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!
there was no where for me to stay, but I stayed anyway
Everest is too overwhelmed to argue with Mateo. He's quite sure there's a very obvious flaw in his friend's logic, but for the music in his ears and the chatter of voices all around them, he can't seem to find what it is.
Having been dressed by the botanist such that he looked more or less presentable in a flowy white shirt and dark slacks, Ever is content to overcome the awkward way he has to move about in his friend's shadow in order to keep Mateo's hand securely in his pocket, if only because Mateo is the only really familiar thing to him in this strange setting.
As Flora presses her lips against his cheek and tugs him toward her, the aviator can only try and restrain the mewl of discomfort that wants to whine from the back of his throat. Wondering if, having greeted their hostess, he couldn't just sit outside on the sand as a dog until Mateo was done, Ever does his best not to succumb to the sensory overload threatening to send him into a panic attack. ' Congratulations Flora. This looks very nice.'
Giving Ronin a look which managed to both be pleased and annoyed, the Lullaby is about to say something more about what he had or hadn't expected from Flora, when his daughter's greeting catches his attention. Ronin beats him to it - oh fuck is right - leaving the Lullaby having to actively think about keeping his fingers from turning into talons. Heartbreakingly perhaps, he's only concerned about Sunjata for the moment, despite Isla 's radiant presence at his side. She occupies such a small place in his thoughts now that if not for the Flood, he'd likely not even have noticed.
Sighing heavily and turning away so that he couldn't see the Flood and Remedy, Remi breathes in deeply enough that his nostrils seem to collapse with the force of the air. "I didn't know Flora knew either of them." He mumbles in a low voice, before the stern quality of Remi's expression seems to slowly fragment, revealing a much more speculative and rarely seen one beneath.
Do you ever miss him...? The Lullaby wonders silently, an eyebrow softly raised.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
06-01-2023, 05:52 PM (This post was last modified: 06-01-2023, 05:53 PM by Hadama.)
After their last exchange of letters the mermanta wasn't entirely sure he would be welcome at the reopening...
But in truth, without his young friend's express forbiddance, he wouldn't have missed it for the world.
He arrived with his usual lack of fanfare, emerging from the water near the ocean-side of the bar and swimming up quietly. He was content to watch the luminaries of Caido meet and mingle, ignorant of the social riptides that lurked below the surface of so many potential interactions in the main room. A murmured request of one of the guests soon had a pen and piece of paper in his damp hands, and he signed his name to it before it was whisked away to the mysterious jar.
He took his time selecting a drink, and emerald eyes sparkled with amusement as he finally chose a glencairn and took a savoring sip of its contents.
Remi turns away and that's fine with Ronin, the Supernova more than happy to spy on proceedings from over his husband's shoulder, such that he keeps his arm twined about the Lullaby's waist as they talk. Luckily for everyone he misses the way the Ark's captain decides to try his luck with Flora, Ronin instead watching with interest as the interaction between the Flood, the Remedy and his adopted daughter plays out.
It's with his drink in his hand forgotten and his lips softly pressed to Remi's temple that he finally hears the accented voice in his head, Ronin blinking and gazing across at the other man.
"Mm...?" He smiles weakly, shrugging his shoulders. "Course I do - we were good friends before everything happened," he murmurs. "I feel like we're both different people now, though. And I do feel bad, that he lost the person he cared about most. Even if I wasn't Nate's biggest fan, if I lost you..." He shrugs. They both know the answer to that question, and it isn't pretty.
Wrapping an arm around his husband's shoulder as if the pair were lazily dancing rather than drudging up the past, Remi takes a sip of his own drink and wishes, not for the first time this week, that he was able to get properly drunk.
"Yeah..." Remi agrees in a low voice. Though the Lullaby's disillusionment with the Flood had come before the war, on days when he felt like being charitable, he could understand Sunjata's position. The three of them had just...ended up on opposite sides of what had happened. Biting his lip, for a moment the Lullaby regards the trees that provide outdoor shelter and atmosphere (he thinks), before swallowing heavily. Lowering his gaze, a smile tugging at just one side of his face, Remi looks at Ronin earnestly for a long moment before speaking.
"Would you like to go and speak to him?"
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 reach out to my lifeline, the angels laugh in paradise
As Eleftheria approached the Hanged Man, they observed the purple bonfire, the music and revelry, and nerves started to crawl around in their stomach. Why had they agreed to this again? They remembered George's sly grin as he told them about "a little get-together hosted by the leader of the guild" where El could make "connections." This event didn't look little at all, with suntanned seafarers left and right laughing and talking and drinking, and a jar right by the entrance labeled ENTER YOUR NAME IN THE RAFFLE TO WIN! El wondered what they would be winning, then shrugged before writing Hawke on a piece of paper and stuffing it inside.
