Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
"She can make as much as she likes - no one is coming in this room with you unescorted and without my say so," Isla says mildly in return, and were they not in this current and horrific situation, she might have made a crude joke about it. Alas, it doesn't seem appropriate when using sharp scissors to cut off sweat, blood and piss soaked clothes. "Tonight it is to keep you calm, and to help regulate your heartrate and your blood pressure," she says, stripping off the last of his clothing and tossing them down by the door.
"And I don't find it unnerving when you stop - it frightens me. I worry that you've died, and after the evening so far, I'd quite like the reassurance that you are still with us," she continues. Out of his eyeline, Isla is rinsing something out, and when she returns it's to press a warm, damp cloth against his chest to begin cleaning him up. "And only yesterday you were suggesting I do this by hand," she remarks. "And even if there were remote locks, I'm not leaving you in here by yourself tonight, Remi."
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
Indeed were it the environment for jokes there was an easy one about Isla spending her evenings with a naked and fully restrained man at her disposal. Alas. 'Oh is that what frightens you, about me." Remi murmurs with a slight roll of his eyes. Though he does his best not to stiffen as Isla presses the warm cloth against his chest, he can't ignore how good it feels, and thus how painful his mind translates it as being.
"Oh how the turntables." Remi agrees, taking an intentionally deep breath for Isla's benefit before slowly letting it out. Tonight, knowing just how much of himself needed to be cleaned up, he'd happily have opted for the hose if given the chance.
Ignoring the concern he thought he heard in her voice when she mentioned staying, Remi swallows. "Was that Ronin I -" smelled is what he nearly says. "-heard earlier?"
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"It is," Isla repeats quietly, as if there couldn't possibly be something else about him that's frightening, before she falls quiet to focus on soaking away the grime from his neck and shoulders and chest, followed by his arms, hands and abdomen. Each movement is firm and gentle in equal measure, and she almost seems surprised to reveal his pale body beneath the events that have unfolded tonight.
Drawn back into the conversation as Remi speaks again, Isla goes to rinse out her washcloth again and hums and affirmative. "You did," she confirms. "He came around before you did, and was quite a firm advocate for the science division inserting its head into its own rectum so it could look at its own bullshit." Is there a smile in her voice? Perhaps.
"He explained everything you told him," Isla says, discreetly moving to more, er, sensitive areas as they chat. "And then he got into a fight with the other Hunters brought in for questioning. He only stopped when I set the alarms off, and he came in to help. So... in short, he's coming to visit tomorrow, if he is allowed, and he would appreciate it if you didn't comment on his black eye."
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
Grinning rather boyishly up the ceiling, it occurs to Remi just then that Ronin might be his only actual friend. As it so often did with Isla, this realization made him feel equal parts shameful and happy. Oh, and speaking of shameful, a pretty girl was touching him. But not just touching him, she was cleaning him with a washcloth from where he'd pissed himself whilst being tortured.
Doing his best to think of baseball or math problems or whatever the fuck you're were meant to do to keep yourself in check, these thoughts turned into mental screams to not get hard, which were entirely unhelpful. Luckily? it wouldn't be the first (or realistically, the last) time Isla's doctorly ministrations had had an effect on Remi, but still he flushed and tried to focus on the conversation.
"Oh, well I am absolutely going to comment on his black eye." The wendigo says crookedly, bobbing his eyebrows slightly.
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I fully expect you to," Isla agrees in a rather chipper tone, doing them both a favour and not missing a beat in her cleanup routine despite how Remi chooses to try and get her attention, even with no hands available. "That is why I told you about it." Still smiling her herself, she finishes her preliminary wash down his legs and feet before trading out the cloth for a fresh one in slightly hotter water.
"Do you want to know a secret?" she murmurs quietly as she returns to Remi's side, taking the new cloth and using it to clean what little of his face is available around the muzzle. Rather than playful, there's something quite steely in Isla's gaze as she leans over the wendigo, wiping the blood out of his ears.
