Click here for a list of weather descriptions, seasonal festivals, and a real time:site time conversion.
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 do I learn my dreams to mold To lay them bare in the morning cold?
Glancing over his shoulder and offering Ronin an entirely adoring smile, for just a fleeting moment things felt like they might be okay. They were all getting too old now to hold onto old grievances, and with apologies and broken noses behind them, perhaps things could go back to some echo of the way they'd been before. Sighing happily, Remi reached for his gin and took a sip, only to nearly choke on it in precisely the same manner as Sunjata.
Turning worriedly toward Ronin as Sunjata's body begins to flicker and flare with white light. Sorrow and gritty surprise shock through the attuned bond in time with the lightning strikes across the Flood's scars leaving Remi to silently wonder if perhaps Vai's death had hit Sunjata harder than they'd thought?
Only to realize that no, it hadn't.
It hadn't hit him at all.
"Fuck." Remi's fingers tighten against Ronin's knee as he stares slack-jawed down at the table, trying desperately to recall the days and weeks that followed the witch's death. "Fuck," he repeated, a touch more eloquently this time before lifting his gaze and looking apologetically across the table. "Gods, I didn't realize you didn't know." He stammers as heat trickles into his cheeks.
"She...it was peaceful for her, at the end." Remi's eyes lower back to the table as his expression flinches with the memories replaying themselves behind his eyes. "She knew how loved she was." Pausing, the Bastion hadn't expected to relive the shock of Vai's death so soon after having seen her, but that didn't stop his throat from tightening around the words which had once been the last ones he'd said to her: I love you, mom.
"By all of us." Remi is quick to add, sniffing surreptitiously and forcing himself to lift his head.
If they're still out there then the chasm grows For all you know, for all you've known
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Having managed to put down his wine, at least, before the next bombshell hits, Ronin is also able to take a moment to imagine that things might turn out okay between them. Of course, it doesn't really pan out that way for long. Able to feel the onslaught of Remi's emotions through his skin as well as through the Attuned bond, the Knight lets out a long and shaky sky, drawing the Bastion more tightly against his side as he speaks.
"Sorry, Jata," he murmurs, glancing up at the flickering light show of the other man's emotions, resisting the urge to reach out to try and take his hand if only because he doesn't know, these days, how something like that would be received. "It... I swear no one kept it from you," he adds; something that is hopefully obvious in the way the Taliesins had assumed the Flood already knew, and Remi's immediate explanation about it all.
temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill my skin has lavender tones
Of course, just like when Haai had died and torn a piece of his soul with him, he does not try to share the shocking lure of grief and pain through the attuned bond – but alas, regardless of how good of a hold Sunjata feels as though he has over it, there are certain things that just don’t manage to remain locked behind the walls of his mind and the cage of his heart. At the very least, while he wars with his own feelings over the matter, the surprise that slips from the Bastion is well received, and past grudges vanish in the face of realizing it had not been intentional.
Who would have told him, if not for them? And with the answer from Ronin that it had happened before the war, it makes sense. Perhaps during the time they were dealing with all of that, Sunjata had made his claim on Stormbreak’s relic, pushed far beyond a mental capacity of okay that the Flood had been willing to die in the waters off the edge of Stormbreak itself to try and retrieve it. So yeah, it may not have come to mind, and Sunjata finds for once that he can’t fault them for never saying anything for all the faults he has placed on them in the past.
His nose wrinkles and he nods, before he downs the rest of the drink of the whiskey and pours in a generous amount once again. “I’m glad.” He says through a whiskey rough voice, swallowing down his emotions to stop blinding everyone that looks at him. Steel eyes lift to Ronin and Remi in turn, a bit more open, having taken a deep breath to steady himself. “I do still wanna see her, though.” His mind plays tricks with him over whether or not it hadn’t been clear his acceptance of the offer in lieu of the sudden grief, which reminds him to be better at apologizing and be open with others, something he's been working on desperately since finding himself again. “Sorry about the bomb of emotions.”
the flood
tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone i can cover it up, i can cover it up
totally sniped from odd ilu
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.
