Narnia: Rich In Mercy (artisticHeart and Lillianette)

"I do," Rinnica said with an apologetic look. "You may not see a lot of me during set-up, but I'll definitely come to find you once the opening performance is done."

The dryad smiled happily at Elijah. "Yes indeed! I'll see... you...hm?"

She noticed Elijah's hand reach out towards her hair and looked up curiously. She didn't seem too phased about the gesture and looked almost confused when Elijah pulled away.

Elijah walked away with his boots, and Rinnica stared on, blinking. "U-Um, bye for now!" she called. Once Elijah was out of earshot, she reached her own hand above her head and gave a light tap as if to imagine what it would be like if the soldier had gone through with his motion... and then turned beet red at the thought of what she was doing.

"Noooo nononono!" she said, shaking her head furiously. "Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, leave that alone!" She then began quickly picking up her things and cleaning what she could. "Friends don't think about friends in that way!" she would repeat to herself often. Even so, Rinnica couldn't help but think about what it would have been like to be on Elijah's good side in that regard. It seemed it would be hard to get him to show affection like that, so why her? Why attempt with her?

All the poor dryad did was whine and run out of the ballroom hall, almost bumping into the head doctor, Maxwell.

"Rinnica!" he gasped. "There you are, we've been wanting to talk to you again. ... And you're still in your pajamas, at this hour?"

Rinnica looked down, forgetting that she had still not yet had a chance to change this morning. Rinnica only slumped her shoulders and sighed. What a day it had been so far! And it was nowhere near over.

---

Susan gulped as her face turned redder. She had done all of that short of eloping with her previous suitor. "No... I suppose not," she said, not feeling too smart and witty anymore.

---

Time had passed for everyone, and now it was almost an hour and a half before the ball would start. Everything was almost done with being set up, with volunteers and staff roaming around placing the finishing touches around the ballroom.

Rinnica had been hiding in the backstage area, practicing her dance. She fussed about making sure her every move was right, her costume was right, her hair was right, but several people including Mariya the hamadryad had told her she looked fine.

"Mariya, I'm sorry...I just-- ugh all of the Royal Family is here, and everyone's watching, and Aslan's still roaming around so He may be here and ughhhhh!!"

As Rinnica buried her face in her hands, Mariya tried to calm her down. "Rinnica, you'll do fine. You always do! It's not the first time you've done this in front of dignitaries!"

"Mariya the population of Vi Alana is about 80 to 100 people! Dancing in front of them is no more than a family reunion!"

"Then think of this as a family reunion, only everyone decided to bring three more people. Besides... should the Great Lion show up, wasn't that your dream to do something like this with his approval?"

Rinnica thought about it, and then sighed. "Yes," she said quietly.

"Then go out there and do what you've always done. They'll love it, I'm sure of it."

Mariya floated around Rinnica, nuzzling her with her petals as the dryad laughed. "Okay," said Rinnica. "I'll do it. I'll do my best!"

Edmund had finished getting ready, along with his sister Susan. He was sure by now Peter and Lucy were ready too. The man looked rather pale, thinking about all that could go wrong with this event, and he tried to relax and think of more positive things, but his fears were getting the best of him. It was nowhere near compared to the anxiety Kain Everson was going through.

The tiefling man stared in the mirror in his new home. He looked... different. All cleaned up, no horns, and an all formal outfit perfect for the occassion. The only thing that would be off-putting would be his eyes should anything aggravating happen. Not to mention that new occurrence that decided to show up uninvited while he was alone in the practice room.

Nothing else had happened since then, thank goodness, but seeing Eva run out so fast still urked him. No, worse than that, he was hurt. But what could he expect? He destroyed her entire life many years ago. Kain only prayed that he didn't look anywhere near intimidating tonight.

It was time to find Eva, and the first place Kain was going to was her own dwelling. Fortunately they lived nearby, and the walk was only a few minutes. He came up to her doorstep, and gave a few knocks on the door. "Eva? Are you there?" he called gently.
 
