Written Wonderland

Evan followed the goddess a little more closely than he had before, his gaze actually on where they were headed now rather than the ground right in front of him. He sat down shortly after the goddess did, though his posture was quite a bit more stiff--among other things, careful to keep his boots on the floor and not the cushions. He might not have bothered, but they were in worse than usual shape after trudging through the woods while wet, and he was feeling hyper-vigilant about not offending his host--although, now that he thought on it, perhaps he should have taken them off before entering he palace, given their state. He had half a mind to take his boots off now, but wasn't sure just then was the time. Instead he listened intently to the goddess's reply. He wasn't immediately sure what he wanted to do with the new information about the god from before, but he felt like he'd appreciate knowing it later. He was just starting to calculate what in the hell to talk about next, when one of the thralls approached, stiffening Evan's posture further.

The captain regarded the tray somewhat suspiciously, though that gave way to curiosity as the goddess began crushing the herbs between her fingers. Somehow, it wasn't until she held the chalice out to him that it even crossed Evan's mind that what she was doing might be for him. He was visibly surprised, and very briefly imagined batting it away, spilling the liquid all over the cushions and all, but that fantasy passed quickly. He might have deeply mixed feelings about being fussed over right now, but he really was trying to lean hard towards appreciative. Anything ungrateful put their already-tenuous position in greater risk, and that aside--would be unquestionably childish.

So he accepted the chalice and took a sip, and then another. He certainly appreciated that he did feel he could trust her not to pointlessly sabotage his body, so in the very least accepting food and drink from her felt physically safe. Some part of him was still uneasy about it, but not in any way he couldn't stomach (hah).

When she mentioned the task she'd agreed to do for Samael, Evan pondered over the wisdom in asking about that. On some level, it didn't seem like any of his business. But he was certainly curious, and... besides, hadn't she left a fairly blatant opening?

"I am curious about the cloak he asked for," Evan said a little tentatively, "But it also doesn't seem like my business. I guess, unless you think it may affect the war ahead, in which case I'd appreciate at least knowing that."

He hoped that sort of inquiry would be agreeable to her, and took another sip of the tea that she'd made for good measure.

Dehaljadrun watched Evan as he drank and started to feel relieved. Her stomach unclenched, and she relaxed imperceptibly, aware that the sensations within Evan's stomach--and therefore her own--would now continue to subside. She was, honestly, surprised that he was more interested in Samael than wanting to resolve their earlier conversation, but she supposed it made sense. Samael was safer conversational territory, by far.

When Evan asked about the cloak, she thought about dodging the question. After all, he said she could, and she didn't think it would damage things further if she refused to answer. But, on the other hand, she didn't see any benefit to hiding the information from Evan, and she'd rather not sit in awkward silence, so...

"I would be surprised if it had anything to do with the war," the goddess began, aiming to set Evan that much more at ease. "He wants a shapeshifting cloak, and I know how to make them." The goddess left it at that, figuring that there was nothing much more there that would be of interest to Evan.

She was starting to get impatient about sorting out their new negotiation, though. The goddess didn't exactly want to continue to shower Evan in hospitality if they really did have to call the deal off, but she figured she could give Evan at least a few more minutes to get his body settled.

Before giving him much of a chance to respond, Dehaljadrun got to her feet and said, "I'll give you a few moments to yourself." She quickly disappeared into the room behind the throne again, then and closed the curtains abruptly. Behind them, she took a deep breath, uncertain of herself as she had been for far too many days in a row. Being in the room where she had fully entered Evan's body only heightened her desire to resolve things with him. If they could have a glorious, radiant moment like that again--this time uninterrupted--maybe it would all be worth it. After collecting herself, she pulled the red teardrop pendant out of her short dress, gazed at it appreciatively, and put it back in its proper place. She was, honestly, grateful that Samael hadn't taken it. It meant she had much more power in her stores for the time being, and she had already grown accustomed to the feeling of it coursing through her.

