Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
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He replied, squeezing her shoulder, and she couldn't say he was wrong. Tilting her head down, she leaned her cheek against the top of his hand for a moment. "You're right, I'm sorry. Thank you for always looking out for me, Loren. I truly appreciate it." Especially since she suddenly was able to breathe without her whole back screaming at her.
His comment about Saiden being from his world made her sit up straighter, eyes narrowing, though possibly he couldn't see it. "He is what? That damn jerk... he had the nerve to call me arrogant for not respecting the 'Torchline ways'. And now he's not even a natural?" She hissed, more than a little annoyed. "Well, only because it sounded on him like this Eloise was a lover. Or.. at least more than friend. Might be worth keeping in mind."
Her fingers found a strand of grass, pulled it from the ground and twisted it around the pinky, restless, thoughtful.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Smiling shyly, Loren's cheeks flushed with embarrassment at Maea's compliment. Still, he let his hand cup her cheek briefly. "Please don't mention it. It's nothing." Raising his hand, he awkward rubbed the back of his head. Astra, of course, let out an amused bleat at the shit, causing his cheeks to turn more crimson.
As she grew angry, though, his eyes widened. "I...don't know how long he's been in Caido." It came out tentatively, and he leaned a little away from her.
At her concerned observation, he let out a huff of laughter. "I'll keep it in mind. But sometimes people have more than one lover." It came out slightly chagrined, and he found he couldn't meet her eyes.
She was about to reply, to say that it was something to her, at least. But his hand cupped her cheek, and though it was small, no different from her own light touches to his face, the gesture was intimate enough that she blushed. Her eyes flickering away, the smile growing a little confused... and she found no words to contradict him with. Astra bleated, and it almost sounded like laughter.
Loren leaned away from her when the revelations made her temper flare, and Maea quickly smothered it - or tried to - and made a warding gesture. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault, I'm not annoyed with you," she assured him. "It just took me off guard... He left me in with an unpaid debt that hasn't been settled yet... and I have no idea what he wants from me to settle things, is all." Not all all, but... enough of an explanation.
She reached her hands up to fasten the buttons of her dress again. "I've never understood that kind of thing," Maea mumbled. "I can't imagine it wouldn't be painful, to move between people... doesn't it leave you incredibly vulnerable? To expose yourself to people like that, and then..." Her hand made a floating gesture, like wind or water. Just drifting away.
Struggling with the lower buttons, unable to quite reach them again, she sighed and gave up. "Care to help?" she asked Loren, indicating the trouble she'd put herself in, a little sheepish.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Rubbing the hand that he'd cupped Maea's cheek with awkwardly, Loren gave her an apologetic smile. Watching with slightly narrowed eyes, he sighed as she revealed more details about why she was getting worked up. "Sorry. Let me know if I can help?" The words came out uncertainly, since he wasn't sure she wanted help here.
Shrugging, he turned to stare out at the horizon. "Some people find comfort in physical touch, and don't need to be emotionally intimate with their partner to enjoy sex." It came out quietly, spoken more to himself than to her. When she asked for help with her dress, he glanced at her, surprised. Then his eyes narrowed and he reached out with his telekinesis, guiding them gently closed with his mind.
Maea nodded, giving him a grateful smile. "Thank you, I will. Probably it will just be some uncomfortable task he doesn't care to do himself... but I'll be sure to ask if it's anything troublesome." It was reassuring, to know she could count on him. Between Loren and Sunjata, there wasn't much that could really hurt her... as long as she remembered not to do everything herself.
She regretted the choice of topic almost immediately. Loren's reply was crisp, if quiet, as if read from a textbook. But for all that she could accept the words, when she tried to wrap her head around the practical applications... it all just locked up into a tangled mess in her. "I... see," she replied, though it was quite clear she did not, in fact, understand it at all.
He helped her with the dress, and as he was done, Maea reached for the notebook again.
"Thank you. Shall we try to get this map done? Or the sun will disappear on us." Her tone changed, snapped back into practicality, sober work-mode; like a shield slipping in place, to avoid having to deal with something painful and bothersome.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Nodding as Maea accepted the offer of help, Loren decided to let the topic drop. Shrugging as she clearly didn't get what he meant, he gave her a slightly awkward and embarrassed smile. "Liar." He scratched the back of his head, still flushing.
As she brought up the task that brought them out here, he removed Astra from his lap, then rolled to his feet. "Yes, let's do it." Springing into the air again, he shifted into a goose, and flew up. This time, instead of looking out to sea, he looked towards and beyond the volcano.
Landing, he began to sketch what he noticed, though his motions were slightly less sure this time. In addition, he frowned, and his brow furrowed in concentration.
Maea grimaced when he called her a liar. People didn't usually call her out on that particular method of escape, happy to leave well alone. But not Loren. He'd always offered little patience for her bullshit, and apparently this was no exception.
Still, she didn't challenge him on the accusation, and watched him take off, to make another round as the goose. Maea focused on her own work, comfortable to let wind and rustling shrubs fill the silence... but when Loren returned, she noticed his own work was taking longer, the precision faltering.
"What is it?" she asked him. "Getting tired?" She wouldn't fault him for it, having no idea how much energy it took to shift back and forth like this.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Sighing at Maea's grimace, Loren gave her an apologetic smile. It hadn't been his intention to upset her, but he didn't know how to fix it. Thankfully, the mapping provided them both with an excuse to recover.
