The Warden and  his two friends at the opposite end of the long table watched as several of the prisoners entered the room. The same confident smirk remained on Hardying's face as some of his most impressive prisoners were brought in. As they interacted with each other the smirk remained, the six guards in the room had their eyes on the prisoners, the grip on the shotgun in their hands tight.

Callum meanwhile wasn't too delighted with seeing some of the prisoners that were sat down near him. He recognized Scarleth, though gave her no real acknowledgment. It was odd that someone in his gang was the first one to enter the room. He didn't expect a familiar face. Then One-Arm sat across from him, and Callum clenched both his fists in anger. This man murdered dozens of Stars, his brothers and children. The sight of the man brought back feelings of hate Callum had repressed. If the guards were not here then he would have reached across the table and gouged the man's eyes out. He dared to offer a handshake?

[color=a36209]"I find that hard to believe."[/color] Callum muttered as he extended a hand, then firmly grasped the man's extended hand. He pressed hard upon it, seemingly trying to break the bones of Jesse's hand. The whole gesture he looked the man right in the eyes, barely noticing the alien girl enter the room in her unique way.

Jesse grit his teeth through the surprising pain of the handshake -perhaps Callum wasn't as soft as rumors around the prison would have one believe. [color=hotpink]"Well, water under the bridge and all that. I'm sure we've both made... regrettable decisions."[/color] He winced, smile betrayed by the rather pained look in his eyes. Making a decision for his own physical health, Jesse pulled away from the handshake rather curtly. 

One of the guards came from behind Callum and jabbed the Pirate King in the back shoulder with the butt of his shotgun. Callum gasped in pain then glanced back at the guard, his glare continued. Meanwhile Hardying had watched the whole interaction, his smirk fading.

"Hello there, Princess, I'm afraid this isn't a dinner. We'll get to what it really is about very soon," He muttered with a glance towards Takakiko, earning an audible groan of disappointment from her. Then he sternly spoke to both Jesse and Callum. "Now now, gentlemen, play nice." 

Scarleth smirked again, rolling her neck a bit. Tiny cracks sounded off, and she shook her hair, causing the maddened mane to fall into a somewhat different arrangement. She quietly peeked over at Callum with her augmentation, attempting to analyze what had happened. For a brief moment, the Pirate King had come back. However, the moment was just that--brief. Sighing a bit, Scarleth returned her gaze to the budybodies in the front of the room. [color=ff0000]"You've gone soft,"[/color] Scarleth whispered, her voice hollow. [color=ff0000]"They killed the Pirate King without even lifting a finger..."[/color]

[color=a36209]"The Black Stars died with him. This, fool, helped with that."[/color] Callum said, his words just loud enough for Jesse to hear as he gave the man another glare. 

Callum heard the words whispered into his ear from his fellow, former Black Star member. The Pirate King died when he was stuck in prison and shut off from the outside world. He'd heard nothing about his galaxy spanning gang since his incarceration. He had no power here. 

Jesse smiled as the pretty assassin spoke. He was rather glad that she was at least partially on his side -he was more afraid of her handshake than the Dead Pirate King's. He gave a nod to Callum as he was mentioned, glad to hear that his contributions weren't going unnoticed. [color=hotpink]"I do what I can."[/color] He said, humbly raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. He considered going further, but he wasn't keen at all on taking a shotgun butt to the back like Callum had. 

Scarleth giggled, the laughter dripping softly from her lips. A slight twinkle, more light a spark, appeared in the corner of her eye. She never really worshipped Callum the way the rest of the Black Stars did--she didn't know what it meant to idolize, to love. Her only care in the world was money, a need programmed into her from an early age. [color=ff0000]"I suppose I picked the wrong gang to join,"[/color] Scarleth mused, glancing over at the One-Handed-Wonder. [color=ff0000]"I'm Ruby Red. I hope you haven't heard of me, or I've done poorer than I expected."[/color]

Jesse narrowed his good eye as he glanced over at Scarleth, the artificial eye changing her marking from 'Sexy Assassin(?)' to 'Ruby Red'. He smiled at the comment, raising an eyebrow. [color=hotpink]"Your lucky day, Red. Only legends."[/color] He chuckled, leaning back in his seat a bit. [color=hotpink]"Always room for you here on the winning side."[/color] He said, not so subtly looking her up and down.

[color=seagreen]"Would that be your left side?"[/color] Taka asked rather nonchalantly.

[color=a36209]"None of us are winners. We're all sitting here as prisoners."[/color] Callum interjected. 

Scarleth noticed Callum's interjection, rolling her eyes at him, her gaze still forward. She caught Jesse's gaze with her enhanced eye, and not even the slightest trace of a smile graced her lips this time. Her face void of emotion and her voice hollow, lacking any sort of life to it, she addressed Jesse calmly. [color=ff0000]"Remember who I am and rethink that action."[/color] She paused, before continuing on. [color=ff0000]"There won't be a next time."[/color] 

Jesse smiled at Taka's interjection, shrugging very much not casually. [color=hotpink]"Guilty as charged."[/color] He said, eyebrows raised as he studied the alien. He was glad for her addition to the room, the whole thing had been starting to look like a Homines Primum meeting. His smile soured as Callum added his own comment, as if he were trying to kill the mood. [color=hotpink]"Aren't you just a little party pooper? If you hadn't noticed, we're not rotting in cells right now, and these chairs aren't electric."[/color] A concerned look on his face, he turned to the warden. [color=hotpink]"Right?"[/color] before continuing. Though he had nothing clever to say in response to Scarleth's comment, his mannerisms stayed the same even as he slightly shifted away.

[color=a36209]"Your hands are still bound."[/color] Callum said with a smile towards Jesse, the first one he had broken in a very long time. Warden Hardying had been watching the whole exchange closely, when Jesse looked towards him he gave a simple nod.

Taka tapped a finger against her chin for a moment, mulling over the suave looking gentleman's statement, [color=seagreen]"You know, I can tell you it wouldn't make a lot of sense for us to be executed here,"[/color] She started, [color=seagreen]"I'd know, I just came from there."[/color]

[color=a36209]"They'd never execute me. I could reach across this table and strangle the life out of him. They still would just knock me out cold, not shoot me dead. I'm a symbol that they can catch anyone and imprison them like an animal in some twisted zoo." [/color]Callum muttered.

[color=seagreen]"So basically... you fucked up?"[/color] Taka replied with a slight huff, remembering the dark confines of that box from what seemed like so long ago.

[color=a36209]"Didn't we all?"[/color] Callum said with another smile, this time towards Taka. Then the Warden silenced them all as he smacked his hand twice against the steel table, the loud noise drawing attention to him.

"No need to speak like that, we still have other inmates to join us. Don't want to put them on edge with talk like that." Hardying said to the group.