Written Wonderland

Adrianna leaned forward in her chair, expression once again enrapt as the human shared more about its dealings with the goddess. Some words especially stuck out. Sick, clean, filter. Smelled terrible. Just what had happened to the goddess? Some kind of corruption or contagion? Did it have to do with the selenite she had hurled their direction the night before?

She wasn't sure what else this human could tell her about that, though. It sounded like it had earnestly shared what it could regarding this necklace it had helped the goddess with. Curiosity spread out in tendrils in her mind, thinking of all the different strings she might tug on to see if she could learn anything else about a necklace that might be in the goddess' care. They were all longshots, though, and would take time. She needed to think about what else she could learn from this human now, in the time she had left before the queen would learn of the situation.

"Was that helpful?" The human asked, and Adrianna offered a sweet smile, nodding, though she let a little bit of worry remaing furrowed in her brow.

"I think so. Thank you, for helping her filter whatever was in that necklace. It sounds like that was a very good thing." She pressed her knuckle to her lips in thought again--if she wasn't mistaken, the human had seemed to like the gesture before, and she liked that it bought her a little bit of time to ponder her next move.

"What else can you tell me about this Evan? You mentioned that he's helping the goddess, too, but... that he also warned you away from her?" She let the worry-performance of her furrowed brows lighten to confusion, and offered the human a sweet, beseeching expression, like she was trying earnestly to understand the situation, and would be ever so grateful for anything they could tell her that might help.

Ada smiled at their question, and Raccoon wiggled a little in their seat, confident they had done something right.

"I think so. Thank you, for helping her filter whatever was in that necklace. It sounds like that was a very good thing." Ada then pressed her knuckle to her lip again, and Raccoon stared at it, feeling somewhat hypnotized. After a few moments, they shook their head, trying to clear it.

"What else can you tell me about this Evan? You mentioned that he's helping the goddess, too, but... that he also warned you away from her? Her eyebrows were lifted toward confusion, and Raccoon figured that made some sense. This all was confusing.

"Oh," Raccoon said, waving a hand, "Evan's harmless. Mostly, probably. Or at least preoccupied. The goddess will 'change how you think about pleasure' and all that. I think he gets off on being afraid of her." Raccoon said that last bit without thinking, but then looked at Ada, their eyes going wide, and backpedaled. "Er... I mean... She is scary. I don't know. Evan just doesn't want me to get hurt. Seems to me like the goddess doesn't know her own strength sometimes. Or maybe her weaknesses either. But, yeah, I mean, Evan gets on the commander's nerves sometimes, but the rest of us like him, treat him like one of us, ya know? Harmless."

"Oh," the human said, waving a hand, "Evan's harmless. Mostly, probably. Or at least preoccupied. The goddess will 'change how you think about pleasure' and all that. I think he gets off on being afraid of her."

Silent, glittering laughter lit up Adrianna's eyes; she might have let out a full-bodied chortle if she weren't staying vigilant about emanating warmth and softness to this creature. She managed to keep her lungs steady, and to reel in the laughter in her eyes as the human looked up at her again. It assuredly would have seen amusement, but hopefully of a good-natured sort.

"Er... I mean... She is scary." The human...backpedaled? Confusion tugged at Adrianna's eyebrows again--really quite genuine this time, though it should look about the same as before, albeit with a gentle smile softening her lips. It seemed like the human was trying to navigate competing motivations in their reply, and Adrianna couldn't quite suss out what they were yet. "I don't know," the human continued. "Evan just doesn't want me to get hurt. Seems to me like the goddess doesn't know her own strength sometimes. Or maybe her weaknesses either. But, yeah, I mean, Evan gets on the commander's nerves sometimes, but the rest of us like him, treat him like one of us, ya know? Harmless."

Adrianna nodded carefully, beginning to feel like she was grasping the human's motivation: it was trying to reassure Adrianna that Evan was not a threat. That was... cute of it, in some ways, but also a little bit useless; this creature did not have nearly enough contextual knowledge to make that determination, nevermind the fact that threat or no wasn't exactly what Adrianna was chiefly interested in. Her brow furrowed in thought for only a moment, not quite long enough for her knuckle to reach her lips, before she tilted her head a little and asked her next question.

"How did Evan come to interact with the goddess in the first place?"

