[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/X6PPUuX.png[/img]

[h2]Practice
Primary Objectives: Acquire Education, Form Friendly Bonds with Fellow Students
Secondary Objective: Find Pants[/h2]
[@Norschtalen][@Driving Park]
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There was a valiant struggle.

Blood was shed, tears were shed, clothes were shed, and through it all was the constant refrain of violence and passionate youth. A battle between two colors, red and blue, parsing the notes of a primal song; part humanity and part of the wild, bodies clashed and the ball flew. Magnificent, beautiful, disturbing: all these words would well describe the fray, but Blaine would settle on: expensive.

At the end of the period, Blaine stood in a tattered coat, shredded pants, buttons from his assorted clothes littered the floor of the gym, and his shoes were entirely covered in scuff marks and the damage of being used repeatedly as launch pads. For now, he would have to remove his jacket and tie it about his waist if he was to preserve a sense of decency. As he understood it, showing too much of one's thighs was inappropriate, and he still had first impressions to make. Impressions aside, he couldn’t afford to keep doing this, much less considering the rather small remains of his scholarship money. There simply wasn’t room in his budget for more clothing. If only the school gave out some kind of... exercise clothes. Like a gym uniform. He should look into that.

Still, it was worth it. One uniform was a small price to pay for the beginnings of bonds with his fellow Hunters and Huntresses-in-training, and from the look of things, there were a few people who seemed interesting to Blaine. Of particular note were the vibrant faunus girl, the metal-armed boy with his poor attitude, and the leader, Ben, to whom Blaine had explained that he had no tablet, but that the colossal faunus could be found in his room, and if not present would respond shortly to written notices.

...There was also the attractive man who had changed into a woman at the beginning of the match, but it was best to keep [i]those[/i] ideas to himself, at least for now. So far, it seemed as though he had made a good first impression, so it was with a parting of teeth meant to approximate a smile and a twinkle in his amazingly intense eyes that he strode towards Practice.

As he walked, Blaine kept his eyes forward, face composed with a polite disinterest, and back ramrod straight. As long as he acted casual, surely no one would notice his largely destroyed uniform. He had seen stranger fashion statements already. Besides, he had business to attend to. He had already given Orrin the charm he had made for him, and from what he had seen on the class registry, the other members of Team Obelisk would be in Practice, providing the opportunity he needed. Most excellent.

Cheerful in his heart of hearts, throat humming ever so slightly with the growling music he remembered from the old days, the young faunus arrived at the obstacle course where he soon spotted Selena and Iona. Reaching into the pocket of his ravaged jacket, the faunus walked behind them, his practiced footfalls unintentionally quiet. With a guttural cough, Blaine cleared his throat, covering his mouth with one hand and clutching towards the charms he had made with the other. He bore his teeth, trying to smile and not really managing to reach his eyes. That was something he still had to practice. [color=aba000]“Pardon me, teammates Selena Cecilia and Iona Murasaki. Teammate Selena, I am aware we have seen one another, but missed the chance to introduce ourselves. Teammate Iona, it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Blaine Olbrecht, fellow member of Team Obelisk. As our instructor has stated, we have one minute to ‘catch our breath,’ I have already expended 23 seconds, and I need roughly 20 more to properly give each of you a gift and exchange proper... cultural… um.”[/color]

As he spoke, Blaine’s teeth ceased to show, his expression becoming more and more intense as his face paled. The faunus rooted through his tattered jacket’s breast pocket, the front pockets of his destroyed pants, his back pockets. ...The charms weren’t there. He had placed them in the morning, but the charms weren’t there. The words died in his throat, his breath wheezing out like a dying accordion.

All of a sudden, it was very hot outside to one Blaine Olbrecht, Hunter-in-training.