the pot. “Mmm, pasta.”
“Patha,” Amarante echoes. Jaune smiles at her little lisp.
“Cherry, Amarante, set the table for me,” Cardin says and Cherry throws up a salute that Amarante sloppily copies. When she sets Amarante down they march to the cabinets to grab everything. Cherry hands Amarante the forks, which she takes to the table and stands up on tiptoes to place on the different spots. The bowls and cups are set down by Cherry.
“What do you want me to do?” Jaune asks.
“You can grab the pot!” Cherry says, before Cardin can answer. Cardin groans. There is annoyance there, and Jaune doesn’t know what for, but he shrugs it off and takes the pot to the table after setting Lotus down. Lotus scrambles over to place a potholder down for him to place the pot on.
“Thanks,” Jaune says and Lotus nods.
Cardin… is a good cook. He is actually surprised by this. In the time he had spent with Cardin, he's never had food he'd made. But he knows he was rich– thank you, Dove– so he kind of assumed he couldn't cook. The closest that ever came to Cardin making anything for him was the few times Cardin made him coffee to help him focus. Jaune ends up eating two bowls. By the time everyone is done, Amarante’s hands are red with sauce. As she licks her fingers (and Jaune holds in his amusement), Cardin picks her up from behind and settles her on his hip.
Jaune watches the motion without really thinking about it. Right now, with hair mussed and dark circles and askew glasses, a small child (toddler maybe? The twins-their twins- are short for toddlers, but maybe.) propped up on his hip and a red handprint on his cheek, Cardin looks incredibly domestic. He bites the inside of his lip and tries to press down the warmth threatening to burst his chest open. It is attractive. As just a general observation. To help Cardin (not to distract himself), he starts to gather the dishes for the sink.
“Oh! Hey, Ma, I'll help you clean,” Cherry says and grabs the cups.
“Thanks,” Jaune pauses for a second before adding, “kid.” Cherry smiles at him when he does, and Cardin looks back with a raised eyebrow and an upward tilt to his mouth. It makes him feel strangely like he did something right.
Together they get the dishes done pretty quickly, putting the leftover food away and then Cherry rinsing and drying as he washes them. Halfway through, Lotus appears and Cherry helps him put away the dishes, lifting him up so he can put the plastic cups in the cupboards above the counter. When they are done, Cherry hops up on the countertop with Lotus on her lap. Jaune raises an eyebrow at them while he wipes the soap bubbles from his arms. Lotus kicks his legs and his heels make noise against the countertop. It makes Jaune snort. It’s the same thing Marion and he did, younger siblings included when they were born. Though the age difference between Cherry and her siblings looks to be much closer to Jaune’s own age difference with Gwen. Cherry smiles at him.
“TV?” Cherry asks.
Jaune checks the time, despite having no idea when any bedtimes are. Right now, Jaune tries to sleep by one. But that is only because of waking up for classes. And something tells him Cardin won’t approve of a curfew that goes anywhere past midnight for his kids. “We have time,” he says anyway. At the very least it might help the twins settle for the night.
Cherry nods and sets Lotus down on the ground before sliding off the counter herself.
Jaune does not sleep much. It was like that even before Beacon, with his mind demanding he stay up half the night. But Beacon did not help. Even if it helped focus his attention. There was so much work he had to do to make sure Marion’s faked transcript was worth it. History lessons, dust lessons, science lessons, strategy lessons, sparring, aura and semblance training. All with the leader lessons he had to go to with the other team leaders. Also the more basic classes like math and english that he hadn't expected to have to take at a combat school. At least he likes math.
The lack of sleep is why he drifts after the first two episodes, though. Next he’s aware, Amarante is curled on his lap. Cherry nudges his shoulder.
“Ma, wake up,” she says.
Jaune blinks a few times. “‘M awake.” Now, at least. Probably for a few more hours, too.
“You were snoring,” Cherry says.
“What? No I wasn't,” Jaune frowns at her. Cherry nods, even as she hums a disbelieving note.
“Some things never change, huh?” Cherry pauses. “Would it be ‘never change’ if you're younger?”
He is being bullied. By his future daughter. The family bullying would never stop, would it? Though he isn’t actually mad about that, it is another bit of extra familiarity in a very unfamiliar place. A body appears in front of him and lifts an already asleep Amarante out of his lap. Her head lolls against Cardin’s shoulder. The one unoccupied by her brother, who Cardin has in his other arm.
