+- Court of the Fallen (https://cotf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: Out of Character (https://cotf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=26)
+--- Forum: Important (https://cotf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=27)
+---- Forum: Archives (https://cotf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=38)
+---- Thread: [RA] The Evening Report (/showthread.php?tid=11362)
Pages:
1
2
The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-19-2025
There was an blue picnic blanket with yellow hibiscus flowers spread on the black, glittering sand beneath the tropical sunset, and a small portable grill, low to the ground which Hadama had set up beside it. The coals in the pan had burned down to a bright glow and already a few of the thicker pieces of meat and pineapple were beginning to cook upon it as the Tidebreaker tended them with care.
A brush of something spicy and sweet was dabbed on one. A sprinkle of herbs on another, and then a pinch of salt as he tested the scent of it and contemplated what else could be done.
He had healed himself in the Fountain and cleaned himself up, but it was too hot for much in the way of layers. His star-stitched leather pants were cover enough, and if it left his torso bare to reveal a few new scars across his back and shoulders, not yet inked over in gold? Well. There was no point in hiding them. Not from his co-ruler. Even if she might yet choose to add to the collection herself.
Flora
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-20-2025
Flora’s footsteps hit the beach like accusations, each one a muffled what the fuck pressed into the black sand as she stomped barefoot toward the picnic Hadama had laid out. The scene was almost criminal in its serenity—the pastel sky, the slow-cooking skewers, the stupidly aesthetic hibiscus blanket—and it only made her madder. She should’ve been charmed. She should’ve wanted to drop into the little oasis he’d created and let the sunset do its work, but instead her chest was a knot of thorns and her hands were clenched at her sides.
[say]"What the hell, Hadama."[/say]
She stopped just short of the blanket, arms crossed tight enough to make her rings press into her skin. Her curls were a little wind-tossed, her cheeks still flushed from the salty sting of emotions she hadn’t wanted to unpack yet, and her mouth had settled into a sharp, unimpressed line.
[say]"You said you were going to patrol the Arclight."[/say] Her voice wasn’t raised, but it crackled with disbelief all the same. [say]"Patrol, not dive headfirst into the belly of Starfall and not even mention that Jack was going with you."[/say]
The last name dropped like a weight between them, and Flora winced inwardly, annoyed that it still felt like it had power over her. But gods, she hadn’t even gotten the chance to prepare—not for the island, not for the news, and sure as shit not for Jack turning up caked in dirt and voidblood with her name still on his tongue.
She huffed, glancing down at the neatly sizzling meat and fruit like it had personally offended her. [say]"Is this revenge because of what I did, because I really didn't think you were the type."[/say]
RE: The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-20-2025
He began to move the cooking meat and fruit off to the side of the grill at the first growled word, taking care to arrange them around the edges so that they would stay warm but would no longer cook quickly over the hottest portion of the coals. By the time he turned on his knees to face her the word Starfall was dropping between them, a boulder crashing through the rushing river of Flora's anger. The name that followed somehow held more weight than even that, though Hadama's serene expression did not change until he was sure she had finished.
"And your letter said that you would slap me for doing so," he agreed. "My apologies. I understood that to mean you knew where I was going." She did not usually promise violence when he went on a simple patrol of the only sea protected by Vi's Barrier, in the company of two of Halo's strongest defenders. But they were all on edge these days and he gathered himself to rise to his feet.
"Jack was a... last minute addition. I was unsure if he would come." He paused after that admission, emerald eyes gentle in the warm light of sunset. "And I did not know if you wished to see his name yet." Much less the captain himself.
But Hadama drew himself up and folded his hands behind his back so that he could not defend himself, inclining his head to his Queen solemnly as he prepared himself for whatever punishment she deemed suitable.
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-20-2025
Flora’s eyes narrowed the instant Hadama moved like he was about to bow. Absolutely not. Her hand snapped up—not to stop him, but to throw him the most pointed don’t you fucking dare look in her arsenal. The kind that could stop a storm dead and make a volcano think twice. [say]"Don’t do that,"[/say] she growled, eyes flashing like bottled lightning at his attempts toward cordiality. [say]"There’s patrolling and then there’s descending into claustrophobic void tunnels against two fucking monsters with only Sah and Noah as backup."[/say]
Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. She hated this. Hated that her worry had calcified into anger because it was easier than letting it spiral out of her like seawater through broken boards. She took a breath that didn’t help.
