Welcome to Gaia! ::

((This rp follows on directly after this one))

Orah had still been out when Arian returned to the apartment from an evening patrol as his powered counter Athene. It wasn't really surprising however given that the two of them were senshi and so was something that Arian hadn't given much thought to - Liryn was out as well and he had assumed the two were out together.

Despite the lateness of the hour, Arian hadn't felt like sleeping and so had pulled out his beads and fetched a snack from the kitchen with the intention of working on some pendants for the etsy shop as Saffy had emailed him earlier in the week to tell him that the lucite and crystal pumpkin themed ones that he'd made up for the run up for Halloween had proved popular to the point that they were almost out.

He'd run out of Leucite beads, but had managed to find some dyed and carved serpentine stone that he thought might work, despite it being it being not as lightweight but he must have been more tired than he thought because at some point he'd fallen asleep.

It was a noise that woke him up, had him blinking a little owlishly at his surroundings, mind sleep-fogged and disorientated from being pulled out of sleep although it started to wake up when he heard the noise again and it sunk in that there was someone out on the balcony. His position - the living room couch - meant that it took practically no time at all to cross over to the set of doors that linked balcony to living room, his eyes worried as they took in who it was out on the balcony and in what condition.

He didn't say anything for a moment as he opened the doors and looked her over, not taking long for him to realise that no Liryn wasn't with her, but then he asked "How hurt are you?" His quiet voice as worried as his eyes as he made a mental note that he would need the first aid kit.

Orah was the one training to be a nurse, but Arian had picked up some of the basics after he'd started carrying around a small first aid kit and you didn't need to be super medically inclined to know that the tar wasn't a good thing either and would need to come off too.

Despite wanting to know what had happened, he didn't ask - not at that moment. Right now patching up his friend to the best of his limit skill and potentially hospital for the emergency room took priority... Questions would have to come later.

Arian nodded at Orah's response but didn't immediately follow as his friend made her way into the kitchen instead making a detour to pick up some things that he thought would be needful. The first aid kit was a given, not the small one that he kept in his satchel but one of the larger ones that the two of them had (by mutual decision) decided to keep on hand and which would not only have the requested scissors but also 'just in case' stuff.

The next was a stop by the closest bathroom. There was no pumice, the small blocks of hardened but lightweight lava foam not something that Arian had thought to keep on hand but he had found some loofah and one of those long handled scrubbing brushes and a quick search of the second had turned up a pair of exfoliating gloves still in the packet.

Picking up all three, Arian had added them to the first aid kit and had made his way to the kitchen where he knew that they'd be able to find some oil and set his findings down on the counter "No pumice stone," he offered quietly as he fetched down some olive oil from a cupboard followed by a larger bottle of corn oil and then fetched out a basin partly as a way to busy hands and partly in case it was needed. "But I came across these three" he set the basin down so that he could gesture towards his bathroom finds, adding "And we should probably get the arms checked out just in case. I can call a taxi to drop us both down and take us back." If he had a car then he could have driven given that he had finally gotten his licence earlier on in the year, but he didn't and although at a push he could have probably have called his cousin and asked to borrow hers, the questions that would come about from it meant that (from Arian's standpoint) it would have to be a last resort thing.

"Here I can do it" Arian offered as Orah reached for the smaller of the two bottles, the olive oil, before starting to rub it into her hands and arms. "Just tell me what you need me to do." Tar wasn't something that he had come across, but for Orah he would manage. Actually he'd manage for any Order person that turned up at the apartment. But Orah was his friend, his team mate and there was very little that he wouldn't do for his team.

He forced himself to squelch the worry that wanted to creep up due to Liryn not yet being back, hoping the small kitty had merely gone for a walk or something rather than the trouble that the little bobtail seemed to be good at finding but at the same time knowing that his focus needed to be Orah.

Finding and taking out the scissors, he took them with him as he moved over to Orah and set them down before reaching out in a silent ask to take the oil from her. Arian was no doctor - knew he wasn't even close to one - knew that going on course studies that Orah was probably the closest thing that the apartment had, but it wasn't right for her to be trying to self-treat her injuries - not when she said her arms were hurting.

