Written Wonderland

((OOC: After Lance and Novelty chat))

"I don't know about you, but I'm not feeling keen on the possibility of being left behind. We should definitely go to Rutliff's tent by sundown."

"Oh, for sure." Lance nodded emphatically, and then leaned in the general direction of Rutliff's tent. "Can't have him thinking I've chickened out." The lieutenant looked nearly giddy there for a moment, like he was actively suppressing laughter at his own joke--maybe at something he didn't actually say? He moved on swiftly though, gesturing grandly before officially leading the way.

---

Evan nodded again to Mizu to acknowledge that he'd send a runner back with the count. He'd begun to take his leave, then, but something in Mizu's expression stopped him. He raised his eyebrow as a silent inquiry, and then narrowed his eyes with a gentle skepticism when Mizu told him to keep on his guard. There was something wasn't telling him, and he briefly debated fishing for it, but ultimately decided that she'd certainly given him plenty of leniency, and he doubted she was holding anything back that would be relevant to him tonight. So, he relaxed his expression, and nodded one last time.

"I'll be careful, Commander."

He spoke more gently than normal, his eyebrows turned up just slightly. He wanted Mizu to know that he didn't take the situation lightly, and that he genuinely had every intention of coming back in once piece. Once he felt that had been adequately communicated, then he finally turned to take his leave.

---

It didn't take long for Katrina to find him. She reported that, no, Seth would not be volunteering, and then hovered around with clearly something stunningly uncomfortable to say. Ultimately, she simply urged him not to mislead anyone about what they were getting into, which kind of pissed him off at first, until something about the nature of the lieutenant's fluster clued him into precisely what she meant, and he let out a hearty laugh. Katrina chewed him out a bit for that, and started to leave, but Evan caught her shoulder and gave her an apologetic smile.

"All right," he said, still reeling in his amusement. "I promise." Katrina glared at him another moment, before finally sighing.

"I'm afraid I may never understand you, Captain."

Evan sighed himself, though his was quite a bit more lighthearted. He let go of Katrina's shoulder and stood up straighter, his expression growing a little sheepish as he really took the sight of her in. He felt like he understood her pretty well, all things considered, but that didn't necessarily make it easier to know what to say. He wasn't sure it was the right call, but he settled on something playful, his re-brightening smile broadcasting as much.

"Might wanna try understanding yourself first, Lieutenant."

Gods, Evan would be lying if he said it wasn't a pretty glorious trip watching just how much redder Katrina's face managed to get at that, her eyes going wide with embarrassment and then anger. Katrina grunted and slugged his shoulder--not gently, but not with intent to harm, either. Evan didn't mind.

"You're such an asshole."

"Aw, you do get me." Evan playfully slugged her back, more gently. Katrina groaned loudly, clearly getting exasperated, and Evan set his hand on her shoulder again, softening his smile. "We can talk more tomorrow. I'm sorry again for leaving you out of the loop."

Katrina pursed her lips and set a hand on her hip, but did seem to calm at that.

"I'll hold you to that, sir." she muttered, and then straightened her posture a bit, casting a brief, sheepish glance towards the sky. "I guess you'll need to be heading out with the volunteers soon, huh?"

"Actually, we decided to send them tomorrow night--complete with a celebration." Evan couldn't help smiling, though he wasn't sure it was a celebration Katrina would like. He wished she would, though--that is, he thought she would, if she'd just let herself. That didn't seem like a conversation for right then, though, especially since he was indeed getting antsy to get to his tent to see if folks were gathering.

"That said," he continued, "I'm hoping folks will still show up tonight so we can get a headcount, and yeah, I should be heading that way."

Katrina nodded, thoughtful for a moment. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Captain."

"Yeah," Evan said with a soft smile, and then continued on his way.

((OOC: Ok so I think this means that Novelty and Lance will get to Evan's tent first. They probably chatted/will chat on the way, I just didn't have brain to come up with what they might talk about lol. Feel free to have Novelty start a conversation, or just get us to Lance and Novelty by Evan's empty tent when Evan approaches. I could do that, but figured there's just as good a chance that Novelty would notice Evan first as Lance would, and was running out of oomph on this one lol.))

Novelty grinned wildly at Lance's gesture, the reality of the situation really sinking in now that Novelty was with another volunteer. He thought that perhaps he should go find Raccoon or some of the others, but perhaps waiting for them at Evan's tent was the wisest and most efficient way to share and find out information. Perhaps they could all have an open discussion about their offerings.

As they sauntered over toward the area of Evan's camp, Novelty couldn't help himself as the excitement began to bubble out of his chest. "So, what possibility are you most excited about with the goddess, if you care to share?" Novelty asked, the grin on his face unperturbed.

Lance clicked his tongue, eyebrows raising in thought.

"An excellent question," he announced to buy himself a moment's thought, his eyes gazing up to the sky as though the answer might be written in the clouds. He certainly was excited, but the feeling was still very abstract. Sure, he could pull up stories he'd heard--the concept of being tied to a tree and slowly going mad between the goddess' visits had clearly planted itself in his mind at some point, and offered itself readily here--but those were stories. Lance knew better than to expect that lore, tall tales, and fantasies would paint an accurate picture of much of anything, much less what offering oneself to the goddess of dreams and desire would actually entail. To be excited about any specific thing seemed doomed to some kind of disappointment.

