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!
Raising a brow, the snake merely shrugged. He was scrawny enough, without being asked to carry someone else's baggage. Whatever her comment was meant to hint at, he merely yawned casually away.
"Standards?" He trilled with a laugh. "Is that what yer callin' it? A little harmless fun and suddenly I'm not meetin' your standards?" The thief rolled his eyes with mock frustration. "And who says it's an insult? Y'don't want to get naked with a stranger, that's your business. All well and good. You're the one makin' threats now."
Right so, this particular bird was absolutely no fun.
Hopping off the bed, James straightened a bowtie he clearly wasn't wearing before nodding to Phoebe. "Not outta drugs love, just lookin' for some that'd be a bit more fun. Sorry to offend your delicate..." Frowning, he looked the midwife up and down. Cute, but jaysus if she wasn't a prickly one. "...everything."
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
Phoebe sighed, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes. What was she doing? Arguing with a drug addict like it mattered? Gods she was a real mess, wasn't she? "I'm sorry." she said softly, but with earnestness. "It's been a rough few days and...well I shouldn't have taken that out on you." she mutteted as her hands fell to her sides. Her expression had dropped, and the exhaustion was clear in her eyes. Not the physical sort. Mental. Emotional.
"You wanted some cannabis you said?" she asked, turning to get it from the cabinet. It wasn't something she particularly approved of, but she would rather he get his drugs from her. She'd make sure they were in safe amounts and not mixed with other awful things. Quietly, she unlocked the cabinet and began sorting through a few vials and jars.
"Aye, if you've got some on hand." The thief chuckled, spinning to sit back down on the bed. Patting the place beside him, he offered the midwife a cheery smile. "S'on your mind love? Pretty bird like you. Lemme guess, everyone tellin' you to smile more?" James guessed, nodding knowingly.
"Seems like you could use that stuff more than me. 'Sides, talkin' to a stranger is easy, what with the not-knowing you part. " He added, brows raised as an earnest smile spread across his narrow face.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
Oh she had some on hand. It was one of the more powerful herbal supplements she used, though she did so in small amounts. After a few moments of searching, she pulled out a tiny vial with a dropper lid. Quietly she locked the cabinet back up and walked back to his side, deciding to sit on the bed next to him as he had indicated. ”This is cannabis oil. It is very potent so only put one drop of the stuff under your tongue. It can make you incredibly ill if you use too much.” she warned. ”And I’d rather you not get into anything that is tainted or harmful, so if you ever need a fix of something, please come get it from me. And if you ever want to get off something, I can help make sure you do so safely. Can you agree to that?” she asked, still holding the bottle hostage.
She sighed as he asked what was wrong, and she shook her head a bit. Did she really want to let a stranger in on all of this? Did it really matter? No just…telling me to feel and care less.” she said softly. ”The last year has been mostly completely rotten. I was dumped twice, miscarried twice, was blighted too. And I just found out my sister in law died over at the guildhall and I had to tell my three nephews who I now have to raise all on my own, while running my midwifery clinic and the Medical College and overseeing the infirmary. And…it’s not that I don’t want to raise kids, I love children and want them I just…well I never thought this would be the way I got them…and everything has just been one thing after another and I’ve not had time to properly deal with any of it because I am so busy. And then everyone wonders why I’m so emotional. They just keep saying it’s because I am young but I am pretty sure this would be a lot to deal with at any age.” she said with a sigh, rubbing her eyes again.
"Yes ma'am!" The snake agreed, offering Phoebe a perfunctory salute to indicate just how absolutely serious he was about taking her instruction to heart. Then of course he reached out for the vial, trying not to look too enthused about it.
As she rambled off into her series of woes, the snake raised his brows, lips tugging down into a frown. He didn't know what the blight was, but lumped in with the rest of it as it was, he inferred it was probably pretty damn bad. "Fuck." James agreed as she finished, sounding properly sympathetic.
"Can't do much about most of that. I won't tell ya to feel and care less, but it is what I tend to do. Much easier that way." And it was true. Once, James had cared a great deal and had been entirely fucked over. Rinse and repeat that process a few times and you just...let it all go, throw on the candy-coated facade and off you pop. "But if it isn't who y'are, then it sounds like you've just got to go through it."
