From Attuned to Ascended to Ancient, Kiada Njovu-Reyes has been reborn several times throughout her short life, but her fighting spirit has never once been diminished. With beauty, grace and a quick wit, Kiada is the whole package wrapped in an infectious smile. Recent endeavours have found her in the heart of the Hollowed Grounds, aiding the region and bettering it for her new Ancient kin, and whatever she does next, we know it's sure to pack a punch.
Congratulations, Kiada!
Credits
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!
"I certainly do live here," Isla says, a point which is redundant, of course, now that they're actually in her apartment. "And that might be the case, but I think this will be an even more surprising surprise than you were expecting! Although, it might take us a while to get there, so..." Her voice having grown distant while she disappears deeper into the apartment, when she pokes her head back around to Remi, it's without the files in her hands.
"Come here," she invites, stepping into her living room (more books, a thick rug over wooden flooring, a few candles and some framed prints of parts of the skeletal system) and heading for a large window. Opening the blinds to show an expansive view of undertown, it's a maze of buildings, but not exactly pretty.
"Mm? No pets, no - it wouldn't be fair, with the hours I work. I did used to have a cat, back before all of this," she says, beckoning Remi to the window. "See over there?" She points across town, to a cluster of surprisingly well maintained buildings. "It's only small, because of how much power it takes to keep things running, but that's actually an aquarium."
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
That Isla's voice trails off is something the wendigo finds immediately frustrating, if only because it wasn't the sort of thing he ever (until recently) had to struggle with. Straining to hear the doctor as her voice dimmed and as the various things he eyes landed on distracted him, it was with somewhat of a start that he flinched back into focus. Come here, absolutely feels like the sort of cheesy line followed by, just let me slip into something more comfortable, and though he knows this isn't true (hopes, of course, but knows just the same), the wendigo still has to give himself a mental shake before stepping further into Isla's apartment properly.
All but gaping at the view, all thoughts of Isla in a red lacy number disappear (well, mostly), as he gazes open-mouthed down at the city. Almost too distracted to understand what she's saying, Remi looks at her, looks back, and then looks again, a little like when you check your watch for the time but don't actually read it. "I suppose that makes sense." He agrees, before looking back to where she was pointing.
"That is a surprise." Remi says with a slow smile that halts and grows a touch nervous as he thinks of something. Turning to face Isla properly, the wendigo pulls in a deep breath, before looking rather awkwardly down at his hands for just a moment. "In the interest of...well, our professional..ah..." relationship wasn't really the right word when one of you was kept in a cage. "..our working conditions, do we need to act as if this really is an experiment, out there?"
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.
Having been expecting the surprise to come more from the aquarium part of her explanation than the view itself, Isla still can't help but smile to watch the distraction and open wonder on Remi's face as he takes it all in. "You make me feel bad for taking it for granted," she tells him, wrinkling her nose playfully. Sometimes it depresses her, just looking out at the sprawl of mostly-poverty, forced underground by monsters and the upper class (so... monsters).
Glancing back at Remi and subtly turning to face him properly as well, Isla feels her cheeks already wanting to heat up, and so she tries to beat her own nerves to the punch. "No," she says softly. "Once we're clear of the complex, we're just... two people. Nobody out in undertown knows or cares too much what we're all about, as long as we keep the nasties from the door. So no, not out there, and not in here either. Obviously."
And it's with a crooked smile that she gestures around the apartment, so Remi can see for himself that there are blessedly zero cameras.
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
Grinning at her over his shoulder, Remi's eyes sparkle with mischief as much as with joy. "No, you should absolutely take it for granted. It is a horrible view, I just don't get out much." He jokes, very much wanting to reach out and pull her against him that they might look out at the rat maze together, but inhaling deeply instead.
Remi's gaze softens slightly, eyes drinking in the light flush to her cheeks that he's able to see as if to make up for the fact that he doesn't have her heart rate to go by. "Just two people." He repeats, sounding mildly awed at the idea of it.
"Obviously, mm? So does that mean you have not been earning extra money doing...what was it called back in the day..OnlyFans?" Grinning the wendigo looks around again as if expecting to be able to spot various cameras set up on books or behind lamps.
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.
"Hopefully that will change if things keep going the way they do," Isla says with a smile. He really doesn't get out much - she knows exactly how little - and it's with that in mind that she doesn't immediately turn them away from the window, letting Remi watch to his heart's content. "And I'll have you know that I only play doctor in a professional setting," she snarks, resisting the urge to add unless you ask nicely.
"When I'm just a person, I try not to think about work too much," she adds, though it's with a mischievous nudge against his shoulder that she continues. "Something that you've made increasingly difficult, I'll have you know." Realising how that might come across (i.e. as if he's a problem), Isla offers him a quick smile.
