From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
It was all Ianto could do not to turn his head and catch Remi's lips in another kiss rather than the sun, the fox smiling like an idiot as they stealthed closer to the unsuspecting beams of light. Remi's hands all over him did nothing to help his attempt to be sneaky, but Ianto found himself thoroughly not caring.
He slowed when they grew close enough, so that the alchemist could get the basket ready (he wasn't sure which way they ought to approach that the sun wouldn't 'see' them, so whatever they were doing would just have to be good enough), falling quiet.
"Oh, I'm ready," he assured the other man. "One... Two..."
Three was lost amid Ianto's splashing and laughter, the fox lurching through the water to tromp into the sunbeams, hoping that they might catch some of them in the process.
Eventually Remi would need to sit down and think about what it was he was doing. He'd gone from I can't fall in love with you, to do precisely that and more. Now with his hands moving of their own accord while the two men tried to catch the sun, Remi could not recall a time he'd been happier in the last year.
Perhaps ever.
On Ianto's back, the alchemist tensed, his predatory senses reacting to the prowling that they were doing, however silly. When three ought to have been said, Remi found himself leap-frogging over the fox, basket at the ready. It would do no good of course, as the woven strands merely let the water through. So after a few seconds of quick thinking, Remi's arms suddenly became wings, and he began to scoop the water (sunbursted as it was) in towards his chest with gold and white feathers.
"Quick! Before it gets away!"
Table base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ianto was trying to snatch the sun rippling along the water with his hands while Remi tried to grab it with the basket, the fox laughing and almost falling back beneath the surface as the alchemist fanned water at him with arms that were suddenly wings. Spluttering and shielding his face from the splashing, he did his best to chase after the errant rays of light, out of breath and laughing by the time it became clear that it was no good.
"Drat," he said, sweeping his red hair out of his face and turning to wade up behnd Remi. Slipping his arms around the other man, he drew him back against his chest and leant in to kiss his cheek. "It got away. Better luck next time, I guess."
Despite their best attempts the churning of the water seemed to disrupt any semblance of sunlight, and it appeared that their efforts were well and truly spoiled.
In a very sort of juvenile burst of heat in his stomach, Remi was utterly taken with the way the fox smoothed the hair from his face. The moment sparkled in Remi's memory like a daydream, and a quivery and entirely stupid sort of smile tugged at his lips.
With hands that were still feathery wings, Remi draped them around Ianto's grip before letting his fingers reappear. Feeling that shaky and warm feeling begin to spread, Remi bashfully leaned into the fox's kiss with a whispery sort of laugh. "You know, I think you told it we were coming. I think you just wanted an excuse to get me wet."
Table base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Oops - looks like you figured out my dastardly plan," Ianto murmured, his grip tightening around Remi so he could rest his head against the alchemist's mop of curls. "I reckon your complaining is just all lies though." Laughing, he merely held Remi for a moment, the Stonesong rippling around them, cooling the heat that was building between the two of them.
Reluctantly releasing the other man, Ianto offered out his hand to Remi and began to wade towards the banks of the river. "I don't know about you, but all that catching the sun has my appetite worked up. Can I persuade you to the wagon to eat?"
Remi snorted at the word dastardly, it sounding both so amusing and wicked on the fox's tongue. Tightening his grip around the fox, Remi shrugged easily beneath the man's floating-weight. "I thought I was meant to be a lion if you were going to be my scarf?" The alchemist murmured, pulling Ianto closer and shivering slightly at the not-unwelcome contrast of crisp water rushing passed his warm skin.
Accepting Ianto's hand and pushing through the current towards the bank, the alchemist shrugged with an unconvincing sort of skepticism on his face. "Oh I don't know..." He mock-protested, digging his fingers into the riverbank and pulling himself out. "You are a surprisingly good cook though.." He added, turning and offering his hand to the fox to pull him out as well.
Table base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"That might be true, but at least I have demonstrated that I make a fine scarf even as myself." Ianto winked; if he was this good at it right now, as a fox draped around a lion, things could only get better. Clearly. They reached the bank and Ianto arched a disbelieving brow at Remi's mock-reticence, accepting the other man's hand to hoist himself up and out of the water as well.
"Surprisingly? I could be offended by that," he chided playfully, giving Remi a nudge with his elbow and leading them away along the bank, back into the Wildwood. The Longheat sun would quickly dry them off, and in the meantime it was a welcome change from the heat of the day. "I will just have to cook for you again and again, until it isn't such a surprise."
"Life is too short and full of angry gods to be offended." The alchemist returned with a sunny grin, quickly looping an arm through the elbow that nudged his side and pulling the fox closer.
Humming a laugh, Remi released the fox with a shrug, riffling a hand through his curls to try and rid some of the excess water. "I will certainly let you try. Though given you are about to lead me back to your magical wagon, something tells me you will always find a way to surprise me." The smile that punctuated these words was understated, but it caused something as of yet unsaid to radiate across the alchemist's youthful features.
Table base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ianto's musical laughter echoed through the trees as they made their way back into the Wildwood, the fox flashing his lover a golden smile and a nod of agreement. "Y'know, I can't argue with you there," he said. "No offence taken, then. I'll just work on continuing to surprise you." he winked, giving Remi a gentle nudge before turning his attention back to the pathway.
His footsteps were lazy but sure, the fox meandering through the undergrowth and humming quietly under his breath; the tune that he was sure the alchemist would recognise, by now, as being imperative to finding the way to Ianto's wagon in the first place. They might not have caught the sun today, but Ianto felt like he was catching something better.