“Come on, Cherry,” Cardin says quietly. “Get ready for bed, you have to be up early.”
“Papaaa,” Cherry whines, not quite as quiet as Cardin. Despite the protest she still stands up and takes Amarante from him. Being moved again doesn’t even stir her. She just lets her head flop like dead weight against Cherry’s shoulder. Jaune laughs quietly at it, just an amused huff of breath out his nose.
“I've got her, get,” Cardin says.
“I’m fine, I’ll take her to the room and then head straight to my own. Huntsman’s honour,” Cherry says.
“You’re not a huntsman yet,” Cardin says.
“Yet,” Cherry repeats with a smile, and Cardin gives her a flat look. Jaune shifts as he watches this, unsure what to do himself. Obviously he isn’t going back to his time tonight, which means that sleeping arrangements have to be figured out. The couch is definitely comfortable enough. Though Jaune isn’t sure if he can even sleep, in this new place. There is just so much information; it’s just so weird.
"Take him to the guest room," Cardin gestures to Jaune and Cherry sighs.
"Papa," Cherry says.
"Cherry." Cardin raises both his eyebrows. After a long moment Cherry huffs at him, rolling her eyes, and gives him back Amarante. Once again, Amarante doesn’t stir.
"C'mon, Ma. Follow me," Cherry says. She leads him out of the living room to a short hallway with five doors. She points to each of them:
First on the right, “This is the bathroom;”
Second on the right, “Amarante and Lotus’ room;”
First on the left, “guest room, where you'll sleep;”
Second on the left, “my room, if you need anything during the night ask me;”
The door at the end of the hallway, “Ma and Papa’s room. Got it?”
Jaune nods absentmindedly as he repeats each room in his head. Though he gets a little stuck on the last one. Just another reminder that this is his future and it is different than he thought it’d be. That it… is rather close to how he thought it’d be. Not who he lived with, obviously. Obviously he’s never imagined a future with Cardin in it. In any capacity. Even before Cardin blackmailed him and he stood up to him and then Cardin disappeared from his life except for at the very edges where he could see him with the rest of team CRDL and Velvet. He closes his eyes, shakes his head, and reopens them. Cherry’s eyes are on him.
“Everything you need should be in there. I’ll grab you a new toothbrush, unless you want to use Ma’s,” Cherry says. She looks amused with an eyebrow raised and a smirk. Why she would look amused, he doesn’t know. It certainly has nothing to do with him.
“... a new toothbrush,” Jaune says after a moment of thought.
Cherry nods.
“Hey.” Before she leaves, Jaune has to ask because it simply popped into his head. “If you were in my position, which would you do?”
She pauses. “... huh. I'd probably use mine? I mean, it's my own mouth.”
Jaune nods.
“That has to be the weirdest time travel question to come out of this,” Cherry says and Jaune has to agree with her. “Alright, I'm getting you a new one and I'll grab some of Papa’s pjs for you.”
“Why not mine?” Jaune asks.
“Because you're smaller than Ma,” Cherry says and walks away to do what she said. So he gets taller. Will he get taller than Pyrrha and Yang? Maybe. … this means that he will grow taller than Cardin, if he isn’t already with the recent growth spurt he had.
He brushes his teeth and runs his fingers through his hair with those two thoughts still in his head after Cherry returns. Once he gets in the bedroom, he changes clothes. There is just something about being in the future and in an unfamiliar environment that makes him not want to change just yet. For a little longer, he wants to keep everything he has from the past with him. On him. Jaune also just doesn’t really want to see himself wearing Cardin’s clothes just yet. Or to feel how soft they probably are (they felt soft when he took them from Cherry and when he picked them back up from the counter to carry to the guest room). It’s enough to know he was married to Cardin. Apparently.
That is still a thought to get his mind around.
