Welcome to Gaia! ::

Arsenolite chugged some water from his favored water bottle as he took a break from his workout, rolling out his shoulders. He needed to to be able to fight better, and he could only do that with practice and stamina building. Even so, there wasn't too much he could do to defend against the magical attacks yet. But he would learn to dodge. And if he could incapacitate one of those ******** Senshi before they could even use their magic, well, then he would win. And he'd take their starseed.

He grinned darkly to himself as he fantasized about it. At least, until the girl he was meant to be meeting walked in. Good. They could finally get started on their sparring session. He'd messaged Lilith as someone with the lowest magic level in a Senshi to practice with, get a handle on his hand-to-hand (haha) and maybe help her with hers.

"Hey!" he called out to her, waving.

"Yup! And that must make you Lilith. Senshi of Kelpies." He grinned at her. "How're you doing today, Horse Girl? Ready for some fighting?" His grin took on a sharp, playful edge.

Man, she was pretty. That hair was absolutely gorgeous. Not that he would say any of that aloud. He didn't have that much of a death wish, thank you very much.

That gave him pause. Huh. He probably should have researched Kelpies before shooting a message to Lilith. Giving her a cautious look, he answered, "No, no trauma, but now I'm a little more wary." He chuckled slightly. "Though I guess that's the point. Give it your best shot."

He shifted into a fighting stance, cracking his neck, and gave her a grin.

Okay, yeah, he was not prepared for this in any way. "Jesus Christ!" he yelped, leaping back, "You look like—like a ******** grudge or whatever!"

The advice sort of flew over his head (for the moment) as he failed to dodge her touch, her fingers barely grazing him, and the magic swept through him, strangling his lungs and keeping him suddenly silent. Besides the choking and gasping noises, that was. He shuddered, knees hitting the floor as he struggled to feel like he was breathing, keeping an eye on her. He wasn't sure what she could do next, so he lashed out with his hands and swept at her ankles as he coughed, hoping to send her tumbling to the floor.

"Maybe," he wheezed out, "Don't wear heels, either." He spluttered as the magic ended and released his lungs, letting him breathe deeply. He stood quickly, taking a step back and beginning to circle her with wariness.

"Thanks," he surprised himself by saying, "This is... all really helpful. I can't—I'm not very good at defending myself against the magical people yet."

"Yeah, of course," he said, grinning again. "We're all one big team."

Then she struck again. "More than—" A cough cut him off as her magic filled his lungs with the sensation of choking water again and he shook his head violently. He could breathe. This was just magic. Just. Magic. He forced himself to breathe instead of cough and lowered his body a little to grab her by the waist, intending to flip her and slam her to the ground.

Arsenolite coughed as the magic wore off again, inhaling deeply and grinning at her.

"Thanks," he said sincerely, "Working through it is pretty tough. But I'm tougher."

He made the time-out sign with his hands, needing a break now that they'd had the break-through, and drank some water. He was getting exhausted, especially after having had his workout earlier.

"Thanks for helping me, too. Hopefully I can do better against the next little uppity brat who tries to stop me from taking what's ours." He flashed her a sharp, dark smile.

"Yeah. I will. It was nice, doing this with you," he said with a rare heartwarming smile. "Don't tell me about the permanent magic, I might just cry."

His smile turned joking, chasing away the real moment he'd been having with her. Being vulnerable with people was definitely not his strong suit and he didn't like it at all. Even if they were on the same side.

"Let's do this again sometime. It was fun."