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!
Ever since the basket affair, Libbs had made this bar a regular location for her. Which made sense. She was a sentimental fool. And Sunjata, for better or worse, she had deemed to be a generally good and fun person to hang around. Just the right amount of fight and fun. Which means her excursions were always filled with some sort of adventure. Sometimes they were educational. Sometimes they were destructive. Sometimes they were both. But, you know, you couldn't be picky when you were out to relieve stress.
Besides, no way in hell Jigano or Deimos would let her play beer pong in their respective facilities. Could you imagine their faces?
Which, lead to today's adventure. Libbs has had a very tiring, and otherwise boring day. No one stopped by to say hi. No one was fun to talk to. And no one was generally entertaining. Which meant only one thing. Time to harass the weird deer bartender and his pet dog-bird. It would sate the extrovert in her and polish off the night very nicely. Provided, you know, Sunjata wasn't a complete trogladyte.
But when wasn't he? Suppose that's the draw eh?
So Libbs did her normal routine. She peeked one head into the bar, tiptoed in, climbed onto a barstool, and put some sort of little trinket on the counter to pay for today's nonsense. "Hey, Jata, how ya doin' today?" she asked, getting comfortable.
The bar had been surprisingly busy with Longheat, and after his trip to Halo and… Well, everything else that happened and was currently happening in his life, he needed to take a step back and to take some of Nate’s advice of ’taking it easy.’ It had been hard, but he’d set aside an evening to just sit at his bar, going through inventory or boring things like that to pass the time, to give him some semblance of work while he ‘rested’, and it killed him somewhat to do it. A half sigh leaves his throat as more people enter, gesturing to some of the staff to help out while he focuses on the paper in front of him.
But one of the people that had just entered heads straight for him – and part of him is simply waiting for something to happen. He’s slow to lift his gaze when he hears the trinket land on the counter, half tempted to snarl at it in his own frustrations – until he hears Libbs’ voice reach him. He closes the book in front of him, lifting his horned head to look at her with something akin to exhaustion lingering in his silver gaze. “Hey Libbs.” He rumbles, bypassing the prior annoyance, reaching over to grab the trinket and replace it with an empty glass. “Never better.” He says with plenty of sarcasm dripping from his tone.
Having her here, however, did make it easier to chill out a bit, and for that he offers her a slight fanged smile as he turns the question onto her. “What about you? Causing more trouble?” He asks with a quiet chuckle.
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.
Libbs raised an eyebrow, pulling off her bandana and using it to wipe off some sweat from her head. She stuck her tongue out and pulled down her eyelid, much like the mature woman she was. "Not yet. But I'm gonna if you keep it up." she snickered at him, waving a hand at him dismally. All in good fun, however. If she didn't come in here with a little bit of fight, how else would Sunjata know it was her?
In that, she smirked. "I feel like I need stomach trouble. Can you make a Bloody Mary for me?" she asked.
As she waited, her gaze settled on Sunjata, narrowing a bit, eyelids dropping, and a tilt of her head. Something was off. Just a bit. It hung in the air, stale and dry. Like the air before a thunderstorm. And usually, it was pretty chill in here. Libbs often didn't dwell very long in high strung areas, so she sought to alleviate the pressure, perhaps investigating again what may be ailing the barkeep today.
"Got something on your mind?" she asked. She then leaned in and whispered. "Wife troubles?" recalling some of the topics they had discussed in the past. Mind you, she didn't even know exactly how deep that rabbit hole went. And if she knew, Libbs probably would have done what her mom did: took off her sandal and beat him upside the head with it. But that was her mom. And this was a new world. "Alright, keep your secrets." she pointed. "But you're wearing whatever's botherin' ya pretty obvious. "
There’s a chuckle that leaves him at her antics, watching her curiously as she jests to him. He tilts his head back, looking down at her from where he sits with some slight amusement lingering in his steel gaze. “Could always use more fire.” He teases her back, before she requests what she wants – and he gives a slight nod, standing to grab the ingredients, pulling it all out onto the bar before him and putting it all together before he slides it toward her.
He sits back down, gaze finding hers when she gives him a good long look, one that he levels back with exhaustion and some hidden amount of consistent frustration. Not toward her, never truly toward her. But it’s there, hidden in the gleam. He almost starts to answer her question of what’s on his mind, but she leans in to whisper toward him, asking if it were wife troubles. Elbows on the bar now as he settles, resting his stubbled cheek along his right palm he reaches for his own glass of water. “Always is nowadays.” He shrugs, glancing to his ring before sighing.
The mention of keeping secrets is granted with a slight shrug, as he obviously can’t tell her everything that’s happened. She already knew he was a trouble maker, that was all she needed to know. As for wearing them on his face, he offers a weak fanged smile in response. “Are you sure it’s that obvious or is it just that you know me so well now, mm?” He offers with a raise of his brow.
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.
