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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
"I told Soh that we're unavailable for the weekend," he drew out the word and gave Lena a pointed look that said there was no argument on the matter when he added, "and the older kids have the Celestine covered with strict instructions on it's keeping." They may have grown up in the Silk Houses, but they were good, responsible kids and he trusted them to keep the Celestine from combusting or falling into too much disarray in the span of two days. Still, he knew she'd be concerned and wanted to get any worries out of the way beforehand so they could actually enjoy their staycation.
Pouring the hot chocolate into two mugs, he felt extra relaxed in his hoodie and sweatpants, ready for an evening of comfort and good company. "While we're on the topic, no talking about work at all. We're not going to solve the city's problems sitting here in the living room." His smirk was playful when he looked up, dropping a few marshmallows into the liquid chocolate with a quiet splash that was decisive and final, curious to see if she'd fight him on the issue.
Unfortunately for Zavien, despite their insistence on staying put, Lena’s indulgence towards workaholic tendencies seared at her spine. Maybe it was from being away for so long, or the worries that such older kids wouldn’t be able to handle the job list (or some of the animals), the gardens, the necessary physicality, and then what if they got hurt – had her quietly pouting at the counter, swinging back and forth on one of her bar stool chairs. “I know, but-,” before he insisted on not even discussing the matter of Stormbreak as a whole. There was so much to do.
The hot cocoa helped though, and she sighed, mind sputtering back and forth until she ended up snagging one of the cups and placing more marshmallows along the chocolatey force. Comfy and cozy in her own pair of sweatpants, the indulgence still seemed extreme, especially when there was a mountain of things to accomplish.
Curling up on the couch, she placed her mug along one of the side tables, angling her head back against one of the cushions with a sneaky grin, watching him from her position; not unlike one of Mittens’ awkward movements. “Not even to ask you about how your first few days have gone?”
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
He watched with playful scolding as she attempted to argue, pausing his beverage preparations like he might have to physically intervene if she tried to continue along her line of thought. Luckily, Lena seemed to think better of it, choosing instead to fidget on her stool. It had him grinning as he offered forth her mug, chuckling when she plopped more marshmallows on top like it would cushion the pain of withholding her tendencies.
She couldn't hold back for long though. Her question and endearing expression thrown over the couch had him giving a full belly laugh, wagging his finger at her as he skirted the counter to follow. "Ah ah ah. I see what you're trying to do there." He dropped next to her, one hand wrapped around her shoulders and the other firmly around his own mug. Grinning, he lifted the drink to his lips, all confidence and teasing. "All I'll say is that the city is still standing and I don't regret my decision yet." In all truth, it'd been filled with showing his face around the city, doing his best to reassure people that change was on the horizon, that their home would be safe once more. They were long days of talking that he enjoyed more than he'd thought, and he'd be happy to tell her all about them later.
Swallowing his hot chocolate, he turned his attention back to Lena. "But that's all you'll hear about the matter. We're supposed to be relaxing and you feel anything but." His fingers poked her shoulders playfully while he raised an eyebrow in accusation.
The words of protest died on her tongue, and instead melded into a playful pout and furrowing of her brows; wondering, inwardly, if she was such a workaholic that the concept of relaxing still didn’t tie into her form very well. She used to be quite capable, but that had been years and years ago, back before she’d been granted the Celestine.
But she leaned into him just the same on a simple sigh. “All right. We’ll take that then.” Taking a sip of her cocoa, delighted by the taste of the marshmallows melting, molding, and melding into the chocolate and cream, she hummed softly. Though, she’d hardly noticed the tension in her shoulders, shrugging as Zavien poked at them. “Oh – well, that’s probably normal. Been a while since we could y’know….be calm.” She waved her free hand in the general periphery. “Not used to it yet, I guess.” She figured he wasn't quite the same - stress was normal and considerable in his position, but most of the time he didn't seem too rattled or bothered; the easygoing nature permeating through.
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
Zavien chuckled at her astute observation, grinning as he took another sip of his drink. "Calm? I'm not sure I even know what that word means anymore." He forced himself to put on an optimistic expression most of the time, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried. He'd just gotten very good at setting aside what he couldn't control and rolling up his sleeves to do what he could, doing his best to put on a smile for those around him. If anything, he carried his stress in the strain of his cheeks and the fidgeting of his hands.
