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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!
"You wish your deepest, darkest desire was this good," Jack fires back, and though his footsteps are still slower than usual and he can feel the worst migraine of his life beginning to brew behind his eyes, the playful snark is nonetheless back in full swing, at least. "I'm sure you'll find a way to squeeze another few places in en route," he adds, because ain't that just the thing, Flora. Them exploration requirements tho.
Flora almost trips and of course that means Jack almost goes down with her, the captain blinking his accusation across at her before the tide of her near-panic threatens to drag him off into its currents. "It's not..." Anything that would affect you, he's about to say, but gods, who fucking knows, actually? "For most all of it, no. For one part, I can't say." Once there's a kid running around claiming him as a parent - ha, for starters - he can't guarantee Flora won't hear the rumours.
"Oh, yeah for sure. Being immortal, how wonderfully unique." Flora chimes back with a roll of her eyes, not that she really has a leg to stand on. No doubt Jack was right the first time around that TrUe LoVE is what Safrin would find if she looked deep down, but then, that wasn't such a dark desire.
"Well if I can't have you forever at least I can stake my claim on a few firsts." Flora says a touch brazenly, not really having even heard the words coming out of her mouth until they had. Clearing her throat, despite the way she probably ought to feel terrified for the captain's reaction, she hoped he'd be too tired to make much of it. It wasn't anything she hadn't thought in his presence before, anyway. "If you're immortal and all, firsts are going to be what it all comes down to, I figure."
Tightening her hold of him as her body realizes that it's on her to keep them both vertical, Flora hisses out a breath as her feet right themselves. "Is that one part the one I'm going to be upset about?" She wonders, her steps slowing.
Rolling his eyes right back at Flora and instantly regretting it for the dizziness that seizes him, it takes Jack a few breaths and a very considerate slowing of his footsteps before he's good to keep going. "I'd have expected it would be to bring your twin back," he says without malice, of her deep, dark desires. Not that he even knows if such a thing is really possible, but as they've already spoken about, people are notoriously good at cheating death in Caido, to the point where maybe Jack has jumped the gun a bit in wanting to live forever.
Raising his eyebrows - rather predictably - at her snappy commentary, of course the good captain can be expected to capitalise on such things. He has, after all, lived a very colourful life already, and so he's naturally interested. "Go on. What firsts will you show me?" he wants to know.
But then they go and spoil it all by doing something stupid like bringing up Safrin's requirements for him. "I can't say for sure, but... yeah. I think you'd be upset about it."
"I've already got a plan for that." Flora admits in a low voice, as if Mort might be eavesdropping nearby. It had occurred to her more than once that if Remi's magic could bring her twin back from Mort's realm, then there had to be a way of getting him to stay. As often as she'd joked about simply wrapping her arms around Enzo and not letting go, the queen thought that one day she'd figure out a way to actually do it level 15 bby.
"All the places I'll be dragging you too, as a start." She says with a smirk. "Places where there isn't water around for miles and miles." Gaaaasp. Having been predictably dramatic about things, now that Flora was on the getting over it portion of her personality, she was contemplating taking Jack's immortality as a personal challenge. Rather than allowing herself to be a footnote in a history that would fill endless books, at the very least her name could be the first thing in all the most interesting entries so that when he did inevitably fall in love, at least her memory would haunt all the places he'd go, the things he'd do.
Flora's shoulders slump as she nods. The inclination to simply demand that he tell her was heavy on her lips such that when she exhaled the breath she'd been holding, she let it intentionally flutter out over her low lip causing the air to warble. "And...do you actually think it's better to just let me find out on my own, or do you just not want to deal with this right now?"
"I'd have been surprised if you didn't. Noted, though. Let me know if there's anythin' needs doin'," Jack mutters. It's the least he can offer, after all, and whilst he doubts there are many people in Caido who would look at a benevolent god like Mort and think I'd punch him in the face to get what I want, Jack certainly counts among their number.
Suddenly finding himself with enough energy to bark out a laugh at the Doubletake's line of thinking, the good captain can at least concede to let her try. Why not, when as she keeps so rightly saying, he's got spools of forever to unwind at his fingertips? "I s'pose the world does span beyond its oceans, however much I'd like to pretend otherwise," he drawls. Deserts, endless forests, Stormbreak up in its floating precipice - all of them unknown, still, to Jack.
Flora steps slow, though, and her shoulders slump, and the captain resists the urge to roll his eyes and instead lets them fall to a full stop. "What does Safrin always want?" he says, all too reasonably. "She wanted it from Ronin. She wanted it from Sunjata." Flora's a smart cookie - he feels like she'll be able to piece it together from there.
"She didn't say anythin' about actin' like a father, so I assume I'm spared that responsibility." A kid, though? Whatever. "Ain't like it could happen with anyone but a goddess anyways."
