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!
Nate leans back into the fingers and he strokes his thumb along his neck as he listens, the question up in the air to wait to hear the ages of which everything started. And he gives the Ascended his full attention, lips forming a quiet frown as he nods, lips shifting to something like an apologetic smile at the quiet laugh. The mention of nineteen has him leaning back a small amount, arm still draped around the Ascended as he considers it. “Hey, that’s pretty good I think.” He agrees with a quiet hum of a laugh.
Sunjata’s nineteenth year had been lifechanging, to say the least.
But the Ascended’s fingers stop tapping on his shoulder, and he meets the electric blues that greet him, a dark brow raising in response to the mention of a brother. His head tilts quietly, quite avian-like as he focuses a bit on the man in his lap. “Oh? What’s he like?” He asks, trying to picture another version of Nate but slightly different. It’s hard to do – difficult when your only sibling had been a sister and the lines of that were both the same and so far from it that it all blurred at some point. Did Nate’s brother have the air of confidence, of easy going demeanors that Sunjata knew? Or was it a different kind of view into what Nate could have been like?
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
The grin on Nate's face grows with Sunjata's agreement, glad the frown is gone, nearly as quick as it had come. He doesn't want anyone else to agree that his life was bad, doesn't want his memories, his history known, judged. It's not a thought Nate would ever be able to put to words, but revealing too much of him before interferes with what he wants to be, what he tries to put out as himself. Even with someone he's trying to trust. The vaguer he can be, the more comfortable it is.
Talking about his brother though, is different. Nate's smile grows, glad for the attention, the rapt interest in Sunjata's gaze. "His name was Bart. We're twins." Blue eyes might be pointed at the attuned, but its not what Nate is seeing anymore, caught in a memory, in a bubble of unexpected emotion. "He's younger than me, not that you'd ever fucking know it. He was so serious about things, so... realistic. I think I'd probably be twice as fucked up if it wasn't for him, but he'd be a fucking asshole if it wasn't for me." Another laugh, and Nate blinks, shaking his head, more as an excuse to look away than anything else. His eyes are swimming, and he's not going to be weepy eyed in front of anyone, if he can help it.
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
He lets Nate be however vague he wants to be, finding that it didn’t really matter how much information he received, what kind of life Nate had lived before. If anyone knew a thing or two about trying to be better, it was him after all. Born to subdue and rule, to rebel and become the one that would inevitably start to destroy it all. And now he’s here, working somewhere in the underground, watching the world above with little interest until it affects him directly.
The brother Nate speaks of, however, has his brows lifting. “Twins?” He repeats, some sort of surprise crossing his face. It had been rare in Korofi to have twins, rarer still that either would survive. But Nate gathers his full attention again, seeing that brief glaze of the eyes of nostalgia that Sunjata knows all too well – and he continues to simply offer support and an ear. There’s a bark of laughter at that, a shift of his leg as he goes to regard the man before him a bit more. He wants to ask why Nate had said ‘was’ at first, though he refrains. Filing it away for later should the Ascended wish to expand. “Sometimes you need someone to keep you grounded. My sister was like that, a huge pain in the ass but gods.” There’s a dramatic hum of a sigh that leaves his throat as he rolls his eyes, doing his best to try and shift the subject a small amount to keep Nate from growing too uncomfortable while they’re tangled this way, the vulnerability he shows.
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
"Twins." Nate confirms with a laugh, wondering at the surprise. "I'm older by... fuck, I think twenty minutes?" It was something he used to have memorized, when he was young and it was a point of contention, but now, it really didn't matter too much. Besides, it wasn't like he could actually trust anything he'd been told, for all he knew it was just something his mother had said to get him to stop asking.
Sunjata shifts, and Nate moves with him, taking up space as it's made available and making himself comfortable, pulling the other man closer where he can. "What would you do without siblings, huh?" The subject shift is appreciated, but it doesn't stop the swirling thoughts running through Nate's minds now, the urge to poke at the hurt, see how much he can take. Like a tongue poking into the gap where a tooth once sat. "Do you miss her?"
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
“I can’t imagine.” He offers with a quiet chuckle. “Twins were rare.” He adds with a small shrug. “You were supposed to have a boy and a girl. If you doubled on it, you were forced to orphan the most recent born.” In his home, however, so the wonder of having a brother had never truly hit him. It was… A strange thought, to say the least.
