Evander smiled faintly. "Yes. Thank you." he replied. "Was there anything else you wanted to say?" he asked, looking over at Dacian and taking another sip of his tea, holding the mug carefully in one hand as he studied the ambassador. "Are you alright, yourself? I know that seeing what happened to the guard must have been quite stressful."
Seeing the king grin gave him some relief. His face still felt warm, yet he found himself smiling a little as well. "No, I do not believe there is," He responded. A few strands of hair fell in front of his face. Dacian exhaled as he attempted to tuck them away. "Quite stressful indeed. Although I have never fought and seen death take someone else, I suppose that I am alright." As he spoke, he took out his handkerchief and dabbed his forehead with it. "I did not sleep at all. How about you, Your Majesty?"
Evander hesitated. "I did not sleep well, no. And then I had to deal with the creature, so I am running on very little sleep. That's what the tea is for." He lifted the mug slightly. "Caffeine can do wonders." He shrugged a little bit. He had meant to take a nap, but that hadn't happened. But it was fine. He would just crash later tonight. Maybe he'd sleep better, with all this exhaustion.
Dacian grinned, nodding along in agreement. His eyes looked over at the mug. He chuckled a little. "Indeed, Your Majesty, it really does. Caffeine does the opposite of what alcohol does," He said. "At home, we say 'If you cannot snooze, get the booze.' Looking back at this early morning, I should listened to those words." Sighing again, he rested his chin on his palm. The grin faded as he thought for a moment. He wasn't even sure if drinking could help his restlessness; he only gets more restless from there till he drops. And yet he should have known better last night.
Evander let out a quiet laugh at that. "Yes, they are opposites in many ways." he agreed, taking another sip. "Would you like a mug of your own? It may help with your lack of sleep. Alternatively, after this meeting, you could go take a nap." he ran a hand through his hair again, taking another sip of his tea.
"Well, if it is no trouble, I would be be very grateful to. Thank you," He replied. Hopefully such a thing could help. After this meeting, he only has an hour and a half window to do anything. Much to his dismay, he was not able to move around two meetings back to back. Dacian reclined back into the seat, rolling his wrist till it made a small crack sound.
Evander nodded, standing up and sticking his head out of the door to ask a servant to get a new pot of tea, as the one currently in the room had gone cold. Then he returned to his seat, sitting down and taking another sip of his own. "The tea should be here soon." He said simply, rubbing his forehead with his hand.
"Thank you." Dacian took time to look around, examining the room. Biting the inside of his cheek, he deeply exhaled through his nose. When his eyes laid on the king, he noticed him rubbing his forehead. He sat on the edge of his seat, holding out his handkerchief. "Here. Please use this, Your Majesty," He said with a soft smile.
He blinked, straightening. "I have no need of that, ambassador. I'm not sweating, just tired." he replied with a quiet, faint laugh, shaking his head. "It was a long night and has been a long morning, for…quite a few reasons. Most realting to the Creature, as you know."
Making a small 'o' shape with his lips, he instantly nodded then pulled back and put the handkerchief away. He was not able to hold back his light chuckle as the king laughed a little; it made him feel strangely a bit better. At least he was doing something right, he hoped. "It has been indeed. I am guessing it is not the first time you have had dealt with a situation like this," He nodded. "Worry and stress always prolong our days, or so I have heard."
"It is not, no. And worry and stress…" He trailed off, shaking his head with a sigh. "Yes. They add quite a lot to days, none of it good." He grimaced for a moment. A servant came in, setting down a pot of tea and a clean mug, before bowing and leaving the room again. Evander gestured to the tea and mug. "There's some tea, ambassador. There is a pitcher of cream and some sugar, as well, should you desire it."
"Very much true, Your Majesty. It is best to not 'bottle it up', then it may get even worse as time goes on." Dacian took note of the king's expression. Something about it signaled his interest, maybe it had to do with what they were talking about now. Looking over at the servant, he mumbled a thank you before taking a glimpse at the pot of tea. He listened to the king and nodded in response. "Thank you." Placing his hands on the handle and the bottom of the tea pot, he poured some tea into the mug before setting it down. Then he poured a little bit of cream into it. He chuckled, "I am afraid if I have a lot of sugar, I will not be able to sleep again tonight, though I do appreciate you offering it to me."
Evander let out a quiet laugh, nodding. "Ah, of course. Perhaps only a little sugar, then?" he suggested, shrugging a shoulder and leaning back in his chair with a sigh. "I'm afraid you're correct about not bottling it up, but…" he trailed off, waving a hand faintly. If he didn't bottle the creature up, well, it would escape every night and then how many would die? Even if the length of time would ahve been shorter, it was still too dangerous.
"Perhaps only a little," He repeated, giving a small nod. After laughing quietly, he took a spoonful of sugar then dropped it into the tea. As he stirred, he glimpsed across towards the king. Watching as His Majesty waved his hand, he nodded once again. "I understand completely. It must be hard, especially since you are the king. Letting it out requires a perfect place, time, and another person," He said. "But everyone has their own ways of dealing with emotions and just life….Even you, Your Majesty,, and King Nicolae." Taking the mug into his hands, he smiled as he felt the warmth. He gently blew on it for a few seconds before taking a sip.
