Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
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07-05-2019, 12:17 PM (This post was last modified: 07-05-2019, 12:19 PM by Eli.)
Eli
Scowling, Eli gazed at her, even he could now see something was up, and that was never a good sign. Tilting his head he raised a brow questioningly at her while he got to his feet, cautiously wandering over to her. "What's up?" he asked in the usual, direct, non-subtle way he had so effortlessly mastered. He really wasn't in his comfort zone right now, he wasn't good with upset people, or even people in general, but upset people were unpredictable, he didn't like unpredictable, it made him tense, yet... he couldn't help but at least try to help her, see what was wrong, she had helped him after all and he felt obligated to pay her back for it in anyway he could.
Quietly eyeing the pie as he neared the counter, he looked back to her, ever so slightly concerned that Pim would attack him if he got too close and so maintained a cool distance with her for now. "I'm not the best person to tell, honestly, but er... well I'll do what I can. Eli added, at least trying to offer her some reassurance that he wasn't going to be completely useless in this situation.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
The question, whether asked directly or more tactfully, would have felt the same regardless. It felt like a knife sinking into her back, twisting and raking at a wound still fresh and aching. She swallowed a lump in her throat, eyes glazing with tears for a moment before she quickly shoved them back down. Her heart was worn not just on her sleeve, but her bodice, her skirt, her apron even the ribbon keeping her thick hair tied in a messy bun atop her head.
She shook her head a little, already pressing some dough she had made earlier into a pan to make a savory pie. "Its...you'll think I'm stupid " she said quietly almost dismissively. He was definitely older than her, and would likely think her sorrow trivial. Immature even. But he seemed insistent, even as she filled the pie with various leftover pieces of meat and vegetables. "My uhm...my boyfriend broke up with me today." she said at length, voice just above a whisper for it was all she could manage without it breaking.
Pim though stayed near the altar, observing quietly.
07-05-2019, 12:41 PM (This post was last modified: 07-05-2019, 12:41 PM by Eli.)
Eli
Young love, wonderful, he really didn't want to get involved in this sort of thing but damn it, he felt bad. Shaking his head he heaved a heavy sigh, knowing this was a bad idea but going ahead anyway. Looking around, to make sure Pim wasn't about to scratch him to death, He placed a large hand on her forearm, squeezing just tight enough to get her attention. "Come on- stop that. Come sit down and we'll talk, you don't need to be making anything. he said with a firm finality, though it was interlaced with a softness that he was trying hard to convey as he tried to lead her off to somewhere they could both sit.
He really didn't feel like this was the right time for her to be making anything, let alone just for him. Part of him didn't want to get involved in all of this, but what could he do? Simply walk out? No- apparently he was the only person about and so he felt he had no choice but to at least try and be of aid, even though he wasn't exactly some guru when it came to matters of the heart.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
Phoebe startled at the touch, looking down at her arm, then up at him. She felt suddenly very small with his hand there - though not much different in height he definitely was a much larger person than her overall. Really, she looked the world like a kicked puppy, wide eyes brimming with sadness and betrayal - though he was clearly not the cause of it. She glanced at the pie, which was almost finished being made but...she was more of a follower by nature and whatever fight she had in her had long since been worn down.
She sat quietly on one of the oversized couches, more going through the motions of existing rather than living them. This was more than a petty breakup, her whole person clearly rocked and broken by the occurance. Pim stayed curled near the shrine, watching them both. He felt just as much at a loss as Eli did really.
07-05-2019, 01:02 PM (This post was last modified: 07-05-2019, 01:03 PM by Eli.)
Eli
They sat in silence for a moment or two as Eli collected his thoughts, trying to work out what to say. He sighed again, and looked at her, trying to make himself appear less intense and intimidating than he actually was, though how effective that was, was anyone's guess. "Alright, tell me why this happened, first off- did he cheat on you? That's a pretty common reason I feel. Eli said, desperately attempting to be helpful yet he wasn't really sure what to say, all he could really do was sit with her and hope for the best while trying to offer at least some council no matter how fruitless it seemed to him.
