Waiting for him to respond threatened to overwhelm Cassie. She was so nervous and terrified that it was a miracle she was managing to remain standing, and she wanted to look away. To the alien scanner, the group behind her, to the wall, to anything. She didn't want to look at him and see that he was someone else entirely. That Adrian, her friend, was gone forever. But she refused to cave in and she didn't look away from his eyes, his eyes that were so dark they were borderline black. 

Someone who should have been a complete stranger was standing in front of her. But Jack had said he was the same person. And she wanted to believe it so much. 

"A-Adrian?" she had asked him, and she had tried to keep the desperation out of her voice. But Cassie was desperate. She had to know if her friend was gone forever, or if had been...apparently reborn like Jack had said. And she was terrified of the answer.

The man had kept his distance and didn't speak initially. His first response was to nod his head, and Cassie felt her heart-rate increase slightly. Then he finally spoke, the sound of the voice still all but foreign to her. [i]"It's me. I'm still Adrian, I'm still me."[/i]

Cassie hadn't noticed her vision getting blurry until the first few tears were already sliding down her cheeks. Were these tears of sadness and disbelief? Or of hope and relief? She honestly couldn't tell yet. She had unclenched her hands from firsts, and used them to rake her long hair away from her face. They trembled slightly as she did so. "...Really?' she asked, unable to hide a break in her voice. She so wanted it to be true, more than she had ever wanted anything else before. Cassie wanted to believe...

He took a slow step forward, closing the small distance between them a little bit more. Cassie didn't flee or even flinch. She was too busy gazing into his eyes, as though searching for a trace of the old Adrian in the unfamiliar irises. And...she might have seen something. Might. It seemed like a bit of a long shot but....even though the eyes themselves were different the way he was looking at her was the way Adrian had always looked at her. And it wasn't just his eyes. His face and features may have been different but his expression was familiar. And the voice was unrecognizable, but the way he had said her name and the tone of his voice was the same. It was all the same...he was the same. He just...looked different. But that was crazy, wasn't it?

[i]"Cassie...I'm still the same person."[/i] It was like he had read her mind. [i]"In here."[/i] He tapped his fingers against the side of his head, and Cassie let out a shaky breath and she could feel herself staring to believe...even if it was crazy and impossible. But it was like Jack had said. She had seen so many crazy and impossible things within the last couple of days. What made this any different? She couldn't find her voice yet, so all she did was nod her head slightly and hoped that got something across.

[i]"So...how do I look?"[/i] 

The man...no not "the man." Adrian. He was Adrian. She just didn't know exactly how or why yet. Adrian had half a smile on his lips after he had asked his question. The smile and the inquiry had both caught her off guard and she felt herself smiling a little instinctively. A small giggle escaped her, but she quickly composed herself. "Um...you look...different." His change had been so abrupt and so complete that it was hard to find any other word beyond "different" to describe him. "But it's a good different! I think...sorry I'm new at this." Cassie felt herself blushing a bit and took the opportunity to wipe away the stray tears on her cheeks before looking back at him. Her smile was more certain now and after a moment she rushed forward, closing the distance between them.

She had her arms wrapped firmly around him, as though she was afraid he was going to explode again and the only thing that would keep him the same was her embrace. "Adrian. Adrian I thought...I thought you were dead," Cassie said thickly, finding herself in danger of crying all over again. She suddenly pulled back and punched him lightly in the chest. "Don't scare me like that ever again, you hear me?" She looked up at him seriously for a long moment waiting for his response. When he did she took a moment to consider it before softening again and moving in for another hug. After a few moments she leaned her head back to meet his gaze. "Promise me you're the same person? The same person who wandered into my pub asking about hotels and ordering Cokes and everything?"