Written Wonderland

Nathan did seem grateful to turn his attention to cards, and also grateful that they would play a face-up hand first. Chloe and Nick were both patient and interested--truthfully, Nick had been worried he maybe had pushed Nathan a little too much, and was glad that the boy was leaning into the game.

There was a bit of tension in the air that started to rise again, though, as the game got rolling and conversation space seemed to free up. Nick glanced to Nathan again, wondering if there were easier things he could ask the boy about. Chloe noticed Gavin's gaze and blinked curiously to him as he squeezed his eyes shut after stammering. She very nearly asked him if he was alright, before he asked about their offerings, and everyone grew a little bit somber.

To everyone's surprise, Nathan spoke up first.

"Something that scares me, probably. Though honestly, just going in front of everybody is... going to be pretty scary. But I'm not sure that counts."

Chloe looked thoughtful, and then decided to chime in, albeit tentatively.

"I'm really torn." she said with a slight frown. "I guess it kind of seems like I should be... sexy or something, but I don't want people leering. I want it to be for the goddess. And not, y'know, everyone else."

Nick nodded sympathetically. "That's a really good point... I honestly have no idea about mine yet. I..." a blush bloomed on Nick's cheeks along with a nervous smile as he hesitated, but then pushed forward. "I like the idea of Novelty's offering. Just, wearing flowers. That sounds beautiful. But, I know he said no repeats. I don't think I would want to just copy someone else's idea anyway."

Nathan watched Nick talk with wide eyes and a growing blush on his own cheeks, re-blooming from its brief hiatus for cards. He certainly agreed that it sounded like Novelty was going to be beautiful... and Nick, too, in whatever he chose. And Gavin--and Chloe... the boy bit his lip and rubbed at his knee again, his gaze fixing pointedly on the cards in front of him. He really didn't know what to think of the fact that they were all going to the goddess of dreams and desire together.

Chloe noticed Nathan's nervousness, and she considered bringing attention back to the game, but decided against it. They needed to be talking about these things. What she could do was just keep attention off of Nathan for now, give him space to chew on whatever he was thinking about.

"Yeah," she spoke up a bit wistfully, "I wonder if it's all just... outfits, or if the offerings can be more... abstract, I guess. I dunno, it's hard to think of examples. But I guess like, maybe actions of some kind instead. Or crafts?" Hm, Chloe liked the idea of some kind of craft, if she could possibly think of something befitting a goddess--this particular goddess, no less. She couldn't help getting lost in thought for a moment there, wondering about what she might be able to make before the ceremony tomorrow, and how to make it sufficiently meaningful.

Gavin listened to everyone talk about their offerings, mildly surprised and curious about Nathan's confidence in choosing something scary but not ready to ask more questions about that yet. When Chloe spoke, Gavin couldn't help but turn an intense gaze her direction, soaking in her words the moment they were in the air between them.

After letting a silence stand for a few moments, Gavin looked down at his hand of cards and said, "I think the offering is supposed to be gift to the goddess. It's not for the people who will be watching us go through. And gifts take all kinds of forms." Looking at Chloe, Gavin said, "And I've heard more than just... sexy stories about the goddess."

Realizing that he had been rather generic with those comments and wanting to be vulnerable with this group who was being vulnerable with him, he waited until he could play a card and then added, quietly, "I suspect mine will be more of a private object as well."

Chloe's large, dark eyes blinked curiously at Gavin, definitely interested in the other stories about the goddess he might know. She hesitated asking him, though. The group of them retreated for a moment back into the card game, before Gavin offered that he would probably be giving the goddess something more private, too.

Nick was a little nervous with this talk of privateness--was it egotistic, to want to share his offering with the whole of the rebellion like Novelty would be doing? Well, if it was, then at least Novelty would be in that boat with him. Nick supposed he'd still need to figure out what his offering would even be, before he really knew how private or public he'd want to be about it though. He made another play in the card game, still unsure how to contribute to conversation at this point.

