Alistair was very, very sore indeed.
He hadn't suffered any severe injuries, surprisingly. Some strained muscles, a few cuts, bruises and a few other myriad injuries, but all things considered, he was okay. That did not, however, mean that his body wasn't loudly registering its complaints at the events it had been put through, from falling out of the sky to fighting a horde of giant ants. Normally, he'd simply want to go crawl into his own bed and hibernate until he was rested and slightly less pained, but in this case, he felt... Energized. Perhaps it was a little left over adrenaline, but he felt better than he'd felt in a long time. A smile pulled at the edges of his mouth despite his weariness, he sat up straight and proud. He'd made it. He'd put all of his effort for years into making it here, and in this very moment, he knew he had succeeded. His heart was swelling with a pride that no amount of soreness could diminish, a vindication that was years in the making.
That said, he was rather surprised at the extent to which he had succeeded. He glanced down at his wrist idly, noting the gold band around his WATCH's face. The same band that denoted him as Team Captain. Somehow that decision had been reached, though he hadn't the foggiest idea why. Even if he wasn't the leader on missions often, he had still been appointed the Lucky Jackals' overall leader. And speaking of the Jackals, there was another unexpected aspect.
Every one of them was a girl.
Now, the important part of that concept was the "every" part. From what he had seen during the assembly, he somehow had become part of the most gender imbalanced team present, at least as far as he could tell. If he were still back home, his father would have some very choice quips to make, a smirk on his face the whole time. As it stood, Alistair could still almost hear them, and his dad was far, far away. He'd already had a few other students raise an eyebrow at the team roster, and some of the other female students had cast some rather fascinated looks his way when he had been appointed team captain. Between his new status, the Jackals' accomplishments during the exam, and Christopher's standing feud with him, he hadn't exactly had a low-profile since arrival.
Speaking of Christopher... Unsurprisingly, he'd been appointed a Team Captain as well. He hadn't been able to see the other student during the announcement, but he had instinctively looked around uneasily. It almost felt like someone had sent him a rather poisonous stare. He was vaguely aware of Koontz's objections, but he didn't pay them much mind
At least, until he noted a flying object and reflexively caught it, only realizing it was a microphone until he already had. And now people were looking at him as if expecting an opinion.
... Goddammit.
"Ah, well..." He began, standing. "With respect, sir, I don't see what harm a celebration could be. Some will no doubt wish to retire, but I think it would be good to celebrate. Some of these people have worked a long time for this. It wouldn't be too much trouble, just wire a music player up to the speakers, maybe get a little food from the cafeteria, and then everything's set."
"It's your call, of course. Just my two cents." He fell silent, before awkwardly holding up the microphone for anyone that might want to take it.
Ghosthands,
Plank Sinatra,
UltimoScorp,
The World