It didn't take long for the ball to become quite crowded. This was something that hadn't happened in all too long. A celebration, something to ease the nerves of the people, giving them a break from the ever growing presence of cults rising up in the name of the White Witch once more. Tonight, there was no thoughts of that to be had. Instead, people were in surprisingly good spirits. Aside from the anxities of those in fear of disappointing their partner or self loathing for a rejection of such position. Up on a private balcony above the ground floor, Aslan over looked the stage. Seated elegantly on the floor, needing no aid to peer over the scene with his great height even while sitting. Patiently, he planned to watch the small Dyrad's performance. However, he made it quite hard to see himself for the very reason but to not make Rinnica nervous. Even without her in sight, he could sense the panic from the woman from far away. As he could sense the emotions of most as it were second nature.

Elsewhere, Elijah had found himself a special seat right up front beside Edmund. The young king had insisted he stay close for fear of him being bombarded with crazed women at any moment again. Below his seat, the beautiful bonquet of flowers laid just out of sight. This was intentional, since he very much wanted to surprise Rinnica for what he would assume to be a wonderful performance. To be perfectly honest, he was in his own world, completely spaced out. He was lent over with his elbows on knees and his back hunched over as he tried to sort out the nervousness he had felt ever sense reaching out to Rinnica and agreeing to go to the dance with her. It wasn't as if he didn't want to, but he was clueless. Sure, he had a few lectures back in the day from his father about what was proper behavior for a man courting a woman, but this wasn't that. Was it? The very thought scared Elijah out of his state of mind.

"Edmund, I don't know why you're wasting your breathe. He isn't listen to you. I can't say I blame him though, your stories are quite boring!" Lucy playfully slapped the upper arm of Edmund with the back of her hand, just enough to get his attention before she snickered at her own remark. "In fact, he looked too petrified with nerves to do much else now that I think about it!"

Elijah turned to look at Lucy, with the face of a deer in headlights. "What do you mean, my queen? I am perfectly well," the lie was painfully obvious, even if Elijah tried his best to be his normal stone faced self. Lucy turned away, covering her hand with her mouth, trying not to laugh directly in Elijah's face out of respect. Under her breathe she muttered, "Yeah, whatever you say." Yet it was only loud enough for Edmund, if anyone to hear, with the constant shuffling of new people inside.

---

Eva too, was lost in her own world. When the knock on the door sounded, the elf visibly jumped in fright. The voice was easily distinguishable. Kain. The very tiefling she practically had a mental breakdown in front of moments earlier. The situation bothered her the most because of her feeling of weakness. Something she felt she was unable to show at anytime, nor wanted to knowledge it even existed. Long ago, Eva felt she was capable of anything, but those times were long gone.

"Easy does it," Eva whispered to herself. Pulling herself to her feet, the heels she wore clanking against the wooden floor, then the tile, as she closed the space between her and the front door. The sound of the heels was even lighter than they once wore. Much less weight bearing down on them at the moment. In fact, the shoes wouldn't have fit if the strap didn't hold them on.

The delicate hands of the elf twisted the doorknob open, finding a even more groomed version of Kain before her. She looked at his face for a moment, the thought of a thought of admiration was enough for Eva to quickly break any eye contact with Kain that could have been. She moved forward enough to close the door behind her, locking it behind her before slipping the key inbetween her breasts which she was turned away from Kain for safe storage. It wasn't normally her go to storage location, but dresses didn't exactly have pockets.

"I'm surprised you still came. I expected you to forget the whole plan to be honest, though I applaud you for being persistent," Eva gave a round about way of a compliment, trying to hide the urge to say other things that were much more generous in regards to flattery. Eva tried to change to topic quickly, hoping that she wouldn't be pressed to explain herself, at least not yet. "Shall we?" Her small hand moved slightly in front of her to urge Kain to lead on, even if she knew the castle grounds much better than him.
 
"Quite boring," Edmund scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Leave him alone, he's still figuring things out."

Edmund turned to Elijah as he spoke and -- oh have mercy -- the look on the man's face. Edmund didn't know whether to laugh to to try to comfort him. Turning away to make it look like he was talking to Lucy, he snickered quietly. "Poor man," he whispered back.

--
When Eva came out from behind the door, he looked visibly shocked. Quickly to mask it, he greeted her quickly with a bow to hide his face. "Good evening," he said. "You look..."

