It seemed as if someone who hadn't changed in centuries could still adapt to a loose schedule. But he still winced at the thought of clambering up onto a statue of rubble and publicly croaking out names and news for all to listen to. His anxiety lessened with every meeting, or he hoped it was. He didn't have a thumping heartbeat or cold sweat to check when he was nervous, only the twisting knots in his bloodless guts and his brain going haywire with strategies of escape or attack. Not much for Beck to lament over unfortunately. Meeting day jitters aside, the commander gave a sharp exhale punctuated by the constant rattle from crippled lungs, stretching out his limbs as he stalked towards the town's center, twitching squirrel slung in his jaws. He just needed to act casual, like he hadn't been mentally prepping himself for public speaking -- so he fetched a recent catch from one of his traps, carrying the still-warm rodent despite the prospect of having to pick strands of ginger fur from his teeth later.
Scrabbling up onto the remnants of the statue's platform, Beck circled around into his typical lazy sprawl and dropped the dead squirrel in front of him. Most of the ruddy fur that had been clenched in his jaws was singed with chemicals, but it wasn't too much of a bother to him. Following the pattern he was setting for himself, the poltergeist rasped out into the air in his keening voice, "
It's meetin' time again, gather 'round unless ya wanna live under a rock for the next week!" Claws already hooked under the squirrel's skin, he glared ahead at nothing in impatience as he waited for the usual crowd to arrive. Shaking his head to snap from his sudden trance, Beck instead returned his worries to the squirrel, creating sloppy incisions at the base of its bristling tail like he had learned so long ago. Not rearing his head, he eventually wheezed, "
S'pose I've gotta welcome a new lot of y'all into our humble swamp, but buckle up, there's a bunch of new folks." Which wasn't necessarily bad; it was great, in fact, to be earning themselves fresh meat by the handfuls. He just didn't want to stumble over the long list of names he memorized. "
Here's a official welcome from the one and only Beck to Tsukiko, Noah, Marvolo, Nayru, Fen -- Fenrisulfr? That how ya say it? Uh -- Jonah, Amun, Buckingham, I'll just call ya Bucky, and Cairos. Y'all got some weird names, but go on 'nd introduce yourselves, and make yourselves comfy." Beck quipped, lantern-like gaze briefly flickering up to scan over their faces before accompanying his welcome by gripping the squirrel's tail and tearing the fur from its legs with a harsh tug. Busying himself by skinning someone's meal certainly did calm his nerves, in a cathartic way, or kept him distracted enough so he couldn't worry about how gravelly and shrill his words sounded, and how scrawny he was, and every other flaw that made his speech tremble.
Continuing to mindlessly skin the squirrel for, he didn't know, squirrel stew or whatever, Beck swiped an electric blue tongue over sharkish teeth and continued, "
Now for the main event y'all are waiting for, the promotions and shit. I'm impressed, six of you folks get to climb up a rank. Fen 'n' Amun, ya two get to be chasers, even though both of ya are new. Amunet, Morgan, and Valo, you get to move from chaser to firebrand, another bad-ass rank name if I do say so m'self. And, Bella, ya might of noticed I skipped ya there, but since ya wanted to be a doc, I'm giving ya the job right now. 'Course, I expect y'all to learn how to take care of yourselves and how not to get your asses hurt so ya don't stress poor Bells out too much. And, uh, shoutouts are gonna go to Fish, Cairos, Nayru, and Marvolo, but who knows, if ya keep it up, ya might snag yourself a rank." By now, the squirrel's hind legs were freed from its furry coat, and Beck pinned its degloved tail down with a blood-speckled paw, gripping its bare legs with his teeth. In one swift movement, the squirrel and its pelt were ripped apart from each other, leaving Beck's scarred snout to crinkle into a disgusted smile. What else was he supposed to say? His split brow furrowed as he concentrated on removing the squirrel's feet and head with both claws and bone snaps, and when he was finished cleaning his catch, the boy hoarsely concluded, "
There ain't much going on, luckily, but I'll keep medic tryouts open for a bit longer so anybody who didn't get the memo can, ya know, tryout. And I'll be hold us a fancy icebreaker-type thing so y'all can at least get to know the folks you're gonna be living with. Meet'n'greets, I think they're called. I expect all y'all newbies there, and the vets too." Personally, Beck hated the idea of awkward introductions and gritted smiles as everyone stood around doing nothing but watching each other. He wanted to gag at the thought of social interaction and having to use the fabled manners he was always told he lacked. But, in order for a group to not collapse into chaos, there needed to be an ounce of trust. At least he knew that his little group was able to function as a team when they were serious for once, seeing as they managed to wrangle Vladimir's remains back. Speaking of which -- "
Oh, and we got Vladimir, a member that was captured, back, but ya know, since he died, we ought to hold a funeral or somethin'. And get our revenge, both of which I can take care of, but that means y'all gotta be extra on-guard, since I've gotta feelin' we might be gettin' visitors soon from those pirate assholes." It was difficult to detect the melting pot of emotions behind the aloof sneer Beck wore as a mask, but he was internally fuming for multiple reasons, and not just because he was jealous over someone else having a funeral. But if anything, he knew holding grudges was unhealthy, and after he served Pinch some justice, he would try to put the whole affair behind him. "
And uh, words of wisdom from a dead kid, I wouldn't beat yourself over Vlad's passin' too much. If it helps any, I can assure ya he ain't trapped on Earth like m'self. Probably up runnin' 'round in whatever heaven he believed in, with all his eyeballs in his head." Not much else he could say; it was awkward for him to even acknowledge his existence as a 'dead kid'.
But enough with the sad shit. He could ramble about Vlad and how lucky he was to be getting a burial later. Content with the skinned squirrel and setting it aside to give to a hungry soul later, Beck straightened from his concentrating slouch and finally tilted his at his audience expectantly. "
Like last time, I'm gonna pass the mic to y'all so people can announce their own l'il things or whatever, or, like, comments 'nd questions, or just... general whatever." Not that he would really pay attention now that his long list of announcements was done, he was far more concerned on wondering if any of the creatures present would know what a mic was.
/ tl;dr
howdy to tsukiko, noah, marvolo, nayru, fenrisulfr, jonah, amun, bucky, and cairos! glad to have you guys!
promotions go to fenrisulfr and amun up to chasers, and amunet, morgan, and valo to firebrands. bella is also our medic now so be nice and don't get horribly mangled
shoutouts to nayru, marvolo, fish, and cairos
medic tryouts are still going if anyone is interested!
hereand i'll be updating with a link to that meet and greet, and vlad's funeral when they're made
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