At the mention of Jack, her expression twitched, as though she'd bitten into something too bitter. Her jaw tightened, words caught between her teeth, and when Hadama stood—tall and fucking composed in a way that only made her feel smaller—Flora’s whole body bristled.
Tilting her head back just enough to glare up at him, she hissed, [say]"I’m not that fragile."[/say] And with that, she balled up her hand and punched him square in the chest; the sharp sound of skin against muscle, against sun-warmed gold rang out flatly, probably doing little to support her point that she wasn't fragile. [say]"You don’t need to hide his name like it’ll shatter me. I’m not made of stained glass."[/say]
And then, as the wind stirred the hibiscus blanket and the sky slipped further toward dusk, Flora’s shoulders sagged. Just a little. Her voice, when it came again, was quieter. [say]"If I’d known he was down there with you.."[/say] She dragged a hand through her curls, frustration flickering like heat lightning behind her eyes. [say]"I wouldn’t have flagged down his ship like an idiot when I saw it flying away from the island."[/say]
RE: The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-20-2025
He did not, in fact, dare to bow when Flora gave him that look. Hadama was brave, sometimes stubbornly so, but he was not suicidal. Though he could understand why Flora might think so, given the circumstances. He accepted her anger without argument, though he did not miss the swift, subtle change in her expression at the captain's name. It was enough of a warning that he could have braced himself--
But he did not. Her punch landed with enough force that he knew she meant it. More, it landed with precision, catching him in the diaphragm and drawing a quiet grunt from the Tidebreaker as the air was forced from his lungs. He cleared his throat, a soft sound as he forced the muscle to draw breath inwards again, though he was too proud to reach up and rub the spot where he would bear a bruise tomorrow. "No. You are not," he agreed slowly, considering her with a new light in his eyes.
Then a second reason for her anger came out, and Hadama relaxed his shoulders, letting his arms fall to his side, though he did not yet reach out to her. His thoughts slipped through the light and shadows of this new revelation, reconsidering what he had come to tell her. How much she already knew, and how much Jack had not known after he had left so abruptly. "I... see. You have heard most of it from him, then?"
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-21-2025
The instant her knuckles landed and she heard the quiet grunt in response, guilt prickled hot and sharp up the back of her neck. Flora might have been many things—petty, dramatic, loud—but she wasn’t violent. At least not like this.
Her teeth sank into the inside of her cheek as Hadama spoke, his calm only making her feel smaller and sharper than she wanted to be. [say]"Ugh,"[/say] she muttered, reaching out with a sigh to punch his shoulder again—gently, more apology than attack—before stepping in and slipping under his arm with an ease born of familiarity. She pressed herself against his side, a quiet exhale escaping her as her temple rested against the curve of his ribs. [say]"That didn’t count,"[/say] she grumbled, voice muffled and low. [say]"That was a sorry punch. Shut up."[/say]
Her hand found the hem of his star-stitched pants and toyed with the seam, needing something to do as the anger fizzled out and left her tired. Tired and bruised in places she couldn’t quite name. [say]"Jack said there was the Mirewyrm. And...some spider?"[/say] she prompted, brows furrowing as she tilted her head back to glance up at him. [say]"Said you all managed to kill the spider but couldn’t draw the wyrm back. He wanted to plant the rose and get out of there, but you—"[/say] Her eyes narrowed just slightly, not unkind, but clearly searching. [say]"Disagreed."[/say] She let the word drawl just enough to show that she knew that probably undersold things.
[say]"Is that true?" she asked, quiet now. Not accusatory. Just...trying to understand.
RE: The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-24-2025
He blinked at the second punch, his surprise unhidden, and then lifted his arm to tuck her under it. She would feel the rise of his ribs as he drew in a slow, deep breath of relief and then turned to wrap her in a proper hug. "Yes," he rumbled quietly in acquiescence to her command. Sunset burned its dying fire in the western sky and the stars were beginning to twinkle to the east as the sea breeze brought a welcome breath of coolness to the lingering heat of the day. He was alive, and Flora was well, and the clean, sacred sand of Safrin's isle was soft beneath his bare feet.
