#becomestorm.

                 this time, however, in the now eerily quiet alley with still disintegrating grimm dusting through a stiff breeze, jaune doesn’t wait a second before hands start glowing. he’s kneeling beside the dragon, palms out at the no-doubt painful gash spanning along their abdomen. not life-threatening, but it could have been so much worse. it could have been avoided. just because he hadn’t been watching that particular direction didn’t mean he would have been so vulnerable to require a sacrificial blow. but ren was there in a blink and there was a bark of pain before sword plunged itself through the head of the grimm that struck. 

          “do you think it’s stupid of me?” he’s always held ren’s opinion in high regard, even before his kids too such a liking to them. the dragon was level headed where sun was not, “still putting myself on the active roster? nep’s already started teaching. stayin’ close to home,” to the family. something the simian has wanted since he too was a child. and yet...

                   he’s doing it again. that thing where you stare off into the middle distance, unable to focus gaze on any one thing as he tries to mull over his thoughts. nothing in particular, just...a lot. only home two days from their latest missions, and jaune always wonders if they did enough. if he did enough. from the simplest escort missions to intense raiding and liberation plans, jaune overthinks. he thinks of five plans, and plans for backup when they each individually fail. 

                 they did well, this time. well enough there were no causalities when relocating a small village to a safer place deep in the mountains. but there could have been. he was sloppy. ren was there to catch him. like always. he should be better, thought. better than yesterday, right?

               dragon catches him deep in thought and the soft affection comes as a stop in the train of it. he recalls that perhaps, they’re just supposed to be stronger together. needing someone wasn’t the worst thing to happen to him, but rather the best. 

                      and yet, there are times he knows when silence is the best option. 

                     when they just need to be in their space, their thoughts, their head. jaune just feels lucky that ren chooses to his space to find comfort him, if anything. he never takes it for granted. in the wee hours of the night, ren and he share a space. he doesn’t know how long they were clearing the streets of grimm, they will have to be up to revisit the events of the election come sunrise, but jaune doesn’t need to rest.