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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!
"How could I forget?" Ronin says through a laugh; through their relationship they've had to do multiple walks of shame out of more than one bar. They've probably hit most regions, too, if he thinks about it. "Remember The Hanged Man's reopening?" He raises his eyebrows; Flora had chewed them out pretty hard (and rightly so) about the claw marks left in the back of the bar, if he recalls correctly.
That Remi remains as close as he does both helps and doesn't for obvious reasons, and as the Bastion leans in for a kiss, Ronin is more than ready for him. Had the Knight known about Jack's handy little ability, he might have even made certain that they were within range of the nosy telepath's magic; as it stands, though, his attention and affections are all for Remi, to the point where he needs a second before he's able to leave the houseboat without making the reason for their prolonged absence obvious.
"Alright, let's do this," Ronin says eventually, taking another very generous drink from the liquor bottle and collecting some dark rum and waterfall gin before heading back out towards the shore. He leaves Mateo's cocktail to Remi, though - he knows better than to mess with that.
Whilst the two elder Taliesins have been gone, Jack is more than content to entertain himself with the younger crowd, and in fairness - something Flora had given him a heads up about, in truth - he has to contribute very little to the conversation. Being in Mateo's mind gives him a front row seat to a man who looks at his problems and yells you'll have to catch me first, his thoughts going a mile a minute and in several different directions.
Neither the Doubletake nor captain will have had to do much to carry the conversation, though as Jack is about to chip in about some facet of Rae's Fingers that the botanist could make use of, a scarlet ribbon of something rich and deep gives him pause. He glances back towards The Northaven a fraction of a second before the two demigods appear, and whilst the captain is absolutely not one to be remotely put off by the sorts of thoughts burning between Remi and Ronin, he does raise his eyebrows at Flora as if to catch her attention.
you're the last of a dying breed; write our names in the wet concrete
I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me
You are a bad, bad man. Flora thinks, and it's probably a good thing that the captain tugs her down onto the bench lest her knees give out. From hearing him speak the travelling tongue to the way he seemed to reach for her at every turn, hearing us on his lips has the queen's breath catching in her throat as her thoughts turned positively filthy with approval.
Folding one of her long legs over the other as she settles back, one of her hands resting against Jack's leg, Flora rolls her eyes at Mateo. "First, like, half of my wardrobe, and now he wants my boyfriend too?" Raising her eyebrows, the queen grins. "You'd have a better chance of it if you moved to Torchline thoouuughhh." She adds in a sing-song voice before one glance toward the Ark has Flora's head tilting to the side as her blue-green eyes narrow. "Wait...are we all living on boats now?" That was...a really weird coincidence.
Glancing from Mateo to Jack, it's only the way the captain's eyes have narrowed slightly that gives her pause, and as Flora instinctively looks toward the houseboat, all the colourful conversational blossoms cultivated over the past few minutes wilt and die in her mind as she spies her dads making their way downtown over.
I don't like slow motion double vision in rose blush I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
Mateo may not be a mindreader, but he has eyes, and whether or not he wants to fight Flora for her boyfriend or half her wardrobe, he knows better just by watching his sister with the darkly dressed captain. "If you visited Stormbreak more often it would be as good as if I had moved to Torchline," he trills right back to her, before settling in to eat and chat and observe The Ark in the distance. "I think we do, yes," he says after swallowing a mouthful of pasta. "Though if you call that ship out there a boat again, you might find yourself single again very soon."
Indeed, Mateo thinks he might be able to cut glass on the captain's jaw by the way it has feathered in response to Flora's choice of words. Still, it's forgotten soon enough, especially as Remi and Ronin make their reappearance, the botanist gesturing dramatically to the space on the table where his drink ought to be. "Were you going back to the Cordillera for it or something?" he demands with a grin.
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
"Mmm, do I ever." Remi agrees. Ronin isn't the only one who needs a minute, and very nearly the Bastion is forced to call on both Sugar and Spice to give him an appropriate cooling-off if only because of the way his thoughts are helplessly drawn back to the feel of his husband's lips against his and memories he'd nearly forgotten about.
With a smile on his lips that didn't quite reach his eyes—never fear, that's what sunglasses are for—Remi waggles his son's cocktail at him as the botanist squawks his protests. "Vuoi che sia fatto bene, vero?" Raising his eyebrows and grinning, he hands Mateo his drink. "Besides, as we seemed to be the reason for so much tension at the beginning, we thought we'd give the three of you sometime alone before we came back and ruined it." Remi adds chipperly, the second long pull of alcohol he'd snuck before the pair departed the houseboat doing wonders for his mood.
idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Leaving Remi to deliver their son's cocktail, Ronin comes armed with liquor and glasses, offering a lazy smile towards both Flora and Jack as he sets them down on the table. "Far be it for me to pour a drink for someone who owns a bar," he says to the Doubletake, trusting her to know exactly how she likes her gin. He does nod at Sugar and Spice as they circle overhead, though. "Ice, if you want it," he clarifies, before withdrawing to go and sit with his husband.