How do I learn my dreams to mold To lay them bare in the morning cold?
"No, of course. You just say the word." Remi agrees with a belated nod. "I have to be there to do it, but I'll give you two space."
Wondering what other bombshells they might inadvertently stumble across that evening, Remi took Jata's lead in draining the rest of his gin before pouring himself a more than healthy second dose if only so that he wouldn't have to refill it again so soon.
"Don't even mention it. You're in good company." Both in that Remi and Ronin were highly emotional themselves, but also because he did hope that, them being good company, was something that might be true of the trio again.
Sinking back against Ronin, Remi rubbed a hand up the side of one cheek before ruffling it up through his curls. "You know, we were thinking..that if tonight went well...it might be nice for the four of us to get together? For dinner, maybe?" The fourth of course being Hotaru, and though Remi didn't necessarily intend to, he glanced slightly over his shoulder at Ronin with a small smile. "If that isn't too weird."
If they're still out there then the chasm grows For all you know, for all you've known
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Following suit in promptly finishing his drink, unlike the other two men, Ronin chooses to change things up and refill his glass with liquor rather than wine - he feels as though he may need it, after that first little chat. "Well, as good as it gets right now," he adds to Remi's remark with a smirk. "I imagine there is better company out there, if this is the sort of thing we bring to the conversation."
Regardless, he sips at his rum and relishes the burn, offering Sunjata a silent cheers; an extra thanks for supplying the drinks. Slouching back further into the booth and accepting his husband's weight against him, Ronin has already been prepped (multiple times) for this particular branch of the evening's proceedings, and even as Remi glances over his shoulder at him, he's nodding. "The ball is in your court, obviously. And Hotaru's," he says. "Gods know I haven't exactly made myself a welcoming individual for her to be around."
temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill my skin has lavender tones
“Yeah, sure.” Sunjata says, accepting the deal regardless of what it was. He isn’t blind to notice the shift in the Bastion ever since becoming Mort’s own demigod. The way that comfort came easier to Sunjata’s shoulders despite the topics, because there wasn’t that overlying threat simply being in his presence. Not that he didn’t think that Remi could kick his ass, but he hadn’t retaliated after the Flood had broken his nose. The Remi before? Well, he can distinctly remember the hands at his throat in those waters in Stormbreak.
Either way, trying desperately to shove away the thoughts of Vai and that whole thing – he can grief later, of course, even it wears on his shoulders like a well worn coat. “It wouldn’t be us if there weren’t shocking surprises in each conversation, now would it?” Sunjata murmurs, aiming for a joke that ends with a sigh as he buries his scarred mouth with the glass of liquor, taking a sip. At Remi’s next suggestion, though, his steel gaze harbors some surprise, even more so as it trails over to hear Ronin’s won response.
He shakes his head to the stress that seems to radiate from Remi from even asking the question in the first place. “No, it’s not weird.” Sunjata says softly, slowly, as if parsing through memories and the here and now at the same time. “I think that we should do that.” He agrees softly, toying with the rim of his glass again as he contemplates what to say, thankfully swallowing down enough of his surprise grief to let a crooked and small smile curl on his lips. “She doesn’t hate you, you know. She gets it. But you could maybe make it seem like you don't hate her too?” He suggests, glancing between the two other demigods as he debates whether to admit a fact that only Melita and Flora know.
He decides fuck it after a split second and he sighs, steel gaze dropping to the glass again. “We’ve all done pretty fucked up shit to each other. But Ru and I have worked through a lot of things and gotten better about our actions with each other. So much so that.. I’m gonna ask her to marry me.” He glances up a little sheepishly toward Ronin and Remi. “Which means we’re all gonna be kind of related in some way or another.” Cue the conspiracy theorist whiteboards with the red yarn to try and untangle the mess it is. “And I think Flora might beat us all up if we don’t try to get along before it. Now I dunno about you two but I don’t wanna find out what that’s like.”
the flood
tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone i can cover it up, i can cover it up
totally sniped from odd ilu
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.
