Written Wonderland

Blake sighed audibly at Joseph's question, but didn't make any move to stop the conversation heading that direction. As unpleasant as it was going to be, she certainly sympathized with Captain Miller's desire to make sure that everyone fully grasped the situation. Still... ugh.

It didn't help that Evan's initial response was just to look even more amused.

Truth was, Evan couldn't help enjoying how uncomfortable Joseph was - and Blake, for that matter. Plus the fact that they didn't have a godsdamned foot to stand on, ha!

He reeled himself in, though. It was one thing for Blake and Joseph to feel uncomfortable; it was another thing entirely to have to talk about this with the likes of Elaine and Yukiko.

Gah, fuck, Yukiko. Gods, yeah, that was complicated. Evan sobered up a bit, but tried not to worry too much about it. Besides, he reminded himself, maybe she'd be jealous, which would be fucking perfect. Here's fucking hoping.

"She's a goddess of dreams and desire, Captain Miller." Evan answered flatly, having managed to push his amusement back behind other more indignant emotions. "And the trials I personally endure for her allyship to our cause are none of your fucking business."

Yukiko blinked curiously between Joseph and Evan, silently debating the merits of asking for clarifications. She could easily imagine making both Evan and Joseph blush, which she had to admit would be fun, but maybe not the most professional.

In the end she decided she'd done enough talking for now, and left space for other captains to chime in with their own questions or concerns.

Captain Miller and Captain Soven looked uncomfortable, both with Evan's language, which they should really have been used to by now, and the insistence on not saying what was going on with the goddess, which, really, spoke worlds about was happening. It did, however, force their minds to briefly imagine the sort of things the goddess might do to Evan, which Joseph at least shut down quickly. He wanted to push the issue but worried about coming across as too eager to know. He looked to Mizu for help.

Mizu sighed, realizing the dilemma they were in. Were there not someone's religious beliefs at stake, she might have told Captain Miller to get over it--obviously not in those words--but some part of Mizu could understand the moral quandary. She had had one herself not too long ago, though she would like to think it was more rational than Captain Miller's. Mizu, for one, was not concerned about her immortal soul. If defeating the king meant being punished by the gods, that was a fate she was willing to accept for the sake of justice.

Still, she didn't want to look like she was covering up the fact that the nature of Evan's relations with the goddess was... not exactly dinner table conversation. But this wasn't the time to be that kind of polite; they were in the middle of a war here. If these grown men couldn't stomach the truth, did they have any place fighting in this war?

Finally, she said, "Captain Rutliff, as you are ambassador to the goddess, the rest of us have the right to know what transpired there. While I don't find it necessary to pry into your personal affairs with the goddess, I'm sure it would help all of us if you could offer at least some concrete details about your time with her. Even to those of us familiar with the myths about her, she still seems exactly that--a myth. Even getting the soldiers back could, in theory, be coincidental." Mizu certainly would like to have more confidence in the situation than she did, and while she believed Evan had no reason to deceive them, she did want to account for reasonable doubt. If anything, she was giving Evan permission to be more forward hoping that it might strengthen the reality of the situation and impress upon everyone that this really was happening. They really were working with a goddess.

Evan bristled when Mizu chimed in, and he tossed her a frustrated grimace. Was she seriously asking him to go into details here in front of everyone?

But... no, that wasn't exactly what she was asking. Evan rolled his eyes and sighed, heavily enough that it very nearly came out as a groan. How to share relevant details without turning this into a fucking spectacle?

"Fine." He finally said, mostly to buy himself some time while he thought of how to start.

"I meet her in her realm, through portals she opens in ours. I guess in theory, I know when and where she'll open the next portal tonight. It's probably a real fucking bad idea for anyone else to come through, but if anyone wants a visual confirmation I guess you could watch me go through or whatever."

The captain rubbed at his hair uncomfortably. Even the portal felt private to him, it seemed, and offering to show it to others made his shoulders tense up, but he had to admit it was probably something he'd appreciate being offered if he were on the other side of this.

"Her agenda, at this point, seems to be primarily testing my resolve and endurance, or something like that...tenacity, maybe. In theory she's making sure that I'm fit for the task of freeing her, or preparing me for it. Or, honestly, I'm sure some of it is just her having fun, or getting from me whatever she gets from any man she interacts with that way. And yeah, Captain Miller--" Evan tossed him a glare, "--it involves some lurid shit; just like the stories promise, and more."

His cheeks certainly gained color as he spoke, but he was managing to keep his expression mostly steady, if visibly irritated at having to get into this. He freed Joseph from his glare shortly and continued addressing the room as a whole.

"So, while I navigate that shit, I'm also trying to work her for information, or other concessions we're looking for past the initial agreement, which was one of our soldiers back each night I meet with her, and that she'd kill the king and work with us to get Ponderance on the throne once she's freed. It's not fucking easy, but I got her to open up about her history with the king last night, and I anticipate making progress on the Shel'ti tonight."

With that, Evan turned his glare back to Mizu.

"Was that concrete enough, Commander, or should I share more details about the lurid shit? Cuz that's honestly most of what's left."

Mizu managed to listen to Evan's retelling without so much as moving a facial muscle, her focus primarily on gathering information about how each of the captains was taking the information. She knew it was a lot to swallow, but if they couldn't get past this part of it, there was no point in continuing. Her upper lip twitched a little as Evan directed a comment at Captain Miller directly, but she did not make any move to silence Evan.

Elaine nodded slightly throughout Evan's explanation, grateful that his story was, at least, consistent as far as she had heard it so far.

