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!
10-21-2019, 04:42 PM (This post was last modified: 10-26-2019, 09:10 PM by Loren.)
there's a fire starting in my heart
reaching a fever pitch
It had been...quite an eventful couple of hours. If that. Honestly, the whole lack of natural light made it nearly impossible to tell how much time had passed. It certainly felt like a while, but his perception of time was shit at the moment. Between seeing Cera’s dead body, trying to desperately barricade the door, finally burning down the Rathskellar to destroy the monsters that had gotten inside, getting plastered, and then everything that had followed with Sunjata and Lusea, he was in a bit of a dazed state as he processed it all.
He was also filthy: his shirt was gone, his pants were mostly gone, he'd lost his boots and socks somewhere along the way, he was covered in ash, blood, sweat, and other substances, all coating parts of his skin in an ungodly and sticky mess. After communicating as best he could to Remi what had gone down, the summoner realized he should probably get cleaned up before anything else.
However, he wasn’t quite ready to answer questions—about his state, about what had happened, about anything, really—so he’d crept around, grabbing some fresh clothes, a bucket of water, and some rags. Hopefully no one was the wiser as he stealthily made his over to the college. It was much more secluded and less crowded than the main part of the Temple. Plus there was probably a place to ditch bloody and burned clothes there.
Given that he was quite a sight, and given that he was still stumbling a bit from the alcohol and all the exertions, he hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed. Unfortunately, he himself did not notice that fact as he made his way up to the second floor and into an empty classroom. Opening and closing the door as best he could with his burden and in his intoxicated state (he was coming down from the buzz, but there was still a happy glow) he dumped the objects he was carrying on the desk there. Then he stripped off his pants so he was just in his undergarments, picked up a rag, wet it, and started cleaning his arms.
After his discussion with Phoebe and Oliver, Abasi had gone to think over his relationship with the Gods, which had been weighing heavily on his mind. Truthfully, there was an element of sulking to it, looking at the shrine and wishing a God would just appear so he could give them a piece of his mind. Though he had begun to think of ways around his predicament, what he could do with it...he just needed the time to get over the hurt.
He was suddenly distracted from all matters divine however when he heard people speaking of a fire in the Rathskeller. Purposefully set, it sounded like, and most interestingly of all involving Loren.
Blinking at the doors of the tunnel that lead to the bar he wondered what had been going on while he had been distracted, wrapped up in his own troubles. Abasi also found very quickly that he was concerned for Loren, who he had not seen since he'd heard the news. At least looking for him would give him something to do, so he had set off on a mission around the temple to search for the man (who was apparently an arsonist, now?).
When he had exhausted every possible location within the main temple, he headed to the more unfamiliar areas. A stone bridge; he did not know where it led but as long as it wasn't outside, he supposed it was probably safe enough. "Loren...?" He said out into the college as he entered, though as he heard his own voice he wondered if he was being presumptuous by coming to look for the man. They had only shared the one kiss, after all; that didn't mean he was entitled to see him in his worst moments.
But he had begun, so he continued to wander through the college. "It is Abasi. I came to see how you were, I heard there was a fire...?" Looking in each room, finally he found one containing Loren - who was half dressed. Immediately he cast his eyes downward, finding himself far more embarrassed than he should have done. After all, in Egypt it had been commonplace for men to be shirtless. But here he had grown used to seeing people covered. "I apologise. It appears you would rather this be a private moment."
Apparently, in the Launceleyn’s distracted and more than a bit inebriated state, he’d forgotten to lock the door behind him. He hadn’t heard the other man’s voice calling, given that the walls were thick and all the cracks had been padded with snow moss, all the floors blanketed with carpets. When the door clicked open, though, the summoner glanced up, whole body tensing.
However, as soon as he saw that it was just Abasi, Loren relaxed, tension almost palpably draining off of him even as droplets of water rolled down his arms. ”Not at all.” In fact, some company was more than welcome. ”No need to apologize.” The other man hadn’t done anything wrong, and the Launceleyn sent a smile Abasi’s way. While the summoner tried to make it gentle, there was a bit of a heated undercurrent. After everything that had just happened, he felt more alive than he had in a long time, despite the exhaustion tugging at his limbs and mind. Luckily, he wasn’t quite out of energy yet. And he was sober enough that the slurring was mostly gone.
His arms were clean, so he got a fresh rag and dipped it into the bucket. Moving onto his face, his neck, and his hair—none of which took that long to scrub, thankfully enough—he shifted to washing his chest so that he could speak more easily to the other man. Rivulets rolled down his shirtless body, leaving cleaner streaks of pale skin behind as they traveled downwards. ”Were you just exploring? Or looking for me specifically?” Loren couldn’t help the slightly eager tone that crept into his voice during the second question. That being said, he’d made himself clear during their last encounter about what he wanted. Moreover something had been unleashed in him today. Plus, there wasn’t another soul to be seen. He could be a little eager.
