[color=silver][h2]Sterling Johnson[/h2]

"... Chalk it up to growing pains for now, huh? I've got Jorie. No sense waiting around and moping out here in the wastes."[/color] the now-un-stunned brawler offered, shifting their diminutive, and still very-much knocked-out leader's weight upon his shoulder. Apparently having learned his lesson from the flash, his aviators were now resting squarely upon his face, leaving his eyes unreadable.

However, he didn't conceal the fact that the good humor had left his face. A moment's lapse in judgement was all it took for them to go from salvaging the situation, to...

To running at a dead sprint from a horde of Grimm they knew was in their way. [s]They were careless.[/s]

[i]He[/i] was careless.

And it nearly cost the driver, Lilac, and his team their lives.

[color=silver]"Dunno about you guys, but I'd rather die back in Beacon. At least there's air conditioning there."[/color]

With the most humorless quip of the day, Johnson began to walk.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[h2]Luke Schwarz[/h2]

Meanwhile, far away from situations quite so far down the drain, Luke Schwarz found himself utilizing an oft-disregarded affinity of his.

They'd just wiped out the last of the ambush, after ironing out minor kinks in the plan and communication thereof, and were now making their way through the room at a much more respectable pace than they'd started. It seemed the continuous ambushes after sitting around and talking for too long had lit a similar fire under everyone's rears.

However, they weren't rushing blindly forward. That is to say, the trio were still very much cognizant of their surroundings, and wary of any new stimuli that might suggest a new threat or change in the situation.

And as it just so happened, a moment of sheer convenience occurred in something of that nature, for tumbling down the vents and into the room were the sounds of screams, shrieks, and other such noises...

[color=f6989d][i]And they're  g i r l s ![/i][/color]

Now, to clear the air here, before anyone took things the wrong way, there were entirely innocent reasons for the team hit-sponge's receptiveness and immediate recognition towards the vocalizations of distressed females. 

You see, he grew up in a house with two younger sisters, and as anyone who had a sister knew, little sister screamed a lot. Whether yelling at you for not letting them have their way, to distracting them from their homework, to even correcting your form on how to punch, little sisters always aired their dissatisfaction with maximal volume.

Therefore, it was perfectly sensible that he be able to distinguish a girl screaming at moment's notice, and it betrayed nothing at all about his character beyond a heroic tendency to help girls in need.

At all.

[color=fff79a][i]Seriously, it's not like I have anything to be defensive about.
[s]I'm a coward anyway it's not like I'd do anything[/s]
I'm a perfect gentleman. End of discussion.[/i][/color]

[b]"Sounds like we're getting close. Let's get this thing open..."[/b] he said, drawing up to the door and proceeding to try and do so.