Next, she decided to put on something more appropriate to their renegotiation. While she was tempted to wear only the wrap skirt as she had in the previous negotiation, the goddess knew this wouldn't be the same, and besides, she didn't like repeats. Instead, she settled on a flowing, full-length black dress with slits up both sides that went just above her hips. The neckline was square but plunged so there was only a thin strip of fabric that wrapped around her waist, and the back of the dress was bare and open. She smoothed her wild hair, tangled as the wind had made it, and stretched into her full height, prepared to get exactly what she wanted and give nothing unfairly. Though Evan had earnestly admitted to fucking up, he was still trying to get more out of her, and she still had the nagging feeling that he was simply manipulating her. The stakes were, after all, unforgivably high on his part.

Finally, she appeared back out from behind the curtains and wordlessly walked over to light the braziers in the palace with purple flames from her hands. She also gestured toward the thralls in a way that made them leave the palace altogether. She didn't want their presence during her conversation with Evan.

All that done, she returned to the captain, moved the tray off to one side, and knelt in front of where Evan sat, sitting on her feet. The goddess closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused her anxious, impatient, frustrated energy, clearing the air and, more specifically, keying herself more intentionally into the sensations of Evan's body.

Opening her eyes, she looked straight at Evan with her chin held high and said, "I believe you owe me a renegotiation," one hand rotating and fingering the talisman he had offered her earlier.

The goddess once again surprised Evan, this time by offering him a moment alone. Now that they'd been talking, he didn't necessarily want it, but it seemed pointless to object. He nodded to the goddess, and watched her go into the back room, not quite able to keep the longing from his eyes.

Alone now, Evan cast his gaze about the palace while he drank from the chalice, a bit more in gulps now than sips. It felt strange to be alone in a place like this--though, he supposed he wasn't quite alone, if he counted the thralls standing by the entrance, which really only made it stranger. He finished the tea in the chalice and ate some of the vegetable, nibbling at first and pausing to assess how it felt settling into his stomach, and then carrying on with full bites. He didn't eat much, though, as his stomach, while settled, seemed to fill up quickly.

He cast his gaze back towards the room the goddess had gone into, memories from the night before quickly welling up in his mind. Throwing the goddess to the floor; choking on her cock; shadows holding him down and flame burning his skin; the awe of the way his being and the goddess' flowed together in his body. His hand touched his hip where one of the burns had been, marvelling at how bad the burns had been before he'd come here tonight, and how not a trace was left of them now. Gratitude came easily for that act; the goddess hadn't needed to heal him, but she offered. She'd wanted to. Maybe it was just to alleviate remorse she felt about the night before, or maybe it was just to keep his body in decent enough condition for his task, but even so, thinking about it made his heart feel lighter.

His face was absolutely awash with gratitude and awe and longing when the goddess stepped back through the curtain, and Evan instantly reddened and turned back around. Maybe she hadn't seen him, or at least hadn't quite caught the look on his face. His cheeks still held some color by the time she came and knelt in front of him, but he'd managed to collect his expression into something much more neutral, if vaguely nervous. He saw that the goddess' expression was serious, though, which honestly helped him even further tame his own. Seemed like it was time to get down to business, which the goddess quickly confirmed with words. He eyed the talisman as she played with it, tempted to be irritated about the threatening undertone of that action, but it was fair game; he'd straight-up offered that to her, and it would be silly to get upset about her using it now. It just sucked to have to look squarely at his current position again, even if it had been inevitable.

He nodded solemnly, acknowledging that, yes, he owed her exactly what she said. But he was quiet a moment with his eyes cast to the side as he thought of how to get back into it. He knew he had to be less brash this time. They'd left off with the goddess asking about the Shel'ti he needed, but something in Evan's mind strongly felt that wasn't the place to start, though it made no alternative offering. Finally, he took in a deep breath, and brought his gaze seriously and determinedly back to the goddess'.

"Starting from scratch, then. I need you to continue holding off attacking any more of our troops, to work with us on timing so we can move into position before you kill the king, and..." he swallowed, "I need a good chunk of Shel'ti released to convince them to ally with us--and I don't think a soldier a night would do it for them. I know this is a drastic change from our initial agreement, which is why I figured we should start over."

Granted, he was well aware he hadn't been that rational about it when he'd first started down this road, and that there certainly had been ulterior motives back in the stone circle, but that didn't make the sentiment untrue now. One some level, he'd known that this was a big change, and that it'd take some doing to figure out what the fuck he could offer the goddess to make it; this seemed quite a bit beyond the scope of sexual posturing and angry impulsive demands.