Besides he was perfectly capable of following instructions whether that be calling a taxi, rubbing oil into arms or cutting the tar-ruined fabric of the arms of her sweater.

Organising a taxi would have to come after - right now doing what they could here was more important.

"Okay" Arian said as he took the olive oil from Orah and poured a bit of the contents into his hands. "That makes sense."

He reached out for the first of Orah's offered hands "I'll rub some more of this stuff in first and then I'll cut the sweater" he continued as he took the hand and started to rub the oil into it, a focused expression on his face as he did his best to mimic her actions from before whilst at the same time keeping his touch as gentle as possible.

Rubbing the oil in hard enough to loosen the tar without causing Orah undue pain was a balancing act and one that he wasn't sure how well he was succeeding at. "Let me know if I'm rubbing too hard or something 'kay" he added quietly, a part of him wanting to ask what had happened whilst another dithered, hesitant about whether now was the right time for it.

Not yet he eventually decided as he briefly paused his ministrations so that he could pour more oil into his hands. Later. Besides mayhaps Orah would tell him on her own.

He didn't look up as Orah appologised for waking him up, still focused on rubbing the oil in as best he could, but he did give a quick and slight shake of his head.

"You know I don't mind" well at least he hoped she did. "Injuries kind of come with the territory given what we both do." Much as he wished that there was no war, it didn't change the reality that it existed even if it was one that most didn't even know existed. Well at least he thought most were ignorant to it, although Arian had no idea of how many people out there who seemed to be living their lives were also caught up in the duality that came with powered life.

"You're my team mate" he continued. "But more than that you're also my friend. You don't have to ask for my help." It was something he was more than happy to offer.

Rubbing the oil into Orah's arms had necessitated that he bend over so as to better see what he was doing, which meant that Arian missed the small smile that curved Orah's lips. He'd caught the warmth in her voice though, warmth that had echoed in her words and it was that that caused his lips to quirk up into a small return smile of his own as he said simply "It goes both ways." Because he appreciated Orah too, as a team mate and as a friend - but more than that as one of very few friends who knew about both sides of his life.

He hadn't been expecting her to bring up the awkwardness that had sprung up between them in the wake of the night of the shared nightmare as he had mentally dubbed the evening that he, she and Liryn had woken up from nightmares, or perhaps it was more accurate to call it a premonition given that things in all three of their nightmares had appeared to have tallied - at least in his case some things had tallied although both Liryn and Orah had seen much more in their nightmares than he had, things that apparently he had been there for, had taken part in - things that he had no recollection of.

And he certainly hadn't been expecting what she brought up next. About coming across Bischofite, and trying to kill him. He listened quietly as his hands continued to rub in oil, not saying anything until she had finished speaking.

"You know my views on killing" he said at last as he lifted the arm that up until moments prior he'd been rubbing olive in and looked it over carefully to see if he'd managed to shift as much as the tar as possible, before setting it down and reaching for the other arm so that he could repeat the process.

He'd never hidden his views on killing, had actually made his own private promise not to kill prior to the three of them - him, Orah and Gwen powered up as their powered counterparts - making the same promise. At least he had made the same promise, silently repeating the private promise that he had made to himself, although the actual understanding behind the promise had been that killing would be as a last resort.

He hadn't admitted that it was a last resort step that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to take - not personally... But then again Arian had long ago realised that he personally made a lousy soldier, knew that he was a bad fit for the battlefield - even if senshi life seemed to mean that more often than not that he'd find himself tangled up in fights. And he also knew that that out of the four - well make that five now that Liryn had self-joined the team - that made up the PSSG, that he was the team's weakest link.

He looked up at Orah, pausing in his checking of the other arm as he repeated quietly "You know my views on killing" falling silent for a moment before admitting "And I'm not sure I could do it, but Orah..." his voice turned firm. "Nor am I going to think less of you - or any of the team if you ever do so." His eyes were as serious as his voice as he finished. "I know that it's not something you'd do lightly."

He gave her shoulder an awkward pat "And you're right, it's odd that Thraen would step in like that" especially since the blond senshi had been so cold with him when he'd done the same thing back when Bischofite had so strangely been a lieutenant.

