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!
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
Nate was getting bored of seeing the sun in scant slices, of only enjoying its light as it set and rose. It was one of those things he hadn’t expected to miss, and yet, here he was, wandering through the very edges of the civilized parts of the Hallowed Grounds, where there were more empty buildings than lived in ones.
Without anything to occupy his evenings, Nate had been bored. In his old life, hell, even before his ascension, he’d been able to waste the hours away, drinking and sleeping it off and repeating the process over. Now, he couldn’t be affected by drinks, and he had no need to sleep. It opened a lot of hours, hours that he didn’t know how to fill. So he went for walks. And thought. And crawled into bed beside Sam in the small hours, mumbling apologies or flirts depending on the night.
It wasn’t late enough to head back home though, so he walked, half mumbling a song to himself as he went, making turns at random, yet somehow still familiar. The half remembered shortcut from a different city, a different world. Nate was lost, in this world, he just didn’t know it yet.
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
Oh, he absolutely had overdone it. Had avoided all talk of Halo and what had occurred there, how he’d drank, how Phoebe and him had argued for what felt like the thousandth time. How he’d come back to train Maea and to finally face Hotaru… Well, he wasn’t particularly in the best space at this present moment. A constant revolve of getting better and getting worse, and well – the pendulum had swung hard in the side of getting worse.
Of course he was too stubborn to actually seek Nate out, too stubborn to admit to it just yet when Torchline was on the horizon. And rather than remain at the VlamVloed before heading home where he’d have the possibility of speaking with Maea and maybe making more mistakes, or going home to yet another wonderful night, he’d chosen the quiet of the Ruins. Unable to keep from partially shifting, he walks idly with his hands in his pockets, horns curling out from around ruffled dark hair, a shadowed gaze with bags beneath his eyes.
He half expects nobody else to be around, though the night is warm enough and leaves him wearing nothing more than a pair of pants, his boots, and a sleeveless shirt. Biting on the inside of his cheek with slightly elongated canines, he inhales a shaky, rattling breath and rounds a corner only to spot a figure ahead of him – was he coming toward him? It’s hard for him to tell in the dark light of the Ruins if he knows the man as well, so all he can do is dip his head slightly, gaze following the path he takes while trying to avoid any sort of conversation.
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
For all his silent complaints about his ascension, Nate really couldn’t fault the new sharpness of his senses. Even in his half aware state, he heard the crunch of another’s boots, glanced up just enough to get an idea of who was coming towards him. Even if his eyes weren’t sharper in the dark, even if he couldn’t hear the wheezing breath, even without the near permanent horns curling off his head, Nate would recognize Sunjata by silhouette alone.
Nate stops in the path, waiting for the other man to approach him, waiting until he almost walks by completely before speaking up, his voice a quiet rumble, but warm with familiarity, made intentionally soothing. ”Heard you’ve been gettin’ into trouble.” He turned then, hoping the other man would do the same so they were face to face. ”I thought you told me you didn’t have anything big coming up?”
Chuckling lowly, Nate looks Sunjata down carefully, with a critical eye, taking in how the illness has progressed, then up with a more appreciative eye, gaze lingering on the skin bared by Longheat necessity.
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
Well, he’d absolutely tried to avoid any form of conversation – hoped that perhaps the other man walking down the Ruins wouldn’t recognize him, that he wouldn’t know the man either, simply a passing nod and nothing more. But no, definitely not, not as he nears the man and avoids the look, content and keen on keeping pace with finding a darker space to drift away from… And then he hears Nate’s voice, boot pausing with a slight scuff against the stone. And he turns to face his doctor, awkwardly, horned head lifting to better look at the man that’d diagnosed the illness before he’d died from it.
Perhaps he still was dying in a sense, he doesn’t know.
“Unfortunately.” He rumbles in response to the first comment, though he can’t help the slight wry smile that crosses his face, fangs similar to Ascendeds and so unlike all the same briefly seen before he reaches up with the hand his ring sits on to run through his hair, awkwardly, letting his hand eventually rest against one of the tattooed compasses on his neck. “I hadn’t… Well, I didn’t know when I saw you that I was getting married. I found out a few days after.” He frowns to admit it, jaw clenching slightly, inhaling a short breath.
