Backstory: A First Meeting

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Despite the move away from organised religion in Ivraie Vivace (with even the relatively disorganised and personal worship of the older gods often rejected due to a move towards 'reason' and 'progress'), the great temple on the coast was one of the better tended religious sites in the land. Incense burnt in holders, candles flickered, and small offerings were heaped around the individual shrines that filled the building. The days of slaughtered animals were long gone, replaced instead with flowers, small coin, cake and bread, jewellery.

Temples had always amused Evan - true worship for him was not confined in such formal surroundings, although the sense of ritual had an allure even to gods such as himself. This one in particular he liked, since there were a number of priests particularly devoted to his worship in the area who ensured that the correct offerings were made regularly, and what more could be asked of mortals?

With a smirk at the perversity of it, he settled himself in the lap of his own statue (a beautiful young man, seated, eyes skyward) and idly looked over the gifts piled at the base.

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

Ana was unsure of what eventually drove her to the need to seek the guidance of the very gods her father claimed did not exist. Perhaps it was the arrangement of a marriage Ana yearned with every fiber to annul in meaning. Or perhaps, better yet, it was because Ana had lost what she felt was her own true being – she was no longer an individual, instead a materialistic object in which her father saw fit to bestow as a gift to others.

Regardless of the deciding factor, Ana had managed the long travel from home to the temple in which she would now seek refuge. With a silent entrance, Ana was quick to drop herself to her knees. The hood of the coat she wore fell over her face, muffling the quiet whispers of a prayer – to not a single god in particular, but one she'd hope would hear regardless -- taught years earlier and one she had mostly forgotten the words of: "Je prie pour des conseils, Je prie pour l'espoir."

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

The sound of a hurried prayer towards the entrance of the temple interrupted Evan's thoughts and he looked over at the girl from his vantage point without the smirk leaving his face, quite prepared for a little interraction with a mortal. Over the years, particularly in Ivraie Vivace, the people had become less and less inclined to believe in the power of the gods (or at least in such a way as to be able to accept direct contact with them) - the diversion of an encounter with someone actually seeking godly help was to be savoured.

"Well, you'd best come over here and tell me about it, little one." He stared directly at Ana and his smile increased just slightly as he clearly saw her youth and the curves under her coat. "I make no promises, but it certainly won't hurt your chances."

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

The sudden sound echoing through the temple quickly drew Ana from her prayer, her lips pursed and edging downward as though she were about to frown. Surely, this man before her now was not claiming to be a god – the very gods she was confiding to in one last vague attempt for hope. "Excuse me—"

Bracing herself on the floor, Ana pushed herself to her feet and stood just meters away. "Who.." And as she began Ana found she was quickly closing the gap that lingered between them, coming to rest at his side without any sort of idea on how or why she strayed so close to a man clearly not all there.

"You can't be. Can you?"

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Evan laughed - a clear, ringing noise that sounded through the empty temple as he sat up straight on the statue before slipping gracefully down to stand beside her.
"You tell me, little one." He took a step backwards to give her a chance to view him properly.

"I could perhaps be mad. Or I could be telling the truth. I suppose it depends on how much you want help, in the end." He smiled, charmed by her confusion and hesitance. It made a refreshing change from dull (if occasionally hilarious, considering the situations they arose from) statements of blank disbelief.

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

Ana managed a smile despite herself as in a moment of disbelief she lifted a hand to rest gracefully to her lips, muffling a small unexpected chuckle. "I had no idea.." No, Ana was entirely taken aback that such beings existed still. Existed, and proved her father wrong in more things than politics. "Do you.. is this where you go? Do you come here often?"

A flood of questions, all of which Ana found exceptionally interesting, sheltered as she was away from the world.

Eventually her hand dropped, resting to her side as with a sweeping gesture, and another smile, she motioned toward the base of his statue. "Would you mind if I sit down?" A pause, and her gaze lifted to Evan's own curiously, "Will you sit down with me?"

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

"People leave me trinkets and requests," he gestured at the small piles at the foot of his statue, "so I visit occasionally. Just your luck that I was here when you arrived." What Evan did not say, saw no point in saying, was that it was really just her luck that he had bothered to respond to her whispered prayer at all - should he have chosen to conceal it, she would have eventually left the temple never knowing that a god had been there during her visit.

Evan smiled at Ana's mixture of seeming shyness and the directness of her curiousity. "Well, it seems senseless to stand upon formality now, since I so rarely do. Before you start though, do you actually know who I am? And don't cheat and look at the inscription." Whilst he said this, Evan brushed aside the gifts at the base of the plinth and gestured that she should sit on the carved stone where it was most comfortable, whilst settling himself on stone floor facing her.

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

Ana opened her mouth and shut it again, attempting a look of seeming innocence -- of course she had no idea what sort of powers Evan might have possessed, what specialty he might fall under. Questioning for a moment whether or not to lie, eventually Ana came to think better of it. With a small frown she managed to shake her head briskly, answering in a hurried whisper:

"I'll be honest with you, my father insists none of you are real and so taught me I was wasting my breath if I bothered to pray."

What Ana left out, however, was the beatings she'd surely receive upon claiming otherwise, or the discipline wrought from her mother for acting so out of place.

