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[indent][sub][COLOR=fde1ef][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Stadium[/I] - [I]PRCU, Dundas Island[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=fde1ef][b]First Class #2.35:[/b][/COLOR] [I]...But I'm Here to Stay[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=fde1ef][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] Team Firebird, and those who would move onto Team Firebird [/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=fde1ef][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Nothing's Okay[/I][/right][/SUP][/indent]
[INDENT]The stadium was an unwelcome change of scenery. The somberness of the coastside funeral at least had an air of universal respect and dignity. Here, Ariel saw nothing but tension and broken thoughts at the tip of fuming tongues. And it wasn't like they didn't understand why everyone was so upset. Someone [i][b]died[/b][/i] and another was dangerously close to dying. The last thing on people's minds should be protocol. All the discomfort of an emergency with none of the urgency, like a divided nation turning a blind eye to a coming war. How apt it was, what had happened that night if not a bloody declaration of war?

But Ariel digressed. They did not survive this long on the run from the law by making a fuss. If there was a speech to be had, they would listen. If there was protocol to be observed, observe it they shall. Standing silently with the rest of their team, they kept their ears open and attentive. Even in the heat of the tension, Ariel had good reason to listen to the meat of the faculty's speech. This was the first time anyone explained the particularities of the Team Swap, at least in a capacity that they understood. It brought forward a conversation in their mind, gone neglected in the aftermath of Hyperion's attack: Ariel's place in Team Firebird.

There was little reason to swap teams, in their mind. Little reason to care about team distinction as a concept, for that matter. [color=fde1ef][i]'Are we not the same despite our divisions?'[/i][/color] they reasoned. Though Ariel had no doubt that they would have adapted well into both Team Blackjack and Eclipse, in spite of the two teams being a dysfunction junction at present, their thoughts were more towards those still in Firebird. Ariel was a familiar face to the team. Familiar for only a few weeks at best, granted, but a familiar face nonetheless. What would it look like to the others if they lost one too many familiar faces? Not everyone could throw away acquaintances as easily as Ariel could. Staying at Firebird made a statement: [color=fde1ef]"I'm not going anywhere. You can rely on me."[/color] It was a good statement to make, especially for the soft of heart like Dom—like Lucas.

And then there was the matter of Housing. If Ariel had little reason to care about team unity, they cared about house unity even less. The attack had already cleaved a rift into the students, what good was there in widening that rift with arbitrary division? A sigh escaped their lips as that train of thought quickly went nowhere. Ariel didn't see it fair to rule out the House system without experiencing it firsthand. Splitting the students into teams helped make strong bonds so far—look at how many visitors were knocking on the broken Banjo's doorstep, come to pay the breathing martyr a visit. Who's to say this wouldn't end up helping as well? 

Any house that would accept Ariel, Ariel would accept in kind. They had the final say, but as they understood it, it would not be without the acceptance of the Houses in the first place. Ariel had taken a cursory glance at the Houses and what each of their gists were. The wolverine house, Gulo, and its pragmatic tenets spoke to them on a personal level, but they'd be the first to admit that there wasn't an assertive or confident bone in their body. Some might see their gentle and passive nature as befitting of the moose house, Alces, though there was still a shred of ambition that would be disappointed to see them languish in soft stagnation. Alces would stifle them, and water had no use for dead weight.

Ursus, though. The bear house, espousing empathy and protective natures. Now [i]that,[/i] Ariel understood completely. Pain was an old friend, and the less people fall to pain on their watch, the better. A look in the mirror did not show altruism, though; each and every one of Ariel's protective instincts was rooted in keeping themself protected. If they go to great lengths for others, others were more like;y to go to great lengths for them. No matter. For the sake of themself, they'd be as altruistic as they need to be.

Mired in thought, Ariel just barely noticed the speech dying down. The whistle was about to be blown then, and with it, a wholesale bout of decision-making and dilemma. Not Ariel, though. The decision had already been made, just moments before the count of three. As the shrill sound came, students stepped forward while others debated whether to step forward or not. In the midst of it all, Ariel stood where they were, adamant in their choice as they waved hello to those coming, and goodbye to those going. Calling Firebird 'home' was a bridge too far too soon, but there was no need to move this time. Nowhere to go, nowhere to flow.

For once in Ariel's life, they were here to stay.[/INDENT][hr][color=SILVER][SUP][table][row][/row][row][cell][color=#2c2c2c]- -[/color]|◄ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5445111][COLOR=fde1ef][b]FIRST[/b][/COLOR][/url][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][center]◄ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5448985][COLOR=fde1ef][B]PREV[/B][/COLOR][/url] || [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5450585)][COLOR=fde1ef][B]NEXT[/B][/COLOR][/url] ►[color=#2e2c2c]-[/color][/center][/cell][cell][color=2c2c2c]-[/color][/cell][cell][INDENT][right][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5450585][COLOR=fde1ef][B]LATEST[/B][/COLOR][/url] ►|[/right][/INDENT][/cell][/row][/table][/SUP][/color]