Lovely, gorgeous, beautiful? Too much? Goodness, what in the world was he supposed to say without weirding her out? "You look very nice," he finally settled on, a faint pink brushing his cheeks as he looked away as well.

Kain moved down the step, and held a hand out for Eva to be a gentleman and help her down. "I was afraid you didn't want to go anymore," he replied. Kain then turned around and gave a small, but genuine smile. "I'm glad you didn't change your mind."

Remain calm, Kain, he thought to himself as they walked. That voice isn't here, and if it was it was dead wrong. Just be in the moment... yes, just be in the moment. Kain could not deny that Eva looked beautiful. He was quiet throughout the walk aside from a bit of small talk, but he may have been caught staring a little too long when he thought Eva was looking.
--

When Kain and Eva arrived, an attendant led them to the front where the Pevensies and Elijah were sitting.

"Princess Eva!" King Edmund greeted. He and Queen Susan both stood up to acknowledge her and bowwed. King Edmund then turned to Kain and bowwed a little as well. "And you must be Kain. One of those brought back from the first raid. Good evening."

"Good evening, your highness..." Kain said quietly, trying to remain calm in a sea of chattering people. He saw that Elijah was here and his eye seemed to twitch a bit. Why of all times did he have to be here, he thought.

Susan gestured to the two seats next to her. "Eva, Kain, sit next to me," she said with a smile. Susan looked to Eva and whispered, "How are you doing? Is everything okay?" Susan didn't know all of what was going on with Eva, but she could see how thin she was getting by the months and even weeks.

....

Soon, the lights began flickering, signaling the soon beginning of the performance. Everyone sat down as the lights went completely off aside from a small light on the stage.

The music started and Mariya's pink petals flutterred onto the stage as Rinnica moved smoothly across. The small light caught the shimmer of her long, floor-length skirt and also Mariya's petals. The petals floated around Rinnica, circling her as she did a slow spin.

As she spun, Rinnica took notice of who was in the front row. The Pevensies, Eva, Kain and Elijah. She especially looked at Elijah and gave a warm, gentle smile before taking Mariya's hand-shaped petals. Mariya floated off stage and Rinnica posed for her next phase of music.

It will be okay. Your friends are watching. And he the Lion is watching too, Rinnica thought to herself. The next part was sure to excite them all, she prayed it would. Yes, this didn't have to be nervewracking, but entertaining... and so much fun.

Rinnica looked up, saying a quick prayer under her breath. Looking up, she unknowingly gave a confident, "this-is-about to-be-great!" grin to Aslan in the balcony. Yes...this was about to be fun indeed.

The music took a sudden change as it went from a slow piano to a fast, adventurous beat. The dryad twirled, bounced, shimmied, and waved her arms in time to the beat. She would even throw herself into somersaults and cartwheels at exciting times in the music.

Rinnica tossed herself in three more spins, and then dropped quickly to her knees, bent backwards looking upside down at the audience. And that was the end.

King Edmund gave a loud applause, along with everyone else in the hall. Kain followed suit, applauding the dryad. A girl like her shouldn't have been captured as she was by Elren the satyr. The stage was her element for sure.
 
Eva decided to fight the urge to flinch at the movement of Kain's hand, even though she was the one to prompt him. She gently linked her hand with his, walking slowly to the ballroom. She kept the talk simple, as did Kain. The two were both fighting anxiety, but very much over different matters. At the sound of Edmund's voice, Eva snapped back into reality. "Hm?" She shook her head and turned her gaze towards the King. "Do forgive me, it is hard to hear you over the crowd," her words were partially true. Though anyone who knew an elf knew that their hearing was impeccable.

Elijah was still having a moment, completely ignoring Lucy and Edmund until they cried out to Eva. His head shifted to look at the elven princess, only to be disappointed to see her linked hands with the man he had a run in with earlier. His gaze narrowed quickly, and he mouthed to Eva, "Why him of all people...?" His eye shifted to show his annoyance.

Eva's returning look was almost like a scold to Elijah. She rolled her eyes at him, mouthing back quickly, "Perhaps you would know why if you had talked instead of ripping off his horns!" Though she wasn't exactly sure herself why she was being so trusting of the tiefling at some moments and horrified at others.