As she asked what was wrong, he shook his head slightly. "No." Then he pressed his lips together. "Well. It's not just that I'm getting tired." He ran a hand through his hair.
Then he gestured at the trees and tropical plants all around them. "The jungle or forest or whatever makes it hard to get a sense of the topography." It was equal parts annoyed and embarrassed, and he went back to sketching a rough estimate of the inland terrain.
He replied, then amended his own words and explained. Maea looked out over area, and thought she understood the problem. It was rather like a thick carpet, obscuring the details. "I see." And this time, it was far more true than before.
"Well... That leaves us with two options, the way I see it. Either we go into the jungle to get a sense for what it's like, to help with your estimates.
"Or, since you're tired, we can come back another day. I don't think the volcano will move." She gave him a faint smile.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Biting his lip, Loren glanced out at the jungle. Then he sighed, and gave Maea a rueful smile. "As you said, unlike the islands, the volcano isn't going anywhere." He raised his eyebrows and glanced at the peak. "I hope." Looking back at her, he shrugged.
"I'd rather not go exploring until my magical reserves have recharged." Between the summoning and the healing, he was dangerously low, and in an unknown and potentially dangerous environment, that was asking for trouble. "Plus we don't exactly have the supplies for a long hike."
He reached out to scratch behind Astra's ears. "Come back another day?" It came out hesitantly, as he still wasn't sure if she was doing this out of obligation or because she felt like she had to.
His reasoning was sound, and Maea was not about to argue with any of them. This was a job they had undertaken for fun, because it interested them both... and really, it was only another excuse to spend some time together. At least in her mind.
"Absolutely," she replied with a smile, not even hesitating. Resolute, she even seemed happy to be able to keep working on the project a little longer. "Just let me know when you have time, and we'll come back. I enjoy doing things like this... it feels as if I'm acting like a proper Loreseeker. Gathering information, studying the world..." She spread her arms, encompassing all the unknown mysteries that lay around them. As of yet unexplored. "If I did nothing else with my life, I still think I could do that and be content."
That said though, she did begin to pack up her tools. They'd gotten far enough, picking things up again would be easy.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Giving Maea a relieved smile, Loren scratched the back of his head. "I will." He began gathering his things as Astra started bounding around the clearing in excitement.
However, he glanced up at the pale woman as she kept speaking. "Well I think we can do a little better than content. Maybe strive for happy." It was a feeble attempt at a joke, and he grinned weakly as he rolled up the makeshift map he'd started.
Sliding it into his pack, he paused, then bit his lip. "Is that what you want? To just be a Loreseeker?" The questions came out quietly, and he found himself studying the ground.
Following Astra's excited skips with her gaze, Maea smiled at the luxere. She was such a happy little creature, childlike and simple in her games and affections. It was the kind of glee she wanted to carry herself, to simply exist in the world and be... well... content.
But Loren took offense to the word, suggested happy would be better. Maea turned, putting the lid back over her satchel, and tilted her head at him. Pleased but puzzled at this newfound optimism. "I think the sky might fall down tomorrow," she mused, "because Loren Launceleyn just said he wants to be happy..." Her own teasing was just as feeble.
"Just a loreseeker? I'm not sure you understand what that kind of title means, to someone who grew up in a cage..." And Maea wasn't sure she could explain it. Setting the bag aside, she pulled her hair back from the face, down over her shoulder, and began to braid it. Her fingers slow and rhythmical, so used to the motion she didn't have to think about it.
"I used to live in a world where happiness was the biggest lie you could ever tell anyone. As you've no doubt noticed, Caido is not a very safe place. Death is always present here, and dangers are everywhere. Nothing in life was ever certain... except two things. Everyone dies. And no one ever leaves the Hollowed Ground. Everything revolved around those facts, and between the struggle to keep fed, stay alive and not die at LongNight? Happy was a pipe dream."
She spoke of it with chilling calm, and the light in her eyes dimmed. Dulled, fell back into the listless, crass acceptance of status quo Maea had been raised with. Shaped into accepting.
"Then, one day a Spark Bird lands, and I could walk outside during the depths of Deepfrost. And I was invited to ask questions, learn the answers, seek truth and maybe even change my own fate.
"Being a Loreseeker... it's not just drawing maps and reading books, not to me. It's freedom."
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
As Maea teased him, Loren just ran a sheepish hand through his hair. Bending down, he picked up his own bag. "It's not like I actually want to be mopey all the time." It came out in a half-muffled, embarrassed tone.
As the Loreseeker began to explain why being a Loreseeker meant so much to her, he straightened up and flipped his bag onto his back. Holding onto its straps, he remained silent as she said her piece. When she finished, he sighed. "Until two years ago, I was bound to a magical oath that would kill me if I disobeyed it, was tortured by my family, and grew up in a world at war and then a world under siege. I grew up in a cage, albeit of a different sort than yours." His words were soft.
Turning, he gazed out to where he knew the horizon lay even if he couldn't see it from here. "So I get it." Astra trotted up, and he rubbed her head affectionately, even if his eyes were sad. "But you don't need a title to make you free, you know that, right?" It was just as quiet as his words before.
