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!
07-21-2019, 05:58 AM (This post was last modified: 08-11-2019, 04:13 AM by Kiada.)
KIADA
Everything is draining on her. The monarchy, the feeling of being trapped (once again), the incredible amount of sheer loneliness, despite Auni’s company as he follows her toward the Rathskeller, the darkness of the night and the way the wind leaves a crisp cooling sensation along her skin. She has forgone a jacket, in favor for her tight fitting leather shirt and pants, paired with a nice set of boots. The Harpy heads for the Rathskeller, finding an idea in her mind to drink until she doesn’t need a jacket to ward away the cold. And if for nothing else other than to waste away more time.
She doesn’t know if Luxere are allowed in the Rathskeller, but she doesn’t particularly care as she opens the door and steps in – her boots thudding against the flooring as Auni walks alongside her, his antlers growing longer every day with that soft faint golden glow as he scans the room of people. He’s grown a bit more restrained, but his nub of a tail wags at everyone he sees, and he follows Kiada until she takes a seat at the bar. Her icy gaze doesn’t even drift to whomever mans the bar, instead she scans the room around them, trying to gauge what kind of company would be here and if she’d have to fight off another sad farmer looking for a friend.
Her hair is tied back, dark and stark against her pale skin, and the large X marking etched into her neck sticks out as she scans the room further before turning back toward the bar. “Could I get something strong?” She asks, resting an elbow of one arm on the bar and the other into Auni’s soft fur as he sits beside her.
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
You notice her right away. To be fair, you notice everyone who walks into the bar- you have to, because its part of your job, observing people and noticing shit and keeping everyone happy. The grumpy farmer who always comes in after trading at the market like clockwork and sits in a corner, nursing one single beer. The medic who wears inexplicably low-cut dresses and then scoffs at any men who dare to look her way. The set of masons who do shots of hard vodka until they start singing outrageous and bawdy tunes, which are hysterical, and your favorite part of the night.
Most of all you notice the strangers, the ones who have never come before. They slink or flounce, flirt or glower, and each and every one of them has a story you're determined to extract. So yeah, you notice them all, but you notice her in particular, because a) girl is gorgeous in all that leather, hot damn if that isn't a look you can get behind, and b) she obviously isn't particularly happy, and you simply will not have that. She's too young, too pretty to be so serious.
Lucky for her, you're particularly good at whipping up just the thing to put a smile on anyone's face. After sizing her up from head to toe, you offer her your prettiest smile. "Hmm... I'm thinking spicy." Tying up your long hair so only a few wisps hang across your face, you set to work with swift moving hands, not even trying not to show off. "Anything on your mind, darling?"
At first she doesn’t notice the man behind the bar – instead too focused on the others that have gathered, the varying degrees of people that have found the same evening to spend with the ease of a drink to keep them warm in the chilled night. But as his voice comes across, rich and wonderful, it surprises her – her head shifting to face him as he speaks and gives her a rather pretty smile. She doesn’t smile back at first, instead she almost sizes him up, taking a good look at him. He’s far prettier than her usual type, and yet he seems different too.
Unlike most of the people she’s interacted with here, he doesn’t seem frightened of her, pretty or not. And well, that’s a step.
She watches as he ties up his hair and begins to make a drink, his hands making quick and precise work of the drink she requests, and when he asks what’s on her mind, she finally offers him a small smile. “A bit of this, a bit of that.” She replies almost indifferently, having not flirted in quite some time – the girl is rusty. She leans across the bar a bit and gives him a bit of a wolfish grin, toothy and predatory. “You at the moment.” She lingers for a moment before sitting back and chuckling softly to herself. "Likely that spicy drink, next."
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
She doesn't smile back, which is fine. You're willing to be patient and put in the work; it's what you're good at, after all. You must admit, you've been rather adrift since the whole fell through a portal into Lucas' basement fiasco, and while maybe bartending isn't exactly your forte, the skills are nicely transferable. Specifically the skills of make people happy by figuring out what they want and making them believe you can give it to them, or some facsimile of that. Happy people are people who don't stab you, after all, and right now your primary goal is pretty much to avoid being stabbed.
Oh, but those eyes are like daggers on their own, sharp as ice and wickedly cold. A man less accustomed to hard situations might shrink away, but you? You just redouble your efforts, pouring enough whiskey your ginger and cider to melt a fucking iceberg. Cider is a kick of yours lately, fun to mix up into various more exciting forms, and while this place might not have much by way of luxuries, it is bloody lousy with apples.