"It hurts like a bitch, I know that- you feel your heart torn in half and you have no idea if it'll repair itself, but you're a strong woman, Phoebe. You can weather the storm and the other such things, I'm not doubting that really. So it'll be okay." he said, still trying as much as he could to at least provide her some comfort, he sighed, eyes still on her.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
That his first assumption was Emmett cheating on her brought a tiny ghost of a smile to her lips. If only. "No no, he broke up with me." she said. If Emmett tried had cheated, she would have been the one to see him hit the curb. But that wasn't the case. "We um...we disagreed about the new Queen. And...he disagreed with me so strongly, he thought he couldn't even trust his kid siblings with me...and I didn't just...give in to agree with him and so he left." she said, tears coming to her eyes as she explained it.
She stared at her lap as he continued to speak, not sure if she agreed. She wasn't sure if she could weather this storm. "I...I don't know that I am that strong." she said quietly, frowning as she did so. "I...I loved him. And he said he loved me but...he walked out so easily...after everything we'd been through." she bit her lip and wiped at her eyes so keep tears from falling as she shook her head. "I should've just agreed. I should've just kept the peace." she whispered, placing the blame on her shoulders.
07-05-2019, 01:37 PM (This post was last modified: 07-05-2019, 01:45 PM by Eli.)
Eli
Eli shook his head, not sure if she was on the side of the Queen or against her, but something in him compelled him to defend her, defend Zariah. "Nah, nah... you listen Phoebe, our Queen is what this place needs, someone to hold it together, advance us and I for one will gladly stand by her. So if Emmett wants to stand in the way of that, then well, that's his problem. You, Phoebe have done nothing wrong- you're loyal, like me and we have to stick together, you understand? This ain't your fault, you can be sure of that. he said, sounding so sure of himself and his position, sounding as though the Queen was infallible and to him, she indeed was- it was a far cry from how he'd felt before, but... something had clearly changed.
He looked at her, becoming a little irritated; he went to rest a hand on her shoulder. "You look at me Phoebe, you look at me; you shouldn't have kept the peace, you don't just agree and roll over, you fight for what you know is right, just like me, yeah? It hurts, but you were right to stand your ground, Emmett was in the wrong, he sounds like a damned fool." Eli said to her, so sure, so intensely righteous, as if making some grand speech, his eyes burning with a passion rarely seen, yet here it was, on display for it. It was hard to not be inspired.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
Phoebe sniffled and looked over at him when told, a hint of patriarchial subsurvience that had been woven into her brain throughout her childhood bidding her listen. She swallowed, surprised at how...supportive Eli was of the Queen. He was the first she had heard any speak so highly of her. But she nodded a little, even if her fervor didn't match his, she thought him right. "He just doesn't understand. He is a Natural, he has never had to listen to any authority but his own...and it's going to get him killed." she said, tearing up again.
The hand on her shoulder stopped the tears from flowing though, surprising her out of her downward spiral. She sighed and shook her head a little at his words, unsure if she agreed. "I was always raised to be a good little housewife, and support the man of the house no matter what. Emmett was as close as I had to that and I...I just couldn't." she said, swallowing a lump in her throat. "And even if Zariah turns out to be horrible...what can I do about? What can a farmer do about it? Nothing. It's just how the world works." she said in frustration. She wasn't like Eli. She couldn't fight or change the world, so why try in futility and give up what she could do to help for a martyrs cause?
07-05-2019, 02:00 PM (This post was last modified: 07-05-2019, 02:03 PM by Eli.)
Eli
"Damn it Phoebe, supporting your husband is good and expected but not to the extent you don't think for yourself- you're not some... servant girl; I- I'm not sure what world you grew up on but the ideas sound much different to where I'm from. You can be a housewife you can be supportive, you can do all that if you want, but you can still stand your ground and if a man cannot understand that then there is no relationship there, there is just a servant and their master- now that doesn't sound like my type of thing and I don't think it's your type of deal either. he said passionately, clearly he had wildly different views on how things should be in many regards. "And we cannot lose faith in our Queen, Phoebe; not now, not ever, it matters not how popular she is, desperate times call for desperate measures and she is doing what she thinks it right for us all, we have to accept that and support it, otherwise it's anarchy- no order, just a free for all." Eli continued, giving her a firm nod as if saying 'trust me'.