"I know it might seem like the world just disappears for you, once the doors close, but I think about you," she says softly.
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
"Oh, well. Then you should take what you can get now, because soon I will become just as disenchanted to all of it as you are." Remi says with a little laugh that briefly dimples his cheeks. Eyebrows raised and making no attempt at all to try and discourage this particular thread of conversation, the wendigo narrows one eye speculatively until he's almost winking at Isla. "Oh, so you have just been playing this entire time?" He wonders with a smirk. "Here's hoping I don't find myself in need of a doctor outside of a professional setting, then."
Staring out at the vast crossing of streets and buildings as if there might be some start and ending that he can trace out if he looks long enough, the wendigo's movements are halted by the doctor's words, and though he doesn't turn toward her immediately, it's clear enough that his focus is no longer on the world outside.
Remi's eyebrows flinch toward one another as lines appear and then smooth out in bursts across his forehead. The side of his mouth quirks with a thought he doesn't say, and as he turns fully away from the window, his gaze is fluttery in how it seems to constantly shift from Isla's eyes to her lips and back again. Leaning forward slightly, his cheek nearly brushing against hers as his mouth edges toward her ear, Remi sips in a small but audible breath. "I think about you, too." He whispers against the curtain of her hair.
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.
"Unless you decide to do something particularly silly with knives or fire while you're human, I think you ought to be alright," Isla quips back, her smile a touch sly, mischief dancing in her eyes. "And you're right. If I ever stop playing, then you'll really see something special," she informs him, as if Isla is just doing this science stuff for fun right now. Maybe she'll raise the dead if she ever gets serious about her career, har har har.
Suddenly, though, Remi is almost irresistibly close, and Isla doesn't know quite how they've gotten here from looking out at the aquarium. But there's no denying that they've both been tugging at this thread for a while now to see how it unravels, whether they want to admit it or not, and so she subtly shifts to turn towards him as well.
One might expect passionate, devouring kisses from here; maybe Isla's leg pops like in the old romantic movies, or maybe Remi sweeps her up into his arm and carries her off to the bedroom he's never seen to know where to go. Instead, though, the doctor steps further into Remi's space and reaches up to slip her arms around him, drawing him close.
It's the first time they've properly touched like this without him mid breakdown or wanting to surreptitiously hand her something, and just for a moment, even if it leads to other (unethical, conflict of interest, etc. etc.) decisions, Isla wants to stand here as two people, not doctor and experiment.
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
Sadly as there's no director to choreograph any of this, almost nothing of the sort you'd expect actually happens. Remi doesn't know the way to Isla's bedroom, but nor does he have the physical strength to lift the doctor as he is now. That he doesn't have an erection that buckles his knees is only thanks to Ronin, though otherwise, the moment would stray into crass comedy instead of dramatic tension.
Lips still parted by the shell of her ear, the wendigo exhales in a short, shaky burst of air as Isla's arms twine around him. The moment is tender and sweet, but no less intimate for the lack of thrashing lips and discarded clothes. Straightening only slightly, Remi reaches out for the doctor. His palms first glide against the sides of her waist, fitting his fingers against her exactly, before curving around to contour against her lower back. He'd always known that beneath the professional cut of her doctor's attire, there were more than just a few womanly curves, but the slow and intentional drift of his hands seemed to suggest he was keen to make sure that nothing was left up to his own imagination.
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.
Smiling depsite herself to feel his arms clasp her in turn, Isla almost melts into the embrace, letting her head drop to rest against Remi's shoulder for a moment or so. "I really did only mean to come up here to drop some things off," she murmurs, the gentle playfulness in her tone suggesting that a very heavy and yet follows after that statement.
Subtly pressing into his touch, Isla shifts enough away from Remi to gaze up at him properly, though no part of her lets him go. "I don't know what the right thing to do here is," she confesses with heat in her cheeks and warmth only growing between them. "But I'm... I know we don't have long." Well. Four hours isn't long if you're trying to cross the city and back to see the aquarium. But it's plenty for other things.
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
"Mm, of course you did." The wendigo replies softly, with a grin that the doctor will hear in his voice. "You thought to yourself, sure, he's just seen Grimm and has a limited time being a real boy, but he'll not mind at all if some of that time is spent doing a few errands."
Like Isla, the wendigo shifts and straightens to peer down at her, his fractured sea-glass green eyes peering into her pebble blues. Blinking thoughtfully, Remi gives his head a slight and stiff shake. It's a confusing thing, really, to be on a date with someone who simultaneously is thinking about the ethics of said date, while at the same time holding you close.