Elijah obviously didn't want to hear it, turning away with another roll of his eyes. Only he could get away with talking to Eva like that without severe repercussions. It came with being long-term friends and comrades. One bonds quickly when you're fighting a war alongside one another.

"Shall we?" Eva prompted to Kain, noticing that he was eyeing Elijah who was beside Edmund. Attempting to shift his attention elsewhere, Eva squeezed down gently on Kain's hand, leading him away as she rubbed her thumb gently across his hand. Eva took the seat closer to Elijah to give him some peace of mind.

There were the questions that Eva felt she had to play dumb about. Admitting that she was slipping was considered failure in her book. "Yes, I'm alright. I had a bit of a stomach ache earlier, but it has passed. Does something seem off?" Eva turned to look at Susan, know Susan meant well. But even so, she wouldn't allow herself to be a burden anyone even if it killed her in the process.

---

The talking was cut slightly short as the performance began. Not long after arriving, Rinnica's beautiful show took everyone's attention by force. Elijah was so lost in a trance, he felt unsatisfied by the end from the dance not being longer, but not from disapproval of the display. He was slow to stand to his feet compared to some of the others around him. He hadn't thought much about it until he saw people standing around him.

The awkwardness overwhelmed him once more as he stood up, clapping loudly for the Dyrad. Peter was cheering loudly, giving whistles using his mouth and two fingers to make a distinctive noise over the claps. Elijah felt he should have follow suit, but ended up making himself angry but being unable to figure out the trick. Instead, he did something out of character. Walking past the others, and intentionally bumping feet with Kain, he walked to the side of the stage, and up the small steps. There he waited with a small arm to his side, awaiting Rinnica to cling to his side as his dance partner.

Lucy was shocked by his bold behavior, letting the whole crowd know that he was her partner for the day. She pulled the bouquet out from under Elijah's chair and ran up to hand them off to Elijah. Who ultimately felt like an idiot to forget about the flowers so soon after making a plan regarding them. The crowd around gave a few chuckle at Elijah's flustered self thanking Lucy for helping his error.

Eva gave a small chuckle under her breathe, grabbing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and pointer finger. "Wow...Nice one, Elijah...," Eva turned to look at Kain, curious of his reaction to her reaction.
 
Kain rolled his eyes as well, averting Elijah's gaze. All of a sudden the tiefling flinched and his cheeks turned red. "Yes," he responded, seeming startled.

The thumb across his hand struck a lovely chord in Kain, so much so that for a brief moment he didn't know what to do with himself. He sat a little too formally in the seat next to Eva, not realizing that he hadn't let go of Eva's hand - not during her talk with Queen Susan, and not during Rinnica's performance either.

Susan looked over Eva subtly but shook her head. "Must be my imagination. At least you're doing better now," she replied with a polite smile. Had she been anyone else, she would have ordered her to get checked out by the castle doctors. Eva was, however, Aslan's daughter - and thus royalty, even more so than Susan and her siblings. Eva ran Cair Paravel as much as the Pevensies did.

---

Wow... a standing ovation, and at Cair Paravel. Rinnica was ecstatic, almost to the point of tears. She slowly turned right side up and stood up to take a bow with Mariya. The dryad looked out over the crowd to see the Pevensies clapping, Kain, Eva and... ...wait a minute. Someone was missing.

Before she had time to think, the one in question was not in his seat, but instead standing right next to her. The surprised Rinnica gasped, but then saw his arm. "E-Elijah?"

"Well, go on young miss!" Mariya said. "Is he not your dance partner tonight?"

Rinnica's face turned red and was about to grab his arm until Lucy came up with the flowers. She passed on the flowers to Elijah, who passed them on to Rinnica, and she couldn't help but giggle. With the bouquet in one hand and Elijah's arm in the other, Rinnica nuzzled the awkward man's arm. "Elijah, let's head off stage," Rinnica whispered in his ear.

