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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!
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
She is momentarily pinned by the look he gives her. It slides right through her, expertly honing in on the root of her thoughts and pressing down. She tucks her chin tighter, guarding against the exposure. "There's no need." The sound comes a bit smaller than she means, lashes lowering with her breath into the canyon of bedspread and space still carved between them. It sounds plain, at first. A clear sign that she doesn't want it, the knowing, the updates, the anything more to do with it. That might be an easier thing to want, truthfully. "I said I'd come back to visit you, so I'll get to see it for myself." The words lift a little fuller, more sure now, rising with the stare she drags up to his face. "This one was a surprise visit, but the rest won't be so sudden and in the middle of the night." Her smile twists, wry.
Where that'd felt like standing on the edge of something, the rush of retelling her most recent adventures feels like lying flat on the ground and soaking in the heat and the breeze all over. Her grin arcs deeper, expression bright and open as she demonstrates with a hand at her hip. "Up to here," she says with all the incredulity that a plant-bug-monster of that size deserves. "If I wasn't a farmer before I'm certainly not now," she laughs, meaning that she's got no interest in trying to wrangle such vicious plants. The truth of the matter is that she is dipping her toes into the soil, er sand, to try a hand at growing something, though he involvement isn't so direct as clawing her fingers through the ground.
As she reins in the breathless heat and light that has been her life of late, slowing down the moment to just the presence of him, as strong and steady as a pulse and just as vital for her, she smiles at the fidgeting. "Such a dangerous combo," she muses, of someone being both hot and frustrating, and while it's true she's absolutely trying to goad more of a rise from him. That swiftly derails the moment she's licked, her smile dropping away into an open-mouth gasp of dismay. "EW, Thorn!" she admonishes, hand recoiling in horror. Then, because Colt absolutely believes in getting even, she pops her finger into her mouth. She half-rises with her reach just afterwards, needing to move quickly before he can catch on and put up proper defenses. She aims to deliver the wet-willy right into his ear, finger flicking the wetness ruthlessly.
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
The second she says no need and explains that she’ll be back to visit and see it for herself, Thorn nods – his understanding unnamed and quiet where he doesn’t internalize it or linger on it so that she doesn’t feel the need to try and elaborate more. He likes to think he’s a good friend for that, to be able to know when to push and when not to, and in a job like he’s got, he’s pretty much perfected it these days. “Sounds good.” He says instead, shooting her a smile that hopefully conveys he doesn’t need her to elaborate more if she doesn’t want to.
She’s explaining then just how big those creatures get and Thorn immediately frowns with distaste. “Ew.” His nose wrinkles as he thinks about the bug, but it breaks as soon as she mentions definitely not being a farmer. That’s something he can agree with, though, farming weird big flower hybrids sounded terrible. And for as much as Thorn loves flowers – theyre inked all of his body, after all – he had no green thumb. It was pretty much done entirely on aesthetic.
He squirms under her fussing, though, before he’s got the devious idea to lick her wrist if only to get her to stop probing into him and the bartender and their love hate relationship while she muses over the dangerous combo of being hot and annoying, it’s with a low bark of a laugh that her reaction spurs from him. And it distracts him just long enough to not get out of the way entirely when she moves and half pins him to wet-willy him which only causes more squirming and a touch of air magic that breezes along their hair like it might prevent her from digging her finger into his ear as he squirms. “EW COLT.” He crows back at her, legs wiggling to try and shove her off before he’s managed to careen himself off his small bed onto the floor with a loud THUNK.
And in the brief second of time from landing on the hard floor, laughter bubbles out from him like an overflowing cauldron.
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
The blast of air in her face has her eyes pinching shut immediately, though it does not derail her assault in the slightest, reaching blind as if she could chase the afterimage of his shape still. It's only when she feels the sudden absence of him, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of something hitting the floor, does she dare look again. Her eyes fly open and she scooches further onto the side of the bed he'd toppled over. Fingers wrap around the edge and her head pokes out over it, blonde hair spilling down in a poor attempt at Rapunzel. "Oh my gods, Thorn!" She gapes, but her expression is fully delighted and her laughter swiftly joins his.
It wears her out into a helpless thing, the easy joy that comes in his company. "How kind of you to offer to sleep on the floor tonight," she hums, the joke shining in the gaze that lights upon him with an immeasurable fondness. She rolls back from the border of the mattress, flopping onto her back and starfishing over the entire spread, groaning with a contentment that belongs wholly to someone who has stolen comfort. "Soooooo comfy!"
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
He’s practically shaking with laughter as he lays on the floor with the defeat and amusement brought by not being harassed by the wet willy Colt tries to do. He rubs at his face, sucks in a deep breath as he peers up at her between his fingers, seeing the golden strands of her hair reaching for him like long fingers. “Gods,” he groans around a laugh, starting to sit up again.
It’s that time which Colt lets the joke leave her lips and Thorn barks a laugh as she starfishes across his bed. “Oy, I’ve earned the bed.” He retorts back – not that she hasn’t with all the hard work she’s done with Hak Etme, but the bruises that dot his body above his collar and hidden behind the shirt and shorts he wears proves he’s earned it too.