On that note, he was also aware that he'd left some things out--namely, for their own soldiers to continue being released, and... for the goddess to leave Xavier untouched. As much as he hated it, he acknowledged that those weren't needs, and he knew he was in no position to demand anything that was optional, even if leaving Xavier's safety on the table made him feel like bugs were crawling over his shoulders and across his back.

As Evan met her gaze, the goddess felt a jolt of longing surge through her body. She absolutely did not want to be talking to him right now. And yet...

Now that she was more attuned to Evan's body, she felt the swirling mess of emotions swirling through him, and she felt some measure of his awe and gratitude. Thank the gods that was still there despite the ways in which Samael might have made her appear weak. Of course she was awe-inspiring, she reminded herself. She was still a goddess, and Evan had experienced her power firsthand.

The memory of calling the lightning down in Evan's body came rushing to mind, but the goddess redirected her attention to the matter at hand.

Evan's "starting from scratch" comment irritated her, but she let him continue without making much of an expression. It was almost amusing to her that he thought he could alter the deal without any recourse, but that would come later, she supposed. One does not simply make a deal with a deity and change it without retribution.

Holding off on attacking the troops and working with the army on timing was expected. That had been part of the deal before, and if Evan succeeded in unbinding her, the thralls would certainly be less necessary. And, she was prepared to wait, if necessary, regardless of how frustrating it might be, to kill the king if it meant giving Ponderance a good chance of getting on the throne. In all honesty, she didn't much care about Ponderance's status, but if it was possible just by patience alone, then she supposed it was worth it.

And then there was the matter of the Shel'ti. The goddess raised her eyebrow when Evan said "a good chunk," but she was aware that he likely meant at least more than half. She couldn't help gritting her teeth slightly as their conversation earlier spilled back into her mind. Dehaljadrun still hated that Evan had tried to manipulate her about it all and had, of course, backpedaled from that stance. He had a lot to make up for, but she supposed he had given her the talisman, which counted, at least temporarily, for something. She rolled it around a few more times in her hand, looking down at it to restore some of her calm and buy some time.

Finally, she looked up at Evan. "In exchange for the discontinued attacks on your soldiers and collaborating on the death of the king, I requested that you travel to the underworld to free me from the king's spell and spend five evenings with me. I would like to also remind you that you pledged to rebuild my temples when this had concluded." Dehaljadrun paused a moment and realized that Evan had not said anything about releasing the two soldiers of his that she still had and also had not mentioned anything specifically about Xavier, which, granted, was not part of the original deal, but it certainly felt like they were putting everything on the table here. While both points were notable, she tucked the information away for later. "Releasing the majority of the Shel'ti," the goddess continued, pausing for another moment to mentally count, "of which I have 28, would demand significantly more from you and your army."

Some part of the goddess wanted to say something to the effect of "what more could you possibly offer me," but she held that back, unwilling to let the tone of such a statement sour what was starting off relatively neutral. And, there was more she could ask for from Evan, but she stopped there, curious if he had something in mind to offer her first.

Evan's hand clenched into a fist against his leg at the goddess' first few comments, and his expression grew subtly harder, but he managed to keep explicit irritation off his face. It would be better to respond levelly once the goddess was finished. Which, thankfully, was in relatively short order and without any other threads he felt the need to immediately address.

"To be clear, I agreed to spend five nights with you in exchange for five of our soldiers--" he replied quickly, his voice trying to remain neutral but undoubtedly letting some notes of irritation slip in. "--who are still more valuable to us per man than the Shel'ti. If you keep our two remaining men, surely that's worth six Shel'ti."

Evan didn't like haggling numbers like this, but just because he'd left the two remaining soldiers off his list didn't mean he'd let the goddess get away with erasing that part of the equation. Not to mention--

"Additionally, I can only see your temples rebuilt if my allies take control once the king is dead. When we first negotiated, I didn't think the Shel'ti would be necessary for that, but my commander won't go along with this plan without their support."