Back when Elijah was heading up the stairs to the stage, Kain felt the bump on his feet and near tripped from Elijah's rude gesture. "Why you little..." Kain growled under his breath. He watched as Elijah made his small blunder on stage and smirked. Serves him right - the brute. "Nice one, indeed," Kain replied to Eva.

"Well, it sounds like the show is over... for now anyway, hehehe!" Susan giggled as she watched Elijah and Rinnica exit the stage. Thinking back to her conversation with Peter and Aslan, it crossed her mind that there might be a wedding in Cair Paravel yet! But that was probably much too early. The queen hadn't expected Elijah to be interested in someone in that way.

The lights turned up once again, and the auditorium filed out. People went straight to the ballroom, where a long table was set up for light refreshments, and the rest of the floor was open for dancing and merriment.

Kain looked around at the large ballroom floor. He wasn't about to let that practice in the music room go to waste. "Miss Eva," Kain began. "I don't suppose you have time to--"

"Kain! Princess Eva!" Edmund called to them once again. "Do you both have a moment?"

Kain sighed a bit in his heart. He supposed the dance would have to wait. Besides, it was King Edmund after all. "If Miss Eva doesn't object?" Kain replied, turning to the druid.

Meanwhile, Rinnica was in the crowd with Elijah. She clung on tightly to his arm, fearing the crowds would break them apart. The dryad looked around anxiously for one more figure. Sir... Where are you? Rinnica spoke in her mind, looking for the Lion behind the voice. She had a hint in her heart that Aslan was there to see the performance, but surely the dryad could spot an eight-foot-tall lion in the crowd, right?! "So many people..."
 
Eva watched for a moment at the "couple'" stumbled off the stage, trying not to laugh too obviously at the awkwardness between the two. They were like complete opposites. Elijah was a big buffoon while Rinnica was a tiny, yet elegant woman. Even when the woman was spazzing, she had an interesting way of keeping charming. However, it worked. The two complimented each other in a nice way. Though Eva had her concerns if Elijah would let this all go to his head and end up slipping up.

"Of course, right this way," Elijah took the lead, walking down the few steps off the stage before turning with his hand still linked to Rinnica's to guide her gently down the very same steps before returning to their original position linked at each other's side. They first stopped at a table to place the flowers in a particular spot, keeping themselves a reserved space when they wished to start eating.

"Your dance was lovely and unique. I must say that I am impressed," Elijah gave was he considered to be a smile to Rinnica. It wasn't as obvious as other's smile may be, but it was definitely a difference from his normal scowl that was ever present. "I hope you enjoy the flowers. What would you like to do first?" Both the line for the food was long and the dance floor was crowded, but that was to be expected. This was the main event.

Elijah worried if they waited, the food would be picked over and frankly with his obsessive behavior earlier, he hadn't exactly eaten anything today. He was hungry, but refrained from saying that directly. Instead, he did his normal beating around the bush. "Why don't we wait for refreshments and waited for the ballroom to clear up a bit before we dance?" Sure, it was logical, but indeed looking out for his own needs perhaps a tad more than he should have let on.

---

"The Balcony, Miss Rinnica. I saw the performance, do not fret. It is lovely, however, I need to tend to some personal matters, so I will be heading out tonight. Thanks for the formal meeting and I will look forward to seeing you again very soon," Aslan was already departing on his own way. He was using unpopular corridors in the castle to keep his presence hidden as he usually did.

"Should you need me, I will be here. You know how to contact me. Enjoy your time with Elijah, and do me a favor to watching over Eva. She may think I am ignorant to her suffering, but I know more than she might imply. Tell the others farewell for me," Aslan spoke softly, giving a light chuckle that was audible even through their telepathic communication. "Oh, but most importantly keep Elijah out of trouble. He can be a handful sometimes."

Aslan laughed again, but this time to himself. He knew exactly what he was throwing at Rinnica. Though, he would never hand her more than she could handle. The same with with Eva and Kain. It was all part of his master plan in one way or another.

---

Eva did noticed Elijah's rude taunt towards Kain, but she didn't do anything to call him out or reprimand him at the time being. If he kept up his behavior, he would get exactly what was coming to him one way or another. Eva was clapping at Rinnica's performance up until she noticed Kain's small change in behavior. She moved closer to him, "Easy now. It isn't worth giving him the satisfaction of annoying you." Eva had to talk a bit louder so Kain could hear her over the roar of the crowd.

