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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!
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
A soft laugh leaves him when Niki responds, because it’s almost as though he’s forgotten that Niki has friends that would likely drop by too – not just him, but his mind flits to Flora and subsequently Kaisel, before realizing he doesn’t really know if Niki has other friends aside from those two and himself – and would he even be considered a friend? He thinks so, but he also knows he shouldn’t just assume.
“Yeah that’s fair. Sorry.” He says with a soft laugh that seems to suggest he’s quite happy to have found a way to Niki’s when he needed to most. So the least he can do is say that he’s fun, hearing the surprised laugh that leaves the necromancer that has his smile bordering on confusion because how could anyone think he isn’t fun. “Seriously? That’s really surprising.” He asks, though he does as Niki asks, drifting toward the door of the other man’s bedroom to step out into the hall and head back toward the plush green couch.
His steps are sure despite the way his mind keeps running in a variety of ways, and only when he’s gotten back to the couch to set the pillow down on and the blanket he drapes over it does he turn back to Niki while the lights play on his scars and tattoos. “I really, really, really appreciate this Niki.” He says a little softer, his accent lingering heavier on the necromancer’s name.
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"There is no need to apologise. If I did not enjoy your company I would certainly have said so by now," Niki says softly, smirking as they head back out of his room and down the hall. "Though perhaps one of these days you might decide to drop by when you are not in the midst of a crisis of some kind?" The jest is a gentle one, and as they head back to the living room he's pleased to find it pleasantly warm, not that Sunjata seems to be bothered by the temperature.
Scoffing and shaking his head at the other man's surprise, he gestures around them at his books and quietly academic lifestyle. "I am not a social butterfly, Sunjata," he reminds him, "and my version of fun are other peoples' macabre."
He's setting the pillow and blanket down now though, Niki holding out the spare for him just as his voice softens, accent lilting over his name in a way he can't deny he enjoys, so doesn't try to. "I would not have just left you out there in the cold," he says. "Deepfrost appears just as biting here as it is in the Greatwood."
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
“I’d hope so.” Sunjata admits with a snort, a shake of his head as he makes his way toward the living room – though to hear that it would be nice when he’s not in the midst of a crisis, Sunjata can’t help the way he seems utterly vibrant when the comment slips from his lips. “Well if we’re waiting for that, I probably wouldn’t ever be able to drop by.” It’s the sunniness of his tone that is so at odds with what he says, like the sound of a song that’s so upbeat it’s hard to imagine the lyrics as everything but.
But he sets the pillows and blankets down, shrugging to hear that Niki’s version of fun are other people’s macabre, something he does see the glimpses of but isn’t too sure why Niki cares so much about what other people think. Which is a very apt thought he should probably apply to his life. But instead, he turns to sit back on the couch and look up at Niki with a small smirk of amusement. “So? Oh no, he’s smart and mysterious. He probably has a grimoire The horror.” He parrots the sound in a different tone than he typically talks in, as if suggesting it’s other people’s thoughts of the necromancer. “If it helps, apparently my version of fun makes me a bicycle. I miss being mysterious.” And he does, at times, miss when he was too afraid to let people in.
For now, though, he hums a soft laugh at the mention he wouldn’t have been left outside, softening with the idea of it. “Yeah. It’s pretty cold here, too. More snow and less trees.” He admits, wrinkling his nose a touch before he shakes his head and rubs at his cheek. “And it’s always so quiet when it snows here. It’s weird.”
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Touche," Niki says through a boyish laugh, though a faint frown does crease between his brows as though he can't figure out whether or not Sunjata is joking, or if this is the drunken truth finding nothing to hide behind. "If you do find yourself with a day free of drama, though, feel free to drop by. Otherwise I suppose I will definitely see you when the next crisis hits."
Sunjata slouches down to sit then, and though it doesn't make him all that shorter in truth, he does find himself in the rare position to be able to gaze down at the other man. "A grimoire?" he blurts without meaning to, mischief dancing with the firelight in his blue eyes. "I hardly feel qualified for such an item, but I will see if I have a journal that could suffice." He wouldn't want to lower Sunjata's expectations, after all.
"A bicycle?" he repeats. "I am afraid I do not follow. And if it helps, you are still plenty mysterious to me." Shrugging, Niki heads over to the fire, nudging another log into it with his cane to keep the heat and warm light flickering out. "You are not a fan of the quiet?"
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
He laughs softly, nodding his agreement that he’d keep it in mind to drop by whenever he doesn’t have a crisis or day of drama if it ever happens – in the interim, though, he’ll be sure to drop by whenever he can. It isn’t often he feels like he can relax without being judged these days, but it’s something he finds increasingly easier and easier with the necromancer. “Sounds good.”
