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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!
"Yeah, but you're not people, Jack." Flora counters, her voice heating somewhat as if in defence against the slap of his hand against the bar. In direct contrast to the captain's expression, the queen is lit from within by the brazenness of youth and the luxury of a family who hasn't abandoned her, but has grown strong around her, shielding and protecting her. "No? Did he have a dad who ghosts could whisper to, telling him if something happened? Did he have revivify feathers stashed around the world? Did he have another dad who could bring people back from the dead?" It's pompous and self-aggrandizing sure, but gods, wasn't it also true? "If you died tomorrow, ask yourself who'd bring you back: me, or Safrin?" Safrin, the goddess who'd given him immortality, sure, and who he'd promised his love to, but Flora would bet everything she had that the goddess would just wave as Jack sauntered in Mort's realm without so much as lifting a finger.
Wilting, Flora presses her fingers against her cheeks before combing her fingers up through her curls and leaning her elbows against the bar. She'd reminded him once that he was capable of doing anything he damn well pleased such that she could only take his words as some backdoor he was trying to use to sneak out of this conversation. "So this whole time, you were just, what? Hoping to strike a balance between me liking you enough to let you fuck me and use me, but not letting it get so far as to find yourself here?" Her stomach clenches, and now it's Flora's turn to glance to the side, staring at the reflections of the canal against the rocky wall.
She imagines a conversation not unlike this sometime in Jack's future, only now that he has the foresight of seeing how it had gone with Flora, he's able to navigate better. Able to use her hurt to better love someone else down the line, or at least not hurt them quite so badly.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
It takes a lot to shut up Jack Barclay, but Flora manages to do it every gods-damned time, and though a muscle feathers at his jaw, there's nothing he can say in response to her words that wouldn't be a lie. He isn't just anyone. The governor hadn't had all the things Flora could do and more, all the people she can rely on, all the favours she can cash in with little more than a flick of her hair. And at one time it had been a thing for the captain to covet, to need to get close to in order to make use of those things himself.
And now?
Fuck him, but now he's just glad she has so much of a buffer around her, and isn't that the worst slap in the face he's ever felt?
"Why won't you just say it," he whispers, rising to his feet from the bar stool and leaning his hands against the counter, blue eyes blazing. "Just say you don't care if it's bad for you, that you want it anyway. That's what I'm fuckin' waiting for, Flora."
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
"I have been saying it." Lifting her gaze and straightening up as he does, Flora frowns defiantly up at him. "I love you." She all but shouts as if it's an insult, the words making her tremble slightly though her gaze remains steadily fixed on his. "If you're bad for me, then you've been bad for me this whole time, and yet I've always stayed. From when I first started having feelings for you, to when you told me about you, to your stupid quest—" Not just the drama with Safrin, but killing someone, Jack? "—to falling in love with you only to still be kept at arm's length, and I've still stayed."
Shivering now as her emotions get the better of her, for a moment it feels as if she's suddenly weightless, floating along on air currents that threaten to drop out from beneath her at any moment.
"This is what I meant at the beach. It isn't about me wanting it, it's you."
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
"I told you I wanted it back at the beach, and you shrugged me off--" Jack fires back, his frown one of bewildered annoyance, as if his outstretched hand and his I want this if you do hadn't been crystal fucking clear. "I didn't realise I had to pass some test with you to fucking-- no. No, you know what? No." Raking his hands back through his hair, Jack straightens up and takes a long, steadying breath, as if to pack up whatever chaos has started to bubble over and neatly lock it back in its box.
Then he hops the bar.
All but snatching Flora against him - and she can beat him black and blue for all he cares, as long as he can lean in and steal the kiss he wants from her lips - Jack's fingers are coveting and possessive, his tongue the sort of wicked that promises far dirtier things if it's allowed to stray south, and as he backs her up against the shelving, something expensive-sounding tumbles and shatters on the ground beside them.
Only when he's good and ready does the captain draw back enough to let his lips brush across her cheek towards her ear, where he pauses, and whispers something for Flora and Flora alone.
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
"You said if I did then you did." And gods, if a telepath can't understand why that means something different in girl-logic—especially 21-year-old-girl-logic—then likely no one stands a chance.
Flinching back, prepared for the captain to storm out of the guild and so thinking of things she might say or do to bait him into staying if saying that she loved him wasn't enough, Flora's utterly taken aback as he smoothly glides over the bar toward her. Her first instinct has her kissing him back before her hands are bracing against his shoulders to try and stop him. You can't just— They weren't going to get anywhere if he kept evading the issue by kissing her, though even as her palms shoved him back, her lips and tongue met his, promise for wicked promise.
