Guh, Evan had not been prepared for Blake and Elaine to be there, and the sight of them stole his thunder a bit. He and Blake exchanged glares, though they were both interested enough in appearing respectful to Mizu at the moment that their expressions both remained relatively tame, all things considered.
Anyway, they didn't have long to glare before Mizu dove right in- albeit with a nicety first, which in its own way seemed promising, but what followed didn't really hold back. Not that Evan particularly expected her to, but it did land harder with Blake and Elaine bearing witness to it.
Evan's attention was on Mizu, his expression determined to remain focused but humble - insofar as the captain ever looked particularly humble, anyway - though as Mizu went on, redness certainly crept onto his face, and he couldn't keep frustration from starting to narrow his eyes and furrow his brow. Evan could see Blake's expression out of the corner of his eye, and it was as inscrutable as always, but Evan was sure she was enjoying the shit out of this. She'd fucking love if Mizu followed through on stripping Evan of his title, but he wasn't about to just roll over.
“The situation changed.” Evan stated matter-of-factly. It took some effort to keep frustration out of his voice, but he managed, even if he couldn't totally keep it out of his expression.
“Two separate men were attacked after you left. I feared the situation continuing to escalate, and took action. I gave the men who came with me as much information as I had and they participated willingly, though it was and is my intention to take full responsibility for the judgement call of performing the ritual; if they had declined, I would have sought others out. My primary goal was to curb the attacks on our men, and secondarily to get our incapacitated men back, so no, I did not prioritize any Shel'ti in the negotiation. It was not my intention to disregard them.”
Nnng, an arguably-inappropriate tone might've slipped into his voice there, as he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at having to defend that particular part of things. They were only seeking out the Shel'ti because they needed help; if the goddess could provide the assistance they needed, the Shel'ti we're no longer their concern, no? But Evan did at least recognize that now was absolutely not the time or place for that sort of debate. To that end, he swallowed, and reigned his tone back in.
“The agreement we came to was that the goddess would stop attacking our men if we-” hrm, right about here was where things got sticky, in terms of believability if nothing else. Evan paused just briefly to rethink his wording. “Give her what she's looking for, as the old woman from the woods indicated. I believe I should suffice, and am certainly willing. She'll also kill the king for us, as soon as we complete that task.”
He couldn't quite stop himself from smirking just briefly as the thrill of the goddess’ rage danced through his mind again, but he reigned it in quickly.
“Additionally, she agreed to release one of our soldiers each night in exchange for… my company.” His cheeks reddened slightly more, and his gaze briefly shifted to the side. He really hoped Mizu wouldn't ask for clarification there- to wit, he pulled himself back together quickly to hopefully just move the fuck on.
“She released my soldier when the deal was struck, and this soldier today thanks to... an additional negotiation overnight. If we need more from her - Shel'ti men or what-have-you - I may be able to get it over the next few nights.”
There he paused again to swallow and shift his weight slightly. That was his case; here was hoping it convinced her.
“If you truthfully find it unacceptable for a captain to respond to changing circumstances and seize opportunities in your absence, I'll accept your decision, if respectfully disagree.”
He held eye contact with Mizu, his held tilted slightly downward but his gaze confident and steady. A part of him wanted to dare her to actually claim his actions were unreasonable here, but he mostly kept that sentiment from his expression, and quietly awaited her reply.
((OOC: Uh, assuming Evan gets through all that without interruption. If there's a point when anyone would have interrupted we can retcon; I wasn't sure how to gracefully provide opportunity for that without a bunch of “More post; would anyone interrupt?” Which seemed clunky lol))
Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Moderator: On Dreams And Desire
Re: Part 1
Elaine grew uncomfortable when Evan said, "I would have sought others out." While what he was saying might have been true, there was a certain level of audacity to the statement that Elaine found distasteful. But, in all reality, it was the same audacity Mizu had, and Elaine had learned to live with that. Mizu certainly only did what she had to do in situations where Elaine did not agree. She could see Evan's point about the Shel'ti and softened her expression. She recognized again that Evan was a captain who really cared about his men, and that was certainly a trait she appreciated.
She her sense of unease heightened when Evan began to stumble on his words and redden around the edges. They were not getting the full story here. But, Evan had brought back the man who had been attacked the other night, and they had no other explanation for what could have roused the man.
Elaine was prepared to believe Evan, but only if the rest of the story came into the light. Otherwise, she suspected Evan still deserved some kind of consequence, though maybe not something quite as severe as having his title taken away.
--
Mizu let Evan speak until he was finished speaking. First, she wanted him to feel like he was getting a fair--if informal--trial with the right to defend himself. Second, she wanted to get as much information as he was willing to offer. It would give a good picture of where all the stories matched up and where Evan was uneasy. She picked up on his stumbling immediately.
After letting silence fill the tent for a lengthy pause, Mizu spoke, "I'll admit that you appear to have roused one of the attacked soldiers, and for that, I am grateful. Additionally, I do not fault the men who accompanied you since they were simply following your orders. And, you're right: no additional attacks happened last night. However--" as she said this, she stood up from where she was sitting, reminding Evan of her full height and looking down on him somewhat intentionally; she certainly knew how to look like a figure of authority, "I am not prepared to believe your story, and I do not have confidence in pinning all our hopes for additional troops on a supernatural being. We had all agreed that approaching the Shel'ti was the best option, and in order to get Shel'ti reinforcements, we need to find a way to stop the Shel'ti from being attacked. The charms aren't good enough. If you thought a new solution was necessary, you should have offered the rest of us the opportunity to agree with you. As much as the loss of another soldier, or even two soldiers, to dream attacks would have been temporarily, the risk you undertook without sanction endangered two men and yourself.
"If this had been your first risk miscalculation, I could understand this mistake; the men were panicked, and you're right: the situation had changed," Mizu said, her gaze meeting Evan's sternly as her eyebrows furrowed slightly, "but this has happened many, many times, and even presently, you're withholding information. What is the goddess looking for?" Though the crone had given her some idea, it was something Evan clearly did not want to go into, and she wanted to determine the validity of his side of things.
--
Trevor listened to Evan intently but could not stop his mind from wondering what a summoning ceremony for Dehaljadrun would look like. Three men, huh? It didn't surprise Trevor in the slightest. It was difficult for Trevor to imagine Dehaljadrun needing anything badly enough that she would do their army a favor. What could she possibly be lacking? As far as Trevor could tell, she was a goddess, all right. Why not procure it herself? And then Evan said that he should suffice. Why wouldn't Dehaljadrun just attack Evan in a dream like she did with the rest of them? Based on the looks of Evan, Trevor didn't imagine Evan would last long before letting her in. The thought made him smirk slightly. Then again, Trevor hadn't required much goading either. Gods, that dream.
He was pulled out of that fantasy when he realized that Evan had essentially traded himself to secure Trevor's release, and suddenly Trevor became angry. It was Evan that had forced him away from her? Trevor's rage began to rise to his face, but then he realized that the goddess might still be having an effect on him. He had to fight the desire to get back to her. He was not about to let his body betray him.
More objectively, Trevor imagined Evan in the clutches of Dehaljadrun and wondered if Evan really thought he could withstand her. There was a ferocity about him to be certain, but he was short and... That's when Trevor noticed the bite mark on Evan's neck. It was in the exact same place as Trevor's, and it looked nearly as fresh. It had to have been from the previous night. Trevor's face broke as he began to grin. Evan is marked as though he were also a thrall, he thought, and did his best to stifle laughter. What managed to escape was only a quick exhale through nose and a brief "Hh." Yes, Trevor knew exactly the sort of thing that Evan had been up to. "Certainly willing" indeed.