But then he’s explaining the mystery surrounding Niki and his macabre version of fun, when the blurted repetition of a grimoire escapes the other man and Sunjata latches onto the surprised sound of his voice, at the mischief that dances in the blue fire of his eyes. “Alright, no grimoire.. Yet.” He bounces his brows.
Brows that stay raised as Niki doesn’t get his meaning, but to be told he’s mysterious does settle something in his gut he doesn’t know exactly why it seems all up in arms. So as Niki turns toward the fireplace to poke another log into it, Sunjata answers the questions easily. “Yeah. A bicycle.” He pauses, snorting and sinking back on the couch to peer at Niki’s back. “A thing people ride.” He decides a split second after eluding to it he might as well just say it. “I’m a whore, Niki.” He says, chuckling low.
As for the quiet, Niki may or may not see the way he shakes his head. “Not usually, no. I like having some sound. Something to latch onto that’s not just silence.” Because silence left him alone with his thoughts. Silence was the fake calm the mansion he grew up in harbored before the storm of his father struck. Silence was just another reminder of being alone.
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
"Yet," Niki echoes, almost playfully, turning back towards Sunjata once he's finished with the log in the fire, already able to hear it hungrily start to eat at the dry kindling. And he'd probably have gotten the true meaning of the Heartless's words without having it spelled out to him, though the result does have pink rising hotly into his cheeks, Niki clearing his throat and nodding as things become suddenly and abundantly clear. "Right, of course," he says quickly. "Apologies. I have never heard it phrased that way before."
He does see the way Sunjata shakes his head, feeling suddenly keen to latch onto the change in subject, finding himself perched on the arm of the couch again across from where the other man is starting to settle down. "I tend to work best when it is quiet," he admits, sounding more curious than anything. "But then I also like to be able to listen for anything happening." Just another flavour of trauma in truth, but he's very unlikely to go into that with Sunjata sober, let alone liquored up.
"I should let you get some sleep," he says instead, carefully rising back to his feet.
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
He does see the pink flare, a barely there thing that could be just a shift in the light, the kind he isn’t too sure what to do with other than deny the apology. “It’s okay. I didn’t until I got here either.” He admits, figuring it had just been a Caido thing but perhaps it was more-so a phrase from who he’d been in company with. Even still, the smile shot Niki’s way is one that’s easy, even if the suggestion of quiet seems to try and pull him down the dark and deep rabbit holes of his own trauma.
“It does make it easier, that way.” To hear anything happening, that is, and while his inebriated mind takes a few moments to try and piece together the next statement of something to say, he finds himself hesitating and choosing to get comfortable on the couch instead, shifting to lay onto his side and draw the blanket up over him as he presses his head into the pillow that smells like Niki. It’s about now that Niki stands, rising back to his feet that has Sunjata remembering himself and realizing that he’d kept Niki awake and it would be unfair to ask him to stay when even though the couch was this comfortable, he assumes Niki’s bed is like sleeping on a cloud.
Buried half into the pillow, his scar is completely hidden on his cheek and almost gives him a more youthful, innocent appearance rather than the gnarled scar tissue as he answers. “Alright. Sleep well and soete drome, Niki.” He hums, his voice dropping into his thicker accent over Niki’s name again, half of the phrase dropping into Korofi’s tongue without him quite realizing it. Sleep well and sweet dreams.
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Niki's lips part to say something as well before he promptly thinks better of it, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand and letting out a soft sigh. By the time he glances back to Sunjata the other man has made himself more than comfortable on the couch, looking boyish and tired curled beneath his borrowed blankets, and the necromancer has to school himself into not staring. "You as well, Sunjata," he says, catching on the strange cadence of the words he swears he can almost guess at.
He lingers a little longer than necessary, perhaps, before quietly making his way back to his own room, but even then, it takes a while before he stands a chance at drifting back off to sleep. When he finally does, it's with the line of light from the fireplace burned into his vision; a reminder of all that has happened and of the demigod sleeping just beyond the hallway.
Such immediate reminders are gone by morning. Niki awakens to the strange quality of light that suggests very heavy snowfall outside, and the urge to remain buried beneath the blankets all day. He's just about to roll over and do as much, in fact, when he remembers the strangest dream he must have had during the night. Sitting up to pin his closed door with a petulant glare as if it might give him some answers, the necromancer has a mental war with himself for a good few minutes before finally slipping out of bed.
Cane in hand, it would be disingenuous to say Niki creeps out towards the living room, but he's certainly trying to move quietly, peeking around at the couch like it might prove whether or not the Heartless had crashlanded on his porch the night before.
