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!
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
A quiet sigh slips from him as Neron’s demeanor changes with the release of that information. There’s a moment where he’s contemplative — listening for the ways Sunjata could bribe Neron, when it seems the man has it all figured out. Still, he mulls it over, chewing on the inside of his cheek. He’d have someone here in Halo again, would have the ability to focus on the other lands again.
So after a small amount of time, he moves his hands from the edge of the chair they had been stuck to with the ice, rubbing at his wrist as he goes to stand. “Fine, deal.” Nate would understand, right? Either that or he was sure Neron would use all the magic he could on him.
“Two birds with one stone, mm?” He offers, moving to walk by Neron to grab his glass and down the rest of its contents, before moving to the back door and producing a key. A bit of fiddling and rearranging for the hidden entrance has the key hole perfectly aligned and Sunjata slips the key in, unlocking it and stepping inside.
There’s not much to write home about inside. A fireplace that’s unused sits in the corner, a bit of dust coating a desk in the center, a couch off to the side, a few bookcases and shelves with trinkets. He waits for Neron to enter before closing up behind them again and moving to the desk to wipe off the dirt. “This is what’s in the room.” He offers, turning to lean against the desk, arms folded, gaze following Neron as he lifts his horned head.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Deal done, soul sold, all good in Neron’s books. Letting the last of the ice disappear from around Sunjata, the Hailstorm steps aside so he might let the other man lead the way. Following at his back, he watches with interest as they approach the back room. Steel blue eyes track the movements of a hidden entrance, the key clicking in the lock to reveal...
Precisely fuck all.
He steps into the room with a furrowed brow, expecting traps, or a hidden door, or something... anything else. Letting Sunjata click the door shut behind them, his eyes immediately adjusting to the dark, Neron tilts his head. ”You have a secret key to a hidden door, behind which lies your office,” he remarks. ”This is it?”
With a sigh that requires no breath, he accepts it even if he isn’t happy about it. ”Two birds with one stone, then. Looks like your neck is already covered. Any objections?”
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
There’s hardly anything worth noting in the room, and that’s part of the fun. “Yep, this is it. Used for Advocate gatherings in Halo.” But they haven’t had a need to use it, Sunjata’s own displeasure of the cold keeps him in Torchline unless necessary. Like this, for example. So instead, he hums quietly under his breath. “We mostly meet in Torchline. But I’ll pass on any decisions.” Secrecy, after all. Neron didn’t want to be known to the rest of them, and so Sunjata could accommodate that.
His gaze remains on Neron, a small half smirk crossing his face. “Yes, well, my fiancé is Ascended.” Comes with the territory, goes unsaid. “Not under the ear, but wherever else’s easier for you.” He rumbles, remaining against the desk, horned head tilting a bit more. It’ll be easy to explain to Nate, he hopes, not planning on keeping it secretive in the slightest.
A deal was a deal.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
”Then I’ll ensure it maintains its air of ridiculous secrecy.” Neron smirks around the room. ”Unless you truly see no use for it, in which case I would also appreciate space to send you any updates or information that you need.” It certainly wouldn’t be this dusty if Neron were in charge of it. ”Either way, passing on any decisions would be appreciated.” Especially given Neron’s proclivity for staying the hell out of Torchline.
But enough business. Now for pleasure more business. He raises his eyebrows, a mix of confused and intrigued to hear about Sunjata’s fiancé. He wants to ask who the lucky Ascended might be, but he figures it’s a little inappropriate for the current situation. ”Wouldn’t want to mark their territory,” he mutters with a dark laugh, prowling across the room to stand opposite the other man, leaning in towards the tilting, horned head, the exposed neck marred by silver scars.
Neron’s hand slips up to clasp the other side of Jata’s neck, and he swears he can smell the sun and the sea on his skin, but of course that’s likely all imagined. Without wasting further words, his lips part to let his fangs slip into the Attuned’s veins, into the wellspring of hot, sweet blood and a rush of euphoria that has him melting forward, his free hand bracing against the desk they’re leaning against.