Anyway. The girl. The next time you look up she actually is smiling, a toothy, predatory grin entirely unexpected. Oh. Oh. Maybe you misjudged this, but y'know, whatever. In for a penny, in for a pound. You manage to keep any surprise from your face, matching her feral grin with a smirk of your own as you push the drink toward her with two slender fingers, a self-satisfied expression on your face. "And what do you think, Ocean Eyes?" About the drink? About you? Hey, she can take her pick.
There’s something about him that surprises her – and it’s the way he doesn’t shrink from her gaze, from the way she looks at him. Is he preening under the attention? She can’t tell, but two can play at this game. And when she offers him her wolfish smile, toothy and dangerous – a smile that screams blood and wolf howls and a deep kind of darkness that will take some time to see for the right price – and he offers his own, he’s already alright in her books. Her smile softens slightly as the glass is pushed to her and she lets her eyes drift along him once more before she looks toward the glass with interest.
A pale hand with a small amount of scarring reaches for the glass, and her iceberg gaze slide up to his freckled face (and gods is she a sucker for freckles) when he comments on her ocean eyes. She wants to snort, deciding that her eyes might be closer to an ocean when the storms rage above and lightning cracks the surface. Instead, she lifts the glass and swirls it briefly before taking a deep sip (perhaps a mistake, perhaps not), and she sets the glass back down to meet the table.
The burn is strong, but the drink is surprisingly pleasant. Far more pleasant than the straight strong alcohol she had consumed with Amalia, Jigano, and Deimos – and proceeded to get incredibly drunk off just a few shots of that – but it burns about the same. And she wonders if he’ll move on when she’s buzzed and feeling far better than she did when she walked in. “Delicious.” She says after a moment, the word unclear if it’s about the drink or her view of him. She tilts her head and looks back toward the glass with a raised brow. “What did you put in it? Or do you keep secrets?” She asked, another small coy smile playing at her lips.
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Oh look, the wolf is pulling in her fangs. That's some progress, and yeah, you do preen, because fuck if you don't still got it going, the power to spin sex hearts into gold. She's got ice skin, too, this little frozen delight, and you notice the scars, though none of them are quite as pronounced as that one. You know the one - I know you do, that you noticed it without staring, your eyes carefully glancing over the big ol' X on her pretty skin. You don't say anything now, or even really look (you're a fucking master of the looking without looking, if you catch my drift), but you tuck it away for later.
Your head rests on your palms as you watch her sip the drink, letting your warm gaze linger on her lips, the way those hands hold the glass. It's a complimentary look, nothing more (yet) - you're not a heathen, just a connoisseur, capable of recognizing beauty wherever it is. Something about her is oddly familiar. Have you seen her before? Nah, you'd recognize that scar for sure, but still...
Another mystery to tuck away. She's already full of mysteries, this one.
It's gonna make things fun.
Again you smile at her compliment, not even trying to pretend it wasn't for you (cus, like, it was either way, in a sense.) "You flatter me," you purr, your expression still pointedly unassuming, not that you could be particularly intimidating even if you tried. Especially dressed the way you are, with a wide v-neck vest and a skirt she can't see - Edy's been, ah, rubbing off on you. At her question you laugh, good-natured and lilting, your lashes fluttering prettily as you tilt your head like the maiden you most certainly are not. "Oh yes at least on the first date. Second one, though..." You wink at her and lick your lips. "Tell you what, though, darling? I'll trade you. A secret of yours for a secret of mine." Your pretty face is earnest, but playful, too. It doesn't have to be a serious secret. You just wanna crack further into the puzzle behind those eyes.
She watches him, the vulture that she is, for his reaction to her words, and she finds this strange man she’s never met before to be fun to be around. She takes another sip of the drink and leans back as he comments that she’s flattered him and she smirks to him with that same predatory look. “You started it.” She says with a light roll of her shoulders as if it’s nothing — but it is something, and Kiada blooms slightly under the attention. Auni’s head swivels toward the bar, though, as he makes a joke about dates.The Luxere doesn’t know what kind of response that will receive, and he wants on the edge of caution while Kiada relaxes ever so slightly, her eyes lingering on him as he licks his lips and something within her blazes.
She takes the moment to take another drink of the mix, eyes drifting back up to him when he offers a secret for a secret. Without missing a beat, she flashes him a grin. “Some nights I wake up and there’s feathers in my bed and I’m not sure how they get there.” She offers easily, of course, knowing how they got there in a way — it’s still a secret; something small and unneeded to be reiterated in easy conversation. She gives him another smile and a tilt of her head.
“And you?”
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
"Then I suppose it is only fair I finish, hmm? Wouldn't want you to leave unsatisfied." A little sly, a little cheeky, a lot of flirt- maybe too much, but hey, she seems to be having fun with it, and you're not going to deny her the delight of your charm.
