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Ariadne was, very definitely, lost. But given her situation, getting turned around int he back alleys of Destiny City was perfectly reasonable, she was pretty sure, because there was someone or something following her.

Sure, she was a mighty and powerful Senshi, but that didn't mean that things couldn't scare her--and there were plenty of things in Destiny City scarier than a Dark Mirror Super all by herself. Plus, she'd run, and the footsteps were still behind her, but there was no aura, which meant--

She didn't know what it meant. All she knew was that she was scared, and if she stopped, she was pretty sure something would get her, and then--

She stopped. Suddenly. Because she had crashed into someone else while looking over her ********> Ariadne gasped, stumbling backwards but also extending a hand to catch the poor Senshi she'd run into.

"s**t, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, I just--there's something following me."

Ariadne took a sharp breath. Okay, he wasn't attacking her. And now that she was no longer alone, she didn't feel hands tugging on her hair or breath on her neck the way she had when she'd slowed before and let the footsteps catch up.

Nothing was there. Except for another person.

"Sorry, kinda, yes? No?" She smiled, more than a little nervously. "Physically I'm fine. But like I said--I could have sworn there was something chasing me. I just don't know what, and it's...maybe gone now?"

She wrung her hands.

"Did you see anything behind me?"

The longer she stood there, the better Ariadne felt. Particularly since there didn't seem to be much more in the way of sounds of approaching feet or grasping hands, so maybe she had chased off whatever was following her by finding another person to stick by.

Probably that was the secret. Whatever the monster was, it was a coward--a lone girl at night was an easy target, even when she was a Senshi, but two Senshi were a much less takeable fight.

So, she let out a relieved breath.

"Thanks," she said, "and uh, thanks for believing me, but I guess mysterious footsteps following me aren't even like, the tip of the Destiny City Weird s**t Iceberg?" She laughed, briefly, and while it was a little tense, it was a little less so than it might have been otherwise.

At least he was chill, and not making her black fuku a whole Thing. Other people might have, so she had to respect someone who didn't.

"I'd love to walk with you for a while," she said. It would feel much better not to be alone, at least, and she would hopefully no9t have to worry aobut her creepy magic stalker returning from whatever shadow it had slunk off to. "I'm Sailor Ariadne, of Mourningbrides. Which are a type of flower. I am not the Senshi of the concept of 'women crying over their dead husbands'." It felt worth clarifying, even if it also felt sort of silly to do so. Then again, if she was a little lighthearted, maybe this whole thing would feel less scary.

Ariadne supposed that it was probably true that they were both at risk of creeps--Gagarin wasn't exactly big and imposing, so it wasn't hard to imagine that he might have attracted Some Bullshit, but--

Ah. Yes. That made sense.

"I'm sorry you've had to deal with that," she said, gently. "People are ******** awful." To say the very absolute least. Just thinking about that left a bad taste in her mouth. The mundane evils done without even the slightest spark of magic were so often the nastiest.

"Is it weird that I think I'm glad it was probably some kind of magical weirdness?" She sighed. "Like, a ghost is way less scary, in some ways."

But at least she wasn't alone now, and whatever had been following her seemed to be gone.

So she gave Gagarin a smile, and a little laugh at his joke, and with the somewhat lightened atmosphere, it seemed even more effective at driving the dark away.

"That's really neat," she said. "I bet your magic is really cool. Mine mostly makes people want to do what I want, which is, you can imagine, super helpful for getting out of situations." And into them, but that was another matter.

Ariadne laughed. "Yeah, that makes sense." She'd wondered, occasionally, why hers was the way it was, but she wasn't exactly going to be able to find out. Maybe it would change if she left the Court--but that wasn't on her docket.

"And, uh, that's really sweet of you, but I'm good, don't worry about it," she said. If she felt like she needed a day off practice, she'd just have to take it, but more likely, it would feel good to show up, work herself hard, and rest after with a clear head. "My job is the kind where it's actually good for my mental health to [i surprised 9nrv760:0]go.[i/]"

But at least he was sweet. That was something.

"Just stick with me for a bit longer, and I think I'll be okay once I can find a mirror to duck into. And...thanks again."