After the initial shock of seeing Loren (and indeed, seeing him without a shirt), Abasi noticed two things. Firstly that he seemed to be washing blood off his skin - this gave him some great concern and he stepped forward, questions already on his lips. But before he could reach Loren he noticed the second thing; that there was water running down the man's chest in a very distracting way.
"I was...looking for you." He replied, his voice tellingly distracted as his eyes followed the trail of one drop from Loren's collarbone and down his chest, over his stomach and to his hips. Abasi closed his eyes and breathed, trying to stop himself from getting flustered like a teenager with a first crush.
Besides, before he let himself get taken away with the rather unfairly erotic imagery before him, there were other matters. "I heard there was a fire and I was worried for you. Though it seems you are..." He looked Loren up and down again and cleared his throat. "Fine."
It did not, as of yet, strike Abasi that this was indeed somewhere private, like he had asked for the last time they had met. Regardless, he was aware of the rather warm mood that had settled over them. "...I was not sure you'd want me to come looking for you, but the people in the temple said you had gone off on your own. You seem...a proud man, so I wanted to be sure you had not come to make private a wound."
10-21-2019, 09:02 PM (This post was last modified: 10-22-2019, 03:53 AM by Loren.)
there's a fire starting in my heart
reaching a fever pitch
The damp cloth crept downward, following the path of the water, cleaning the summoner’s abs. While he was still almost painfully thin, there were the barest hints of definition there. Although there were increasingly large spots of water on his underwear, causing it to cling in places, he didn’t stop washing himself of the grime. After all the events of this day, he just wanted to feel clean. At least, he wanted his skin to be clean. Inside, his mind found itself drifting towards more dirty thoughts just as his hands had drifted towards his groin. It was hard not to, given everything that happened.
It didn't help that Abasi’s words came out hesitantly as his eyes crept over Loren’s nearly naked body. Maybe, just maybe, he was putting on a little bit of a show for the other man, albeit subconsciously. Again, though, the summoner felt alive, aware of every inch of his skin, especially the parts where Abasi’s gaze lingered. When the other man closed his eyes, the Launceleyn let out a huff of laughter. ”You found me. Here I am.” He spread his arms for a moment, gesturing to himself, before continuing to wipe the ash and blood.
There was a fire. In the Rathskellar, that much was true. But also in his veins. Grinning openly now at Abasi’s admission that he’d been worried about Loren, (the buzz of the alcohol and the rush of the day’s events making him bolder than he would ever be normally) he discarded the now dirty cloth. While his legs were still streaked with a mix of substances, his upper body, at least the parts facing the other man, were now clean and glistening with a sheen of water. ”Just fine?” Letting out another huff of laughter, he dipped another cloth into the bucket, but didn’t move to wash himself just yet. ”A monster got into the Rathskellar. Killed a man to get through the door, and somehow broke down the bar I put on it.” For a moment, the smile vanished and he shivered as the remembered fear coursed over him; brushes with death and horrifying beings would do that. ”So we burned it. The monster and the Rathskellar.” Mostly him, really, but he’d had some help.
His grin returned quickly enough when the other man once again expressed that he’d been concerned about the Launceleyn. ”I don’t mind. At all.” His voice had dropped in pitch without him even realizing it. ”I had some minor burns, but I healed those easily enough. But then I realized I was filthy, and I came here to wash off, since I knew no one would be around. Except you, it seems.” Holding out the dripping cloth to Abasi, the summoner’s smiled morphed into something a little more heated. ”Mind scrubbing my back?” Loren took a few steps forward, though he left enough space between himself and Abasi that he would need to close the gap. Hopefully, the other man would say yes to the Launceleyn's request.
"So I did." Abasi said, desperately trying to keep his gaze on Loren's face as the man told him of the events in the Rathskeller. This was not the time to give into temptation, to look down as he so desperately wanted to do and follow the water running down. For almost all of his life he had managed to abstain from lust; he had looked the other way as women had tried to get his hand in marriage with their looks, had ignored men jeering things at him in the bars.
But with Loren it was different, somehow. Perhaps because he had come to think of the man as a friend, had seen his kindness and generosity; knowing that those traits could come along with a body such as the one before him, pale and slim...it was certainly more tempting than a random flirt from a stranger.
"I am...glad you are well." He smiled tightly, wondering if he was supposed to excuse himself, when suddenly the washcloth was being held out to him.