You don't flatter her again, though - not yet. Better to let it wait, let it linger, a promise held in the sizzling air of the musty basement, hanging over the two of you like cigarette smoke. There will be plenty more flirting to come, but the anticipation is part of the fun, after all. No reason to rush into things. You're a gentleman, after all.
You begin to fix yourself a drink, never mind that it's probably bad form for a barkeep to taste their wares. Who's gonna yell at you, Edy? Nah. Besides, it puts people at ease to see you drinking alongside them, makes them more likely to go a little further, imbibe a little more. A little whiskey, a little lemon, a cube of ice - on the rocks, your Lord's once-favorite, and something you don't generally partake of, but fuck it, you're feeling nostalgic tonight.
Her secret is... well, it's fucking weird, if you're being honest. Your face slips for just a second - you're getting sloppy, pull it together - before returning to a fascinated, eyebrow-raised grin. "Feathers, hmm? Kinky. A gift from your lover, perhaps?" Oh yeah, the old 'gift from your lover' line, a classic when it comes to scoping out whether or not someone's been laid claim to. Not that you'll stop your flirting if she is.
You'll just keep an eye out for jealous lovers.
You grin easily as she asks for your secret, your brown eyes sparkling with playful mischief. "Whiskey, cider, ginger, and sugar- spicy and sweet, just like you." You wink again, taking a sip of your drink. "Unless that wasn't the kind of secret you had in mind."
She snorts as he speaks, a brow raising in a silent question. Almost daring, almost trying. Her gaze lingers on him and his freckled face before her head tilts again – a secret for a secret. And her lips curl in a smirk as it hangs in the air between them. She watches as he makes himself a drink, and she reaches for her own with scar flecked hands to take a deep drink of it again. But as he mentions a lover she knows he’s joking, he’s flirting and testing the waters, but she can’t help the cough that escapes her as she sets her glass down.
“Mmm, if only.” She mumbles at first, sighing but then waving it off with a shake of her head – her attention causing her iceberg ocean eyes to slip from her glass to his again. He tells her his secret and the momentary shock wears off for a light chuckle of laughter. Her head tilts, avian and predatory as she sizes him up. “Spicy, yes. Sweet?” She pauses, eyes remaining on him while her finger traces the rim of her glass.
“You don’t know me, Love.” She sits back slightly, crossing a leg over the other. She cocks a brow to him with a small smirk. “But you could.” She purrs to him with a wink.
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
Ah, so she doesn't have a lover. A pity for her, but excellent for you and your chances of being taken home tonight. Still, you shake your head, only slightly pretending to be shocked (girl is gorgeous, after all, and those scars? Hnng.). "If only indeed, Ocean Eyes," you purr without even trying to hide the intention behind it. I can fill all your voids, darling. Just say the word.
The sound of her laughter is like breaking glass, sharp and pleasant and a little bit dangerous. It makes your grin broaden - she doesn't seem like someone who laughs that often, a little bit unpracticed, perhaps - your dark lashes batting innocently as she denies that she is sweet. "Mmm," you reaffirm the statement, sizing her up brazenly. Fuck it, in for a penny in for a pound, and it's not like you've been subtle thus far.
Oh, and look, she called you love. Try not to preen too much, Ezra- it's nothing personal, just part of the game. You rest your elbows on the counter, your hands around the glass of whiskey, leaning a little closer toward her even as she sits back. It's been a long time since you played, and damn if you're not desperate for some real attention. Oh, you have Edy (Edy has you), but it's Lucas who really gets her panties wet, you're not even gonna try to fool yourself there.
But this one? This one is raw, and ready, and a little dangerous, and fuck if you don't wanna see the strength behind those scars.
"I think I'd like that." And here alone you do not flirt- here you are earnest, a little sincere, your inner (and outer and everywhere between) sub rising to the surface, an entreaty in your gorgeous face. You would love to get to know her, especially if she's the one leading the dance. But a lady never asks to be taken home, so you wait for her to want it, sipping delicately from your drink.
He calls her Ocean Eyes again, and something within her that might have bristled before begins to soften into something languid and fuzzy. But she doesn’t remark on it, finding her eyes to be a bit closer to an ocean storm rather than calm serene waves. But he doesn’t falter from her, and she watches with those same bright eyes as she taunts him back – a playful bout. She’s never openly flirted so much before, and the times she has flirted hardly amounted to anything.
Unless of course you count the awkward and weird cuddling session she shared with Adam in the Pit.
