“I have to agree with you, there, Amity. Here’s hoping things will be a bit less...well, hectic in the future.” Dawn tipped her coffee back, then gave a contented sigh. All the caffeine had begun to kick in, the pleasant buzz of energy running through her veins. 

“And, ah, that would depend on how large your sword is, I would say.” A sword was an interesting choice- in a world where wolves the size of bears dominated the outskirts of cities, it seemed preferable to keep a hefty distance between their maws and yourself. However, seeing that Amity’s rune allowed her to send a door flying by complete accident, it was likely that she would fare far better than the average person. A bit bizarre to think about, but the whole situation had always been rather surreal to begin with. 

In spite of the disappearance of two runes, Isa wasted no time in going over the teams in their absence. Three groups, three people in each. Dawn glanced over at Amity once the senior rune had finished, offering a little smile. “It looks like we’ll be working together, then.” 

The last teammate of theirs, she recalled, was the man who had introduced himself as “Makorai”. And “All-Daddy”, but Makorai was the more preferable of the two names. Finishing up her coffee, Dawn tossed the empty cup into a trash bin and turned back towards Isa. She had no real questions- aside from how close the team members would have to be in order to trigger the “boost”, which could easily be worked out during training- so she did nothing for the moment but listen, and wait. 

[@VitoftheVoid][@Kuroakuma] 

[hr]

Miss Silvarae was almost completely unresponsive- she gave a brief nod after being asked to go back, but the blank, “deer-in-the-headlights” look remained. Madison’s face dropped, and a soft “oh dear” escaped him before he released his grip on her shoulder. Her file had mentioned something like this; a temporary shut down of her very self. It was...worrying, to say the least. Really, Madison thought that a therapist should have been assigned to her before she was actually sent into well and proper combat, but he still wasn’t high enough in authority to do such a thing. Lips pursed, Madison stepped around to face her, and was about to lead her back to the meeting room when faint shouting caught his attention. 

Maeve Byrne. Bearer of the Sowlio rune, if memory served. Madison gave her a warm, albeit somewhat faint smile, seeing as how the woman was acting like she expected for him to start screaming like some kind of drill sergeant. “Don’t worry, Miss Byrne, neither of you are in trouble for this. Since you’re still getting used to...well, everything, I see no problem in letting you go with just a warning for now. Just keep in mind that the others will likely be less lenient.” After a moment of thought, he gently added, “And it’s ‘sir’, not ‘ma’am’, by the way.” 

With a little sigh, Madison turned back to Silvarae, taking in the dull expression on her face. “It’ll take a few minutes, but she should be alright soon. Can I trust you to keep an eye on you until then, Miss Byrne?” 

He paused. His brow creased, and he glanced over at Maeve. “Actually,” he said, “this might sound a bit...well, odd, but would you mind putting your hand on her shoulder for just a moment? I believe that physical contact from another rune on her team might be able to bring her out of it, but it’s just a theory. You don’t have to do it, of course, but I would greatly appreciate it.” 

It really was a strange hypothesis, but Madison saw no harm in giving it a go. 

[@ScoundrelQueen][@Daemanis]