Selene
With a nod and a smile, Selene took hold of the proffered hand lightly - practically just laying hers in his with no particular effort to lock hands or hold on tightly on her part - before rising to her feet slowly. With luck, there was enough legroom on this coach for her to be able to stand upright even with the seat in front of her, without having to bend her knees in that cramped limbo-like position should the seat in front be too close. Ensuring that her bag was securely fastened and that she hadn't dropped anything, Selene stepped out into the aisle and immediately noticed a melange of movement and noise from a few rows back.
Stopping still, although something in Sel's head told her that she already knew who the perpetrator was, Sel turned to face the minuscule crash site and watched as Valorie apologised for seemingly knocking over some other boy. The sight was so...refreshingly Valorie that she couldn't help a small, lopsided smile quirk her lips upwards slightly, watching as Valorie worried about where her bag was...before finding it on her shoulder. Almost forgetting the earlier antagonism, Selene nearly laughed and bounded forward to help, actually stepping forward and tugging on Vince's hand briefly before catching herself. Why would she do that? Her eyes flicked to Mark. Her expression darkened dramatically, instantly, like the sudden onset of a storm. Should Mark look up in time, he would catch sight of Selene glaring at him for no apparent reason before her eyes flicked back to Valorie and she stepped back.
"come on, let's go then!" she said to Vince brightly, her face smoothing up into a wide smile. "we aren't going to get anything done just lingering here!!" she giggled and brushed past Vince, leading him through the aisle and off the coach.
That first step onto Saffron City soil was something out of a fairy tale for Selene. Her breath hitched in her throat and all the worries and problems were pushed from her mind, almost irretrievably. It was so...beautiful...everything was a homage to sleek architecture, modernity, post-modernity, with a sense of heritage that quite paradoxically lay in the fact that absolutely nothing in this City looked old. Almost like Saffron City had been created by Arceus himself to show the world what it meant to be advanced, culturally sharp and cutting-edge...no wonder HoTa was based here. Speaking of...Selene heard the awed chatter of students beside her and slowly turned around to face the HoTa building itself. Her eyes followed the great glass and steel structure up to where it practically touched the sky and she nearly fainted. Besides having never seen anything so big, she hadn't even imagined that anything /could/ be built so high into the air like this! The whole skyscraper was just stunning...her hand tightened in Vince's subconsciously, as though checking that this was in fact real. If only her Island peers could see her now...
Brogan
Well aware of the fact that poor little Calnith was trying his best to avoid her and just wanted to get off the coach, Brogan smirked. Luckily, she had blocked him off within the aisle by standing right at the end of his row, so he'd have to push past her to get anywhere and she'd be damned if she'd let his scrawny disgusting little hands anywhere near her.
"Close the door," she shouted to the driver, walking backwards as Calnith tried to get out of the coach. She turned and fixed him with an icy glare, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. "my my Calnith, such a...hostile reaction to my simply wishing to speak with you momentarily. Why /is/ that I wonder. Well, no matter, no matter. You /will/ listen to me though, Calnith Sol NeverWind, and you will hear me or else I will promptly have you snapped up by security and whisked off to a high-security prison somewhere, perhaps in the middle of the ocean who knows."
Brogan paused for a moment and surveyed Calnith, sniffing loudly and shaking her head almost in defeat. "You know, when I first heard of your links with Team Rocket, I was somewhat disappointed in them. I didn't realise things were so tough over at Rocket HQ that they had to take on pathetic weak little schoolboys into their ranks. But I warn you, now, that all eyes will be on you at this Expo. Try /anything/ even remotely funny and we /will/ get you. Instantly. I won't see my Father or anyone I care about getting hurt because you felt like playing the big boy in a world that you really don't understand. Now, I'm really happy we got to have this little conversation, and I'll see you around!!"
Shooting a smile at him, she nodded to the driver who opened the doors once more and strode off the bus. Recognising the awed words and faces of the students she almost laughed, merely tilting an amused eyebrow at them as she sauntered past the crowd and through to the HoTa entrance - her old home. This always made her feel oddly...sentimental...for all those times that she'd had with her family when they were just the Houghton-Taylors, before being the Houghton-Taylors, owners of the global HoTa Corp. But, given the choice, she would choose this life over that one. Who wouldn't? She was practically a Goddess in the world she chose to inhabit.
Smirking, she passed the Executive Committee who were stood outside the entrance to HoTa, each of them rushing to bow their heads to her as she passed. returning the gesture smoothly, Brogan paused and turned to look at the gathered students, her eyes quickly seeking out...oh there he is, little Skye Oddell. Her smirk widened as she laughed, Skye caught up in the herd like the commoner he was...and he thought he could even dare to try and intimidate her? How funny. Nodding to him in a mocking gesture, she turned on her heel and made her way up to the door, the guards opening them for her smoothly as though she'd never once left home.
"Daddy..! Daddy guess who's home!" she called into the grand foyer, her voice echoing around the glass walls. The servants - sorry, Housekeeping - paused in their tasks momentarily before a respectful murmur passed through them, each of them bowing to Brogan. Respectful...or fearful...Brogan simply couldn't differentiate between the two. And she really couldn't care less.
Outside HoTa
With an irritated growl, the members of the Executive Committee liked at each other in a conspiratorial manner under their deep frowns, the Vice-President, the General Secretary, the Treasurer, the various Heads of department...the whole welcoming committee was around 74 bodies wide. More to do with inner politics than necessity - Mr Houghton-Taylor saw the Academy as a worthwhile and major client and this was well known throughout the company. Should a head of department be omitted from the welcoming party? That would be a major slight on themselves and their Department, and a huge metaphorical kick in the teeth. And in a Corporation as vast as HoTa, harmony was the key to efficiency.
"Where is that kid," grumbled the Vice-President to his aide, attempting to maintain a small outward smile and failing miserably. "He is late. The students are all here, Miss Brogan is already inside, and he is nowhere to be seen!" he growled and rubbed the bridge of his nose with an air of extreme annoyance.
"well...Mr Houghton-Taylor did wish to give him the opportunity, Sir...maybe you should just explain that he shouldn't be given any more responsibilities that are so...vital..." trailed off the Aide nervously, the Vice President responding with a simply 'huff' as he scoured the area surreptitiously, looking for Cameron Oddell.