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
“Only when I’m in Halo which is few and far between.” He offers, placing the key on the desk for Neron to keep. Sunjata’s got spares back in Torchline. For now, however, they have the other end of the deal to uphold and Sunjata remains — ever the picture of patience as Neron makes his way over.
A nod is granted to the comment of marking territory, some amusement found at that, before Neron’s hand is on the side of his neck and Sunjata instinctively takes a deep sharp breath. It’s different, a bite to the neck that isn’t Nate. Is it his first? Wessex had bit his wrist and Sunjata had quietly simmered until they departed.
Fangs sink in and Sunjata’s legs tremble with holding up his weight as the pleasure slips through him, the hand supporting him at the desk shifting to claws to dig into the wood while the other (yes, still clawed) reaches for Neron to tug him closer. His heart thunders in his chest, a growl slipping from his throat, hips instinctively pressing toward Neron as he burns. “Ah, fuck.” He manages within the growl, wondering absently if it’s different because this man isn’t Nate, doesn’t have that attachment, if instead of love it’s far more lust and he’s not sure he wants it to end so soon.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
The world falls away and Neron lets it. Truthfully it’s the first time he’s been so close to someone while this happens, and whether or not it’s the effect of the bite or the lack of intimacy in his life for so long (kneeling in the grass and delivering an efficient orgasm to the Warden didn’t really count as intimate in this sense), he finds himself enjoying it. Losing himself to it. In fact, as Sunjata’s hips press forward he finds himself responding, humming a note of encouragement and letting his fingers slip up into the back of his hair.
Obviously, bleeding him dry isn’t really ideal, and so eventually Neron releases the other man from his jaws, though he doesn’t step back, doesn’t try to disentangle himself. Something inside him is at war, some old part of him that has never been weaker, given his time in Halo. Something that says what he’s doing and feeling is wrong, that it makes him just like Loren in some weak and shameful sense. The other part of him, though, the one that’s been in charge for so long - it doesn’t really care.
It’s explains the eventual decision to lean up and steal the other man’s lips in a kiss that’s hungry for more than what Sunjata has already given and stained with the taste of blood.
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
Everything does fall away, all Sunjata can think about is the bite, the sharp electric pleasure that vibrates along his spine and leaves nothing in its wake but a primal hunger and need for more. His heart thunders in his chest, head tilting back a bit more as Neron hums his encouragement, presses in closer, gives something for Sunjata to press against. The claws on his hand on the ex-Warden tighten when Neron pulls away, lust glazed steel eyes finding the hybrids however briefly it is, before Neron’s lips find his.
And really, he should stop. Should deal with the awkwardness as it were, waited until he’d met up with Nate again. But his head spins, and he finds himself pressing back against Neron — the taste of blood sparking a growl of his own, the hand along Neron’s side moving now to drag those sharp claws along the other man’s side.
It’s a bit of a whiplash moment, from Neron pinning him with the magic of before to this, but Sunjata attempts to keep it in stride — horned head tilting toward Neron’s own neck, hit breath raking across the hybrid’s skin. “You sure about this?” Comes the quiet confirmation, despite the way Sunjata presses in again. All options for Neron to leave and untangle himself are there. He’s torn between both wanting it to continue and wanting it to end.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
He feels nothing but pressure from the claws that rake against him, but in the aftermath of the bite Neron can almost pretend he registers the touch as pain, phantom and thrilling in the sudden heat between them. There’s breath against his neck and a pressure against his hips that certainly can’t be coming from him; one of his hand is still buried in the back of Sunjata’s hair, and he lets out a dizzy sort of chuckle at a question that sounds frankly absurd in the moment.
”No,” he mutters, because it’s true - he’s never walked this walk before, setting foot into territories unknown. ”Are you?” Already he’s leaning in again, teeth just grazing the spot beneath the other man’s ear, the forbidden places he’s just been told not to touch. He doesn’t break the skin - of course he doesn’t - but pushing boundaries is a game he’s played his whole life.
