[hider= Oswald's Valentine's Day Boredom] Oswald was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what he was going to do with his day. He was uncharacteristically tired, and had been resting for the past half an hour or so at this point, just staring up into nothing in particular. Fuck, he was bored. Sitting up, Oswald was greeted with an empty dorm room. The girls had left him to go do their own thing, whatever the hell that was. Probably would involve making jokes at his expense and some kind of shopping, maybe? Girls had some weird thing with fashion and shopping, especially in Vale. Shaking his head to collect his thoughts, Oswald checked his Scroll for the time. Thankfully, it wasn’t too late, which meant he’d be able to probably get something done. Whatever something was. The [i]Vengeance[/i] and [i]Igneus Iudex[/i] didn’t need maintenance, and for once he wasn’t in the mood to spar or train. He was utterly and truly without anything to do. The feeling was strange. He didn’t like it. Stuffing his Scroll in his pocket, Oswald strapped his sword belt on and grabbed his blade, choosing to forgo his armor and cloak for once. Today was apparently a weird day, so why bother with following the usual routine? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oswald found himself in a Bullhead to Vale the next time he took a moment to really think about what he was going to do with his day. Probably just wander the streets, really. Stop into a few stores, see if there was anything he’d spend money on. Probably not, he was damn stingy with his Lien. The school had most of what he needed, and what he couldn’t get there he’d buy in bulk at one of those cheap stores where you could get a five-pound box of cereal for like 10 Lien. He was not a high-maintenance man. Unfortunately, he also liked to eat like some kind of horrific living vacuum machine, so he spent more on food than he’d have liked to admit. Still, it was better than blowing hundreds of Lien on frivolities, like some people he knew. No names, though, he enjoyed being able to sleep at night without fear of [i]revenge.[/i] Stepping into a small corner shop, Oswald sighed as he realized he’d walked into a bookstore without realizing it. This was one of the last places he needed to be. He’d given up on being “smart” a while back, shameful as it was to admit. To him, books just represented the path he didn’t choose. There was no animosity in the decision either; he didn’t begrudge anybody who chose to expand their horizons mentally. “Is there anything I can help you with, sir?” Taken out of his thoughts by a worker that was probably only a little older than he was, Oswald shook his head and smiled. “No, thank you, I’m just…looking around.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but he didn’t want to outright say that he didn’t intend to buy anything here. It felt like it would just be insulting. Walking into one of the aisles as the worker acknowledged his response, Oswald gave a casual look until he spotted something that stood out like a sore thumb: [b]Ninjas of Love[/b] What? Ninjas? Love Ninjas? What the [i]hell[/i] did that mean? His curiosity piqued, Oswald pulled the book off of the shelf and cracked it open to a random page, giving a quick browse. Something about ninjas, something about an unreturned love, something about a war on two fronts between a group of ancient clans who all hated each other. Boring. Putting the book back where he found it, Oswald searched out for a section on military history or tactics. He wasn’t team leader, and he was certainly glad that was the case, but it wouldn’t hurt to see if he could learn something beyond what he already knew. It helped that the topic was something he could see immediate and clear use in, as well. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to find anything of that sort, instead choosing to make his way out of the establishment. “Did you find everything okay, sir?” Ah, that worker again. Turning, Oswald gave her a quick nod and shrugged. “Well enough. Just…wasn’t anything I was immediately interested in at the moment. Sorry.” Not waiting for a reply, Oswald flashed an apologetic smile and stepped out, back onto the streets of Vale. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not long after, Oswald found himself sitting on a bench in the park, surrounded by reminders of what today was: Valentine’s Day. A day for couples to remind themselves and each other that they were loved and cared for. He never paid it much mind in the past, and definitely didn’t pay it much mind now. He hadn’t had reason to, frankly: he’d never been in a relationship with somebody. He wasn’t really interested in anybody before the Siege, and after he was too preoccupied with his guilt and his self-imposed training regimen to give it any thought. It wasn’t exactly the way he’d seen his beginning foray into adulthood going years before, but predicting the future was always asking for disappointment. Trying to push away the melancholic thoughts, Oswald looked down at his Scroll and let out a short exhale as he ran through the contacts. Aside from his teammates, he only had Gren, Sapphire, and Robert in his Scroll. Some list of friends. He hadn’t even actually seen Sapphire since she’d left Beacon, although that was hardly either’s fault. There wasn’t much to talk about when they did speak, and it wasn’t like either had the time for a visit. Honestly, Sapphire leaving Beacon had seemed like a worse thing at the time than it had ended up being. It was just one potential friend moving away to stay with family. They stayed in contact, sure, but it felt somewhat forced. Probably because they hardly knew anything about each other. She seemed reluctant to open up, and Oswald hated burdening people with his own thoughts or forcing theirs out, so messages between them were often simple small talk. Every now and then they’d skirt around deeper topics, and they’d even had one or two deeper conversations about their personal dreams aside from being Hunters, but… There wasn’t much substance to whatever relationship they had. It was just the way they were. Perhaps if there wasn’t such physical distance between them, they might have been closer, but Oswald wasn’t exactly searching for something deeper, either, and he had the feeling Sapphire felt similarly. They just had enough to deal with as it was, and any relationship might have pushed their frayed minds past the brink. Standing off the bench, Oswald made his way back to the landing station, ready to return to Beacon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mom and Dad, It’s been a while. I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with classes and such, but I guess I’ve also just been slacking a bit. Terrible excuse, I know, but it’s all I got. Beacon’s been alright. The missions get a bit intense sometimes, but I’ve been able to handle myself. I’m not my team’s leader, either, so…that’s a good thing. I’m not really ready for that kind of responsibility again, ya know? My team’s pretty cool. Our leader, Diamond, has surgically implanted Dust in her arm, which he uses with her Semblance to fight. There’s Emerald, this sweet little cat Faunus who really reminds me of Yato in almost every way. Except she’s a girl, and she has a pair of shotguns/rocket launchers instead of a huge sword. Finally, Annabelle is our resident genius. She managed to build a friggin’ walking robot AI that uses a railgun to fight Grimm. I’ve been teaching her how to hold her own without that thing, though, after one of us had a rough run-in with a Griever a while back. (I [i]promise[/i] that everybody is fine.) How have things been back home? Is the reconstruction coming along as planned? I’ve been itching to get to see how Brookeborough’s been while I’ve been gone! I bet Cerise is losing her mind without me there to entertain her, too. Little nag’s always asking me to hang out when I’m not out hunting. Well, she was when I was still at home, I guess. I’ve missed you guys. I’ll send a picture with this letter so you can see how I’m doing. I tried experimenting with keeping up a five o’clock shadow, but it’s still too damn patchy. I’ll manage to catch up with you someday, dad. Love, Oswald ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Yeah, that’ll do.” Looking over the letter one last time, Oswald took his Scroll out and snapped a picture of himself that took a little too long to prepare, if he was honest. In his new armor, all his gear set up next to him as he sat by his bed, he hoped it wouldn’t get him too many questions. His parents always were too clingy after the Siege, though at least it was nice to feel cared for on the worse days. “Just gotta get these printed up somewhere and send it with the next caravan.” Good enough Valentine’s Day, he supposed. His mom would appreciate the letter, at least, even if it was late. [/hider]