[5/17 (Saturday) - Morning]
Save for homework and some light training that he planned this evening, Clerval found himself with an unusual amount of free time.
He pulled out his to-do list and scanned it, searching for any activities that he could do to help pass the time. The casual meet-up with Team Ruby and Team Juniper was still some time away, the exact timing already confirmed in their group chat the night before.
A look over the list only diminished his motivation. He didn't particularly feel like heading into Vale today, especially with an engagement already lined up for the afternoon. That left only a handful of tasks remaining.
Homework.
The joint get-together with Teams Ruby and Juniper.
Revising and studying for next week's classes.
A stroll around Beacon Academy to better familiarize himself with the campus...
His eyes lingered on the last thought before drifting elsewhere. Maybe he should see what this "Wazio Cart" game is about.
Curious, he typed the name into his Scroll's search engine. The results flooded in, over a thousand of them. It seems the game was wildly popular, with the latest release already reaching its fifth installment.
From what he could gather, Wazio Cart was a kart-racing game that placed players against friends and foes, sending them racing through various tracks while playing as characters pulled from well-known franchises.
He had no idea who these characters were, but he knew one of them. X-Rave, or something like that. Jaune was reading a comic underneath his textbook a few days ago, so he probably remembered it from that.
He then scrolled down to read the reviews. Huh. It was overwhelmingly positive with some niche nitpicks. No wonder Ruby and Jaune wouldn't stop talking about it in the group chat.
Well, that settled it. He had found a way to kill some time. Might as well install the game and learn the controls for later...
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While the group hadn't set a specific venue for their get-together in the group chat, Clerval had assumed they would be hanging out in the dorm's common lounge, where a large television was available.
He hadn't expected them to haul a 98" sized TV into his room instead.
"Excuse me!"
"Good day, Clerval."
"..."
"Yo, Gray—'scuse me, TV coming through!"
"Thanks for letting us borrow your room, man."
"Sorry for intruding!"
"Thank you for hosting."
"ZZZZZzzzzzzz…"
Watching them file past him one after another, Clerval couldn't help but raise a hand to his face and let out a slow, deep breath. A moment later, he closed the door behind them and turned his attention to preparing some refreshments for his guests.
The television was set down with a soft thud, and Yang dusted off her palms as the group took a moment to look around his dorm room.
"It's spacious!" Jaune remarked.
Ren, who was responsible for dragging along one of their still-asleep teammates, offered his assessment. "Our beds and belongings take up most of the space. With only one occupant, the room's size is justified."
"Rather empty." Blake commented, lowering her book as she approached his table. It was bare save for a neat stack of books and some stationery.
On the other side of the room, Weiss had a calculative expression as she stared at all this empty space. "Perhaps I could fit a closet here for my additional luggage..." She mutters out loud.
"Let me take a quick look; where'dya hide the dirty mags at?" "Yang, privacy! Privacy!" Ruby had to physically rein her sister back, who was trying to look under the bed.
"Nora, we're here."
"ZZZZzzz—Huh? Woah, this room is huge!" And Pyrrha and Nora were having a moment.
The room that was usually quiet had devolved into something far more chaotic and messier.
Clerval cleared his throat, a few pairs of eyes drifting toward him. With a tray in hand filled with water, he placed them down onto the floor—seeing as he lacked chairs to accommodate everyone—and moved to help Yang set the TV up.
As it turned out, the TV—courtesy of Team Ruby, who had pooled their money together for their movie nights—was capable of extending up to a full 110 inches. It solved the problem of how the screen could possibly support up to nine players on split screen at once.
Once everything was ready and hooked up, everyone booted the game, controlling through their Scroll with the display showing the game, ready to start their session.
And so, the hours flew by.
Amongst all the wild screaming, trash talking, laughter, hollow apologies, and banter, Clerval couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at his lips as he enjoyed himself. He could feel that his relationship with each member of his friend group grew somewhat closer now.
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[5/17 (Saturday) - Evening]
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Waving goodbye as everyone began leaving his dorm room after hours of gaming, Jaune and Pyrrha lingered behind. It seemed Jaune had something he wanted to ask.
"Um..." He hesitated, words faltering as he tried to get his thought out just like Ruby did the day prior. Was he really that unapproachable? He shrugged the thought aside as Pyrrha cleared her throat.
"What Jaune is trying to say is that, since we are teammates..." She gave him an encouraging look, silently prompting him to continue. Jaune coughed into his fist, steeling himself before speaking.
"So, we're planning to book a gym room tomorrow to test out our team's synergies—Nora suggested it when we went over our skills and abilities a few days ago; they're off to eat pancakes—using the Grimm Combat Simulator."
He scratched the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh. "Since, you know, you missed the last session because you had to go out to Vale... It'd be great if you joined this one! Not forcing you or anything—it's just that... well, you're Team Juniper's team member too. I'm—We're—not going to leave you out, you know?"
He trailed off, glancing at Clerval with a nervous smile, hoping his point had come across without sounding too pushy.
Hearing this, Clerval couldn't help but realize he hadn't been the most attentive teammate. During the whole week of schooling, he hadn't even once taken the time to act as a team member of Team Juniper, declining invitations for his own activities.
Mentally berating himself, he gave them a small, determined nod. "I'll join."
"G-Great!" Jaune exclaimed as he gave Pyrrha a quick thumbs-up. "I'll go book the gym room now! Thanks for agreeing, Clerval!"
He shook his head, saying that he should have accepted their invitations earlier and apologizing for his absence over the past week. A few quick words later, Jaune sprinted down the hall to book the gym for tomorrow's session with Pyrrha in tow, pausing only briefly to give Clerval a grateful farewell.
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A/N: Sorry for the wait. I got into an unexpected holiday trip during Hari Raya. I just came back on Monday, so here's the deal.
To replace last week's chapters and as a celebration for my internship ending on Friday this week, I'll be posting THREE CHAPTERS of Take a Deep Breath, Deep Breath and The Butler Who Can Bend Fire!
Hope you all enjoy this week's content; I'll see you in the next post!
NEXT UPDATE: 26 March, Thursday
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