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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!
It's the exact sort of assistance Niki can appreciate, let alone the fact that he sorely needs it at present as well. Grasping Flora's hand with fingers that are still cold, it's with a soft and bitten back grunt of pain that he gets himself upright, his free hand bracing against the wall where he'd normally be able to lean on his cane. "Usually I am able to put myself back to bed when I sleepwalk," he says, "so this is not as common as you might think."
He doesn't expect her to step back or start undressing, the boy blinking in obvious surprise before he realises what Flora is doing. It isn't the first time he's seeing a glimpse of the silver on her skin - she's not nearly as conservative as he is for long sleeves and high collars, after all - but it is the first time seeing them all bared, in context, with no bravado to hide behind. "That is terrible. I hope you never have to go through anything like that again," he says softly of the story behind them, his fingers clutching around the blanket before he finally loosens his grip.
"I... I am not ready to tell anyone all that happened to me," Niki continues, his voice heavy with apology, his eyes dropping to the ground. But he does reach up to tug down the loose neck of his shirt so that Flora can see; the jagged diagonal scar from shoulder to sternum, and its twin on the opposite side, forming a deep V carved into his skin. "The man I was apprenticed to would use me to practice," he says, voice almost a whisper, and his fingers drop to trace a line down his middle over the fabric, as if to follow the pathway of the scars beneath his shirt.
Silently, he links his arm with Flora's, and though the going is much slower without his brace or his crutch, he does manage to limp his way down the corridor with her. "Truly, I do not know, though it would not surprise me," he says. "I only ever see the results of my wandering. If only I could persuade myself to write notes and explain my reasoning."
stay your pretty eyes on course i guess i never really faced my fears before
"That," Flora says with a low chuckle, catching his arm more securely once he’s upright, "we can probably blame on being in a new space." Her grin flashes, bold and certain even in the dark, and she releases his hand only once she’s sure he’s steady. "Give it another few weeks and you'll be sleepwalking yourself right back to bed like a pro."
She turns then, pale hair swaying with the movement, unaware of where his eyes land or how long they stay. All she can do is offer a quiet, "Me too," her voice threadbare but sincere. Not just to what he said, but everything it meant. She doesn’t add at least I didn’t die; she’s done that already, and frankly, she’d preferred it.
But when Niki's voice dips and he tugs the collar of his shirt aside, Flora's teasing evaporates like sea spray off sun-warmed skin. The twin scars are brutal in a way hers aren’t, vicious things that cut across his chest like someone tried to open him like a book and didn’t care what it did to the pages. Her breath catches, her fists curl tight by her sides, and the barked "What?" cracks out of her like thunder. It’s too loud, too sudden, but gods, she can’t help it. That someone had done this on purpose...
Swallowing hard, she flashes an apologetic wince and murmurs, "Sorry. I just—fuck's sake, Niki. That's awful." Her voice softens at the end, but there’s fire in her stare, the queen unable to take such brutality in stride however uncomfortable the outburst might make the necromancer. But, she doesn’t press further, doesn’t ask who or where or why, even though the questions claw at her tongue. All she can do is stay close, like her presence might shield him from ghosts long gone.
They walk slowly, arm-in-arm, and she lets their silence stretch long enough to let his breath even. "Maybe now that you're here," she muses eventually, voice low and dry, "the spirits’ll give you some insight. Or, like, rate your book stacking." Her attempt at levity is gentle, a breeze instead of a gust. "You might get a whole ghostly report card." Sure enough, by the time they reach the kitchen, the kettle is already hissing, steam curling like a spirit made visible.
you're under the feeling like teenagers in cars it ain't robbing or stealing if the moment is ours
Flora's voice has Niki flinching without meaning to, the boy worried he's made her upset or angry or has disgusted her somehow with the sight of the gnarled scar tissue that stitches across his body. His lips part to apologise, clutching the blanket further around himself to hide the marks, when she speaks again more softly and his breath hitches a bit as he finds her gaze with his own.
"Mm, they are not my favourite memories," he agrees, a wry smile curling at his lips that doesn't quite meet his eyes. "It is also why I am not as fond of hot tubs as one might assume." This is said with a touch more warmth and a bit of real amusement, and as they fall into slow step together, the movement is enough to feel as though they're leaving the worst of the conversation behind them.