Trevor tried to look more formal and serious when Evan said "this soldier" and succeeded to some degree, holding one wrist behind his back.
She her sense of unease heightened when Evan began to stumble on his words and redden around the edges. They were not getting the full story here. But, Evan had brought back the man who had been attacked the other night, and they had no other explanation for what could have roused the man.
Elaine was prepared to believe Evan, but only if the rest of the story came into the light. Otherwise, she suspected Evan still deserved some kind of consequence, though maybe not something quite as severe as having his title taken away.
--
Mizu let Evan speak until he was finished speaking. First, she wanted him to feel like he was getting a fair--if informal--trial with the right to defend himself. Second, she wanted to get as much information as he was willing to offer. It would give a good picture of where all the stories matched up and where Evan was uneasy. She picked up on his stumbling immediately.
After letting silence fill the tent for a lengthy pause, Mizu spoke, "I'll admit that you appear to have roused one of the attacked soldiers, and for that, I am grateful. Additionally, I do not fault the men who accompanied you since they were simply following your orders. And, you're right: no additional attacks happened last night. However--" as she said this, she stood up from where she was sitting, reminding Evan of her full height and looking down on him somewhat intentionally; she certainly knew how to look like a figure of authority, "I am not prepared to believe your story, and I do not have confidence in pinning all our hopes for additional troops on a supernatural being. We had all agreed that approaching the Shel'ti was the best option, and in order to get Shel'ti reinforcements, we need to find a way to stop the Shel'ti from being attacked. The charms aren't good enough. If you thought a new solution was necessary, you should have offered the rest of us the opportunity to agree with you. As much as the loss of another soldier, or even two soldiers, to dream attacks would have been temporarily, the risk you undertook without sanction endangered two men and yourself.
"If this had been your first risk miscalculation, I could understand this mistake; the men were panicked, and you're right: the situation had changed," Mizu said, her gaze meeting Evan's sternly as her eyebrows furrowed slightly, "but this has happened many, many times, and even presently, you're withholding information. What is the goddess looking for?" Though the crone had given her some idea, it was something Evan clearly did not want to go into, and she wanted to determine the validity of his side of things.
--
Trevor listened to Evan intently but could not stop his mind from wondering what a summoning ceremony for Dehaljadrun would look like. Three men, huh? It didn't surprise Trevor in the slightest. It was difficult for Trevor to imagine Dehaljadrun needing anything badly enough that she would do their army a favor. What could she possibly be lacking? As far as Trevor could tell, she was a goddess, all right. Why not procure it herself? And then Evan said that he should suffice. Why wouldn't Dehaljadrun just attack Evan in a dream like she did with the rest of them? Based on the looks of Evan, Trevor didn't imagine Evan would last long before letting her in. The thought made him smirk slightly. Then again, Trevor hadn't required much goading either. Gods, that dream.
He was pulled out of that fantasy when he realized that Evan had essentially traded himself to secure Trevor's release, and suddenly Trevor became angry. It was Evan that had forced him away from her? Trevor's rage began to rise to his face, but then he realized that the goddess might still be having an effect on him. He had to fight the desire to get back to her. He was not about to let his body betray him.
More objectively, Trevor imagined Evan in the clutches of Dehaljadrun and wondered if Evan really thought he could withstand her. There was a ferocity about him to be certain, but he was short and... That's when Trevor noticed the bite mark on Evan's neck. It was in the exact same place as Trevor's, and it looked nearly as fresh. It had to have been from the previous night. Trevor's face broke as he began to grin. Evan is marked as though he were also a thrall, he thought, and did his best to stifle laughter. What managed to escape was only a quick exhale through nose and a brief "Hh." Yes, Trevor knew exactly the sort of thing that Evan had been up to. "Certainly willing" indeed.
Trevor tried to look more formal and serious when Evan said "this soldier" and succeeded to some degree, holding one wrist behind his back.
Re: Part 1
While Evan wasn't surprised that Mizu still pushed back, his expression grew visibly angry when she said she wasn't prepared to believe him. All the stuff about how he should have brought the solution to others and given them a chance to agree, sure, yes, fine, he had knowingly taken the route of asking forgiveness rather than permission, which he was prepared to accept admonishment for. But he had to admit, it stung that Mizu was doubting his earnestness - or his sanity? Neither option was comfortable in the slightest. Though, y'know, he supposed some part of him had seen it coming, it just hated being right.
“All due respect, commander, you made it clear enough that even entertaining the possibility of a supernatural element to the situation was… uncomfortable, at best.”
Try as he might, Evan couldn't keep the memory of kneeling in front of Mizu out of his mind - nor the memory of his dream the following night. He winced slightly and his face reddened further as he grit his teeth and cast his gaze angrily to the side, now visibly uncomfortable, and possibly even identifiably embarrassed.
Blake raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised to see signs of shame manifesting quite so early in the conversation. Mizu's words were harsh, to be sure (as they should be), but usually Evan was a proud and stubborn and fucking ornery little shit. Not that he wasn't still pushing back though. Ugh. Just once, it'd be nice to see him just fucking acknowledge wrongdoing and apologize to his superior, but no, of course he couldn't fucking stomach it. Blake narrowed her eyes angrily.
“I did knowingly remove the choice from you and the other captains,” Evan continued, his gaze still cast to the side, “and I'm willing to accept consequences for that, but I had my reasons. I recognize that dealing with gods is a really fucking hard pill to swallow - I'd still be skeptical myself if I hadn't--” hoo boy, and there was the memory of that first bite-and-kiss, and those purple eyes, sending a shiver down his spine and yet deeper shades of red to his face, to say nothing of another shock in his pants, causing his eyes to narrow, his fist to clench, and his teeth to grit again for a moment before he continued. He realllyyyyy fucking wished that Blake and Elaine weren't here.
“If I hadn't spoken with her directly... I recognize that it sounds absurd, and worried about your ability to be convinced, so yes, I took matters into my own hands. And, yes I've done this before - and, yes, I'll almost certainly do it again. You're too cautious, and all due respect-”
He rather forcefully pushed the words out, perhaps reminding himself to heed them… or at least attempting to. He was definitely running out of the composure he'd mustered at the start of this. At least his gaze was still cast to the side? Which certainly indicated some bit of sheepishness in him, even if by this point his tone was getting a tad punchy.
“- we wouldn't even have gotten this far without some of my 'miscalculations’ - most of which have absolutely fucking paid off for us, need I remind you.”
He paused there for a brief moment to breathe and try to calm down. Some part of him knew he may have already stepped over a line, especially given their witnesses. Fuuuuuck. A part of his brain was scrambling frantically to form an apology, but anger and frustration and embarrassment were all still pushing him to hold his ground and chew Mizu the fuck out, leaving him stuck for a moment in tense, seething silence while he tried to find a path forward.
((OOC: And, like, he's not pausing for *super* long, if Mizu would hold her own composure and let him continue, but we figured things are getting heated enough she might want to go ahead and respond, or at least appreciate the opportunity to do so lol.))
“All due respect, commander, you made it clear enough that even entertaining the possibility of a supernatural element to the situation was… uncomfortable, at best.”
