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!
Now. Though James wasn't from this part of the woods (or shit-hovel, as it was), he did know a few things, one of which being this: where there were doctors, there was medicine.
Medicine, when used correctly, was basically just drugs. But like, the sort of drugs people didn't give you shit for.
And so, totally nonchalant despite only wearing a purse he'd found and a scarf wrapped around his waist as a make-shift skirt, the thief sneaked towards the infirmary intent on either: finding something clear and injecting it into his veins, or finding something powdery and sticking it under his tongue.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
The pink dragon was curled up between the beds, waiting for Phoebe to finish putting away supplies from the patient she just helped. And though he was a bigger dragon as far as companions went, he was still small enough to be overlooked in the dark. So as the not-very-bright human male passed by, he lifted his head, sniffing curiously. Hm. He had very little protective outer layers on. That was strange. Slowly the dragonling rose, and growled lowly at the not-well-protected human man. Just what did he think he was up to?
"Pim? What's wrong?" Phoebe called from the back, stepping out to see what the fuss was about. "Oh! Hello, is...oh my goodness where are your clothes??" she said in alarm at finding a nearly naked man in the infirmary.
"Ah, well hello there." The thief trilled brightly, turning about to spy Pim. The dragonling was intimidating, but then James had seen proper dragons loads where he'd come from. Besides, pink was kinda cute. Glancing up as the midwife walked in, the snake put on his most charming mega-watt smile, which, for a scrawny drug-addict really was rather cute. However as she mentioned his clothes, the thief looked properly surprised. Glancing down, he saw his bag, skirt/scarf, and his sandals. All seemed to be where he remembered putting it on.
"What's that love?" He crooned, looking very innocent now as he pulled his gaze away from the cabinets. "Why right here. Perhaps you need to come closer to see." James added with an obnoxious bob of his eyebrows. For as over the top flirtatious as he could often be, James had all the intimidation factor of a fly.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
Pim blinked, the clear inner eyelid clicking a bit before the outer fleshier one closed. Why was this human man so friendly? Was it because he knew he lacked his many layers of somewhat protective coverings? He trilled into a growl, stepping in the way of his retreat path, flapping his wings in what should have been an intimidating manner. But Pim didn't know he was considered cute yet.
Phoebe also blinked at James, clearly not have expecting that response. "Uhm...those are not clothes, that much is clear ." she said. And what was with this love business? She didn't even know him! Phoebe turned to a cabinet and pulled out a set of men's clothes, walking over and holding them out to him. "Here, you can have these and can change behind the curtain." she said softly with a warm smile. "What besides that brought you to the infirmary?"
“And a very good day to you as well.” The snake trilled back to the dragon, interpreting the growl (improperly) as an affectionate greeting as he was wont to do in most instances of danger.
“Now now. I’ll have you know where I come from this is the height of fashion.” Tapping the side of his nose to indicate Phoebe was now too in the know, the snake frowned as she pulled out the clothes. Holding up the trousers with a comical frown, the snake peered out from behind the raised garment to give the midwife a supremely skeptical look. “Think i’ll pass darlin’. These are...well..!” Trailing off into a musical bout of laughter, the snake grinned brightly. “Well these are a bit shite, no offence o’course. Honestly though, it’s not like I’ll get cold in this place, what with all the hot air blowin’ around.” By which of course he meant the Wessex’s and Loren’s of the world. Offering Phoebe a conspiritorial smirk, he stepped back and glanced around at the cabinets as she asked what had brought him in.
“Oh, terrible pain. Really terrible. Need the strongest stuff you got doc.” James replies, doubling over in sudden pain and pressing a hand to his scrawny stomach.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
Pim blinked at him, a chuffing noise of discontent rumbling his lips. He looked to Phoeb to translate, sending her his emotions to convey. "Uhm...that wasn't a greeting so much as a warning. Pim is very protective of me." Phoebe said to the man, glancing between him and the displeased dragonling.
She raised a brow though as he called the trousers shite, doing her best not to be offended. "Well I was in a bit of a rush to make clothing enough for a crowd before LongNight came, so I apologize that they aren't the height of fashion." she said a bit dryly, glancing at what he was wearing again. "Would you prefer a skirt...at least something a little longer than what you have...and the shirt is fine, isn't it?" she said. Men and being shirtless for no reason - why? It wasn't like there was a guarantee he wouldn't have to go outside after all - this she knew all too well.