"In his briefing, before your expedition tonight, I outfitted Jefferson with a bodycam. Subtle, but equipped with sound and visuals. I told him it was for our research. It is still recording even now, down in the morgue." Now she is smiling, too, and it looks ever so slightly victorious.
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
Flinching as she wipes at his toes - wendigos can be ticklish, you know - Remi exhales hard enough to have his mask fogging up with condensation for a moment as he tries to decide if he thinks Ronin will take any measures to cover up his shiner if and when he shows up.
Raising an eyebrow and tilting his head as much as his restraints would allow, Remi's gaze shoots stiffly back towards the ceiling as she nears. First touching his, ahem, with a warm cloth, and now her bare throat just inches from his teeth? Honestly Isla, you tease. What she says jerks his attention straight back to her though as his pale eyes search her face for signs of...of what, he doesn't quite know, as the doctor isn't prone to lying, but...
Whatever hope had flashed across his face sinks away as quickly as it had come. "They will always believe what they want to, even with evidence right in front of their noses." Still..."Maybe it will make anyone else think twice before signing me out, though." Taking another deep breath, Remi smiles slightly behind his mask. "Thank you, Isla."
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Oh, I have no doubt that the entire complex will still have you painted as even more of a danger and a pariah than you already are," Isla says gently, as if they were both well aware of that fact. "But whatever the Hunters think of you, down here in this hospital, the evidence is still evidence. They can't find excuses to hurt you, not with footage like that."
Maybe she can't persuade the rest of the building that the whole point of Project W is the man and not the wendigo, but she can still do better. And Isla could do a lot better by Remi, if this evening is any indication whatsoever. Straightening up after cleaning his face (ish), Isla collects a towel - it has fabric softener, wouldn't you believe it - so she can dry him off.
"You're welcome, Remi," she replies, gazing down at his restraints and resisting the urge to take his hand. Instead, she folds the towel and returns to the cleaning station. "How are you feeling?" she asks. "Well enough to sit up?"
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
"Well, if it keeps anyone else from yanking my chain—" Get it? "—perhaps all of this will have been worth it." It wouldn't, though, and because they both knew it Remi just shrugs beneath his straps.
Silently enduring the remainder of Isla's soft touches by imagining the look on Susan's face as she had administered her home-brew poison, he watches Isla move out of his peripheral vision with a sigh. "Am I well enough to sit up without trying to tear at my restraints to get at you, you mean?" {Insert the jokes that could be made, were this other time and another place} Considering for a moment, Remi nods. "I think so." Luckily for her, for all of them really, Remi wasn't manipulative. Not the type to lie to get others within reach.
At least not yet.
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
They do both know it, and so Isla merely offers him a smile for his trouble, moving away from the cleaning station and reaching beneath the gurney for a bag she's stowed there. "You thinking so is enough for me," she decides, and whilst she's not so trusting as to unchain him completely, some adjustments here and there allow her to tilt the bed up enough for Remi to sit properly should he wish.
"I've been working on something myself," she remarks to him, opening the bag to retrieve an IV and what looks suspiciously like a pouch of blood. "Mine, however, has been extensively tested and verified - I'll even show you the research notes, if you like. I was going to try it with you in a few days. For now, though, it might help to take the edge off - though you'll have to tell me how well it works." Hanging the pouch up, she waits for his go ahead; with the night Remi has had, she can at least give him that much.
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
More slumps upwards more than anything else, closing his eyes briefly against the wave of dizziness that tries to lure him back towards the cot.
Glancing over his shoulder, Remi narrows his eyes into playful slits. "Well, for all your research notes I assume I am still the first test subject." He comments dryly. "I wonder if this is how all those mice must feel." Carelessly he nods; with the night he's had, he deserves both this much, and nothing at all. If he feels better, great. If this kills him, well...what of it.
Watching as a line of red fills one of the various tubes he's connected to, it takes only a second for the effects to kick in. Gripping the sides of the bed with fingers that have become so disjointed as to look arthritic, Remi heaves out a strangled breath as his eyes squeeze shut. What might look like pain for the first few seconds is clarified by the dopey and orgasmic look that appears on the wendigo's face. His lips fall slack as his breathing becomes shallow, but there's a grin there just the same.
