Court of the Fallen
the things that are deadly - Printable Version

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the things that are deadly - Aisha - 06-28-2020

Longnight was so close to it's close, and for the past week Aisha had felt oh so unproductive. After spending the entire preparation period with such purpose, with so clear a goal in mind, this week of safety felt so empty. She was reduced to wandering, just a girl in the beautiful city of Haulani. She hadn't thought of the Grounds as somewhere she would ever miss, but at least when she'd been there she'd felt like part of something.

And maybe that was selfish, missing something that so many had fled from, but she wanted that feeling again. Something exciting, something more than being another average citizen, just living. These thoughts had lead her farther from Haulani today, to Ahi Coast and the port. To be closer to the ocean, to see the ships for herself. It was day, but the darkness was ever present, an impossible reminder of what she'd run from.



Jack


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 06-29-2020

It was Jack’s first time venturing out since his encounter with a certain Ascended (who had kindly beaten him up, thank you Nate), but a few bruises wouldn’t stop him. And with the majority of his favourite ever people - all two of them - down in the Fingers hunting down monsters or whateverthefuck they were doing, Jack had to make trouble for himself. Hopping down from the Ark’s gangplank, he set off along the boardwalk with the intention of doing just that.

It was just as he headed onto the beach, the shoreline lit by flickering torches (as usual), the bonfires ablaze in the distance, that he spotted a woman admiring the ships bobbing around behind him. [say]”Party’s that way,”[/say] he remarked, bruised face briefly lit up from the strike of a match, Jack lifting the tiny flame to his lips to light a cigarette.


RE: the things that are deadly - Aisha - 06-29-2020

Footsteps drew her attention from the bay of ships and their billowing sails, her golden hazel gaze came to rest on a man and his fire. It flickered to life, snapping into existence and singing the edges of his cigarette, which now pulsed it's own molten ember heart. [say]"I know,"[/say] came her response, eyes narrowed and analytical, for this new company was far more intriguing than any party on the beach.

She leaned forward against the rails of the dock, glancing back to him and the blues around his eyes, on his cheek. There was a story in the discoloration, and the leopardess loved stories. She remained leaning but turned to face him, chin tilted just a bit and a slight smirk at her lips, [say]"Have another?"[/say] she said, holding her hand up with two fingers together, mimicking the way one holds a cigarette.


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 06-30-2020

[say]”Then you’ll know it’s more interestin’ than watchin’ ships in the dark,”[/say] Jack murmured, drawing deeply on the cigarette and flicking the match over the rail, into the deep. Were it not for his particular set of skills, Jack might have suspected her to be a thief looking for an easy mark, but he didn’t sense anything of the sort from her. Yet, anyway.

And as she asked for a cigarette, the captain took the one he’d just lit from his lips to offer it out for her, exhaling smoke into the dark. [say]”Consider it a LongNight gift,”[/say] he said; it as probably as close to a gift as it got, when it came to Jack. [say]”You a Torcher, or just visitin’?”[/say] Most were just visiting these days, he was learning. Seemed their sleepy, crooked set of islands was becoming quite the tourist destination.


RE: the things that are deadly - Aisha - 07-01-2020

[say]"I'll take my interest where I please,"[/say] was her response, topped in the smirk on her lips. Her request was met with reward, the cigarette he'd lit for himself offered and recieved with a purr. She drew it to her lips and inhaled, the smoke filling her up and cooling her down. With a breathy exhale, she watched it escape and billow around her face, a hazy cloud, another fog rolling over the rails and the ocean.

[say]"What would you guess?"[/say] she replied, turning back to the man with an content languor to her gaze. As she invited him to examine her, she too examined him, unshy in the way she looked him over.


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 07-04-2020

[say]”I’ll bet you will.”[/say] Jack couldn’t hide the smile in his voice as he passed over his cigarette, taking another one from the pack inside his waistcoat pocket, striking up a match and drawing on it. This one said it as it was, no doubt about that - much preferred, in Jack’s opinion. Less work for him to have to do. The sailor followed her gaze out to the seas, only to let it zone in on her when she spoke again.

He didn’t have to guess, but he made a show of taking his time for the sake of it, aware of her eyes roaming over him in return. [say]”A visitor,”[/say] he said eventually, exhaling more smoke. [say]”What’d you think of the place so far? Like what you see?”[/say] It wasn’t all that clear, whether he was speaking about the islands or the man before her.


RE: the things that are deadly - Aisha - 07-07-2020

The man took his time in his assessment, though she was aware he'd had an answer from the get go. He didn't phrase the answer in a question, but a statement, and it was an answer she needn't correct. A visitor, a refugee, a whatever. A grounder; her mind had landed there, the place she'd scorned for so long until she'd left. Now she anxiously awaited the doorway back.

Another humph to his next question, she took another draw on her cigarette, [say]"I haven't decided yet, it's pretty. Not sure if it's for me but..."[/say] she replied, leaving the subject rather ambiguous.


