[COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][INDENT] Cole grunted as he laced up his freshly polished boots. He had barely noticed the child who was standing at the door of the mud room, baseball gloves and baseball in hand. It was hard to remember how old Rory was then… perhaps because this scene had played out so many different ways over and over to the point it felt like a ritual. When Cole finally looked up, his stern expression barely changed. There was never a look of remorse. Just that blank, serious stare. Cole stood up, grabbed his duffel bag off the floor, and just shook his head. [color=white]”Maybe another time, kid.”[/color] Cole turned to open the door, a bright white light on the other side obscuring the outdoors. Rory sighed, letting the glove and ball fall to the ground. He would go back to his mother to complain, only to hear about how respected and necessary his dad’s work was. To make a better future, Cole had to make sacrifices. Rory was just one of those sacrifices. [/INDENT][/INDENT][hr][CENTER][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/520041678032207887/1113295768212754472/Rory2.png[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=SILVER][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Team Swap Ceremony[/I] - [I]P.R.C.U. Campus[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=SILVER][b]First Class #2.24 :[/b][/COLOR] [I]Cat's out of the Bag[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][color=SILVER][B]Mention(s) and Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]None[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=SILVER][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Empty Words[/I][/right][/SUP] [INDENT] Rory groggily opened his eyes with a start, hands raised in fists as he tried to scan the room with blurred vision. It took him a moment to even process what had woken him up, finally acknowledging the buzzing generic alarm coming from his phone. He had set one to make sure he didn’t miss the ceremony. He cleared the sleepy tears from his eyes before focusing on the time. Of course, he was running late. Rory stuffed his phone in his pocket and began sprinting out the door to his room in the intake house, stumbling from taking too sharp of turns at a full sprint here and there. He was able to make it in record time, catching up to his team at the last moment as Jonas was finishing his speech. A brief glimpse at his teammate’s faces indicated Dr. Lehrer’s words were not encouraging. That was only going to make his job harder. Then, of course, next was the Team Swap. Rory looked at the empty spots where his teammates would be standing. Cass would have been in the back, if he had to guess. He didn’t seem to be the type to draw attention or be at the center of attention. But… maybe he was? Rory didn’t know a damn thing about him, at the end of the day. None of them really did, it seemed. The only one who might have was Banjo, and he was still in the ICU as far as Rory knew. There wouldn’t be some inspiring speech today to rouse the troops, or wild outburst of antics to break the tension... just silence as the faculty continued explaining their ceremony. Rory accepted the envelope as they were getting passed around. He took a quick read of his offers, nodding along to the options. After everything that had shaken down, the choice was obvious: the same house his father had been in when he was a student here. His father had been chosen for his motivation. Rory would settle for being chosen for loyalty. At the end of the day, gentleness and optimism were traits Rory had in abundance. He needed a competitive house if he was going to push himself properly. For their sakes. For Cass. The counting roused Rory from his envelope. He turned to look down the line at his teammates. There was motivation and determination in the eyes of some, especially in Haleigh and Trevor. He gave them a soft smile. But as he turned his gaze to Trace, it was clear they were avoiding eye contact. Small knots twisted in his stomach. They wouldn't… they couldn't. Unless… [i][quote=@psych0pomp] They spit on the ground. [COLOR=#D90037]“Bloody fuckin’ Americans fixin’ all their problems with violence.”[/COLOR] They released Rory’s arm. [COLOR=#D90037]“It’s a sad fuckin’ day when I agree with Makenna and Rory here. But here I am.”[/COLOR] They paused. [COLOR=#D90037]“No, fuck you all, I’m not here. Not anymore. Not with the lot of you.” [/COLOR] [/quote][/i] Trace had already said their goodbyes, in their own way. His eyes briefly darted to the others. Trevor and Haleigh looked rooted. They didn't seem to notice. Why couldn't anyone else see it? Rory's heart rate rocketed up as Trace stepped forward. He felt his left hand reach forward just slightly yet again, as if to catch them. But his hand just held there in front of him, before weakly falling back to his side. Neither of the armbands held were for Team Blackjack. Anywhere but here. Anyone but us. Everyone except us. Rory's eyes turned back to what remained of his team. He didn't even clock the two transferring to Blackjack. His eyes turned to the others. His eyes lingered on Inigo and Makenna. The former had managed to pick a fight the first time they had met, and the latter had chosen to insult those who wished vengeance for Cass. He looked back at Trace, arm raised defiantly. Might as well have given them the finger, and told them to bang their mother's dogs or some other funny euphemism they could draw from their arsenal. They had done it often enough before. Trace had hardly been nice to any of them, except perhaps Katja. This was the most tame Trace's rejection of them had been, so far. But that just left a single question bouncing around his empty head. Of all the people… why did this hurt so much? 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