Dehaljadrun was a little taken aback by Evan's reply, although she definitely had misremembered that detail in her own favor. She smiled slightly then, half laughing at herself, half impressed that Evan was keeping such excellent track of everything. It was distracting. The goddess let the smile on her face stay, though she also raised an eyebrow to complete the expression.

But, then he went and directly offered to let her keep the two soldiers, much to her surprise. She would have thought they would be worth more than three of the Shel'ti given Evan's attachment to them, but she wasn't about to argue for Evan on that point.

Then again, why did they need the Shel'ti in the first place? With the king dead...

"What makes the Shel'ti specifically valuable to you? What if I supplied other allies?" Her facial expression returned to neutral, but the in the moments before Evan answered, she found herself tracing the lines of his bare shoulders with her eyes, some part of her thoroughly intent on distracting the rest of her from the importance of the conversation at hand. She quickly snapped her gaze back to meet Evan's eyes, however.

Evan's eyes studied the goddess' face carefully, admittedly nearly frantic to figure out what she was smiling about. He'd been braced for her to be irritated with his reply, not happy about it, and the lack of predictability made him nervous. Did she feel like she had him cornered somehow?

But, when she responded, it was with a question, one which introduced a new variable Evan hadn't considered. He tilted his head back slightly as his eyebrow raised, his expression fairly obviously intrigued, but skeptical. It was tempting to dive right in to questioning her on the details of what she was offering, but he held his tongue for a moment to make sure he wasn't taking bait. Besides, if he was truly avoiding brashness this time...

"I can't promise my commander would go for that; she may see this as an important stage in setting up relations with the Shel'ti after the war is over. I'd need to bring her a proposal."

He paused momentarily there, considering leaving it at that for the goddess to respond to. But the prospect of bringing Mizu a new proposal tonight without anything else to show for it--likely, not even one of their own soldiers waking up--made Evan deeply nervous. Perhaps he'd need to lay those cards out on the table, as well.

"--And I'd like to bring her something more concrete to go with it. Some of the other captains aren't exactly thrilled about my dealings with you, and might convince the commander to move camp away from your influence before my dealings with you are done. I may be able to stay and complete the deal alone, but there's a chance I'd have to do so against orders, and if that happens..."

Evan's expression grew grim, and his eyes couldn't quite hold up contact with the goddess'. Honestly, he wasn't prepared to say whether he'd go with the army or stay behind, but either way it'd be an absolute fucking mess. He supposed... there was something he could say, which gave him a little more confidence back, and he brought his gaze back to the goddess'.

"Even if I were to stay against orders and free you, that's where my usefulness to you would end. I'd be far more useful to you in the long term if I can retain my position in the rebellion."

Evan was nervous that the goddess might not actually care about temples or her standing in the human realm, but... surely gods had to care about that, didn't they? Otherwise, why bother destroying her temples in the first place? Evan steeled himself for trying to call her bluff if she played indifferent to that point, but hoped he wouldn't have to.

Evan's intrigue brightened the goddess somewhat. He wasn't stuck on a path; she would give him that much, but he was still very careful about agreeing to anything without greater approval, which irritated her. She supposed it was understandable, but Evan was the person here now, with her, and the goddess was none too pleased about the idea of not fully closing up the deal in this sitting. The last thing she wanted was another string of negotiations to interrupt their nights together.

Dehaljadrun stayed quiet, however, letting Evan finish. When he said that the other captains were not pleased with her involvement, she grew yet more irritated, but then Evan spoke about possibly going against his orders to complete the arrangement with her.

Why would he offer to do that? The goddess' initial assumption was that Evan wanted to stay with her--and help her--of his own accord, but she became immediately skeptical of that. It was far more likely that he believed Dehaljadrun would be enough help that it would be worth going against what his commander thought was best. All in line with winning the war. Although, if Evan went against orders and no longer held a position within the army, what stake did he have in the war?

Setting that aside, she listened to the rest of what he had to say and wondered exactly why he thought he would be more useful to her inside the army. She wasn't very invested in the political maneuvering Evan seemed to be hinting at. But, he had said earlier that he couldn't rebuild her temples without his allies' support, so she supposed that must be what he was referring to. And, yes, she did care about that. They were sources of power, after all, and as humiliating as it could be at times, her priestesses' ability to summon her mattered.