He can’t hide anything, letting Nate view him whichever way, professionally or other, waiting for the reaming and the chastising. “Unfortunately things haven’t slowed down since.” He admits with a small accented rumble, letting his hand drop back to his side, gaze leveling on his doctor.
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
Unfortunately. Nate can barely suppress a crooked smile at that, his eyes twinkling with a quiet amusement. There was no doubt in his mind that if the other man were healthy, happy, he’d wear trouble like an old coat. Bright eyes flick from the muscles to the lips, the fangs hidden behind them, familiar, but not too familiar, and then up to glint of the wedding ring, which Nate wrinkles his nose at. ”Quick turnaround.” He comments, drily because well, he doesn’t have his head in a hole. He knows who was married, and professionally, he wants to stay as far away from it as possible. Actually, he wants that personally as well. Something tells him Phoebe would object to his biting her husband. Was it going to stop him? No.
”Now, correct next if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I said bed rest.” There was an edge in Nate’s voice, not quite irritation, but apparent enough that it sapped any easy amusement from him. ”Or at least take it easy. Right? So you can heal.” There’s that condescending tone in his voice again, like he can’t believe he has to explain this, like Sunjata has no idea what’s good for him. Or, like he’s willfully ignoring what’s good for him, which seems far more likely.
Nate reaches out, a hand clasping Sunjatas shoulder, his feet bringing him the half step closer he needed to complete the touch. ”At least tell me you feel better than you look, and that’s why you thiught it would be a good idea to do whatever it is you’ve been busy with.”
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
“Quick turnaround.” And Sunjata can barely suppress the snort that leaves him. “I basically lost a bet. Hung on the idea that she'd back off if I agreed and went through the motions for it. And here we are.” He rumbles quietly, shrugging lightly to that. It was, he’d gambled on the fact that she’d back down if he went through with it – had hoped that at the altar, Phoebe would deny it while Sunjata had all the intentions to go through with it. And it hadn’t happened, hadn’t as Frey officiated and enchanted the rings that sit upon their fingers, that even the slightest shift would affect them.
The mention of bedrest though, does garner another bob of his horned head, tilting it after a moment as he looks to Nate with a hint more shadows in his gaze than had been the last time, when he’d only been sick and not married, not ruining his life one step after another. “You did.” He says, tone a hint defeated. He doesn’t want to involve Nate into his personal affairs, but in the end at least Nate knew her, worked for her, might understand why he hadn’t been taking it easy. “I’ve been trying. Sort of.” There’s another wry smile that crosses his face to that before he exhales quietly.
Nate approaches, however, and his gaze lingers on the other man’s face when he clasps his tattooed shoulder, right over the navy feathers adorned there inked forever. “I did feel better, but I overdid it.” He admits honestly, horned head ducking slightly as he looks over Nate’s shoulder into the emptiness of the pathway behind him. “I had to go to Halo with her for a few days.” A muscle feathers in his jaw as he recalls how drunk Phoebe had been. “…I might have slipped and had a drink or two. But I’ve quit smoking at least.” And gods how he had tried to refrain from drinking, until she’d insisted on it and gotten too drunk, pining on and on to him about how terrible he was.
It was the only way he could have slightly tolerated it, and even still it grated against him.
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
”You lost a bet.” Nate repeated, not even a question, just pure amazement. Really, it was impressive his eyes brows didn’t completely disappear into his hair, with how high they rose. ”You know,” He began, not that he even really knew where to go with this, ”I... I have done some really stupid shit, but... shit, I think I’ve been dethroned. Congrats.” There was at least a smile on his face, as he tried to make light of... whatever the fuck had happened to Sunjatas life.
It’s a tad easier when he can feign professionalism, hide behind the screen of a concerned doctor, and scowl at the other man when it was confirmed that yea, he had said bedrest, he had said take it easy. Though the tone the taller man takes when he says it kind of takes the fun out of getting to be snippy, and Nate sighs, a hand coming up to rub over his face. ”Can you, I don’t know... actually try? More than sort of? I’m not really trying to be a hard ass here, but... it’s kind of serious.” Like lifelong issues, or death, was only kind of serious.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that his insistence about this wasn’t really about Sunjata, Nate night give up, treat the other man as he could and leave him to his own devices past that, but well. He had a chip in his shoulder, and an insistence that he doesn’t let anyone die, not if he can fucking help it.