And he was no long beneath the cursed island, trapped in its too-small tunnels and battling for his life and his people and his world. He had survived, and he drew another breath to savor the moment, borrowing some of Flora's strength even as she leaned into his side until she was ready for him to speak again.
"Mmn. I did." The confirmation was simple and unadorned at first, but only while he put his thoughts in order, casting back to the shadows and the pain as rocks fell around them and the Mirewyrm fled their ability to end it. "The Wyrm retreats each time. And then joins the next guardian. Each battle already grows more difficult. But this has become a war. A quiet one, but it is more than one battle. One victory. And when Jack left, we had earned time to heal. To try to lure the Wyrm back to finish it. So that the next battle might be easier." He had been thinking ahead to the battles yet to come, to the friends who would be facing them, not wanting to expose them to further dangers.
But in the end his good intentions had not been enough.
Although not entirely fruitless. "One of Vi's demigods, Noah Olsen, may have finally returned to us, however." And there was a gleam of satisfaction in emerald eyes that spoke of more than just the Halovian demigod's physical presence. "At the end, after Jack left, he finally seemed to.. remember... who and what he is." Vi's oldest living demigod. A leader and a protector. Forsaken, but still powerful in his own right. And Caido needed every warrior it could get these days.
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-24-2025
[say]"How're you supposed to do that?"[/say] Flora asked, voice low and sharp, a blade drawn in quiet frustration. [say]"Lure the wyrm back, I mean."[/say] Her brow furrowed as she stepped out of the hug, not because she didn’t want it anymore—gods, she did—but because standing still made the weight of it all feel heavier. Pacing helped. Anger helped. Her hands found her hips, fingers curling against bare skin where her tank top had ridden up.
Sunset painted her golden, but her glare was all steel.
[say]"I mean, what’s the plan for next time?"[/say] she continued. [say]"Bring someone you don't like and dangle them to make it stick around?"[/say] Her tone wasn’t cruel, just tired. [say]"I wonder what happens to you immortals if you get eaten."[/say]
At the mention of Noah, though, her expression soured further. [say]"What do you mean he’s returned?"[/say] she asked, the word spat out like a bad taste before shaking her head, braid swaying behind her. [say]"Like, I'm glad he showed up to help, but if the bar for demigods is just remembering who the fuck they are while the rest of us are bleeding and being murdered, then literally what's the point of them? Isn’t showing up supposed to be the bare minimum?"[/say] Her hands lifted in exasperation, then dropped uselessly to her sides.
RE: The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-24-2025
"It is lured by death. The death of Void creatures. Perhaps other creatures. There were Void serpents in the first tunnels, before the Lily was planted." He released her as she pulled away, seeing the tension in her hands, and he reluctantly let his arms fall back to his sides. "I intended to hunt for more... bait... once the spider was dead. While Sah held the tunnels." He hesitated, then gave a small shrug. "The idea was not taken well." Jack, notably, but also by Noah. "Next time I would recommend bringing Void animals captured from other regions. As we did to make the Barriers." Not kind, perhaps, but as ruthlessly pragmatic as he had learned to be as King. "And sacrifice them to draw it out. That, or..." He tilted his head to the side, thoughtful. "The first time the Wyrm appeared today, we had not killed anything. It came. It fired a Void blast at us. We were... very close to killing it then, before it retreated." If any of his companions had been able to land a finishing blow in that first round--
But they had not. And dwelling on it would not change the past. Nor would contemplating her suggestion of bringing someone he did not like help.
However tempting it might be.
"Be ready. Hit it with everything when it breaches. It might be possible with Deimos and Sunjata and I combined, now that we are prepared. If there was time to finish my quest for Safrin..." He trailed off into silence, thinking with a furrow in his brow until the bitterness in Flora's voice drew him back into the moment and he listened to her anger. Accepted it, but did not bow his head as he considered her frustration.