In the end, she decided to ignore Evan's insistence that he would need to bring a proposal to his commander. She wanted this settled now, properly.

"I could give you the demons I would have given the king," the goddess said, knowing it was risky to refer to her angry comment from earlier. She pressed forward regardless, though, both figuratively and literally as she started to close the short distance between herself and Evan. "I saw the kinds of demons you're up against in Seth's memories, and mine are stronger, more lithe, able to lurk unnoticed in the shadows." As she said this, the goddess shifted so that her knees touched Evan's, and she pivoted to wrap her body around his, her legs pressed against his, her chest pressed up against his side, her mouth next to his ear, her arms wrapped around behind his shoulders. "And I'd give you the ability to command them."

At first, Evan was irritated that the goddess seemed to gloss over his concerns--especially bringing up the threat she had made earlier--but it was difficult for irritation to stick around when she moved in closer to him, suddenly wrenching his mind in a different direction altogether. A soft, subtle gasp escaped his lips as she coiled around him, suddenly bringing their bodies into contact in multiple places at once. Gods, he'd been aching for that, and it was tempting as fuck to abandon the conversation altogether and push her down onto the cushions and press their bodies even closer. Despite vividly imagining that possibility--right down to the detail of digging his nails into the goddess' hip where the slit in her dress began--Evan managed to keep still, albeit incredibly stiff now, his muscles having to tense themselves to keep from following through on the urges now fired up in his body.

Remaining still was made all the more difficult by the goddess' final comment, though. A rush washed through his body and up over his scalp, his posture subtly growing taller as pride managed to finally vanquish the last of the shame and embarrassment still hanging about him. Oh, the thought crossed his mind that Blake and Joseph would not like that at all, but even that was more in the vein of amusement and very nearly glee than anything cautionary. Besides, if the goddess was offering him that kind of power... that was a very good sign, wasn't it?

"Tempting," he said coolly, letting a smirk form on his face as he leaned back on one hand, bringing him in a better position to look the goddess in the eye again. "Are the Shel'ti really so valuable to you?" Ugh, gods, a part of him really did want to just revel in this new fantasy of leading demons into battle, watching the king's men shit their pants for once, but he knew he was in a headspace now that he had to keep a careful eye on. As much as the goddess might want it right now, it actually wouldn't serve either of them if Evan let his pride completely run the conversation. It was certainly flush at the surface of him now, but his resolve not to fuck this round up still held a leash on it tightly.

Dehaljadrun was immensely pleased at the way Evan responded to her decision to move closer to him. She had half-worried he might completely pull away from her altogether, breaking contact and forcing them both to stay business-like about the whole conversation, but he didn't move, and a fresh wave of longing and excitement rushed through the goddess, making it difficult to prevent her eyes from rolling back for a moment, but she stayed steady. Instead, she ran her fingers gently, almost distractedly, over the right side of Evan's collarbone, stroking it ever so slightly, breathing against his neck, stalling for a little time.

No, in all reality, the Shel'ti weren't valuable, but the idea of being trapped in an empty palace without any servants to speak of, that was thoroughly uncomfortable to think about. She still had to consider that it wasn't a sure bet that Evan would succeed in unbinding her, even if they didn't drive each other mad before he could even try. Any number of things could go wrong, and if she gave up everything only to find out that he had failed, she would be entirely back to the beginning of her plight, worse now with an angry god making demands of her. The demons, on the other hand, had more autonomy. They only came to her aid when it aligned with their interests, but she was certain that waging war against the king and his demons was among them, even if it meant being under the command of someone else.

But, all things considered, she couldn't just tell Evan that she didn't want to be alone.

"They're worth at least as much as nine of your men; you said so yourself. But," Dehaljadrun said, her voice slipping a little from its velvet as she continued, "you're worth more to me than all and any of them." She met his gaze then, her face completely and utterly serious and her eyes wide with curiosity about how he might respond. She wasn't positive that appealing to Evan's pride was the best direction to be moving in, but right now, with her body curled around Evan, she was very interested in what he might personally offer her if she did. After all, even (and perhaps especially) arguments included, this was arguably the most fun she had ever had.