"I daresay things don't have to be tense for us to ruin them," he scoffs to the Bastion, slouching into his seat and pouring himself another hefty drink as well, clearly not wanting the buzz to burn off too soon. "Still, I do admit we could have been better behaved - not just now, but back at The Hanged Man, too." He lifts his glass in a small cheers. "At least we could have one dinner before we run the risk of war breaking out again though, right?"
The resident bad, bad man does look a little petulant as Flora declares The Ark to be a boat, it's true, but luckily the two grumpy Taliesins return bearing alcohol, which will likely assist in every facet of what's to come. It's a sentiment Jack doubles down on as he considers the fog that has softened the animosity that still lurks in Remi and Ronin's thoughts, the captain nonetheless accepting the rum and the glass to pour himself a drink.
He doesn't need dragons for ice though, as it happens, his magic frosting his glass even as the amber liquid fills it, and he dryly raises his drink to join the Knight's toast. "I'd have thought the demigods would've been all over that like a rash," he admits, and now it's not entirely to be a shitbag about it all. "You reckon it's really gonna come to that again?"
you're the last of a dying breed; write our names in the wet concrete
I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me
"Okay, but Stormbreak is also ruled by The Family and is nowhere as nice as Torchline is." Flora counters, before Mateo's comment has her pausing and glancing over her shoulder at Jack. Snickering under her breath—it wasn't the first time she'd made this particular faux pax and likely wouldn't be the last—the queen sighs apologetically as she clears her throat to clarify. "Okay, you all live on boats, and we live on the most impressive galleon to ever sail the Arclight." There, is that better? Flora wonders, grinning at Jack before her thoughts turn entirely suspicious as her dads return in a good mood.
Humming noncommitally under her breath as she pours both her and Jack their drink, she does lift hers for Spice to frost it, if only so the little dragon might feel included. As it was, the two dragons were presently bickering between themselves, as Spice tried to stop Sugar from attacking Jack, and Sugar tried to call upon Oria for reinforcements.
"Does that mean you're both sorry and you take back all the stupid things you said?" Flora wants to know, not content to just let her Dads try and dad-joke their way out of the dog house.
I don't like slow motion double vision in rose blush I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
"Lo voglio in bocca," Mateo informs his father with a dramatic shrug, though the twinkle in his eyes and the smile on his face give him away; accepting his new cocktail with a flourish of gratitude, if nothing else, the botanist is having a great time while all of this takes place. The food is good, the drinks are good, the company is great (and entertaining if nothing else with the addition of Flora's new beau) and he settles back to gaze at his sister over the top of his glass.
"Is it nicer?" he teases. "I am pretty sure I have seen what both of you are wearing in the windows of one of the boutiques in The Silk Houses." Just saying. Alas, talk about fashion will have to wait, because his fathers are pulling the maturity card and Flora doubles down on it; as such, the botanist settles back to see who will come out on top of this little verbal skirmish.
All he's missing is popcorn.
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
Tutting under his breath, the Bastion's fingers are suddenly full of movement as he shakes his head at his son. "Beh, questo non è Mother Molly's." He points out, lifting his brows. "Qui non puoi sempre avere le cose in bocca quando le vuoi." Grinning at Mateo, Remi waits for Flora to finish pouring herself a gin before pouring one for himself and taking a seat in the chair next to Ronin.
Reaching for the Knight's hand, the sway of his emotions immediately settling to feel Ronin's hand once again in his, it's with a shockingly neutral expression that Remi glances toward Jack and nods thoughtfully. "We have been slower to act, that's true." He admits, before drowning the first flickers of annoyance he felt clawing up the back of his throat to have to see Flora snuggled up against a man who despite asking a rather appropriate question, was still a rat bastard. "There are more of us now which complicates things, though mostly I think it was seeing me get my ass kicked so easily by just one of them that made everyone hesitant." Remi adds with a shrug, finding this whole self-deprecating routine easier now that he'd gotten started.