And when he doubled over in sudden pain...she raised her other brow. Uh-huh. Sure. To be honest, the midwife wasn't terribly convinced. She knew what pain looked like. "I see. Well lay down on the bed there and let's see what the matter is shall we? You're awfully thin, when was the last time you ate a full meal?" she asked.
"Oh well now. Warnings are greetings of a sort, now aren't they?" The thief trilled, shoulders rolling easily. There was very little that could upset James' precarious balance of giving 0 fucks
"Oh no offense against you love. Really it's nice work and all—" The snake pretended to pluck an errant strand of thread as if the garments were actually coming undone, flashing the midwife a cheeky grin, before planting his hands back on his bony hips. "Why? You aren't a prude are ya? I told you wot, if it isn't the length of the skirt, next you'll be on about seeing too much skin!" And sure enough, she mentioned his lack of shirt. Waving his hands and making a pffffff sound by blowing air across his lips, the snake merely shook his head. "Y'gotta live a little. Y'know, really feel the breeze and all that." So, it was probably safe to say he also wasn't wearing any underwear.
Leaping easily onto he bed before resuming his expertly done pantomime of man in extreme pain, needs lots of good drugs stat, James put on a thoughtful face. "Dunno really. Foods a bit scarce 'round here if you haven't noticed." His sing-song accent and carefree attitude (and attire) suggested that working for food was probably not high on the snake's list of priorities. "Right then, it hurts down here doc. You'd better have a look. And don't worry about bein' thorough, I'm not shy." Which was of course to say he was mostly pointing towards his groin.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
Phoebe and Pim glanced at each other, both rather perplexed by this fellow. Odd perhaps but…certainly not a danger. That was really all Pim cared about. And since Pim’s interest seemed to be waning, Phoebe equally felt assured there was nothing to worry about.
The midwife huffed a bit and crossed her arms. ”I’m not a prude I just wouldn’t want you to be caught outside dressed like that. You never know what might happen during LongNight.” she said, lips pursing a bit. She was pretty sure you couldn’t be a prude and be close friends with the god of sex and fertility. At least night fully a prude anyways. Maybe she was a little prudeish…was she actually a prude? She shook her head slightly to clear it, resigning herself to the fact that this man was going to insist on walking around half naked.
”Awfully nimble for being in so much pain.” she commented as she pulled up a stool to sit beside the bed he was on. Yeah. This guy was faking it. You didn’t need to know anything about medicine to figure that much out. ”Well then, if you haven’t eaten in awhile, I am quite certain the pain you’re feeling is stomach cramps from starvation. A few good meals will fix you right up, which I would be happy to provide.” she said, pressing gently against his abdomen. Clearly he needed to eat but nothing felt out of the norm. Of course…then he started pointing to his groan. Ugh. She glanced towards his barely covered manly bits then back at him. Well, if he was putting on a show, so could she.
”Oh my, that’s what hurts? That’s very serious indeed, very, very serious.” she said nodding her head, pretending she was playing along with a child’s antics. ”I’ll have to prepare you for surgery right away. It’s the LongNight Curse you see – flesh simply starts dying off and if we don’t cut it away you’ll die too.” she said, looking over at Pim. ”Pim, hurry now and get me my surgical bag, the chloroform, and numbing poultice. We’ve an emergency castration to perform!”
“Not plannin’ on being outside love, thought that was the whole point o’ all’a this?”
Frowning as Phoebe noted his inappropriate spryness given just how very very injured he obviously was, the snake paused a moment before clearing alighting with an idea. “Oh it’s a...like that mum strength you hear of. Liftin’ whole trees and whatnot when their kiddos are injured. Only, it’s just me gettin’ into bed.” Laying there with a grin as Phoebe looked him over, James raised a playful brow, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Oh? Food uh? I’d love a good something to eat.” And of course his eyes dropped. “Y’know, raw fish? Somethin’ you can really just get right into?” At this his tongue waggled obscenely, but there was something about it that came off as harmless instead of lewd.
Nodding along with her assessment of it being very serious indeed, James froze at the mention of curse. And surgery. And bites falling off. “Wait so it’s all real? Jaysus I was only kidding around so that you’d touch my cock,” The thief said, sitting up nervously and reaching down to protectively cup his balls with one tattooed hand. “But it might actually happen?”
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
"Plans for LongNight may as well be laid in sand. I didn't plan to be out last year and instead ended up having to run from the Outskirts to here with two toddlers while dragging a gored man I patched up with my skirt fabric." she said lightly despite the dark subject matter.
