Written Wonderland

"Mm," Evan nodded in response to Xavier's warning, and was just about to make a comment about keeping the charm close at night that-- well, it was probably for the best that the cadet called Xavier's attention away before Evan opened his mouth about that, actually. Seeing as the lieutenant had things to attend to, Evan just gave him another simple nod in parting and moved along, not wanting to distract the lad when he was being so productive.

Truth told it made Evan feel a bit envious, though-- having a project like that. The terrible thing about their current state is that it was a lot of waiting, and twiddling thumbs. The captain very briefly entertained the notion of going back and offering to help with the charms as well, but... eh. This was Xavier's project, and Evan wasn't sure he'd actually be a good addition to the workforce on it, for a couple different reasons.

One of them being... after talking to Xavier again, that dream suddenly didn't seem like an aeon ago anymore.

Without even thinking about it, Evan's feet had lead him back into his tent, and he sloughed down on his cot again, hand running a bit tensely back through his hair and down the side of his neck as he let out a frustrated sigh.

He'd wonder why he was so damn worked up today, but he knew why. It was a million things, all conspiring to make damn sure that certain parts of his brain just couldn't let shit go. The bite-and-kiss last night; the name the man had uttered before it and the woman from the woods had all but spoken herself; Blake and Mizu both getting deep under his skin that morning; the unending restlessness of the whole situation; and Xavier just... being Xavier. The run had helped a lot with getting a good portion of his brain to move past some of those things, but... those weren't the parts he was stuck on now.

Evan gently took the charm out of his pocket and held it out in front of him, his thumb running over the tuft of horse hair. With another sigh he lowered the charm to his side, while his other arm gathered up his knees in front of him and he momentarily buried his face in the crook of his elbow, hiding an amused but embarrassed smile, and more than a bit of blush. Thing was, he wasn't entirely sure that Xavier would appreciate some of the things his brain seemed to be doing with the charm. Or, y'know, towards Xavier himself, for that matter, though Evan couldn't shake the feeling that the boy wouldn't be too offended by that part, at least in the magical hypothetical where he only found out in just the right context.

Gods, the context, though. Context made all of this messy and uncomfortable as fuck.

Ughhhhh.

Evan supposed it wasn't the end of the world to shove context aside for just a moment, though - just here, in private, alone in his tent, just for a bit. He helped justify it by putting it in the same category as the run had been - a physical exercise to jostle his brain back into the right place to be able to actually move the fuck on with his day.

He did set the charm aside for it though. He turned his back to where he’d set it on the ground as he sat himself up on his knees to undo his pants, and did his best to keep his mind away from it out of respect. When his thoughts drifted towards racing with Xavier in his dream, he fast-forward to when they were on the ground instead, to focus in on the sensation of their lips together, and of the boy playfully pushing back against Evan's weight.

Oh, other thoughts also flickered in - completely different scenes, with significantly more violent intentions, directed towards a couple individuals he felt rather less fondly about than his lieutenant at the moment (or, y'know, just always). Unnf, and to get away with it in front of the troops, watch humiliation dance across their faces--

Hot as that was, Evan pulled his mind away from it as shame started to creep in about it. He refocused back on Xavier, as those fantasies seemed much more benign to explore, and his goal here was a reset; it wouldn't do to be stuck in yet more angst at the end of it.

His thoughts spent a good long while tumbling around with Xavier, enjoying playing with overpowering the boy and then imagining the boy successfully overpowering him. Gods, yes, this felt good, and Evan was glad he'd given himself permission to just enjoy it for a bit.

He leaned forward to brace his free hand against the ground, and give himself more leverage for his occupied hand to pick up its rhythm and ferocity. It also gave him the angle he needed to bite down on the skin above his bicep, largely just to make sure he didn’t start making noises he’d regret, though the sensation itself certainly didn’t diminish his experience any, either. He imagined Xavier biting him-- and then kissing him in the same spot, and the thing in his gut started dancing again, and god fucking damn it he couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

He pushed out the thought of Xavier not being Xavier, though, and in doing so ended up imagining those purple eyes watching from behind him, keeping that dancing thing in his gut plenty excited while he carried on wrestling with his lieutenant, exchanging licks and bites and scratches and hair-pulls while they both lost themselves in each other.

In the end, it was the thought of those eyes that really made him shudder, though. The idea that he'd exchanged words with the Demon Queen, and she'd seen fit to bite and kiss him on the cheek in response. Oh, the part of his brain that had stopped him from enjoying the thought last night tried to speak up, but his body shut it the fuck down this time, too enthralled by the excitement in his gut to care. Besides, he'd given himself permission to ignore context for now; what was it to anything if he came to the thought of a goddess paying him mind?