Oh.
Abasi realised that this was indeed somewhere alone. Anxiety rushed in his chest but along with it there was an excitement and it was that that had him walking forward to take the cloth. "Of course." Slowly he raised the cloth to Loren's skin, moving it in one slow swipe across his shoulderblades, observing the rise and fall of muscle and the way his skin moved when he breathed. Water ran down Loren's back as it had his front and without thinking Abasi moved to catch the drops with his fingers.
As soon as he felt the warmth of Loren's back he realised what he had done; scared it was too forward he dragged the cloth down to meet his other hand and wiped in circles, trying to pretend it hadn't happened.
10-21-2019, 10:55 PM (This post was last modified: 10-26-2019, 09:12 PM by Loren.)
there's a fire starting in my heart
reaching a fever pitch
There was no need to respond to the other man’s words; given the way his eyes seemed glued to the Launceleyn’s face, as if letting them drift elsewhere would spell disaster, it didn't seem necessary to say anything else. Not with the way the summoner’s thoughts were trending. And it seemed Abasi’s thoughts might be trending in a similar direction. Or maybe the summoner was just feeling optimistic and giddy.
Turned out, he liked feeling that way. And he very much wanted to see how good he could feel.
Another huff of laughter greeted Abasi’s next statement, this one accompanied by one of those special little grins Loren rarely showed the world. It transformed him, making him lighter, more handsome, almost a different person entirely, looking more like his twin (except nicer and kinder than Neron had ever appeared) than the summoner. Unlike most times, it stayed there. ”Thank you. For worrying. And for coming to find me. I appreciate it.” Quite a lot. And would be more than happy to show the other man exactly how the Launceleyn showed his gratitude.
Thankfully, Abasi took the cloth, and Loren turned, letting the other man take over. There was only one swipe before the summoner felt fingers ghost against his back: he smiled again, though Abasi couldn’t see it. This time, though, it was heated, a heat matched by the warmth started to rise in his body and his cheeks. That was definitely a step in the right direction.
It happened. And despite how the other man was trying to pretend it hadn’t, they both knew. Glancing backwards, eyes flickering with the beginnings of a passion the Launceleyn was still learning to learn how to embrace, he watched Abasi for just a moment as he rubbed circles on the summoner’s back. It felt nice. But not nearly as nice as the feel of the other man’s fingers on Loren’s skin had been. Which had not been too forward. Not at all. In fact, it hadn’t nearly been forward enough. That was alright, though, because the summoner was filled with a newfound confidence. And Abasi had always seemed to like boldness.
Which was why, to keep moving forward, Loren stepped backwards, pressing his back against the other man’s chest, uncaring if the Launceleyn got Abasi’s shirt wet or dirty. He hopefully wouldn’t be wearing it much longer, and besides, the summoner’s back was probably fairly clean, given how rigorously the other man had been washing towards the end. One hand reached back to try and grab the hand in which Abasi was holding the cloth, hoping to bring it around to Loren’s chest. As he turned his head further, his other hand went back as well, making its way towards the other man’s hair as the Launceleyn tried to bring Abasi in for another kiss. Only this time, the summoner was very much hoping it wouldn’t stop there.
"Of course. You gave me a home when I had none. It is the least I could do be concerned for your well-being." Abasi replied, more comfortable to phrase his feelings as if they were a deal he had to fulfil, rather than something he was giving willingly.
He had always been able to get involved in work; he ran the cloth over Loren's skin with quick, efficient movements of his wrist. Yet somehow, even though he paused and his eyes widened, he had almost expected Loren to move backwards towards him. He had realised that this was a private space for them both, after all, and besides he could feel it, the filament that held them apart beginning to fray -
- It was a relief that it snapped.
Easily his hand went with Loren's, the cloth falling to somewhere on the floor as he spread his fingers out over the man's chest. Abasi had not often seen the appeal of sins of the flesh, but feeling the warm skin under his fingers he could not deny the heat that rose in his chest, quickly sinking downwards. "Loren..." He said, unsure what he was trying to say, then his lips were claimed in a kiss; he let the words melt away into it, sure this was probably a better way to communicate anyway.
This time there was little hesitation. His lips parted and he let Loren's hand in his hair guide him, tilting his head into the kiss with an inexperienced but eager enthusiasm. He didn't dare to move his hands, not yet, but he ventured to press his tongue to Loren's lips, deepening the kiss with a faint groan from his throat.
It was an almost businesslike statement. However, it still garnered a smile from the Launceleyn: Abasi always seemed to have a bit of a formal tone to him, but then again, so did the summoner. There was nothing wrong with that. Besides, if being concerned for his well-being was the least the other man could do, Loren would be lying if he wasn’t at least a little interested in the most Abasi could do.
