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"Nooooo," he said, holding up both hands. "See, you can't look at me shirtless, we already proved that, so if I pull my vest up you won't be able to look, then there woulda been no point in pulling my vest up, except to flash Hel, here, whose sister is dating a muscle bound almost naked moron, so it wouldn't be ANYTHING important, and you'd still be bright red and unable to look at me, so--let's all save time and skip that part!"

Yeah, that was--she was making that face again, wasn't she? He groaned. "Do I have to?"

Hel raised a brow at Roch’s sudden outcry, but her attention shifted back to Xiu as she enveloped the ghoul in a firm hug, and then rested her hands on her shoulders as she looked down at her. “Ah yes…I faired well enough, friend. When flames swept through the battlefield well…I was obliterated…heh…it happened rather quickly, no time for any sustaining damage. How is your arm?”

She released the ghoul as she seemed to want to deal with Roch, and watched the interaction between the two. It was…terribly adorable. Hel couldn’t help but snort softly at Roch’s dilemma. Now, she was keeping her promise. She wouldn’t leave the reaper alone with Xiu…but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to take the Baku’s side. “I think it’s best you do as she says, Roch.” Hel commented with a small smirk, picking up the rag she had discarded and resumed scrubbing the couch of blood.

Xiu couldn't help but shiver at Hel's words. Yes, she had seen--and felt--the flames, and the memory of realizing that so many of her friends had died...

Nope, didn't want to think about that right now.

"O-oh! My arm is...um, it's fine! It'll heal." She smiled, and there was a hint of relief in her expression as she continued, "No permanent damage. It's a good thing that that dagger was pulled out when it was." She had only really been pinned down for a minute, but it had been an excruciatingly painful minute to be sure.

When Roch finally complied, the baku sighed in relief, shooting a thankful smile in Hel's direction when she backed her up. What was he thinking not getting his injuries seen to for this long? She eyed the cuts thoughtfully, her brows pulling together in concern. "They look okay, but...I want to clean them and get some gauze on, just in case."

And without warning him about the stinging that was to come, she reached out and dabbed the antiseptic on the first of the cuts. At least she was being gentle about it.

His face didn't even budge. But the look in his eyes changed. He looked SO BUSTED. "Hel, seriously, I don't know what you're talking about..." he said stiffly, clearly lying. "She's just trying to get me in trouble," he growled, looking over at Hel warningly.

Hel snorted. With amusement.

“Well, these blood stains had to come from somewhere!” Hel rubbed her chin in mock thought, as if she was seriously contemplating the mystery of what could have caused them. She met Roch’s warning glare with smug look. The valkyrie was further amused as Xiu of all ghouls, took a demanding tone with the punk reaper.

The valkyrie covered her mouth, but the faint sound of a giggle could still be heard as she kept cleaning the couch.

Like it? No, obvious not. Xiu was absolutely horrified upon seeing the welt, but she tried to hide it as best as she could. Honestly, she had been kind of mad that Roch hadn't had the injury tended to earlier--it's been a week!--but at the same time, she was feeling a little guilty. Perhaps if she had checked up on him sooner herself...

The ghoul drooped slightly. "...I'm sorry." There was a pause, but she didn't say anything more about this matter. Instead, she told him, "Brace yourself, then. This is...this is probably going to sting a long more than your shower."

She brought the antiseptic-soaked cotton gauze closer to the reaper's back, her hand hovering over the welt hesitantly. Finally, she started to dab at the wound.

After a minute or so, she added in a slightly drier voice, "You should be glad that Hel mentioned your back. I would actually be quite furious with you if I left and learned that you had tricked me." As it was, the Valkyrie had just saved him from the baku's wrath.

...Not that many people had had the chance of seeing Xiu's wrath, but perhaps that was for the best.

Glancing over to where the Valkyrie was, Xiu nodded towards the couch. "Hel, do you want me to help after?"

It hurt. It hurt so jackin' much that Roch could only grit his teeth and fight the urge to cry like a child. The physical pain, sure, but that jackin' hint of guilt in the words "I'm sorry" like it was HER fault he was like this--His hands fisted on his pants so tightly that they were while. He couldn't speak at the moment.

She had no right to claim responsibility for him, not when she was saved by another guy. He'd lost his... no, he thought. He had no right to this--

"Sonofawitch!" he yelped as she hit a particularly painful spot. His breath hissed between his teeth.

He needed to think of something else. "Hel? Can you make me a T-shirt or something sometime?" he asked, his voice strained. "I can pay you."

"Not right now," he said, still seeming tensed as he tried not to scream like a little girl anymore. "But Mot and I are gonna bet--I told him if I wore a Free Hugs shirt I'd actually get free hugs. Then--"

He gritted his teeth for a second before going on. "We decided we'd have some games... and music, y'know? So I need somethin' that says 'Free Hugs' and probably 'Ghouls Only' cuz I'm thinkin' Calder prefers--well, just... yeah, not hugging guys. Though I guess I'd hug G," he added.