He picked up the scissors and held them up "I don't think I can get anymore of that stuff off" he said by way of explanation, referring to the tar. "So I thought I'd try to cut the sweater now" he hesitated. "At least if you're okay with it?" After if Orah though it better for him to try and get more of what was left of the tar off, then he could try rubbing in a bit more olive oil and see if that would get a bit more of the stuff off.

Nodding quietly at Orah's agreement that he go ahead and cut off the sweater, Arian reached out to catch some of the fabric of the sweater before cutting it using the scissors in his hand.

He continued to cut, listening in silence as Orah spoke, the 'snip snip' of the scissors acting as a counterbalance of sorts to her voice, only to find himself pausing in startled surprise as she mentioned one of the last names he would have expected in conjunction with purification.

"Bischofite tried to purify?" The 'snip snip' of the scissors fell silent as he looked up for a moment at Orah, open surprise on his face, and then he looked back down as he remembered the task at hand and reached out to pick up some more of the sweater fabric resuming cutting as he continued "It's been a while since I saw Bischofite and I don't really know him" he had only had two meetings with the Negaverse General. Well actually it was three - once at DestinyCon convention which had been gatecrashed by the Negaverse, once on the night that he had caught Thraen trying to kill the other and finally that last meeting close to the remnants of what had been an art gallery - an art gallery that had been burning on the night that Thraen had tried to kill a turned Lieutenant Bischofite before he had interfered. "But he didn't strike me as someone who would choose purification."

Arian nodded "I remember" he said quietly. Actually he remembered most of the night of the strange black out that had turned out to be Negaverse induced all too well, except for the parts where he well didn't. Although that may have had something to do with the fact that he had been unconscious for part of the end courtesy of Atë's very nearly successful attempt to kill him.

He was quiet as Orah told him about Bischofite, about knowing him as a civilian and a part of him wondered if the merge had happened whilst he'd been out unconscious. Certainly he had seen no merging and when he'd came to the warehouse had been mostly empty, no youma half or otherwise and no Atë - just Liryn, Princess Iris and her team and an unconscious mauvian. An unconscious mauvian whose starseed had started it all.

For a moment his fingers tightened around the fabric that he was holding steady for the scissors. He had never shared the full particulars of his meeting with Liryn with the team, something that had been simplified by the little bobtail deciding to just turn up one day when he had been meeting the others in the team and announcing in the rather singular way that he could get sometimes that he would help them. It had also turned out that Liryn had already met Tsui and Ida and there'd been mention of a not-him, which had turned out to be a reference back to the shades that had plagued the city last October.

He realised that his fingers were still bunched up in the fabric and he'd stopped cutting, made himself purposefully unclench them not wanting to draw the wrong inferences from his actions, trying to back it up with his voice as he said "I can't imagine what it was like for you," he put the scissors down as he spoke the better to allow himself to look at his friend. "But I do know that the glamour that hides our identities is very powerful" after all look how long had he and Mr Darrow from the library had been interacting together both powered and unpowered before the youma that ended up changing everything, Mr Darrow had pretty much literally caught him with his henshin pen in his hand - well Camelot had given that he'd been powered at the time as his Knight counterpart.

He gave Orah's shoulder an awkward pat "I try not to think about how many people out there are potentially powered, are potentially caught up in all of this" because that was something in which lay a lot of stress and juggling what was effectively two lives was stressful enough. "Instead I try to do what I can about those I know about." Was that the right way to go about things? Maybe, mayhaps not - Arian had never claimed to be an expert, had and continued to do his best to do what felt right in both forms.

He gave Orah's shoulder another awkward pat and picked up the scissors and tried not to think about how much of a hypocrite he was being as he admitted "I wish that you had told me sooner." He started to cut again and told himself as he did so that the whole mess with Atë was different, told himself that he didn't need to trouble Orah with the corrupted eternal's seeming fixation on him. "But I'm glad you told me."

All too soon it felt like he was cutting the last of the fabric and he set the scissors down "I still don't think any less of you" he said because he felt that he needed to tell Orah the words. "And I won't tell Gwen because it's not my secret to share, but I think you should at some point."