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!
Their similarities are their downfalls, because neither is the type to be so vulnerable or honest so soon. Both trying to conceal things while still taking a chance that - at least on Hotaru's behalf - feels more serious than their flirtatious natures would normally dictate. It's like dancing on a tightrope, and Alys' voice in her head is the only reason she doesn't pull away. Well...maybe not the only reason. But given the scars she carries from the number of times she has been burned, it's difficult to trust that he won't snub out his flames on her skin in the exact same way.
Again he steals any response straight from her lungs. Hotaru has encountered countless smooth-talking men in her life, but none quite so romantic in their forwardness. It makes something old and empty in her chest ache until she can only follow in the wake of his hands, tilting her face up towards his. If he is looking for permission he will find it - intertwined with the raw, vulnerable expression she wears.
Hotaru has been kissed a thousand times, and yet the first time with someone new never ceases to remind her why poets and authors endlessly attempt to find the right words to describe it. It's lightning in a bottle, even with how tender and reserved he holds himself. Eyes having closed without noticing, Ru leans onto her toes to better reach him, gently pulling him closer with a hand at the nape of his neck. Not tentative as he had been, but slow. Lingering. Exploring. A quiet conversation with no words.
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.
Hotaru was not the only one who had been burned; perhaps George hadn't been hurt as many times, or in as many ways, but he carried his own scars. Sometimes it was easy to forget they were there; other times, it was as though they existed only to drown him in his own sorrow. But there was nothing sorrowful about him now as he watched Hotaru hungrily, sparks of hope flickering in his chest at the expression on her face, that he might stand a chance at whatever this was between them after all, despite all odds.
The vulnerability on Hotaru's face was reflected in George's eyes, and he took his time as he leaned down to capture her lips with his own, searching her face for any indication of unwillingness or hesitation. He was not the type to take; it had been mistaken before for uncertainty, but underneath it was a deep tenderness that was rarely shown, lest it be taken advantage of.
Lightning in a bottle was an apt description; when their lips met, it was with a spark that lit a fire deep in his belly, and he willingly leaned into her as she pulled him closer. The kiss was long and slow, an unspoken dance. It was a heady thing, an honest thing, perhaps the first purely unguarded moment between them, and George reveled in its simplicity. His hand slipped from her chin to her cheek, his thumb brushing gently across her cheekbone as he deepened the kiss, not wanting to be the first to pull away.
Alone beneath the stars, surrounded by distant music and firelight, it is like something out of a storybook romance. Novels the likes of which she has never belonged within. But for a moment as he kisses her - as he holds her - she can steal the heroine's spotlight and pretend those words were written with her in mind. Be worthy of the dashing love interest who holds her far more gently than she has ever deserved.
The callouses on his fingers brush against her cheeks in a way that leaves her shuddering, her own fingers trailing across the side of his neck and down onto his collarbone where they curl into the neckline of his shirt as if afraid he'll pull away and vanish. Her lips part slightly to allow him to deepen the kiss, soft motions that undulate slowly as if they have all the time in the world. Her other hand rests just above his heart, though she is too distracted to keep note of its rhythm as she has in the past to feel how affected she is making her partner. This time, she merely trusts.
When she pulls back she is mere centimeters away, lips still brushing his as she inhales a shuddering breath. "Definitely a beginning," she murmurs, and cannot refrain from kissing him again.
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.
Stars and firelight and distant music and muffled laughter; it all swirled around him as he sank deeper into the kiss, both oblivious and hyperaware all at once. His breath hitched slightly as her fingers trailed down his neck and over his collarbone to tangle in his shirt. He had no intentions of pulling away, no desire to vanish. He was here, and he was entirely present, and, for the moment, he was completely hers.
Later, he would wonder what had changed between them, in the time between the beach and the party. Had tension held her captive earlier that evening, and now he was just the outlet she'd chosen to alleviate it? Or was there something deeper there, something that begged to be explored?
In the moment, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the feel of her and the scent of her and the taste of her, the way her body melded against his in a way that felt oh, so right.
When she pulled back, he paused, opening his eyes to gaze into hers, a crooked smile quirking up the corners of his lips. He chuckled warmly at her quiet murmur, the sound a little shaky, as though needing to catch his breath in the aftermath of their kiss. What more was there to say? For now, he was content to lean into her, to press his lips to hers in a silent promise of all that was to come.
He is not the only one entirely present in the moment. The rest of the night fizzles into white noise in her head as he kisses her, old flames and new ones extinguishing for a moment until she can only focus on him.
