Ariella nodded her head, following him into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and poured herself a glass of water, motioning for him to do so as well should he want some. "There's only a couple places off the top of my head where they might be. I don't know them that well to know all their hiding places."
Marc smiled a little since she didn't seem to be against him helping her. “Is there anything I need to know about them?” he asked as he took up her offer and got himself a drink as well. “Back on Earth, I only saw that they were there. I didn't really see them.” he admitted, especially since he now knew that he might not have been able to recognize them at the time.
Ariella shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know how to describe them in a way that you'll be able to spot them in a crowd. It's best if we just rely on me to stop them." He didn't know the different species and races. If she said blue skin and black hair, well, there were lots of people with blue skin and black hair. And only one of them had a truly distinctive mark on them.
Marc shrugged and gave a slight nod. “I suppose that’s fair. Especially since this will be my first time really seeing them. Unless you have any pictures of them.” he suggested. Recognizing people from an image had been part of his training as an officer anyway…
Ariella shook her head. "No, no pictures. We don't run like that. We value each ithers skills and help each out every once in awhile. Assuming we can find one another." She took another sip of her water, giving her time to think. "We can try Declan's den. He's the tech guy in our group. And like, never let's anyone in there. But it's also so deep underground almost no one knows about it." She did because, well, she was Ariella and she made it her job to be nosy about those kinds of things.
Marc hummed a little, accepting her answer about pictures and respecting how their “team” seemed to work. “Alright. I won't ask how you know where that is since it's none of my business but I'm trusting you to get us there.” he smirked slightly. “Maybe Declan can help us find the others.” Assuming he’s there…
"Here's to hoping. If I had my belongings, I'd be able to contact him. But, you guys kinda took my stuff at the hospital." It was kind of like a pager but something that could travel through the universe. She didn't understand how he did it. He had never made any sense when he tried to explain it and he eventually gave up trying to teach her. "It will take us a few days of travel to get there though. So let's rest here today and we'll leave in the morning."
Marc chuckled a little and shrugged. “It's the hospital's policy. I had nothing to do with that.” he pointed out, though he would agree it was an inconvenience. “Maybe we can grab your things when we make it back to Earth. They’ll probably be at the station by then so it shouldn't be hard to sneak them out.” he smirked.
Ariella knew if she got him back home, that's where he would be staying and she would be on her merry way. Well, not merry, she supposed. But it was better to get him back and for her to get back to her roaming. Assuming they had this all sorted by then. "I'm going to go get this sorted." She gestured to her arm. The blood had mostly dried over by now but it was still messy. She wanted to at least clean it up before tomorrow. This was going to suck. She didn't often travel this in such a short span. She just hoped she didn't over do it.
“Alright. I'll just be here.” he smiled a little with a nod. Marc hadn't meant for it to sound like he was eager for this to be over or that he was going to abandon her once they got back to Earth. But he wasn't sure if he would want to stay either. He had a life and a job to get back to. At least he didn't have anyone besides his family waiting for him. He just wanted to help her a bit now that he knew… all this.
Ariella nodded her head. It wasn't like he could go anywhere else. It took her less than five minutes to wash it up, put some ointment on, and wrapped it up. It wouldn't stay bandaged, obviously, as they would be Traveling tomorrow. But it was better to keep it wrapped while she didn't need it. "There's clothes in the dresser if you want to put something else on," she said as she walked back out and iver to him.
Marc did look around the kitchen a little, but he wasn't too nosey since this wasn't his home, and he didn't feel a need to search for anything. He still felt out of place because he wasn't a Traveler like Ariella and he wasn't part of her team… It made him wonder if he had messed things up by following her back at the hospital. “Are you sure you have something that would fit me?” he chuckled with a light smile, hiding his thoughts as she came back into the room.
Ariella gave him a small smile. "I will, but only because my companions aren't human." Or at least most of them weren't. "One of them has a similar build to you." She let her few companions use this safe house when they needed it. Ariella had a couple of places she had so far underground even she had a hard time finding them sometimes. But this one was available to the few friends she had picked up along the way and she trusted them enough to come into her home.
“Oh.” he laughed, nodding at the obvious logic. “Well, then… if you are sure that they won't mind, where would those clothes be?” Marc asked since he wasn't against the idea of having a spare change of clothes. After all, he had no idea how long this “adventure” would last.
"No, they won't mind," Ariella shook her head. "This place is meant for restocking and laying low for a little while. Any time someone takes something, they have to restock what they use. I try to keep track of who comes and goes. Everyone is usually pretty good about coming back to restock." Which reminded her that she needed to as well at some point after they left here.
She gestured for him to follow her to the bedroom and she opened up the closet. There was an array of clothing from different realms and all different sizes. "I didn't finance this all by myself. In case you were wondering." She did have some help.
“Well… should I leave these clothes here as a restock, then?” Marc asked, gesturing to the desert garb he was currently wearing as he followed her
“Thank you.” he nodded, looking over all the clothes before chuckling. “Honestly, it's none of my business how you get money to afford things.” he smiled.
Ariella shrugged her shoulders. "You can. Or you can keep them. I'll do a restock eventually." It was her place. She could do as she pleased. But she did always restock the place after taking something from it. It just might take longer than usual this time given the circumstances. "Well, that too but I meant I've had a couple of acquaintances help out as well. I didn't build this place myself. And there's only a few people that know of here."
Marc nodded thoughtfully as he looked through the clothes. He wasn't really one for fashion or what he wore, usually just going for a casual look. But he still wanted to make sure he found something that would fit him. “Well, I’m glad to be part of that elite club.” he chuckled. “I doubt I’ll go to any deserts in the future…”
"Then feel free to leave them. Take your time, take what you would like. I'll be in the living room when you're finished." Then Ariella left him in the closet as she made her way back to the living room. She pulled out a map, a few sheets of paper, and a pen. Then she got to work.
(Sorry! I lost track)
Marc hummed a little before changing into something a little more normal and familiar. It was actually easier than he thought it would be. Not that he had difficulty on Earth, but he had no idea if some of these different places had more extreme size variations than he was familiar with.
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked as he joined Ariella in the living room.
(Nah you're fine. I'm just now catching up on everything)
Ariella had roughly sketched out a map. Or a few maps. They were of each realm that they would need to jump through. It had been a while since she had visited Declan. She wanted to make sure she remembered the exact path there. She had very roughly sketched out each jump point, making notes on who occupied what areas they would be passing through. And she made a note of which ones she needed to avoid at all costs. Not everyone liked her. She looked up, startled as Marc asked her a question. She blinked. "Oh, no, I'm okay. I'm mostly finished anyways."
Marc nodded, taking a spot beside her. “I'm sorry I startled you.” he apologized as his gaze shifted toward the papers Ariella had been working on. “It looks like you have a plan in mind.”
Ariella offered him a small smile. "You're fine, just got a little too focused." She placed her pen aside and sat up, looking at her work. "Yeah, it helps me to have a visual sometimes. And it's been a while since I've been there so I just want to make sure I've got it down."
“I can understand that.” Marc chuckled lightly. He didn't quite understand her drawings but he trusted Ariella knew what she was doing. “I imagine that maps are a tricky thing when traveling between worlds. That or they're outright superfluous.” he mused.
Ariella huffed a small laugh. "You'd be right. There will never be an accurate map. There are always new realms or portals being discovered. I bet there's an infinite amount. But I don't intend to find that out. I just need to remember this."