Full Circle

[Joshua Morris]

Parking the car, Joshua wondered if the wards here would even let him in. Maybe he'd been blackballed. Maybe he'd been branded an enemy. Maybe Pym would see him, think "Traitor! Spy!", and open fire.
Well, he thought. That's probably not too likely.
All of these thoughts were just excuses, really; he was afraid of what the Arrows were going to think and how he might be treated. But he had always been in a bit of arrested development. He had a lot of growing up to do, and this was part of it--own up to what you've done wrong, and take your medicine.
He climbs the stairs, passing through the wards (eyes half-shut in anticipation of a lightning bolt that didn't come), and enters the training grounds.
Now, the question was, who was going to be here?

[Kelreth]

A tall red head in jogging pants and an athletic shirt jogs out of one entryways and stops in the middle of the training grounds. Hands go to her knees as she catches her breath. The Circle may not be home base but it was a good place to run and not get ogled. That and it also let her keep an eye on the place. Blue eyes which finally notice the man on the grounds as well.

"Hi" breath "there" breath "You new?" breath "or a new face?" She pushes her hands off her knees to stand straight before the newcomer.

[Joshua Morris]

"Returning face, actually," Joshua says to the redhead. "I left last winter but came back to help out. I'm Joshua." He sticks out a hand despite the fact that she's going to be workout-sweaty. "And what do they call you?"

[Ariadne]

Ariadne wipes off a hand on her shirt and shakes Joshua's. "I'm called Ariadne." She says with a grin. His phrasing was good, she likes its subtly. "Welcome back then. I've only been here for a few months."

"So Bow or Mask?"

[Darren Nash]

"No fucking way," comes the voice from behind the pair, Anglo-Irish and as dry as they come. "Joshua Morris! Where the bloody hell have you been, man?" Ash smiles, rushing over with dufful bag in hand, open wide for all to see the boxing gloves poking out the top. Glancing to Ariadne, he gives an apologetic look for breaking up their conversation but when it comes to a hero, needs must.

[Joshua Morris]

Joshua had actually been surprised to see someone new, although he supposed he ought not to be--it had been three seasons after all, and Sacramento needed the bodies. "Good to meet you, Ariadne," he says. He starts to answer her question with "I'm--" but is suddenly cut off by a familiar voice. Joshua turns a bit, and waves.
"Ash, man, good to see you. I been, uh, around," he says, smiling faintly. "Still boxing, I see. Anyone show you how to shoot, yet?"

[Animus]

Lately the Neidan Sanctum had been developing a desolate air. Animus wasn't sure why that was, but it made staying there even more uncomfortable whenever West and Ankh weren't home. That, coupled with the desire to prove himself as an Arrow, made the Circle an increasingly desireable haunt.

Animus walks in with Guards-the-Pack trailing beside him, only mildly surprised to see Joshua. After all, they were bound to meet here some time. And now, he'd find out how his old Cabal-mate took the news. He gives a brief nod of greeting to the three gathered as he approaches.

[Lesingnon]

She didn't have the same aversion to this place as some in her order...okay, one in her order. Sure, as the one in charge he was arguably the most important Guardian...details, details. But anyway, she saw no reason to avoid it. It was useful. If you wielded a weapon in combat you didn't not use it simply because your opponent expected that you would.

Besides, you never knew who you'd run into at a place like this. And she could certainly spot someone hear today she needed to talk to. She didn't walk in long after Animus. Her course adjusting slightly to follow the path he'd taken, pace speeding up slightly to stand right behind him. Apparently the thought that doing that to the Hierarch might not be the best of ideas didn't cross her mind...or was ignored, one of the two. "So...Hierarch," her tone is more amused than accusatory, reminiscent of one catching someone with their hand in the cookie jar. "You didn't mention that."

[Animus]

Animus turns, a half-smile on his face. "And if I had, would I have still been a person, someone you could approach? Or would you have kept your distance, warded off by the expectaaionss of the office?" There's no remorse, only amusement and a hint of sadness.

[Lesingnon]

She blinks slightly, not seeming to have expected that answer. And wasn't the answer obvious? "I'm not keeping my distance now am I?" Which implied that she wouldn't keep her distance simply because he was Hierarch, didn't it?

"Maybe I wouldn't have been quite so forward. But, a title doesn't change you." Unless it was in some way connected with a legacy, at which point it did literally change your very soul. But that was beside her point, here at least. "If someone wants to use a title to act all distant and lordly and stuff they probably aren't approachable without it, either. And if someone wants to be approachable, they probably will be with or without one."