It's only because not all the blood in his body has rushed south, that Remi is able to blush so furiously. His eyelashes flutter as his gaze drops, first to the swell of her cheek, then to her lips, and then lower still as he exhales gently and with about as much restraint as he'd had to show the day before with her blood screaming on his tongue. "I am not sure I should answer that honestly." He says in a low voice, a smile that's meant to serve as an apology flinching on his lips.
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
"They weren't errands. I didn't want to go marching through Undertown in heels," Isla protests with heat in her cheeks, though she knows as well as Remi that it's still a very convenient thing for her to have needed to do. "And the files were just... it made sense to do that at the same time, so..." Smiling somwhere down towards the ground as if it means Remi can't see that she doesn't buy her own bullshit, the medic lets out a shaky, frustrated sort of sigh.
By the time she forces herself to look back up at him, they're both like a couple of flustered teenagers, and Isla laughs under her breath. "It's why I asked you," she admits. "Because I didn't think I should say it myself." Letting her hands trace along his sides and around to his chest, the medic reaches up to cup his cheek, her thumb grazing across the space where she knows dimples appear when he smiles.
Not that he's had much of a reason to smile in the complex.
08-26-2023, 05:58 PM (This post was last modified: 08-26-2023, 06:16 PM by Safrin.)
Remi
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
"Just being effiscient." He agrees doubtfully but with no less humour in his voice.
Inhaling as steadily as he's able (which as it happens, isn't very steady at all), the wendigo swallows and stills as Isla's hands move along his body. Explosions of sensation flash beneath her fingers, and not unlike he had with Ronin, Remi finds himself flinching ever so slightly despite his best efforts to remain still. All but wincing into her palm against his cheek if only because the gentleness of it has him wanting to scream with some strange species of relief and desire, Remi presses his own hand against her lower back to fix them together, however softly.
"What I want is you, Isla." He answers unsteadily, before forcing his eyes to rise and meet her own. Pulling one hand from around her, Remi traces along her hairline to push back an errant strand of hair with exactly the sort of precision he'd seen Isla demonstrate with him many times. "But I would not use the serum's expiration date as an excuse to rush anything." Remi adds. Where his fingers had tucked the stray hair behind her ear, now they spread and combed back around the base of her head, revealing the graceful curve of her neck. Leaning forward, the wendigo presses his lips just below her earlobe. "Not when you deserve so much more." He adds in a voice that's rich with ridiculously naive yet genuine romantic overtures, lips feather light across her skin with each word.
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.
Apologies stay fixed beneath Isla's tongue as she catches the wince and flinch in response to her touch, and although she says nothing, her hands press a little more firmly against Remi's skin, if no less gently, as if to reassure that she's not reaching out to him with pain in mind. She releases a shiver of breath to hear him say the thing they've both been dancing around for more than just the past few days, Isla watching his lips form the words and wondering why she hasn't spent more time studying them more closely.
Her head tilts gently into Remi's touch, and though he doesn't currently possess the ability to hear her pulse quicken, they're pressed close enough against one another for him to feel it in his chest. She tries to find words to respond only for the wendigo to effectively steal them away, and herein lays the proof that Remi does not have to physically do anything to sweep Isla off her feet.
With eyes half closed as if that might better let her feel his lips against her skin, the doctor finally finds herself again as she tries to guide him to look back up at her. "And what about what you deserve?" she asks, a touch playfully. "Because I would not use the serum's expiration date as an excuse to do nothing, either. And four hours is a long time in the right hands."
Welcome to the wild, no heroes and villains Welcome to the war, we've only begun
As Isla lingers in the wendigo's closeness, Remi presses his lips softly against the cleft of her jaw, then a little farther down her throat. These aren't proper kisses, not given the way Remi's lips seem to be inclined to form unarticulated words against Isla's skin than to press together in what we all think of as a kiss, and so the effect is altogether more subtle. More nuanced.
Not wanting at all to pull his mouth from its soft explorations of Isla's skin, Remi has been nothing but compliant to the doctor's instructions of him for weeks, and he isn't going to start disobeying now. Humming with quiet amusement, the wendigo raises one of his eyebrows a touch mischievously as he straightens and meets Isla's gaze. "Ah, and yet my time with you always goes by so fast, while my time with Grimm is the one which drags on." He counters, and though what he's referencing is literal torture, Remi has the nerve to look all the more affectionate for the way his time with Isla tends to go by in a flash.
"Besides, I think if I ever started to talk about what I deserved while on a date, the ghost of my mother would find a way to appear and send me straight to hell for it." He adds with a boyish smile.
Higher and higher you chase it It's deep in your blood, go and take it