He didn't quite know where all this fire had come from, internally he wasn't really questioning any of it, all he knew was this was what was needed, he simply couldn't stand by while Phoebe had doubts that she was wrong, especially about the Queen.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
Phoebe stared at Eli with wide eyes, her expression making clear that this concept of equal footing - truly equal, not the sort of faux equality she had asked Emmett for - was not one she was used to. That she could support a man, and yet stand her ground against him, and have it be acceptable was boggling to her. And that he was so passionate about it made it all the more strange. "If that's not how you think it is supposed to be...then what is it supposed to be like?" she said a little dumbly, and feeling rather dumb too.
But his passion was in a way comforting. She certainly wasn't as excited about Zariah's reign, but his confidence and surety made her feel a bit more grounded in her stance - that she had legitimate reasons to disagree with Emmett. That maybe...she wasn't completely wrong. "I just want to wait to see what she actually does before jumping to a conclusion, good or bad." she said with a sigh, looking at her hands. "Not that it terribly matters. I'm sure my future is pretty bare now with Emmett gone." she said, tears rising unbidden again.
07-05-2019, 11:20 PM (This post was last modified: 07-05-2019, 11:22 PM by Eli.)
Eli
Eli frowned a little, sighing; he was sure she would get the concept but, it was like she couldn't quite get round a few of the basic ideas, as it was so different, so removed from what she knew, that anything else was 'mad' in a sense; it was just as he felt. He looked to the floor a moment, the fire he'd so used to defend the Queen had subsided, pushed back down behind a wall of brooding displeasure for everything, the hand slowly slipped off her shoulder, resting back down on his leg as the other was doing. "I- just don't know Phoebe, I can't tell you how things should be, I'm just a single man, how should I know? I'm not a smart man or a scholar or philosopher, all I know is you can live your life without him- there's someone else, there is always someone else; you might've met him, you might not have, but you'll feel the way you felt about him again, with someone else, I can promise you that, it ain't over you get more years than me, that's for sure." he said, trying to be as comforting as the brooding soldier could be, he grinned a little as he laughed, glancing her way.
He was still far out of his element, but at least he was sat there with her, that must've counted for something, right? Otherwise, he had no idea what he was doing.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
As his hand dropped, so did her head, feeling like she had made a misstep of some sort. Guilt was clear on her face as she frowned at her lap. "Sorry." she said quietly. She was being bothersome. She was being irritating. Clearly her problems were burdensome - as they should be he just met her after all, and here she was suddenly a complete blubbering mess. And...in a way...she wasn't sure she wanted his words to be true.
Phoebe stood suddenly, walking back to the kitchen and working on the pie. The look on her face made it clear she was thinking, and the work was just a distraction to help her focus. Once it was in the oven she stared at the counter in silence, still thinking over his words, before she walked back over to him. "How do you know I will? Have you ever felt that way for someone before?" she asked.
He didn't now what to say as she apologised, as if anything he did say wouldn't be enough. Exhaling he glanced at her as she got up and made her way to the kitchen, eyes trailing after her for a time before they looked back at the floor. A hand ran over his cheek, he needed to shave he thought, the stubble was slowly going, being replaced by a beard; not that he didn't like them, but he felt a little more comfortable when it was neat, tidy... uniform.
As she made her way back through he looked up suddenly as he was bombarded with a couple of questions. His head slowly looked down again as he settled, trying to come up with answers. "...Yeah, I have- back where er... back where I'm from, she broke up with me when I enlisted; said she couldn't watch me throw my life away like that, and it's the last I saw of her." he said a little reluctantly. "But you know- time moves on, things move on, you move on, everyone always does. Ain't no doubt about that Phoebe." Eli finished, looking up at her with a small smile.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." - If you want peace, prepare for war.
"I'm sorry to bring it up." she said quietly, looking at the floor. But it did help to know he was speaking from experience, not just saying things for the sake of saying them. Quietly she sank down into a chair, pulling her legs up to hold. For a time she was just quiet, internalizing, occassionally wiping at her eyes to dry them. "It's just...hard...I've had everything I thought my life would be torn down and rebuilt so many times..." Between the wars in her home, being transported to different dimensions twice, miscarrying a child, and now losing Emmett...everything felt shaky.
She shook het head as if to clear it, managing a tiny smile for him. "Thank you for...comforting me. I appreciate it. I'm...sure its awkward for you." He hardly knew her after all, and he didn't seem the most natural when it came to offering such support. That he tried at all warmed her heart a bit.