So he finally stands and bullies his way into the bed, too, pushing her over toward the wall side without any remorse what so ever, flashing a bright grin at her.
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
She would definitely not be stealing the bed of the friend that let her crash here unannounced, and would have swiftly tilted her offenses towards dragging him back onto it if he'd submitted in the slightest to the floor. Fortunately the thought doesn't even seem to cross his mind as he begins to rise, and where she's blissfully nestled her head into his pillows and closed her eyes as if feigning early sleep, one now pops open to regard his looming shape and the shot of his laugh.
A smile spreads wider at his point, and she only resists his return marginally before giving in and rolling aside to let him crowd back into the plush space, sandwiching her between him and the wall. "You have," she agrees with all the tone of a drawn out fiiiine as she resettles, scooching and adjusting. Limb and arm alike stretch out for him like some sea creature trying to pull him under, but she's really pulling away the distance and nestling into the big spoon behind him.
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
She makes room despite her feigned attempts at looking like she’s just blacked out on his bed, though he thinks his bullying definitely helped. Still, he slips into the bed as she drawls that he’s worked for it, catching her reaching out in the nest of his blankets that have shifted around from all their playful roughhousing.
And not one to deny the little bit of touch – even if he got plenty of it while working, and when Colt’s arms wrap around him to make him the little spoon, he settles back into the bed and props his head up on the pillow, stifling the yawn. Using a bit of telekinesis, he turns the lights down low until they start to wink out, and silence overcomes them before a thought occurs to him. “Oh, before we fall asleep, I gotta question.” He says, tilting his head slightly but not adjusting his body from where he’s finally rested. “I gotta help round up some unicorns an’ need some tips and tricks. Figured you’d know best.” He snorts softly, despite the very obvious intention of the question and the fact he’d absolutely hang onto every word she said.
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
Her arm folds easily over his side, security found in the closeness, a trust that's remained when so many others have fallen apart. Fingers secure her near his shoulder, chin resting nearby. She's content just to soak in the comfort—warmth and breath and ease. As the lights dim, her eyelids threaten to go with them, aware far too suddenly just how fucking tired she is now that she can finally, fully, rest.
His voice splits the dark, rousing her back before she's descended too far. "Hm?" she answers, a clear response for him to ask, that she's still here and listening. He shifts faintly against her, and she glances up, just catching the corner of his eye as he turns it back. She's no idea what she expected him to say, but round up some unicorns had not been it. She's so caught off guard that a faint laugh passes her lips, head rolling back fuller into her pillow and directing her view to the dark ceiling. "If this is your attempt at a sex position joke, I'd stick with what you're good at," she offers with a smile to the words. Rounding up unicorns sounds like code for an orgy and she's positive he knows all the tips and tricks for that.
Which, leaves the possibility, that he quite literally means it. "Why in the world would you be rounding up actual unicorns?"
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
Her laugh is one that confuses Thorn, if he’s being honest. Though perhaps he’d managed to catch her in that interim of just barely falling asleep where everything doesn’t make sense even if it’s the most reasonable of requests. But when she says sex position he huffs a laugh himself, twisting a little more so he kind of leans back into her to give her a more pinning look that seems to suggest he’s capable of finding unicorns. “Not that kinda unicorn.” Because she’s right, if that’s what he was looking for, why would he ask her? It was his job after all.
As for why he’s rounding them up, he shoots her a small smile. “Sunjata’s makin’ a healin’ river with Rae’s help. So we gotta round up some unicorns an’ get them t’the spot where the river’s gonna go so they can purify it.” He explains roundaboutly, shrugging his slim shoulders. “But seein’ as I’m not exactly the round-up type, I don’t really know what t’do. Figured you’d have the best ideas.” Since she’d dealt with them so much in the past. Even had her own herd of them.
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
The shift of him beside her turns her eyeline back down, snaring on him as he twists to glance back. His explanation makes far more sense once she gets the full shape of it, and she murmurs a far less amused sentiment. "Oh, yeah, Sunjata had mentioned something about that." She hadn't wanted to hear it at the time, threw it back in his face as evidence he'd done nothing worth her attention, care for the land and his efforts lost when she stood in nothing more than embers. The memory darts past like something unwelcome letting itself in at night, a presence fleeting just on the edges of her vision. Her fingers curl in on themselves where they rest on his shoulder.
After a pause that might almost feel like she'd fallen asleep, if not for the very real strength left in her grip, she manages to pull herself from the smoke and focus on the present dilemmas. "Well, they're herd animals, so they're inclined to follow each other." The explanation begins with all the raw simplicity of describing something that may as well be written on her bones for all its familiarity. She cuts away the dust and the noise from it, offering up just the meat of the matter. "So, you want one of you on a unicorn in the front to be the leader. Or an illusion of a unicorn, or a compelled one. Something that registers as unicorn to them, but does what you want."