His crooked grin makes her own lips turn in a helpless smile moments before she presses them back to his. Even breathing a small laugh that is swallowed up between their mouths, an expression of lighthearted joy that makes it taste all the sweeter shared between their lips. George's arms are warm and solid around her, and even up on her toes she feels stable and sure-footed, knowing he won't let her fall the same way she'd known it down in her bones that day at the beach. A trust that shouldn't exist so soon, but which is inescapably a gut feeling.
Pulling back one more time she keeps her eyes closed and simply breathes. Letting it come naturally when she opens her eyes and tilts her nose against his. "Hey," she whispers like a the opening to a childish secret, amusement twitching on her mouth, "care to go on a proper date?" Never let it be said that Ru lives by archaic standards. Why not be the one to initiate the next step?
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.
His thoughts were focused only on her, only on this moment, not on either of their pasts. Whatever flirtations she may have had, earlier that evening or with the bartender on the beach; whatever relationships she might have held kindled in her heart - none of that really mattered. Not here, now, with her wrapped up in his arms in all the care and safety he could provide.
She was bright and joyous in his arms, and he could feel her light laugh more than he could hear it. It was an intoxicating sound, all the more enchanting by how real it felt, as though her hardened exterior from earlier had all but melted away under his care. It was that, more than anything, that had him swallowing hard, resisting the urge to lean forward for another, decidedly less chaste kiss.
He lived in a world of guarded walls, and yet all he wanted just now was for them all to come crumbling down; so it was that when she whispered an invitation like a secret, breathy and soft against his lips, he cracked perhaps the first true smile that he'd shown her. "I thought you'd never ask."
If she knew his intent was to throw chasteness to the wind, maybe she would have lingered - saved the proposal for later. But when he smiles, he smiles, and she can tell how different it is from all the variations she has seen so far. It's like walking past an open window and being unexpectedly blinded by a burst of sunlight, leaving you disoriented and blinking afterimages out of your eyes. Except she doesn't even want to dare to blink lest she miss out on a moment of his handsome face.
"Well I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," she teases, though it's hard to speak through her own almost giddy smile. Hotaru admittedly can't remember the last time she went on an actual date. She doesn't think she has since her arrival in Caido which is absolutely tragic and says far too much about her relationship history and style. Forgive her if she feels a little girlishly excited at the prospect. "Shall I let you be the one to suggest the idea then? Even the scales?" Ru finds her attention wandering mid-sentence, already feeling the desire to kiss him anew.
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.
Gods, but she was beautiful, especially when she smiled like that. He leaned down, pressing his forehead to hers, letting the hand at her cheek drop down to rest on her waist. "I suppose I can forgive you," he teased back, his thumb rubbing light circles on the curve of her hip.
The prospect of taking Hotaru on an actual date was an exciting, but terrifying, one. George shuddered to think how long it had been since he'd gone on a date himself; he wondered if he would still be any good at it, or if all of his suave and wit would be washed away after tonight, taken out on the tide. His mind raced through scenarios, date options that were either too cliche or too cringe to describe. Then his mind lit on an idea.
"What are you doing tomorrow evening?" he asked, an excited spark in his gaze. Maybe it was pushing things a little, presuming too much to think that she might want to go out so soon, but he'd already pushed his luck this evening. What was a little more?
He may not be the type for one-night stands, and Ru may find him too captivating to consider one with him given her rule of never returning to one, but the thumb that draws circles on her hip makes it impossibly hard to concentrate. The giddy, girlish feeling in her stomach has no qualms with budging over to make room for something a little more mature.
It's certainly fast, but currently Ru's only plans for tomorrow lie in the morning, so why not? "Nothing yet, I can pencil you in," she croons, wondering what he has come up with on such short notice. Would he tell her? Let her remain in the dark in an effort to surprise her? Hotaru is ecstatic to discover there are options she has never had to consider before, and she marvels at how it feels to pursue something beyond sex with forethought and intent. Not that she wouldn't be happy with sex if it came, but right now she feels like she's in a fairytale bubble and nothing can shatter that strangely innocent illusion.
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.
It wasn't as if Hotaru was the only one feeling a bit mature, and that fact was surely not lost on Hotaru given how closely they were pressed together. Still, his resolve had never been stronger - this woman, he was certain, would be worth the wait. Assuming, of course, that the date that he was now supposed to plan went well. No pressure.
"Pencil me in, will you?" he teased, reaching up to tweak her nose playfully. "How kind of you." Reluctantly, he leaned in for another quick kiss, squeezing her close before releasing all of her but one hand. "Where are you staying? I'll come for you around - let's say 6:30. Wear something you don't mind getting sand on," he added with a wink. Then he lifted her hand to his lips, bowing slightly so that they were on eye level, and murmured, "Until tomorrow, love." And even though it was an endearment he used frequently, there was something low and intimate about the way he said it that he couldn't quite explain.