It feels incredible.
"...AB Negative?" He guesses, looking up at Isla with flushed cheeks.
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Given that this was created and catered specifically for you and your biorhythm, it does regrettably mean that you are the first - and only - test subject," Isla remarks as she turns the plunger, following the line of red with eyes much less, er, crazed than Susan's had been. She's nonetheless ready with a clipboard to write down the observable effects, unable not to find Remi's smile contagious given how rough a time he's just had.
"O Negative," she corrects him, "but better. Nothing actually had to bleed to make this. It should keep your hunger... not sated, because I know that isn't really a thing for you, but more like a low hum in the background. I didn't account for it feeling enjoyable as well, so that's a good plus."
Still smiling, Isla walks slowly around the bed so she can observe the vital signs on the machines as well as the sustained reaction from her patient. "You will need to tell me how long it persists, though, or if there are any negative after effects. There shouldn't be, but I can't predict everything." As he can very well see.
"But for what it's worth, I'm glad it helps you to feel better."
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
"Oh, you know that, do you?" Remi asks crookedly, still riding out the first wave of the blood. "What is the opposite of Stockholm syndrome? Is there a name for when scientists start to identify with their subjects?" Regardless, she was right that this was a good plus. "It feels a bit like the first hit of cocaine." Peering over at here, the wendigo raises his eyebrows in a clear if you know what that feels like, gesture.
"Mmmm. Well right now I feel very relaxed." Rolling his shoulders slightly, Remi tilts his chin up and then down to crack his neck. "The initial high is fading, but.." Wiggling his toes and as much of his feet as he's able, Remi tries to take stock of how his body feels. It's close to what his body feels like post-orgasm, really, but he doesn't want to say so to Isla.
"I take it this is synthetic, though?" He wonders, letting his eyes open fully now that his heart has stopped racing. "Or have we been visiting the morgue? Or the slaughterhouse, perhaps?"
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I think it might be called... empathy?" Isla says slowly, overstressing the syllables in all the wrong places and smiling down at her notes. Remi definitely must have Stockholm Syndrome regardless, though, because he starts his descriptions like clockwork - and whilst she doesn't respond to his cocaine comment, the bob of her eyebrows and the tilt of her head as she writes suggests that she just might know about it.
"Good," she murmurs of him feeling relaxed - beyond sating his appetite, that's also its main purpose. "Depending on how tonight's trial goes, we can start to administer it on a schedule to see how you take to it on a longer term." He wasn't supposed to have it yet, after all; it was just something Isla had grabbed whilst they were loading him onto the gurney post-seizure.
"Completely synthetic," she says with a hint of pride in her voice. "No death, no gore, no morgues. Just science." Finishing her notes, she glances back up at him. "If you still feel calm in a few more minutes, I'd like to give you the opportunity to get dressed, if that sounds good."
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
"Em..path..ee?" Intentionally letting his accent swallow the word, Remi frowns and gives his head a shake. "Never heard of it." Ha-ha, isn't this fun? Joking around like a couple of pals while one of them is strapped to a table and the other likely has a taser in her pocket.
Taking another deep breath only to find that the sparkling lilac haze the blood had filled his veins with was receding more and more, Remi wrinkles his nose. "You sound like one of those meatless-burger commercials." Not that he was complaining of course.
Remi's gaze shifts from Isla to one of the various cameras in his room, before returning to her face to ask a silent question; is someone up there? Probably there was. Gods, when wasn't there. "The opportunity huh?" Looking down at himself, mostly skin and bone—not to mention his dejected penis soft between his thighs—Remi chuckles before his smile grows a touch sad. "You do take far too many risks with me, you know that, don't you?" The wendigo's pale eyes have grown soft and honest; in the back of his mind, he can hear someone laughing and reaching out for his hand somewhere in the frigid Canadian wilderness.
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