Or, it had seemed that way, until Flora brightened the spotlight on the moment he'd hoped that they could just leave in the past. Despite wanting to turn to Ronin for help, instead, the Bastion squeezes his husband's hand despite keeping his gaze firmly on his daughter. "I am sorry," he agrees instantly. As for taking everything back? No. Remi stood by his belief that Jack wasn't the one, that he didn't care about Flora the way she deserved, and that this was going to end in very predictable flames. "And I do absolutely take back all the stupid things I said." It just so happened that Remi wasn't sure any of his complaints had been stupid.
idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Letting his fingers slip against Remi's beneath the table as they sit together, Ronin takes a healthy sip of his drink before holding out the glass for the Bastion, not bothering to hide his smirk to hear his antics with their son. He might only understand a fraction of it, but if the theatrical gestures and smiles are anything to go by, Remi and Mateo are definitely enjoying each other's company. Sending a pulse of warmth and affection through the Attuned bond, by the time Ronin glances back towards Flora and Jack, his husband has already taken the proverbial bull by the horns on both fronts.
"It made me more hesitant," he clarifies, because that much had been true as well. "I was against any of us trying to head to Starfall until I knew we were ready and could go as a group, after what happened to Remi." Jack would likely agree if it had been Flora - and if Ronin believed he felt even a fraction for the Doubletake of what he feels for Remi. "If nothing else, at least Torchline is protected from the majority of the void." He levels a grateful nod towards Flora for that too, because it's in large part thanks to her.
But then it's on to their apologies, and though Ronin ought to have seen it coming, he has to take a deep breath and give Remi's hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry as well. And yes, I take back the things I said - they were uncalled for." And because he had been talking to Flora rather than Jack, what Ronin says is absolutely true. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy."
Well would you look at that? They're all having a conversation and everything. Lifting his glass to his lips to take a measured sip, that Jack's hand also sneaks down to cover Flora's might well be coincidence, but of course anyone who knows him even a fraction will know better. "Protected from the void but not the Family," he agrees, but there's little they can do about that. "Flora recently helped clear the Oerwoud too." Without dear old dads as it happens.
As the Bastion's apologies begin to spill out, the captain takes another sip of rum, his finger brushing over a very particular ring on Flora's finger; it might not grow hot with the lie, since of course everything Remi says is true to the Bastion, but needless to say, Jack has his reservations. "Well, there you have it," he rumbles, raising an eyebrow down at the Doubletake. "Are you happy with me, Flora?"
you're the last of a dying breed; write our names in the wet concrete
I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me
"Mmmm. We're still the only region whose actually met with the Family, though." Flora points out, sitting a touch taller at Jack's side. There was no way to keep their personal and professional lives separate, not with a family like theirs, but in the midst of their family drama it felt good to posture herself as one of the best queens that Torchline had ever had.
Brushing her fingers against Jack's as his hand covers hers, while Flora's posture might suggest she was relaxed and at ease, her mind thrummed with tension as her mental fingers cocked the hammer of a gun pointed directly at her parents. Something about the way they'd come back all cheerful and how quick they were to offer up wholesale apologies had made the Doubletake suspicious, and that was before Jack's fingers brushed against her ring. She'd almost rather it have heated up; knowing that Remi had been intentionally vague in his apology was somehow worse than if he'd just come right out and lied. Still, there was no way to call him on it without outing Jack, so she merely stowed away the words the Bastion had used for later dissection when she and the captain were alone.
Given her mood, one might have expected Flora's response to be immediate and snarky. A succinct yep that was the verbal equivalent of giving her Dads the finger. Instead, as she gazed up at Jack, her mind easily able to fill in the blue of his eyes even hidden behind his sunglasses, Flora felt the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach that immediately softened the hard line of her lips into a smile that grew by degrees. "I really am." She whispers softly, forgetting about the presence of her family for a moment as she nibbles at the inside of her lip to keep her smile from properly running away with her.
I don't like slow motion double vision in rose blush I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
"Se mi amassi, mi lasceresti mettere in bocca quello che voglio," Mateo snarks at his father, the words warped by the force of his smile, and though he's always happy to verbally spar with Remi in the travelling tongue (it's about the only time he gets to use the language at length), things are afoot and the botanist sits back, relaxes and waits for the show to really kick off.
Only that isn't what happens, not really, and the potential murder-mystery (not that there will be much mystery surrounding whodunnit if things go badly here) turns into a love story. Mateo raises his eyebrows across at Flora to see her bold and open affection towards the man at her side, and he doesn't bother to hide his aaaaaawwww even if the sound is a little muffled around his cocktail.
"I can already hear wedding bells," he announces, a hand fluttering dramatically to his chest. "So enough talk of war, yes? It is too nice an evening to think too hard about that." That being Starfall, Mateo waving a hand at the purple hue on the horizon dismissively.
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