"What else have you heard about her?" Chloe finally asked, her eyes flicking up from her cards to Gavin and then back down again, her curiosity balancing with her desire not to put Gavin too much on the spot. "Lurid stuff is all most people wanna talk about," she added with a soft but telling sigh. "But there's got to be more to a goddess, yeah?" she looked up to Gavin again and found herself smiling with some amusement, hopeful that her comments might help lighten the question. Fingers crossed, anyway.

Gavin colored as Chloe turned the attention back on him and colored even more deeply when she mentioned the lurid stories about the goddess. He'd certainly heard a fair number of those as well, especially in the past few days in camp. Though Gavin had tried to be discreet about it, he certainly had sought them out whenever possible.

But the ones that specifically interested him... well, those were a little closer to home.

"I mean," Gavin said, doing his best not to stutter, "some of them... talk about her being a shapeshifter, right? I imagine that's not just for... uh..." Gavin couldn't finish the sentence, but he hoped everyone understood the gist of what he meant. Gavin ran his eyes over his cards again, buying time. "And, I mean, she has a lot of priestesses, right? I never visited them, but some of my friends did once. Each of their experiences were incredibly different. Maybe the goddess is the same way? Maybe she'll be different for each of us?"

All right, that was enough talking for now. Gavin sighed, feeling a little out of breath.

Chloe couldn't help deflating a little, disappointed that Gavin didn't have something more specific to go on. She supposed he was probably right that her being a shapeshifter surely had implications beyond the base sexuality that everyone else seemed to focus on, though. She blushed a little as, unbidden, the image of running her fingers through the coat of a wolf danced across her mind and raised subtle goosebumps on her arms.

"She... does change into a dragon sometimes." Nathan nearly whispered, his eyes intent on his cards and his face a deep red. His hand trembled a little, but he managed to keep his composure even as the memory of her roaring in that clearing echoed through him once again.

Chloe blinked her wide eyes to Nathan, then, her posture straightening but a sadness tugging at her heart. She supposed, in the grad scheme of things, she had Nathan hadn't had much time to talk, but even so, she couldn't help feeling hurt--or at least, strange--that this was the first Nathan was sharing of that. She tried to reel those emotions in and be understanding, though. There was so much he'd been through that was difficult to talk about.

Nathan felt Chloe's eyes on him and shifted a little uncomfortably, but kept his gaze on his cards still. Chloe caught that, and went ahead and played. Nathan wiggled his nose a little and swallowed, and then played his card for the round.

Nick blinked between the two of them, but ultimately played his card quietly, still without words. It just seemed like... there was a lot between Nathan and Chloe, and even Chloe and Gavin, it seemed like there was some shared interest that Nick couldn't quite grasp at. He was nervous that maybe they'd start to get annoyed if he never said anything more, but right now, he still wrestled with feeling like he just simply didn't have anything useful to say. 'Wow, a dragon?' Rubbish.

At long last, Nathan added, with a subtle nod towards Chloe, perhaps inviting her a little closer, "Sometimes... she would carry me. Fly me up to a cave in a mountain." The boy gently pressed his hand against his gut, his posture swaying slightly as he felt the jolt of being lifted up of the ground by the goddess' talon. He seemed to be weathering such things a little more gracefully now than he had when they'd first sat down, at least.

Chloe couldn't help staring at Nathan with a little bit of awe. That did sound intriguing, to fly through the air with the goddess. She smiled and settled back into herself a little bit, once again returning her attention to the game for a moment, this time partly to contain the excitement that seemed to be bubbling up.

Gavin's eyebrows raised as he looked at Nathan with obvious surprise. While he had heard rumors about Evan saying something in the mess tent about the goddess and riding a dragon, it was altogether different to have it confirmed directly from someone who had been there. And that definitely also confirmed the shapeshifter stories. Wow. This was all getting more real by the moment.

And there were mountains in her realm, which gave Gavin some idea of the scale of the place. Was it a whole other world? He started getting dizzy thinking about it. It was still so miraculous that the goddess--any goddess--was real in the first place.

After a drawn-out silence, Gavin held one hand to his head and said, "It just... makes me think... how many of the other stories and legends we tell are true?" After a moment, he also laid down a card, looking at Nick with a slight shy smile.