How do I learn my dreams to mold To lay them bare in the morning cold?
Glad to hear it, having been with Hotaru during a very tumultuous time during her relationship with Sunjata and Nate and thus inserting himself into arguments he had no good to reason to be in (like when he'd broken her out of jail), Remi did his best to roll his shoulders away from his ears. Picking up his glass of gin and trying to stiffle a chuckle around the rim before shooting Ronin a look of I told you so out of the corner of his eye, he took a healthy sip so that the Knight could reply to Sunjata in his own time.
"Wh—well shit." It shouldn't have come as a surprise, not given how long Hotaru and Sunjata had been back together for, and maybe it was just because of the nature of their relationship with Frey that Remi was at all shocked. "Congrats, that's really great." As for being related? Tilting his head ever so slightly to try and work out the how? of it all, mention of Flora's name had the Bastion inhaling stiffly and nodding.
"Gods, that's probably true. Knowing her, she'd just channel Safrin to put us all in our places." Reaching out, Remi lifts his glass. "To new beginnings."
If they're still out there then the chasm grows For all you know, for all you've known
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Actively pouting at both Bastion and Lullaby as he's summarily told off (or, not exactly, but it certainly feels that way), Ronin grumbles his way around another very healthy sip of rum. If he feels any shame about not having been the bigger person in all this, it absolutely doesn't show; the Knight has very few chips left on his shoulders and he's been nursing this one for a while, for better or worse. "I will do my best," he tells them - both of them. "If anything, we should probably make dinner a regular thing. I imagine the more expected it becomes, the more I can give myself a kick up the ass."
Which, first of all, probably a good suggestion anyway, but also entirely more likely to happen anyway based on what Sunjata has to say next. With blue eyes widening, Ronin's cloudy expression clears into something more genuine and cheerful, and he raises his glass alongside Remi's. "Look at you go," he praises, laughing. "Congratulations - to new beginnings," he echoes. "Though for the record, I'd like to say both Jata and I have been put in our places by Safrin plenty of times, so I humbly request that we can sit that one out."
temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill my skin has lavender tones
“We’ll see how the first one goes then plan from there.” He says, giving them all a breather for whether or not they make plans for it to continue. He doesn’t see why not, though, despite the one looming factor that has him glancing with a small amount of amusement toward Ronin. “Maybe avoid Leafchange?” Given Ronin’s luxere shift and all that.
When it comes to Hotaru and himself, though, it simply makes sense – one thing that Sunjata no longer has to worry about are gods meddling in his relationships, especially given that the both of them are demigods for the same. So, as it stands, Sunjata’s lips curl into a somewhat brighter smile at the congratulations, raising his glass to meet Remi’s and Ronin’s and finally allowing his shoulders to loosen the tension that’s knotted up in them. “To new beginnings.”
Mention of Safrin has him sighing with a soft little groan of a sound, shaking his head enough that the light glints from the dangling earrings above his shoulders. “Yeahhh, I’m not interested in doing that again. It was so much fun the first few rounds.” Comes the accented, sarcastic drawl, the roll of his eyes despite the twist of the smile that remains on his face.
the flood
tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone i can cover it up, i can cover it up
totally sniped from odd ilu
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.
How do I learn my dreams to mold To lay them bare in the morning cold?
Raising his eyebrows to hear his husband suggest regular dinners with the Flood and the Valkyrie, Remi is admittedly a bit relieved as Sunjata gives voice to a more measured approach to filling their social calendars. Part of him—a large part, truly—knew that it would all go just fine, and that the four of them would be able to slip into easy enough conversation. Gods knew they had enough in common these days between Starfall and their children. He couldn't deny, though, the worry he had about whether old jealousies would raise their heads if they were all in the same room for too long. Both Sunjata and Ru were Frey's demigods after all, and gods it wasn't as if they hadn't been attractive beforehand.