His jaw dug in deep to that bite on his arm while his hand and his hips frantically worked that last little way towards release. He couldn't quite help letting out a soft grunt as his muscles made their final decisive thrust into his hand and held themselves there, revelling in the relief of the moment.

As he slowly started to relax and recollect himself, he hoped to god that grunt hadn't been as loud as he was afraid it was. And then, that one part of his brain started up again, frankly a little bit pissed at himself for sexualizing the encounter in the infirmary tent, especially given his supposed goal of ending this little reverie angst-free. He rolled his eyes as he moved to start cleaning up, and argued back that at least it was better than indulging in some of his more violent fantasies-- which, wasn't as successful at making him feel better as he'd hoped, actually. Fuuuuck, his sexuality was a goddamn mess. But, hey, at least now he hopefully wouldn't have to deal with it quite so intensely for at least a little while. Upshots.

((OOC: ... So yeah. That's all Evan needed to do. As mentioned in conversation earlier today, Blake was also gonna post about preparing for the upcoming diplomatic journey, but the the above happened and she is too disgusted to even try to type.))

Night fell heavily on the rebellion’s army camp and not only because fear of an imminent supernatural attack had become almost palpable despite the fact that most of the men and about half of the women went to bed with charms against skin. The seasons had fully begun to change, and the night fell cold, requiring all the extra blankets villagers had donated to the cause and then some. The wind blowing through the camp carried with it the murmurs of the forest, which deeply unsettled even the bravest soldiers in the camp.

Though all this was true, Mizu awoke sometime around three in the morning, grateful but not surprised that no man had woken up screaming. She suspected, as she had mentioned to Elaine, that the attack frequency had more to do with that grace than the charms. Regardless, it improved her mood as she dressed herself quickly and efficiently in the formal armor and moved toward the meeting spot for the entourage.

When she arrived at the location, just a few paces from where they would need to cross through the forest, nearly everyone was there, and she could see some of the foot soldiers trickling in from the sides. She looked at Blake and the two male captains with gratitude that they had taken this seriously, as each of them had similarly done everything in their power to appear presentable. Stately, even, Mizu dared to think.

The escort assembled fully even before the time arrived when Mizu had requested their presence, which further lifted her spirits and offered confidence in the venture. Indeed, she had chosen these individuals well and felt like they were pleased to be representing their cause. Mizu felt a twinge of pride inside her breast that was difficult to curb, but she did curb it, lest it appear on her face. Heavens above, it was early.

Without much announcement, Mizu began walking, and the others took her cue to follow. The forest, though there was path two-men wide for purposes such as these, was not kept back by the small amount of foot traffic that passed there. The oppressive nature of the tall trees on other side snuffed out much of the confidence Mizu left with.

After only 15 minutes of moving toward the Shel’ti capital, she heard a distant scream coming from the direction of the camp. The male captains immediately stopped and stiffened, turning their heads as if tempted to run back to the camp, but Mizu shook her head. “We must continue forward. There is nothing we can do without Shel’ti assistance if it is another dream attack.” Mizu had not even stopped walking, though she was gritting her teeth, hard. She hoped desperately that Elaine would be able to follow her instructions.

But then there was a second scream—granted, much quieter than the first and strangely muffled at the end—and Mizu prayed—yes, prayed—she was hallucinating it. She resisted the temptation to put her head in her hands and instead kept walking, jaw clenched shut.

((OOC: Elaine is going to make it to one of the tents in time and not the other. Evan’s welcome to see her running in one direction and either follow her or go to the other tent, and they are maybe 15 tents away from each other. He’s also, of course, welcome to do neither of those things.))

Blake very much followed suit after Mizu, barely showing any response to either scream. She for one was glad to be leaving the immediacy of those particular problems behind, and going to hopefully find workable long-term solutions from another source. Whoever fell while they were gone would be unfortunate casualties, but Blake wasn't the type to linger on worry or grief. She trusted the lieutenant she'd left in charge of her men to handle everything in his purview well, and whatever state the camp was in when they returned from the Shel'ti, they would deal with it then. In the meantime, she wasn't about to look anywhere but forwards.

