[center][h2]Xander Steele|Airfleet Street[/h2][/center]
[center][i][color=SteelBlue]"Why can't I have more confidence?"[/color][/i][/center]

Crowds had never been an easy thing for the young Hunter to deal with, even though they were considerably more bearable in a setting like this than they would have been at the ball that Ozpin had also suggested he and Cyra do guard duty for. Xander had almost visibly balked at the idea, all the upper class aristocrats trying to make small talk with him while he just tried to get a word out of his mouth without stuttering. It had, in all honesty, taken everything he'd had to make friends with Cyra and the rest of their team and to not make a fool of himself when he talked to others. That said, he stood next to his Scorpion Faunus friend with a silent prayer he'd be able to put on the show they were looking for.

He focused back in on what the the Mistress of Ceremonies was saying, listening to the Faunus singing at the same time and using it to calm himself. [color=SteelBlue][i]I don't have to talk to any of them, just Cyra. If I do need to talk to them, just call out warnings. It doesn't have to be personal. And if it does...deep breaths.[/i][/color] He finally managed to suppress his shaking hands and face her as she finished speaking. “We’ve not got long now: any questions? Anyone have any business they need to get done?” The first to respond was a girl with a mining helmet of some kind and a pickax on her shoulder.

[color=007236]"Who's ready to make a scene in the name of peace and unity?"[/color] The young man turned to offer a small smile and nod in place of any verbal answer, as well as not being eager to put too much attention on himself by putting his hand on hers, but was unsure if he was noticed when the large elephant Faunus spoke as well. His size was mostly for show from what he'd heard about the large man, as he was supposed to be a giant teddy bear of a person. But the weapons he now slid into place on his arms and hands made Xander wonder. The [i]*thunk*[/i] of the Faunus' weapon sliding into place reminded Xander to prepare his own and he felt a certain amount of calm wash over him as he gripped the grips of [i]Nightingale Eclipse[/i], pulling them free of the holsters in the small of his back and flipping them open to check the rounds in the cylinders. He also did a test launch of the trick reloader, popping out one still loaded set of bullets and launching the next a short distance into the air and catching them in the cylinder and flipping the breach closed and spinning the now loaded cylinder.

In hindsight, the young Vale native realized this would seem a little showy, but right then, the motions helped distract him from his social anxiety. Confident it was all in working order, he placed the unloaded rounds into the trick loader and stood ready, turning to Cyra as his anxiety began to creep back up on him. [color=SteelBlue]"Do you think it's too late to just stand in the crowd?"[/color]