So saying, the thief nudged Phoebe with his hip as he moved to lay down on the bed, a hand curling around her as if to invite her to do the same. Flirtatious as he was, his movements were mostly without implication. But she was young and attractive, so his fingers did linger perhaps a second or so too long.
"Right then. No feelin' guilty since you're with a patient and all, but as you've already cured my ailments y'can think about you for a while."
Besides, it wasn't like there was anything else to do.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
Phoebe wasn’t sure if she could really trust this fellow at his word…but that was really all she had at the moment. So she handed over the vial, hoping he would follow the instructions and she wouldn’t find him twitching in a corner covered in his own vomit later.
As he nudged her hip with his and leaned back, she decided to as well. He had what he had come for after all so might as well lay down. It was…refreshing actually, having someone simply agree that it was rough and she would have to get through it. No explanations of why she ought not be upset, or roadmaps to how she could solve it all. Just…friendly commiseration. ”It isn’t who I am. I care a lot. My feelings are big and unruly, for better and worse.” she said with a bit of a sigh, staring up into the darkness where the ceiling surely was.
”It’s so much easier to think about other people though.” she mumbled. Other people she felt she had more power to help. At the very least she could comfort. But herself? Self-care was a practice she had long since gotten out of. ”Thanks for letting me…vent a little. It’s nice to get it all out there without unsolicited advice.” she said with a small smile, looking over at him. ”My name is Phoebe by the way.”
"Lotta stuff in such a little package." He said with a wink, half meaning it to be a compliment as well as an acknowledgement of what he's said. "Ahh that's where you're wrong love. Easier to think about none o'that." It was why the thief drank, smoked, and fucked as often as he did. Anything to keep his mind and heart far, far away from the truth.
"Oh aye, anytime love. Don't really have many solutions as far as all o'that goes, but happy to hear. Or y'know, other things to take your mind off of it." Sex, was obviously what he meant. But then of course it was. He was a half-naked man looking for drugs. Obviously sex was on the table.
"I'm called Lordly the eleventh." The thief quipped back with an easy roll of his shoulders. His casual tone suggested that yes his name was a lie, and one that he told often.
Opening the vial, the thief intentionally put far too much on his tongue. Turning towards Phoebe with a look of faux panic, he grinned, tongue still half-out. "Oh 'o. I 'eem 'oo 'ave 'aken 'oo 'uch. Gonna 'ave 'o kiss me 'oo ge' i' of'" So it was that the snake leaned towards the midwife, needing a life-saving kiss to save him from his clumsiness. Besides. She needed to take the edge off as well.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
"I guess." she said with a sigh. "I've been a caregiver my whole life though. Doubt it'll change anytime soon. I'll get everything sorted...eventually." she said with a shrug.
"It's refreshing just to have someone hear to be honest." she admitted quietly. But at his implication she couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I'm a prude remember?" she said with a smirk. "But I'll keep the offer in mind, how about that?" she said. It wasn't a bad offer really. He was a handsome fellow, and given his demeanor and choice of hobbies she was pretty certain she could keep her heart out of it. Maybe. First time for everything, right?
Lordly the eleventh? She laughed lightly and shook her head. "Sure you are. Hmmm..." squinting her eyes at him. "You look like a...Brady. I'll just call you that then since you don't want to tell me whatever your real name is." she said with a little nod.
And then the little shit damn near dumped the whole vial in his mouth it looked like.
"For Frey's sake you little rascal I told you not to..." Then her brain pieced together his broken words and she huffed. "Ooohhhh I've half a mind to slap you not kiss you!" she said, wrinkling her nose in displeasure. But really. She didn't want to deal with a man overdosing so she leaned up to kiss him, knowing time was of the essence here.
"And if not? Y'know it isn't so bad. Loads of folks act as if they do, but really they don't. At least you're honest about it." The thief replied with a shrug of his own. "Orgasms are good for the soul." He added, hand over his heart. "'Sides if you're really so in with Frey, you should know that." This was punctuated by a bob of his brows.