As he walks across the hallway to the guest room, he catches the twins’ open door in the corner of his eye and pauses. Cardin sits next to their bed, a hand against Amarante’s chest as both the twins sleep. There is a soft smile on his face. The tiredness seems to disappear with it. Jaune drinks in the image. A pink night light casts lines of light and shadow across the planes of Cardin’s face. As he watches, Cardin briefly moves his hand up to remove Amarante’s wispy bangs from her face before he moves it back to her chest. He presses down against the sudden warmth that threatens to burst his chest open as Amarante snuggles sleepily into the bed and Cardin’s smile gets fonder but no less soft at the action. As Cardin’s aura pulses gentle and content. It feels quiet. Not the uncomfortable kind, but the peaceful one. Cardin’s aura spreads out from his hand and Jaune watches the red lighten until it matches Amarante’s and settles against the rest of her aura, becoming a part of it.
“He’s doing with them what he did with me,” Cherry says, arms crossed and hip against the hallway. Her eyes on Cardin.
“What?” Jaune just barely turns toward her.
“Papa doesn’t… have a lot of aura. It’s kind of genetic. So he’s hoping that if he gives them aura for long enough, it might change for them.” Cherry turns to him with a half shrug.
Jaune pauses and turns to look fully at her. “You say that like it didn’t work for you.”
She laughs, though it’s not bitter. “You tell me– you can see it.”
“You already know,” Jaune says, surprised.
“Yeah,” Cherry looks away. “Papa doesn’t, though, You– er, Ma– doesn’t want me to tell him. Ma’s sort of afraid how he’ll react, since I wanna be a huntsman.”
“Oh,” Jaune says. “... can I know why?”
Cherry shakes her head, wetting her lips. “I think that’s something Papa should tell you.”
“Alright,” Jaune says. He has to admit, that is one mystery which should probably be left to learn with time. When he’s supposed to, not because of a surprise trip to the future. Especially since Cardin doesn’t currently know. He’d rather not risk it when he doesn’t even know what the risk was. The way Cherry said it made it feel important.
“I’m going to bed.” Cherry pushes herself off the wall. She glances back over at Cardin and her younger siblings, before she moves toward her room. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Jaune whispers back. Once her door is closed, he looks back at the twins’ room. He’ll watch Cardin and his aura just a little longer. It’s honestly a really pretty shade of red, which he never considered he might say about blood red. It draws him like a moth to a flame, looking across rooms, and even now he finds himself entering the room, standing off to the side so he doesn’t break the peace. Eventually Cardin moves away from Amarante to stand next to Lotus on the other side of the bed. Blood red seeps into a bright purple, until Cardin’s aura starts to flicker. It’s dipped too low, Jaune knows. He moves closer, nudging Cardin as his aura flickers again, breaking the connection. Cardin doesn’t even grumble about it, only tipping to the side for a moment before he scoots over.
Jaune takes Cardin’s place, settling his hand against Lotus’ heart. As his hand begins to glow faintly, golden aura coming to life along his skin, he glances over at Cardin. Cardin had lied down partly on the mattress, his head pillowed by his arms. His position made his glasses go askew, but he doesn’t seem to notice. Or, perhaps, care. As Jaune watches, Cardin’s eyes slowly slip closed. By the time he thinks he’s done, Cardin seems to have fallen entirely asleep. Jaune feels a little bad waking him– Cardin really seems to need whatever sleep he can get– but it can’t possibly be a comfortable position, so he nudges him again.
“Cardin, come on. You should move to the bed,” Jaune whispers. Cardin grumbles a noise, eyes opening partly. It doesn’t seem like he’s actually awake, but he stands up anyway, bending to press a light kiss to Jaune’s cheek. Everything inside Jaune seems to freeze immediately. His blood, bones, muscle, everything is frozen solid. All but the spot on his cheek where Cardin’s lips brushed, which radiates pure warmth. His heart beats frantically to spread what’s no doubt blood turned to frozen sludge.
“Ma?” Cherry nudges him and he jolts so hard he almost hits his head on her jaw. He realizes his hand is on his cheek, right over the spot Cardin kissed him, and rips it away. Oum, Cardin kissed him. The previously frozen blood suddenly heats like lava. He definitely can’t deny his crush anymore, can he? When he looks up, cheeks no doubt pink, he is met with an amused smirk. The look reminds him half of Marion and half of Cardin. It would've been unsettling if it didn't seem to fit so well. “You should go back to the guest room now, unless you want to sleep on their floor.”