Ada nodded, and Raccoon was grateful that they had not offended her with their vulgar comment. They'd never really gotten a handle on being polite, but given the situation, maybe they should try.

The woman then tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed. "How did Evan come to interact with the goddess in the first place?"

Blinking once, Raccoon said, "He summoned her without permission. Made some kind of deal. I wasn't supposed to come here--er, to the goddess' realm--until tomorrow."

"He summoned her without permission. Made some kind of deal. I wasn't supposed to come here--er, to the goddess' realm--until tomorrow."

Adrianna blinked, echoing the human's gesture before they shared that brief but fascinating reply. She had so many questions -- what did it mean for a human to summon the goddess? Without whose permission? What kind of deal? She settled on voicing the most pressing, immenant curiosity:

"What's meant to happen tomorrow?"

"What's meant to happen tomorrow?" the woman asked.

Raccoon inhaled as though to answer but then stopped and narrowed their eyes, "How's this meant to help my case?" They put a hand on their hip, which was slightly awkward while sitting down. They soon dropped it.

The human drew in a breath to answer, and Adrianna held her own breath in eagerness for the reply, but then the human narrowed their eyes and set a hand on their hip, and Adrianna recognized the distrust immediately. Alas, something had run its course.

"How's this meant to help my case?" the human asked, and Adrianna sighed.

"I suppose what I'm really trying to understand is why you are here, in this realm. It's good that you helped the goddess with that necklace, but is there some other purpose you came here, to this realm, for? It sounds like there is some other purpose, albeit not until tomorrow... so, can you help me understand what that is?"

She tried to keep her voice gentle, warm, sweet, patient, kind. Her expression a little bit worried, a little bit anxious, but predominantly hopeful. It was worrying to her that the human's trust in her waned as quickly as it did, but she supposed she had asked a few questions about the other human that may have seemed drifting. Here was hoping she'd successfully anchored this human back in how this related to them and could salvage a little bit more information from them before it was time to take her leave.

The woman sighed at Raccoon's question, and Raccoon could not make heads or tails of that. Maybe she was frustrated that they were wasting time? She had made it sound like the guard would come back soon.

"I suppose what I'm really trying to understand is why you are here, in this realm. It's good that you helped the goddess with that necklace, but is there some other purpose you came here, to this realm, for? It sounds like there is some other purpose, albeit not until tomorrow... so, can you help me understand what that is?"

Her tone of voice was gentle and kind, and Raccoon was inclined to trust her.

Nodding, they said, "I was meant to be a volunteer for the goddess." Raccoon shrugged and looked down at the floor. "Though, having come early, I'm not exactly sure what my status is now." Realizing they hadn't really answered Ada's question, they tried again. "The volunteers are meant as a trade to release the Shel'ti, which I guess will help the army win the war. Their souls are being kept against their wills or somesuch. The goddess wants willing sacrifices, I suppose."

Raccoon shrugged again, looking up at Ada to see if they had done right by her.

Adrianna pressed her knuckle to her lips again, filing away all the tidbits the human's answer gave her.

There was a war on in the human realm. An army had made a deal with the goddess--volunteers in exchange for the Shel'ti, the enthralled dreaming humans that normally kept the goddess company. It seemed like the army this human was from was not the Shel'ti, but that they were allies of some sort. Adrianna yearned powerfully to know more about the politics going on in the human realm. She wanted to ask this human more about the war, but, especially given its recent skepticism, that would assuredly be out of scope of the ruse she questioned it within. It was probably nearing time for her to leave with her winnings before she pushed her luck.

"So, you are meant for the goddess," she said, tapping her fist down in her open palm again with some resolve. "I may be able to work with that. Especially if there is something in particular happening tomorrow that the goddess will want you back for. Are more volunteers coming at that point, then?"

Well, she couldn't help pushing her luck just a little, but surely this was still within scope.

"So, you are meant for the goddess," she said, and Raccoon nodded hopefully. "I may be able to work with that. Especially if there is something in particular happening tomorrow that the goddess will want you back for. Are more volunteers coming at that point, then?"

"Well, yeah." Raccoon said. "Like..." Raccoon squinted their eyes and tilted their head in thought. "...Nine? Ten, maybe? Eleven if I still count."