"Kill yourself and go pull him out?" Flora suggests with a cavalier smirk before chuckling and shaking her head. No, she'd be pulling Enzo out herself, even if that did mean dying in order to do it.
"Mmm, it does indeed. I can even show you where I grew up." She offers. "And actually there's a good amount of water all around, so there's no need to worry about you drying up like a sponge."
Turning toward him, her hand still comfortably around his hip, Flora hears her ears begin to buzz, and then ring.
What does Safrin always want?
Love, right?
From Ronin and Sunjata, she'd wanted it.
Flora's panic rises like frigid water in a sinking ship; the sort where those below deck are already dead or drowning, while those above might still be milling about unaware. No.. Flora isn't even sure if she's actually said the word or if she's just moaned through her teeth. Insert the gif of the dev watching them shove all the shapes through the circle hole.
"jack..."
He couldn't be seriously thinking about having a child with Safrin? Setting aside the bright jealousy she'd be inclined to feel about thoughts of him fucking her (and her fucking him), Flora gives her head a small shake, her legs feeling suddenly watery. "—but she—" She'd threatened to sap everything Ronin was in order to give it to Seren. She'd punished Sunjata for not taking care of Kamaria. Gods knew what else she'd done to the fathers of her children before—surely Jack wasn't so stupid to think that just because the goddess hadn't mentioned it, that he wouldn't be beholden to her every desire, parenting or otherwise?
Too in shock to even understand his final comment for what it was, Flora felt the world grow cold and then quiet before the stars traded places with the ground and she felt herself slamming down onto the grass.
"I feel like that's more your father's arena," Jack drawls in response. And if their conversation wasn't about to take such a turn, he'd quite like to know why Remi isn't trying to get his dead son back with as much determination as Flora, if the Doubletake even knows the answer. This is exactly why he doesn't put any stock in family - which, as it happens, leads perfectly into their next agenda item.
Of all the things he'd expected Flora to faint about, Jack can safely say this hadn't been one of them. And though he perhaps tries to catch her - instinct, not chivalry, let's get it right - the good captain is in no state to hold his own weight, let alone hers as well, and with the briefest of attempts at balance, down he goes as well.
"Flora--" Cut off by the ground, Jack grunts out a curse and does his best to right himself enough to check the state of Torchline's queen. I did say you'd be upset, he almost mutters, before promptly thinking better of it and trying to shake off the clamouring of her thoughts as they gather around him like church bells. Reaching out to give her cheek a sharp tap, the captain's hands are fringed with the smallest amount of frost, as if the temperature might help.
"Nah, he can't even kill himself on his own." Flora says with a smirk. Besides, Jack had offered and in the wake of his ImMorTaLiTy it seemed a perfectly placed dig.
Ah, but then she's fainting, falling hard enough to skin her elbow and crack her teeth together hard enough to send her thoughts reeling.
Inhaling sharply against the chill, Flora's eyes flare open. Above her is a dizzying number of stars that have her reaching out to grasp at whatever was closest—Jack as it happened—as if fearing that the shakiness in her limbs was gravity slowly releasing its hold on her forever. Blinking dazedly, her eyes slowly focusing on the captain, she scowls up at him as one hand leaves his arm and goes to her cheek. "Ow." She grumbles accusingly, before trying to sit up with a groan.
In addition to Jack's blood on her cream sweater, now there were smears of grass and dirt as well. Rubbing at her forehead, she glances towards her bag to make sure the bottle of wine within had broken, before sighing and turning back to him. "So if I cut your dick off right here and now, would that put an end to all of this?" And no, she isn't ignorant of what that would deny her in the future, but gods.
"Immortality doesn't mean unkillable," Jack informs her snarkily. "Not the version I've agreed to, anyway. I just won't get old." He won't get old, or weak, or unable to function without assistance - all big no thank yous in his book. "So y'know, much as you love your brother, keep the knife out of my neck, yeah?" He imagines that would be a shock for Flora, at least, killing Jack and having him stay dead. It might even be funny for the first five seconds.
Kind of like her fainting. Only as she comes around, it's with accusation, as if he'd been the one to rob her of consciousness on his own, and his confusion is plain as day on his face as he sits up as well. "D'you always threaten to cut off dicks after you pass out?" he wants to know, also glancing towards her bag for any tell-tale spillage of wine. He has the feeling one or both of them will need it very shortly.
"But no, as it happens, it wouldn't. I wasn't cursed with the ability to have children - can you imagine how many bastards'd be runnin' around Torchline by now otherwise?" He scowls. "As it happens, that doesn't mean shit to a goddess. But more to the point, leave my dick outta this."
"Wait, what?" Blinking, Flora tilts her head. She'd heard immortality and assumed it was the sort her parents had. They too could be killed, only it was a good deal more difficult; when Jack had talked about getting stabbed, she'd just thought he was referring to whatever the clause of his immortality was. "Oh." She might have said more, might even have considered an apology for her big her mental reaction had been, but then they were talking about Safrin and children and Flora was hitting the ground.