“No- no,” Jaune stutters and scrambles to a stand so quickly he almost tips over. Which just seems to amuse Cherry more. There is no way his cheeks are simply pink now. It feels like he's sat right next to a campfire. At least Cherry doesn’t actually say anything, even if the knowing look says quite enough. Once more, the look is a combination of Marion and a look he's never seen but is sure came from Cardin. He nods, because he doesn’t know what else to do– nothing can possibly salvage his embarrassment– and makes a hasty retreat to the guest room, clothes in hand. It isn’t until he is in the guest room with the door closed behind him that he remembers the clothes were Cardin’s. The clothes are innocent in his hands. Because of course they are. They're clothes. But as he looks down at the dark fabric, he swears he can feel it heating.
Frantic to stop thinking about it, Jaune hurriedly dresses. There is no mirror in the room, but he can feel the way the clothes rest baggy on his body; the top hanging off his shoulders– every time he tries to readjust so it doesn’t, it simply slides back down, the bottoms sling low on his hips– thankfully not enough to be indecent, but enough to feel it. Embarrassingly enough, Jaune can feel his cheeks heat. At least this time he's alone. It’s just the thought of it, the knowledge that these clothes are baggy because they're Cardin’s. Not just any Cardin, either. But the future Cardin. The one who likes him somehow and marries him. Cardin Arc. Once again, he swears he feels the fabric heating. Jaune glances around the room, just to double check he is alone and has closed the door. It’s silly and makes him feel a little like a criminal, but he can’t stop himself. It’s too embarrassing. Still, once he is sure no one can see him, he lets himself imagine that the pajamas are from the Cardin currently at Beacon. That that Cardin likes him and really could be the future one, one day. He gets comfortable on the bed, under the blankets, and snuggles into the borrowed clothes with that thought in his head. Sleep comes surprisingly quickly.
Jaune yawns as he walks into the kitchen. For being in the future, he slept really well. Though he guesses time travel doesn’t really affect sleep. Or maybe it does. What does he know; time travel jet lag could be a thing. He sits groggily at the table, head held up only by his open palm and even then he barely keeps it from slipping to the wooden surface. The chair next to him is pulled out, another tired body collapsing into it.
"Morn' ma," Cherry says, her voice a creak. Jaune grunts back his own gravelly 'morning'. It seems their oldest daughter woke late, just as he does. The thought doesn’t cause as much distress as he thinks it might if he were more awake. The next to walk into the kitchen/dining room are Lotus and Amarante, Cardin right behind them. His hair is down, long and floppy so it partly covers his face. Jaune watches as Cardin pulls it back, tying it absently into a wolf tail as Cherry helps him get the twins into their seats.
“Alright, who’s up for pancakes?” Cardin asks in a quiet voice, half a yawn in his throat.
“Us!” The twins say loudly, both all smiles, and Cherry nods in agreement. Jaune folds his arms onto the table so he can tuck his head between them, just barely hiding his smile.
“Arc?” Cardin turns to him, eyebrow raised. Jaune sits up a bit in surprise. He didn’t exactly expect to get an opinion on breakfast.
“Uh, yeah, that sounds great,” Jaune says. “Do you want any help?”
Cardin snorts. Jaune glowers at it. “I’m good, you just sit there and look pretty.”
Jaune feels his eyes widen, his cheeks heat, his chest stop. Just sit there and look pretty. Cardin’s shoulders stiffen belatedly and his own cheeks darken. Cherry groans.
“Great. You guys are still like this,” Cherry grouses.
“Like what?” Jaune asks, nearly jumping on the distraction. It’s a mistake.
“Gross, what else,” Cherry says, lip curled in a dramatic show of disgust as she gestures between Cardin and him.
Jaune darkens more, cheeks going from a faint pink to a rosy one. Apparently their marriage is rather loving, if they flirted enough to still annoy their oldest. Despite the embarrassment, Jaune rather likes the knowledge he’s one of those parents. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” Cherry complains, but at least she seems fond of it. “You’re in-fucking-sufferable.”
“But you love us anyway,” Jaune says, unsure if it’s a question or a statement, and Cherry sighs, long and dramatic.
“I guess, if I must,” she says, the corner of her lip twitching betrayingly.