He dipped his head a little bit, taking another sip of his tea. "Of course. I have my own ways of getting out stress, when necessary. Thank you for your kind words, Ambassador Alexandrescu." He replied, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them to look over at Dacian.
Dacian lowered the mug from his face. The tea burned his tongue a little, but he did his best not to react to it. Giving a small smile in response, he nodded. It was good to hear these things from the king. The worried feeling was shrinking a little in him. "My pleasure, Your Majesty," He said, bowing his head afterwards. "I hope that they serve some use to you." He lowered his eyes while drinking from the mug.
Evander nodded a bit, going quiet as he sipped at his tea and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a bit. He knew he might have angry nobles to deal with later; he always did, after a night of the creature. He still didn't know what to do about it. None of the reading he had done had ever given an answer for how to get rid of it, save killing the host. Killing himself. And he didn't want to do that. Both because he wanted to live, and because he had no heir at this point. If he died, the country could very well fall apart. So, if it came to it, he'd get married, have an heir, and then find some way to die and free everyone else from this creature.
Quietly, he would drink from the mug. The tea was helping him not feel as drowsy as he felt before; maybe he should start putting a little bit of sugar in his tea. Dacian chuckled to himself quietly and kept drinking it. Every now and then, he would glimpse over at the king. He wondered what was going through King Evander's mind. He wondered if the king was perfectly fine. A few questions did float around in his mind, yet he managed to keep them from turning into more inquiries. Thankfully his worries were dwindling down as well. The image of the monster was still present in his mind, causing him to sigh to himself.
Evander stayed quiet for a while longer, before he spoke. "Do you have any other meetings today, ambassador?" he questioned. He thought maybe Dacian had said something about having one, but he wasn't sure. Evander had other meetings, but not for anohter 30 minutes. There was a clock in one corner of the room, ticking the time away quietly.
"Just two," He responded. Dacian lowered the mug from him then cleared his throat. "But the first one does not start for another hour or so." Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder at the clock. If his memory served him right, it would be another hour, but maybe less. His eyes flickered back to the king. "If I am keeping you from something, I could leave, it is fine. Am I?"
"No, it's fine. I have another meeting in half an hour, so you'll have to be going by then, but I have nothing until that meeting. I just wanted to ensure I was not keeping you too long." Evander replied, incling his head towards Dacian as he spoke.
"Oh, well of course." Placing the mug down, he swiftly took a glimpse over at the clock again. Half an hour. Did they even agree on a time for their meeting to end? Dacian sat up as he stared at the king. "Perhaps I can leave in fifteen minutes, that way you will have fifteen minutes by self to relax alone or to do whatever you may like, Your Majesty," He smiled. "I do really appreciate you seeing me on such short notice. I will do my best to schedule any future meetings with you ahead of time."
Evander inclined his head again. "Of course. It's alright, I had time to fit you in. Though, yes, setting it up a day or more in advance is helpful." he smiled faintly. "And, it wasn't a very…stressful meeting, either. It isn't as if you barged in here to demand things from me."
Dacian picked the mug back up and took a sip. Immediately, he pulled it away from himself then sat it hand. He waved his hands and shook his head. "Oh no no, I can also promise you that I will never simply barge in here and demand things," He assured. "My father and brothers do that all the time, but I always find it to make things worse for everyone. I should be making things easier for you after all, it is a part of my job."
He studied Dacian for a moment. "Your job is to be a conduit of communication between myself and your king, but thank you, ambassador." he replied, looking at the other man with careful, watchful grey eyes. "Some of the other nobles and ambassadors are much less…thoughtful." he settled on the word after a slight pause.
Slowly, and unsurely, he gave a simple head bow. "It is my pleasure, Your Majesty," He said. When making eye contact with the king, a chill went down his spine. Dacian sat up then covered his mouth with his arm as he coughed. He mumbled an apology before saying, "Is that so? Perhaps I should talk to them and, as they say, 'give them a piece of my mind'…What a silly phrase that is." He chuckled for a moment before stopping himself. Staring back at the king, he smiled.
A faint laugh left the king's mouth as well. "That is not necessary, ambassador." He replied. "I'm used to dealing with them. It's just nice to have a break from that, I suppose." He smiled a little as he looked over at Dacian.
Chuckling quietly, he did his best to be loud by biting his bottom lip. His shoulders lightly bounced. Dacian took a deep breath before staring back at King Evander. "Very well. If you ever want another break, Your Majesty, you know where you can find me." He laughed again. "Well that is, if you see it fit to give me a piece of your mind."
He nodded. "Yes, of course." he replied, taking another sip of his tea. The mug was now empty, so he set it down with the intention of refilling it whenever he wanted a bit more. "I shall keep that in mind in the future. My thanks, ambassador."
Dacian smiled, then simply gave a swift head bow in response. For a brief second, his mind drifted off somewhere far. He thought that he was fine and out of the cycle of replaying this morning's horrors. A chilling sensation ran down his spine causing him to sit up. His hand reached over, grabbing the journal. Quickly he looked back at the clock. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but perhaps it is time that I should leave," He said. "I forgot that I need to run through with some things with my assistant before my next meeting. Is it alright if I go now?"