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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!
"Sounds like you play too safe," Jack murmurs, the words almost purred against her skin with how close they suddenly are, the captain's hands all but clasping the Doubletake's to keep guiding the spyglass. He can hear and feel the dance of her thoughts, splashing like watercolours across the palette of his magic, blending here and becoming more vibrant there, until the fireworks of her excitement overtake it all.
If Jack is smiling he'll never tell, and he peers over Flora's shoulder as if he might be able to narrow down the space she's focused on with the naked eye. Regardless, a quick motion of his hand has The Ark listing closer in a gentle arch so as not to startle the creatures, and Flora may lose sight of them briefly until Jack is gently lowering the spyglass from your eye. "Good catch," he says, nodding at the now visible pod swimming through the sky ahead and above them.
"You just found our first starwhales."
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
"Maybe, but if I played my hand the way you would everytime, I think you and I would have a few more problems." Flora purrs. Torchline could only handle one Captain Jack, and though there were more than a few likeminded individuals, Flora was quite certain that if she—or anyone—even approached Jack's level of cunning, he'd not be glad for the competition.
Frowning, the circle of her vision suddenly grows dark and blank until Jack lowers the spyglass. With a gasp of delight, Flora very nearly drops the spyglass as her hands collide with one another. "Jack!" She cries, wildly delighted. "Look!" As if he hadn't been.
"Gods look at them. They're incredible."
For a moment as Flora's excitement reaches a girlish fever pitch in the back of her throat and she isn't sure how she'll be able to contain herself, it occurs to her that perhaps she ought to try and play things a little bit cooler than she was, before realizing, once again, the implications of Jack's magic. There was no too excited, nor too much joy. There was nothing of which Flora could derive pleasure from that the captain would scoff at, because, so long as he was within 30ft of her, her joy simply was his.
That Jack's motives for making the date memorable were even more selfish than Flora had originally thought made things better, she was finding, not worse. At least she knew that not everything she felt from his was fake.
"Com'ere." She whispers, glancing at him over her shoulder.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
"A'right, I'll give you that one." It's true that the captain has a tendency to want to deal with his problems before they are even deserving of the name, which is what makes Flora such an anomaly at the best of times. Glancing from the silhouette of her face down at the spyglass moments before it nearly slips from her grip, it's likely of very little surprise that Jack is there to smoothly rescue it out of her hands, putting it safely away now that it isn't needed to see the starwhales.
Her joy and excitement crashes over him, rich and light and golden, and he tilts his head at the graceful creatures as they swim effortlessly through the air, bathed in starlight and calling softly to one another. The Ark, of course, isn't foolish enough to get too close, instead dipping her prow so that the whales might pass overhead on their way further out into the cosmos.
Blinking back down at the Doubletake to hear her voice, it's with uncharacteristic obedience (is it because he's been told to take her on a date? Is it because his edges have been momentarily softened by her own flood of emotions?) that the captain sidles around to stand in front of Flora, tugging at the lapels of the jacket over her shoulders to draw her flush against him. "The whales are up there," he reminds her, as if she might have forgotten.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
So powerful and yet elegant, Flora watches in stunned silence as the enormous creatures swim through the cosmos. She wonders what it might be like to be that free, to be so openly admired, to be above it all.
Lonely, she imagines.
However, from where she stands on the Ark's deck, Torchline a forgotten thing far below them and the endless possibilities laid out before around her in the swirling of the various constellations, Flora can't imagine anything more beautiful.
As Jack moves to stand in front of her, it's precisely the sort of manish handling of her that Flora has come to expect, to want, of the captain, and it leaves her a touch breathless as he pulls her against him. Letting her fingertips rove up his vest before smoothing down the fabric and circling around his neck, she presses her nails against the back of his scalp. "I know." She whispers. "But I want you to kiss me."
To kiss her like he meant it, even if he didn't.
Like it had been his idea, even if hadn't.
Like he wasn't bound up in her strings moving only at her pleasure.
Like if she chose him, if she chose power and keeping his secret over the possibility of being loved, that it could still be worth it.
Like he could make her believe it, anyways.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
"I thought you might," Jack says, tension rippling briefly across his shoulders at her touch before settling again, allowing her fingers to dance up and through the back of his dark hair. Not just to kiss her, of course - but to kiss her with intention, the details of which flash across the web of his telepathy until he's got, more or less, an exact idea about what the Doubletake wants.
Which, of course, is one of the benefits of having a mindreader on side.
One of the captain's hands remains on the lapels of the jacket around her shoulders, the other reaching for her wind-tossed hair, tucking a few errand curls back behind her ear, only for his eyes to flick briefly over her shoulder. Nodding as if she ought to look as well, should Flora actually do so, Jack will use the opportunity to catch her chin and redirect her back to his waiting lips.