Well, they were probably about to find out. Because as soon as the Launceleyn touched the other man, he began following the summoner’s lead. While he wasn’t all that experienced either, he was still feeling the heady mix from the events from earlier, and he let that guide his movements. Bringing the hand Abasi had slid onto Loren’s chest up to his nipple, his other hand tightened against the back of the other man’s head as the summoner’s name fell from Abasi’s lips.
Loren captured the other man’s mouth for a hungry kiss. As soon as the Launceleyn felt Abasi’s tongue, the summoner’s mouth opened, letting it in. His own tongue darted forward, wrestling with the other man’s greedily. Moaning into the kiss, Loren found himself seeking Abasi’s lower lip, the Launceleyn nipping at it with his teeth.
This position was nice, but it wasn’t good enough for what he wanted. So, breaking off the kiss with a growl, he turned, placing his hands on the other man’s chest. The summoner’s blue eyes were filled with a wicked heat as he stared into Abasi’s. Then Loren leaned forward to whisper in the other man’s ear, breath hot. ”I want you.” It probably didn’t need to be articulated, but this was about what they wanted, and the Launceleyn wanted to say the words. Just so they were both clear about what was happening here. He followed it up with a nibble on Abasi’s ear, before the summoner began kissing and biting his way down the other man’s neck.
The kiss was reminiscent of their first, hungry and telling of desire; what made it morethis time however was the knowledge that it was to lead further. Abasi knew this was only the first step on the new dance they were undertaking and that made it all the more exciting. Encouraged by Loren's tongue pushing against his and the heightening of the heat, he moved to run a finger around a nipple by his fingertips experimentally.
Then Loren broke off the kiss and Abasi blinked and watched him turn, unsure if he had done something wrong (not impossible, given his lack of knowledge of these things), but it thankfully seemed that they were only changing positions.
He would have once proudly considered himself a man unaffected by the words of others, but the whisper against his ear immediately had him drawing in a breath as a shot of heat went through his groin and made his pants tighter. No one had ever been so bold with him. "And I, you." Abasi replied, not sure if it was the kind of thing he was meant to respond to but did just in case it would be rude not to - it also felt good to admit it, that he felt a need to touch and kiss, to feel Loren against him.
Kisses began down his neck. Abasi lifted his chin to give Loren all the space he needed and his fingers tightened on the other man's shoulders. "Ah--" He gasped as Loren kissed in a certain spot that sent shivers down his spine. It was all too much and yet not enough at once and in some ways his body took over for him, hips pressing forward and a hand coming up to push into Loren's hair.
"Wait a moment." He whispered after Loren had kissed all of the skin available to him and pulled back, reaching to pull off the shirt. In Egypt he had often gone shirtless on hotter Summer days and was used to it, but he suddenly felt conscious for the first time in his life of how his body looked. He had always been broad, toned but with a definite roundness to his stomach and weight on his sides. For a moment he paused, scared almsot as if Loren would be disgusted with what he saw, then he moved forward to close the gap between them again, kissing him with a new passion.
10-22-2019, 06:42 PM (This post was last modified: 10-23-2019, 04:01 AM by Loren.)
there's a fire starting in my heart
reaching a fever pitch
So far, so good. The kiss was great, obviously. As Loren’s tongue wrestled with Abasi’s, the summoner could feel the other man’s finger tracing around the Launceleyn’s nipple. It was a bit too soft, though he gave an encouraging hum even as his free hand came up to pinch and twist at his other nipple, causing the hum to morph into a moan. Hopefully that would communicate to Abasi that he didn’t need to be that gentle. Despite Loren’s skinny and frail looking frame, he was a lot tougher than he looked. Besides, he healed.
At the other man’s stuttered breath, the summoner let out a low chuckle, still hovering by Abasi’s ear. Thankfully, the other man easily gave the Launceleyn access to his neck; when Abasi groaned before pressing his hips forward and tangling his hand in Loren’s hair, he returned to that sensitive spot, sucking and adding teeth, not afraid to leave a mark. After all, they’d both said they wanted each other. A little hickey shouldn’t be a big deal.
Eventually, he moved on, wanting to find out if there were any other spots that would make Abasi groan in that delicious way. If there were, the Launceleyn would make sure to nip at them as well, before the other man’s whisper halted his kissing and created the barest amount of distance between the two of them. For now. Because, as Abasi lifted his shirt, revealing his toned body, Loren grinned at the sight.