"Ah, you think they might leave reviews also?" he asks of the spirits. "Things they might want me to do while I am up and about at night?" Niki tilts his head, surprised (though he shouldn't be) to find the kettle already on its way to chirping at them, and he hobbles across to the counter so he can get their mugs and a box of tea down. "If I leave them offerings perhaps they will bring my cane to me if I end up somewhere without it, too."
stay your pretty eyes on course i guess i never really faced my fears before
She exhales sharply, not quite a sigh and not quite a huff, her mouth tugging to one side as she wrestles the instinct to march straight to the Greatwood and beat Niki’s old mentor to death, if he wasn't already. Even if he was, Remi could take care of that so that justice could be served. It simmers in her gaze, fierce and glittering, that unspoken promise of justice even now, years too late. But it isn’t her war to fight—not yet, anyway—and so she lets the rage settle like sea-glass sand beneath the surface, rounded and dulled by time but never quite gone.
Instead, her eyes flick sideways as the barest smile curls at the edge of his lips, and something in her eases. "Well," she says quietly, before lifting her chin with faux determination. "Lucky for you that full-body bathing suits are absolutely making a comeback. Very in. Very fashionable. You’ll be a trendsetter."
In the kitchen, Flora slips easily into the rhythm of movement, letting Niki handle the mugs and the tea while she lifts the kettle off the stove before it whistles. Pouring the water once he's gotten their mugs ready, she grins across at him. "The spirits seem pretty amenable to me," she says, setting one mug gently beside him. "It's worth a shot, anyway."
At his comment about the cane, her eyebrows arch with delighted mischief. "Or maybe," she drawls, flicking him a look as she slides his mug closer, "you just need an enchanted cane." She lets the suggestion hang there for a beat, then adds far too casually, "how very convenient that your birthday is coming up."
you're under the feeling like teenagers in cars it ain't robbing or stealing if the moment is ours
"Full body bathing suits?" Niki echoes, raising sceptical eyebrows over his shoulder towards Flora as he prepares their tea. "I have not seen a single one since I came here, so I really would be setting a trend if I stepped out wearing one." Sliding the mugs across to the Doubletake so she might be able to pour their tea, Niki leans wearily against the counter to listen, nodding his agreement - and then promptly furrowing his brow at her.
"I do not recall telling you my birthday," he informs her. "Have the spirits been amenable with that information as well?" Glancing around as if one of them might pop out with a cheerful ha ha, my bad!, Niki instead chooses to focus on the idea of an enchanted cane, smiling to himself. "Would it be one that summoned itself to me when called? Or perhaps a ring that becomes a cane when I need it?"
stay your pretty eyes on course i guess i never really faced my fears before
Flora snorts softly into the steam rising from her mug, giving him a look that’s all teasing incredulity. "When’s the last time you actually looked at what anyone was wearing on the beach, huh?" she demands, one brow arching high. "Exactly."
She grins over her mug as she blows lightly across the surface, shrugging with casual pride. "Knowing birthdays is my one true superpower," she announces. "That and getting presents for people way too early." Usually just Mateo, but still.
But at the idea of the cane, her expression shifts, not serious, exactly, but thoughtful. Her aqua eyes sparkle with curiosity as she leans against the counter, sipping carefully. "I was thinking something you could summon, yeah," she admits, "but...a ring that becomes a cane?" Her eyes widen a little. "Gods, that’s so much better. It’s always with you, and you don’t have to worry about losing it or forgetting it when you wander around in the dead of night."
Pausing, she gives him a slow grin. "Okay, but it also needs a dramatic whoosh noise when it appears. That’s non-negotiable."
you're under the feeling like teenagers in cars it ain't robbing or stealing if the moment is ours
"I will never tell," Niki says quietly, and there's enough amusement in his expression to suggest he might just be being serious, though he quickly takes his mug and lifts it to his lips to blow on his tea, hiding the curl of his lips. "You know, it would not surprise me if you were able to do something like that." With the birthdays, anyway. It might be fairly innocuous, but Flora is practically myth and legend to most people anyway; nothing she can do would truly shock Niki by now.
Shifting somewhat uncomfortably against the counter, in the end he gives up and limps to one of the kitchen stools to ease himself down onto it, taking his tea with him. "Does the whoosh noise make it more or less effective at its job?" he wonders with a smirk, risking a sip of tea despite it being far too hot. Setting the mug back down (and a little bit away from him, so it won't tempt him to burn himself again too soon), he blinks across at Flora.
"You are serious," he realises. "You do not have to get me anything," he tells her sincerely. "You are already letting me stay here with you, and you brought me down from the Greatwood. Besides, I like my old cane." When it's, y'know... around.
stay your pretty eyes on course i guess i never really faced my fears before
Flora lets out a breathy laugh, her eyes narrowing with faux suspicion as she levels a finger at him over her tea. " Mmhmm, no one’s safe from my birthday omniscience." She grins, tipping her head back against the wall for a moment, steam curling upward between them. "Honestly, it isn't like having an enchanted calendar would be hard to get." Especially for an accepted.