His kiss is slow but hungry, the sort that begs for roaming hands and breathless gasps, and the arms that slip around her to clasp her close against his chest border on possessive. More than the act itself, of course, is the importance of all the people watching; this isn't some clandestine thing tucked away in his cabin - this is out in the open, for every single member of the crew to see.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
She might have rolled her eyes at him then—obviously he knew—but the playful sheen to the Doubletake's thoughts had all but been scrubbed away, revealing only a raw surface below. Either Jack would be so good at what he did as to make it easy for the Doubletake to lie to herself, or he wouldn't. It was as simple as that.
As Jack looks over her shoulder and nods, Flora of course is inclined to do as instructed thinking perhaps another pod of starwhales had just breached into the open skies. Drawn back towards him, Flora's oh? of surprise is indeed devoured by the captain's waiting lips, and though the movement felt absolutely choreographed no part of Flora was unhappy with the role she'd been thrust into.
Standing up on her toes, her fingernails radiating out against the back of Jack's head, Flora's tongue scrawls the words her mind is already well on its way to imagining. Even if the crew aboard the Ark had been handpicked, even if Jack had given them a speech ahead of time that began with you just go along with the things you see and know it's all for the good of the Ark, it was still effort wasn't it?
Or was she only kidding herself because this was less of a risk than trying for the real thing?
Feeling a ripple of heat rise up from her core and begin to singe her cheeks, Flora indeed was left a touch breathless as she parted from Jack.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Flora is likely to be more than a touch breathless by the time Jack is done, because no sooner have the Doubletake's lips parted from his own when he's chasing after them a second time. Kissing her as if she's his new favourite drug, the captain's arms tighten around her just enough so he might lift her to sit on the railing overlooking their little sea of stars. And don't worry, Flora - if there's any whisper of a thought about being shoved overboard, the way Jack encourages her legs to hook around his waist will hopefully dissipate it.
"Did you just describe me as less of a risk than the alternative?" he whispers against the soft curve of her jaw, his smile something she'll be able to feel as well as hear. "I'm insulted." Nipping gently at her throat, the captain has to look up at Flora now given their positioning, and he does so with eyes reflecting the starlight as well as the blood-dark sails of The Ark.
"If you're lookin' for something true," he says, "how about this? I literally cannot live without you by my side, Flora." It's not the context that she expects, no, but it's also undeniably honest - should Flora step away and spill his secret, the captain is a dead man walking, whether by his own hand or by someone else's.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
Stifling a little moan of surprise as she feels herself become weightless, it doesn't occur to Flora that Jack might yeet her overboard, (she would survive being shoved, but you wouldn't, Jack). Hardly needing his encouragement in order to tether him against her with her legs, Flora binds them together as tightly as she dares with a little gasp against his mouth. Feeling the heat in her core suddenly flare, Flora momentarily forgets about the stakes and double bluffs of the game they're playing and instead takes greedily from his lips until the burn in her belly is matched only by that in her lungs.
Scratching her fingers against the nape of his neck as she tries to fight as quietly for her breath as she can, Flora can only smile crookedly down at him. "I mean, yeah, you're basically harmless Jack." She teases. "You're probably scared of Koa too, that's why you never went to kick him out." And why shouldn't Flora stir the pot, thousands of miles above the sea with her arms around the neck of a man with likely the highest body count in all of Torchline?
As she looks down at him, the laughter in her eyes douses somewhat as her smile relaxes and then disappears altogether. Letting one of her hands fall away from his hair to rest on his shoulder, the other glides along the length of his jaw. "But only because of what you did." Jack loaded the gun and placed it into her hands by telling her.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
The problem, if it can be called such a thing, is that naturally as Flora gets more distracted (and horny, and distracted, and horny), the same emotions flood Jack's magic and body, until it's no longer clear whether he's kissing her because she's asked him to, because he wants to, or because he wants more of what she's giving him. And even as she drops quips about Koa - even as the laughter in her eyes fades and her smile slips away - the good captain is still pressed against her as close as he can get.
"I considered it," he says of the himbo Dragoon, the lie smooth if not very obvious from the crooked smile on his face, "but I found better things to do." Like you, Flora.
Speaking of which, it's with a huff of breath that tries not to be a laugh (and fails) that Jack peers up at her. "That's right," he whispers. "In all the years I've been active in Torchline, you're the first." The first he's told willingly, when there was nothing to gain and arguably everything to lose. "Just you." Flora can either take that as a negative, or she can boast it as a point of pride. That's entirely up to her.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
"Well, good to know I can count on your follow through." Flora huffs, and though she rolls her eyes as if annoyed, she really isn't too bothered that Jack hadn't actually gone to find Koa. It likely would have made a complicated situation even more messy and ultimately the result would have been the same: Koa had gone back to Stormbreak anyway.