Still, trying to swallow down those thoughts so that they wouldn't darken the attuned bond between them, Remi grins as he helps himself to another swallow of gin. "Well, I recommend not upsetting Flora, then." He counters slyly, raising his eyebrows at both men. "She's all of our daughter, now." Which, fuck if that wasn't the weirdest thing to say, and as the one related to her by blood, Remi wasn't sure if he should have felt relieved or protective in the moment and ended up feeling an uncomfortable combination of both.
If they're still out there then the chasm grows For all you know, for all you've known
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-15-2024, 10:27 AM (This post was last modified: 07-15-2024, 10:27 AM by Ronin.)
we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead
"Shut up," Ronin hisses to Sunjata, for a moment sounding more like the boyish idiot who had spent his days sparring with the Flood in his boxing ring. "But also, yes, fine. I've got better things to do in Leafchange anyway than attend dinner parties." Like scowl at people walking on their beach, or threaten the mailman. It's a very busy time, you understand.
Leaving his arm comfortably stretched around the Bastion - Leafchange or not, that possessiveness never really changes - the Knight can't help but laugh his agreement about Flora. "Do you think she knows she's one of the dangerous people in Caido, with all of us at her beck and call?" he wonders, tilting his head between them. (She absolutely does, Ronin, you're just too much of an optimist to have noticed before now).
temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill my skin has lavender tones
“Make me.” Sunjata probes, punctuated with a wink and a soft laugh — feeling for a moment like things were how they once were, where they had all been friends before war, distrust, and gods had torn them apart. “I’m sure you do.” Comes the playful tease, before he exhales and downs the rest of his whiskey, before eyeing the bottle that Remi had brought, popping it open to give it a try.
Pouring into his glass, he lifts it to take a whiff, settling with a softer smile until his steel gaze lifts to look at Ronin across from him. “How could she not know?” Sunjata drawls with that same soft smile playing on his lips, before downing part of it and sighing contently as his steel gaze drifts over to Remi. “This is really nice, Remi. Thanks.” He murmurs, lifting it to his lips for another sip.
the flood
tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone i can cover it up, i can cover it up
totally sniped from odd ilu
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.
How do I learn my dreams to mold To lay them bare in the morning cold?
"Seconded." Remi agrees on the heels of Sunjata's taunt, his eyebrows playfully raised towards his husband, now feeling much better about his decision to slog through the uncomfortable conversation the pair had had about Hotaru before coming to meet with Sunjata.
"Oh, she knows." The Bastion agrees, tilting his head ruefully to the side as he drains the last of his gin. "Not only does she have us all at her beck and call, but I don't think I'd be wrong to say we're about a wrapped around her finger as they come." Luckily the queen had only called them in to fight off monsters and to berate the occasional boyfriend, but gods knew there would probably come a day when she really put the screws to them all.
As Sunjata reached for the gin Remi had brought for him, the Bastion did his best not to be too obvious about watching the Flood's reaction as he took his first sip. However well he might have disguised his expression both men at the table would likely feel the mental sigh of relief pass through the attuned bond as Remi nodded. "You're welcome. I started making it when we lived in the mountains. There's a waterfall that flows upside down there and I swear it makes the gin taste lighter." He explains. "Have you ever been?"
If they're still out there then the chasm grows For all you know, for all you've known
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I'm starting to feel as though I'm being picked on, you know," Ronin drawls, punctuating the remark by knocking back the rest of his rum; it isn't as though the liquor is going to do much unless he tries to race it from burning out of his system, after all. "And gods, you know, you're absolutely right." About their devotion to Flora there is little in question, and Ronin dreads the day when she calls upon them all at once. Either they'll end up participating in some ridiculous girls' night, he feels, or someone will end up dead.
Pretending that Remi's baited expectation isn't as obvious as it is, Ronin smiles into his empty glass and absently teases with the back of his husband's curls with his free hand. Once Sunjata has given his seal of approval, of course, he relaxes and pours himself another measure of rum. "If you haven't, you really ought to. If you fly across the Cordillera, just look for a houseboat that really doesn't seem like it should be there."