"Brady?" James paused. He was pleased she hadn't gone all wheepy or whiny on him, demanding to know his real name. Besides, Brady wasn't as boring as James, so he was alright with it. "I'm good with that, though if I find out you've got some lab mice 'round here called Brady as well, I might be a wee bit offended." His grin said that he absolutely wouldn't. Might even let her experiment on him if she wanted.
James made as if he was going to be forced to swallow, the con working perfectly of course, as she reached up to kiss him. Given all his experience, he really was a rather good kisser. However because this was a life or death situation, the thief let his tongue slide forward into Phoebe's mouth, hoping to tangle against hers. The whole point was to share the oil after all. Shifting himself ever so slightly to face her, one of his hands considering reaching for her hip but deciding against it, it was the thief who broke the kiss first (perhaps surprisingly), though he didn't pull all the way back. Instead, he'd let himself linger near her for as long as it took for her to either pull away entirely or to go back in for seconds. He knew which he wanted of course.
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
She laughed a bit as he noted Frey. "True, and I won't contradict that, but I don't think Frey would say I have to sleep with every man the propositions me if I don't want to." she said with a small smile. The smiled broadened a bit as he joked about lab mice named Brady. "I've mice named Brady, Brady Junior, and Brady the Third actually." she said as a bit of a joke. He was clearly a jokester so she figured he would appreciate the effort.
Phoebe was actually rather surprised at how good of a kisser he was, her hands having found either side of his face in her effort to bring him close quickly. And though she certainly lacked the breadth of experience he likely had, she at least wasn't as much of a prude in practice as she presented publically. As he pulled away she considered leaning in for another if only for a moment's distraction...but then the taste of the cannabis oil registered on her tongue and she tensed as she swallowed it, nose wrinkling and eyes squeezing closed. "Oooooh I forgot how awful that stuff tastes!" she said, shuddering rather comically.
"Propositions? Love, I'm a man and you're a beautiful woman. 'Course I want to shag ya'. Proposition seems a mite bit strong though." James said, shaking his head. However at the mention of the apparent plethora of b-named men at her disposal the thief recoiled a touch. "Alright, aalright. Point made." He concerned with a cheshire grin.
She tasted soft and gentle, just as he thought she might. Her tongue ghosting along his, her hands small along his jawline. Everything in him suggested he roll a'top her and pin her to the thin mattress they were upon, it was a titch too soon. Too fragile. "Does it?" The snake whispered, as if skeptical. "Go on, giver' another try."
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
She laughed a little and shook her head at him. "You're funny." she said with a bit of a snicker, a compliment combined with a tease. "I didn't use the word for its accuracy. Its just shorter than saying anything else." she said with a little shrug. Make sexual advances on, ask her to have sex with - proposition was just faster. Her snicker lengthened though as he recoiled and conceded to her lab mice list of Brady's. He didn't need to know she didn't have any lab mice.
He was a persistent fellow. She'd give him that. But to be honest, as nice as it seemed to have the distraction and relief she knew would come with it, having sex on the uncomfortable infirmary bed didn't really strike her fancy. Call her fussy, but the more cushion beneath her, the better - rather than the bed rail digging into her spine. "How about this, since I've boys to put to bed before this oil kicks in and makes me useless, you come with me to the College where there are much more comfortable places to be to 'giver' another try.'" she said with a giggle, trying to copy the lilt of his voice.
“Oh look, she does accents.” The snake chortled back, pressing a kiss against her nose before rolling easily off the bed. “Y’know, I’m rather good with kids m’yself. My ma’ had 18 of ‘em. Mostly stragglers on the coast, but family is family.” All of which was a lie. He was good with kids though.
“How ‘bout this for a lullaby?” So saying the thief broke out into an incredibly inappropriate sea-shanty that his Irish lilt carried quite well. He was of course kidding (probably), but he let his voice carry until they reached the triplets. At which point he did in fact switch to something all together quite sweet about Safrin and the waves.
Boys bedded, James wrapped an arm around Phoebe, the drugs having happily settled deep into his bones, letting her lead him wherever it was that they would find a suitable bed. From there? Well he’d happily see where the evening would lead.
~FIN
{steps on my own emotions and grinds them into the dirt with my heel} anyways.