At least his touch is accepted, not brushed away like he’d expected. ”These things can go in cycles. It might not necessarily be entirely because of what happened.” A lie, but a gentle one. Guilt really doesn’t help with the healing process. Nate feels a little more comfortable making a face at the mention of going to Halo when Sunjatas not focused on him. Not that he personally really minded the place, but that es so my because he couldn’t feel the cold. ”I... suppose that could have been worse then. Even if it sounds like a...” He shakes his head with snort, figuring he didn’t need to disparage the union out loud any more. ”As long as it was only one of two, and it doesn’t happen again, it should be okay.”
”Have you... told her about it?” The way Nate asked made it sound like he was talking about the illness, but the way his eyes flicked down towards Sunjatas wrist made it clear he wasn’t only talking about the illness.
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
His gaze remains on Nate while he explains how he’d got roped into it all, and he can’t help the slight breathy chuckle that leaves him when the man comments back. “It’s a shit kingdom to be honest, how did you manage.” A playful jest, a tease back at him — but at least it’s something to cause a slight glimmer of amusement in his otherwise quiet and reserved self.
The mention of actually trying causes it to falter slightly, because he knows he’s been doing terribly with it. Instead, he just ducks his horned head ever so slightly in a nod of agreement. “I’ll try to be better.” He offers, uncertain if he even can be when it comes down to it. It depends solely on how things go both at the bar and back home. But it was tough, and he bites down on the inside of his cheek as Nate offers what feels like a lie. He doesn’t comment on it, however, focused on the hand that touches him at his shoulder. There’s a slight nod and a snort, and he shakes his head slightly with a quiet rasping chuckle. “Well, good. Those are my hardest vices.” He says with a slight glimmer of amusement.
But he follows Nate’s eyesight towards his wrist, and he flexes his hand slightly at the question before he shakes his head. “She knows Im being treated. I told her I get my blood checked. She doesn’t know the matter of how.” A slight frown crosses his face at that. “Frey, uh, enchanted and connected the rings.” A brief pause, slate eyes lifting to find Nate’s. “She’ll know either way. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up given everything.”
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
It’s a good sign that Sunjata jokes back, and it brings a real laugh to Nate’s lips, his eyes crinkling with the force of his grin. ”Just ignore it as much as you can.” He shrugged lightly. ”Keep your head down, let the worst of it run past you.” Really, what other advice could you give someone in a shitty situation other than just survive it.
”I’m sure you will.” It was clear Nate was trying to be gentle with his tone, but... he was only technically successful, too much strain put into the effort for it to seem truly natural. Maybe if he had experience with male friendships that weren’t either one night stands or fake macho posturing, he’d be able to do a better job with comfort. It was something he’d have to work on. The grin grows easy again when they slip back into the territory of quiet amusement, Nate unable to resist the joke that slips from him. ”I know a thing or two about sudden sobriety,” he widens his mouth just enough to show off fangs, a silent explanation, ”so if you need help filling the hours I’m always somewhere.”
Nate pulls back, suddenly aware of how his continued touch might seem as he delves more explicitly into the subject of his testing. The fact that Sunjata hadn’t brought it up to anyone, combined with the complaints Sam had voiced, started to make it feel like something he didn’t really intend. Nate crosses his arms over his chest, clicking his teeth as he looks over the flexed hand, the ring shining on it. ”I don’t suppose you could...” He begins, finishing the sentence in his head and realizing that made it no better. Asking Sunjata to take off the ring made it into a thing, more than it already kind of was. God this was stupid.
A blue gaze lifts to meet Sunjatas, Nate’s brows creased in thought. ”It’s just a treatment. Side effects notwithstanding. She can’t really be upset about any of it, if it’s helping you.” He pointed out, ignoring big how it felt like desperate excuses.
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
He gives a somewhat grateful nod to Nate at the advice, an easier smile crossing his face to that. The fact that Nate understands it, the way that sometimes all you could do was roll with the punches, made it easier. He finds it easier to talk to the man with that small tidbit as well, but inevitably remains quiet until Nate mentions his sudden sobriety, showing off the fangs that Sunjata offers a quiet chuckle to.
