Welcome to Gaia! ::

As the strange events unfolded in front of him, Esperite felt as if he were watching it all happen from a distant planet. Linarite? Obsidian? Neither name rang a bell for Teddy nor as such, could he bring himself to chime in. It didn't seem appropriate as others were mourning and he was voicing inquires about who was who. Obsidian had at least made himself known. Esperite was happy to put a name to the strange figure, but he couldn't join in on the warm, or at least as warm as it was going to get around here, reunion that transpired before him. After watching how the others interacted with one another, he thought it best to keep his questions for later, when it was such a sensitive time. Chiming in when he had let the others speak, Esperite tried to convey something other than curiosity.

"Good to have you back, General. We certainly need your strength and experience."

Formal and stern, he tried not to draw too much attention while still conveying his own gratitude for another strong warrior to have rejoined the ranks. However, these sentiments were short lived as he was still reeling from the strange "bonding" between the captain and his new found companion. Disturbing and unpleasant would be his choice of words if he was going to be nice about his description. Watching the process gave him a sense of pride for choosing not to bond with something of that nature. He vowed from that moment onward that if he chose to find a youma of his own, he wouldn't be forging any kind of relationship with it that required such a heinous procedure. Esperite swore by those words as he wondered if the Captain was going to make it back outside the door. The crimson eyed lieutenant thought about offering some kind words or encouragement, but after the strange display, he found it best to keep his mouth shut for a few more moments.

The name Linarite struck a chord with many officers nearby, both new and old. Their eyes revealing a bond forged long before any of them stepped foot beyond the door. Something had happened to this particular agent, something big, if not catastrophic as it seemed a deep wound unable to heal for many. Apparently, Esperite had a lot to catch up on, especially if he was going to start training with these people.

As though to Quell Ilmenite's confusion Zinkenite's hand brushed Amolite's arm, he gave a quick glance to those others who might wish to follow and made as hasty a path to Ilmenite as he could to check on his Captain.

"Are you alright?" He asked first glancing him over, though his expression was somewhere between concerned and 'you so deserved that'. "Breathing at least..." He chided, which mean't he had observed that panicked moment quite clearly. He glanced at Uranophane with a calculated and surprisingly judgmental look. Slapping a General...or rather making some vain effort to... how interesting. "... Do... please, try not to get killed by this place OR the General...alright?"

Glancing back to Carnelian he offered a smile, masked heavily by shadow and his half mask. "... Here? I wouldn't know... it's the first time we've been down here, up in the rest of it, oh yes... sometimes, other times it's like the family you wish you had. This is a war after all.."

Well. Peace and love and puppies, right ?

Fluorite was doing her best to stay, well, under the radar, through she couldn't help but watch what was unfolding. Really... She really, really wasn't sure she could ever muster the balls to actually hit a general.

She largely preferred focusing on her energy quotas and staying out of attention. Through, she figured, that would... need to change.

She caught sigh of Scheelite from the corner of her vision. He was slowly backing away, probably not noticing that he was putting himself in danger in his panic. She, more than perhaps most, knew why - so she weaved herself around the bodies and went to hold the blonde's hands.

"Shh." She said, softly. "Don't go too far." Her voice was kept low, in hope that no one else might notice a captain trying to herd a general. "Can you help me... find... Alunite..."

The more she spoke, the more her expression changed, from 'hey, I think im missing something here' to 'OH s**t.'

Did Scheelite even... know about Alunite ? "Just look for purple hair like mine. I'll explain later."

Zink approached and, with a slow breath of a sigh, Ilmenite fell into step beside him. He was holding up surprisingly well, really, but there was perhaps a feverish edge behind his eyes: he was holding up for now, but he might collapse once they excitement was all over.

"He's not actually likely to kill me, is he? And do you think she means for him to move in?" His voice got softer as he asked, until it was pitched only for his General's ears -- and perhaps Lyra, as close as she was to her brother. He licked his lips and offered a bright [and false] flash of a smile. "I mean, I only just got the bed back..."