She pictures the process clear as day, having done it exactly as she describes plenty of times. "Then, to keep the leader as the leader, you drive them from behind and at the sides with either more people who are mounted, just to keep up, or shifted. You put pressure on with your presence, and noise if you need it, and that keeps the herd together. Predator shifts, or too big, and they might get scared and then they do wild shit when they scared."
A low hum of thought eases out. "Not all of my hands came with me. Some are still here. Some of the mounts too. Bet you could get some of them involved no problem." She seems to consider for a moment before the bed creaks. She pushes off his shoulder into a half-sit, curling over him a touch to find his eyes. "I could always come back and help, at least with this."
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
“Yeah.” Thorn says at first, drawing quiet in the heavy pause that follows and Thorn does wonder in the dark and din of his room whether or not Colt had fallen asleep thinking about how to respond – which doesn’t bother him, he’s sure he could ask her in the morning. But it does have him readjusting to nestle back into the pillows, closing his eyes, feeling the way her fingers curl against his shoulder.
But then, her voice rises – soft and quiet as she explains and answers him with the barebones facts. “Illusion.. okay.” He muses quietly, shutting up precisely in time for her answer to come with even more information, the fact that pressure and presence were likely things that would help – though when she mentions shifts, something the courtesan lacks, he does keep it in mind to tell Sunjata when they eventually get to it.
The bed creaks and he feels her lean over him, causing him to shift to roll slightly onto his back to peer up at her in the dark, his usually bright seafoam eyes made dark in the barely there light. “They offered t’help. I just didn’t wanna seem dumb not knowin’.” He admits with a soft laugh, before his smile softens a touch – not wanting to be stuck in the middle between her and Sunjata, but willing to do it if it meant it went smoother. “Prolly gotta talk to Sunjata about it, but from where I’m standin’ I think that’d be great.” A relief, honestly. “I can talk t’him about it if ya want?” He asks, putting git out there ot let her decide before he goes and says anything on a whim she might not want him to.
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
The lighting's so low she can barely find the outline of him. She only knows where it'd been, last bathed in lantern light, and where it shifts subtly in the gloom when he breathes or moves. Her pupils have gone wide, trying to drink in what little light there is, offering her the haze of his form beside her. His eyes are brighter by degrees, and she locks onto them as she leans down over his shoulder, closer than she means in the sudden urgency and dim.
"Oh," comes the quiet exhale of new understanding, her breath curling like her fingers around his shoulder, closer enough to settle on his cheek. She hadn't realized her hands were already involved. Well, probably because they're not her hands anymore. "That makes sense," she says, retreating a touch, voice gone small. It hits her fuller than she expects, the way this land has moved on around and past the shape of her, like a river that swallows up a new bend. Her whole world, her legacy, already gone, just like that. They don't need her; they never did, it seems.
She sinks back down, but she rolls over to face the wall, her back to him as her knees pull tighter towards her chest. "Yeah," she manages to rouse in response to him, the sound stronger than it deserves for the way she blinks back the feeling gathering in her eyes. "I'll mention it to him," she assures, though she's uncertain when, or how, or even if she would any more, assuming they need her help when they've already got plans.
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
“They offered t’help when they stayed after y’left.” He tacks on in case it helps, though something tells him nothing would at this precise moment. Not as she starts to retreat, twisting back to lay back down and twists around, her back to him now if only because he can feel it as he turns more fully toward her. Blankets drawn up to keep in the warmth, Thorn hears her response – delayed as it is with the confirmation that she’d mention it to him so he keeps his mouth shut on that instance.
He doesn’t wanna step over toes anyway, so rather than focusing back on the sorrow of what she might be feeling or understanding, the courtesan winds his arms around her in turn, making himself the big spoon this time to let her leech his warmth as he hopes she’ll finally start to relax. “A’ight. Let’s get some sleep, yeah?” Thorn asks quietly, chewing on the inside of his cheek before he nestles his head into the pillow and hopes that she can find some moment of relaxation to let it sweep her away, too.
We can love just like rain One drop too much and we'll drown Wishin' I would be enough, 'cause I don't wanna lose
The reasoning curls over her like its own set of sheets. It makes sense, truly, all of it does. While she knows this, she doesn't feel it, not yet. All she feels is the threat that she's made a mistake she can't walk back from.
The slide of his arm across her now, body fitting in behind the curl of her, it's the perfect amount of pressure to stabilize the little hole she didn't mean to open back up. "Mm," she offers in agreement to his question, pressing back into his chest, arm hugging over his like he's the bedspread she means to settle into for the night. At the very least, she can be sad and comfy.
"Sank, Forn," she mumbles, sleep snatching for her quick the moment she closes her eyes. It might not be an unusual style of company for him to provide, but she can't recall the last time she just let herself lay in someone's arms without angling for something more out of it. It's easy enough with him, to finally relax for a change into a fitless sleep.
[FIN]
Nothing makes sense when you're gone, I need you around I will love you like the stars love to shoot And shadows love the moon
Received a Gilded Market wig from Remi that resembles her usual hair and is enchanted to stay on better than most wigs | has a reverse centaur tattoo on her left hand with the legs going down her pointer and middle fingers that looks like this.
