Alexi couldn't quite share Katherine's grim mirth at her current state, though at the same time he couldn't help but be impressed by it. She was managing, despite the obvious pain. Was it a part of being a mercenary? Was she used to injury? He certainly wasn't, and had little way of telling just how bad off she was right now. Talking, moving, not bleeding... all good things, at least.

"This way, yes, careful," She seemed determined to make her own way to the stream, and he didn't dare challenge that choice. Her decision to submerge herself completely? That was... worrying. But he had helped her up before, and could do it again, at least enough to keep her from drowning. So if she thought this was the best way to wash the ichor from her armor, he'd give her some time in the river, standing right nearby.

And a good thing, too, as her calm -if labored- efforts before turned into frantic scrambling to escape the water's grasp. He was there, able to help her, able to get her back to camp. That was something, at least.

"Ask what you need," He said the words without thinking, and found no reason to regret them. Helping Katherine settle down beside the fire, he took leave briefly, setting his previous shirt down on the ground and retrieving one fresh from his tent. Katherine was going to need something different, something [i]dry[/i] to wear herself, or at least something to help keep her warm. Though... again... not something he was sure how to approach. He decided to stick with her directions, upon returning.

"Alright, ah, I might need some direction..." A quick glance over her armor gave him a decent idea of how it was applied, the buckles and straps seeming apparent enough. But he hadn't done much with armor, at all. This outfit, these pieces, they were [i]hers[/i]. He didn't want to somehow damage them -if that was possible- through clumsiness. He didn't want to cause her further discomfort, either. "This strap pulls... ah! Yes, okay, I... think I see?"

Carefully, Alexi worked to help Katherine out of her armor. He would have liked to claim it was a quick affair, not dragged out at all by his inexperience, but that would be lying. Too many second-guesses, to many unsure movements, how quickly could Katherine have done this herself, had she been healthy? He tried not to think on that.

"Okay, okay, finally..." He moved the pieces of her armor carefully away, hanging them up on the opposite side of the fire as best he could manage. The flames would help dry them, surely, so long as the skies decided to remain clear tonight. "None of that... stuff... got through your armor, did it?" He glanced quickly about her body, taking care not to let his eyes linger. Katherine needed to know none of the ichor was left around, not to be looked up by him, though no glowing liquid could be seen. The stream had done its job in washing it all away, it seemed, if any had gotten past her armor in the first place.

"Do you feel... any better at all?" He sat beside her before the fire, glad for both light and warmth. She had to be doubly glad, at least, her clothes clinging to her as they dripped water. He kept his eyes to her face, as if he might read into her health somehow. "Your cheek, do you feel any pain there? Or... any more pain, than the stitches might have been causing?"