All but holding her breath as he pulled away, still expecting him to whisper a final goodbye against her ear, the words he did say made it feel as though her heart had stopped in her chest. Pulling back enough to search his gaze, her aqua eyes darting left to right and back again—not even caring about the stars twinkling against his skin—her palms smoothed against his shirt before grabbing at the collar and tugging his lips back down against hers.
I just wanted to hear that you wanted it—me—on its own. Breathless, Flora is forced to pull back, her grasp of Jack's shirt now as much for support as anything else as she leans against the wall. "I didn't want it to feel like I was trapping you in this."
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
Jack can just, and he often does, but in this case, at least, he's not trying to distract from the issue so much as he's getting what he wants at the same time as they talk about it. Because however 21 year old girl-logic works, Flora always seems more amenable to conversation if they're making out at the same time. (And you fucking wonder why, Jack).
Her hands smooth against his shirt and he gazes down at her almost as if he expects her to slap him across the face or shove him away, so when instead she's pulling him down once again, she's able to catch even a telepath by surprise - for a second, anyway. Jack is soon responding in kind again, rough hands corsetting her waist and gliding down to her hips to sneak beneath her sundress, fully intending to tug down her underwear.
"With all due respect, love," he whispers against her neck, "I ain't ever been trapped somewhere I don't already wanna be. I don't even think you and all the strength in the world could change that." And it's with a wicked grin that he presses a kiss to her neck, to the bare skin revealed by her dress, before sinking to his knees before her.
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
The texture and colours of Flora's mind will feel distinctly different to Jack, the palette richer, the quality far richer. Gone are the garish colours that had represented her girlish and naive fantasies of what might come to pass, replaced instead with the hope of what she and Jack might build together. It's all fuzzy and without defined edges; it being hard to think of much of anything with Jack's hands fitting around her waist, her dress crumpling against his palm as he works a hand beneath it.
Love. Asshole, she thinks affectionately, shivering against him. "I'll just have you for a little while then." Flora whispers back, her thoughts drenched in sunlight, repeating the part of the conversation that they'd never been able to finish. "And you'll have me."
Nearly reaching for him to stay, as Flora gazes down at him, her thoughts are swallowed by a sudden wave of maroon. Shivering again, her entire body suddenly hyperaware of all the places he'd touched her, she leans back against the wall for support, fingers biting into the wood panelling.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
"I think I can make that work," Jack says, his smirk audible even if his lips are already busy against her inner thigh, the captain guiding her underwear down and off before draping her leg across his shoulders. He pauses for just a moment, fingers halting against her hips, as if to sample the strange new landscape of her thoughts, feeling the vibrant splashes of colour as if they've been thrown across his bare skin.
A near imperceptible shiver runs down the back of his neck, before he makes himself very much occupied between her legs. "I can't hear anyone comin' towards the guildhall - yet," he mutters - and he'll be in no position to give her any warning after this point, either. Guilding her hips forward and against his waiting mouth, Jack's tongue is as clever as it always has been, flicking out to taste her and to bring that taste up towards the bud of her clit.
He sees no need to use his fingers when his hands could be better suited in enjoying the curves of her hips and backside, the captain evidently planning to waste no time in teasing Flora towards an orgasm he almost thinks he owes her, after the past few days.
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
"I don't care." Flora says distractedly, licking her lips before her eyes flick toward the door. She could go and lock it...but really, who was going to come in? Asta or Danta? Her brother? She doubted it.
Sliding one leg over his shoulder, already the queen has to stifle back a moan just to feel his lips against her skin after what has felt like an eternity without. Truth be told she'd tried to touch herself to help her fall asleep the past few nights, to the thought of him—then to Koa and even Asta—before finding it all but impossible.
Pressing her head against the back of the wall as his tongue flicks inside of her, Flora hisses in a breath that has her thoughts sparking to life. No longer encumbered by thoughts of what are we, jack? or the need to hide her feelings from him, the queen's thoughts are wonderfully free and easy, the colours unguarded, their sheens bright.