"I've always known, though. Somehow, I just knew--"

Bringing herself to sit at the base of Evan's statue, Ana let her fingers trail along the chiseled name and the profession in which he was known. Despite herself, she smiled again, only turning to face him as she heard him settle to the floor.

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Evan smiled at her wryly, his tone making his response light rather than sarcastic or a criticism. "How wonderful for you to be proved right. Congratulations - you may now feel superior to your father for the rest of your life."

He spent a moment really and truly looking at the mortal in front of him before he continued - young, pretty, obviously well-placed socially, equally obviously distressed despite her wonder at his very existance. He expected that her request would be rather far from his area of expertise unless she wanted desperately for some young man to love her (not inconceivable - many young people prayed to him for that, despite the love of only one person not generally being within his sphere of interest -, although her distress seemed of a more serious sort), or something of that kind. Still, he settled back on his heels giving her an open look that did not ask for much, but revealed little in turn.
"So tell me." A pause, and then he added, "And your name, if you please."

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

"Anastasie," She replied, her gaze having fallen to his own and not budging a moment. Continuing, still quiet in her response: "call me Ana though, if you don't mind."

It took a moment for her to gain enough courage in order to admit something so personal – an issue she as royalty should have accepted without so much as a bat of her eye. However, Ana was only the ripe age of sixteen, still too young yet to care how politics functioned.

"It's childish," Ana began, pursing her lips in the vague hope of keeping herself from frowning. Her hands came to rest on the tops of her knees then, her weight resting on them as her gaze finally traveled downward and settled to the floor.

"My father has arranged my marriage – a marriage to a man I've heard not a single compliment. From what I understand, he's.." She paused then, turning away before going on, "I'm not sure I can say. It's not proper for a lady."

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Evan raised an eyebrow. "Anastasie - and I will call you that, if you do not mind, since it's by far prettier -, I think I had better tell you: I simply don't care what's appropriate or inappropriate for a lady, so you may tell me exactly what you wish to say, exactly how you want to say it."

Her body language was telling him as much if not more than her words, and he gave a small smile to put her at some kind of ease. "And I can already tell you that I hear far more childish tales with great regularity."

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

Somehow – the smile, perhaps, or the reassurance of her tale not being as childish as she once presumed – managed to calm Ana, as much as she could be considering she was still a bit taken aback. "He's a bastard, I've been told."

Turning again to meet Evan's gaze, and this time Ana could not bring herself to force another smile; to mask the feelings she was now entirely overwhelmed with. "Everyone keeps telling me how sorry they are, sorry that I'm being married off to a man of his nature, to a man who doesn't feel. I'm.."

There was a handful of ways for Ana to finish the sentence and all she managed was a shake of her head. "You're lucky, you know. Not to have to deal with all the nonsense thrust upon a child for being born amongst the ranks of royalty. I'm property, to my father, to this man I have yet to meet. Property."

A sadness seemed to overtake her, and Ana suddenly came to rest to her knees just before Evan, meeting his gaze. "Is it too much to ask for to be loved for who I am rather than my rank?"

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

He met her gaze with his own. "Well. That's not exactly my area of expertise, Anastasie. But it is not too much to ask, and I believe it has even happened, once or twice."

Commenting on the fact that godhood was not anything like she could imagine did not seem the correct thing to do, and so Evan (ever practical) leant forward slowly - giving her time to move away if she wished to - and kissed her cheek lightly, close to the corner of her mouth, before moving back just a little. "If you want love, you would do better with my sister. Although it may help you less than you think. Love does not conquer all, despite what the proverbs and legends tell you."

He paused to let her think it over for a moment. "There are always alternatives. For example, you could run away, refuse to marry and go into hiding. That is an alternative, but it would do you little good in the long run." Another pause, as Evan moved forward again and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. "I think, Anastasie, you should learn to endure. With that I can help you, and it will carry you further than love on it's own. It may even take you to love, in time (and if you are lucky), although I make no promises."

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

The warmth of his fingers caused Ana's eyes to close, albeit briefly, leaning into his touch as she managed yet another frown. The answer Evan provided was most certainly not the one she had been hoping for – but it offered a small ray of light at the end of what seemed to be an ever lasting dark tunnel. For this, she could not be entirely displeased.

"It's a silly notion, I know, to think love can cure all. For love to be the driving factor between two people. But it's a possibility, there’s always a chance, and I can't help but hope for that chance—"

Ana's eyes opened slowly and met Evan's gaze, a hand of her own eventually coming to rest over his to keep it in place upon her cheek. "And I feel that hope has been lost now. Lost on a man who is incapable of feeling at all."

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Evan gave her a small smile as he looked at her. "You're young, Anastasie, hope becomes you. If he is exactly as you have been told, keep some part of yourself away from him and don't let his coldness infect you. Bide your time. Life is still long for you."

Leaving his hand where she held it, he leant forward and kissed her mouth with the smile still on his lips. "Endure, and I will help you. If you want my help, that is!" His laughter rang like a bell, as it had earlier."Some would not."

His voice became somewhat more serious again as he regarded the young woman - little more than a girl really - before him. "Maybe true love will come to you later, and perhaps it will not, but you will be stronger then. And perhaps you will learn that there are many kinds of love."