Even though they were both staying in on New Year's Eve, his cousin had decided that there was no reason why they couldn't celebrate in style and then had pretty much holed herself up in the kitchen all morning.

Arian known she was up to something, Saffy had busied herself around the laptop in the morning before taking over the kitchen but he figured that she was trying out some recipe or another and just hoped that whatever she came up with wasn't too weird whatever she was making.

He'd ended up busying himself tidying the apartment's small living room before sitting in his room to think over his resolutions for 2014, knowing that he'd probably swap some of them with Saffy as they watched the countdown on the telly as it got closer to midnight and 2014.

For now though, he found himself absently sucking on the end of a biro as he thought over what said resolutions should be - because at the end of the day (at least by his book) resolutions were like promises and promises were for keeping.

It had taken a bit of thinking, but eventually Arian had managed to come up with a first resolution

I am going to learn how to bake two more types of bread.

It was perhaps a simple first resolution and one that Arian didn't think that he would have too much trouble keeping - after all although he tended to opt for making sweet stuff when he baked, he had learnt from Saffy how to make a basic loaf of bread and Arian figured it would nice to know more than the one recipe given that he enjoyed eating fresh baked bread. Besides Arian didn't think he was being over ambitious given that he would have twelve months in which to learn two recipes.

I am going to learn how to drive.

It was something that he had been thinking on more and since the night he'd come across his cousin getting beaten up by her own clone back in late October and although Arian was pretty content to mainly get around by foot or by public transport, he couldn't deny that getting his license and finally being able to drive was a skill that could potentially come in handy.

I am going to be a better cousin.

The last for him was the most important of the three, although one he was planning to keep to himself rather than share. Arian was honest enough to admit to himself that he hadn't always been the best cousin to Saffy, had quite often taken her for granted but for whatever her reasons she had been there for him in her way and the time she'd spent recuperating down at Uncle Phillip and Aunty Rachel's place had shown him that he had missed her when she was not around. And so he was going to spend 2014 working at being a better cousin to Saffy and take the time to do more cousin things with her.

The three resolutions weren't his only resolutions, there was a few more resolutions that Arian had planned for the coming year however like the third resolution he left them unwritten - the remaining resolutions ones for Athene to keep rather than him as he was now.

He sucked on the end of his biro again as he thought them over and wished that he'd thought to snag a biscuit or two from the biscuit tin earlier before his cousin had taken over the kitchen.

I am going to continue to help new senshi and knights to the best of my ability.

It was the path that he had chosen to take, his main focus for powering up as Athene and also his way of trying to make up somewhat for the sacrifice made by the senshi who had saved his life from Painite. Arian didn't kid himself that it would ever fully make up for his weakness, Athene's weakness that night after all the other senshi was dead and there was no magic out there that he knew off that would return the dead to life. It was however something that he felt was needed what with so many new senshi and knights out there and it was his small way of trying to be useful, of trying to make a difference.

I am going to start carrying a first aid kit with me on patrol and learn how to use its contents.

Arian had lived his double life as Athene long enough to learn that getting some sort of injury while on the patrol was something where the possibility was high rather than uncertain and whilst he was no doctor and nor did he have any plans to become one and whilst he would always advocate that anything serious would need a professional to look at it - having a first aid kit with a few things such as plasters, antiseptic wipes and bandages was something that could come in handy - at least for minor things such as small scrapes.

I will visit my asteroid at least twice.

The last was perhaps the hardest one for him to come up with, Arian as Athene having been reluctant to visit the asteroid with which his powered alter-ego shared a name. He'd been there once with Polaris, but not again since - although it was something he was going to try and change for 2014 - after all he was setting himself two visits, hardly the world and it was a goal that he planned to meet, even if he had to ask one of his team mates and see if they'd come with him.

Six seemed like a nice amount of resolutions to keep - three to keep as Arian, three as Athene and so after a while he set the biro down and wandered in the direction of the apartment's kitchen to see if his cousin was finished cooking whatever the heck she was cooking up.

It was later as they both flopped down on the living room sofa to watch the countdown on the tv with a couple of mocktails to hand - some green and edible glitter concoction that Saffy had introduced as 'Ten Croaky Frog Lords Leaping in their Swamp' and incidentally what his cousin had been 'cooking up' in the kitchen for them to toast the New Year in, in style - that Saffy had turned to him her brown eyes laughing and told him to spill on his resolutions for the coming New Year.

Arian had handed her the list and told her he was keeping it simple and hid a smile as she had unfolded the piece of paper and just stared at the two resolutions that he'd neatly printed out on the piece of paper earlier.

Although not quite as simple as the piece of paper made out to be, Arian was sticking with six. Two to share and six to keep.

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