"General Obsidian?" he said and glanced after the man, his gaze studious and cautious both. "...Let's just... say I hope you sleep lightly." He said and flashed a, not quite warm smile, really it was more edgy than hostile but maybe he wasn't quite sure either.
"As for what you're expected to do with him, I'm not sure... invite him to the War Room perhaps, I'm sure I could come up with some... outstanding things with you and a few others... just for starters."

He paused and gave Ever a pointed look. "...DON'T....turn that dirty."

The fist connected to Uranophane's jaw with amazing ease, and the Captain and General both felt it. He barely had to put any effort into the strike at all. There was a newfound simplicity to knocking another person down that came with the power Hematite was now exercising -- it was casual, almost thoughtless, like brushing a pile of crumbs off a dining table. There was no question about it: Hematite at rest was more powerful, much more powerful, than Uranophane giving one hundred and ten percent. It was humiliating.

Utterly humiliating.

Uranophane could feel his eyes disinterestedly boring into the back of her shoulders even as she slowly, reluctantly, pulled herself back up off of the crystal floor. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to his orders; actually show him some respect -- but she was also painfully aware she had no choice in the matter. He was her superior. Half of the Negaverse was here. General-Queen Tanzanite was here. She couldn't afford to retaliate any more.

The only way she could really win in this situation was to... admit she had lost. It would have been easier to swallow a cup full of razorblades. She could practically feel each vertebrae in her spine align themselves as she forced herself to stand up immaculately straight, all her willpower focused into keeping her fingers from balling up into angry fists.

"Understood, General."

Her tone was more pressed than her suit had been at prom.

Tanzanite's voice picking up gave her a reason to turn around and stop looking at him, at least, but she didn't regard the story with any more than feigned levels of interest. As far as she was concerned, it was yet another fairy tale with not much in the way of evidence supporting it -- but it was an officer of the highest rank telling the story, which meant she had to listen, so she paid attention and waited to see if the General-Queen would reveal more.

It was pretty easy to elbow one's way through a crowd after a show like that, though he had to sacrifice the comfort of his weapon to the subspace again or he'd inadvetently skewer someone. Nearing the corrupt senshi in the swelling crowed, he grabbed her wrist as it swung behind her. Not as a gesture of affection, merely to reel himself in until he was by her side. People had a hard time cutting through a pair of linked arms. He'd noticed the nod Tanzanite had given him from afar, which should have been enough to reassure him he'd made the right choice. But...

"As long as I'm already giving orders tonight, I'm ordering you not to have anything to do with that psychopath general," he muttered to Alkaid once they were next to one another. The way he seemed to be glaring down all the statues they passed was a good indicator that he was in a very bad mood already and probably hadn't heard a word Tanzanite had said about them.

Among a crowd of energy signature, finding any particular one was impossible. That, plus the fact that she was distracted by the forever frozen faces of those loyal to Earth thousands of years before their time, meant that she wasn't prepared for the hand that suddenly encircled her wrist. She jerked and almost pulled it completely out of his grasp until she glanced back and realized it was Hematite. She thought it was some crazy youma.

She let out one long, slow sigh to relax her nerves and by the time he was walking at her side again she seemed to have calmed herself for the most part. Even if he'd tried to give her a heart attack in the process, at least he was back and she could relax with him walking at her side again.

"While you're -" but she trailed off and bit her tongue, mindful of the crowd milling around them and the fact that he had just worked hard to advertise his new rank. She wasn't going to undermine him in ear shot of anyone and, as she looked up at the irritation that was plastered over his face, she was thinking this order was more about personal feelings than his honestly wanting to order her around.

So, she just dipped her head at him slightly and let her face relax into something more passive. "Yes, General." It even lacked the normal inflection she put on his title, making it seem completely sincere. That didn't mean she wasn't going to be asking questions when they got home, though.

"I don't really think I'd enjoy spending time with him anyway, to be honest, he seems a little more unstable than the last time I saw him." It was idle chatter, soft and low for his ears only, but even as she spoke she was inspecting each statue they passed. It hurt to know those were people, trapped for thousands of years with no way to get out or even die peacefully. One more reason why this place felt like a graveyard to her.