“You must,” Cardin hums. Cherry groans again as she sits in the chair, slumping like she’s gone days without sleep. This time, it is Cardin’s lip which twitches upward. Jaune does as told, staying at the table and just watching Cardin, though he isn’t really sure he is being pretty in the baggy borrowed clothes. He still feels sleepy, but he thinks he is slowly waking up. Once again, he is caught by how domestic this all is, Cardin making breakfast, flipping pancakes while humming a tune he doesn’t recognize. Some song which had come out in the however many years separate Jaune is from all of this. Jaune closes his eyes and must’ve unintentionally dozed.
“You’re wearing my clothes.” Jaune wakes with a hitched breath, looking at Cardin who is staring at him, frozen with the plate of pancakes in his hand. This time, Jaune knows he is definitely fully awake.
“Uh, yeah,” Jaune says as he sits up. His hands knocking the table as he does, fumbling, a sound of flesh hitting wood he barely feels. “I’m sorry, I forgot, Cherry gave them to me since I didn’t have pjs and apparently future me- current me- whatever me is bigger than I am? I can go change back real quick, though!”
“No, no. It’s fine” Cardin looks away quickly, pink staining his cheeks. He doesn’t look up at any of them as he places the pancakes in the middle of the table. Meanwhile, Jaune doesn’t think he can stop looking at Cardin. Messy hair frames his face, hiding the blush. The plate rattles on the table. Pale hands with chipped whiteout catch in Jaune’s view and he looks over to Cherry as she grabs two pancakes, the chair scraping across the floor while she stands.
“This is actually worse than usual. Somehow,” Cherry announces, taking a large bite from one of the pancakes. Chocolate stains the corner of her mouth. “I’m heading to Aunt Velvet’s.”
“Take some for her, it wouldn’t surprise me if she hasn’t eaten yet,” Cardin says, abruptly snapping out of it. Jaune swallows and ducks his own head to pull a few chocolate chip pancakes to his own plate. There is a dip in Cardin’s words, like a pause, and Jaune glances up through his eyelashes to see Cardin’s eyes already on him. Cardin frowns, thin, and looks back at Cherry. “You know why.”
Cherry rolls her eyes, “Yeah, I got it. No future stuff, whatever.” She stuffs a few pancakes into a ziploc before stuffing those into a pink backpack which she flings over her shoulder. There is a tassel on the one zipper, a sunflower braided to it. Somehow, the sunflower looks real, but Cherry presses a kiss to Cardin’s cheek and runs out the door shouting goodbyes before he can get a better look. And now it is him, and Cardin, and two young twins.
He doesn’t know what to think about it. Aunt Velvet. It is very possible it doesn’t mean anything and there is another Velvet out there somewhere, one Cardin is related to or one one of his sisters marries. But Jaune sees how Cardin and Velvet interact these days and he, deep down, knows it was her. After all, the simplest answers are often the correct ones. It feels weird to think about, that one day Cardin and Velvet will be so close their children will view her as their aunt. If, of course, they’re not so close already. Maybe they are.
There is a tree swing in the front yard, right outside the kitchen window. Oddly enough, it isn’t the red leaves and sweet smell of sap that reminded him just where the cabin stood, but the tree swing. Safe, positioned right where Cardin or his future self can keep an eye on the kids. Closer to the house is the garden he noticed before, tucked behind a small fence to keep creatures away. On the other side of the fence is a different garden with different plants, without the fence. Jaune can see where some of the leaves have been eaten by some animal or another. Lotus walks over to the unfenced plot, kneeling down, getting his hands messy with dirt as Amarante guides him to the swing to push her.
“So, uh, Aunt Velvet?” Jaune questions as he picks up Amarante to put her on the swing. There’s no answer and Jaune sighs, glancing away to look for Cardin. Cardin holds a watering can in his hand, taking care of the plants inside the fencing silently. It doesn’t even seem like Cardin hears him, but Jaune knows he must’ve. “Come on, you have to tell me something.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Cardin says and Jaune grumbles in frustration. He doesn’t understand why Cardin won’t tell him even the smallest of things. It’s not like Jaune asked when they got married or started to date or who asked who first. (The way Cardin is now, Jaune bets it was him. Only because he can’t see the tight-lipped man actually ask him anything.)
“Can you at least tell me why Forever Fall?” Jaune asks. “I mean, out of all the places to build a house, out here?”
Cardin blushes and his mouth opens just slightly, but no noise comes out. Jaune waits as patiently as he can muster. “... the Ursa Incident.”
