"You don't have to do this," she says severely.

Those are the rules, after all. This is a ritual, a humiliation, a celebration. And her role is to feign anger, no matter how her eyes crinkle at the corners, or how no-one can quite keep the smiles from their eyes.

She bounces from one set of arms to the next, and at each interchange, she reminds them that this is quite unnecessary, really, all of you, this isn't needed. And everywhere, people nod, and smile, and pass her along.

She's pretty sure she wasn't wearing a hat before, but there it is on her head--and without missing a beat, she grins at Arth'na, already swooping down on a fresh victim. Great progress she's making, Alexa notes. The young Alcedi asn't earned enough for a hermetic treatment, but already Arth'na's training is showing in the extra turn of speed, the litheness of motion, the--Alexa grins--the presence of more than one set of eyes on her.

"Not necessary," she calls, and can't keep the laughter out of her voice.

She bounces from arm to arm, noting with delight the progress being made, before finally bouncing into Ramses. Big bear hug, physical lift, and squeeze--and then with a whoop of surprise and laughter, she's lifted into the air and find's a spot on the shoulders of Iris, who is making fantastic strides on her apparent goal of being a living crane.

It's all she can do to keep a straight face, looking at all the faces out for her. But, she makes a heroic effort at a poker face as she lectures Ramses. 

"You didn't have to do all of this just for me," she insists, cheeks tight with repressed smiles.

But oh, after so long staring out the windows, and maneuvering a ship the size of a city through the eye of a needle, and all under the oppressive pink glow…

They didn't have to do this. Which makes it mean so much more that they did.