---

The good news was that Evan had indeed successfully expelled much of his remaining angst by the time he emerged from his tent after his little reverie, and he set about the rest of his day in much lighter spirits. He spent some time among his men, carousing as appropriate and also organizing a few training sessions with some of the soldiers he happened to know would likely benefit from putting their bodies to work like he did. It felt good when he was able to tap into this space, and actually feel like he was serving a purpose here rather than just waiting anxiously for his next opportunity to function as a sword.

He went to bed hopeful that night, assuring himself that surely the troops could take comfort in Xavier's charms, and manage to chase away the bad dreams at least for tonight. Of course, there was that lingering doubt as the affliction itself didn't seem to much care about the charms, based on what giving one to the man in the infirmary had done, but Evan waved that thought away, and nonetheless chose to put faith in them for now, or at least in the effect he hoped they'd have on the troops. The chill and the wind did undeniably suck, but he was entirely too stubborn to let it bother him. He fell asleep on his side, his charm closed gently in his palm beside him.

It was predictably infuriating, then, when yet again he woke up to the sound of a scream in the night. As ever, he was up and out of his tent with his sword in hand within an instant, never one to fail to respond to potential danger, even though he was reasonably confident at this point that there wouldn't be a damn thing to do about it. Even so, he had to act as though there was.

He saw Elaine down a row of tents heading towards the scream, and took about a step and a half towards her before stopping in his tracks over the sound of a second scream in the other direction.

"Oh, fuck--" he grunted angrily as he turned on his heel and started heading towards that second scream, figuring Elaine could deal well enough with the first. Why in the hell was it escalating tonight? This was bad. This was very very bad.

Some part of his brain seethed in anger not just due to same old frustration over troops continuing to succumb to this, but also because if it really was the Demon Queen, they very well could be all on the same side soon enough, if she'd just be the slightest fucking bit patient.

At the same time, the irony of him demanding patience from others was not lost on himself.

That one goddamn killjoy part of his brain chided that the thought of the Demon Queen's involvement wasn't so hot now, was it, and Evan just growled to himself and sped up his pace, trying to put all that out of mind for the time being so that he could simply deal with whatever situation was up ahead.

Xavier heard the first scream, and it sent a deep chill through his body. While one part of him tried to convince the rest of his mind that the screaming man probably didn't have a charm--because, of course they worked, didn't they?--the other parts of his brain were doubtful. He was up, dressed, and running toward the direction of the first scream when he heard the second. His spirits plummeted. It was one thing to hope that one man didn't have a charm, but two? Unlikely given how many he had given away. Xavier half-expected to hear a third scream and was grateful when he didn't. 
 
He couldn’t find it in himself to run to the first tent very quickly, sure of what he would find there, but he forced himself to anyway, seeing Elaine bent as though to grab something from under the man’s bed where the man’s armor was.
 
“Did he…?” Xavier started to say but then saw the charm in her hand and, despite the state of the man, who was rolling around a little more violently than the others, cheered up a bit. Xavier couldn’t be held responsible for this situation if the man hadn’t followed the directions.
 
“Looks like he was careless,” Elaine said, holding the charm up so the soldiers now gathered around the tent could see. “His charm was inside his pants’ pocket.” She pointed at two of the men from her retinue and instructed them to carry the man to the infirmary tent. She barreled off in the direction of the other scream, knowing that she was, perhaps, too late, and Xavier followed close behind her.
 
When the two of them arrived, Evan was already there, and Elaine cursed discreetly under her breath. But then she realized that the man on the cot was sitting upright. He wasn’t murmuring like the others at all. In fact, he seemed quite composed, all things considered. The man kept running his hand through his short hair as if something about it surprised him.
 
Xavier looked with an exceptionally puzzled expression at the man, briefly distracted from the question he wanted to ask both because the man was so normal in comparison and because Xavier recognized the man. Evan was also the man’s captain.
 
“Are you…What…You…” Xavier started, terribly confused by this turn of events.
 
“Whatever it was came for me,” the man said in a voice that sounded strangely off to Xavier, but then again, he did just get attacked by some insane and supernatural force. “But I guess this worked.” The man pulled the charm he had on a string from underneath his undershirt and held it up. His previously blue eyes now had the slightest tint of purple.

Evan was knelt down next to the man when the others arrived, his hand reassuringly on the man's shoulder. The captain certainly felt uneasy about this - among other things, the color of the man's eyes had hardly escaped him - but he wasn't entirely sure how he wanted to respond to the worrying aspects of the situation just yet, and it seemed harmless enough to genuinely express the relief he felt at not having to deal with two muttering sacks tonight.