Try as he might, Evan couldn't keep the memory of kneeling in front of Mizu out of his mind - nor the memory of his dream the following night. He winced slightly and his face reddened further as he grit his teeth and cast his gaze angrily to the side, now visibly uncomfortable, and possibly even identifiably embarrassed.
Blake raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised to see signs of shame manifesting quite so early in the conversation. Mizu's words were harsh, to be sure (as they should be), but usually Evan was a proud and stubborn and fucking ornery little shit. Not that he wasn't still pushing back though. Ugh. Just once, it'd be nice to see him just fucking acknowledge wrongdoing and apologize to his superior, but no, of course he couldn't fucking stomach it. Blake narrowed her eyes angrily.
“I did knowingly remove the choice from you and the other captains,” Evan continued, his gaze still cast to the side, “and I'm willing to accept consequences for that, but I had my reasons. I recognize that dealing with gods is a really fucking hard pill to swallow - I'd still be skeptical myself if I hadn't--” hoo boy, and there was the memory of that first bite-and-kiss, and those purple eyes, sending a shiver down his spine and yet deeper shades of red to his face, to say nothing of another shock in his pants, causing his eyes to narrow, his fist to clench, and his teeth to grit again for a moment before he continued. He realllyyyyy fucking wished that Blake and Elaine weren't here.
“If I hadn't spoken with her directly... I recognize that it sounds absurd, and worried about your ability to be convinced, so yes, I took matters into my own hands. And, yes I've done this before - and, yes, I'll almost certainly do it again. You're too cautious, and all due respect-”
He rather forcefully pushed the words out, perhaps reminding himself to heed them… or at least attempting to. He was definitely running out of the composure he'd mustered at the start of this. At least his gaze was still cast to the side? Which certainly indicated some bit of sheepishness in him, even if by this point his tone was getting a tad punchy.
“- we wouldn't even have gotten this far without some of my 'miscalculations’ - most of which have absolutely fucking paid off for us, need I remind you.”
He paused there for a brief moment to breathe and try to calm down. Some part of him knew he may have already stepped over a line, especially given their witnesses. Fuuuuuck. A part of his brain was scrambling frantically to form an apology, but anger and frustration and embarrassment were all still pushing him to hold his ground and chew Mizu the fuck out, leaving him stuck for a moment in tense, seething silence while he tried to find a path forward.
((OOC: And, like, he's not pausing for *super* long, if Mizu would hold her own composure and let him continue, but we figured things are getting heated enough she might want to go ahead and respond, or at least appreciate the opportunity to do so lol.))
Re: Part 1
Mizu managed to keep a stoic expression throughout Evan's statements, but he hit on two sore spots for her. She knew she had a bias against supernatural force, and maybe there was a part of her that would still have refused to go through with the summoning even if Evan hadn't. Although, there was also a desperate part of her that wanted to see through any and all options at this point. This deep into their revolt, there was no turning back now. Secondly, Evan was absolutely and completely right about his miscalculations paying off, and honestly, it was something she deeply appreciated about him even if it angered her that she could not trust him to follow orders. Having a captain who could genuinely think for himself was no small matter.
If Evan hadn't looked so goddamn embarrassed despite his anger, Mizu might have had no problem pushing forward with her accusations, but as it stood, she really did want to hear Evan's side of the story out, and she had a feeling that, whatever had transpired, he didn't want to say it in front of present company. But, as commander, she needed to know.
Mizu held up her hand when Evan paused so that he would not continue. This conversation was going anywhere positive, and both of them were going to end up frustrated and angry if it went on like this. The last thing she wanted was for Evan to withhold information on account of being angry.
She did want to have the rest of the conversation with Evan in private, but there were some strategy-related items to cover that Blake and Elaine may as well be in the room for. Maybe it was better to cover that territory first.
"Captain Rutliff, please do not make me tell you to watch your tone as though you were a child. Your anger is not helping your case," at this Mizu took a breath, hoping that would be enough to respond to Evan's mannerism to appease Elaine and Blake and keep up appearances. "You're right in that I am not fond of supernatural solutions. I find them unreliable at best and unbelievable at worst. But, given the circumstances, it appears we have no choice. Blake and I visited the old woman intending to discuss the summoning ceremony and discovered that you had beat us to it. I'll admit that I had no better ideas about how to address the problem with the Shel'ti, and in the end, it seemed reasonable that a supernatural problem be solved with a supernatural solution, especially if more than just our army was experiencing it.
"I'm willing to momentarily set aside your transgressions for the sake of strategy since I still have no better avenues of solving the problem with the Shel'ti. If you truly think I am too cautious," Mizu took another breath here--sore spot--but continued after a very short pause, "then what would you do now in my position? Abandon the Shel'ti and trust that the goddess will send reinforcements? Wait for you to consult again with the goddess with my fingers crossed?" Mizu said this with obvious incredulity, hoping that Blake and Elaine would understand that these were not solutions she would consider lightly.
"And know that you have not successfully dodged the question about what the goddess wants."
--
Elaine really wanted to be on Evan's side, but the combination of his anger and his embarrassment did not make him look good. She shook her head slightly, glad that Mizu was attempting to deescalate the situation somewhat.
--
Trevor let out another "hh" sound when Evan said "spoken with her directly" and cracked another smile but continued to manage to hold composure otherwise. He didn't, however, understand why Evan was acting so embarrassed. Maybe that's just how he was--Trevor didn't know the guy well, after all.
If Evan hadn't looked so goddamn embarrassed despite his anger, Mizu might have had no problem pushing forward with her accusations, but as it stood, she really did want to hear Evan's side of the story out, and she had a feeling that, whatever had transpired, he didn't want to say it in front of present company. But, as commander, she needed to know.
Mizu held up her hand when Evan paused so that he would not continue. This conversation was going anywhere positive, and both of them were going to end up frustrated and angry if it went on like this. The last thing she wanted was for Evan to withhold information on account of being angry.
She did want to have the rest of the conversation with Evan in private, but there were some strategy-related items to cover that Blake and Elaine may as well be in the room for. Maybe it was better to cover that territory first.
"Captain Rutliff, please do not make me tell you to watch your tone as though you were a child. Your anger is not helping your case," at this Mizu took a breath, hoping that would be enough to respond to Evan's mannerism to appease Elaine and Blake and keep up appearances. "You're right in that I am not fond of supernatural solutions. I find them unreliable at best and unbelievable at worst. But, given the circumstances, it appears we have no choice. Blake and I visited the old woman intending to discuss the summoning ceremony and discovered that you had beat us to it. I'll admit that I had no better ideas about how to address the problem with the Shel'ti, and in the end, it seemed reasonable that a supernatural problem be solved with a supernatural solution, especially if more than just our army was experiencing it.
"I'm willing to momentarily set aside your transgressions for the sake of strategy since I still have no better avenues of solving the problem with the Shel'ti. If you truly think I am too cautious," Mizu took another breath here--sore spot--but continued after a very short pause, "then what would you do now in my position? Abandon the Shel'ti and trust that the goddess will send reinforcements? Wait for you to consult again with the goddess with my fingers crossed?" Mizu said this with obvious incredulity, hoping that Blake and Elaine would understand that these were not solutions she would consider lightly.
"And know that you have not successfully dodged the question about what the goddess wants."
--
Elaine really wanted to be on Evan's side, but the combination of his anger and his embarrassment did not make him look good. She shook her head slightly, glad that Mizu was attempting to deescalate the situation somewhat.
