As Orphan notes Ollie is about to leave, he tells Tug and Falx he'll be right back, then walks quickly toward Ollie."Ollie, can I have a moment of your time?" he asks as he approaches.

Ollie turns, not immediately recognizing the voice or the man belonging to it. Then it comes back to him. This was the guy who'd been there that night, when he'd talked to Val. He'd seen him at the Rage, but what're the odds that he would turn out to be a mage as well. Oh well, that's Fate. He seems to remember him being kind of an asshole before, though. "Uhh sure. What's up?"

"I wanted to talk about what you said during the service, before everything went to crap. The eulogy."

"Oh, um. Ok. I didn't catch your name..."

"I go by Orphan. I'm an Arrow... like Logos was."

"I remember we met that night in the rain."

Orphan nods. "There by Valkyrie's car, yeah."

"Yeah..." He's silent for a moment, then "Hey, man. Thanks a lot for taking care of her."

Orphan just nods again. "You're welcome. That's one of the things we Arrows do." Then he chuckles a bit "Got in trouble for not waiting for the Guardian, but I did what I thought was right to protect her."

Ollie nods. Remembering how Orphan had attempted to protect Val from Ollie even. "So, uhh. What did you want to talk about?"

"Like I said, what you said there at the funeral. When I first heard about what happened from Val, I gotta say, I didn't think much of you. But, what you said there...well, it takes courage to face one's fuckups, and I can respect that. And I think people deserve a chance to make things right."

"Well, I didn't think much of myself at the time. I'm still facing those demons. I just figure that I can let it drag me down or I can go about setting it right."

Orphan nods. "Yeah, I respect that too. I gotta wonder, though... how strong is your commitment to trying to avenge the deaths of those men? " He gestures at Ollie, tracing fingers around to indicate his aura. "I can tell you're probably Acanthus, and the way you ended your eulogy... it sounded like an oath. "

Ollie seems to understand immediately. Orphan's mentioning of his path, as well as his supposings gave it away. "An Oath? Huh. Don't get me wrong, I have the conviction. I'm just not sure. Careless acceptance of binding contracts helped attribute to my failure at the park."

Orphan quotes Ollies's own words. "You said 'I can only hope to learn from these men, and continue on my path to see it through that they didn't die in vain. They'll be avenged, even if it kills me.' Did you say those words carelessly, without giving thought to what you were saying?"

Ollie shakes his head immediately "No. That is my conviction. I understand what you mean." He takes a deep breath. "I will swear an Oath."
Spoiler

Ollie draws another deep breath. "I hereby swear to see it done that the evil that killed Logos, Ghoster, and Guy in Granite Park is brought to an end. To avenge their deaths, and ensure their sacrifice will not be in vain." As he speaks he weaves Fate into his words, and he feels the weight of them take root in his soul.

Orphan nods and uses Sybil's Sight to focus on Ollie's aura, watching as Fate binds Ollie's words to his very being..
Spoiler


Orphan nods and offers his hand to shake.

Ollie reaches out and takes Orphan's hand, shaking it.

Orphan shakes firmly and smiles. "I dunno if you've had a chance to talk things out with Val, and if you haven't, you should...but you're okay by me. A bunch of us Arrows, and Val, we're looking into the Granite Park thing. We can use another good man to work with us to get this done."

"I think Val wants to talk. We might have talked today, but then the shooting started... Anyway, Provost Ankh has already told me she'd help. She's in good with the Arrow Magister. West, isn't it?"

Orphan nods. "West assigned Teegan and me to work with Valkyrie on this, and there are a couple other guys, Tug and Falx, that want in."

"Tug and Falx. I know those guys. Talked to ‘em the same day I talked to Ankh. Huh. I guess this is all coming together. If only the Arrow had showed this much interest before…Oh, uh. No offense or anything."

"None taken. I don't know why it wasn't given attention before, but four of us just arrived here... Tug, Falx, Teegan and me. I tend to think it's Fate, but I tend to think that way about a lot of things." He smiles. "I'd guess you can relate."


Ollie smiles as well "Yeah, I can."

"So, let's do this, for Ghoster and Guy and Logos. Work together, get it done."

"And Randall..." Ollie says the last thing quietly, almost for himself.

Orphan cocks his head. "I don't know about Randall.. another Mage?"

Ollie seems to realize he said that out loud, and then shakes his head "No. A Sleeper kid I knew. He used to skate around Granite. I found him dead in the railyards, with his eyes pulled out. It's where all this began for me."

Orphan nods. "For him, too, then.

Ollie nods

Orphan thinks of Logos, a brother Arrow he never knew. He hopes this would please him, and help him rest easier if that was necessary.

Ollie exchanges phone numbers with Orphan "When you all get ready to go out there just call me. I only live a few blocks from the park."

Orphan gives Ollie his number, and puts Ollie's in his phone. "Absolutely. When we go in, we go in as a team. We're going to do some planning meetings, I'll call you about those too."

"Thank you, Orphan. I'll talk to you soon, bro."

"I look forward to it. Very soon. Meanwhile, talk things out with Val."

Ollie sighs "Heh, well. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but it's gotta be done. I just hope she doesn't totally cut me off, ya know? I can understand if she can never forgive me."

Orphan smiles and claps Ollie on the shoulder. "You'll have to talk that out with her, but I think it will probably go okay. Not easy, not fun, but maybe some closure, moving forward, all that. Just don't comment on her height. That she can't forgive."

Ollie laughs lightly "Yeah, man. She's a little firecracker, isn't she? Well, shit. I've had enough of the cemetery, I'm getting' out of here. Call me, bro."