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 07-09-2020

A crooked smile spread across his face at that, Jack flicking the ash from his cigarette and stepping up to lean against the railing beside her, his eyes on the ink black of the sea. The waves seemed to writhe under the flickering light of the torches, the line of the horizon swallowed into the night; you could barely tell, right now, where the sea ended and the sky began. [say]”As good an assessment as any,”[/say] he said. [say]”Name’s Jack, by the way.”[/say]

A peal of laughter echoed across the beach to them, followed by the cheer of a raucous crowd, and Jack gave his attention briefly to the party at their backs, before blue eyes returned to Torchline’s visitor. [say]”Only visitors we get are from the Hollowed Grounds, these days,”[/say] he remarked. [say]”Heard the LongNight there ain’t so cheerful as this.”[/say]


RE: the things that are deadly - Aisha - 07-10-2020

The man drew nearer to her, leaning up beside her against the rail. His company was welcome, not an intrusion but a welcome distraction. Far more effective than a party would've been. He gave his name, and she gave her's in return, [say]"Aisha,"[/say] as she tapped some of the ash from the end of the cigarette.

Laughter down the beach pulled her attention for a moment, she watched the lights flaring in the dark, the pitch that'd tarred over the night and the stars. She glanced back from the party at his comment, [say]"It's not, though I can't say I've had the most flattering of stays here either,"[/say] she replied. Torchline just wasn't for her, the 'vibe was off'.


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 07-11-2020

[say]”A pleasure,”[/say] Jack remarked, taking another drag on his cigarette and enjoying, for a moment, the slap of the waves against the dock, the quiet rush of the ocean in the distance, the intimacy of only having one voice (and one set of thoughts) to listen to. That she hadn’t been having the best time in Torchline did come as a bit of a surprise, and the captain tilted his head at her curiously.

[say]”You know, you’re prob’ly the first visitor here that ain’t fallen in love with the place,”[/say] he remarked. [say]”In fact, we seem to have adopted a lot of people from where you’re from already. What’s up - not the welcome wagon you expected?”[/say] Jack didn’t - wouldn’t - judge, given that he hadn’t yet set foot through a portal and he didn’t plan to until he could get his ship through there.


RE: the things that are deadly - Aisha - 07-12-2020

Aisha gave an amused smile as he continued on, at his surprise and curiosity. Welcome wagon was definitely not the word she would describe for what she'd recieved, but it wasn't really what she'd expected or hoped for either. She took another drag on the cigarette before she responded, [say]"The grounds are shit, it's cloudy all the time, most of the buildings look like I could've built them when I was like three, there's barely any flavor."[/say]

[say]"But Torchline feels too much like a vacation,"[/say] she paused, [say]"I hate that I miss it, but I do."[/say] And that was just the way it was.


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 07-14-2020

[say]”You’re really sellin’ the place to me, love,”[/say] Jack murmured around his cigarette, smirking across at her. Grey and broken and bland - the Hollowed Ground sounded like the place to be - not. Still, home was home and he could understand that much at least. [say]”Might be a shit hole, but its yours, no?”[/say] he guessed, straightening up from the railing and turning to gaze back out at the specks of flame along the beach, the parties in the dark.

He laughed, too, at her description. [say]”A vacation? You ain’t seen the best bits of Torchline then, clearly,”[/say] he said. [say]”Place has got a pretty dirty underbelly. I’ll show you some time after the sun rises, if you like.”[/say] Probably not an offer she’d want to take up, but then Jack didn’t know if he was even serious about it. [say]”Unless you’ll be skipping off through the portal right away.”[/say]


RE: the things that are deadly - Aisha - 07-14-2020

Jack's interjection earned an amused snort, for she did have a way with words didn't she. Shit, cloudy, flavorless, her description was an aromatic stew of hot garbage, his point very valid. There was plenty she liked about the grounds, but that was less fun to talk about. To his next comment, there was a moment where she paused, lips parted as she prepared a response but held it.

[say]"Yeah, guess so,"[/say] she shook her head a bit, bringing the cigarette down and holding it over the rail, gazing out at the dark tarpit of an ocean. [say]"It is now,"[/say] she said, having come to a conclusion throughout this conversation, and week to be frank, that felt about the one productive thing she'd done.

An invitation, a smile crept over her face as he offered a tour of the dirtier bits of the city. [say]"I'm sure it does,"[/say] she added with a wry bite to her words. [say]"As soon as this is over I'm going back, but I'll probably make a few trips now and then,"[/say] she answered, [say]"Where would I find you?"[/say] she asked, partly as a challenge, to see if he was serious about it. She enjoyed adventure, even and especially when offered by a shady cigarette dealing man during a night of pure darkness.


RE: the things that are deadly - Jack - 07-16-2020

They both leant out over the railing now to look at the ocean, Jack losing himself in the deep black, letting her thoughts paint pictures in his head of a place he had never seen. It did seem particularly... grey, and unpleasant, these Hollowed Grounds. Quite what Aisha saw in them was beyond Jack, but then who knew? Maybe it had a secret sort of beauty (or really good drugs). A smirk curled up the corners of his mouth as she spoke again about Torchline now, Jack ducking his head in a nod.

[say]”Then perhaps on one of those trips you can give the place a second chance,”[/say] he drawled, straightening up from the railing, finishing his cigarette and flicking the butt into the water. Turning, he pointed out into the docks, lit only by flickering torches, the ships standing like ghosts all lined up. [say]”Mine’s called the Ark,”[/say] he said. [say]”I sail in Flowerbirth, but back again for Longheat. That’s when the fun really starts.”[/say]