Lena, on the other hand, had shoulders so tight that he thought perhaps she was wearing armor beneath her sweater. It had his thoughts spinning, an idea coming to mind. "Hmm. Maybe I can help?" He glanced around, setting his hot chocolate out of the way while trying to make note of where he'd put it so he didn't knock it over later. Then he turned to lean against the arm of the couch so that he was facing Lena fully. His lips quirked in a smile, indicating with his finger for her to turn. "Here. Put your back to me."
It wasn’t that Lena was a horrendous control freak; it was simply a matter of so much to do in the wake and aftermath of Dahlia’s reign, and then their refugee status, the leftover results of the Reaper dissolving her role…that relaxing felt like a blasphemous thing. In truth, she did know better – that if they didn’t get rest, they wouldn’t be worth much of anything, but to settle it into her shoulders and follow her own advice was something akin to vexing. Inward, at least.
Though it seemed to be spiraling through her form – not even realizing the tension roaming across there. She knew well the effect stress had on animals, but thoughts on her own health hadn’t amounted to much. It was everyone else well before her, after all.
Zavien’s offer of help had her knitting her brows, uncertain by what he meant, until she maneuvered, brow arching. “Oh, if you want.” She scooted back toward him, putting her mug down so that she might fully relish whatever was pending, snagging at her hair and putting it over her shoulders and out of his way.
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
Glad he didn't have to clarify what his plans were, he waited patiently for Lena to get situated. His eyes followed the slope of her neck, momentarily distracted before he gave a quiet laugh. "I want you to actually relax and enjoy this weekend." And if that meant he had to learn how to give massages just to force out her tension now and in future instances, Zavien would set to the task with unparalleled determination.
It meant that he was perhaps a little overzealous in his attention. Like a warrior assessing a battlefield, he set his hands to her shoulders, pushing and pressing to feel out where the weak points were. He did his best to be gentle, but he'd been massaging his own sore muscles for years, and he knew that when he felt resistance, that was where he needed to press harder in order to release what lay beneath. So when he felt a particularly firm spot, Zavien narrowed his eyes, his thumb working against the fabric of her shirt to work it out. "Geez, Lena. I'm not an expert on massages, but I think this is what they call a 'knot.'"
Zavien’s hands brushed against her, and while she had every intention of melting into the movements, motions, and strokes, the tension or his strength might’ve proven to be too much. Instead of leaning into the sentiments, she felt herself go even more rigid, a hiss push past her lips, then push herself away from the touches. “Sorry,” she apologized, brow furrowing, as if something in her midst had been to blame.
The knot itself, gnarled and tense as it was, likely wasn’t going to break and dissolve under the amount of pressure given though. “If you go a little softer, it might feel better-,” no expert on massages (one could likely count on one hand how many she’d ever had – too much to do, as one might recall). “Or go easier.” For as of right now, all she wanted to do, inherently, was shy from the pushes and pulls.
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
He could feel the tightening of her muscles beneath his grasp, torn between the instincts to overpower the response or back off entirely, but as Lena pulled away from his touch, Zavien got the sense that it would only get worse if he recruited more strength. She confirmed his suspicions as she continued to wilt under his touch, her polite criticism making him pause and feel quite bashful by his failed initial attempt. "Oh, sorry." Because the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her or make the tension worse.
Letting out a sigh, he tried to blow out some of the extra strength, even going so far as to release her and flick out his hands. When he reached for Lena again, it was more cautious, trying to use less of his power and more of his perception as he gauged her response to the new efforts. His hands were gentle but still firm, although he pushed the knots less like a soldier grinding his blade and more like a dancer guiding their partner into the proper alignment. It felt better to him, but Zavien still tilted his head, scanning her face as he asked, "What about this?"
She waited, indulgently patient but form still unyielding, probably steeling herself for another strong approach, When he altered his cadence though, adjusting the fortitude and might behind the motions, she nodded, eyes flickering closed and trying to relax into the unraveling of said knots. “That’s better,” and she adjusted her frame too, leaning back into twining fingers and figments, rather than shying away like a wounded animal.
