Written Wonderland

Caleb reached up to rub at the back of his head when Raccoon responded with playful touch. He felt happy--surely, that engagement meant he'd moved things in a better direction--but also embarrassed, unsure how was appropriate to reciprocate the engagement. Before he could come up with any plans of reciprocation, Raccoon was back in their own space, and asking some pretty good questions! Caleb put on his own thoughtful expression, and nodded resolutely once Raccoon concluded.

"Good thinking, soldier. I'll get to the bottom of it!"

He wasn't totally sure if that meant they should disengage just yet, though. Was that... truly all they needed to discuss at the moment? Caleb didn't immediately have answers to Raccoon's questions, and he'd stated all the concerns he cared to state at this time about Raccoon going. Perhaps it would be best for them to part ways, then, get these balls rolling? Oh, Caleb didn't like this one bit, and his stomach turned over like he was falling, but only for a blink, and he somehow managed to keep himself steady though the sensation.

"Dismissed!"

Maybe it was a bit abrupt, but sometimes that's how Caleb was. He figured, if he felt awkward, there was a decent enough chance his soldiers did, so may as well free everyone from the interaction rather than drag it out trying to find a smooth ending. That done, the captain gave Racoon another nod, and then turned to head back out to a main path to go find someone who hopefully had more information than he did.

((OOC: Idel is gonna be his first go-to, but I think Ashleigh and Ari are also people Caleb might approach to be like "Sooooo what do YOU know about this situation???" Not sure if we wanna continue that here maybe in parallel to whatever Raccoon does next, make a new thread for that, or just let it happen off-screen, or what makes sense lol))

Racoon wondered aimlessly for a while around the perimeter of the camp, jumping off boulders were they could find them, not looking for anything in particular, just doing anything they could to work off the anticipation building in their stomach at the thought of leaving tonight. Gods, at least they wouldn't be bored anymore. Sitting around had really not done Raccoon well. It just wasn't in their nature.

And, yeah, the more they thought about it, the more they wanted to go to the goddess. It sounded interesting.

Raccoon made three whole loops around the camp--and each loop took about thirty minutes if Raccoon was hustlin', and they weren't--before they seriously took stock of what to do next. They were back in their own section of the camp and seriously contemplated going back to the mess tent for a snack when Raccoon heard their name called.

They whirled around probably more dramatically than was necessary and saw Lieutenant Allegre coming across the way. They grinned fiercely.

"Here!" Raccoon said, even though Xavier could see them at this point. As the lieutenant approached, Raccoon was amused to note that he was out of breath. Had he been running around trying to find them?

Xavier took a few moments to catch his breath before he launched in.

"So, I wanted to know... in the mess tent... were you serous about... are you really planning to go?"

"You want to talk about that out in the open?" Raccoon said, crossing their arms.

"Well, we don't have to talk specifics. We could go on a walk if you want."

"I just went for a walk," Raccoon said, deciding not to make it easy on Xavier. "And why do you ask? You planning to go?"

Xavier blushed at the question. "No, I... no, I don't think I'm going."

"Why?" Raccoon pressed.

Xavier blushed deeper, and he looked everywhere but at Raccoon for a moment.

"Evan... Captain Rutliff doesn't think it's a good idea," he finally said, looking down at the ground.

"But sending me is okay?" Raccoon asked. Xavier bit his lip.

"He's already gone every night and sleeping in every morning. I'm picking up a lot of what he would be handling, and both of us going missing... it would be a logistical issue." Xavier sincerely hoped that would be enough for Raccoon because if they asked even one more question, Xavier was going to have to tell them that Evan... that Evan...

Raccoon made a "hmph" sound but nodded as if they understood. Xavier exhaled quietly.

"But, were you? Serious?" Xavier asked again. Raccoon looked at Xavier hard for a moment before looking at the sky and then at the ground.

"Yeah. I already talked to Captain Maddock about it. He's not happy, but... he's not going to stop me."

Xavier tried not to look too relieved.

"That's... that's good. I think. Are you... are you excited?" Xavier managed to scrape together a smile. After all, there was something intriguing about going to the goddess' realm.

"I mean, I'd certainly like to go in less blind, but... sounds fun." Raccoon flashed their own, more convincing grin. "Have you and Rutliff scraped anyone else together?"

Xavier blushed again and scrambled for an answer. "Ah, well... I mean... kinda..." Before he could dig himself into a deeper hole, Xavier added, "But that's why I should get back to it. Make sure that you are over by Evan's camp at sundown!"

"Yeah, I can do that," Raccoon said as Xavier turned away.