Besides, hopefully this was good. This was the first night anyone other than Xavier had a charm, and also the first night someone had coherently awoken from an encounter, so... maybe they really did work? That could be good news for morale in camp... just as long as this soldier's fate wasn't too deceptive.

Evan would be keeping an eye on the solider from here on out, for sure. In that sense, he was kind of glad it was his man, as it hopefully wouldn't appear all that odd for him to take a special interest.

"Thanks for all your work on the charms, Xavier." Evan nodded to his lieutenant, hoping that even though he couldn't quite muster a smile about the situation, his expression was at least light enough not to worry Xavier. He wasn't ready to talk to the lieutenant about what to think of purple eyes.

Then he shifted his gaze to Elaine, trying to keep his current poker face smooth.

"The other scream tonight?"

“Same as the others. Maybe a little worse,” Elaine said, shaking her head. “He wasn’t using his charm.” Seeing that Evan seemed to have the situation under control, she added, “I think I’ll go to the infirmary tent to check on the other man again,” and left. 

Xavier watched her go and looked back at Evan.

“Well, this just keeps getting weirder, huh? At least the charms seem to be working. Maybe more people will take them seriously now.” Xavier rubbed his hands, sore from all the tying the previous day, and stared absent-mindedly off to one side of the tent. The previously screaming man, who was looking at Evan’s hand on his shoulder with a cross between a look of concern and a smirk, seemed to be making Xavier uneasy. “Do you need me to do anything else?” Xavier asked.

Evan nodded to Elaine, glad that she was willing to go do that job, for whatever it would accomplish. Heh, maybe he should tell her to give the other soldier a charm again now, see what happens? While an amusing thought to part of his brain, he wasn't entirely sure it'd be wise, for a couple different reasons. One being, he'd already told Mizu about that experience, and by now Elaine should know or not know whatever Mizu had deemed appropriate. If Elaine hadn't been told anything about it, he wasn't keen on undermining Mizu's discretion the instant she had departed from camp. And if she had been told something about it... Evan was just as glad to let that lie. The captain could go do or not do whatever she thought was reasonable.

In any case, Elaine was off, and Xavier was... uneasy. Evan swallowed, wishing he knew how to properly address his lieutenant's concern. Thing was, he could think of a lot of ways that he could go and fuck up and instead make it worse. He spared a glance back to the solider beside him, sensing the avoidance of Xavier's gaze that direction. If the soldier's expression startled him, Evan managed not to show it, and simply gave the man one last squeeze on the shoulder before pushing himself to his feet and stepping closer to Xavier.

"Go let anyone gathered outside know that Seth had his charm on him, and is doing alright. I'll stay with him a while, see what else he can remember." Evan said softly, reaching out to place his hand reassuringly on Xavier's shoulder now. It was by no means a gesture that the captain used frequently, but neither was it out of character for this sort of situation, where he was genuinely trying to assure his subordinates that he had everything under control. He also let his eyes soften a bit, hoping that if he let Xavier see just a hint that, yes, Evan was nervous as well - which also meant that he would be proceeding cautiously, and vigilantly - that perhaps the lieutenant might feel better. Here was hoping that was the right call.

Xavier felt better after Evan's small gesture, which made him realize that, at least in part, a little of the discomfort had been jealousy, oddly enough. Stupid, Xavier thought to himself, at a time like this. Some small part of Xavier was also worried for Evan and curious about the questioning that would no doubt happen after Xavier left. As much as Seth seemed to playing off that he was fine, Xavier wasn't convinced. Something was weird, which made it not all that difficult to follow Evan's orders and leave, telling the men that the charm worked on the way out with not as much pride as he might otherwise have felt at the situation, given the strangeness of it all. His fatigue then settled on him again, and he figured he deserved whatever sleep he could get at this point.

Once Xavier was gone, Seth looked pointedly at Evan, the smirk now more evident on his face than anything else. Waiting, just waiting.

Evan took half a moment after Xavier left to reel his expression back in, before pivoting where he stood to return his attention to Seth.

He had... very mixed feelings about the expression on his soldier's face, but did his best to let none of them show. Well, other than a slightly raised eyebrow, and an almost bored-sounding sigh - which, admittedly, yes, were likely curated reactions, but at the same time didn't seem completely disingenuous, either.

"Hi." he said simply, his tone fairly purposefully a calm echo of how he'd responded to the soldier in the infirmary the previous night.

"I'm starting to wonder if you can even say anything else," Seth said, the smirk leaving his face as the man's body shifted back a little while his left eyebrow lifted.