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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!
Her eyebrow raises in surprise, a curious and teasing look on her face at his defense of courting. "You want to spend countless hours doing nonsense?" She can barely sit still, let alone listen to some imbecile drone on about the weather or the latest fashions. It might literally kill her to do so. And dating doesn't seem much better in her mind, making Asta's 'advice' something she immediately dismisses. Huffing out an exasperated laugh, she rolls her eyes dramatically. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind for all the relationships I don't plan to have."
She wouldn't say she watches 'earnestly' for Asta to listen to the conch shell, but she's certainly interested to see his reaction, and when he appears pleasantly surprised, Thal laughs with her hands propped on her hips. Nodding her head, a playful hum precedes her words. "Mhm. I heard some uppity science idiot once say that what you're actually listening to is the sound of your blood rushing in your ears." If she remembered correctly, she ended up slicing his throat for implying something offensive about her blood, but Thal just shrugs her shoulders. "I thought that particular fact was kind of interesting." Therefore the only reason she'd bothered to remember it.
“It is not nonsense.” The butcher hums with all the air of offense that she still considers it as such. “Come now, did you not enjoy our outing?” He asks, tilting his horned head as his dark honeyed gaze glints with a challenge. After all, she’d found a lovely blouse and found something that was lost, didn’t she?
Still, he sees the roll of her eyes and deflates some of the playful dramatics in lieu of the soft laugh that leaves him. “Ah yes, do tell if that ever changes.” A fiery one like her he imagines might have some prospects eventually, if she let her guard down once in a while.
But the butcher has the shell to test out, and his surprise is evident even as Thalassa seems entirely pleased. And when she explains that an uppity science idiot had corrected with the true reason for the sound of the ocean within the conch shell, Astaroth snorts a little and hands it up toward her. “I could be convinced it is one in the same. Are the waters of the ocean not the blood of the world?” He asks, before he starts to stand, a knee popping in the process he dutifully ignores as he brushes off the sand from his pant legs.
She scoffs, meeting his gaze with enough challenge of her own. "Sure, as friends, for an afternoon." And considering Hadama's preference for avoiding clothes and Tal's practicality, she didn't see herself shopping with anyone other than Asta, making it a rare occurrence. Flicking a wrist, she adds, "There wasn't anything inherently 'romantic' about the outing and I refuse to believe that going to a cafe or walking through fields of flowers with a stranger - and not having it end in world-shattering sex - would lead to love rather than crushing boredom." Substitute those with hunting or watching a brawl and she might be inclined to change her answer, but it's still a long shot.
Her eyes roll again as he makes it seem like her lifelong vow to independent singleness is something that could change one day, as if she might also one day turn into a cuddly kitten. "You'll know when the Climb freezes over." She flashes him a confidently sharp smirk, one full of young stubbornness and fiery determination as she takes the offered shell. It's cool against her hand as she inspects it again for signs of damage.
Hearing the pop of his knee, Thal doesn't say anything, although the ghost of a smirk on her lips will tell him that she didn't miss the signs of his age. "My thoughts exactly." Maybe not exactly, but she'd certainly liked that the sound could relate to either of her lives depending on her mood.
Chuckling lightly, the butcher rolls a shoulder casually. “It is used to get to know them.” He pauses, before his dark gaze flits a little mischievously and playfully. “That and I preferred not to indulge in sexual endeavors the majority of the time.” Another little known detail, given how Danta was and the fact that Asta worked in a brothel – but that was his personal preference before he’d met the Maverick. Now, it seems the only one who could handle him was the Theocrat himself.
Hearing when the Climb freezes over has a spirited squeak of a sound breaking from the butcher, one that has him breaking into a low and vibrant laugh. “We shall see, shan’t we?” Bouncing dark brows to her now that he’s back at his height, towering over her in far less of a menacing pose than others often perceived, the butcher flashes her a knowing grin, sharp teeth fully on display. “I thought you might appreciate that answer.”
And it seems as if she does. “Shall we head back now? I believe I saw a shop on the way here that had pineapple upside down cakes that looked divine.” And for as much as he preferred the taste of human, the butcher’s sweet tooth was often unmatched.
She wrinkles her nose like 'getting to know' someone might be the equivalent of being dunked in a vat of feces. And then to add the 'no sex' aspect?! Thal looks at the man - probably the only one in all of Caido who doesn't live and breath sex - with the utmost of incredulity, her mouth open in shock. As she shakes her head in disbelief, she lets out a soft, playful laugh. "You are a strange man, Asta." But her smile says that it might be the exact reason she likes him.
His own laughter gives her the feeling that he doesn't quite believe her, and a steely stubbornness enters the blue of her eyes as she says, "I guess we shall." It's still teasing and light, even as she hardens her heart against whatever onslaught of romantic intentions the world might try to throw her way, determined not to give Asta the satisfaction of seeing her proven wrong. Lifting her head in a mix of pride and physical necessity, she gives him a fanged grin.
It's only when he suggests pineapple upside down cake that she steps away, lowering the conch to her side. "That sounds divine - although I'm partial to chocolate." A little tidbit for Asta that doesn't even begin to describe the intensity of her own sweet tooth - the one that has men losing their fingers if they try stealing from her stash on the ship. She flashes him another sharp grin, her mouth already watering at the thought of the decadent Torchline desert as they make their way back down the shoreline.