"...Yes," he agreed, feeling the answering twinge in his own heart, a dark echo that he usually kept hidden. "It is supposed to be." A breath in. A breath out. "But you know why your fathers have stayed out of this fight. I will not make excuses for the rest." He contemplated his Queen solemnly and then looked towards the corrupted horizon where Starfall hunched in the gloaming, a dark bird brooding over its nest and the black egg within.
A change of tacking into the wind. "I could invite Dahlia to spar with me. Attempt to get more of her blood to ward the Port. Give you a place to rest when you are not out raising hell against them." He had no illusions that she would hide there in safety while others were in danger. But it would make him feel better to know that she at least had the option. A place to sleep beyond their reach.
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-24-2025
Flora huffed out a laugh, dry and sharp as sun-baked stone. [say]"Well, then I stand by my original suggestion,"[/say] she drawled, folding her arms beneath her chest. [say]"Sacrifice someone you don’t like."[/say] Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, but it flickered there anyway, more reflex than anything. The kind of grin you threw on just to keep from sinking.
Still, she listened as he laid out the plan in that calm, methodical way of his. Serpents as bait, void creatures from other regions, preparing for the breach. She nodded along, fingers tapping idly against her hip. These were Hadama’s strengths, after all: strategy, patience. She wasn’t about to pretend she could do better, not when her only experience with the Family involved dying.
But when he mentioned his quest, Flora straightened, a little spark of interest flaring in her chest. [say]"Oh? What is it?"[/say] she asked, brows lifting. [say]"What do you still have to do?"[/say]
The mention of her fathers earned a theatrical widening of her eyes as she stepped away from the shore’s breeze. [say]"Oh, come on. I already died once,"[/say] she said breezily, flicking a piece of sea-glass out from under her sandal. [say]"And since they can bring me back, I figure I’ve got at least two more tries before anyone starts getting sentimental about it. Mateo’s in Haulani now, too. So there's just me to worry about it, and I say they should go for it."[/say]
At the idea of sparring with the Reaper, Flora blinked—and then grinned. [say]"You think Dahlia would actually show?"[/say] she asked, clearly already picturing the chaos. [say]"She might, honestly. That sounds like her kind of foreplay."[/say] Shaking her head, she paced a few steps in the sand before glancing back.
[say]"And okay—this is probably dumb—but what if I, like...chucked a blade at Pierce during his pool party? Just one,"[/say] she added, holding up a finger. [say]"If it hit him—just a scratch, nothing serious—and I recalled it right after, and then teleported away? We'd have some of him without actually going toe to toe with the fucker."[/say]
RE: The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-24-2025
"Mmn. If it would not be unbecoming of a King, I would be tempted to take my sister's fiancee as bait," he informed Flora with all the solemn gravity of a state secret. Trying, perhaps, to coax her smile a little higher, or startle a true laugh from her tense and angry eyes.
But he had more concrete plans as well. Ones he shared freely with his co-ruler, well aware that every time he took up arms against the Family might be the step too far. The slap that broke the strange, whisper-thin ribbon that held them back from open violence against even more of Caido's residents after their... demonstration against Flora and Jack. And his own plans to prepare for that day.
"Improving my gravity spikes further. I need to train more with them. To use them to their limit." He tilted his head at her, a spark of his own glinting in emerald eyes. "I could use a partner."
Even if she brushed her death off it still sobered Hadama. He did not argue with her, but the his gaze was concerned - sentimental, even - in spite of her insistence to the contrary. But he inclined his head in slow acknowledgment of her wishes. "Ronin may be... relieved... to hear that." A cautious statement, and he held up a hand to indicate his lack of certainty about it. "I believe that he would return to the fight if he felt that he could. Have you told them this?"
He had not expected her to support his challenge of the Reaper and he snorted softly upon realizing that she knew him too well now for his dry statements to always catch her off guard. "It would be... unfortunate if she thought I was flirting with her," he admitted, tilting his head to Flora in acknowledgment of the point she had just scored. "Though I was considering something similar for this 'pool party.' Would it help if I distracted him for you?"
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-24-2025
Hadama’s solemnity earned the reward he was after: a snort of laughter low in Flora’s throat, unwilling but real. She shook her head, brushing hair back from her brow. [say]"I won’t tell if you don’t,"[/say] she said dryly, though the image of that particular sacrificial bait had her grinning despite herself.
