Backstory: A First Meeting

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

As Evan leaned forward, pressing his lips as he did to her own, Ana could not help but gasp – the small display of affection had yet to be offered by any one other than her father, and those were only quick brief kisses to her brow. The feeling of wet lips on her own was new, welcoming even, and once he withdrew Ana lifted her gaze if asking for more.

"How can true love find me if I'm married away? It would surely cause more problems than simply sticking with my dreadful fiancée."

Ana came to rest on her ankles, crouching in a sense, before Evan. As she met his gaze intently she lifted a hand and stroked lightly over his own cheek. "What if it doesn't? What if I'm forever lost to the possibility of loving at all? Running away sounds more like an option I might enjoy after all."

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

"I'm sure you would be surprised how little marriage means to some people. It can be everything in the world or nothing at all - for most, it's somewhere in between. And of course it would cause problems, love rarely does anything else. At least my passions have no pretense of innocence." His smile took some of the sting from his words.

"I assure you, you would not enjoy running away any more, although of course you will do what you will. But your life won't be without any happiness," he added gently. "There will be some light. And no life is charmed, mortal or otherwise."
Evan stood slowly, taking the hand that had been on his cheek in his own to raise Ana up.

"There is no magical cure, I'm afraid, and I doubt I could give it if there was one. You will have to decide."

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

"I don't—I don't understand, I'm sorry."

With a pause Ana managed to purse her lips in order to keep from forming yet another frown, quickly pulling out of Evan's grasp as she positioned herself several feet away. "You say my life will not be without happiness, but how can that be? How can you possibly say it when you've made it clear you don't know what the future holds?"

Anger, perhaps centered now upon the wrong individual, was only in order to mask the overwhelming amount of frustration she had come to endure. There was simply no other means in which to address it--

"I want to be loved, Evan. I want to be in love and have someone love me. I don't wish to endure some man who wants me for nothing more than the heir I can produce for him."

With tears in her eyes Ana lifted her gaze once more, meeting Evan's own as she no longer attempted to hide her sadness.

"Marriage might not mean anything at all to some, but for those who want it, who want it to mean more should have the opportunity. I don't feel I've ever had that opportunity, I feel as though it's been stolen and no matter how hard I fight for it, it'll always stay just out of reach."

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Evan directed a level gaze at the girl. "What you're asking is beyond me Anastasie. Life is not fair, you are quite right, but love and lack of it is not my concern. You asked for guidance and I have given it as best I can; few gods deal in absolutes, and we rarely compel one way or another - we suggest and mortals act as they will. You must do what you think is best, with an eye for your whole life and not merely this week, this month, this year."

He stepped forward to where she had pulled away, drawing her close into his arms in a chaste and almost ritual embrace, and placing a kiss upon her forehead. When he spoke again, it was more compassionate, more human. "I am sorry. I made no promises, and so the fact that I can do nothing breaks none." He paused. "Ask after me though, Anastasie. Quietly. Then you will know in which ways I can help you if you ever wish to call on me again."

[Anastasie Searlait Mulciber]

The warmth found in Evan's embrace was a most welcoming feeling. Ana found herself pressing close, burying her face into the material of his robes. No, she would not sob now, for there were no more tears in which to shed. Weeks had been spent in sadness already and Ana was certain no man (no matter his rank) was worth that amount of time. Certainly no man she had yet to develop feelings for.

"I will. I will call on you, my god, for I need you. I need you more than you could ever know."

With her eyes shut, Ana lingered in his arms for a moment longer. There was something terrifying about pulling away, facing the world in which she found held nothing more than betrayal, anger, and sadness. A world full of responsibilities and titles, one devoid of all emotion.

"Please come if I call you."

[Evan, God of Sexuality]

Evan eventually drew away with a small smile, rearranging her hair where it had been mussed as he held her.

"I will come Anastasie, immediately if I am at liberty to do so. But I will come soon enough either way. Be well."
The ritual farewell was said in a soft and almost affectionate tone, before Evan turned and stepped back towards his statue, picking up a number of the offerings before moving behind it and fading away into nothingness, leaving Ana as alone in the temple as she had initially thought herself to be.