Drip...drip...drip. Water. Dripping water, like a drill to the brain. Azure frowned in his meditation. Where was it coming from? Was his mind leaking? What little there was of his brain, slowly pooling out of his ears, puddling around in him, in a gray pool. The image picked at his mind, warping and irritating his meditation. Far away, in the real world, someone was yelling for him. Yelling? He was home, who could it be? He swam through his stream of deep thought, surfacing, awaking.
Azure's eyes snapped open, still slightly glazed from his meditation. He finally registered the voice that he thought had been shouting at him. It was Lea, his wife. He blinked and stretched, coming fully awake.
"No need to shout at me dear. What do you need?" She giggled at him from across the room. The couple lived in a small apartment in the heart of Vale. One bedroom, one bath, a small kitchenette, and a balcony. It was a modest living but they lived comfortably.
Lea sat in her reading chair across the room. Azure sat cross legged on the bed, looking at her with his head cocked.
"What's so funny?" She giggled again. "I don't know where you go in those trances of yours," she said. "But I would never yell at you while you're in there. I was just asking if you could fix the sink. Its leaking again."
Azure uncrossed his legs and stretched again. So that had been the water in his meditation. He sighed and stood up, walking towards his wife, his hands extended. She smiled at him bashfully and stood up, holding his hands. "A dance? What's the occasion?" Azure smiled and took her in his arms, holding her close and swaying with her. "When have I ever needed an occasion to dance with you love?" He said.
He dipped her and kissed her neck as she fell back in his arms. She giggled at the feel of his beard tickling her neck as he kissed her. He pulled her out the dip and lifted her up, kissing her in the air. She pulled out the kiss and brushed her raven black hair out of her eyes. "I love you Azure. You're perfect." He chuckled, setting her down. "Far from it my love, but your overconfidence in me warms my heart. I'll get the faucet fixed after dinner alright?"
He walked over to the balcony, grabbing the pack of cigarettes from the counter. Lea frowned at his back.
"I hope you're not planning on going out again. Didn't you hit a new record already today in the forest?" Azure grabbed a cigarette from the pack, laughing.
She worried about him, he knew, but she also knew there wasn't much to worry about. She had seen him fight before, and knew he was the most capable warrior in all of Vale. Oh well, wives would worry. That was a given in the world, he supposed.
"Four Ursas and a Nevermore. It was a good day. It's okay love I won't be going out again tonight. I'm just going to stay in and tune Contritio." He gestured to the sheathed blade leaning against the wall. Contritio was his pride and joy. He had designed it himself, a high frequency blade that ran on Dust. For a man who barely graduated from Beacon, Contritio was a masterpiece of weapon technology. The sheathe itself could collect Dust and contain it until the blade was sheathed. Once the blade was sheathed, it would be charged with Dust, flowing a current through it, causing it to vibrate at high speeds. It also held elemental properties upon unsheathing, based on the type of Dust used. The sword itself was something of an antique, back from the war and possibly before even then. Azure had had it for as long as he could remember, never knowing where it had come from. Just one of the great mysteries.
He opened the door to the balcony, turning and throwing a wink to his wife. "Maybe tomorrow I'll head out and take you with me eh?" Lea's smile faltered. She made her way back to her reading chair. "Azure...you know I don't like going out." Azure stood at the door with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. His face had turned troubled.
"10 years after Beacon. We still carry those scars don't we?"
There was sadness in his voice, as memories of the past resurfaced. Violet. Everess. Team VALE. The relentless harassment. They had been outcasts, the laughing stock of Beacon. Lea was shy, quiet, mousey, the perfect target for all kinds of brutal treatment. Azure was dumb, he had been at Beacon two extra years already before he met Lea, who helped him through classes. Everess was a dropout, and completely unlike her class mates. She was careful and unhappy with the dangerous lifestyle of Beacon. She was also quite rude to most people, and most weren't willing to put up with it. Violet was...Violet was unique. He missed her, hadn't seen her since they'd graduated. He sighed. All in the past. He went out the door to the balcony, all his good cheer lost. Thoughts of the past always did that, and he supposed Lea wasn't in the greatest mood anymore either. He struck a sulfur match on the wall and lit his cigarette, enjoying the evening air and watching the sunset.
Back inside, Lea sat in her reading chair, silently musing over her husband. He was a complicated man. He had barely made it through Beacon without her help, failing all his classes repeatedly. He had been held back twice and was on his final try when he had met her. Now, 10 years later, he was far from the kid she used to know and love. He had evolved into someone she could love even more than she had before. Around her, he was modest, witty, spontaneous and cute. Outside...well he wasn't much different, just no longer modest. Outside he was incredibly cocky, almost to the point of error. She worried endlessly over him, knowing she shouldn't but she did anyway. She had seen him in action and he was a force to be reckoned with. Despite his horrid test scores, he had been the most capable fighter in all of Beacon, even teaching her to fight unarmed and with her curved dagger, Sagain. Azure was the reason she was still alive this day. Azure was her everything. He was her soul mate.