But when he mentioned his gravity spikes and training with them further, her grin widened. [say]"Duh, of course I’ll help. You can even go first."[/say] Her brows lifted, golden in the last flickers of sunset, and her teeth flashed in a smirk. [say]"Y'know, since I already hit you once today."[/say]
Her teasing dulled, though, at the mention of her fathers. Flora blew out a breath, not quite a sigh but close, her bare toes digging into the cooling sand. [say]"I never told them not to fight,"[/say] she muttered. [say]"But maybe I’ll give them a nudge."[/say] Ronin especially—because if they were waiting for her to be safe before getting back into the fray, well...they’d be waiting forever.
As for Dahlia, she snorted again, eyeing Hadama sidelong. [say]"Do you even know how to flirt with anyone?"[/say] she asked, though the edge in her voice had softened again into something that sounded suspiciously like fondness.
Still, the thought of the pool party twisted something in her stomach, dragging her eyes toward the black silhouette of the mountains. If this was it—if they only got one shot—then gods, she wanted it to count. Wishing not for the first time that she could speak silently the way the attuned and demigods could, Flora nibbles at the inside of her cheek. [say]"You think Deimos would let me borrow his…"[/say] She lifted a hand, waggled her fingers vaguely. [say]"Lucky rabbit’s foot?"[/say]
RE: The Evening Report - Hadama - 05-25-2025
Her dry promise earned a solemn wink from the Tidebreaker, his eyes gleaming with quiet mischief that did not dull when he made his 'innocent' statement about needing a training partner. This time, however, he did bow - if only to hide the flash of white teeth in a grin. "Gracious of you," he murmured, teasing right back, even if he would grow serious soon after.
It was not quite a promise from her, that she would speak to her fathers, but it was close enough to satisfy Hadama. He nodded acceptance of her words and then offered an idea of his own that drew a snort from his queen. Her concerns over his abilities were not without cause but he thought that he could allay them. "Indeed. I have observed the forms. And taken notes." He raised his hands to tick off the procedures as he listed them. "Flowers. Chocolates. Promises that I do not intend to keep." A steely brow raised then as he met Flora's eyes with something dangerously close to a smile threatening to crack his stoic facade.
But it could not last long. He followed her gaze and then glanced down to her wiggling fingers, brow furrowing slightly in thought. At first he did not quite follow what she meant, but when understanding dawned he drew in a slow breath and held it for a long moment. "Mmh. I cannot speak for him," he said slowly. It would be a significant favor, requiring a great deal of trust, and he did not know where Flora currently stood with the Resurrected Sword. "But I can speak for myself." He removed one of the rings he wore - simple gold, with the faint shimmer of tumsea shell at its core - and held it out to her. "If it will help."
Hadama has offered Flora:
Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Upgraded
Lucky Ring | A ring that when worn grants +5 luck. Must be included in all PQ/PQ+/KQ/DROP posts to be counted.
RE: The Evening Report - Flora - 05-27-2025
Flora wrinkled her nose affectionately at Hadama’s overly solemn bow, the motion tugging a soft laugh from her as she rolled her eyes. [say]"You’re lucky you’ve got that whole tall, stoic thing going for you,"[/say] she muttered.
But she wasn’t done yet. When he began ticking off the elements of flirting he’d "observed," she lifted her own hand, fingers dancing upward like she was marking a score. [say]"Also love bombing,"[/say] she added dryly. [say]"One-night stands. Apologies delivered via confections.."[/say]
The smirk she wore dulled into something softer as her thoughts returned to the pool party and her chances. She hummed quietly in acknowledgement, chewing thoughtfully on the inside of her cheek at Hadama’s non-answer about Deimos. She hadn’t expected a yes, not really. But her breath caught when he extended his hand instead, the gold ring glinting in the last strokes of sunlight. The inlaid tumsea shell shimmered like the sea itself, and Flora’s heart twisted.
[say]"Are you sure?"[/say] she murmured, slipping it over her thumb and flexing her hand. But her voice was watery, and her eyes—wide, astonished—shone as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him again, pressing herself to the familiar coolness of his bronze skin. Her voice was quieter still when she whispered, [say]"thank you."[/say] For trusting in her, for believing in her.