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!
"Well, most of us have to assume, after all." Eloise replied quickly. Jack's powers weren't commonplace, or at least she hoped to the gods they weren't. One was more than enough.
"Didn't realize that when you said you'd teach me to defend myself it'd just be you flinging sand around and giving out obvious advice." She snapped back, more piss and vinegar now than when they'd started. Don't trust anyone Eloise, he said. Oh, you should have just asked me, Eloise, he'd also said. Telling the illusionist not to trust her senses was laughable, only she wasn't laughing just now. "Only because it isn't even big enough to swing." Eloise added under her breath with a scowl, caring very little how petulant she sounded.
Without his magic, Eloise had no idea if the nobodies he meant were just the onlookers on the beach, or if that net included her as well. Not thinking on it too long, Eloise lashed out with an unsteady fist aiming her knuckles for Jack's mouth, as if hitting him there would erode away the things he'd said.
i think i'll pass on the summer
don't wanna fall for it this time
"Is there any time when you don't have to get the last word?" Jack nearly growled, his patience for Eloise steadily wearing thin. And as her fist lanced up, the captain caught it almost lazily at this point, with the hand bound and bloodied from the knife. He didn't care about the flare of pain it caused, currently busy with the fragility of Eloise's self-worth, of her need to be something only for her own doubt to sabotage her at every opportunity.
"You," he said through clenched teeth, "would do well to decide how much you are worth. To yourself, to me, to the Ark. I'm a mindreader and even I can't wrap my head around you for more than a minute."
04-29-2020, 08:38 PM (This post was last modified: 04-29-2020, 08:44 PM by Eloise.)
ELOISE
"Maybe if you actually ended a conversation instead of always needing to storm off in a broody silence, it wouldn't have to be the last word." Eloise replied, which was of course, just another iteration of her having the last word.
That he caught her fist so easily made her want to scream. Had she nails long enough rather than bitten-short as they were, she might have fantasized about scratching them into the cut his own knife had caused. "What's that? Something the captain can't do." The illusionist snarled, wrenching her hand back and forth in his grasp in a pathetic attempt to wriggle it free. Her non-dominant hand was expectantly less coordinated than the one clenched in Jack's fingers, but still Eloise aimed it for Jack's shoulder. With flushed cheeks and bits of sand and blood still clinging to her cheeks she wasn't the picture of venom she had in her head, but nevertheless, the emotion behind it was real enough.
i think i'll pass on the summer
don't wanna fall for it this time
Perhaps in an identical iteration of brooding silence, Jack could only raise his eyebrows down at Eloise, wondering what she would do now that she had actually gotten the last word on the matter. She wrenched her wrist back and forth and he let her go (maybe at a point where it might have made her stumble, maybe not); it was causing too much of an ache in his bad hand to continue the charade anyway.
The captain didn’t even bother to dodge back from the next blow. He let her fist smack into his shoulder and spread his arms, as if inviting her to beat the shit out of him if that’s what she really thought would end this stupidity. It was a learning curve for the two of them, as it turned out; people really didn’t like knowing someone was in their head, apparently. And Jack could absolutely relate.
What would she do without Jack storming off? Why, nothing of course. Nothing safe for gape at him as he shrugged off his role in all of this as if he had no idea he had a part to play. Because routine was what Eloise had come to rely on with Jack. It was what meant safety. It was only when something was truly unexpected that she ever saw the captain properly riled. His storming off, her shouting after him, it had all been a game that the illusionist refused to see as some tired charade even though that's probably all it was. He'd upset the balance of her life all because he'd fucked up. Surely he owed her the last word.
Staggering backward, her lame attempt at a punch throwing her balance off even more, Eloise swore brightly as her fist connected with Jack's relatively scrawny shoulder. "Gods, fuck." She concluded once her expletives became understandable again. "Get some fucking fat on you, how 'bout." Eloise demanded in a shrill voice, as if the pain ebbing from her knuckles was entirely his fault for not having the decency to be fat or fit enough to make it not hurt so much.
i think i'll pass on the summer
don't wanna fall for it this time
Gazing down at the offending shoulder that had apparently caused all of the problems, Jack could only let out a sigh as even that didn't seem to bring Eloise any peace. "What the fuck do you want from me right now?" he asked, as puzzled by her thoughts as her erratic actions. He could happily storm off if that was what she was after, but given her less than predictable state so far he was half sure that would make things worse.
And she didn't seem all that interested in continuing her tirade against him, else he was sure he'd have a further battering of fists against his bare chest, or shoulder, or whatever other part of him she thought was worth beating up at this point. "Feel any better yet?"
04-30-2020, 02:29 PM (This post was last modified: 04-30-2020, 02:44 PM by Eloise.)
ELOISE
Well, there was no way for Eloise to answer that question, seeing as she didn't know the answer herself. She just wanted fucking more. The illusionist had only been given a glimpse of purpose and then put on the tightest and shortest leash one could imagine. What she wanted was a bit of balance on this fucking teetertotter of mind-control, but Eloise knew that this was not the moment she demanded openness from Jack and he suddenly gave it. She very much doubted that there would ever be such a moment, honestly. The captain didn't strike her as a closed book, so much as one with half of its pages missing and the other half soaked in rum and gods knew what else. Maybe a fill connect-the-dots thrown in for fun. But were she to genuinely ask for some deep insight into Jack, Eloise thought there wouldn't be one to give even if he deigned to answer.
But then Eloise had an idea. An awful wonderful idea. A slow smile spread across her lips and her dark eyes narrowed to match his. Her thoughts screamed song lyrics of an obnoxious sugary-sweet variety in the hopes it'd be too awful for him to bear such that her actual plan wouldn't be plucked from among them.
"You know what? I do." The only trace of her moments-ago fury was the flush of her cheeks. So saying, she turned on her heel to head back not towards the Ark, but to the Hanged Man.
~FIN
i think i'll pass on the summer
don't wanna fall for it this time