--
Trevor let out another "hh" sound when Evan said "spoken with her directly" and cracked another smile but continued to manage to hold composure otherwise. He didn't, however, understand why Evan was acting so embarrassed. Maybe that's just how he was--Trevor didn't know the guy well, after all.
Re: Part 1
Blake momentarily shifted her gaze to Trevor. As pissed as she was at Evan, she wasn't appreciating the soldier's lighthearted countenance, subtle though it was. He seemed to find something about the situation funny, which she intended to silently inform him was absolutely inappropriate with a judgemental glare.
If Evan was noticing the amused breaths from the soldier, he wasn't responding. More likely, he had plenty of other stimuli to focus on, all things considered.
He visibly cringed when Mizu scolded him on tone, but he held his tongue. She wasn't exactly wrong, and he knew it, and he wasn't keen on digging himself deeper into a hole there.
Then, when Mizu said she and Blake had visited the crone, his expression softened, and his gaze returned to Mizu with pleasant - if sheepish - surprise. Seemed he had underestimated her openness to it, which was... refreshing, if a tad embarrassing for him. Still, this was a case where he was glad to be wrong. He couldn't imagine Blake was particularly pleased about any of this, though. He indulged in a glance towards the captain, and she narrowed her eyes and averted her gaze, which tugged just the slightest of grins onto Evan's lips, just briefly. For a flash of an instant, a part of him did want to tell Blake all the lascivious details of the situation, watch that resting bitch face of hers contort in discomfort. Mmm, it brought to mind other aspects of his dream the other night, which his present frame of mind relished-- right up until yet another shock in his pants derailed him, and brought him back to the present situation, and how completely and utterly inappropriate that train of thought was. He shot his gaze hastily back to Mizu, his expression firmly serious again (if still a deep shade of red), and he assured himself that there was no way anyone knew what he'd been thinking about. ... Though, he did shift his weight slightly and reposition his hands to be clasped in front of him... just in case.
The commander asked some fair questions, which Evan considered seriously. Although he certainly picked up on her incredulity, he nonetheless appreciated that she was willing to entertain his premises long enough for a strategic conversation. It helped him feel taken more seriously again, which went a long way towards assuaging his anger and frustration, and even started to lighten his blush.
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the goddess will kill the king the instant she is able - which is what the task she'd ask of us would allow her to do." Here was hoping Mizu would continue letting him put those details off, as they were yet more hard pills to swallow. It seemed better to stick to tactics assuming shared premises, rather than get into the details of the premises themselves at the immediate moment.
"If you're concerned we'd still need more troops to take control after the king's death--" Evan wasn't so sure, but again, this wasn't the moment to debate the premises, "-- and the Shel'ti require us to curb the goddess' attacks on them to provide assistance..." which, to be fair, was reasonable of them, but Evan did have to trail off just slightly as he contemplated his response.
"The only action I could think to take before I return tomorrow morning is to go to the crone to see if the goddess could be summoned again for you to talk to her directly... but I'm not sure that's the wisest action. At this point the goddess is also an ally whose interests we have to consider, and I get the impression that being summoned to our world is not something she particularly appreciates. I can bring our concerns to her tonight. In the meantime, it might be more prudent to focus on morale and disseminating information carefully. This soldier has recovered from an attack - that should be good news for the troops, and provide a good starting point for updating them on as much as they need to know about the situation. I'm not immediately sure what details are best to divulge on a large scale at the immediate moment, but we should tell them something. We should also start discussing how best to respond to the king's death, and what position we'd need to be in when it happens. We may need to start mobilizing soon."
If Evan was noticing the amused breaths from the soldier, he wasn't responding. More likely, he had plenty of other stimuli to focus on, all things considered.
He visibly cringed when Mizu scolded him on tone, but he held his tongue. She wasn't exactly wrong, and he knew it, and he wasn't keen on digging himself deeper into a hole there.
Then, when Mizu said she and Blake had visited the crone, his expression softened, and his gaze returned to Mizu with pleasant - if sheepish - surprise. Seemed he had underestimated her openness to it, which was... refreshing, if a tad embarrassing for him. Still, this was a case where he was glad to be wrong. He couldn't imagine Blake was particularly pleased about any of this, though. He indulged in a glance towards the captain, and she narrowed her eyes and averted her gaze, which tugged just the slightest of grins onto Evan's lips, just briefly. For a flash of an instant, a part of him did want to tell Blake all the lascivious details of the situation, watch that resting bitch face of hers contort in discomfort. Mmm, it brought to mind other aspects of his dream the other night, which his present frame of mind relished-- right up until yet another shock in his pants derailed him, and brought him back to the present situation, and how completely and utterly inappropriate that train of thought was. He shot his gaze hastily back to Mizu, his expression firmly serious again (if still a deep shade of red), and he assured himself that there was no way anyone knew what he'd been thinking about. ... Though, he did shift his weight slightly and reposition his hands to be clasped in front of him... just in case.
The commander asked some fair questions, which Evan considered seriously. Although he certainly picked up on her incredulity, he nonetheless appreciated that she was willing to entertain his premises long enough for a strategic conversation. It helped him feel taken more seriously again, which went a long way towards assuaging his anger and frustration, and even started to lighten his blush.
"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the goddess will kill the king the instant she is able - which is what the task she'd ask of us would allow her to do." Here was hoping Mizu would continue letting him put those details off, as they were yet more hard pills to swallow. It seemed better to stick to tactics assuming shared premises, rather than get into the details of the premises themselves at the immediate moment.
"If you're concerned we'd still need more troops to take control after the king's death--" Evan wasn't so sure, but again, this wasn't the moment to debate the premises, "-- and the Shel'ti require us to curb the goddess' attacks on them to provide assistance..." which, to be fair, was reasonable of them, but Evan did have to trail off just slightly as he contemplated his response.
"The only action I could think to take before I return tomorrow morning is to go to the crone to see if the goddess could be summoned again for you to talk to her directly... but I'm not sure that's the wisest action. At this point the goddess is also an ally whose interests we have to consider, and I get the impression that being summoned to our world is not something she particularly appreciates. I can bring our concerns to her tonight. In the meantime, it might be more prudent to focus on morale and disseminating information carefully. This soldier has recovered from an attack - that should be good news for the troops, and provide a good starting point for updating them on as much as they need to know about the situation. I'm not immediately sure what details are best to divulge on a large scale at the immediate moment, but we should tell them something. We should also start discussing how best to respond to the king's death, and what position we'd need to be in when it happens. We may need to start mobilizing soon."
Re: Part 1
The way the corners of Evan's mouth began to grin made Mizu exceptionally nervous. She really needed him to take seriously the fact that she was--however briefly--giving him the benefit of the doubt, and so help her if he fucked that up, there might be nothing she could do to save him from losing his title. The other captains would simply not respect her after that. The fact that the small but malicious-looking grin was directed at Blake really did not help matters, but Evan managed to recover somehow, which Mizu deeply, deeply appreciated. The way he clasped his wrists in front of him gave Mizu the impression that Evan was reigning himself in, and that was a good sign as well. The last thing they needed right now was a serious schism between captains. They all needed to be on the same page to succeed at this revolution.
As Mizu digested Evan's suggestions, her expression lightened somewhat when she realized how much telling the soldiers that one of the victims had recovered would help morale. Not to mention, if they had plans to mobilize, then there would be a foreseeable end to the waiting that had already gotten on everyone's nerves. With regard to the way they would mobilize, though, there was still a lot to consider.