“The Ursa Incident?” Jaune questions. Cardin’s cheeks and ears get redder as the blush spreads further. But Cardin doesn’t look away or even explain. Jaune isn’t sure he will. He closes his eyes to think about it and to force his eyes away from that pretty blush. (Will he be able to make the Cardin of his time blush like that, even with their current lack of relationship?) Something clicks and he opens his eyes in surprise. “When I saved you?”
Cardin nods.
A laugh almost forces its way from Jaune because it is so unbelievably dorky. Apparently Cardin can tell because he scowls. “It was your idea.”
“That makes sense,” Jaune says and he is proud it only comes out sounding a little like a laugh. “And I didn't say it's bad. Just dorky. I mean, I saved you here and now we live here. It's cute too though, I swear!”
Jaune smiles widely, unable to not find humour in it, to not feel warm because of it, and Cardin glares, but his aura seems happy and amused. He bites his lip and looks back at Amarante to push her higher. As high as she begs him to. Blonde hair trails behind her, long like her brother’s, and Jaune’s smile softens. It feels strange still, to imagine. These are his kids. Actual children, all with the man who’d bullied and blackmailed him and yet made his heart do funny things he can’t really deny anymore. “Thank you,” Jaune says quietly. “For telling me that, at least.”
Cardin huffs dismissively. “You’d never shut up if I didn’t give you something.”
“That’s true,” Jaune admits with a laugh. He’s always been pretty stubborn, especially when he really wants something. And information makes things at least a little less confusing, let’s him see things more clearly. It’s part of why he likes math. Math makes sense, it’s information and numbers Jaune can put together and get an answer from.
For two days (counting his first), Jaune sleeps in the guest room. He helps Cardin where he can with giving the twins’ aura, but it doesn’t seem to do much. Cardin’s own aura continued to dip lower, the circles under his eyes getting darker. It doesn’t look like Cardin slept at all. The third night, Jaune sneaks out of the room and presses his ear to Cardin’s door. He doesn’t hear anything through the wood, no snoring or shifting like he expected from someone sleeping. There isn’t a light on when he looks under the door. Concerned, he slips out of the house all together. He finds Cardin in the back, sitting beneath a tree and looking up. He’s far enough and quiet enough that Jaune knows Cardin doesn’t know he’s there and for a long moment, Jaune just watches and wonders. Is this what Cardin has been doing the entire time he’s been there, just sitting outside watching the stars? He remembers Cardin doing it in his time, too, back when he still spent time with team crdl, on the nights he couldn’t sleep. Sometimes, rarely, Cardin would text him to go to the roof and Jaune would sit with him, close to the edge and silently watch. Now, Jaune slips away, back into the guest room, present and future interplaying in his mind.
In the morning, Cardin sways on his feet making breakfast, Cherry steadying him so he doesn’t tip over. Jaune watches with a frown, the concern chipping away at him. This is a way he hasn’t seen Cardin before, tired with his aura reserves so low he’s not even sure how the man is standing. Cherry forces him over to the table despite Cardin’s protests, glaring at him. “You’re not sleeping enough.”
“I’m fine,” Cardin argues, shifting away, moving to stand up. Cherry glares harder, pressing him down, and the most concerning part is that Cardin actually remains sitting. If Jaune knows anything, it’s Cardin’s strength. At this age, their daughter shouldn’t have been able to stop him at all.
“You're putting yourself at risk, again,” Cherry says, words tipping up.
“Again?” Jaune asks.
“Yeah,” Cherry says, looking over at Jaune before looking back at Cardin. A flicker of pain moves through her aura before it smooths over. “There were some really… rocky moments, during the twins’ pregnancy.”
“And everything turned out fine,” Cardin says. Cherry’s aura flares out in anger, puffing like a bird trying to make itself seem bigger. She breathes, reigning it back in, close to her skin but lacking the comfortable quality calm has. She slowly clenches and unclenches her fists.
“But it could’ve gone badly,” Cherry says evenly.