Tugging off her dress with only a little effort—it had been too hot for a bra that morning—Flora reaches for one of Jack's hands, pressing his fingertips against her breast with a very particular suggestion in mind. Maybe it'd feel good and maybe it wouldn't, but if he could channel just a bit of his lightning into shocking her nipple, she thought she might enjoy that the same way she did his teeth.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
Truth be told, if Jack had known what the true panorama of Flora's thoughts looked like without the veil of denial thrown over them, he might have submitted to this conversation much sooner. As it stands, happily drowning in the vibrant palette of colour and feeling, he's already following the deep red hues of pleasure in her mind to the rhythm of his tongue and the graze of his teeth, when she catches hold of his hand.
Smiling against her, Jack shifts enough that he might be able to palm her breast between deft fingers without leaving Flora wanting, and it's with barely a thought of a thought that he conjures a whisper of lightning to his fingertips. (He can't be too careful with that mageglass ring, alright?) Skimming a touch across her nipple, enough to shock but giving him scope to draw back if needed, the captain glances up at her as if to gauge her reaction even before it shows in her thoughts.
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
Holding her breath—there's every chance she's about to be electrocuted after all—as Jack's finger sparks over her nipple, Flora's lips pull back in what might mistakenly been interpreted as a wince were it not immediately followed up by a needy moan of approval or the sheet lightning that flashed out behind her closed eyes. "Fuck—" The word is wrapped up in a smile as Flora cracks open her eyes, glancing down at Jack and laughing out the breath she'd been holding.
They'd absolutely be practicing that later on, but selfishly all Flora wants is to sink into the pleasure Jack was already well on his way to coaxing into a frenzy, and for once she isn't worried about whether or not that was alright.
Tangling her fingers into his dark hair, Flora allows herself one last lingering look at him down the length of her belly before closing her eyes and pressing her head back against the wall. In the darkness of his mind, the movements of his tongue painted decadent blood-red roses that pulsed with every flick, their afterimages bleeding away and leaving a maroon mist in their wake that settled deep down into her core where fingers of fire were already stretching their way through her.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
It comes as a shock to Jack as well, not to worry, though he's at least able to keep focus on his current task (muscle memory, amiright) as the lightning vanishes from his touch and he grazes his thumb across her nipple as if in silent apology. With that tried and tested, though, his hands glide back down the length of her body to better support his efforts.
Closing his eyes and able to fully commit to Flora's pleasure - and his own, in that regard - he hums a note of indulgent pleasure against her, the deep red blooms unfurling in her mind and chasing invisible ripples across his magic and down his spine. Only as he senses the rhythm of her pleasure growing into something more of a frenzy does Jack manoeuvre his free hand between them, slipping a finger inside her to add a teasing stroke to the actions of his tongue.
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
Though Flora hardly needs to beg, there's no point in denying that the sound of her own voice adds to the overall experience, such that as Jack begins to hone his efforts, she's moaning his name under her breath and coiling her fingers through his hair. It seems that Jack no longer needs to rely on Flora's thoughts as she has them but has started to predict what the Doubletake wants before even she knows what it might be, as the captain slides a finger inside of her he'll feel the way Flora's entire body trembles around him.
"Gods, yes." She moans, and it's a good thing that they'd long ago decided to add extra insulation to the walls of the guild because Flora has absolutely no plans to keep quiet; not when the man she loves is eating her out with such aplomb. Feeling her orgasm begin to nip at her heels and claw its way up the back of her legs, Flora's muscles begin to tense and shake ever so slightly as the rising tide of her orgasm begins to drag her away with it.
"Fuck Jack, don't stop, don't stop—" Holding her breath as if she might freeze the feeling as it takes over her mind, it'll be up to Jack and his telepathy to tell just how many people in the tavern heard the captain's name bandied around between curses and moans of pleasure.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
Though her thoughts really are all he needs, gods but if Jack's ego alone doesn't appreciate the sound of his name singing from her throat, and as he chases Flora's climax along crimson stems and petals beginning to stretch and unfurl, he already knows that at least a couple of the staff, if no one else, are well within earshot of what happens next. Squeezing his hand against her hip and absolutely knowing better than to do anything but obey, Jack indeed does not stop.
Only as he feels her orgasm crest and break against him like the tide does the captain even consider slowing his efforts, though it isn't until he's dragged as much pleasure from the Doubletake as he can that he parts from her, panting for breath and with the static splash of her feelings dancing through his magic. Glancing up at Flora through blue eyes gone a little glassy with the passive rush of her emotions, Jack rises smoothly a moment later, fully aiming to take another kiss directly from her lips.
romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic and recommended