"I agree that disseminating information about this soldier's recovery does seem wise regardless. It seems best, however, to limit what the army as a whole knows about the situation if our solution is hanging in the balance of supernatural entities. I imagine that would actually have the overall effect of making the soldiers lose confidence since, as far as I understand, there's no way to prove we actually have a goddess on our side." Mizu took a breath here, knowing she was skirting dangerous territory.
"We would have to take you at your word regarding the goddess' dedication--and ability--to eliminate the king and trust that she would not interfere with our plans or would--ideally--help us achieve them. That is a lot to ask, but seeing this through to its logical end assuming that, at the end of this conversation, I will be able to take you at your word," Mizu paused as her gaze at Evan became significantly more intense before she blinked, softened, and continued, "then I agree that summoning her again now, especially if she plans to convene with you tonight, would not be the best course of action, if only for the fact that it would endanger the people involved yet again. It would, however, be of great relief to me if there were a way for me to speak with her directly. Perhaps you could arrange that as well when you ask after the Shel'ti." She raised her eyebrow as she said the last part, somehow getting the impression that that might be a lot to ask. Then again, if they were really working with a goddess, surely that was within her power.
"I do still think, at least for the sake of the soldiers' confidence, that having the Shel'ti on our side is a good idea. It would be best if the goddess could kill the king once we have mobilized and are in position. I could see the chaos resulting from the king's death being a tremendous upper hand in battle given that many of the soldiers remaining in the king's army are loyal for the sake of loyalty..." Mizu resisted the temptation to look at Blake as she said this, "...and would not object to the king's own son taking his place." At this point, Mizu allowed herself the first glimmer of hope she had seen in a long while. There was something oddly comforting about entertaining the idea that a goddess could be on their side, no matter how unbelievable the premise. And, if Evan was this stubborn about believing all this was true...
"Assuming we can release all the Shel'ti men at once, I believe I could convince the Shel'ti king of the urgency of matters. Once the Shel'ti mobilize, it won't take us long to prepare; at that point, we would only have the length of the journey back toward the palace to consider. We may additionally want to come from multiple directions." Mizu hoped that speaking this way was reasonable given that, goddess or no, she did plan to find reinforcements, whether those were from the Shel'ti or not, but she snuck glances at both Blake and Elaine to determine if she had already crossed a line.
Elaine appeared calm, and Mizu suspected she was grateful that the conversation had taken a less heated route. Beyond that, Elaine's expression was inscrutable, but she caught Mizu looking, and that gave Elaine the confidence to interject about something that had been on her mind for a while now.
"We don't just have to take Evan at his word; why don't we ask the soldier what happened to him?" At hearing Elaine's words, Mizu was momentarily embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that first but was tremendously grateful to have another avenue of credibility to work with.
Mizu nodded, looked directly at Trevor, and gestured for him to speak.
--
When Evan talked about not doubting that Dehaljadrun would kill the king the instant she was able, Trevor's mind wandered to thinking about what on Earth he could have done to her to piss her off so bad. Though there were many other reasons to hate the king, Trevor had to appreciate the implicit power in garnering so much anger from that creature, and Trevor certainly did not doubt Dehaljadrun's power in the slightest.
Trevor did want to interject and say something about how unreasonable it was to think that they could control the Demon Queen's actions even remotely but decided against it since that would almost assuredly work against Evan. He began to grew bored with the strategic conversation, though, and so was taken aback at being addressed directly and was not quite sure how to handle himself. He nervously let go of his wrist and let his arms hang at his sides, his fists clenching and unclenching themselves slightly.
"Er... Well, she came to me in a dream and... forced... me to abide by her will. She seemed to have transported me to another realm somehow, though it appears my body remained here like the other soldiers. She interacted with me as though I had a body, though." Trevor was taking Evan's lead on skipping past the rather sexual things that had occurred but felt that that detail was benign enough. Mizu was somewhat frustrated by the lack of description in the soldier's reply but could not immediately think of what questions to ask to get more information.
"Were you in pain? Was it uncomfortable?" Elaine could not keep herself from asking.
Trevor's face erupted into a grin, "at times, yeah."
((OOC: Mizu is going to leave space for other captains to have questions for Trevor or for Evan to interject and address any of Mizu's previous statements (or cover for Trevor in some way). At this point, Mizu has some concern about the possibility that Evan (and indeed, Trevor) is still under the goddess' control in some capacity and will mention that in the next post if Blake or Evan do not address it first.))
As Mizu digested Evan's suggestions, her expression lightened somewhat when she realized how much telling the soldiers that one of the victims had recovered would help morale. Not to mention, if they had plans to mobilize, then there would be a foreseeable end to the waiting that had already gotten on everyone's nerves. With regard to the way they would mobilize, though, there was still a lot to consider.
"I agree that disseminating information about this soldier's recovery does seem wise regardless. It seems best, however, to limit what the army as a whole knows about the situation if our solution is hanging in the balance of supernatural entities. I imagine that would actually have the overall effect of making the soldiers lose confidence since, as far as I understand, there's no way to prove we actually have a goddess on our side." Mizu took a breath here, knowing she was skirting dangerous territory.
"We would have to take you at your word regarding the goddess' dedication--and ability--to eliminate the king and trust that she would not interfere with our plans or would--ideally--help us achieve them. That is a lot to ask, but seeing this through to its logical end assuming that, at the end of this conversation, I will be able to take you at your word," Mizu paused as her gaze at Evan became significantly more intense before she blinked, softened, and continued, "then I agree that summoning her again now, especially if she plans to convene with you tonight, would not be the best course of action, if only for the fact that it would endanger the people involved yet again. It would, however, be of great relief to me if there were a way for me to speak with her directly. Perhaps you could arrange that as well when you ask after the Shel'ti." She raised her eyebrow as she said the last part, somehow getting the impression that that might be a lot to ask. Then again, if they were really working with a goddess, surely that was within her power.
"I do still think, at least for the sake of the soldiers' confidence, that having the Shel'ti on our side is a good idea. It would be best if the goddess could kill the king once we have mobilized and are in position. I could see the chaos resulting from the king's death being a tremendous upper hand in battle given that many of the soldiers remaining in the king's army are loyal for the sake of loyalty..." Mizu resisted the temptation to look at Blake as she said this, "...and would not object to the king's own son taking his place." At this point, Mizu allowed herself the first glimmer of hope she had seen in a long while. There was something oddly comforting about entertaining the idea that a goddess could be on their side, no matter how unbelievable the premise. And, if Evan was this stubborn about believing all this was true...
"Assuming we can release all the Shel'ti men at once, I believe I could convince the Shel'ti king of the urgency of matters. Once the Shel'ti mobilize, it won't take us long to prepare; at that point, we would only have the length of the journey back toward the palace to consider. We may additionally want to come from multiple directions." Mizu hoped that speaking this way was reasonable given that, goddess or no, she did plan to find reinforcements, whether those were from the Shel'ti or not, but she snuck glances at both Blake and Elaine to determine if she had already crossed a line.
Elaine appeared calm, and Mizu suspected she was grateful that the conversation had taken a less heated route. Beyond that, Elaine's expression was inscrutable, but she caught Mizu looking, and that gave Elaine the confidence to interject about something that had been on her mind for a while now.
