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!
Amun smirked. "Sure is." Putting his free hand on his hip, he gave Josh an amused look. "If you want more information, check out the message on the Notice Board about it. And if that doesn't satisfy you, you'll have to talk to The Voice." The potter shrugged, clearly not bothered by the newcomer's distress.
However, the Ascended rolled his eyes at the other man's response. "Guess you shouldn't." With that, Amun arched an eyebrow at Josh. "Will that be all?" Without even bothering to wait for the newcomer's response, the potter turned back to the water. He began continuing his slow circle around the Oasis, crouching down to pick up another clump of clay.
"The Notice Board. Thanks." Josh nodded, making sure to remember to go and strip that for as much information as he could without appearing suspicious - many communal notice boards held onto vital intel for much longer than they had reason to.
Clearly Amun was ready to be done with him; Josh was of the same opinion of Amun, until he saw a flash of a fang as the man leaned down. Immediately Josh leaned in close to look, probably closer than was socially acceptable, peering into Amun's mouth. "Are you one of the vampires? No..Ascended." Automatically his hands reached to his chest to grab a camera that wasn't there.
"I would be willing to let you drink my blood for research." He offered, sure no vampire would turn that down.
At Josh's comment about being a vampire, Amun turned to face the newcomer. "Yeah, definitely an Ascended, not a vampire." The potter tilted his head to one side. "I would be careful to make sure you use the right terms. People can get touchy about that sort of thing." His eyes sparkled with mischief.
Raising his eyebrows at the other man's offer, the Ascended smirked. ”I thought you weren’t interested in sex.” Despite the teasing words, there was almost a questioning tone to the response. 'You do know what happens during an Ascended bite, right?" The question came out with a genuine confusion, and Amun made no move to get closer to Josh.
"Ascended." Josh nodded, writing that down in big letters beneath 'vampires' - he'd still use that term in his own notes, but using the language of the people he was interviewing was generally a good way to make them more amenable. The name itself was interesting, anyway; Ascended to what? Were the vampires here seen as more than human? Better than human?
Amun distracted him away from this line of thought with another mention of sex. Josh tilted his head to the side, confused - Maea had mentioned 'pleasure', but he hadn't realised she had meant the sexual kind. Interesting. "Is there an arousal reaction? Do you use it in order to mate with other Ascended? Or to tempt those whose blood you need to take into your bite?"
Still, he was willing to be bitten and quite sure he could manage whatever symptoms came of it. "I am still willing to be drunk from. I will simply manage my own pleasure, assuming you can contain yours."
Raising his eyebrows at Joshua's complete ignorance as to what an Ascended bite entailed, Amun found himself grinning. "There's definitely an arousal response, yes." Tilting his head to the side, the potter chuckled, the sound dark and low. "Ascended can't, uh, really mate with each other in the normal sense. But yes, I'd say the 'arousal response' is part of the appeal." Words teasing, he slid a finger slowly and suggestively down his chest.
Grinning, he stepped closer to the newcomer. "I can contain myself. Hope you can too." He winked lazily. "But if not, that's fun too."
Taking yet another step, their bodies almost touching, the Ascended studied the other man's features. "Wrist or neck?" Whichever Josh said, Amun would slowly start to move towards.
"Cannot mate? Are you lacking genitals? Or infertile?" Vampires without dicks...reminded him of a fantasy novel he'd read once, which lead to the further question: "Or do you have some kind of new, hybrid penis?" Maybe an orchid shaped one with fur and a bee tongue?
Anyway, Amun's penis situation aside, he was excited to learn all about this bite. For too long he'd only been able to theorise about vampires from old novels and sighting reports of dubious veracity. Josh held out his wrist towards Amun, thinking that the neck seemed a bit too dangerous to trust the stranger with. While he was admittedly already putting rather too much faith in a man he'd just met, he hoped if his blood was poisoned from the wrist, he'd have a second to cut it off.
Smirking a bit, Amun chuckled at Josh's questions. "Again, we seem to be talking quite a bit about sex." The potter waggled his eyebrows. "Would you like to do a physical exam?" As if the words and tone weren't suggestive enough, he winked.
When the newcomer proffered his wrist, the Ascended grinned a little smugly. However, his hands were soft and almost tender on Josh's arm and Amun bent down and simultaneously lifted it to his lips. Pausing for just a moment, mouth hovering over the newcomer's skin, the potter finally bit down gently on the other man's wrist.
And then the Ascended moaned as the expected and immediate wave of pleasure coursed through his body.