When he ghosted over one portion, she reached out her hand to pinpoint the cluster. “Maybe somewhere in there?” Closer to her neck and shoulders, where she’d apparently worn herself into a frazzle of tension over the past months – as much as she could hazard a guess. “Perhaps next time we’re both tense we can go to the hot springs again,” she granted with a small smile, raising her head upwards and swaying back. There was a new one in Halo too; though she wondered if she’d be playfully admonished for thinking beyong their current staycation.
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
Apparently he'd gathered some tension of his own, because when Lena relaxed into his ministrations, confirming the improvement in efforts, Zavien's shoulders fell comically down. He smiled, continuing the same pressure as he worked thumbs into tight muscles along the planes of her shoulders. "Good." His fingers worked their way in with her directions, slipping to the bare skin of her neck to access the firm lines surrounding her spine and up to the base of her skull.
Although his focus was monopolized by finding the perfect strength and rhythm to loosen the hold of her stress, Lena's words had him humming in thought. "No reason we have to wait. I'd think a staycation could include a short outing." Knowing Lena well enough where her mind would go, he paused in the movement of his hands to poke her playfully, an obvious grin on his face. "As long as there's no work involved." Which meant they'd probably need to go in the dead of night, when no one would be awake or know their faces well enough to invite thoughts of responsibilities or further tasks to be done; and there would be no stops by the Celestine to suck her into the habits or concerns.
As he worked through her muscles, to a much more easygoing and gentler standpoint, fixture, she began to relax, the tension unfurling from her shoulders, a light hum and sigh flickering from her frame. While she didn’t fall into a heap or lose her regal stature, her body certainly eased, sinking a little further into the couch and against him.
At his agreement, she tilted her head a fraction, smiling in encouragement and rolling her eyes at the ‘work’ comment. “What kind of responsibility could we possibly find in a hot spring?” She turned to wink, before laughing – as if in challenge. They didn’t have flowers to seek out anymore – despite her eyes would always be wandering out of habit – and their attention could simply be on one another or the relaxing, calming balm of the water itself. “And we have a variety to choose from. Could be at our own Eye of the Storm, Frey’s Breath, or the new one in Halo…,” she liked the thought of options – even if it didn’t quite maintain ‘stay’.
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
The incremental slacking of her body made him smile, slowly stretching his hands to reach his thumbs lower down her spine to between her shoulder blades in a diligent search for tension. There was a mischievous grin to meet her wink, a low chuckle on his lips. "Oh, knowing us, we could find something." Whether it was clearing the water of debris or helping some poor animal in the vicinity, he doubted they'd be able to focus fully on relaxing with all the possible distractions the outside world provided. Last time they were in Frey's Breath had felt as much like work as the break it was meant to be.
His head immediately shook at the second suggestion, the 'P' popping as he said, "Nope. Anything other than the Eye falls out of the boundaries for 'staycation.' We'd have to make those a 'vacation' which means they'll have to wait for next time." Zavien trailed his fingers back up to the nape of neck then up to her hairline, gently working away the tension he found there. "If you want, I could always draw you a hot bath. You wouldn't even have to leave the house." That meant less time trekking to and from with the added benefit of plopping straight on the couch afterwards.
She hesitated to remark back that they couldn’t possibly find such distractions – but she didn’t want to jinx it. More than once, she’d shifted focus on different things simply because an animal or plant nearby caught her interest. So instead of scoffing entirely, she gave a subtle roll to her eyes but no quarrel or argument to match, and instead hummed, then sighed, a gentle soothing roll across her lips, as he pierced yet another knot and slowly started to unravel it from her muscles.
On his rejection of other vacation spots, she snorted – the only ones putting boundaries up was him on the matter. Though the corresponding suggestion had her arching her brow, turning her glance into something coy and mischievous, if only meant to tease amidst the potentials. “Oh, now that does sound lovely. With lots of bubbles?” He could always join her, but she feared the mere notion of saying it out loud might dissolve the entire proposition.
