From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
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!
Champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
Finding himself comically frozen in place until his sister decides whether or not she's going to slap him (and he seriously hopes she doesn't, because he'll never live it down if Koa finds out), Mateo eventually lets his shoulders sag, a bead of sweat trickling freely down the side of his face. "It is better than not knowing," he says as a sort of consolation, offering her an apologetic smile and letting his hands drop.
As for their lists, though, the botanist scoffs and leans down to rummage back in his bag of holding. Soon enough he withdraws a literal little black book that seems to have not just dog-eared pages, bookmarks and post-its, but sub-sections. "Check away," he offers, holding it out to her. "But I want it back before I go home."
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
"BetTEr ThAn Not KnOwInG." Flora mocks childishly under her breath, though there's no venom in it. She's just all hot air now that her anger is venting.
Trying to peer into the bag as her bother rummages through it, the Doubletake's eyes widen as the botanist pulls out a literal black book. "You're joking." She murmurs, before flipping open a random page and gaping at the footnotes. So...not joking, then.
Noticing an overlap or two already, Flora breathes in sharply before holding out a hand and making a gimme gesture. "Pen."
Champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
"Do not slut shame. You mentioned lists, I gave you a list," Mateo protests with a pout, and while it's true that his list is more like an address book, it's not as though he's being anything but transparent about it all. Already reaching back into the bag for a pen as Flora requests one, he hands it across and straightens up, turning around in case she wants to use him as an impromptu wall to lean against and write.
"Anyone good we match on?" he wonders with a catlike grin, unable to help himself. "There are some good things in there if you want to know what some people enjoy. Some of it I got from Molly's." As she will be able to tell, because not all of the information in the book is in Mateo's own handwriting.
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
'Are you calling yourself a slut, then?' Flora wants to know with a grin. "Besides, I just expected...I dunno, sequins or something. This is so very...like..." Shimmying her shoulders as if to suggest it's very rigid and boring, the Doubletake shrugs, before nodding to indicate that yes, she wanted to use Mateo as a table.
"Nah not really. That girl Petra? But I only just kissed her. Robbie, though.." Flora frowns and shakes her head. "Hard pass on that ever again. He touched me like I was a canteloupe he was trying to decide was ripe or not, at the market."
As for what people enjoyed? "Ohho." Flora flips to the back with interest. She looks for information on Jack first, finding nothing. That wasn't surprising, given he was an abandoned, but of course she had to check.
"Wait, why does Everest have an entry?" And then, with no surprise. "Oh, it's empty."
Champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
"That is exactly what I just said, is it not?" Mateo smirks to his sister. It's a more polite way of saying did I stutter? a la Stanley, and he tilts his head at the relatively boring and organised black book, before scoffing. "I reserve the sequins for my diary, Flora," he informs her. And then, like a good slut, he turns around that she might use him to add amendments to the book.
"Petra is good - she has a tongue piercing now," he tells her airily. "I suppose I cannot say much for Robbie, though. I believe I had him tied up at the time." Hence the lack of canteloupe squeezing.
Not having the good captain's magic to hand, Mateo has no idea which entries Flora is looking for, but as she brings up Everest, he can't help but bark out a laugh. "I am beginning to think you have a crush on Everest Hart," he says. "You are very concerned about his sex life, you know."
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
"Among other things, I bet." The Doubletake trills of what Mateo might add sequins to, if not his little black book. Finding this a much more fascinating conversation than being bored to death over what plants required what amount of water, Flora takes her time with her brother's notebook.
"Is that so? Hmm. I wonder what that's like." Both of kissing someone with a tongue piercing as much as having one, to hear that Robbie had been tied up with Mateo only made Flora laugh before her mind began to consider. "In the right hands I think I'd like to be tied up, but...I guess that goes with almost everything." She muses with a small shrug, wondering just how taboo it was to be talking about all of this with her brother.
Grinning, Flora adds a heart to the back of Mateo's neck for his sass, before letting the book snap shut. "I mean, he is cute." She freely admits. "But no, it's more like...not rooting for the underdog I guess, and more...wondering if the underdog even has a working penis, you know?"
Champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
"Sequins yes. Glitter no. That is the most sage advice I can give you as your older brother," Mateo says gravely, though his words are somewhat lacking his usual flamboyance since he's forced to stay still while Flora reads and annotates. "Is that a rhetorical question?" he asks, of wondering what that's like, given that Mateo literally knows the answer to at least half of it.
Squirming a bit at the feel of the pen on the back of his neck, the botanist turns back to his sister at the sound of the book snapping shut. "Most things are enjoyable in the right hands," he agrees with a mild raise of his eyebrows. "You ought to come to Molly's when you visit next. The things they could teach you." Sighing softly and rescuing his book from Flora's fingers, Mateo tucks both away and offers her a grin for her trouble.
"He is cute," he agrees with a strange sense of pride. "He is just also very... nervous, almost. It is like what we said about the right hands, only I do not know if Everest likes hands."
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Raising her eyebrows but immediately recognizing good advice for what it was, Flora nodded solemnly in response to her sibling's tone. No glitter, got it. "I mean..." Happy to have Mateo fill the silence with personal experience if he so chooses, the Doubletake adds a small arrow shooting through the heart on her brother's neck before handing the pen back.
'Ooooooh, maybe I will.' Is Flora's first thought about learning things to please a certain unattainable captain? Of course. Does she care about how problematic that is? Absolutely not.
'Ew, Mateo.' Said in exactly the voice you imagine, the Doubletake crinkles her nose assuming what her brother means is that Everest is into feet or tentacles or something. "I always thought you two were like...a thing." Flora admits with a shrug. "Not like, a thing-thing, but just...casual or whatever."
Champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
Scoffing and resisting the urge to swat at Flora's hands (because he's sure the heart and arrow are super cute, knowing his sister), Mateo shifts to haul the bag of holding back over his shoulder. "You do not notice it much, usually, but if someone sucks on ice for a bit first, well..." He raises his eyebrows, letting her put two and two together there. "Wonderful - it is a date," he says of her visit and the decision to go to Molly's, because shut up the bar is well-stocked and the workers are lovely regardless.
Picking up Flora's basket for her - because he's a good big brother, don't you know - Mateo cackles and begins to head back the way they came. "No, I mean I do not think he is a sexual person, Flora. His penis does work, though, anatomically speaking." Can't travel together on a boat without noticing some things in the mornings, can you?
As for them being a thing, the botanist's smile grows surprisingly sunny, and he shrugs. "He is my best friend," he says simply. "For whatever reason, we work together. But no, I have never slept with Ever."
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
'Wouldn't that just make their tongue all..stiff?' And not in a good way, either. Unless..? Kombucha-girling about it, Flora decides that no, she doesn't think it would be good at all. 'Lovely of you to squeeze me in.' It's said playfully, though given just how full Flora knows her brother's schedule to be, she does appreciate the lengths he goes to to make himself available for her.
With a lupine grin, Flora cackles as she follows in Mateo's wake. "Oh? And you know this how?" She sings, fully imagining some sort of Big Mouth scenario where Mateo and Ever's penises went off for spa days or some such. "Ah well, it's a shame really. He is very pretty to look at." Flora murmurs with a lazy shrug. Initially, she'd sort of thought of Everestl like some fun sexual challenge, before realizing that trying to bulldoze someone's boundaries simply to see if she could was actually not as cute as it sounded. Still, why be so hot if you weren't going to do anything with it?
Champagne, cocaine, gasoline and most things in between
"Not if they are good with it," Mateo replies (far too easily), the botanist tips his sister a wink and reminds himself to add their date to his very busy schedule as soon as he gets back to his ship. Holding aside a large and mischievous looking leaf for Flora to walk past - in case it decides to try and hitch a ride with her, of course - he can't help but laugh at her questions. "Live with a boy in close quarters for a few days. You will figure it out," he tells her.
And Ever is very pretty to look at, even if Mateo would do all sorts of things with his hair and his dress sense given the choice, but again, boundaries; they are something both siblings can respect, even if it's a crying shame. "Nothing I need, no. But this was fun - you will have to let me know if you come up with any more cocktail ideas."
~FIN
I roam the city in a shopping cart a pack of Camels and a smoke alarm
