"There is no 'ideal' in a situation like that, Helios. In, um, in most cases, it isn't a matter of being able to, t-to fix matters right then and there."

Giles knows that, well, he's one to talk. Not being able to fix a problem just as it arises, whether that problem is a bloodthirsty goddess or a friend in pain, is agony to him. But he remembers the words a woman spoke to him a long time ago, about how sometimes people needed time, and space, to get better. They stuck with him, and so he can at least pass the advice along.

"Being there as, um, as a friend...that's enough, and, a-and that's really all you can expect of yourself, or that anyone can ask of you."