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!
Confine me let me be the lesser of a beautiful man without the blood on his hands
The clarification is barely that at all, but still Nate nods, ignoring the twangs of suspicion that begin to twinge from Pemota again. "So you're more of a detective than a spy then?" A bright laugh leaves Nate, the man just getting more and more interesting, though it's difficult to tell if that's more to do with Finn himself, or the story being built up in the ascended's mind.
Considering he's only working with a single eye, the sly look at slides over to meet Finn is surprisingly expressive, surprisingly confident. "Limits are in place to be tested. What is there to lose by pushing against them?" It's a surprisingly genuine question, the view not one Nate's entertained before — he wouldn't be nearly the same person eh was today if he hadn't pushed against his limits. "Well if you ever want to dip your toe into misbehaving, I'm your guy." An offer without an expiration date, if he ever gets the chance to come back to Torchline, after his business is concluded.
Finn might laugh, but Nate doesn't, a touch of seriousness in his face. "I suppose that's a good thing then. Job like yours must come with some dangers, better to avoid them however you can, right?" Here he manages to force out a soft chuckle, glancing sidelong at his walking partner.
”Yes, that’s about right actually,” Finn notes, liking the idea of detective as a way to describe himself. It feels better than stalker, or Spyglass, or whatever else he’s been tasked to do. Nate’s laughter is contagious, and whilst he has found himself out here with little idea how he got there, Finn doesn’t regret the detour at all. Still, there’s a boyish and mischievous smile on his face at their differing opinions on limits, and Finn keeps his gaze ever forward.
”I’ve found myself on the receiving end of broken limits enough times to respect them,” he says, the words sadder now that they’ve left his lips and become material in the air. Clearing his throat, a touch awkward at the unintentional peep into his psyche, he nonetheless nods at the offer. ”Should I ever wish to dip my toe, as you say, you will be the first to know.” It’ll never happen, but it doesn’t hurt to be polite.
Still, they are in agreement about his job and the dangers it sometimes poses, Finn humming a note of weary confirmation. ”What do you do?” he asks then, realising that the Q&A has been rather one sided.
Confine me let me be the lesser of a beautiful man without the blood on his hands
The approval of detective has Nate's interest piquing again, though he hesitates in asking for any further elaboration. There is a difference between knowing something, and knowing too much, and if there's one thing Nate's actually had drilled into his head, it's that first impressions can't actually be trusted.
It doesn't stop him from wanting to believe, just a little bit, that Finn is what he seems on the surface. A mystery maybe, but ultimately harmless. A hand claps on the other man's shoulder, trying to lift up his tone again, trying to shift away from the awkward moment. "I can respect that. But you know there's more kinds of pleasure to be had than the limit testing kind, right?" He might not necessarily seem the type to partake in them, but that didn't mean there weren't options.
"I'm a doctor." The answer is offered easily, Nate coming to rather the same conclusion about their talk so far. There's not too much harm in offering some things up. "Most of the time." A low note rumbles out of him, almost a chuckle and almost a hum.
A harmless mystery - that’s Finn all wrapped up in a little bow of anxiety, all right. He’s jostled by the hand that claps his shoulder, the Spyglass unused to this sort of consistent touch, and he can’t help but wonder what it’s all in aid of. A harmless gesture that his tired mind is overanalysing, certainly, and he does manage a smile for Nate at his attempt to lift the mood that Finn is so adept at pushing off a cliff.
”Are there indeed?” he asks, as if he really doesn’t know (he doesn’t). ”And how does Torchline fare when it comes to that type of pleasure, compared to the limit testing kind?” Probably rather well, he’s guessing. It seems the type of place.
Raising his eyebrows, he glances at the other man afresh at learning he’s a doctor; he would not have expected such a profession - and it’s an honestly pleasant surprise, to be caught off guard in that respect. ”I imagine that keeps you busy,” he says with a nod. ”And what are you the rest of the time?”
Confine me let me be the lesser of a beautiful man without the blood on his hands
”There are indeed.” Nate let’s the words roll easily off his tongue, stifles his amused snort with the facade of clearing his throat, and elaborates. ”She’s got a hell of a lot more to offer than anywhere else I’ve been here.” An arm sweeps out, gesturing immediately at the jungle, the rough path carved out before them, but trying to paint a picture of the paradise Torchline represented. ”There’s something for everyone, even if you don’t know what you like yet. Have you ever been fishing?”
