Though he had always been a big guy, it was today that Abel stood tallest.

As he stepped off the stage, a rare smile graced his face. He looked around at the other students, just now finishing their heartfelt round of applause, before casting a glance at Gren. To be sure, he had never pictured what sort of man lay beneath the hulking armor, but he hadn't expected an orc. He had no qualms about his new teammate's race—he had already proved himself in battle, and despite their brief confrontation concerning Abel's unscheduled flight from the junkmobile, no hard feelings remained between them. Gren was every inch the warrior that Abel was proud to call his ally. Seeing their faces projected larger than life on the auditorium's screens and the name 'Swansong' formed to christen them cinched it all.

As for the others, his joy extended to them as well, though they were not here. Having just half a team onstage while all the others had four (most of them seemingly uninjured, no less) put a small dent in his satisfaction, but the guardian wasn't about to let that get him down. Ozpin choosing Sapphire as leader initially surprised him, but after a few moments of consideration it made sense to him. Kuhaku seemed reckless, Gren a little oblivious, and him...well, leadership didn't exactly suit a defeatist. Abel envisioned a smile spreading across Sapphire's face as he and Gren delivered the news to her hospital bed, not recalling the cold silence and shut-in recalcitrance that she had displayed every second her psyche wasn't occupied by the rush of battle.

For a few moments, the speech was thrown off track as Ozpin called out a few seniors for giving another team a rough time.  While he initially thought that it was a good thing that the other newbies had been run so ragged, after the girl shouted Abel realized that he was close enough to see her.  She and two others stood apart from the other students, in a near-empty circle of open space surrounding them.  The mocking face of the boy, the stiff righteousness of the girl, and the scornful, unabashed look on the face of the faunus convinced him that they didn't deserve his sympathy.  Now that he thought about it, it almost made him mad to see the faces of senior that had leveled their unfair advantage to bully their soon-to-be peers.  When Ozpin continued speaking, Abel was glad for someone else to focus on.

Hearing about PHGM didn't surprise him at all. Pan, Hansen, Gretchen, and Mary had seemingly formed a connection long before their cards sealed the deal. The mention of facing an entire den of Itzamna only cemented the fact; Abel had experienced the wrath of those creatures firsthand from atop the walls of the kingdom. Plus, he owed them--before PGHM had happened along, he and Sapphire had been pinned down on a hillside by an Ursa Major.  If not for their interference, he and his quiet partner wouldn't have been able to flee into the nearby train tunnel and encounter the remainder of their team.  He watched respectfully as the four stood on stage.  Mary looked to be as excited as he had been, but took it a step further by exuberantly waving to everyone with both arms, eyes closed in adulation.

Before long, he and Gren were on their way. Though not usually the talkative type, Abel couldn't restrain himself. “That was pretty great! Dang shame Ku and Saph couldn't come. Want to visit them in the healing place and tell them the good news?” He brushed a hand against his blue coat, which he had put on specially for the ceremony. Honestly, after seeing it among his things and remembering how much nicer it was than his plaid hoodie, he seriously thought about a permanent wardrobe change.