"We don't just have to take Evan at his word; why don't we ask the soldier what happened to him?" At hearing Elaine's words, Mizu was momentarily embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that first but was tremendously grateful to have another avenue of credibility to work with.
Mizu nodded, looked directly at Trevor, and gestured for him to speak.
--
When Evan talked about not doubting that Dehaljadrun would kill the king the instant she was able, Trevor's mind wandered to thinking about what on Earth he could have done to her to piss her off so bad. Though there were many other reasons to hate the king, Trevor had to appreciate the implicit power in garnering so much anger from that creature, and Trevor certainly did not doubt Dehaljadrun's power in the slightest.
Trevor did want to interject and say something about how unreasonable it was to think that they could control the Demon Queen's actions even remotely but decided against it since that would almost assuredly work against Evan. He began to grew bored with the strategic conversation, though, and so was taken aback at being addressed directly and was not quite sure how to handle himself. He nervously let go of his wrist and let his arms hang at his sides, his fists clenching and unclenching themselves slightly.
"Er... Well, she came to me in a dream and... forced... me to abide by her will. She seemed to have transported me to another realm somehow, though it appears my body remained here like the other soldiers. She interacted with me as though I had a body, though." Trevor was taking Evan's lead on skipping past the rather sexual things that had occurred but felt that that detail was benign enough. Mizu was somewhat frustrated by the lack of description in the soldier's reply but could not immediately think of what questions to ask to get more information.
"Were you in pain? Was it uncomfortable?" Elaine could not keep herself from asking.
Trevor's face erupted into a grin, "at times, yeah."
((OOC: Mizu is going to leave space for other captains to have questions for Trevor or for Evan to interject and address any of Mizu's previous statements (or cover for Trevor in some way). At this point, Mizu has some concern about the possibility that Evan (and indeed, Trevor) is still under the goddess' control in some capacity and will mention that in the next post if Blake or Evan do not address it first.))
Re: Part 1
A part of Evan was still feeling hurt that Mizu was so hesitant to take him at his word - did she think he was making shit up? Or that his read on the situation wasn't accurate? Thoughts spun in his mind about how he could convince her to just fucking trust him, but he supposed she had a point about the troops as a whole, regardless. Evan might be able to rally his own men, but there would naturally be skeptics throughout their ranks, especially if not all the captains were on board. Evan shot a brief glare towards Blake, but didn't let it linger.
At least Elaine seemed more receptive. While Evan was antsy to answer some of Mizu's comments, he appreciated Elaine pointing out that the soldier he brought with him could provide another perspective - one which Evan felt fairly confident would back him up. He glanced to the soldier expectantly, curious about what he would share about his experience. Seeing the soldier look a little surprised and uneasy, Evan's expression softened to a slightly apologetic one. His intention in bringing the soldier along had been, yes, to have a little bit of extra evidence to show Mizu, but also to let the soldier feel in the loop on matters that concerned him; it hadn't so much been his intention to make the soldier provide testimony, especially given the, ah, sensitive nature of his experience. He did well at conveying useful but benign data, though, and Evan couldn't fucking help his own smirk at Elaine's question and the soldier's reply. He didn't know what had happened to this soldier in particular, but he could very well fucking imagine.
Ughhh, to wit, thoughts of this man wearing nothing but a cloth and a blindfold rather suddenly spilled into Evan's mind, joined by Blake's lieutenant in the same condition. Fuuuuuck, for that matter, it wasn't all that different from ways Evan had pictured Blake herself the other night... his cheeks started turning a darker red again, and, mortifyingly, a soft gasp caught in his throat as that fucking band just kept reinforcing the effects his goddamn rogue thoughts had on his body, if not outright amplifying them. Fuck fuck fuck--
"I'll ask after a direct audience with you as well," Evan offered to Mizu a little hastily. He recognized it might've seemed like a bit of a non-sequitur to go back to something Mizu was saying before Elaine had shifted attention to the other soldier, but he had to say something to draw his focus back out of the fantasies fucking flooding his brain. He wasn't entirely sure that Mizu would actually appreciate a direct audience with the goddess as much as she thought she would - ughhh, yuppp, there were some images of the goddess from the summoning, of her hands stroking down her cock, of Mizu watching... - fuck, talking about that particular concern now would be utterly fucking useless.
Of all things, Blake finally spoke up, and gods be damned, Evan was glad, as it helped him draw back out of his mind again, because by this point the shocks beneath his pants weren't exactly encouraging his brain away from thoughts that would encourage yet more shocks... Hell, the temptation to just start putting pressure on his pants with his clasped hands was starting to feel palpable in a way that struck most of his brain as absolutely absurd.
"Commander," Blake addressed Mizu directly, somewhat purposefully turning her shoulders away from both Evan and Trevor, "If the Demon Queen has in fact interacted with these men, their testimonies are tainted. I never believed the stories before, but the lore about Dehaljadrun describes a selfish, manipulative dark fae who kidnaps and seduces men. If we presuppose her existence, we have to consider her effects, and these men may well have had their loyalties compromised."
As awkwardly grateful as Evan was to be drawn back to attention, he was absolutely pissed. The gall of Blake of all people to question Evan's loyalty to the cause... the captain's eyes narrowed harshly again, and his hands unclasped to ball into fists at his sides - revealing, if anyone was paying close enough attention, a slightly larger bulge than the one he'd covered a few moments prior.
He managed to hold his tongue, reminding himself that an inflated show of indignation wouldn't exactly be helpful here. And... he begrudgingly allowed enough humility into his thoughts to wonder whether Blake had a point. After all, Evan was currently struggling to even focus during an important goddamn conversation all because his brain was too fucking pulled towards memories and fantasies and the fucking cock ring the goddess had sent him back with. Not that he'd never struggled with distractions of a similar nature before, but they sure as hell had never been of this magnitude. He was fucking compromised.
"Fuck," the syllable escaped Evan's lips almost without him realizing, though as soon as the sound hit his ears his eyes widened and he hastily turned his gaze to Mizu once again.
"I--" fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck the last thing Evan wanted was for Mizu to doubt his loyalty. Call him stupid, or rash, or disrespectful - hell, even demote him, sure - but he was not disloyal, not to her. "The goddess will have a pull on me," he acknowledged, at this point hoping that owning it would be the fastest way to recover face here. "But I swear to you, my loyalty stays with the cause." Not for nothing, his expression was earnest as fuck, and displaying more fear than Evan generally let show.
Blake shifted her gaze from Mizu back to Evan, and her expression, while outwardly neutral, certainly looked a bit less grumpy than usual, with one of her eyebrows slightly raised. Evan did his very fucking best not to pay any attention to Blake's goddamn smug expression, and just focus on Mizu, looking frantically for any sign in her expression about how she was responding to the current conversation in play.
At least Elaine seemed more receptive. While Evan was antsy to answer some of Mizu's comments, he appreciated Elaine pointing out that the soldier he brought with him could provide another perspective - one which Evan felt fairly confident would back him up. He glanced to the soldier expectantly, curious about what he would share about his experience. Seeing the soldier look a little surprised and uneasy, Evan's expression softened to a slightly apologetic one. His intention in bringing the soldier along had been, yes, to have a little bit of extra evidence to show Mizu, but also to let the soldier feel in the loop on matters that concerned him; it hadn't so much been his intention to make the soldier provide testimony, especially given the, ah, sensitive nature of his experience. He did well at conveying useful but benign data, though, and Evan couldn't fucking help his own smirk at Elaine's question and the soldier's reply. He didn't know what had happened to this soldier in particular, but he could very well fucking imagine.