"I am asking out of scientific curiosity. If I wanted to have sex with you I would say so." Josh shrugged, clearly not embarrassed by the idea; he simply had no desire to engage that way with Amun when he had so much to do (besides, his attraction and sexuality seemed to be in a constant state of 'not bothered' except for the odd moment he didn't really understand the origin of).
Amun was slow to bite. Josh watched, motionless but with intense interested eyes as the fangs slowly sunk down into his flesh. As much as he had mentally prepared himself, he did make a small noise of surprise at the pleasure that rushed through his veins, completely overriding the pain. Not a moan, but a 'hm!' of academic interest.
Still, he could not hide every physical reaction. Not attempting to hide the tightness of his pants in certain areas, he stood with his eyes trained on Amun, breathing shallowly and slowly to keep himself calm minded enough to remember what was happening.
Amun chuckled at Josh's words. "So direct. I like it." Winking, the potter spread his arms invitingly. "You're welcome to examine as much or as little of me as you'd like." Despite the flirtatious tone, he really was okay with the newcomer taking a closer look.
At the other man's sound, and the pleasure still coursing through the Ascended, he let out a pleased hum. Letting go of Josh's wrist with one hand, Amun reached out to rest it almost tenderly on the newcomer's hip, assuming Josh let the potter do so. Continuing to drink, he shifted slightly so he could watch the other man's face. The Ascended's eyes were hot and hungry.
Josh had never been anything but direct (though once it had been through a veneer of charismatic sarcasm and charming humour; that had gone away with the realisation of the hidden worlds in the shadows and skies) - he nodded at Amun's offer, thinking if he had some kind of lab later, he could take some samples.
He watched Amun's hand reach out for him with a bemused quirk of his brow; when his hip was touched he immediately reached to slap Amun's hand. Not hard, but enough to make it clear that he didn't want it there. "No sex." He reiterated, his voice sounding strained from the effort of keeping himself together, but determined.
02-21-2020, 06:32 PM (This post was last modified: 02-21-2020, 06:33 PM by Amun.)
my love affair with water runs deep into my soul,
the serenity as intense as the tides ebb and flow
As Josh slapped Amun's hand away (which he obviously immediately lowered to his side), he chuckled a little, the sound vibrating against the newcomer's skin.Taking one last sip, the potter finally lifted his fangs from the other man's wrist. The Ascended's tongue did dart out to lap at the last of the droplets, then licked his lips as well.
Straightening up, he grinned indulgently at Josh. "Thanks." Moving to lean against a nearby tree, the potter crossed his arms. "So." His eyes drifted down the other man's body, settling on the obvious bulge in his pants. "Did that help with your research?" Smirking a bit, the Ascended cocked his head to the side. "And is there anything else I can help you with?"
As Amun detached from his wrist Josh took it back, holding it tight with his other hand so the blood would fall into his palm, not on his expensive suit. As the pain ebbed so did the pleasure, though it would take a while for him to feel entirely normal and together again. "Interesting experience. Might come back." It would be worth experimenting to see if he could do anything to change the effects of the bite, if he could alter the chemistry of his blood somehow to change Amun's reaction to it - all thoughts for later.
Perhaps the Ascended was staring straight at Josh's obvious erection, but Josh determinedly ignored it, answered the question plainly. "It did. Can you give me directions to the nearest town?"
Amun grinned at Josh's response. "Well if you need me for anything, you can usually find me in my pottery studio in the Domiciles." Tone sort of lazily pleased, the potter adjusted the basket on his arm, which had been knocked a bit askew during the bite.
Eyes flicking up to the newcomer's, the Ascended grinned. "Any time. It would be my pleasure." As the other man asked for directions to the nearest town, Amun raised his eyebrows. "The Settlement and the Sanctuary are that way." He pointed in what he hoped was the right direction. "Need help getting there? Or a place to stay?" Both were friendly and legitimate offers.
Pottery studio. Josh made a note of that. He was not an art man, but he wondered if the form of pots and vases differed massively here from on Earth, if there were different conventions or methods for making the items, if the bowl was somehow shaped in a new way - worth dropping by to take a look later, anyway.
"I am not intending to have sex with you for any of the bites in the future either." He stated, wanting to make sure it was clear he was not attempting to organise a hook-up with the Ascended but simply a series of experiments. A thought came to mind that he supposed Amun might be able to answer: "Would blood drained into a cup have the same effects for you?"
He followed Amun's point then nodded. "I would like you to show me the way. Please." The polite word was tacked on at the last minute, but still there. "I will find my own place to stay. Don't want people to know where it is." Josh always liked having a very private space to live in.