But he shifts in his seat a small amount, watching the ease with which Nate moves to readjust as well – arms draped and somehow Sunjata’s reminded of a cat. He pulls Sunjata closer, however, and Sunjata obliges as much as he can comfortably, flashing a small grin toward Nate at the subject change, even if it hadn’t truly worked. Still, the question of whether he missed his sister has his grin faltering a small amount as he shifts his gaze away. “I do.” A small shrug. “I just keep telling myself that hopefully she’s still in the place we exiled, made a new life for herself there where nobody could reach her.” Another awkward shrug before he exhales a puff of a sigh.
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
Nate can only blink as Sunjata explains the policy of his homeland, his brows pulling together in quiet confusion. "How do you even enforce something like that?" Honestly, he might not feel much love towards his family, but he can't imagine growing up any other way either. There's no way he'd be the same person without it.
The subject change seems to have backfired on both of them, discomfort suddenly invading the surprisingly cozy tangle they've settled into. Nate tries to bring some of the comfort back, fingers rubbing soft circles against the attuned's skin, blue eyes not leaving the other man, though stormy steel had turned away from him. "That's all you can do, right? Hope she's okay." It's clear the lightness in Nate's voice is forced here, a little strained despite his best efforts. "It's... hard, having someone you love in a place you can't help. Especially when it's easy to fix so much other shit by just fighting a little harder."
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
“Raiding, mostly.” He shrugs to that. “People that couldn’t have children either, they’d split the couple and pair them with families known to bear, and when they found out which of the two might have been sterile, they’d brand them and send them off.” A muscle feathers in his jaw, recalling a few times where he’d had to go and be a part of that. Some sort of awkward shame hits the edges of his cheeks.
As he speaks of his sister, however, the comfort that the Ascended gives is granted with a slight nuzzling of Sunjata’s cheek against the arm that’s around him. Yet he hears the strain to the other man’s voice, head stilling briefly as he peers at Nate. “I helped as much as I could.” He offers a small amount, tilting his head back then to look toward the ceiling with a quiet sigh. “I… Killed our way out of Korofi.” That was his fight, his fighting harder to get a better life.
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
"Oh, fuck." It's not eloquent, not by a long shot, but Nate has no idea how else to respond. It's a sudden wall of different between them, Sunjata's world one of authority and terror beyond his imagining. "I... never thought I'd be this glad I lived where I did. Can't imagine I'd last long." The laugh that accompanies the words is gentle, they're meant to be an attempt at empathizing, something Nate knows is not his strong suit. But at the same time there's the realization that the other man is stronger than him, in a way he'd never even imagined. It's... almost awe inspiring, really.
There's a long moment of quiet, Nate still out of his depth, even more now than he was before. Something he's saying, something he's doing is working though, or at least, is accepted. Words though, are a little harder, and he still doesn't know what to say to the first few when Sunjata continues, his gaze lifting to the ceiling. Nate just knows he should say something "You... did what you had to. As much as you had to. And... you got through it. That has to be enough."
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
The ‘oh fuck’ is met with a knowing glance. It had been the epitome of dictatorship, in ensuring every single member of their county abided by the rules. And he was supposed to be the one to upkeep them, to write them and enforce them, to kill when necessary. And Nate’s question has him giving a good long look along the Ascended before he snorts lightly. “Probably not.” He teases with a wide fanged grin to that, before it falters at the mention of Saartjie and his self-exiling.
Quiet begins to settle over them, and when Nate does speak, Sunjata’s gaze remains on the ceiling momentarily before slipping back toward Nate. “I’m not sure it was.” Gods, this is getting dark. And now that the gates have opened he really has no way of stopping it. He takes a long, slow inhale. “I turn twenty seven this year. It’s a decade since my trial – and you know what that was?” A raise of his brow, all amusement and games gone. “They took a bunch of the seventeen year old noble boys and whomever of the lower class that could afford to enter their own child. Stuck them in a pit with daggers and other close ranged weapons. And whomever was left standing got a shot at taking my fathers position.” A quiet huff leaves him as he shakes his head. “I was seventeen when I killed someone for the first time. I went into the pit with fifteen other boys, and I was the last one out. And they praised me for it.”
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
The snort lighten things a little bit, a matching grin spreading over Nate's lips. It only lasts a moment, and the levity is enough to make the dip even more jarring, the conversation on a spiralling path down without control. Maybe he should have just sucked it up and been a bit of a baby, been a little more comfortable. Maybe he could have avoided pulling Sunjata down, at least for now. It wasn't that Nate regretted it, or didn't want to hear more about the other man's past, it was just so much, he didn't know what to do, how to respond.
