Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aurostibite dipped his head in deference to Laurelite - an automatic reaction - before he stepped partially aside to usher Rory closer towards the door. He wondered briefly if she was nervous at all, which would have been entirely normal, but her expression said she knew what she was doing and she was ready and prepared for it.

Good, thought Aurostibite, Very good.

"Yes, I apologize for not having an appointment," he said to Laurelite. "But I've come across someone who has potential to become a strong ally to us; she has a great deal of intelligence, not to mention moxie. I don't believe normal methods of recruitment will work for her, so I've brought her to you in the hopes that you will assist me in the process."

Rory stepped inside after Aurostibite when they were invited in. She took the time of their, in her opinion, idle chatter to look around the office, take in the papers on the desk and what else filled the room. At the offer to sit, she shook her head, though her hands did come to grasp at the back of one of the chairs.

"No thank you," she replied at the tea offer, teal eyes snapping back over to the small woman and the man who'd approached her on the streets. "Though, I would prefer if you didn't talk about me like I wasn't in the room." Perhaps the statement was disrespectful, but Rory felt it was ruder to talk as though she weren't there.

"I've been informed, enough," she said quickly after, tamping down her own mild embarrassment from obviously speaking out of turn. "I know what to vaguely expect, but I would prefer to get it over with if we may." Rory didn't want to prolong pain.

Laurelite's eyes snapped to Rory and she gave the girl a look that said she might have been annoyed, or amused. "Forgive me," she said, instead. "I meant no disrespect. Only, Aurostibite seemed a bit more qualified to judge if you've been properly educated than you. I find small talk to be a bit reassuring." She poured a cup of tea for Aurostibite and handed it to him before moving to stand in front of the girl he'd brought. "But, you seem like a woman who knows what she wants, so I won't drag this out. Take a breath," she advised.

She moved her hand to rest on the woman's chest, waited for enough time that Rory might have gotten a breath of fresh air if she liked, and then plunged her hand into the girl's chest.

There was a dark part of Laurelite that considered being less gentle, to remind this girl that it was usually a very poor idea to speak out of turn, but Laurelite was not merciless, and fear often made it difficult to think clearly. Laurelite was not weak, but there was no point in punishing a soldier before she'd even had a chance to prove herself.

She was gentle, insofar as anyone could be when pumping Chaos into someone's starseed.

The pain would be brief, Aurostibite knew this. Agonizing at first, but brief, and when it was over, Rory would be made anew. It was an experience he knew firsthand, though it had been several long years since Zinkenite had first pushed his hand into his chest and sent the Chaos rippling in.

And then it was done. She stood before them, her hair now twice, perhaps even three times as long as it had been in her civilian form, a cascade of teal down her back. The fuku she wore was black, and quite simple in comparison to many of the others he'd seen, but still marked her clearly as one of their own.

A sense of pleasure curled in Aurostibite's stomach, and he gave a satisfied nod. He half turned towards Laurelite and gave a brief bow of respect towards her before straightening.

"Thank you," he said, and looked back at the girl who had once been Rory.

"Congratulations," said Aurostibite. "And welcome to the Negaverse."

Rory - no whomever she was now - staggered forward when the woman pulled her hand from her chest, a strangled gasp leaving the teen as she clutched at her breast. It took everything she had to keep from collapsing to the ground from the weight of the exhaustion that practically body slammed into her.

Stubbornly, she remained on her feet even when all she wanted to do was sink to the floor and lay there. Or rest against the desk that Laurelite had been working on, but she didn't because she'd told them she could handle it.

So, she handled it even with pain pulsing through her small frame from the center of her chest where -

Wait.

Was that a hole she could feel in her chest?

Wild eyed and panicked, she whirled around, hair WAY longer that in once was rippling behind her as she looked at the man who's invitation she'd taken. "Wait - " she stopped, swallowed hard and tried to slow the rapid pulse of her heart.

Looking back to Laurelite, she nodded and offered a weak smile. "Thank you," she managed though her knees were wobbling and she wasn't sure if she could stay upright for much longer.

Looking to Aurostibite her expression was clear, can we go please?