They looked around for George, saw no one they recognized, and decided to head for the bar. Perhaps some liquid courage would help. After (luckily) finding an empty bar stool, they ordered the prettiest drink on the menu and had to hesitate before starting to gulp it down. It was just so beautiful, but they were also too nervous to be here. Soon enough, the bright decorations that littered the place began glittering more than before, which El brushed off as a trick of the light.
They turned around to face away from the bar and surveyed the crowd, sizing them up. A lot of folks looked quite inebriated already and dressed very well. El was suddenly embarrassed at their choice of outfit: the same simple shirt and pants they wore everywhere else. There might've been a bloodstain or two on it, as well.
The band began to play a song El recognized, and at this point, they felt loose enough to sing along, raising their glass and swaying to the beat.
"Whale, whale, whale." Though Flora was obviously here for the drama unfolding elsewhere in the bar, the presence of a certain mermanta who just happened to be the king of Torchline and quite the Judas in her humble opinion was not something the Doubletake was going to ignore.
So, strutting her way along the canal and toward the sea-side portion of the tavern as if she were on a catwalk with a thousand eyes upon her, Flora raises her eyebrows a touch threateningly for a moment before flashing Hadama a bright smile. "Hey." She offers, her voice just as bubbly and bright as ever.
"I'm still mad at you-" She adds quickly, tilting her head to the side and pointing a perfectly painted nail in Hadama's direction. '-but I'm glad you're here. Pretty good turn out, huh?"
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it
06-01-2023, 06:05 PM (This post was last modified: 06-01-2023, 06:06 PM by Dantalion.)
I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes
Danta has been at the party for some time, because one only has to say free drinks once to get the Ancient to a gathering. And, yes, he supposes he's joined a guild now or something, but mostly it's the party. He's been lingering (read:slouched) by the waterside bar after slipping his name into the raffle jar, watching the ripples dance against the walls with a predatory slant to an already hazy gaze, when a person surfaces nearby.
As put together as Hadama is, Danta is rather the opposite, shirtless beneath his (customary by now) ruddy leather coat, his spaded tail flicking curiously as he peeeeers over the bar and down into the deep where Hadama's legs are not.
"You a fish?" he asks with a fanged grin.
Dantalion
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Skirting just on the edge of fashionably late, Hotaru shows up with Talyson in tow. She had warned him quietly when he had disembarked of the differences he would see in her today, but as she walks up the pathway in her shimmering gown, Ru knows it will not have been enough of a warning.
The first two she sees are Remi and Ronin camped outside by the fire - unsurprising on both counts, which is a relief as she had been prepared for their attendance. Though her companionable outlook towards Remi has never wavered, if Ronin's primordial, Attuned feelings are as close to the surface as hers are right now? Well, she does them the respect of not even meeting their eyes as she walks inside. No sense in making this harder for either of them.
Flora has not only transformed the building, but clearly brought her personal touch to the music, lights, and drinks. Hotaru approves wholeheartedly of her daughter's efforts - until she sees everyone else the Doubletake has invited.
Ah, fuck. Okay, time for a split-second battle plan.
'How to be Elegant, Social, and Abstain from Murder by Hotaru Kaito'.
First, a raffle jar. Ru likes items, Flora likes items, what's to lose?
Second, Mateo. While they are not close, the Valkyrie has always done her best to include him, even when he'd been a mere child gallumphing about with the twins. Still, she only sweeps by his side and gives him a small smile and a 'hello dear' before floating onward. His friend looks severely green around the gills, best leave him to the cleanup.
Then, Sunjata. Seeing the blonde at his side makes Hotaru's teeth drip with acid, which she swallows down manfully to hide with a warm smile towards Isla. Her possessiveness is borne of desperation, having hoped she could have perhaps stood with him in the corner and ignored the rest of the party, but she won't resent the fact that he seems happier. Or at least healthier. If that was Isla's doing, Ru can manage to play nice. "It's good to see you Jata," she murmurs, and touches his wrist briefly before turning to Isla, leaning in to brush their cheeks in a kiss of greeting. "I don't think we've met? I'm Hotaru, Flora's mother. You look radiant." From over Isla's shoulder however she sees two more blondes - Phoebe and Flora. So though she's soooooo reluctant to cut this short, she pulls back with an apologetic smile. "Actually I see her at the bar, I should go say hi. Excuse me."
Alright Ru, doing good. One last lap.
Phoebe at least is a friend, so Ru bumps hips with her as she sashays past, hiding her stiffness behind a grin. "Long time no see! Come find me in a bit!" There's another man near the bar, one she remembers from living here but hell if she knows his name. Attractive, though not her usual type. Dismissing him mentally, Ru steps up to her daughter's side without a care for who she's speaking to (oh wait, it's Dama. Yeah he'll forgive her).
"Darling job my flower! I hope your drinks are as good as your workmanship, because I'm going to need it," she laughs, pressing little kisses all over Flora's face just to cramp her style in front of all her friends as punishment for having invited them. Ru is really going to need that drink.