Nate is very still again, not breathing, not blinking, his electric eyes focused intently on the attuned. He cocks his head at the rhetorical question, even that action mechanical, precise, and he listens. Words are something that normally come easily, but in the face of this, he has nothing. No words, and cheap comfort. He has to say something. Get something out. "That's ffffffucked." Get something else out. "It's... a testament to who you are, that you made it through, right?"
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
Once Sunjata reaches that point of delving into his past, there’s hardly any stopping once he’s sure the other recipient of it doesn’t grow too horrified of the things he’d done but rather the things he had been subjected to in order to do for survival. Nate, however, doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, not the way the Ascended has himself draped over him. And the way the man doesn’t breathe or blink has him shifting a small amount to better focus on him – unable to replicate it with the quiet ticks of blinking and body shivering slightly with the movement of him breathing.
What Nate does say causes a quiet hum of a chuckle to leave Sunjata’s throat, a knowing look sent Nate’s way before his hands curl around the Ascended while he shrugs a small amount. “I guess so.” Some awkward smile crosses his face to that before shaking his head. “But anyway, the idea of a brother let alone a twin is something I can’t quite imagine.” His voice is softer here, some sort of awkward attempt at shifting the conversation once more.
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
What he said feels wrong, for reasons Nate can’t quite put his finger on. Not enough, or too much, and too far for to the side to be any kind of helpful. If there even was a way to be helpful. His stillness continues, right up until Sunjata shifts. The spell breaks, and Nate’s arms grow tighter around the attuned, pulling him closer yet again, like somehow his closeness can help the trauma.
The subject change makes him laugh properly, even if the last thing he wants to do is talk more about himself, especially in the face of what Sunjata’s just shared. ”It’s not really uncommon where I’m from. The brothers thing, not the twin thing. Twins are still... kinda rare.” If he’s talking a bit fast, rambling even, he doesn’t seem to notice, or stop. ”We were... terrors, when we were young. And shitty when we were older. It’s like... he was the other half of me, y’know?” No, probably not. ”I got... really fucked up when he got sick.”
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
Nate’s arm grows tighter around him, and Sunjata shifts a small amount closer – head and cheek nuzzling into Nate’s arm a bit more with a quiet puff of a sigh – unsure what else to add or say to that. A dark tunnel of memories and things he’d been forced to do as he’d grown up. This, however, the subject change is a weak and awkward attempt. But it seems to work as Nate laughs properly – and his steel lifts to focus on Nate’s face the best he can.
He doesn’t care if Nate rambles, if he stumbles over his own memories. Nor does he care to try and make it some sort of competition. When things were shit, they were just… That, shitty. Regardless of who had it worse. Trauma wasn’t something that he wanted to try and one-up. So when Nate speaks a bit further, about his brother and what it was like, he’s quiet. Brows furrow together at the mention of sick, recalling distinctly how intense Nate had been about Sunjata’s own health despite his own self destruction.
His hand lifts to rest on Nate, wherever he can reach, thumb stroking soothing circles while he focuses on it with a slight frown. “I'm sorry." He says quietly, unsure if it had a happy ending or if it went south from there.
you put the barrel inside your mouth
just to feel the metal between your teeth
SuNJATA
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.
It's a very fine line Nate is walking, holding all of his emotions in a tightly clenched fist on one side, and dipping into trust, vulnerability on the other. It's a clusterfuck, to be honest, but he's putting some effort in at least. Some. Blue eyes flutter closed as a gentle hand comes down, the soothing touch he'd been offering earlier reciprocated now. Nate shakes his head at the apology though, not quite willing to open his eyes again yet.
"I... we... we were fuck ups, right? But he was the only real family I had. And... it sounds so fucking stupid now." Nate scoffs, opening his eyes just so he can roll them towards the ceiling. "I thought, if no one else could figure out what was wrong, or do anything, maybe I could. I worked my ass off, I made a lot of shitty deals and got in a lot of debts, and I fucking... I did something. I got into a medical program." Finally, the blue drops back down to search Sunjata's face, a twist on his face that was bitter and upset and resigned to something he couldn't change. "I was really, really close to finishing my program. I would have been able to... do something. Something."
Nate is still again, though the look on his face hasn't shifted, seems to have only grown more exaggerated. "Whatever he had fucked up his immune system, and he caught a cold. That's it. That's all it took to..." Nate flicks his hand out, gesturing for something he couldn't say, then sighs.
But it takes someone to come around to show you how