After a couple of minutes, things started to calm down. The staff was cleaning up chairs and guiding people into the next room over to the ballroom to eat. There was where the refreshments, small games, prizes to win for drawings, and of course, dancing. At some point, Kain and Eva's hands got linked again as he prepared to go off towards the ballroom like everyone else.

Eva was caught off guard by Edmund's request for Kain and her's presence. However, she wasn't going to deny him of whatever he needed. "Yes, we'll be right there," Eva gave a soft smile to Kain, putting a gentle hand on his back to urge him to exit towards the left side unlike most of the people going towards the ballroom before returning her hand to his.

Crowds weren't exactly Eva's forte the more she had become sick. She hated when people she hadn't seen in a while would praised for with comments like, "Oh! You've lost a lot of weight! You look great! Good job!" As if she was trying to lose weight by exercising or dieting. It was from purging and a lack of necessities to live, but very few cared to acknowledge that, nor did Eva let people acknowledge such.

Once Eva, Kain, and Edmund were to themselves in an unoccupied area, Eva spoke once more. "What can we do for you, Edmund?" Eva did something more out of character. She was cold from the temperature change in moving rooms. The other room was warm from the crowd and body heat resonating in the air. However, now away from all that, even the slightest temperature change bothered Eva. She ended up clinging to Kain's side, trying to take in his body heat to stop herself from shivering too noticeably. "Sorry... I'm just really cold..."
 
"Thank you, Elijah," Rinnica said with a bright smile. "I do like the flowers, they look and smell lovely!"

Rinnica hugged the bouquet to herself a little before sitting it on the table in the ballroom. When given the options, Rinnica quickly responded in Elijah's favor. "Let's get something to eat first. I couldn't eat until after the performance," she said rather apologetically, laughing shyly.

As they walked towards the line together, Rinnica seemed to bounce a bit, as if she had just heard her name. In fact, she indeed had heard her name as she heard Aslan talking. Should Elijah have seen her, the dryad went through several facial expressions: excitement, confusion, concern, understanding, and finally, amusement, to the point of giggling with the Lion. Done and done, sir! Rinnica responded. I'll do as you've asked!

Remembering where she was at and who she was with, Rinnica turned to Elijah. "Sorry! I was uh, talking with Aslan again," she said. "He saw the performance! He said to tell you all goodbye... and for me to keep you out of trouble."

Rinnica looked away from Elijah as she gave a playful, satisfied grin, stifling her laughter. "I'll make sure that next time you see him, you're not bathing."

---

Kain didn't respond at first, but he complied reluctantly and exhaled. "Fine," he responded curtly. It was obvious he still wanted to get even from before, but he was going to take the high road... for now.

As they moved from the auditorium to the ballroom, Kain found himself calming down as he held onto Eva's hand. As if to coax her into rubbing his hand again, Kain found his thumb swiping gently against Eva's hand as well. Just a few times though.


When Edmund called for Kain and Eva, Kain followed Eva's gentle push towards the king. They made it to the quiet area, and instantly Kain seemed to relax, and look much more in his comfort zone despite being in front of royalty. "Is something wrong?" he asked calmly.

"It's about the next few searches for the gangs supportive of the White Witch. I would have waited until tomorrow, but my siblings and I think this has to be addressed right now."

Kain raised an eyebrow but nodded all the same. "What do you need from-- uh--!"

The tiefling looked down quickly, his cheeks turning bright pink as Eva suddenly clung onto him. Eva's explanation, although justifiable, still didn't stop him from being anxious about it. Without thinking, he slipped an arm around her, holding her at his side.

Edmund smiled a bit and looked down, trying not to laugh from the cute display. Not only that, it confirmed that this talk needed to happen right here and now. "Kain, now that you are with us, and you have inside knowledge of the cults and gangs, we think you should help in the searches... And, Princess Eva, if I may suggest..." Edmund seemed a bit hesitant but continued. "We all think you need just a little bit of time to rest, just to sit out the next two raids.... if you're willing."