"Now you see.." Libbs raised a finger, as she rapt the tips of her other hand against the counter, "You're giving me too much credit. Remember? I can only count to four. What makes you think that I know you that well? I barely know myself. Learning another person? Nah, that's beyond me!" she chuckled, as she took a nice, long sip of the salty beverage. Ah yes, the burn tingled her throat as it goes down. Delicious. Bad combinations of delicious.
"Who's idea do you think it was to make a bloody mary anyways?" she mumbled. Cause really, when you reviewed the ingredients as to what was in one? It really made you wonder who thought about taking a can of spaghetti sauce, and sticking some veggies and vodka in it.
She took a big ol' sip. "See, you should just let it all go. Live as my people say: the #single life." she nodded. "Can't worry about loves if there are no loves you see.." she tapped the side of her head, smirking before taking another sip. She pulled a little pick from the side of the drink. Oh look. An olive! Nom nom. The little woman slipped it between her lips. "Then again, we single plebians don't have weird kink rings, and I guess that's a disadvantage." she pointed out.
Her laugh is a slight balm to the damper of his mood, and he offers the drink with a slight amused and fanged smile. “Ah, right, I forgot.” He snorts, shaking his head lightly. “But’cha could though.” A brow raises in thought, bracing his hands and arms against the bar as she takes a long sip of the drink. The mumble, however, causes a low chuckle to leave him, a rise and fall of his broad shoulders in his own confusion.
“Ah, if only.” He offers with some slight amusement, leaning towards her and folding his arms along the bar as though he’s dropping down onto his elbow. “You can live the single life and still have lovers, though.” He winks to her, well familiar with it. But the mention of the rings have him splaying his left hand before him, gazing down at the sapphire ring within the middle, a slight smirk crossing his face. “You know, it’s pretty overrated.”
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.
"I'll say." Libbs continued picking away at the drink before her, using her lips to lick off any of the spices and such that sat on her lips. She seemed rather content at the moment, and of course, her brain was on autopilot. She wasn't wholly aware of the things she was saying, and how they could start digging a whole she wasn't prepared to handle. But when did Libbs plan? See, the day that started happening, is the day a comet might fall from the sky in Caido. So it was probably for the better anyways.
"I dunno." Libbs frowned, pointing a finger at her. "Still sounds complicated, Jata. Like, first, I have to 'woo' them." she raised one finger up. "Which is a chore in of itself. That I can't do." she continued. "2. I have to then sleep with them. Where's that gonna happen? My one sheet in the hayloft I'm currently sleeping in?" she muttered. "Then, 3. I have to.. talk, and dedicate time, and stuff. And I don't think I'mma walk into anyone soon who's gonna be like. 'HEY, Let's go learn stuff' or 'Let's build this thing!' or 'Let's go surfing!' any time too."
"Orrrr.." Libbs waved another hand. "I can continue being a single Pringle, I can do all the fun things by myself, and if I get horny, well, there's toys for that." she countered.
"Mental health.. no mental health.." she weighed the options.
In reality, Libbs didn't truly hold this vision. It was more of gestures to amuse her slightly depressed friend. The attempt, however, could have gone a lot smoother.
She begins to explain to him how she can’t exactly get a lover, and Sunjata hums a quiet, tired chuckle to her before he shakes his head. “Okay, first off, it’s easy to woo people. Second, you don’t gotta go to your place. Could go to theirs too. And three, who says there’s going to be talking?” A brow raises in silent question, a slight hum of breathy laughter leaving him. “It’s pretty simple really.” He offers her a wink, reaching for his water glass to drink from.
The mention of toys however, have him swallowing the water down hard before he can choke on it, a bright, louder laugh leaving his throat as he leans on the counter before her and looks at her with a considering look. “It’s far more fun to dance with a partner, if you ask me. More unpredictable.” He manages, though the amusement is clear in his face, breaking through the shadows and the exhaustion.
“You just gotta try, Libbs. See for yourself.” He gestures to those around the bar with no small part of amusement remaining all along his face.
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.
"No it isn't. What do you want me to do? Open up my lighter and flail in front of them? I don't know about this world, but in my world, that's a type of assault. And probably a misdemeanor!" she flailed, frowning at him. Because that's usually how Libbs got her men, as sad as it sounds. She usually met them at work, and such- because it was easy for her to talk about the things around her, and well, somehow they'd just ask for a coffee and that was that! Flirting and pickup lines were never really used.
"And there's gotta be SOME talking. I mean, what else are you gonna do between point A and B. You just gonna walk in silence like Larry the Hobo on the corner of the street here?" she pointed outside for the demonstration. "I dunno bout you, being a creep may work well for you. But that ain't gonna work for me. Look at me." Libbs frowned. Which was hilarious because she was small. With big eyes. Only thing that'd come from her silence is probably a sense of need to do the great 'protecc'.
Libbs looked around the bar. "I don't really- wait, you want me to WHAT?"
Somewhere further into the building, there was a quiet sound of a door opening and closing. Footsteps approached, light and nearly drowned out by the conversations. The area around the bar itself was particularly lively; Maea looked over and found her host laughing unusually birghtly with a girl she recognized, if barely. Libbs, she recalled. They seemed to be having a good time, and Sunjata looked more cheerful than he had for as long as she'd known him.
