<div class="floatleft">(http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5499ff2ce4b0b85c868a2158/t/556fb05ae4b01eeb36c217a6/1433383003661/)</div><hr/><strong>Name:</strong>Arthur Curry/Orin (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=239229.msg11802466#msg11802466)<br/><strong>Affiliation:</strong>The Atlantean Empire.<br/><strong>Time:</strong>Saturday the 17th of October 2015, 21:46<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Gotham Clock Tower, Central Gotham<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>M'gann.<br/><strong>Theme Music:</strong>Starvation - Thomas Bergersen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnGaCAHhGfo)<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><strong>Summary:</strong>Orin kisses M'gann's forehead gently and reassures her that he'll always be there to support her, then offers a small joke to lighten the mood.<br/><hr/><hr/><br/>Mundane? Perhaps on reflection the "punishment" was a little weak considering the magnitude of the mistake she'd made but in all honesty...what else could he do? She was far more telepathically powerful than he was, and she had the ability to phase through walls and become invisible, and he couldn't watch her all the time, now could he? If she wanted to say "no, I'm not following your instructions," then there was really nothing he could do about it and he didn't really have a right to complain or get angry. She was a grown woman and as close as they were, he had no<em>real</em>authority over her besides what she had decided to allow him. As much as he made it sound like an order or an imposition, it was really just a request, or a suggestion that she could easily just not comply with. It would be disappointing, perhaps - she needed some time off, as she said, to calm down a little and reflect on why exactly she snapped when she did - but not inexcusable. She had a life, and he wasn't about to start interfering with that if he could help it...sure, if she made a habit of sending people to the Comatose Ward in GCCH - the Gotham City Community Hospital - he would attempt to impose some restrictions on her movement for everybody elses safety as well as her own sake, but short of actively policing and imprisoning her? He didn't see a way to really enforce his ban. But...he trusted her. If she said that she was going to abide by his request, then he believed her. He trusted very, very few people those days and even fewer in Gotham - the number of people he actually trusted in Gotham numbered a grand total of three - but she was one of them and it would take a hell of a lot for his faith in her to be shaken.<br/><br/>He gave her a small squeeze before she pulled away, nodding solemnly...he knew the fear of becoming a monster well, understood the constant terror of becoming worse than whatever you were fighting at the time just by virtue of using their horrific, invasive, terrifying tactics for your own ends, worrying about hurting people you cared about because you were so intent on defeating the beast before you that you lost sight of the real goal...that was, not losing your humanity in the process. He'd almost lost himself several times during the war, almost descended into that chasm of darkness that looked so tempting when he was convinced that there wasn't another way, the only thing stopping him being the thought of what his loved ones would say if they saw him at that moment. It was usually enough to pull him back from the brink, but he'd been there more times than he'd like to admit and he knew how hard it was to step away from that temptation to just give in to the anger and the urge to obtain vengeance of some kind. He also knew from experience that vengeance and anger never led to fulfilment and just carved a bigger hole for itself that needed filling, which you would try to fill with vengeance and fury and thunder but it would just make it bigger...and on and on the wheel would turn, becoming harder to break and more destructive with every revolution. He had learned the hard way that there were some lines you just didn't cross, that you had to know when to stop and when to step away...and if he could help it, M'gann would never have to experience that lesson herself. It was a difficult one to experience, and an easier one to hear from somebody who'd been there. He would rather she take the latter, if he was perfectly honest.<br/><br/>He allowed his arm to drop away from her shoulders as she peeled herself away from his side, coming to rest idly on one of his thighs as he turned his head towards her. Artemis was in Metropolis? He'd only met the young lady once or twice through M'gann, but it was obvious that she was important to her and evidently a very good friend if M'gann trusted her with her secret identity so if there was anybody that could be relied upon to keep an eye on her, it would be Artemis. Or Mar'i, come to think of it; she was relatively new in M'ganns life - apparently she had only arrived in Gotham late last year from wherever she came from originally; the girl was cagey about her past, but he supposed he couldn't blame her for that, at least - but seemed just as important to M'gann as Artemis was in providing support and friendship to his little niece, and for that at least, he was grateful; M'gann needed as many good reliable friends in her life as possible and if Artemis and Mar'i were providing that, he didn't much care where they came from. Everybody needed somebody that they could rely on, and he didn't doubt that there were some things that M'gann would feel more comfortable about talking with her friends as opposed to Orin. And honestly, he would be worried if there weren't things that she didn't want to talk to him about; everybody has things that they're not comfortable talking about with family, after all, so it wasn't unusual. He smiled at her softly, and shook his head. "You're welcome, Little One," he said, leaning over to give her one last gentle kiss on her forehead, "I'll always be here if you need me. I know that 'grounding' you, as the humans say, is a little childish but...I thought it better than putting you over my knee. That would have just been overly awkward and unpleasant for both of us." He gave her a wry, teasing wink. What? He could crack jokes as well, you know.