Part 1 (Start Reading Here)

[Emily]

Evan raised his eyebrow slightly when Seth took a bit longer getting up than he anticipated, but he wasn't actually particularly perturbed by it. Seth didn't wait long enough to force a response in order to maintain the authoritative framing, so that was fine. Really, some parts of Evan were amused or even pleased, but none of those were anything he'd dare let show right now. He carried on leading the way silently, maintaining the excited and confident countenance he'd managed to land in.

When he got to his tent, he moved just as quickly and calmly as he had when Xavier entered earlier, to collect a third cushion from the side and deposit it to make a triangle with the two that were already out. That done, he sat down on the cushion he'd sat on before, and gestured for the other two soldiers to take seats as well.

He.. hesitated once the soldiers were settled, though, his gaze shifting briefly between Xavier and Seth. He just... as much as Xavier's inclusion might have assuaged certain awkwardnesses about the situation, it also introduced others.

"I want to skip bullshitting around," he spoke up after a moment, his eyes settling more definitively on Seth, and his expression considerably more serious than before. "So if you need me to dismiss Xavier for this conversation, just say the word. I told him what attacked you last night, and that I have a way of confronting it. I wanted to give you the opportunity to confront it as well."

[andrav]

Seth winced audibly when Evan started talking about last night. His immediate thought was that Evan had told Xavier everything that happened. Gods, how long would it be before it was all over the camp? But, then again, Seth didn't think Evan would tout that kind of information since it implicated him, too. And Evan did emphasize that "what" rather than "how," which did something to comfort his nerves. Seth nearly blurted out, "Did you tell Xavier everything?" but stopped himself on account of realizing that, if Xavier didn't already know, there was no need to alert him to the information he was missing. 

Briefly, Seth thought about exiling Xavier but also felt that might add to the "missing information" line of thought in Xavier's mind. 

That settled, he tried to process the rest of what Seth had said.

"Wait, wait, you're going after her? This is so fucked. You have no idea what you're up against here," Seth said, shaking his head. Behind his eyes, the images from last night came flooding back; he couldn't stop them. And if it hadn't been so damn uncomfortable when they initially occurred, he could have enjoyed them, but now was not the time or the place, obviously. Gods, he was confused. His body was confused. Barely functional, if he was being honest to himself. 

[Emily]

Evan let a moment of quiet pass, partly so that he could take in Seth's body language, and make sure he was reading where the soldier actually was, at least as best as he could. Unfortunately Seth didn't seem to be quite where Evan had hoped he would be, but the captain wasn't done being optimistic about it just yet.

"That's exactly the problem," he said sternly, "We need more information if we're going to be able to do anything besides sit on our asses waiting to see who wakes up screaming next."

The captain paused, noting that he was letting irritation and impatience about the situation creep in around the edges. He wanted Seth to believe he was taking this seriously, so he put in the effort to rebalance his expression and calm his tone as he continued.

"You certainly know best of anyone right now, what we're up against. I'd appreciate any way you can help us prepare, whether or not you join us."

[andrav]

Seth's face bunched up slightly at Evan's pushiness, but as he mulled over Evan's second statement, he knew in his gut that Evan was right. No one else had woken up from the ordeal.

"There was... There's more that I could tell you about last night to prepare you, I think," he said with his eyes cast downward. Before continuing, he lifted his head and stared directly at Evan, not caring about the fucking hierarchy he found himself in right now. Man to man. "But I want to know about your plan first. I have a feeling this isn't something you're just going to waltz into." 

[Emily]

Evan nodded. He'd planned to get more detailed when Seth was ready, and it looked like he was there now. Here was hoping the crazy-sounding shit wouldn't undo that. Evan was less concerned about Seth than others on that front since the soldier already knew first-hand that something supernatural was involved, but even so, the captain certainly braced for some scepticism.

"There's a woman in these parts who can summon and bind her. We need three men in total to pull it off. I aim to determine what she wants, and if some kind of arrangement can be made. It's possible we may be able to ally as common enemies of the king, if we do this right."

[andrav]

As Evan spoke, it became obvious to Seth why Xavier was present, and his irritation at Xavier's presence began to soften. In fact, even though he didn't want to admit it, some part of him was proud to be recognized in the same way as one of Evan's lieutenant, even if he himself thought he deserved to be a lieutenant. Maybe that was now in his future if he went through with this. 

Seth's reaction to hearing about the binding ceremony was one of bafflement, but he shook it off easily when he remembered the things he had gone through the night before. Though he had never been one to believe in the more supernatural, superstitious belief structures of some of the other soldiers, he was a believer now, at least in this one aspect of crazy. 

The idea of having that woman on their side... was strangely appealing--heh, she could do a number on the king, all right--although he found it exceptionally difficult to believe that they could persuade her into anything. 

"You're trying to negotiate with her," Seth said with heavy disbelief. He sighed heavily, "What do you think she has against the king that would persuade her to join us?"

Xavier felt the tension in the tent acutely and shifted uncomfortably on his cushion but continued to stay silent, interested in what Evan had to say about the matter. 

[Emily]

Hmmm. Evan studied Seth's expression for a moment, trying to get a sense of whether the soldier already had an idea of the answer to his question, or whether he was honestly asking. Evan supposed he'd just assumed that Seth would already know, on some level, somehow. Unless he was wrong about... but, no, it seemed more likely that Seth just didn't know as much about the woman in his dream as Evan had assumed he would. After all, she was coy enough when talking to Evan, it'd probably make sense that she wouldn't exactly be forthcoming to Seth in his dream, either.

"He destroyed her temples, and I gather that decision didn't come out of nowhere." The captain said after a moment, his expression absolutely dead serious. He let those words hang in the air, to see how Seth responded.

[andrav]

Things started to click into place for Seth when Evan mentioned destroyed temples. 

"Holy shit, that's who we're dealing with?" Suddenly, he wasn't quite so embarrassed about having found it impossible to resist her. I mean, if they were really dealing with a god... "Are you sure that's enough? I mean, she really didn't seem cooperative. And, wait, you think you can bind and summon a god? What the fuck." 

[Emily]

Heh. Evan very nearly let a smirk slip onto his face, but stopped it at just a lightened expression from what he'd had a moment before. Honestly, he felt pretty pleased with Seth's reaction, he supposed just because he imagined he'd have a pretty similar response. Evan felt like he could work with this.

"I don't know what will be enough," he said frankly, but his tone was optimistic, "but I think it's at least a decent start. The woman I've spoken with seems confident and sincere, and definitely interested in seeking vengeance upon the king. She's a priestess of the Demon Queen, so I'm hopeful her involvement will at least give the goddess pause."

[andrav]

Seth rolled the idea around in his head a bit and realized he probably would have come to the same conclusions himself, but a lot of him, mostly his mind as his body was still being unhelpful, did not want anything to do with the goddess at all, not only because he did not trust himself to resist her a second time. While it had been exceedingly uncomfortable... fuck. He hated that he had to think about this. 

"Argh. Okay. If I came with you, what would I need to do?" Seth asked.