“Oh,” Jaune says quietly, mind reeling slightly from the answer to his unasked question. It’s Cardin who got pregnant, at least with the twins. Cardin who went through all the symptoms and the pain, with a different Jaune by his side. Cardin who apparently got sick enough during it, it scared their daughter. He looks at Cardin, biting his lip, wanting to reach out but holding back because he’s not that Jaune. And he doesn’t really know how to fix it. What was Cardin’s Jaune doing that he can’t see to do? How was he helping Cardin? He wonders if Cherry would be able to tell him. He knows Cardin wouldn’t. And for the first time the annoyance feels different, because this isn’t just some random bit about the future, but something Cardin definitely seems to need, and he knows the man is too stubborn to do anything about it.
Cherry steps away, moving to finish cooking the eggs Cardin was making, movements stiff. As she does, Cardin watches her but doesn’t argue again. Jaune watches Cardin more than before, tracking the weakness of Cardin’s aura. When he first arrived, it looked like Cardin was in a fight. Now, Jaune sort of thinks Cardin should be in the hospital. If he was still at Beacon, there’s no way Miss Goodwitch would let him in any of the combat-oriented classes. It’d be too dangerous.
“You need to sleep with him,” Cherry says later, when Jaune is kneeling next to Lotus’ bed, weaving his aura into the toddler’s. He looks up at her and she sighs, sitting on the edge of the bed with her arms crossed. Lotus barely shifts despite the mattress dipping. “He sleeps better when ma is home.”
Jaune nods. It makes sense, he thinks. It’s easier to sleep when you know the people you love are safe. He frowns, practically kicking himself, because of course Cardin hasn’t been sleeping. Of course they know where his future self is– Beacon, where he’d been– but they don’t know what he’s doing now. If he’s fixing things, because Jaune can’t fix things himself, or if he’s waiting it out like Jaune is. “I will.”
“He’s going to make it difficult,” Cherry warns.
“I can handle him.” Jaune smiles and Cherry sighs, muttering a good luck under her breath.
After he’s done in the twins’ room, he heads back to the guest room, putting on the borrowed pajamas. There’s no mirror, so he just looks at his reflection in the window, thinking about what he’s going to do. He figures Cardin isn’t outside yet, since it hasn’t been long since the twins and Cherry went to sleep. He chews on his lip, nervous, because this is… intimate. Intimate in a way he’s been with plenty of people, sure, but this feels different. It’s a person he knows but doesn’t know, who he doesn’t have a relationship with but will one day. Someone who makes his heart feel weird, and has only made his heart feel weirder now he’s been stuck with him like this for several days. But he can’t avoid it forever. That won’t help anyone.
He steps out of the guest room and walks across the hall to the room he knows he’ll share with Cardin one day. As he does, he can feel his heart slowly crawl up his throat and he knocks on the door not knowing what else to do. Not knowing what he’ll say when Cardin opens the door. (Because in a house with three kids, he knows Cardin is going to open the door.) The door swings open, Cardin looking down with a confused furl to his eyebrows until he notices it’s Jaune.
“Arc? What do you need this late?” Cardin asks and Jaune attempts a weak smile.
“Late? Does that mean I start sleeping earlier?” Jaune asks and Cardin huffs, rolling his eyes.
“If all you’re going to do is ask questions you know I won’t answer, I’m going back to bed,” Cardin says and Jaune places his hand on the door before Cardin can close it on him. The most telling thing, to Jaune, is that he gets the idea he really could stop Cardin from closing it if he wanted to.
“I want to sleep with you,” Jaune rushes out, and nearly slams his head into the door after. Shit that sounds bad. “I mean! Not like that! Like, sleep-sleep. I wanna sleep in your bed. With you. Platonically!”
Cardin’s eyebrow raises and Jaune feels incredibly hot under the collar. At least Cardin doesn’t touch his embarrassment. “You want to sleep in my room?”
“Yes,” Jaune says, nodding like a bobblehead. “You look tired lately and I thought it might help?”
“I don’t need your help,” Cardin says, expression flattening out, and Jaune knows immediately he has made a mistake. Really, he should’ve known better. Cardin in his time is just as stubborn. The only reason he’d once been able to help Cardin was because the blackmail basically gave him an excuse. It’s like Pyrrha, who is very free with giving help but so very slow to ask or accept any for herself.
“I know you don’t,” Jaune says, wheedling. “But I need yours. I’m right in the midst of Beacon, and you know how many siblings I have, the room is too quiet for me to really sleep. So can I sleep in yours? Just for tonight? I’d feel better if I was with someone else.”