“So I’ve heard.” He offers quietly, amusement still lingering in his face as he takes the option offered — that if he needed someone to go to, to keep his mind from delving into the difficulties that was his life, he could at least seek out Nate in an attempt to avoid making worse mistakes. It’s an offer that means a lot to him, and he gives his own fanged smile in response. “Thanks. I’ll have to take you up on that.” A quiet resounding chuckle leaving him to that.
Nate pulls back, and he feels the disappearance of the pressure against his shoulder enough that his gaze lingers on the other man as he inspects the black and sapphire ring. The suggestion, however, garners a small sigh. “She would know if I took it off, too.” He offers quietly, gaze lifting to find Nate’s as he mentions its professional. It’s something which Sunjata agrees to, an understanding that nothing further comes from it, just the health of the matter.
The fact it leaves him flushed and frustrated after, despite the euphoria in the meantime, is only a side effect. One he actually clings to despite it. “I agree.” He begins, a slight frown crossing his face. “Though Frey enchanted it so that if it’s rubbed at any point on the inside of the ring — which I’ve found out the hard way does include slipping it off — will… Well, it’ll cause a similar feeling as the bite. It transfers to her and then back to me.” His lips form a small tight line before he looks away with an unamused him of a laugh. “And I don’t have the best track record, so it’ll take a lot of explaining.” A brief pause as he looks back to Nate.
“She only knows that someone that works at the college is treating me. I don’t think she’s noticed the bite marks yet.” Though they had mostly healed by now — he was late on his most recent check of his blood.
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
Nate offers a wider grin as his offer is tentatively accepted. Truth be told, he wouldn’t believe until Sunjata actually sought him out, but... he had made the offer. It was the least he could do. Truthfully, he was probably going to do more, he was probably going to annoy Sunjata as much as he was able in an attempt to... help, and whatever else it was he was trying to do. Make up for some old failure, kind of, but that wasn’t something he wanted to think about right now.
The idea that somehow Phoebe would know if the ring was removed pulls Nate’s brows together, an unvoiced question that thankfully, doesn’t actually need to be voiced, because the other man explains. Though the explanation only raises further questions, not to mention the general bad taste it leaves in Nate’s mouth. It seems like... too much, especially for what was less a marriage and more an exercise of spite and idiocy. ”That’s... quite the wedding gift. There’s gotta be some kind of... numbing to it, or a workaround, or something. There always is.” Again, Nate winced After he said this, just a little. It felt like looking for excuses, and this wasn’t something they needed an excuse for.
”What kind of track record do you have then?” He asked, wanting to change the subject, just a little bit. Though honestly, Nate wasn’t sure if asking after previous relationships was a better subject. This was stupidly difficult to navigate. He needed to get out of his own head.
Taking a deep breath, Nate let his eyes fall to the wrist he’d bitten before, licking his lips as he considered. ”Well... if you think it’s going to be a problem, we could... try a less obvious area? Or a more painful one, to try and mitigate the ah... feeling, that comes along with it.” Just like that, he was clinical again, a hint of amusement in his voice as he spoke, but no worry or hesitation.
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
Ironically, Sunjata wouldn’t mind the constant bothering. The time spent heating with Nate despite the seriousness of the conversations they held were better than most of his interactions as of late. It was a breath of fresh air, and even if Nate didn’t think he’d take him up on it, Sunjata thinks he likely will.
Regardless, he’s off and explaining the wedding rings, spending a moment to bite down on the inside of his cheek as he sighs lightly in response. “The only one I’ve found is taking it off and dealing with what she thinks happened after.” He shrugs his tattooed shoulders slightly. “But at the same time, she’ll think that whether it’s on or off.” He hasn’t found the work around other than leaving it off — and if he did, forgot about it, lost it… Well, that would be far worse than what she thinks happened or didn’t happen.
The mention of his track record though does cause him to puff out a quiet chuckle of laughter at that. “The kind to sleep around a lot.” He shrugs, avoiding looking at Nate once more. “But I sort of blew it before marrying her by telling her that if we went through with it, there’d be a big chance of me doing exactly that since I viewed it more as an arrangement than what she thought it to be.” He shrugs lightly to that, perhaps a bit solemnly, at his terms of doing whatever he wanted to do in his own time. But he had also given her the option too, and he shakes his head somewhat with the realization.