Ughhh, to wit, thoughts of this man wearing nothing but a cloth and a blindfold rather suddenly spilled into Evan's mind, joined by Blake's lieutenant in the same condition. Fuuuuuck, for that matter, it wasn't all that different from ways Evan had pictured Blake herself the other night... his cheeks started turning a darker red again, and, mortifyingly, a soft gasp caught in his throat as that fucking band just kept reinforcing the effects his goddamn rogue thoughts had on his body, if not outright amplifying them. Fuck fuck fuck--
"I'll ask after a direct audience with you as well," Evan offered to Mizu a little hastily. He recognized it might've seemed like a bit of a non-sequitur to go back to something Mizu was saying before Elaine had shifted attention to the other soldier, but he had to say something to draw his focus back out of the fantasies fucking flooding his brain. He wasn't entirely sure that Mizu would actually appreciate a direct audience with the goddess as much as she thought she would - ughhh, yuppp, there were some images of the goddess from the summoning, of her hands stroking down her cock, of Mizu watching... - fuck, talking about that particular concern now would be utterly fucking useless.
Of all things, Blake finally spoke up, and gods be damned, Evan was glad, as it helped him draw back out of his mind again, because by this point the shocks beneath his pants weren't exactly encouraging his brain away from thoughts that would encourage yet more shocks... Hell, the temptation to just start putting pressure on his pants with his clasped hands was starting to feel palpable in a way that struck most of his brain as absolutely absurd.
"Commander," Blake addressed Mizu directly, somewhat purposefully turning her shoulders away from both Evan and Trevor, "If the Demon Queen has in fact interacted with these men, their testimonies are tainted. I never believed the stories before, but the lore about Dehaljadrun describes a selfish, manipulative dark fae who kidnaps and seduces men. If we presuppose her existence, we have to consider her effects, and these men may well have had their loyalties compromised."
As awkwardly grateful as Evan was to be drawn back to attention, he was absolutely pissed. The gall of Blake of all people to question Evan's loyalty to the cause... the captain's eyes narrowed harshly again, and his hands unclasped to ball into fists at his sides - revealing, if anyone was paying close enough attention, a slightly larger bulge than the one he'd covered a few moments prior.
He managed to hold his tongue, reminding himself that an inflated show of indignation wouldn't exactly be helpful here. And... he begrudgingly allowed enough humility into his thoughts to wonder whether Blake had a point. After all, Evan was currently struggling to even focus during an important goddamn conversation all because his brain was too fucking pulled towards memories and fantasies and the fucking cock ring the goddess had sent him back with. Not that he'd never struggled with distractions of a similar nature before, but they sure as hell had never been of this magnitude. He was fucking compromised.
"Fuck," the syllable escaped Evan's lips almost without him realizing, though as soon as the sound hit his ears his eyes widened and he hastily turned his gaze to Mizu once again.
"I--" fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck the last thing Evan wanted was for Mizu to doubt his loyalty. Call him stupid, or rash, or disrespectful - hell, even demote him, sure - but he was not disloyal, not to her. "The goddess will have a pull on me," he acknowledged, at this point hoping that owning it would be the fastest way to recover face here. "But I swear to you, my loyalty stays with the cause." Not for nothing, his expression was earnest as fuck, and displaying more fear than Evan generally let show.
Blake shifted her gaze from Mizu back to Evan, and her expression, while outwardly neutral, certainly looked a bit less grumpy than usual, with one of her eyebrows slightly raised. Evan did his very fucking best not to pay any attention to Blake's goddamn smug expression, and just focus on Mizu, looking frantically for any sign in her expression about how she was responding to the current conversation in play.
Re: Part 1
Mizu was grateful to finally get a straight answer about what the goddess was even the goddess of, even if it did, oddly, come from Blake. She hadn't thought she would receive such information until a later conversation with Evan, but the information Blake relayed was troubling. One thing appeared to be true: at least she had some confirmation that she didn't need to worry much about the women in their ranks, including, thankfully, herself. But also, if this "Dehaljadrun" really was a "demon queen" who was both selfish and manipulative, how did they know that they could trust anything she said? And how easily would Evan be swayed by such an entity, should she exist? That was the moment that Evan unclasped his hands, and Mizu decided that Evan would likely be very swayed by her. In fact, it was possible that that was the motivation for summoning her without Mizu's permission in the first place. Gods, the hubris of men.
As she continued to sort through this new information, however, pieces starting clicking into place. She remembered the awkward state Xavier and Seth stumbled out of the forest in and their rushed attempts at getting out of talking to her. Trevor's brief but ridiculously crooked grin also made more sense, though the implication gave her more than she really needed to know about that soldier. At least, she allowed herself to think, the men's experiences weren't all bad? That seemed like a strange thing to feel grateful for.
Evan's soft "fuck" surprised Mizu enough that her expression grew somewhat angry. He better have some way to dig himself out of this. How could she justify trusting him now? But then Evan became...humble of all things, which Mizu initially thought was suspect now that she was analyzing his behavior for deviations from the usual, but she could not help but feel that he was incredibly sincere by the end of his statement, especially after admitting that the goddess would have a pull on him. And the fear on his face was earnest; she was certain. At the very least, he was acknowledging that he was in a risky situation even still, which seemed refreshing given Evan's typical headfirst deep dive into gods-know-what danger. Still, saving face with this entire ordeal was quickly becoming more difficult if not impossible.
Mizu sighed audibly, which was rare in and of itself. She sat back down at the map table after doing so.
Leaning forward, she said, "Given that situation is getting better at present and is unlikely to become immediately worse, I think we have little choice but to give Evan at least one more night to prove his claims. If victims continue to wake up and we receive confirmation that the Shel'ti men have been released, it would be unreasonable not to trust Evan. However, if things stay the same or worsen, then we can bring up doubts again." Mizu paused and took a breath. At this point, she realized that Evan did not refute anything Blake said about the nature of the goddess, which Mizu immediately understood was likely because what Blake said was true. Evan wouldn't have passed up an opportunity to try to prove Blake wrong. She also thought back to Evan's initial retort--holding back a disgusted, incredulous look thinking about the fact that the goddess had supposedly offered back the soldier in exchange for Evan's "company"--but started to see a possible way out of this situation.
"Additionally, if I'm understanding this situation correctly, Evan is willingly putting himself at risk here. If he has overestimated his abilities to subdue this supernatural being, he'll end up like one of the victims, at which point, we'll be no worse off than how we started, minus one reckless captain."
--
Elaine listened intently to the conversation but was quickly becoming uncomfortable. Never in her years as a captain--or in the army at all, for that matter--would she have ever assumed they would be facing a situation like this. There was no protocol for the situation, and she had to be content with Mizu's ability to think on her feet. Still, she did want to believe Evan, and she was willing to move forward with Mizu's plan. One more day couldn't really hurt, especially if the attacks had stopped.
--
Trevor had not realized a strategic conversation could get this exciting. Yes, he was starting to enjoy himself, even more once he realized that Mizu did not know what Dehaljadrun was until the grumpy female captain explained the myths to her. Granted, Trevor hadn't really known either besides some ridiculous stories his friends told as teenagers, but nothing compared to the real deal. He was amazed that Evan was getting off scot-free, at least at present, though. He did seem to have a way to make a case for himself, even if that bulge in his pants was distracting him as much as Trevor imagined it might be. Gods, what he would give to know what Evan had been through with Dehaljadrun. Thinking about how Evan might have gotten her under his control--however briefly--to get her to offer up one of her thralls... yeah, his own pants were definitely bulging now.