Cardin looks him over and Jaune can feel the doubt in his stare. It makes his pulse tick up a bit, thrumming in his wrist, but he only smiles. Finally, Cardin sighs and opens the door fully. Jaune slips inside before he can change his mind.
“Thanks for this,” Jaune says with a smile, looking around the room he hasn’t actually seen until now. There are bits he knows definitely have to be his and bits he thinks might be Cardin’s. A knitted blanket is folded over the end of the bed, a golden orange with a symbol he can just barely see on a corner that makes him bite his lip because even just the small portion is enough for him to know what it is. Cardin’s emblem and his own, interwoven together. It’s likely Sky’s doing. Dark green curtains cover the window, likely a compromise because green is his favourite colour and Cardin probably thought it was too bright for the room. The rest of the room is done in browns, minus the golden comforter. A glasses case sits on the bedside table next to Cardin’s side– Jaune restrains himself from poking fun at Cardin for putting his glasses away in a case every night before bed– along with a lamp and a book. There’s a desk with a stack of papers Jaune hopes isn’t his that Cardin picks up before he can even look, storing them away in the desk. There’s no lock on it, so Jaune guesses Cardin trusts him not to look at it. Which really, Cardin should know him better.
He turns to his own side. The place he’ll occupy in the future. There’s another table, one with hairbands scattered across the top and a charger for his scroll. It seems rather empty and Jaune wonders if Cardin planned for this eventuality. Honestly, he probably did, and Jaune is starting to get annoyed at his insistence. Knowing what he keeps on his sidetable won’t cause Remnant to crumble. Rolling his eyes, Jaune gets into the bed, lying with his back to Cardin’s side. He listens to Cardin putz around for a while before finally going to bed as well.
Once Cardin has been asleep long enough, Jaune slips from the bed. Cardin stirs and Jaune holds his breath, but he doesn’t wake up. It’s probably the lack of sleep, which does make Jaune feel a little bad, but he’s too curious. He needs to know at least something. Something more about this life he’ll have one day. He doesn’t even know if he’s still a huntsman. So he sneaks over to the drawer, opening it slowly, and takes out the first paper.
It’s a test. An english test, similar to the ones given at Beacon and Jaune frowns, looking it over. The ink is red, the markings seeming fresh, and Jaune looks over at where Cardin is sleeping. Since he’s moved over here, Cardin has shifted more into the middle of the bed, arm stretching out. He feels his chest clench. So during the days Cardin’s been taking care of the twins, Cherry, and even Jaune himself here and there and then he returns to his room and spends the nights grading. Somehow, Jaune can actually see Cardin as a teacher. He bites his lip and puts the paper back, closing the drawer.
When he gets back into the bed, Cardin wraps around him like an octopus. Jaune stares at the ceiling for a long time, thinking. Finally realizing that when he called this Cardin’s life when he first got here, he was wrong. Well, he was right, of course, but he was also so very wrong. This isn’t just Cardin’s life, like it’s a thing he can take apart and change. It’s his entire life. All of this is everything to Cardin and it makes sense why Cardin is protecting it so carefully, like the entire situation is glass he’s being forced to juggle while he walks across a tightrope. Jaune frowns and turns in the bed, wrapping his own arms around Cardin’s waist and feeling much worse than he did before. As he does, he weaves his own aura into Cardin’s, guiding it to replenish a little faster.
It finally happens a day later. Jaune doesn’t know what triggers it, though he barely understood what triggered the first swap. But one moment, he’s in the garden with Lotus, and in the next he’s surrounded by his team and Cardin’s. He looks around, confused once more. Though he’s only allowed a second of quiet confusion before he’s being squeezed by Nora in one of the world’s tightest hugs.
“You’re back!” She says, lifting him up, and Jaune barely even struggles.
“I am?” He says.
“Yeah!” Nora puts him down, smiling brightly at him. He blinks in the face of it, feeling like he just woke up from the world’s weirdest dream. Only he’s standing up and most definitely not in Beacon. He has no idea where he is. “How was the future?”
“Uh,” Jaune looks around, catching Cardin’s eyes without really thinking about it. Cardin, multiple years younger, with shorter hair and less grays, meets his eyes for only a moment before looking away. But Jaune catches the soft pink on his cheeks and finds himself smiling. “It was good. Really good.”