"Honestly?" he replied with a shrug, turning his gaze back to Novelty. "I'm excited to be surprised. I don't really have any clue what I'm actually in for, and that alone has a lot of allure. What about you?"

Novelty appreciated the way Lance looked at the sky and found himself following Lance's attention, happily mulling over the lieutenant's reply. It was an easy, unrevealing answer, but Lance had always been somewhat careful of that, at least around Novelty. Perhaps it was because Novelty was a known spy for Captain Kade; Novelty wasn't sure. He did, in some ways, lament his role if only because it made his personal interactions more tricky to navigate.

But, yes, while Lance was all brags and mouth, he was actually surprisingly good about keeping anything vulnerable close to his chest.

Novelty smiled and looked at the path ahead of them as he debated how to respond. He didn't exactly want to be more vulnerable than Lance, but he didn't want to give the lieutenant a cop-out answer either. Hmmmm.

"Mystery certainly is seductive," Novelty said, buying time. "I'd try anything once." The soldier smiled at that, feeling that Lance would understand exactly.

"But... I think I'm really looking for a place where I belong. I've felt for a while now that that place is not here." A wistful look clouded the soldier's eyes as he looked ahead while clasping his hand behind his back.

Lance did let out a soft, amused breath at the notion of trying anything once. That was something he and Novelty certainly had in common. Honestly, it made a lot of sense to him that they were both going, and he was kind of glad for it.

He was surprised by Novelty's more serious answer, though, and his smile faded a bit as he took it in. Belonging. Lance was torn between sensations of incomprehension and melancholy at the word. It certainly wasn't a concept he pondered on much. He belonged wherever he was, in many ways; and, he belonged no where in many others. Maybe that was another sense where he and Novelty were the same.

The lieutenant was quiet for a moment, subduing the urge to say something quippy. He could tell that Novelty was being fairly earnest in that reply, and that aside, if Lance had learned anything from chatting with Evan earlier, it was that he might need to practice keeping his quippy replies in check, or at least reflecting on whether he really wanted to say them before letting loose.

And he really didn't want to say something quippy here, but nothing else came in its stead. The silence wasn't particularly comfortable for Lance, but, he supposed it was more comfortable with Novelty than it would have been with most anybody else.

((OOC: Lance was EXTREMELY TEMPTED to see Evan at this point but I think realistically that en't happening yet lol))

Novelty wasn't sure what to make of Lance's silence. It wasn't exactly a feature of the lieutenant Novelty was familiar with. He shrugged it off pleasantly, though, figuring he had simply stumped Lance with nothing, not even a quippy remark, to say back.

Searching the ground for something else Novelty might want to say--while also contemplating the merit of slipping into silence himself--the soldier sighed lightly and decided to take a risk.

"So, I talked with Lieutenant Pemberley."

That got Lance's attention. The lieutenant returned his gaze to Novelty with raised eyebrows and a fresh smile. Not that Philip was something to smile about, exactly, but that he'd talked to someone might be--and that Novelty wanted to talk to Lance about it definitely was.

"How'd you manage that?" Lance asked, hoping his playful tone wasn't in poor taste. Really, he just liked to keep things lighthearted, at least until he sussed out that more somberness was warranted. Though, after just a brief pause, Lance decided that maybe a little more somberness was warranted, so he added a bit more gently, "I've heard he's been pretty nonresponsive since he got back."

Novelty returned Lance's initial smile, grateful that the lieutenant had some grasp on how much of a feat talking to Philip had been. The soldier resisted the urge to brush his hair back out of his eyes with pride.

"Persistence," Novelty said simply but then turned thoughtful. "I gather the goddess told him to do something... unpleasant to someone else, and he couldn't disobey her." Novelty paused, wanting to choose his words carefully. "I can imagine ways in which that would leave a mark on one's soul."

Novelty smiled uncontrollably then, remembering how Philip had made him laugh at the end, how Novelty's mirth had turned brazen. But, he wasn't about to tell Lance that part just yet.

Lance's eyes sparkled in amusement at Novelty's initial response, and then his eyebrows tilted with interest as he contemplated the goddess telling Pemberley to do something unpleasant. Granted, Philip had always seemed rather a stick in the mud to Lance; there was likely a great deal about the Demon Queen that Bronwen's lieutenant would find unpleasant. But, doing something to someone else was interesting regardless. The goddess would have them interact with each other, then? Lance couldn't help raking his eyes over Novelty's form, thinking that he had no complaints about the thought. It all depended on what Novelty meant by unpleasant, then, didn't it?

Lance started to dip into memories of his conversation with Rutliff, wondering if Evan had alluded to anything similar, but before he got there, a smile spread across Novelty's face that stole all of Lance's attention. He nudged Novelty's shoulder, a breathy chuckle dancing from his lips.

"Okay, so what's that smile about, then?"

Novelty blushed and looked away, finally flustered. They were nearly at Evan's tent, but there didn't appear to be anyone else around--no chance of getting out of this with that distraction, then.

Novelty rubbed at the back of his neck and chuckled. "Lieutenant Pemberley is intriguing in his own way, you know? He's earnest in a way that catches me off guard. I'm only disappointed I waited until today to really speak with him."

With much more prodding, Novelty knew he would tell the whole story, but he hoped Lance would drop it before then.