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Truth.

The word sounded odd coming from a girl who had previously known to believe in the magical properties of an ear of corn, but that was just another distinction between this world and the other. Holding the gaze of those curiously golden eyes, Scott allowed himself to be comforted, as he usually was, by the mention of truth. At the very least, it reaffirmed the fact that Hanna Nowicki was not Hermione and that he was not Zeta Eleven, even if Robert Morris was still kind of an idiot. It temporarily quieted the dissenting cries in his own head, and Scott took full advantage of the brief moment of mental silence.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” he said, the frown etched in the corners of his lips easing only slightly. “But who’s to say I’m not an Asian wizard?” Scott tried not to look at the streaks of ink running down the girl’s cheeks, but the more he did the more he found himself wondering if it was some sort of gang thing. Such a petite thing looked incapable of busting anything in anyone’s asses. “Everything still seems very up in the air at the moment. I’d wait a few days before making any permanent conclusions.”

Scott’s head snapped with Hanna’s, the drama of years of unrequited love unfolding before them... in the middle of a classroom. Between two people who had days ago been nothing more than phantoms in masks, trying to rationally discuss how best to deal with a mysterious ticking noise before they had all ended up knee deep in blood. He briefly wondered if any amount of adjusting would ever make this feel okay moments before deciding that no, it would not.

The sincerity in Hanna’s voice caught him off guard, though at the breaking of her serious façade Scott attempted to play off the shock in his face as equally jovial. Once again that dreadful sense of familiarity crept over him. She may have no longer been trying to cast spells on him, but there was that same sense of theatricality to her, as if in her eyes they were still all characters fulfilling the roles in some fantastical story. Still so very meta.

“Not everyone can be a protagonist. Some of us must always be relegated to… how did you put it? Supporting cast, sunshine.”

"Boss? I mean.. Ariane.." He smiled happily until the awkwardness set in. It was mostly started by Before tugging them into a 3 way hug. He wrapped his arms around the other guy and also around Ariane but he patted them, awkwardly, when it clicked that Ariane was... uh... cute too.

"The gang's all here." He pulled out of the hug slowly and pushed his white bangs from his eyes. He adjusted his braid a bit so it wouldn't hit the ground. He happened to like his hair, kthnx. His eyes darted up and down from her face. Yep. Cute girl. One that liked to boss him around. A string of ex-girlfriends ran through his mind. BE STRONG!

He gulped and looked around the room and did his best to remember and register everyone's names. Of course he wouldn't forget the most important two. "I think some of these people knew each other before all this.."

"Oof!" A week ago, she would have shoved a hugging Before to the ground, but now, she merely hesitated for a moment before hugging back, although she was careful not to let any of his... Bodily fluids get on her. Patting him on his back before prying herself from the hug and patting him on the top of his head, she grinned again, "I take that as a yes."

She stroked her chin before turning to Bix, an eyebrow raised, "Indeed... Something about Phoenix Squad? Heh, we didn't have a fancy name like that, did we?" Giving Bix a pat on the top of his head, she then pulled out the chair beside his, flopping down in it like a boss and then eying the long long long hair both of her companions have.

"... So, you guys compensating for something with that?" She grinned, gesturing at Before's ponytail, and then at Bix's braid.

"I don't know, like, why, exactly," Madison said in reply to Alpha One - no, Jordan. She sobered a little, some of the sudden manic excitement bleeding out of her. "I guess I was good enough? Or something?"

The words A-Nine floated across the table, and Madison whirled yet again, her gaze fixing this time on a pink-haired girl with pigtails - the girl whose hand she'd held as they went through the door. "It's you! I'm - you're - oh get over here," she demanded, holding one hand out in the girl's direction. Yes, the strength of her smile was definitely hurting her face now.

Good enough - the words made Jordan flinch, just a little; maybe noticeable, maybe not. "******** good enough," he said, his voice going rough. "How about we made it?" His eyes stung, a little, but he wasn't going to cry, not in front of everyone, and not in front of his team - sure, they were all on the same side now, all together, but his Phoenixes - A-Seven had given them that name, but they'd all adopted it, and it was theirs. He'd made a promise during the test, when none of them had known anything but surviving and taking care of their own, and he wasn't about to break that now.

"A-Nine," he called to the other girl, the one who'd declared herself, then hesitated. "You did your best. Come on, okay?" He'd make friendships with the others later, the ones who hadn't been his own. But right now, he didn't care. His friends, his team. That came first.

The big guy, the one that A-Two had been hugging, who'd come over to join them - he couldn't be anyone but A-Seven; Jordan recognized that now, the guy's height, his stance and arrogant confidence; it couldn't be anyone else. "Hey, man," he grinned. "Knew you'd be here." Which - well. None of them had known anything, and he hadn't known what'd be next, if anything, past that door - but if he was here, alive and ready to fight, then A-Seven should dang well be here too.

"Oh...?" The boy addressing her did not have a familiar voice, and it took her a while to recall his introduction. When she did, however, she broke into a grin, "Beta Four... Or would you prefer Gale? Heh, I killed someone to avenge your death in the cornfield~ Its good to see you in one piece." Yes, that was the only thing she remembered about him. The first to fall in the cornfield.

"Heh, haters gonna hate, big man," She turn turned to grin at the man - uh, let's see... Robert according to his intro - when he addressed them, before pushing the chair towards Bix so that she could put her arm over his shoulder casually, "But no, seriously. Appreciate the thought, but do continue with the crying and hugging of your own teammates first. Its nice to watch. We can get acquainted later."

They went through one week of the same hell after all, that made them sort of comrades. Sort of.

She didn't look at him, knowing the look on his face could have probably crushed the spirit of even the hardest of people, even if they didn't know him at all. And she did. She knew exactly how he was looking at that exact moment, the pain in his eyes that years of theatre couldn't hide from her, making her feel worse than if she'd just kicked a cannon cat. Even without looking, it was hard for her not to feel the guilt edging into her conscious, particularly as she felt him lift her hand, his lips brushing gently against her knuckles. In the back of her mind, she tried to argue that he might have held Robbie's hand, if she'd been there. She tried to argue that he didn't even know he was holding her hand when they'd walked through the door, that he could have said those things he'd said to anyone else and not been any the wiser. But she knew he hadn't, and it made the guilt all the worse, so much so she completely looked away from Hanna, dropping her eyes for a second as his fingers slipped from her own, waiting until she heard the heavy steps of his boots walking away before she looked after him, reaching up to clutch her elbows, suddenly remembering why she had decided to act like a member of the Borg. (The Borg reference made sense now.)

... ******** Hanna and Scott one last glance, she forced herself to turn completely away from the table to follow Robert back to where another member of Phoenix (she assumed -- she'd missed that part,) had appeared, sliding in with the rest of the group. As interested as she was to speak with her, she would have plenty of time to approach the molten amber-eyed girl later. She wasn't an expert on social etiquette (by ANY means, that was a laugh,) but she had a sneaking suspicion that randomly interjecting into their conversation for no apparent reason other than the fact that the serious, determined stare of the girl had intrigued her would have been a serious faux pas. Instead, she moved a little stiffly to stand next to Robert as the others chatted, looking over new lavender-haired girl for a moment with interest.

"It's good to see you One. Nine," she offered, not quite sure if she should be attempting a hug or not. On one hand, she certainly didn't want them to think she wasn't happy to see them -- she did realize how she came across. On the other hand... her hugging... there was no way that was not going to be awkward and a mood killer.