"Another first, just for you." Flora grumbles as she tries to rub the cold off her cheek with her shoulder. Grimacing at that and absolutely not wanting to imagine—she had no illusions about Jack, but that didn't mean she let herself linger on all the facets of his character—the queen sighs as she glances between his legs as if debating doing it anyway. "So when she said that thing about getting it the old fashioned way..." Tugging her eyes up, Flora lifts an eyebrow before glancing over her shoulder where the shrine was a blur of pale orange against the black sky.
"Not that I want to know, but...how are you going to manage having sex with Safrin when just talking to her for a few seconds had you bleeding from your ears?" Flora wants to know (even though she really doesn't). If just being in Safrin's orbit was enough to render Jack speechless and useless, would he even survive whatever it was like to be in Safrin's head when her thoughts grew hazy and reckless with pleasure?
"I'm honoured," Jack drawls, even if he really isn't, and he resists the urge to swat at her as her gaze dips between his legs, as if to firmly displace the thought from her mind. "But yes, since you brought it up. That's what she was talkin' about." Following Flora's gaze up and over her shoulder to the shrine, the Doubletake's very good point has the captain's jaw feathering, and not for the first time tonight, he treats her with nothing but honesty.
"I don't know," he says quietly. "With her bein' a goddess, I assume she can dim it enough, maybe, for me to keep from droolin' all over her dress?" He shrugs, not having thought much further than yes, we have a deal. "She's s'posed to be pretty savvy in dreams as well, right?" Not that he's going to go into his sometimes-dreaming-of-Safrin moments with Flora, but for what it's worth, he hadn't felt like his head was going to explode then.
"Guess I'll just... deal with it when it happens." And live through it, if he's lucky.
08-21-2024, 02:17 PM (This post was last modified: 08-21-2024, 02:18 PM by Flora.)
i could be the reason you can't sleep at night
"Or, maybe she takes what she needs from you, you die a bleeding and drooling mess, and she keeps immortality for those properly pledged to her." Flora reasons. Deimos had been denied immortality, and while there was probably little argument that Jack would do Safrin's bidding with far less hesitation than the Sword, Deimos had been loyal to the goddess for years and still remained completely mortal.
Giving Jack a final reproachful look, Flora brushes a bit of dirt out of her braid before getting to her feet and reaching out for Jack to help him do the same. "In case it isn't clear, I hate this and I think you're an idiot and I think you're going to get yourself killed." And if he did, would she bring the one to bring him back? Maybe she'd instead have her father bring him back just once a year for an annual I fucking told you so Jack you stupid idiot festival.
Sighing, Flora squints into the distance where she's sure the Ark is moored somewhere. "Why couldn't your deepest darkest desire have been the ability to teleport directly to your bed?"
"Maybe," Jack agrees with a soft sigh, though he's not sure whether Safrin would renege on that kind of a deal quite so succinctly. She's known for a lot of things, but not for outright betrayal. (As far as he knows, in any case, and given that she's Torchline's patron goddess, he's inclined to believe it). Still, he can't help but scoff as Flora's thoughts tilt towards the Sword. "Deimos just isn't ambitious enough," he declares, whether or not it might be true.
Grasping at her hand and carefully drawing himself to his feet, Jack rolls his shoulders and follows her gaze out into the glittering distance. "Your opinion has been noted," he assures her. "Though I've always wanted my own festival, so maybe that'll be nice." Scoffing, he begins to trek forward again, unable not to agree with her last point given the weariness in his bones.
"Bit late to hitch a ride on a passin' cart," he supposes. "There's prob'ly an inn nearby, though." Nodding towards some twinkling lights to their left (y'know, from that maybe town in King's End?), he glances back at Flora. "I can go there, if you want to use that compass to get home."
"Oh right, the strongest man in all of Caido who isn't even a demigod who is also the longest-standing ruler. Totally not ambitious enough." Flora rolls her eyes though lets the matter drop for now.
"Shut up." The queen's laugh is softly adoring as she follows along, trying to shake some of the lightness from her bones. "Mmm?" Again Flora narrows her eyes into the darkness before nodding, her gaze finding the faintest trace of light in the distance. "Sunjata said he was going to get started on things, but.." She shrugs. He'd been working on other things as of late—like proposing to her mother, as it happened—a secret that once she'd thought of it, Flora was helpless to keep from Jack.
Blinking as he mentions her going home, Flora glances at him before her stare drops, her compass suddenly heavy in her pocket. Right. She'd said she'd see him back to the Ark, but given that he seemed more than capable of making it to the town himself there was no actual reason to go with him.
"Uhhh, here, then." Fumbling into her bag, the queen draws out the bottle of red wine she'd brought. "In case you need help falling asleep."