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
For a man that struggles to sleep, the inebriation and effects of it have him falling asleep far quicker than he otherwise might have – that by the time Niki’s made it to his room he’s gone. He sleeps deeply, without anything to wake him, burning off the alcohol throughout the night, only moving slightly to get more comfortable on the couch.
When the morning comes, he’s still out of it by the time Niki creeps out to the living room. He’ll come face to face with Sunjata sprawled on the couch, one long leg hung over the back of the couch, the blanket half strewn across his body draping down onto the floor, and his lightning scarred arm up and resting over his face.
He snores very softly, a long deep sleep of slow inhales and long exhales, and if Niki looks close enough around the Heartless’ neck he’ll find a scarf of navy feathers floofed up and twitching almost as if they’re vibrating as an indication of his relaxaion.
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Niki has to blink a couple of times to realise that he is, in fact, seeing the Heartless, Archon of King's End, demigod of Frey, absolutely flaked out on his couch. He doesn't know what he'd expected even if his memory had been correct about Sunjata asking for a place to say, but suffice to say... it isn't this. Gently biting at the inside of his cheek to prevent his smile from running away with itself, even if Sunjata wouldn't be able to see it, the necromancer continues his creeping across the room so he can get to the kitchen.
He might not know how well Sunjata has slept, but he does recall the other man saying he normally struggles to get some rest, so it's little surprise that Niki does everything possible to keep quiet as he makes himself a pot of coffee. There's plenty leftover for the Heartless when he does eventually awaken, and Niki resists the urge to keep peeking around the doorframe to see if he's still there.
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
So blissfully unaware he is about what the necromancer is up to given the state of sleep he’s in, one might wonder if it’ll take an act of Rae to wake him up. As it turns out? All it takes is the scent of coffee eventually wafting through that has him slowly perking up, shifting slightly in his sleep until he can’t stay under too much longer. He stretches, rolls, like his subconcious is positive he’s laying on a bed right now, and it’s with a loud THUMP! that Sunjata promptly wakens flat on the wooden floor.
He lays there a bit dumbfounded at first, chest to the cool floor as he blinks a few times to try and wake himself up, enough that he can sit up into a kneeling position, rubbing at his face as the feathers continue to trickle down his neck and arms and chest. It takes him a few more moments to peel his hands from his face, only after he’s rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and tosses an arm back on the couch to try and use it to help him stand.
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
The THUMP! is enough to wake the dead, and Niki might have said as much if he'd been capable. As it stands the noise has him startled enough to nearly spill scalding coffee all over his hands, the necromancer juggling his mug to set it back on the counter before it can do any harm. Hurrying to the doorway, he peers out just in time to see Sunjata kneeling on the hardwood floor, feathers sprinkled down his neck and across his chest and shoulders, and it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together.
"Are you alright?" he almost blurts, heading out into the living room properly. "I... here." It isn't as though Niki can offer him a hand up without the other man definitely yanking him down to the floor, so instead the necromancer heads around the couch to retrieve the tangle of blankets and pillows. "I hope I did not wake you - I was attempting to be quiet. Apologies."
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed shake it out and light a cigarette
As Niki rushes toward the sound, the blurted question captures Sunjata’s attention as he squints over at the necromancer, trying to shake the sleep from his mind and voice. He only manages to get it from his mind, his voice still rough with sleep and his thicker accent when he shoots the other man a smile as he rushes over to retrieve the blankets and pillows. “Wha- Don’t apologize. You didn’t wake me up.” He tries to reassure him.
Shifting a little to finally stand, he stretches out with his hands above his head, a bone in his lower back pops with a dull sound. “I’m pretty sure the floor did when I somehow decided to roll over. That couch is very nice.” Nice enough that he’d mistake it for a bed in his sleep, as it turns out. “Did you make coffee?” He asks, arms dropping as he starts to help with the blankets, scenting the coffee in the air.
miss me when you, you wish you weren't right shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Sighing with a touch of relief to know he hadn't disturbed the other man from what had evidently been a much-needed bit of rest, Niki absently sets down the pillows and starts to fold a blanket. Mostly to avoid outright staring at Sunjata as he stretches, because it's far too early in the morning to start being flustered, and the Heartless isn't the only one still trying to shake off sleep. "I am glad it served its purpose. You are the first to try out sleeping on it," he says of the couch with a smirk, surrendering one of the blankets for the other man.
"Though I suppose it is incentive for me to hurry up and arrange a guest bedroom, or at the very least install a thick rug in front of the couch." For falling on, you understand. "And I did, in fact. It is still hot - would you like some?" This time Niki even has cream and sugar to offer, though Sunjata will have to wait until his next visit for some hazelnut syrup.
stay your pretty eyes on course keep the memories of who i was before
