Written Wonderland

Serio touched fingers delicately to his chest as his eyebrows raised in a playful show of feeling flattered. He did so enjoy his light flirtations with Ari, and today was no exception. Perhaps that was another reason he favored her company on this little outing, but a quick mental double-check confirmed that the primary reason he sought her out for this was her almost guaranteed enthusiasm and curiosity for the errand at-hand.

"Any chance your troops could do without you for an hour?" his voice was barely above a whisper this time, his posture leaning in conspiratorially to match the grin on his face. "I've a small adventure I'd like to drag you on."

At the sound of Serio's whisper and the way he leaned toward her, Ari felt chills of excitement and pleasure rush down her back. Oh, yes, this was going to be good. An adventure with Captain Kade? How in the world could she turn that down? She was gratified that he had at least put on a show of being flattered; she always had liked the ways he played along, and she could do this all day.

"Only a small adventure?" Ari said in an equally quiet voice. "You're not holding out on me, are you?" she asked with a wink, leaning just the smallest bit closer to him. "Where are we headed?"

Serio gave just the subtlest of winks, so brief Ari might not have caught it.

"I need to go talk to the old woman who came to visit a few days ago, and I wanted to bring someone who is sure to keep conversation lively."

Serio started subtly turning to begin walking, nonverbally checking if Ari was ready to follow his lead. If she needed to do anything before they left, he'd wait patiently. His next inquiry would come once they were set into a solid stride, along with a slightly more business-like attitude--albeit still with a light step and a warm smile.

"Are you up to date on the volunteer situation?"

((OOC: let me know if any of the assumptions in here don't quite work...))

Ari sobered up a little at the mention of the old woman. Images of the moment when she interrupted the captain's meeting flooded Ari's mind, and she had to fight a slight feeling of vertigo at the thought of how much had changed since then. Evan had summoned the goddess (without Mizu's permission), and they were openly working with her. Not to mention that now they needed to send--and potentially sacrifice--soldiers to her. Yes, they'd come a long way from the skepticism in the strategy tent just a few days ago.

She followed in Serio's wake for a moment before catching up and matching his stride as they walked through camp. Yes, this certainly would be an adventure. It was the crone who had helped Evan summon the goddess in the first place, wasn't it? So she likely knew more about this entire situation than anyone else. Ah, yes, it makes perfect sense that Serio would want to go visit her, though Ari wouldn't have thought of it herself. Or, at least, she wasn't sure she would have been confident enough in how to seek the old woman out to do it on her own. Her chest bloomed with a sensation of appreciation on being included on this. It would be a nice change from the surprise of having Joseph inform her of the situation.

And, when Serio mentioned the volunteers, Ari was immensely grateful that he had. While she appreciated the fact that Serio was giving her the benefit of the doubt about being in the know, she very nearly wasn't and felt that like a grazing blow.

Recovering some of her smile, though her dark eyebrows retained their slight furrow, Ari said, "I expect you know more than I," hoping that would be taken as a playful compliment, "but I know that the goddess has requested them."

Serio's smile curled in acknowledgement and pleasure at Ari's gentle flattery. He was grateful she elaborated some as well, just to give him a milestone for where she was actually at.

"Indeed," he confirmed before continuing, "the commander is moving ahead with the deal, and I want to get some last-minute answers from the old woman to pass along to any volunteers we send tonight. Hopefully, we'll have some interested soldiers looking to check in with Rutliff before sundown."

Ari nodded along with Serio's response, grateful to get confirmation about the situation. Now that she had two points of communication, she felt like she was standing under solid footing again. Somewhat. She was, however, taken a little off guard at Serio's mention of having volunteers by sundown. That soon? Somehow, Ari had thought they would have more time than that given that she hadn't even officially been told yet. Good grief, things were moving quickly. And if Ari was struggling to keep up...

"By sundown?" Captain Nicolaides asked, letting some of her anxiety show in her voice as they walked, grateful that at least Serio knew where they were going, even if that only did add to her sensation of being strung along rather than being in control.

Serio heard Ari's anxiety, and he answered it with a brief but notable length of eye contact, his eyebrows raised in gentle sympathy.

"I haven't heard anything about a deadline, other than the fact that Evan returns to the goddess at sundown." Serio hoped that was enough eye contact to convey his understanding that, yes, sundown was rather soon, and this whole business was rather heavy. He turned his gaze back to the path he was leading them on through the edge of camp, avoiding common socializing spots as they headed towards the woods.

"I presume the goddess will release Shel'ti in accordance with how many volunteers we send," he offered. "It's possible we may be able to send more tomorrow, if we don't have enough tonight, but to be fully transparent, that's me reading between some lines."

Ari was immensely grateful for the eye contact. She was glad that Serio wasn't sweeping the gravity of the situation under any rugs. They were going to lose ten of their soldiers for an unspecified period of time--perhaps forever--and that was no small matter. Still, she had trouble telling that to the excitement burying itself in her gut.

She listened to the rest of what he had to say, happy that Serio felt comfortable being transparent about what he didn't know. That seemed a positive sign in their ever-developing friendship. That, and the fact that, for whatever reason, Serio had chosen her to accompany him.

In response, Ari nodded, deciding that was all the reassurance she needed--or at least that he could provide--on that front. Time to get to business, then. She wanted a game plan.

"What are you hoping the old woman will tell you?" Ari asked, hoping that wasn't an invasive question.

"Something that we can tell our volunteers they can expect." Serio answered with a bit of a wry grin.

"None of the men who were previously with the goddess have spoken of their experience with her, save Captain Rutliff, and even he has only shared short, vague snippets--tone, more than actual content. We've some myths and fairy-tales to go on, but I'd like to hear it from someone who serves the goddess. What should our soldiers actually prepare for? How can they prepare? What exactly are they in fact volunteering for? Surely someone who can summon the goddess would have some idea of these things. This is my hope, in any case."

As Ari listened, tension in her shoulders that she wasn't entirely aware she had been holding released, and she let out an exhale of relief. It made her feel significantly better that Serio didn't presently have answers to any of those questions either. Perhaps she wasn't quite as out of the loop as she had first thought. Again, she nodded, an earnest smile returning to her expression.

"You think of everything, don't you?" she said as they walked along the path toward the crone's cottage. Though she was grateful to be along, to hear it straight for the horse's mouth, Ari was uncertain what help she might be able to provide. At least she knew what Serio was looking for and could make sure to fill in the gaps of what he might not remember needing once the conversation had actually begun.