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!
As Theo mentioned he knew what it was like to owe favors, Saiden smirked. "So you often find yourself in debt, then?" There was something mocking about the question.
Narrowing his eyes at the other man, the cook finally snorted. "Alright, fine. Follow me." It came out with as much authority as he could muster.
Assuming Theo did, indeed, follow the Hali, he would lead the other man to the kitchen. Pointing at a table next to a sink, where a cutting board and knife already waited, Saiden headed towards the pantry. He emerged before too long with several sacks of onions. Tossing them onto the table, he put his hands on his hips. "Peel and chop those and we'll call it even."
"Don't we all?" Theo gave a melodramatic sigh. "I fear it is simply my lot in life to rely on the kindness of others."
With a more sincere sigh, Theo followed Saiden. Oh, he could make a run for it, but he had a bad feeling about taking on the restaurateur right now, with his water magic and his apparent connections (if he wasn't lying -- Theo often claimed intimidating connections too).
"Ah, you're trying to make me cry," Theo said with mock sorrow. He picked up an onion and started to peel it. "I suppose I'll simply have to bear the tears."
He nudged one of the sacks with his foot. That was a lot of onions, actually. He could use his telekinesis to work on more than one at once, but still. "I suppose if I pass out from exhaustion, at least I know where I'm sleeping tonight."
"Nope." Saiden gave Theo a wicked grin. "Some of us prefer to be self-sufficient." Gesturing around at the business the cook owned and operated, he winked at the other man.
Laughing, the Hali raised his eyebrows. "If I wanted to make you cry, I would've beaten your ass and tossed you on the street." It came out without a hint of pretense or pride.
Moving towards the counter next to the stove, he began making more sauce. "On the street. Because if you pass out, I will throw you out and leave you to get robbed blind. So better stop talking and start chopping." He began to mix together the spices and other ingredients, much more practiced now that he'd done it once.
05-18-2020, 04:50 PM (This post was last modified: 05-18-2020, 04:50 PM by Theo.)
Theo
Another extravagant sigh from Theo, at ... pretty much everything Saiden said. "You are a cruel, heartless man, Saiden. And here I was, down on my luck, just looking for a friend."
As Theo peeled the first onion, he considered how to get the job done as quickly as possible -- especially since it appeared that Saiden intended to stick around and make sure he did it properly. (Smart of him. Theo probably would have skipped out after one sack if left alone, if he'd even done that much.)
He set the first onion down on a cutting board and picked up the knife with his telekinesis, using it to hold the onion in place and chop while he peeled another with his fingers. That ought to speed things up a little, at least.
Laughing at Theo's description, Saiden just nodded. "Yup." Pointing his knife at the other man, the cook grinned unrepentantly. "I hear the brothel is open again. Maybe you'll have better luck finding a friend there." Again, there was no sympathy or give in his voice.
Returning to his own task, he stole glances at Theo every now and then. The Hali raised his eyebrows as the knife lifted in the air, seemingly of its own volition. "So you're an Abandoned, then?" He spoke in a disinterested tone, mostly just focusing on recreating the curry sauce from earlier, and making a few improvements as inspiration struck him.
"Well, it'd be a warm bed, but at what cost?" Theo sighed and kept peeling and chopping. He hummed a little as he worked, occasionally singing a word or two under his breath: "Be true ... morning ..."
Saiden's question brought out a cheeky grin. "So they tell me, though I prefer the version of the story where I'm secretly a god cast down into human flesh, my true nature unknown even to me, sentenced to learn humility through mortal toil."
Saiden grinned that predatory grin once again. "There's more than one way to acquire a bed at the brothel. All of them pleasant, or so I've heard." Expression mocking, he arched an eyebrow as he glanced at Theo's response.
However, the cook found himself gritting his teeth as the other man replied to the Hali's question. "I was looking for a yes or no." The words were muttered under his breath, though he shot Theo a dark look.
Still, Saiden was mostly just still focused on perfecting his latest dish. Once he had the sauce ready, he poured it into a jar and sealed it. Labeling it in neat letter, he set it aside to start deboning some fish.
05-18-2020, 09:44 PM (This post was last modified: 05-18-2020, 09:50 PM by Theo.)