As she continued to sort through this new information, however, pieces starting clicking into place. She remembered the awkward state Xavier and Seth stumbled out of the forest in and their rushed attempts at getting out of talking to her. Trevor's brief but ridiculously crooked grin also made more sense, though the implication gave her more than she really needed to know about that soldier. At least, she allowed herself to think, the men's experiences weren't all bad? That seemed like a strange thing to feel grateful for.
Evan's soft "fuck" surprised Mizu enough that her expression grew somewhat angry. He better have some way to dig himself out of this. How could she justify trusting him now? But then Evan became...humble of all things, which Mizu initially thought was suspect now that she was analyzing his behavior for deviations from the usual, but she could not help but feel that he was incredibly sincere by the end of his statement, especially after admitting that the goddess would have a pull on him. And the fear on his face was earnest; she was certain. At the very least, he was acknowledging that he was in a risky situation even still, which seemed refreshing given Evan's typical headfirst deep dive into gods-know-what danger. Still, saving face with this entire ordeal was quickly becoming more difficult if not impossible.
Mizu sighed audibly, which was rare in and of itself. She sat back down at the map table after doing so.
Leaning forward, she said, "Given that situation is getting better at present and is unlikely to become immediately worse, I think we have little choice but to give Evan at least one more night to prove his claims. If victims continue to wake up and we receive confirmation that the Shel'ti men have been released, it would be unreasonable not to trust Evan. However, if things stay the same or worsen, then we can bring up doubts again." Mizu paused and took a breath. At this point, she realized that Evan did not refute anything Blake said about the nature of the goddess, which Mizu immediately understood was likely because what Blake said was true. Evan wouldn't have passed up an opportunity to try to prove Blake wrong. She also thought back to Evan's initial retort--holding back a disgusted, incredulous look thinking about the fact that the goddess had supposedly offered back the soldier in exchange for Evan's "company"--but started to see a possible way out of this situation.
"Additionally, if I'm understanding this situation correctly, Evan is willingly putting himself at risk here. If he has overestimated his abilities to subdue this supernatural being, he'll end up like one of the victims, at which point, we'll be no worse off than how we started, minus one reckless captain."
--
Elaine listened intently to the conversation but was quickly becoming uncomfortable. Never in her years as a captain--or in the army at all, for that matter--would she have ever assumed they would be facing a situation like this. There was no protocol for the situation, and she had to be content with Mizu's ability to think on her feet. Still, she did want to believe Evan, and she was willing to move forward with Mizu's plan. One more day couldn't really hurt, especially if the attacks had stopped.
--
Trevor had not realized a strategic conversation could get this exciting. Yes, he was starting to enjoy himself, even more once he realized that Mizu did not know what Dehaljadrun was until the grumpy female captain explained the myths to her. Granted, Trevor hadn't really known either besides some ridiculous stories his friends told as teenagers, but nothing compared to the real deal. He was amazed that Evan was getting off scot-free, at least at present, though. He did seem to have a way to make a case for himself, even if that bulge in his pants was distracting him as much as Trevor imagined it might be. Gods, what he would give to know what Evan had been through with Dehaljadrun. Thinking about how Evan might have gotten her under his control--however briefly--to get her to offer up one of her thralls... yeah, his own pants were definitely bulging now.
Re: Part 1
Blake held her gaze on Evan, her expression holding steady. She was still uneasy dealing with Dehaljadrun at all - hell, she was still having some difficulty accepting the goddess' existence in the first place - but this course of action seemed satisfactory enough for the time being, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't fucking relished just how terrified Evan had looked. It was about fucking time he stopped taking Mizu's trust for granted.
Despite Blake's infuriating look relentlessly biting at Evan's periphery, he became tentatively more composed as Mizu spoke. It still fucking sucked realizing that his commander was in fact doubting not only his judgement but his very fucking loyalty, but at least she was giving him a chance. Unless something went horribly wrong, the goddess should at least release another soldier tonight, so there was that. He felt pretty grimly about making much headway on the Shel'ti, and begrudgingly acknowledged that perhaps showing no interest in them at the start really was a tactical oversight on his part. Perhaps he could at least arrange a meeting with Mizu somehow, though, and perhaps at least some of the Shel'ti. He'd have to give it a shot.
"I'll do everything in my power to get more from the goddess tonight." Evan nodded assertively, a determined expression finally settling back on his face and helping the captain look significantly more like himself again.
Blake also finally turned her gaze back to Mizu, her expression still just about as neutral-looking as expressions typically came, but from her, the lack of a resting frown hinted at approval. If nothing else, Evan at least finally understood that he was on thin fucking ice, which Blake was willing to call a win.
Despite Blake's infuriating look relentlessly biting at Evan's periphery, he became tentatively more composed as Mizu spoke. It still fucking sucked realizing that his commander was in fact doubting not only his judgement but his very fucking loyalty, but at least she was giving him a chance. Unless something went horribly wrong, the goddess should at least release another soldier tonight, so there was that. He felt pretty grimly about making much headway on the Shel'ti, and begrudgingly acknowledged that perhaps showing no interest in them at the start really was a tactical oversight on his part. Perhaps he could at least arrange a meeting with Mizu somehow, though, and perhaps at least some of the Shel'ti. He'd have to give it a shot.
"I'll do everything in my power to get more from the goddess tonight." Evan nodded assertively, a determined expression finally settling back on his face and helping the captain look significantly more like himself again.
Blake also finally turned her gaze back to Mizu, her expression still just about as neutral-looking as expressions typically came, but from her, the lack of a resting frown hinted at approval. If nothing else, Evan at least finally understood that he was on thin fucking ice, which Blake was willing to call a win.
Re: Part 1
Mizu could not say she was not gratified by Blake's slight look of approval. The commander had successfully prevented Evan from forcing her to take drastic measures while saving face with the captain who appeared to hate him. Not an easy feat. She relaxed a little, now relieved to some extent.
"In the meantime, I'll have Elaine disperse the information that a victim woke up from a dream attack. For now, let's buy ourselves some time by saying that we are currently investigating the reason he awakened but fully believe that the others will soon follow suit. We can provide more information as we become more certain ourselves. I don't want to say anything about potentially mobilizing until we have a better idea of whether the Shel'ti will be contributing troops.
"Blake, Elaine..." Mizu paused, wishing she knew the soldier's name. He supplied it for her.
"Trevor, Commander."
"Trevor. You may return to your duties."
((OOC: If Evan wants to complain about the way the information is being dispersed, he can do that before Mizu tells everyone else to leave, and I can rewrite the last part.))
"In the meantime, I'll have Elaine disperse the information that a victim woke up from a dream attack. For now, let's buy ourselves some time by saying that we are currently investigating the reason he awakened but fully believe that the others will soon follow suit. We can provide more information as we become more certain ourselves. I don't want to say anything about potentially mobilizing until we have a better idea of whether the Shel'ti will be contributing troops.
"Blake, Elaine..." Mizu paused, wishing she knew the soldier's name. He supplied it for her.
"Trevor, Commander."
"Trevor. You may return to your duties."
((OOC: If Evan wants to complain about the way the information is being dispersed, he can do that before Mizu tells everyone else to leave, and I can rewrite the last part.))