He wasn't the perfect specimen of manhood either, and he didn't mind the image before him. At all. Reveled in it, in fact. And he was fully intending to explore all of it just as he’d explored the other man’s neck. ”Beautiful.” The summoner’s voice came out in a whisper, but he’d already told Abasi that he was attractive, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The Launceleyn’s hands lifted to trace down the other man’s chest, pausing at his nipples to rub and pinch them briefly. However, the hands' downwards journey resumed quickly enough, growing firmer and maybe even a little rough, until they settled on Abasi’s hips. Stepping forward, Loren happily met the other man's hungry kiss. At the same time, the summoner's hands pushed at Abasi until his knees hopefully hit the desk that the Launceleyn had been aiming for. If he succeeded, he wouldn’t stop there. No he’d push Abasi down onto the surface, before Loren's hands started tugging at the waist of the other man’s pants to try and pull them down.
Beautiful was not a word Abasi had ever expected to hear in relation to himself and right away he wanted to object, to roll his eyes; thankfully Loren was effectively distracting him from pointing it out, with hands on his hips and another bruising kiss. The bite on his throat stinging deliciously Abasi forgot all his qualms over the word in an instant, leaning his body up towards Loren as his nipples were pinched with a breathless moan.
He let himself be led, trusting Loren entirely; as his knees hit the desk he sat down on it. Lifting his hips to help Loren take off his pants he found himself again anxious that the man wouldn't like what he saw, but it was easier to dismiss this worry the second time and besides, it would be obvious from the hard cock Loren revealed (wearing underwear was a foreign concept to Abasi and he had immediately rejected it) that he was concerned with other things.
With anticipation of what was going to come, Abasi got a little bolder, reaching up to grab Loren's shoulders and pulling the man over himself, between his legs, and kissing him again. As they kissed, something he was learning the way of now (parted lips and a curious tongue, teeth pulling on lips) , he stroked his hands down Loren's back and pushed his thumbs into his pants, hoping to push them down.
10-22-2019, 08:47 PM (This post was last modified: 10-23-2019, 04:52 AM by Loren.)
there's a fire starting in my heart
reaching a fever pitch
It was good that the other man failed to object, since the Launceleyn would’ve had to show Abasi exactly how attractive the summoner found the other man. Then again, that didn’t sound so bad, since it was exactly what Loren was planning to do anyway. The two of them collapsed against the desk, bodies pressed together and lips locked.
Then he had to break away to shuck off the Abasi’s pants; thankfully the other man assisted in the effort. The Launceleyn gave an approving growl at that and at the sight of the other man’s erection. Apparently, he went commando, as they might say in another world. Although the summoner would’ve liked nothing more than to kneel between Abasi’s legs and start sucking on his cock, Loren felt the other man’s hands on his shoulders. The Launceleyn moved easily, leaning forward to meet Abasi’s eager mouth, moaning as the other man’s teeth bit at the summoner’s lower lip.
Feeling Abasi’s hands trail down Loren’s back, he placed his own hands on the other man’s chest. Seeing as Abasi had groaned so deliciously last time, the Launceleyn slid his fingers down and pinched and twisted at the other man’s nipples again, trying to make them as erect as Abasi’s cock was. Unlike the other man, the summoner did wear underwear. And nothing else, at the moment. So it was easy enough for Abasi to slide them off, causing the Launceleyn’s hard length to spring up. Immediately, he pressed his hips forward until their dicks were rubbing together, the friction eliciting a hot moan from Loren. Simultaneously, he broke off their kiss to return to the spot on the other man’s neck that was already reddened, biting down hard.
Lorens determined fingers on his nipples, playing and pinching, did indeed draw the same groans from Abasi, his chest rising to the touch as they grew hard. He had never known that such pleasure could come from a simple touch of his chest and he revelled in the new discovery, hoping that his pleased sounds and desperate grasping with his fingers would encourage more.
Though it could not compare to the intense and sudden feeling that overwhelmed him as their hips pressed together and their cocks touched. That combined with the bite on his neck had him gasping and he bucked his hips up instinctively with a sharp whisper of a word in his own language that sounded like a curse.
Desiring to feel more of the friction he reached a hand down between them and grabbed both of their cocks, stroking slowly at first then quickening his pace; He didn't know if Loren was intending to take things further than this but he knew he could be content here, hips rocking into his hand and against Loren and heat spreading through his groin. A part of him wanted to pause and ask Loren if it felt good for him too, but he tried his best to ignore that urge, knowing it would likely weigh down the mood.
Instead he stroked his free hand through Loren's hair and said, half-moaned: "Y-your lessons from Frey appear to have paid off." A joke, though his soft laugh was buried in the panting and groaning.