Kain blinked, still reacting as quietly as ever. "Well..." he began. "I suppose my answer is dependent on what she says."

The tiefling looked down at the druid elf, watching as she shivered a bit from the cold. In no way was this a conventional way to speak about business. Then again, this wasn't a conventional kingdom. Kain awaited her response before he would give his own.
 
Elijah's gaze narrowed ever so slightly at Rinnica's parroting of Aslan's word. "The bathing bit would be appreciated, however, keeping me out of trouble is a large demand," Elijah was unamused. Although Aslan was referring to limiting Kain and Elijah's spat, Elijah assumed it was regarding the raids he were to lead. He had a hard time picturing someone like Rinnica fending off the White Witch's followers, especially since he was part of the group who rescued the woman in the first place.


Trying to change the topic, Elijah spoke again. "I'm glad to hear you like the flowers. I was unsure if it was an appropriate gift to give considering you're well..." Elijah questioned himself on if it was appropriate to continue his sentence, but took the risk. "A Dryad...?" Although Rinnica appeared to be primarily a humanoid, there were some Dryads and Nymphs who blended with nature much more than her. A good majority of their body was made up of plants, trees, water, or other natural elements.

"It felt... off... I hope that isn't an offensive custom in your culture. I feared it would be seen as if I were handing you the flesh of your brothers and sisters in a nice bow tied wrapping," Elijah was quite blunt about his initial concern. If Eva had been close enough to hear what Elijah said, she likely would have skinned him alive for saying such a thing. Elijah could hear her scolding in his head already. "You can't just causally bring up gifting someone the flesh of their family and friends at a formal event. Scratched that, even in general that is inappropriate!" Elijah rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, wondering how this event was going to fly over. He felt he had already done a few questionable things, yet censorship wasn't his forte.

Elijah tried again to shift the awkwardness of the conversation onto more pleasant matters, hoping a nice feast and fresh dessert would help boost everyone's spirits. He gestured over to the line, taking his place at the back. He left enough room in front of him for Rinnica to take her place, but he wouldn't have been surprised if she just grabbed the nearest drink and threw it straight into his face.

---

The sudden noise from Kain's surprise ended up startling Eva just enough to make her jump. Following that, she thought over the requests for Eva and Kain's cooperating in the next few raids. It didn't sit well with her to be sitting around and doing nothing, but at the same time, she lacked the energy to do much of anything. Standing down was one thing that drove Eva up the walls.

"I will sit out the next two raids, but only on a few conditions. One being that I am still informed of findings, whether I'm able to do anything about it or not. Secondly, this is only a temporary suspension of my position. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Kain and Elijah are to be kept in entirely different raid groups. I'd imagine Elijah will be running most of the raids in my absence, but we do not need trouble within our own ranks. I agree that Kain can be useful with the knowledge he has, but regardless he is to be watched closely. Not for suspicion reasons, but for the mere fact that I have a feeling the gangs will rather Kain be dead than an ally to us," Eva leaned into Kain more closely, simply just exhausted. She was way more cold than she had ever felt before and Eva was a high elf who resided far north. Extreme winters were nothing to how she felt at the time being.

Kain's body heat was heavenly to her. Kain was much larger than Eva, by at least a foot and probably double her weight in terms of body mass, maybe even more. "But, even with that said, I make no decisions for Kain. It is his decision what he does with his time. Perhaps he would be of better use off the battlefield, but instead in a tactical position." Ironically enough, Eva now craved Kain's presence unlike this morning. One moment she wanted nothing to do with him because she was fearful of being hurt again. That time, being her final breaking point. The other side of her wanted to believe Kain's words were true and that he never had the freewill to decide his life. It was close to the latter in the moment. Deep down, the elf longed for utter loyalty and companionship for another, but fear of pain once more kept her from pursuing it 99% of the time.

"I think those terms are fair," Eva awaited a response from the others, looking up before practically buried her face into Kain's side. Holding onto him fairly closely, as she reached out with her free hand for Kain's arm not wrapped around her. She linked her fingers with Kain's their hands facing the same direction as she gently rubbed as his hand again, trying to block out the voices telling her to run and hide.
 
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