Unwilling to disturb, she stopped one of the staff instead, interrupting their run to quietly ask for her usual meal instead, and went off to sit at the far end of the bar, a book soon open on the counter in front of her. The fingers that flipped through the pages were stained with ink; she looked a bit tired, as if she had spent a little too much time doing exactly the thing she was doing now.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
“Wait. You have a lighter?” He asks with a raise of his brow — one of the things he missed most out of everything from his old world. The easy and advancement of the technologies there. But he passes it off as she continues, a snort leaving him as he shakes his head. “Not like, important to deep talking. Just… flirting.” He sets the pad aside he’d been inventorying with, to wave his hands in a sort of gesture akin to waving magic.
He feigns a dramatic look of offense when she calls him a creep before he chuckles loudly. “I’m not a creep, gods Libbs, who do you think I am?” He teases her lightly, giving her a grin as his request finally meets her ears and she looks around the bar. He follows her gaze, spotting Maea immediately entering and taking a seat, and he looks back to Libbs with a waggle of his eyebrows. “I’ll start with an example. Bet ya a drink I can get her to blush.” He says, nodding his head in Maea’s direction.
Perhaps it’s unfair; because he could do almost anything and get the woman to turn scarlet red. But still, Libbs doesn’t know this, and he stands from the bar in a swift motion to seek out Maea’s table. “Is this seat taken?” He asks, flashing her a smirk before sitting anyway, stretching his long legs out away from the table before looking to her and her work. The staff arrives with food in hand after and Sunjata flashes them a grateful nod before he turns his steel gaze into Maea with some hint of an underlying intensity, a mimic of the look he’d given her that day at the river. “You know, Maea, you work a little too hard.” He offers her, giving her a wink. Play back with me.
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.
Getting lost in her book, the girl didn't notice Sunjata approaching until he pulled the chair out beside her and sat down, the question made moot before she could even say anything. Looking up, she returned his grin with a faint smile of her own, not unkind but far more reserved. Their argument conversation during the training was still fresh in her memory, and while things were supposedly good now, she couldn't help but keep herself somewhat on edge when he was around. Better to avoid making more mistakes.
Nodding at the waitor in thanks, she pulled the dish over and picked up the fork, barely even looking up from the book.
"I have a lot of catching up to do," she replied, somewhat absently. "Been away for too long, I should know all this already..." Somehow managing to spear a piece of meat without even looking, she navigated it around the pages to her mouth, looking hardly aware that she was eating at all.
"Are you sure you should leave your friend alone? You were laughing, sounds like you had a good time..." He shouldn't run from it, she thought. Not to come sit here when she didn't really have the time to chat anyway.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Libbs quickly shut right up. Because yes, yes she did have a lighter. Sunjata may or may not recall a moment a while back where she had traded him a significant amount of stupid stuff for a bottle of his alcohol. That with the highest level of proof. Because she did not drink it. It was currently being used as the fuel in the lighter. It would not last very long as a result. Libbs usually had to refill it at least once every two days, versus the months or weeks she was used to. But until she could find a comparable substitute, she had to make do with what she had.
The thing was: is that she did INDEED make Sunjata a lighter too! The couple weeks of stalking visiting she had done at the bar had given her an idea of what the case should be designed like. But she was planning to give it to him at the Midnight party. Couldn't be a surprise then!
"Jata, I swear, if you scare her away. I'm gonna throw this bottle at you." she warned as he head towards Maea. Maea was a sweet little lady. She didn't deserve a butthead like Sunjata harassing her. Mind you, Sunjata was not aware of their quirky relationship. But she decided to observe anyways. What did she have to lose?
As she watched the two, a much taller gentleman entered the bar. A bit too hard to see right away, and Libbs wasn't really paying attention. But he took a seat at the bar a few feet down from her.
“Throw it at me, I dare you.” He offers Libbs as he walks toward Maea, an arrogant grin crossing his face as he winks back toward her before he turns his focus onto Maea. He takes the seat, the food arrives, and she doesn’t look up from her book to play back with him. Pouting his lips slightly, he watches her with some amount of curiosity. But her comment ignited a slight snort to leave him as he shakes his head and rests an elbow on the table, chin resting in the palm of his hand.
“Laughing, because she’s a pain in the ass, and I can’t figure out half the things she’s doing.” He offers honestly, an exasperated look crossing his face before he sighs a small amount and focuses on Maea again. “Besides, I much prefer your company.” He offers her, hoping it gets her to look at him. “If the river taught me anything, it’s that.” He gives her another wink, breaking from letting his gaze flit over her face to notice a man sit a few seats down from his previous companion.
He looks to Libbs then with a dark raised brow, a nod of his head as if to ask her ‘what the fuck are you doing, give it a shot’, waiting to see how well this would go, before turning his gaze back to Maea.
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.
