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!
Bastien had granted Clem access to the Guild after that first evening painting the mural, and yet Clem still feels uncertain of himself whenever he enters. Tries to use as little material as possible, when he indulges in it. It's soothing, rewarding in a way he can't put to words, but the gratitude he feels towards Bastien for allowing him to explore this side of himself cannot be measured.
He's humming and tapping his toes against the floor while he draws, using charcoal stubs and finding himself utterly fascinated by the way it works. It feels less wasteful than painting, and the stark blacks against the paper are all the more appealing. It's easy to get lost in the motions as he tries out different techniques, unaware of the passing of time as the sun rises outside the Guild.
Maybe Oliver had taken a bit too keen of an interest into drawing. It also could have been the fact that spending some much time indoors during LongNight had led to him drawing way too much, a lot without really any progress. His sketchbook was fine, but what wasn't fine was his pencil. It was pretty much dead. He had used the poor thing so much as well he hadn't exactly taken the best care of it, leading to him needing a new one.
It was probably a bad idea to go to go to a Guild in hopes to receive a pencil, but there were absolutely no market people who had pencils. Plus, he could always just say hello and try to be friendly. Hope that people wouldn't look at him as a massive dick for visiting a Guild with the sole goal of receiving a pencil...and talk to people.
That's how he ended up at the Guild, in hopes of somehow getting himself a pencil. The Guild was pretty much empty, except for a very familiar face. With a faint smile, Oliver walked over to the boy and looked down at what he was doing.
"Hey, what are you working on?" Start out slow and nice, get to know him a bit more. The two hardly had any time to talk when they first met, the mural keeping both of them completely occupied. It should be nice to finally be able to talk to him.
Clem is so absorbed in his sketches he doesn't notice the other man's entry, too used to people wandering in and out without bothering him. He jolts when Oliver's voice breaks the silence, dropping his charcoal and then cursing loudly as he ducks down to grab it. When he pops back up he turns his flaxen gaze towards the newcomer, recognizing him from the mural painting event Bastien had held. He's not sure of the man's name, but he stares at him for a few long seconds before turning and gesturing to his current paper.
"Uh, charcoal. Tryin' new mediums or whatever." Hanging around Bastien meant he learned those kinds of terms, but using them means little to Clem. Bastien says it's totally okay to just want to get his hands on stuff and explore it, but Clem still feels bad about not wanting to learn the technicalities. He just...expresses. He doesn't really think about it.
Dark head tilts to the side curiously back at Oliver. "Whatcha here for? My name's Clem." The guild is becoming more familiar to him, maybe he can help Oliver find whatever he's looking for. Or at least learn his name.
Oliver hadn't intended on surprising the kid so badly. He frowned and said a quiet "Sorry for startling you," To the other. Normally it was him who was getting startled over random people appearing, meaning he probably should've known better than to scare Clem in such a way. Luckily, he didn't seemed to have ruined the art. Thank gods.
"Ah, you're doing great so far." Oliver took a couple of steps closer to get a good look at what he was working on. He hadn't really done too many mediums since arriving due to his lack of supplies, but charcoal did seem like a good option, especially when it came to particular drawings.
"I'm Oliver...I was here because I need a couple of new pencils and stuff. My old one broke." He had planned on leaving just as quickly as he had arrived, but there were quite a few questions he had for the kid. It was always nice to see young people be dedicated to something, especially when they were just learning how to do it. Picking up hobbies was a thing that Oliver thought everyone should do, at least as long as the hobby isn't hurting others.
Clemente can't blush, which makes it easier to ignore his pout as he turns away from Oliver, embarrassed by his own lack of guard. "Ya didn' scare me," he mumbles, a clear lie but one the boy will cling to for the rest of the evening. At times he really can be a typical teenager, annoying and contrary just for the sake of being so. Nonetheless at his age his emotions are also as swiftly changing as a river, and he beams shyly at the newcomer when he compliments Clem's sketches. "Thanks," he manages to say, even though he's not entirely used to taking compliments in the first place, much less from strangers.
Hazel eyes glance over as Oliver introduces himself, grins a little as one fang peeks out. "Broke cuz you got mad, or just not up t'snuff?" It's an amusing visual, innocent-looking Oliver raging at a sketch not going his way and snapping his pencil into tiny bits with one well-placed crush of a hand. Unlikely, but still humorous. Clem knows where the pencils are, but doesn't bother pointing them out if Oliver at least knew where to go to find them in the first place. Plus with the way the young man hesitates, it's clear he wants to ask something.
And of course he does. Clem shuffles over a little, gesturing to the empty space beside him with a little shrug of his shoulders. "Nah, come on in. Workin' on somethin' yourself?" Or just watching Clem play with the charcoal? The kid doesn't care either way, returning to his sketch for a moment until Oliver decides.
