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Rohan was cleaning his office, for once. Or... rather, he was making a vague attempt at cleaning his office, which was not being extremely fruitful, really and was probably making things worse than they had started out as. Apparently, dust liked to cling to old books and underground sections of libraries like parasites clung onto dirty animals and there was simply nothing he could do.

The office was a mess - not that it wasn't a mess usually, but today books were piled in towards and papers scattered the floor as he tried to dust the shelves that littered the room. Needless to say, Rohan was creating a huge cloud of dust, rather than ridding the shelves of it, "Oh, goddamnit!" he grumped as the cloud engulfed him and threw him right into a coughing fit. He had to escape the vicinity of the shelf in question, waving his arms to disperse the dusty mist around him; he looked like a mess. His hair (which could have been rather elegant if he'd bothered to take care of it) was arranged into a half fallen pony tail and seemed to point in every which direction. His sleeves were pulled up to his elbows in an attempt to save them from the dust and filth, but that wasn't working well either. Plus, he was covered under an inch of dust.

Usually, he wouldn't have bothered, but Khalla had mentioned something about sneezing and finding it hard to breathe down there with all the dust and... for some inexplicable reason, he'd felt compelled to do something about it.

That was how Serah probably found him, battling a cloud of dust with a hand and a cloth - it was clear from his looks that the dust was proving to be a worthy opponent. In Rohan's defense... he hadn't really been expecting anyone, and so when she walked in (for his doors were wide open in an attempt to get fresh air within), he only paused in mid motion and stared at her, "I'm... afraid I am not open for extra credit lessons or catching up lessons right this instant," he sounded awkward, like he wished the earth would perhaps swallow him up whole.

A wet cloth? Well, that... that made a world of sense, actually. Why hadn't he thought of that? His red gaze left the girl in order to be focused back on the cloth he was carrying in one hand, as if looking at it would somehow fix this entire ordeal. He actually took a moment to shake his arm and the cloth his was holding, coughing at the dust it generated before grimacing; maybe he should have asked for some pointers before charging into this particular battle. Ah well...

Her next set of words effectively caught his full attention and Rohan was for some reason, so shocked by them that his grip on his cleaning cloth lessened and it fell forgotten to the floor. He'd known there were younger negaverse agents - he'd seen them in the meetings before but in all honesty, he'd been so distracted trying to make beelines for the exits that he'd never realized just how young some of them were.

It was obvious he had been caught off-guard, because he was blinking openly at her. He was refraining from opening his mouth for the time being, because he knew that all that would come out would be a long string of 'you, what, where, why how and why?'. After a long moment, he straightened up and made motion to the desk that stood to the side of the room, offering her a seat, "Advice?" he finally voiced, the mess of his office actually forgotten for now, "And, well, help would be nice, but I don't think it's required as payment."

Rohan watched as she skipped into his office and took a perch on his desk, rather than the offered chair, "Hmmm," was all he said in response to her, and rather than sit down himself, he remain standing before her. Now that she was perched on the desk they were almost at eye level, though not quite - he was still managing to tower mildly over her, "Actually, I would rather if you called me Rohan while we're here," he rebutted her, "Ursula calls me Rohan with absolutely no problem. I see no reason why you should use my other name while in... this environment," he motioned around them, "Specially when I'm not in uniform, and most specially when someone a senshi in her civilian form, might walk in or overhear - taking risks without need is not required."

Despite the fact he was scolding her (slightly anyhow), his voice was not angry - it was smooth, like a teacher lecturing a student (even though he wasn't technically a real teacher but then again, that wasn't all that important at that moment in time).

"Actually I wouldn't call them bitchy. Merely a tad snobby and obnoxious, and not nearly all of them," a brow arched as he regarded the lithe girl sitting on his desk, "And your ego seems to be quite as inflated as most of theirs," it wasn't clear if he approved or didn't because his tone of voice was rather flat. However, Serah might have been able to detect a small sliver of dry humor in his words.

Of course, any inkling of humor drained out at her next words and for the first time since she'd walked in, the man actually frowned at her; something she'd said had apparently set him off in some way, "Let me give you one small piece of advice, Serandite," his voice was low now and he advanced one step, as if to regard her more closely, "Don't threaten anyone whose abilities you might not know - it's counterproductive for you regardless of how you look at it. If you want my help, you may have it, but I will not have you giving me that look, and I will certainly not have you threatening me - you may either drop this facade," a pause, and he murmured a low, "God, it better be a bloody, sodding facade," before continuing, "And get serious about what you wish to know, or you may skip right on out and get somebody else to help you. Trust is a two way street and I doubt you're going to get anywhere threatening someone that's in your same rank. Are we clear?"

He was still regarding her with a frown but it seemed to lessen when answered him; in fact, it turned into a bit of a grimace, "Of course I can get angry. I'm human," a pause followed, "That wasn't 'angry' though, that was 'peeved'," he really couldn't recall the last time he'd been seriously angry over anything, "And I'm not dull," he frowned again, though he did take a moment to look down at himself, "Merely apathe- oh, whatever," maybe he was dull. Why should he care?

He needed a sandwich. And a walk. And some time off. A freakin' vacation, that's what he needed.

As the girl informed him that she was, in fact, ready to get serious, he pulled out of his inner musing and focused her attention back upon her. For some odd reason, out of all the questions he'd thought she was going to ask him, this one was most certainly not on his mental list, "A bird told you this, huh?" it was as much humor as the situation was going to get, because he let out a sigh after he spoke, "Yes, we do. It might not seem it, and it might not look it at first, but ultimately, yes, yes we do," he paused, looking down at her, as if silently asking her how the bloody hell she'd signed up for this without having all her details clear.