Captain Miller kept a determined face, grateful that Mizu was taking his side on this, and listened attentively to Evan's statements. At least, until Evan said that what happened between him and the goddess was even more than the stories promised. How was that possible? What was she doing to him? Captain Miller did, at first, want to demand to see the portal, but seeing as the other captains did not seem interested in that possibility, he figured he could let that slide.

Just as Mizu was about to respond to Evan, Captain Miller incidentally cut her off. "Why you, Captain Rutliff? Were you attacked like the others? How did you survive?" Mizu held back the urge to roll her eyes and instead turned her head to Evan and raised an eyebrow. She was still not pleased about how this had all begun, and she had hoped that the other captains wouldn't think to ask, but it felt fitting that at least Evan would have to explain what went on there himself.

Evan rolled his eyes as he returned his attention to Joseph. He'd really fucking hoped that prude would've been out of shit to say by now.

"No, I wasn't attacked. I took some fucking action." Evan blurted out sharply, irritation now rather brightly coloring his voice.

He sighed, though, and calmed down slightly after, recognizing that shit was about to get awkward with Mizu in front of the captains. Unless he could spin it somehow? Guh...

"I spoke with the goddess through men she possessed on two separate occasions. I knew that'd be a damn hard story to buy without proof, so I sought out proof." Ugh, a part of him really wanted to leave it there, but it was obvious he was avoiding the kind of important detail of how, and he knew it. Better to just fucking own it, probably, especially if Joseph was being this godsdamned pushy today.

"I spoke to the old woman, and we summoned the goddess and struck this arrangement. It was against orders, and rest assured Mizu's already stripped me down for that."

He tossed his glance briefly to Mizu, and let his posture shrink a bit humbly. He really did want to convey that he knew he was on thin ice as far as that action was concerned. Mizu had said she'd defend him in this meeting, but he didn't expect it'd be okay for it to look like she didn't give a damn that he acted against orders. Even if he'd won her over, which he was sure he'd still only managed in part, she had face to save over that situation.

"I can defend why I did what I did," he continued, shifting his gaze back out into the room of captains, "but at the end of the day I'm only still here as long as I'm delivering results. This goes sideways, I take full responsibility, whatever that has to look like."

Captain Miller was not surprised that Evan had gone against Mizu's orders. It wasn't the first time, and it likely wouldn't be the last, but this was definitely the most uncomfortable that Evan had ever made Joseph personally feel. But, if he wanted to risk his soul for the chance to cavort with a demonic being, he could have at. Joseph sent up a quick prayer, hoping he would not be soiled by Evan's actions on the army's behalf.

Before long after Evan stopped speaking, Mizu corroborated his final comments. "I am aware of the goddess' ability to overpower and control her captives, and if we have any reason to believe that Captain Rutliff has been compromised, you can rest assured that I will do what is necessary." While she didn't necessarily mean for that to be as ominous as it sounded, it was still just as true. If it came down to it and Evan was obviously under the goddess' control in a way that put everything else they had worked for at risk... She couldn't deny that she was avidly hoping against that possibility.

"Now, if there are no more questions about the present situation with the goddess, are we ready to put the matter of moving the camp to a vote?"

Evan couldn't help stiffening as Mizu spoke, especially considering her comments. It wasn't anything new exactly--and it wasn't even all that different from what Evan had just said himself--but it absolutely brought back to mind the sensation that had come of Blake calling his loyalty into question the previous day. It ate away at the core of his chest, and he only barely managed to refrain from gripping at his shirt in some stupid attempt to allay it. He just hoped that most of the captains wouldn't be so quick to believe his disloyalty as Blake was. Much as he hated having to see Yukiko's face so often these past months, at least he could count on her to trust his intentions in regards to their cause, no matter how reckless he acted.

Tentatively, Evan spared a brief glance to Captain Fujiwara. She looked pretty serious, though lightened slightly when she caught Evan's gaze, but she didn't hold it long.

Instead, she returned her eyes to their commander, and, when Mizu's gaze chanced upon hers, she lightly nodded to indicate that she was prepared for a vote.

Blake did similarly. She looked just as serious as ever, and just a bit tired, and definitely ready to get this over with.

After she saw the rest of the captains confirmed their readiness, Mizu called for the vote. "I'm looking for consensus. Given that we have ongoing negotiations with the goddess Dehaljadrun and the Shel'ti, I believe it would be more risky to our cause as a whole to move the camp now, even considering that the king has been informed of our approximate location. Is there any among you who disagree?" Mizu looked to each of the captains in turn. Captain Soven, Captain Miller, and Captain Elaine Hart all remained silent, though Captain Miller would not meet Mizu's gaze.

Captain Rutliff of course remained silent, his stake in the situation fairly obvious.

Captain Bronwen shook her head slightly when Mizu's gaze fell on her, though her expression looked almost pained as she did it.

Captain Fujiwara gave a much happier head-shake as Mizu's gaze fell on her, her straight posture and light expression emanating that she was fairly pleased with the situation overall.

((OOC: And I suppose there's several more captains who could object, but I did not come up with any compelling ideas for that m'self.))

((OOC: I think if there are genuinely not other arguments to voice, it's fine.))

"It's settled then. Once we have more information about the goddess and negotiate on behalf of the Shel'ti, then we can reapproach the idea of moving the camp. For now, we need to have tighter watches, and we need to do everything in our power to keep our men focused and alert. Tell them that the king has been made aware of our position. Tell them we have a goddess on our side. Tell them that we are doing everything in our power to get the rest of the attacked soldiers back and that Captain Rutliff has found a reliable way to do that. Let them be reinvigorated by our progress. We are one step closer to overthrowing the tyranny of the king.

"Now, if there is nothing further anyone needs to discuss, you are free to take your leave."