As Niki eases onto the stool, she follows suit with a much less graceful flop, folding her legs under her and cupping the warm mug between both hands. "Obviously it makes it more effective," she says gravely, taking a sip of tea like she’s sealing the truth into her soul. "When things happen silently, it's impossible to know that they're working, you know? And like, who's going to mess with a necromancer who can whoooooooooooooosh his cane to his side?"
The brightness of her smile softens at his next words, her brows lifting as she swirls her tea with a little tilt. "Of course I’m serious," she echoes, glancing sideways at him with something gentle flickering in her aqua eyes. "And I’m not letting you stay. I’ve been hounding you about this for ages. I should be thanking you for finally giving in."
you're under the feeling like teenagers in cars it ain't robbing or stealing if the moment is ours
"Honestly, it would have made just as much sense for one of the spirits of the house to have whispered it to you," Niki agrees, smirking - no need for the trouble of an enchanted calendar when Flora has a house full of potential spies in the making. He sits up a fraction as she comes to join him on one of the stools, and were it not for the distant lash of rain and the continuing thrum of thunder through the foundations, he might have believed it were morning already.
"Ah, I see," he concedes, knowing better than to argue the effectiveness of sound effects with Flora - especially when it comes to a hypothetical ring-cane he has only just been informed he'll be receiving. "Well, I suppose nothing I can say will stop you, will it? So I will only ask that if my original cane could be incorporated into the gift, I would appreciate it." Even if the ring was simply made with wood and resin from it.
"And I did not give in. I accepted. After some... consistent persuasion."
stay your pretty eyes on course i guess i never really faced my fears before
Flora flashes him a grin, all wide eyes and faux innocence as she lifts her mug between them like a toast she doesn’t quite make. "A girl’s gotta have her secrets," she murmurs with a sparkle that suggests at least a few of them wear veils and jingle when they walk.
At his concession—if you could call it that—she wrinkles her nose in playful triumph, shaking her head as though it were already far, far too late to stop the idea now, which it absolutely was. Not only had the cane-summoning ring taken root in her mind, but it had already started to bloom.
Her gaze drifts out to the storm-lit window, where the sky still broods, thick and heavy and more midnight than morning. The walls don’t creak, but she feels the pressure of the rain in her bones anyway, the way Torchline storms settle into your ribs and refuse to leave until they’ve wrung out every last ghost. Taking another sip of her tea, she lowers it just enough to speak over the rim. "Do you think you’ll be able to get back to sleep?"
you're under the feeling like teenagers in cars it ain't robbing or stealing if the moment is ours
Niki smiles back at Flora, falling into a surprisingly peaceful silence with her as they sip at their tea and the storm continues to batter the windows, providing them with entertainment enough as it flickers and rumbles its way across the sky. "I have never seen one like this," he says eventually, his voice low and quiet as if not to shatter the sudden serenity. "You feel storms rather than see them, in the Greatwood. Though I suppose you know that as well."
With another, longer sip of tea as it finally begins to cool down, his eyes flick from the window across at Flora, and he gives her a wry smile. "No," he says, frank and honest. "I will read, or find something else to busy myself. But that does not mean you have to stay up as well - this is far from my first all-nighter."
stay your pretty eyes on course i guess i never really faced my fears before
Flora hums in agreement, her gaze fixed on the dark-streaked glass. "Yeah," she murmurs, "in the Greatwood the trees made it feel like storms were something breathing just outside your window. Here, though..." She gestures with her mug to where the wind rattles faintly through the seams of the house. "Here it feels like the storm comes inside and makes itself comfortable."
She doesn’t seem surprised when he admits he won’t be sleeping. Her expression stays soft, understanding, as she uncurls herself from the stool with a stretch and a yawn that’s more performative than necessary. "One of these days I’ll teach you my trick," she says over the rim of her mug, voice low and fond. "About how to fall asleep anytime, anywhere."
Passing by, she leans down just enough to squeeze his shoulder gently, the touch warm and lingering just a breath longer than casual. "See you in a few hours," she says with a half-smile, before slipping out of the kitchen and letting the quiet hush of Wildering House fold around her again, one footfall at a time, until her bedroom swallows her whole.
~FIN
you're under the feeling like teenagers in cars it ain't robbing or stealing if the moment is ours