It wasn't too hard to understand why Clem chose to turn away from him. Oliver had been a lot like that when he was younger. Hell, he was still like that even now. It was amusing, but it also saddened Oliver. The kid wouldn't really have the chance to be a real teenager now that he was stuck in Caido, especially when he was an Ascended. Imagine being stuck at that age....yikes. But it was nice to have someone like Clem, a person who was calm and genuine. Kind and well, not a stuck up person trying too hard to be a mature adult.
With a playful eyeroll, Oliver shook his head. "Eh, combination of things. I've been using it way too much, as well I may have gotten a small bit frustrated...I'm not exactly the best of art and sometimes I got a bit frustrated that it didn't turn out good or that I'm not improving fast enough. It eventually just broke, cant really use it anymore." He didn't snap it in half, more like he just over-extended its use.
Taking a seat down next to Clem, Oliver let out a shrug. There...really wasn't anything that he was working on, in all honesty. "I mean, I'm trying to get more practice in. I want to get better and improve. I haven't been drawing for all that long. I really just need more experience and maybe even someone to give me some advice." It was hard since he still wasn't completely sure whether or not he was going to join the Guild. It meant that he felt as though he couldn't ask Bastien for advice. He wasn't part of the guild, why would Bastien or anyone in the guild for that matter help him?
Clem shrugs a little at Oliver's explanation, though he grins lopsidedly at the older boy. Maybe it's because he hasn't ever really gotten to draw, or paint, or any other artistic endeavor. Maybe it's his age, his determined nature. But the idea of being disgruntled that way kind of boggles him. "It ain't that pressin' dude. 's not a race, no such thing as improving 'fast enough'." As if to prove his point, he scratches the charcoal over one of his previous sketches, and starts on a new one immediately after. To Clem it's just natural to keep going, but maybe Oliver will take his advice to heart.
The blond sits next to him, and Clem tenses for half a moment almost habitually. Can't help the instinctive way he catalogs Oliver's body type, his weaknesses, the odds of Clem being able to get away if things get sticky. But then he forces himself to relax, to focus on his charcoal until the anxiety fades to a dull, manageable simmer. "Well y'can ask me, or Bastien. He's real good. I'm just like, another pair of eyes." He doesn't understand Oliver's reluctance to ask Bastien, doesn't even consider it. But he does set down his charcoal, wiping his hands absentmindedly on his pants - something Rexanna is sure to skin him alive for once he realizes what he's done - to turn and face Oliver properly.
Was he actually receiving advice from someone way younger than him? Clearly, since he was actually starting to understand what Clem was saying, that he was extremely correct with his statement. Oliver watched how easily he just moved onto another sketch, not really dwelling at all on his previous one. "I mean, yeah, but I guess I just wanna be good? I'm not sure. I'm still really considering joining this Guild, so I wanted to prove to Bastien that I'm good enough to join." Because right now, his art certainly wasn't good enough for that. It didn't look presentable at all.
Oliver isn't really able to notice Clem suddenly tensing up. Most body language is easy to read and notice, but this one slips by him. Still, Oliver respectfully keeps his distance, rather choosing to watch whatever art Clem chose to move on to.
Wait- Wait- Wait. Oliver wasn't ready to show Clem his art, let alone Bastien! Oliver just wanted some advice, like, verbal ones! "Well, how about we just start with general advice." No way was he going to let Clem see his gods awful work. "Like...how do you draw art without having something to look at? You know, to make sure it looks accurate or proportionate? I tried drying a Luxere, but it looked far more like a dog." There he goes, basically inviting Clem to ask to see his book.
Wow, this guy has some serious self-doubt issues. Clem kinda gets it, but there'd been no room allowed for such things after he'd been orphaned. Before maybe, but self-consciousness never filled his belly or kept him warm. "Ain't no such thing as bein' good enough. Talent is one thing, Bas is only gonna care that you wanna try. Develop the skill part or whatever." Art is a skill like any other to Clem, and requires practice. "He'd prolly lose his shit if y'even asked to join." A smug face here, imagining Bastien slapping the back of his head for such a comment. But it was true, the dude was crazy about art, he'd love another pupil.
Man, the desire to check out the dudes book only increases as he talks, but he knows some things are private and that's a type of sacred that Clem won't toe the line with. "Uh, I usually just keep doin' new ones beside it in like lil squares. If I know the nose was right, I'd do that part first, then keep tryin' new things to fixed the doglike parts. Till my hand remembers the way to do the right parts." Holy fuck this is hard to explain. How does Bastien do it? The man really is mental. "And then if yer still not happy, take the sketches with ya and go find the real life one and do it all again." Luxere didn't like to stand still, like any grazing animal. No sense trying to learn the basics when Oliver could be refining the appearance with a visual instead.