This is an amount of effort that normally, Nate wouldn’t spare. Honestly, he’s not sure why he does here. There’s something about Finn that seems small, deeply familiar, and it immediately makes Nate want to recoil, the phrase ’toughen up’ echoing in his head. Maybe it’s over compensation, the part of him that’s been allowed to flourish in Caido, the kind part rising up and reaching out.
Maybe he’s just in a really good mood.
At this point, Nate almost expects the double take, the moment of reassessment when he first tells people his profession. His one eyed gaze dips just in time to meet Finn’s, his immediate wink somehow translating. It was all about the confidence in the gesture, and while that had been shattered, he had always been a good actor. ”Depends on the day, really. Especially in a place like this. Some days are quiet, some...” Shoulders roll in a slow shrug, Nate not needing to offer more. ”The rest of the time?” That required a moments thought, though the slow grin cling to his face the whole time. ”I suppose I’m someone who dozes on the coast and leads wayward tourists back to civilization.” Theres a deeper chuckle, the hand coming out again to tap at Finns arm, more and more familiar.
Finn follows Nate’s grand gesture out across the landscape, as if trying to take in the hidden pleasures that this paradise surely has to offer. Right now he can only see the sea in the distance and the colourful expanse of the Rainbow Road, though it feels wrong to deem it only. ”You are certainly selling the place,” he remarks to the other man with a small smirk. ”Are you sure you aren’t trying to start up a tourism industry, rather than being a doctor?”
Has he ever been fishing, though? Finn shakes his head, his smile faltering a bit. ”I don’t do well on open water,” he says slowly. ”But I have never been fishing - can you do it from the dock?” In his head it’s all peacefully bobbing along in a boat with nothing around for miles. And for Finn, that sounds a little bit nightmarish, but if he can sit on dry land and try it, maybe it won’t be so bad.
Torchline seems like the kind of place to spin on a dime, from beautiful and dangerous to back again, and the Spyglass nods as he considers it. As for what he does when he’s not doctoring? Finn has to laugh at that, the sound a surprisingly warm thing, and he nods his concession. ”And I am thankful that you are that sort of person. I imagine it is quite easy to get lost out here.”
Confine me let me be the lesser of a beautiful man without the blood on his hands
"Quite sure." Nate's smile grows crooked at the idea, and he can't help a rough laugh as his hands fall to his side again. "Though it seems like I might have to look into a career change." Pemota rises slightly, slows for just long enough they catch up, and she can drift close by Nate's shoulder. "The one thing I got from my father was the gift of gab. Might as well put it to good use, huh?" He barely manages to reign in his elbow, not letting it nudge against the other man, no matter what old habits want to do.
The flagging smile is all but cause for alarm, Nate immediately trying to overcompensate, to tug the mood back up. It is supposed to be something he's good at, and he needs the win more desperately than he'd thought, apparently. "I've been fishing off solid ground more often than I have out of a boat." Reassurance offered easily, and he doesn't even need to lie. "Docks, banks, even the beach, if you're willing to deal with some extra struggles. I'd be happy to show you, if you ever get the chance." It wouldn't be the first time he's passed on the skill. "Between all of your business." This is a tease, obvious and gentle and trying to spark some more familiarity between them.
Laughter is a good sign, a victory, as far as the ascended is concerned, and he backs up the sound with his own laugh. "I'm not just going to leave you to the whims of the jungle, don't you worry." The one eyed gaze sweeps out over the trees again, considering them, the things they might hide. Then it returns to the man he is helping, and Nate wonders what secrets Finn might be hiding. "Familiarity in a place like this is something that has to be earned. Strangers get lost all the time."
”I suppose such a gift is good as a doctor as well,” Finn notes with a small smile; all the doctors he’s ever known have been remarkably chatty and charismatic, actually. Falke, Doctor Hart, all of them possessing a skill at socialisation that seems to have skipped Finn. Still, he relaxes instantly to hear that one doesn’t have to risk drowning on the open ocean to have a go at fishing, the Spyglass considering it for a few moments, as if wondering whether it might bring a sort of peace that perpetually eludes him.
Nodding slowly, but honestly unsure when he would be able to find time to do it between all of his business, he nonetheless commits to the idea. ”I think I would like that. Should I ever find myself in Torchline with a free moment, I will be sure to try and find you. Though, a man in your profession probably has as little time off as I do.”
He has no doubt that strangers get lost. People familiar with the place likely get lost as well, such is its beauty and mystery. Luckily for the Spyglass, he has a man beside him to show him the way back. And so Finn loses himself to the enjoyment of the landscape, to easy conversation buoyed by the doctor who walks with him.
