Welcome to Gaia! ::

The squire's dark brown eyes flickered down to the finger that prodded him just below the pleats of his skirt (he had been telling people forever that it wasn't but he wasn't sure what else to call it either), then followed her as she pushed herself up onto her feet.

Rest? The thought made him want to laugh, but he didn't want to explain his bitterness to her when she was making such an effort to be optimistic for him. There would be no rest for him, not after the night he'd had, just nightmares in the few moments he grew too exhausted to keep his eyes open. They always came for him after he used his magic, without fail.

Instead he just smiled and nodded, then pulled himself up to his feet. Beneath the low hanging branches of the willow tree, he had to duck slightly to fit. When she worked up the nerve to ask him to come patrolling with her, he reached out and parted a few of the swinging leaves so that he could pass through. He paused on the other side to hold it for her, almost as an afterthought, but his eyes were locked on the dark, winding streets beyond.

"I, mm," he started, reaching for an excuse not to come with her, but finding none. It was infinitely harder to lie and avoid someone that genuinely wanted help. If it had been Delphine, he would have just told her to screw off. The truth was that he didn't want to show her the magic, even less than he'd really wanted to talk about it. With no heart left to lie to her, though, he could only agree. "Alright. Just so you don't get eaten by a youma, though."

He turned back to look at her with that same weak smile, but at least he'd agreed to something.

Gehenna let the curtains fall back gently into place once she had passed through, then turned his attention upon her. The smile she wore was beautiful and, despite all his misgivings, was making it hard for him to feel disgruntled about agreeing to this. How was he supposed to get out of this now?

"Sunday it is," the squire reached out and took her hand in his own, engulfing her fingers. Despite the size, he was mindful to be delicate, and shook it as gently as he could manage. When he released the handshake, he took a few steps backward and then turned to face the path he'd followed into this ritzy neighborhood. He wasn't completely sure where this little-known division was, but he'd make it.

"Get home safe, Ida." He waved a hand at the air and turned down the path he'd chosen without much more than that. Somehow he'd ended up with one more obligation when he had been doing his best to avoid all the ones he already had. As the distance between them grew, he found himself laughing under his breath. Damn Senshi.