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!
I can't see much of the future Unless we find out what's to blame, what a shame
"Give him a chance, I'm sure he'll surprise you." Every kid did stupid things, things worth punishment. Especially at that age. Nate knew that better than most.
Vai's answer has him nodding, glancing up to meet her smile. It's not an expression he can return, not with the explanation. "I didn't know spirits could do that." Age faster, maybe, he'd been living next door to Seren for a while at this point, and the idea wasn't completely outlandish, but to outright jump years? "Must be rough. I'm... sorry you missed so much."
"I don't know. Maybe... eventually." There's a sigh, and Nate shakes his head. It's not something he'd ever seen for himself, but, none of this was. ”We haven’t really talked about it, between... everything else.”
And we won't be together much longer Unless we realize that we are the same
”Oh I have no doubt about that, especially now he’s in Torchline and watching the shit everyone else gets up to,” Vai said with a laugh, shaking her head. She continued tacking down new roof tiles, working diligently as they spoke and using the task as an excuse not to fall too much into melancholy. ”I didn’t either until that point,” she confessed. ”I’m sorry too, but... just gotta make the most of what’s here now, right?”
Glancing up at Nate’s sigh, Vai offered him a gentle smile. ”You’ve got time,” she said softly. ”It’s not something you need to rush into. You’ve got plenty to do as it is.” Between the trouble they got into and the trouble they went actively looking for, anyway. ”Speaking of which, how often are you at your clinic? Do you need a hand? It would be nice to have something to do.”
I can't see much of the future Unless we find out what's to blame, what a shame
With the way both of their faces turn back to the task at hand, it's clear there's more than a little awkwardness with the subject at hand, lost years and future worries both hanging heavy in the air between them. At least it makes the work go by a touch faster.
The segue is appreciated, gives him a touch of breathing room, reason to forget the idea of children almost entirely for the moment. "Before Longnight, I tried to be available most of the day." There's a guilty grimace, a light shrug of his shoulder. "My schedule has kind of... slipped, since then though. Dealing with everything that happened through Longnight." The last few weeks felt like one big crapshoot, dealing with his own injury first, and when it finally seemed he'd get a moment to breathe, Sunjata had gone and gotten hurt again.
God, they really were magnets for trouble, weren't they?
"Any help you want to give would be wonderful. What kind of skills have you trained in?" It's not meant to be rude, just pure curiosity, Nate trying to gauge what kind of skills Vai brought with her.
And we won't be together much longer Unless we realize that we are the same
”That’s understandable,” Vai nodded, knowing all too well how disruptive Longnight could be even when it was a comparatively quiet one. Still, perhaps getting back into a schedule would be good for Nate - and better still if it gave Vai more of a reason to stick around Torchline. She got the idea that Felix would enjoy that too. Glancing up at his question, she smiled a little - far from finding it rude, it was reassuring. She’d want to check the skills of anyone working in a medical clinic too.
Nodding at the satchel, Vai straightened up for a moment. ”Mostly herbalism, this last year,” she explains. ”I can diagnose and treat most ailments that way, providing they aren’t too serious. I used to work at the clinic in the Hollowed Grounds, too, so I know first aid and triage alongside more magical means. Anything you’d be willing to teach though, I’d be happy to learn.”
I can't see much of the future Unless we find out what's to blame, what a shame
A somewhat sheepish slant tugged at the grin on Nate's face, because obviously herbalism was a specialty. "I should have assumed. But that's great." If he was honest, and he wasn't going to be, not out loud, he didn't exactly have a high degree of confidence working with raw ingredients. It was far too easy to mix the wrong things, use the wrong dosages. "Looks like we'll both be learning things." Already, he'd been more than willing to accept her help, especially with the gap she filled in for him, in a place like this, but everything else was just icing on top.
"I tend towards purely mundane healing." The words leave him lightly, the only thing that Nate even remotely takes any kind of offence to, but it's passed over quickly, when everything else is so good. "I'll be at the clinic most days, weather permitting. Come by whenever you want, and we'll get things set up on whatever kind of schedule you want." A handful of promises, all wrapped into one, but the conversation has re-awoken some kind of drive, rekindled the fire in his belly, and they're words he feels confident offering.
With some kind of deal set, they're free to chat a little bit easier, Nate offering more cheerful stories, anecdotes, in between the work they do to shore up the roof. It's a better time than he'd expected, when he'd first gone out into the drizzle.
Done~
And we won't be together much longer Unless we realize that we are the same