He focuses back on Nate, shaking his head to the suggestion. “Let’s keep it on the wrist this time. We can try somewhere else next?” His steel gaze flits to Nate’s own brighter eyes. “She didn’t notice it there before, she might notice it somewhere else.” Shuffling slightly on his feet, he faces Nate a bit more fully, back to the wall as if to ask if they’d be doing it here. He’d actually probably prefer it, to be honest.
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
There's a shadow just behind me
Shrouding every step I take
Making every promise empty
Pointing every finger at me
”So... damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Nate laughs, leaning back and shaking his head at the complete and utter ridiculousness of the situation. ”Guess you just have to pick which damnations gonna to worse to deal with, huh?” Not a choice he envies, and thankfully, since he is, at least for the moment, without a weird, god touched we-vibe ring, not a choice he has to make. (Though he could think of several situations where it could be fun.)
The quiet laughter pulls a matching laugh from Nate, before the (shy? Ashamed?) answer even comes. ”Who hasn’t slept around a lot?” He asked easily, reaching out to tap at Sunjatas shoulder wit the back of his hand, trying to draw his gaze back. If he got it, it would be just in time for the taller man to see a wince, and Nate shaking his head. ”Kinda stupid to say you’re gonna do it though. At least to her. Even if it’s not a real wedding.” He wouldn’t say it out loud, if only because Sunjata has to have heard it a million times by now, but the more he heard about the wedding, the unnecessary drama surrounding it, the stupider it sounded. Maybe it hadn’t been so bad he’d missed it.
Nate’s gaze is nothing short of intense as Sunjatas eyes meet his, as they talk about his tests, dancing around the during in favour of the after, the before. ”Wrist still works, but we should do the other side. Don’t want you looking like a junkie, right?” There’s a shift in Sunjata’s stance that a part of Nate recognizes as submission, before he shoves that part down, silences it before it can say anything more. ”If you have time now..?” He says, closing the already scant distance between them, and holding a hand out for Sunjata to put his wrist in. If he has time.
isn't it funny? how the cold numbs everything but grief?
A nod of his horned head is granted to Nate’s laugh, Sunjata’s own quiet chuckle following behind it. “Hope for the best, I suppose. At least I’ve got the bar to sleep in.” There’s a crooked amused smile that leaves his lips at that and a small shrug. But it fades a small amount at the admission of why Phoebe would think bad of it, regardless if he left it on or off. And he lifts his gaze back to Nate when he reaches out to tap his shoulder, a snort leaving his nose.
“I literally told her that we could make it work if she did whatever she wanted in her own time and I did whatever I wanted in mine.” A rise and fall of his shoulders. He felt it fair. “Spite wedding, I think is what it’s been called. It’s accurate at least.” The look that crosses his face is a cross between amusement and a grimace, not quite sure where to go from there – the options had been laid out, they hadn’t been good enough. She wanted to dote on him and care for him and change him, and Sunjata was too much of a tidal wave of shifting attentions and emotions, drowning beneath the surface to surge up to actually try to change.
Ultimately, Sunjata decides the wrist will work, gaze finding Nate’s bright ones. An agreement is settled with testing on the opposite wrist, a nod granted from a horned head. “Right.” A curl of his lip, a wry smile before a chuckle leaves him. “That’s the last thing I need.” A shake of his head to that. But he focuses on Nate, shifting his posture, giving in – something Sunjata had come to get used to much to his chagrin, tired of battling and fighting for it.
The question of time, the approach, does have his heart thundering in his chest – because this time he knows what’s coming next, he knows what to expect. But there’s no chair, no office to sit in, just a cool hard wall behind him that he leans against, chin lifting slightly until the points of his horns scrape against the stone. "Ready as I'll ever be." And he lifts his hand to Nate’s, steel eyes remaining on the doctor’s face, waiting with nothing to latch onto aside from a half broken statue beside him, offering a half crooked smile in response.
if we could light up the room with pain, we'd be such a glorious fire
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