But she disregards the thoughts of that dark time, gaze flickering to him as she leans back and he leans closer, and something about it and its brazenness ignites a fire within her she hasn’t felt in a very long time. Part of it frightens her, the ignition, but the other part of her embraces it and preens like the vulture she is. Especially when the tone changes, from flirting with open ended promises, to admitting he’d like to go home with her that night.
And for a moment she’s stuck, brow quirking slightly as she looks to him with that same sharp gaze. Watching while he sips from his drink, defined and dare she think, handsome? while she grasps onto her glass, feeling a bit more barbaric than she feels as she lets her eyes wander and linger on him. If only he knew, he wouldn’t have to wait long for her to decide. With her scar flecked hands, she lifts the glass and chugs the rest of the drink, shifting her attention back to him as the glass slides along the bar toward him and she leans forward with a sickly sweet smile placed on her face.
She doesn’t know if it appears beautiful or roguish, for Kiada it feels about the same. “What are we waiting for?” It’s half a whisper, half a purr as she stands to lean along the bar, elbows placed and body placed to give him a small taste of the view before she pulls back – taunting, dangerous, as she smirks to him.
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
You watch the way she downs her drink, and ah, but that can only mean one of two things: either she's gearing up the courage to reject you, or she's gearing up the courage to say yes. Either way, you've won, because of she does reject you she's so obviously reluctant it means she wants it, just needs a bit more coaxing to get all the way to yes.
And if she says yes, well... You already know what happens from there.
Mmm, it's a good view that comes with that answer, more scars and promising shadows beneath all that leather. Your grin is delighted and obviously an assent: "Let me get my coat, darling."
Swinging away from the counter (someone else can tap in), you proceed to take your sweet fucking time, sauntering around the back of the bar with a the subtlety of a bitch in heat. She'll be able to see the skirt now, and your long legs bare below the knee, and the fact that your flimsy top is secured with nothing but easily removable ties, and that you have the foinest ass in Caido.
You show this off before burying it beneath your cost, long and luxurious, leather and fur. Slipping around the counter, your hair now loose about your shoulders, you smirk to the pretty girl and extend an arm. "Lead the way, Ocean Eyes," you purr, your brown eyes hooded as you lick your lips.
He actually gives her a grin at the view and she offers a wolffish one in response, leaning back to watch as he leaves to grab his coat and give the reins to someone else. And it’s now that she sizes him up again, definitely not the type she’s usually into, but she finds it fits him, eyes lingering on the bare legs and the straps that keep his torso from being fully bare, and she can’t help the slight nibbling of her lip as he returns.
His hair is down now, longer than hers she thinks, and she stands from the bar with a small smirk as he steps up beside her. Auni already leads the way, trying his best to get out of the way of whatever happens next, trotting through the Rathskeller to the door. Ezra’s arm snakes out as though to take hers, and she looks with those ocean eyes to his freckled face, taking his arm for appearance only, hand squeezing his forearm gently, testing, playing at it as she rakes her nails along his skin.
She guides him out of the Rathskeller to her own home that’s not far from it. Seiji has been gone awhile and they’ll have the house to themselves. They reach the door easily and she unlocks it, brushing dust off the doorknob as she lets the glowing Luxere in first. Then she turns to Ezra with a small smirk. “Home sweet home.”
your girl is a soldier
and her mouth tastes like blood,
dust, fire, home, and battlefield
Kiada has a large X scar on the right side of her neck.
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Kiada, without killing her <3
08-10-2019, 10:55 PM (This post was last modified: 08-10-2019, 10:56 PM by Ezra.)
EZRA
You let out the lowest appreciative growl as she rakes her nails across your skin, Mort than happy to let her be a little rough. A little- until safewords and boundaries are set up. You're not a newbie, and you've been in enough, ah, tight situations to know better than to go in underprepared.
The walk is taken in pleasant silence, with you taking time to gently caress her arm, blowing soft kisses against her face when she seems willing, nothing more than ghosting breaths, a gentle and inviting tease. The house itself is, like okay, as far as houses in this shithole go, but you make a mental note to take her back to Luca's place next time.
Not that there will be a next time. Noooope. You're not that kinda sucker. No sir.
She turns and smirks, and you smile back, your brown eyes never leaving hers. "Gorgeous," you whisper, a playful grin on your face as you reach out to push back a lock of her hair, your own falling over your shoulder. You aren't sure how she wants to do this yet: usually you like to let them lead (read: you're the biggest fucking sub this side of the sun), but you've had a few who needed more guidance.
Leaning down, you let your lips linger somewhere near her ear, close to ghost her skin, an old trick but a good one. "Well then, Ocean Eyes, what'll it be?"