Not too much alcohol though, because last time she was truly drunk in Torchline things had gotten a little...complicated.
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
06-01-2023, 06:17 PM (This post was last modified: 06-01-2023, 06:22 PM by Hadama.)
Hadama watched the hostess approach from behind the rim of his glass - whiskey, tonight, as perhaps Flora would notice.
Or perhaps not. She had a great deal going on, and he was only one of many guests vying for her attention tonight.
Either way, he toasted her silently and then inclined his head in acceptance of her temper. "You look radiant," he said by way of greeting, and then a small smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. "And you have done well tonight. Congratulations, Flora."
She was not the only one whose attention he had caught, however, and he paused to turn his head and give Dantalion an inquiring look. "I am a Merfolk," he answered with quiet dignity, all traces of his former smile having dissipated like seafoam on the sand back to his more usual serene stoicness.
Hotaru's appearance is welcome and the Tidebreaker nodded welcome to the leader of the Academy, gracefully taking a sip of his drink as a polite withdrawal so she could greet the rising star of the evening.
Even without being able to feel his husband's emotions flow over him like a warm rain, Ronin thinks he'd be able to parse the complex meaning of Remi's yeah all on its own. But hey, since the emotions are readily available, the Supernova leans into them, tilting his head to aim a soft kiss against Remi's cheek. He draws back to find the other man looking at him, which isn't strange in itself, but he soon feels as though he's expected to solve a riddle through the expression alone.
When he speaks, though--
Already smiling lopsidedly back at Remi, Ronin glances back towards the Flood and his (presumably) date... and finds Hotaru instead.
And no, there needs to be very little probing or forewarning to feel the chill that suddenly reverberates across their Attuned bonds for all in attendance to feel. "Perhaps later," he rumbles, shooting back the rest of his drink in one.
Flora indeed noticed the King's drink and not just because I'd read about whiskey being a northern drink in another thread, how dare u, but it was true that there were far too many things vying for the Doubletake's attention just now.
"You're not so bad yourself." She sings playfully, scrunching her nose affectionately at Hadama before glancing sidelong at Dantalion and not knowing whether to be amused or offended by his ignorance. "This is Hadama. He's our King." Flora offers helpfully. She had meant to introduce the ancient, but all bets were off as Hotaru flutters into her vicinity.
"Momma!" Not embarrassed at all (have you seen Hotaru?), Flora throws her arms around her mother's shoulders and hugs her tightly. "I'vemissedyousomuch, and lookhowmanypeoplearehere!" She gushes in a single breath, before pulling back slightly and reaching for her mother's hands.
"I think Enzo would have liked this.." The Doubletake adds in a low voice, her aqua eyes sparkling even as a small lump builds in the back of her throat.
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it
06-01-2023, 06:38 PM (This post was last modified: 06-01-2023, 06:38 PM by Remi.)
REMI
the alchemist
& my heart ran away with me
Remi shouldn't have been surprised that Hotaru was here, and yet as she breezed through the throngs of party-goers as if she commanded her own gravity such that heads were turning, the Lullaby found himself with his mouth slightly agape. Nodding warmly in her direction, Remi's familial feels quite close to the surface given his recent thoughts of Enzo, the Lullaby tries to make an I'll come find you later, face, before looking back to Ronin in time to feel the icy blast from his husband's fingertips.
Opting to say nothing, just the same way Ronin said little when Remi's feelings about Safrin bubbled to the surface, the Lullaby leans forward to press a kiss against the Supernova's lips. Remi both is and isn't one for PDA, but just now it feels appropriate with so many of the dead remnants from their past wandering around them. "Well if you do, I will not be upset. I might even understand." He adds with a small and tentative smile.
"Probably best that you go it alone, though." Remi whispers before pressing another quick kiss against his husband's lips to taste the lingering sweetness of the rum Ronin had just shot back.
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Yeah, there's a lot happening. With a softly furrowed brow and a puzzled expression, Isla is left feeling flattered and a little sad and a lot confused, raising a hand to wave after Flora as their hostess rightfully goes to greet the plentiful other guests who have arrived in the meantime. "Thank you," she says, perhaps a touch too late after the Doubletake has melted into the crowd. "What did you do?" she wants to know, looking up at Sunjata. Apparently he'd done it nicely.
No sooner has she taken another (much more measured) sip of her drink when another beautiful woman is cutting through the crowd towards them, greeting Sunjata and offering her another compliment and a kiss to the cheek - and honestly, Isla doesn't think she's ever been touched so much at once, and she lives in a fucking brothel. "Isla," she murmurs by way of introduction. "It's nice to meet you too, Hotaru. You..." look stunning yourself is left trailing on her lips, because Flora's mother is already gone.
And then so is Isla's first (but not last) drink of the night.
"I think we should sit down somewhere," she decides with a wry smile to Sunjata, nodding towards an empty table and promptly heading for it.
we're gonna separate ourselves tonight we're always running scared but holding knives