"Oh, I see." she said, nodding along as if he had her fooled. But his lewd comment she flatly ignored. Ir might've made her blush once upon a time but... she had spent enough time with Frey that something so crude just...well...she wasn't impressed. And as she folded her hands in her lap, she waited for the panic to set in as he registered what she said. Oh and when it did - priceless.
She smirked as he began to panic, then started to giggle. "I know you were." she said with a snicker. "A few things you should know: There is no curse that makes you spontaneously loose bits of your body during LongNight. I am very close friends with the god of sex and passion so if you're going to make innuendos to me you'll have to be quite a bit more clever than that. If you're pursuing a career in acting, you might suggest a fee more lessons. And finally, do not lie to me." she said chipperly, save for the very last bit, because she was dead serious about it. But her expression lightened again very quickly. "Now tell me what actually brought you in, and I will see what I can do to help you." she said with a warm smile.
"Well now that doesn't sound fun at all, does'it?" The snake replied, casually rolling his shoulders despite Phoebe's account of her horrors.
Having looked properly worried, James ran a hand across his brow as if to wipe sweat away. "Fewf! What a relief! I do some my best work with those bits." He said earnest, before perking up at the mention of Frey. "Whatcha mean clever? So long as it got you thinking about my tongue down below, I'd consider it quite a success." He retorted with a triumphant bob of his eyebrows, removing the hand which had been cradling his balls and then placing both behind his head again.
"Well if it's honesty you want, then drugs. Y'know. Somethin to take the edge off. It's dreadfully boring in here, what with the bar all burned down, and birds like you tellin' me to put more clothes on. I say we take the clothes off—" He added in a burst of inspiration.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
”Nope, it wasn’t at all. So you’ll have to forgive me for being extra worried about everyone and everything this week.” she said with a soft sigh and a smile. Her guard was up, and any red flag became a major concern.
She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his relief, shaking her head a bit. ”Oh, I’m sure you do.” she said with a bit of a snicker. What man didn’t think that, really? But his protest at her comment of cleverness had her raising a brow. ”I mean anyone can say something crass to get a rise out of a person. So by clever I suppose I mean thoughtful. Inspired.” she said with a bit of a shrug.
Ah, but there it was. Drugs. She sighed and crossed her arms, pursing her lips as he explained his situation. ”If you want me to take my clothes off and sleep with you, you’ll have to work a little harder than that I’m afraid.” she said with a light laugh, shaking her head. ”And as far as drugs, how often do you use them for recreational purposes and what do you use?” she asked.
"Thoughtful? Inspired?" The snake scoffed playfully. "Sex isn't thoughtful, love. Sure y'can be good at it and I s'pose that takes a bit of thinkin', but come on. Crass is crass. Not like I'm here trying' to woo yah or anythin'."
As she crossed her arms and pursed her lips, suddenly looking oh-so matronly despite her youth, James merely grinned as he sat up. "Sleep with me? Darlin' I was just talkin' about getting naked. Y'know, havin' a bit of fun. You really are a prude." He added with a roll of his eyes and knowing shake of his head.
"Well, I'm not from around here, so I'm not sure how you new-folk call things. But there's the one that makes you go all—" Pretending to inhale a joint and then relax, James mimed mellowing-out. "—then o'course there's the—" This seemed to be a much more surreal experience, as James started grasping at invisible mites in the air and pretending to see all sorts of things around him. "—and then, my personal favourite—" Miming eating a mushroom, he merely lay flat on his back, then used his finger to indicate a massive erection.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
"Clearly not." she said a bit dryly, though she struggled to not take it personal. "You can join the club in fact. I'm sure they'd love another member." she mumbled as she stood to walk back towards a cabinet she kept tightly locked because of the sorts of medicines in it.
"You really are a prude."
She stopped and turned slowly back to him, looking thoroughly unamused. "Or perhaps you just aren't used to a woman with standards." she huffed, crossing her arms as she glared across at him. "But since you seem to really like hurling insults at me, maybe instead I'll just let you go through withdrawal from your drugs instead of helping you out." she said, the amusment from his demenor wearing off now. Of course, he couldn't know he was hitting on sore spots...but she wasn't feeling particularly forgiving at the moment. First Loren mad fun of her, acted like a friend and then disappeared, now this guy was insulting her in her infirmary.