Then again, at the same time, he wasn't surprised she didn't know, "Does it bother you?" now he actually needed to sit himself down; he wasn't entirely prepared to have a conversation about this particular topic, and if he was going to have to wing it, then he was bloody well sitting down, thank you very much. Rather than picking the chair (because it would feel odd to have her looking down on HIM instead), he chose to lean/sit beside her on the desk, "I'm aware of how some of the other lieutenants do their jobs - they enjoy the consequences of taking human star seeds, but there's no rule in a book that demands you need to enjoy it," he told her, "You're only required to be effective. I believe it's a means to an end. I believe that what we're doing will eventually be for the best. It might not be pretty, and it might not be pleasant getting there, but... you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs in the process. No one says you have to like it though. I don't."

"No, I'm not okay with it. Not really," it was said with a sigh, weary, almost as if he'd actually given this topic some really hard thinking, "I'm not a sadist - I don't enjoy it, but I feel it's necessary. You need to have a reason for what you do, and it appears to me as if you've sunk yourself into the wolf's cave, for absolutely no apparent reason whatsoever, without even checking to see if there was a wolf within."

Rohan had no way to know she'd actually sunk her heel into a man's hand - he was rather practical when he worked. He made it a point to strike as fast and painlessly as possible and he sure as hell didn't enjoy it. It gave him no thrill and no actual satisfaction beyond knowing he was helping a cause he believed in. He'd always been afraid; fear had ruled his life, and the negaverse... this organization offered him a way to change things.

Never be scared again. Fight or be persecuted. It was a chance to create order out of chaos, and a chance to be a part of the creating that order.

"Why did you sign up?" he asked suddenly, "Seems to me you got a tad more than you bargained for - that tends happens when you charge into into things unprepared. You don't even know what you, personally, are fighting for. What exactly are you hoping to achieve with this?" it was clear he couldn't quite understand why she was part of the Negaverse, but then again... so many senshi were just about her age. At the end of the day, the whole situation was more than mildly warped and horribly, horribly ******** up if you asked him, "Nothing is for certain. You never enter a battle expecting to win - hoping, yes, but not expecting. Did you really think you'd sign up for a war and not expect casualties?"

Ah, and there was her guilt. Which meant she could actually feel and thus, in Rohan's eyes, wasn't 'broken' inside, "You deal with it by feeling what you're feeling. If you're feeling guilt it means you're human," were they still technically 'human'? He didn't know and didn't care to find out, not really, "Quite honestly though, I don't even know what the hell you're doing fighting. You look young."

"TA, actually," he couldn't help but point out, but there were traces of mild humor in his words, as if he were trying to cheer the girl up. Why not? After all, the girl had learned recently that she had bitten off more than she could hope to chew, and to his understanding... there was no leaving the negaverse, "It more or less means I'm a bit of their whipping boy - I get to do what they don't want to do."

Which was ironic, really, given his 'other' work involved doing dirty work too. Alas.

As she answered him, both his brows shot up to hide under his rather messy bangs. Had this girl been anyone else and had this been a much less serious conversation, Rohan might have laughed at her. The idea of someone finding mirth and 'fun' in what they did was... well, so horribly warped that it was almost amusing. Almost, "You thought it'd be fun?" a pause, "Really. Fun?" he reached up to rub his temple, only just beginning to realize just how knee deep the girl was in trouble. Specially if she really had joined the cause just for the hell of it, without giving it much though, "Oi..." was the only thing he seemed capable of answering her with, "And no, I would not suggest trying to skip out of this. This isn't a situation you can just skip out of and bail."

He turned away from her and looked up at the ceiling of his office, obviously pondering deeply before her words cut through his thoughts and he was forced to give her his attention again, "I don't think everyone is 'fine' with it. Not every is the same," he shrugged lightly, "You just need a way to learn to cope with it. Soldiers need to kill and not all of them wish to. They all end up figuring out some sort of coping mechanism... or they perish trying," he reached up with a sigh and placed a hand on top of her head, petting her as if she were some sort of helplessly lost puppy dog. Which in his eyes... well, she was, really, "I suggest you find someone to team up with, kid. I suggest you find someone you can work with that isn't too... off their rocket, if you get my drift. Sharing the 'blame' often times help to cope with it."

"No," the word was spoken hesitantly, as if he were unsure if he should be talking or if it had been some sort of rhetorical question, "I don't know," despite his words, he allowed her to talk and arched a brow at her as she did so. It was rather obvious that he wasn't quite gripping what she was going for, and as soon as she finished, stated as much, "I'm... not quite following your bakery analogy," he offered her a wry smile, as if to assure her that he meant no offense, and continued, "But it's your situation to figure out as you wish. I understand more or less what you're getting at. I'm not much of a team player myself, but I think it's for different reasons than your own."

Rohan petted her head one last time before pushing himself off the desk, rolling up his sleeves once more, sensing the conversation had, in fact, come to an end, "I'd suggest rethinking that thought. It's dangerous out there, lately, and it's easy to catch people unawares," he walked over to where he'd previously dropped the cloth and picked it up from the floor, remaining in a crouching position for a few seconds, "Four eyes see better than two," and then raised himself to his full height, leaving his advice at that.

He didn't warn her against talking about this to other negaverse agents, but figured she'd know rather well what might happen if the wrong information filtered through the cracks to the wrong sort of agents. Eat or be eaten seemed to be a rule even within their own ranks, "That would be splendid, actually. I think I require a tad of help. The dust was winning."