Theo
Theo shrugged. Nothing against brothels, but that wasn't his favorite way to find a warm place to sleep. Though he had engaged in the odd ill-fated torrid affair, usually leaving his former beloved bereft of valuables and lover both -- but he wasn't usually one for a direct, mercantile exchange, in either direction. "It's not for everyone."
Saiden's other response, though, makes Theo chuckle. "If you want straightforward answers, you've come to the wrong man. 'Abandoned' feels like such a pejorative term sometimes. I prefer to think of myself as ... 'independently gifted.'"
The conversation was making the peeling and chopping go faster, at least. By now Theo had a nice little pile of chopped onions.
Shrugging as well, Saiden just gave Theo a toothy smile. "Suit yourself." It was clear that the cook didn't quite understand the other man. Nor was the Hali particularly trying to figure out Theo's shtick.
Still arching that eyebrow, Saiden continued his steady work with the fish. Still he spared the other man an almost withering look. "If wishes were fishes I'd be out of a job." The cook took out the spine of one tuna with a little more vigor than was strictly necessary. "What you prefer doesn't matter. Dreams will get you killed quickly." Indeed, it was clear from his tone that he thought Theo was more than a bit daft.
"Not unless wishes were particularly well-cooked fishes," Theo said with a jovial wink. Too much? Yeah, probably too much. "I don't think most of us want to sink our teeth into a raw tuna."
He knew some people ate raw fish, of course, but it still had to be prepared skillfully -- a skill that Saiden apparently had.
Theo noticed the violence directed at the fish, though, and decided maybe he'd better stop messing around. He turned his attention back to peeling and chopping, but he had to chuckle when he added, "Never said I had dreams. They are useless."
Saiden just gave Theo a withering look. Still, there might have been the slightest hint of amusement glimmering in the cook's eyes. "Clearly you've never had my sushi." There was that lightly mocking tone to his voice, but it seemed slightly friendlier than before.
Once again pointing the knife at the other man, the Hali arched his eyebrows. "This whole 'independently gifted' thing you were just spouting isn't some foolish dream or delusion then?" Snorting, he took the bones out of the last fish.
Then he began cutting them into the right size for the portions. Again, it was clear he was quite experienced from the way he used a minimum amount of effort and how swiftly the cuts were made.
"Perhaps someday I'll have the opportunity ... Not if you continue to drive such a hard bargain, though." Theo looked at the remaining pile of onions and sighed.
"Well, it would be nice to change the entire perception of Abandoned in Caido, I suppose, but I'm not going to sweat it too much." Theo grinned, twirling his own knife with his telekinesis before he returned it to his steady chopping. He was almost halfway through the first sack by now. His fingers stung from peeling, but his telekinesis had allowed him to keep the chopped onions far enough from his face to prevent tears. "You may or may not have noticed, but I am rather allergic to hard work."
Saiden shrugged at Theo's words. "Only kind of bargain you're likely to find in these parts." Shooting the other man a sly look, the cook spoke in a quiet and maybe slightly menacing voice. "Might want to reconsider sticking around here if you're not willing to pay up."
Simply shaking his head over Theo's comment about Abandoned, the Hali kept chopping his fish. "I take it you're an Outlander then. Because you might be able to convince mortals, but you'll never change the mind of the gods." He wasn't bother by that. Instead, he just accepted it, and stay cleared of the gods where he could.
"In my experience, taking the easy way is a quick way to get dead. Or at least get in trouble." That wasn't a threat, just a statement of fact.
"I would, but the weather's just so nice." Theo sighed again. "Ah, well. I can hope they've opened another portal for me to flee through by the time I get chased out of town with torches and pitchforks."
That's ... a bit more honest than he intended to be, actually. He covered it by leaning back against the counter, juggling a few onions as he smiled at Saiden's reply. It was good to hear that Saiden thinks he's an Outlander -- he wasn't even really trying to create that impression, not this time, but it was one he liked to cultivate. "I'm not too worried about what the gods think, as long as they're not smiting me personally. Better to stick to mortal affairs than get tangled up in their games -- they always weight the dice."
Snorting, Theo turned back to peeling -- he suspected Saiden would be quick to tell him off if he slacked off too much. "That's not why they call it the easy way, Saiden."