Her fingers move with the grains of hair on his cheek, slowly sculpting the curve of his jaw before lifting and starting again. Leaning forward as if blocking out the hazy light from the constellations will somehow make the blue of his eyes more trustworthy, Flora sighs softly. "And remind me what you get out of this? Seems to me things were going just fine on your end when it came to puppeting me around." She reasons without animosity as the pad of her thumb brushes over his lower lip. "But then you risked it all, and for what? I can't imagine it was just to be able to fuck someone with their thoughts splashed out on the walls around you in some brothel." If he'd really wanted that, he could have just fucked any old whore and done away with them after. Maybe he even had.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Unable to help himself, of course Flora receives a salacious raise of Jack's eyebrows at that remark, because they both know his follow through is nothing to shrug at when it counts. (Which is usually when his head is between her thighs or he's pressing her into bedsheets, to be fair). As for the everything else, the captain tilts his head into her hand rather than away from it, though his own expression also loses its mirth.
"I think I tried to tell you on the beach," he mutters, "but I don't remember much of it. World's different to how it was back when I started out. War's changed people, and the way people work. Add in Starfall..." He shrugs, the words murmurs against the pad of her thumb. "I'm stubborn, but I know when I've gotta change as well. Everythin' I've built and worked for is useless if I'm dead, an' it only goes so far workin' alone."
Enter Flora, Queen of Torchline, daughter of no less than four demigods.
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
What was worth more? Being wanted, loved even, by a boy her own age who could hardly control who he fell in love with any more than she could? Or being chosen by someone like Jack, to carry his secret and potentially assure their own mutual success?
"I was... a little shell shocked, then." Flora says with a small shrug; he'd pulled the rug right out from beneath her feet that day and she'd been more focused on possibly never speaking to him again than listening to the things he had to tell her. "So..you told me your secret, to what? Bind me to you? Because unless I decide I want something from you, then..." Blinking, the pieces begin to fit together. Slowly at first, but then picking up speed in a way that had Flora's brows furrowing and the corners of her lips twitching as she worked it out.
Knowing how she felt about him, Jack would have had to have known that this sort of fuckery was right up Flora's alley. That she'd make him do things precisely like going on the sort of date they were on now. "..you knew that I would use it against you, but you knew you'd go along with it. And actually, I think you knew that all ahead of time, or at least it's what you thought." Flora considered, straightening as her mind continued to make the connections she'd been too angry to make on the beach.
"Because if it'd been someone else, and you probably did consider others, either they couldn't give you what you wanted from them, or you couldn't give them what they'd want." Telling Ronin or Remi, for instance would provide absolutely zero benefit for the captain, because neither had any use for him. Telling Melita might benefit Jack, but other than a ship with even more cannons than the one he'd already given her, what could he offer?
"And that's why it was me." Her finger halts against his mouth. "Right?"
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Not having expected to be the subject of Flora's game of Cluedo, especially not on the heels of the makeout session she'd demanded of him, the captain takes a long, deep breath in and lets it out again. For all that he can read the Doubletake's thoughts and thinks he has any idea what they mean, what her intentions are and why, it's at times like this that he realises it really doesn't matter. "Yes," he says simply, shifting to lift her down off the railing so she might stand properly once more without being locked around him.
"Yes, that's why it was you. And either that's good enough for you or it isn't. I just wish you'd make a decision, because I showed you my hand, and it's your turn at the table." Is Jack living with Flora's strings in whatever way she wants to tangle them but with the promise of mutual success? Or is he taking a short step off the edge of The Ark up here and calling it a day?
you wanted perfect, you got your perfect but now I'm too perfect for someone like you
07-09-2024, 02:39 PM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2024, 02:40 PM by Flora.)
flora
Frowning a touch as he lowers her from the railing, Flora absently adjusts the—has—jacket on her shoulders. Instead of peering up at him, instead, she nibbles at the inside of her cheek as her gaze drifts across the dark fabric of his vest. Having felt momentarily dejected by the captain's actions, having perhaps expected praise for piecing it all together, Flora now felt her spine straightening with the sort of steel that made her eyes bright and had her lips curling into a smile.
"Yeah, well, I'm the only other person in this game, Jack." Just the two of them, sitting across from each other at the table. Only if this was poker, Jack had indeed shown her his hand before either of them had called. Knowing what he had, she could still raise if she wanted, or just fold. "I'm not going to rush just because you don't like being in control." And really, when was the last time Jack wasn't the one ultimately pulling all of the strings?
"And either that's good enough for you, or it isn't." She purrs his words back to him, gazing up into his eyes only now that she's the one with her back to the skyline, it's her blue gaze that is made maroon by the Ark's winedark sails.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