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
He has to be sure, even if the hand in his hair and the body pressed against his is far more distracting than he’d like it to be. The no is met with a huff of breath — because Sunjata isn’t sure either, not really. “We’ll see.” It’s a gruff response. Unsure of what the implications truly would be once it was done. What the conversation would be like with Nate afterward.
As it turns out, that’s a later Sunjata problem.
The feeling of fangs scraping against the skin beneath his ear has him sucking in a breath before lifting his clawed hand on Neron to the hybrid’s shoulder. “Hey, now.” He nearly tuts the tone, lips curling into a smirk, pressing his head into Neron’s to press the hybrid away. “What did I say?” The breathy purr leaves him, but then his hand at Neron’s shoulder is pushing the hybrid down.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
They will see - sooner rather than later, as it so happens. Neron chuckles against the side of Sunjata’s neck as he presses him away from the place he’s been told not to go, the Hailstorm fighting the urge to roll his eyes. There’s no point, really - not when he’s already being guided somewhere much more interesting. ”I think it was something long the lines of... ah, fuck,” he whispers in response, because that is what he’s just said, in fairness.
The hand against his shoulder guides him down, and steel meets steel just for a second as if Neron’s going to defy the other man, but eventually he slides himself down the length of Jata’s body, long fingers already making short work of belt buckle and buttons. Once he’s settled on his knees, he puts his teeth to work again - this time in places he’s quite certain he’s allowed to be. Sharp canines graze down over the curve of hips, the soft flesh beneath the navel, and if Neron’s being infuriatingly slow, it’s for good reason.
This is a new exploration for him, and Jata is easy on the eyes (a revelation that’s as stunning to Neron in this new context as anything else) - he’s going to take his time.
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
So it was something along those lines. Regardless, Sunjata neither confirms nor denies the subject as Neron moves where Sunjata guides him, the hybrid sliding along his body, working at belts and buttons, and Sunjata nearly shudders under the cold touch as he goes excruciatingly slow down Sunjata’s torso. But there’s a hiss of relief, of content regardless when the fabric is pulled away and he’s freed, hard and waiting and already aching.
But Neron will certainly see a trail of bites along his hips, thighs, silvery scars glimmering in the lowlight of the room. His hand remains on his shoulder, legs trembling with each graze and bite, a shudder truly drifting down his spine and the quick sharp intake of breath. “By all means…” He pauses, a hum slipping through his throat. “Take your time.” While he stands there, one clawed hand digging into the wood of the desk, cock aching and exposed, waiting for Neron to explore these waters as patiently as he can.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
The laugh that rumbles up from Neron’s throat, while muffled by the trail of kisses he’s leaving - kisses made cold by magic - is nonetheless wicked and amused. He’s doing his best to ignore the hard and waiting cock in his line of sight, suddenly very interested in the claw-tipped fingers gripping his shoulder, in the silvery markings that he thinks would probably fit the seal of his own mouth quite well.
It’s not that he doesn’t know what to do with it - he’s owned one his entire life, after all, and he was far from the socially awkward recluse that Loren was in his youth. But the intense pleasure from a moment ago already feels so far away, and since he’s not been told to stay away from this particular area, he’s keen to make the most of it.
”Hold on.” Is it a joke? A pause? A request for patience? Or is it a literal warning - to hold onto something - as he sinks his fangs into an unmarked place along Sunjata’s hips, feeling blood swell up from the wound, a firecracker of pleasure in the base of his spine.
feeling alive while you fight for your life as you swim back to the beaches
He struggles, under the guise of trying to keep calm, despite the way his legs tremble with expectation. It’s almost as if he can see the gears spinning in Neron’s head while his steel gaze lingers on the hybrid. He hears ‘hold on’ and Sunjata does — gripping the table a bit tighter, claws digging into Neron’s shoulder the minute the teeth sink into his hip, a groan slipping from his lips, head tilting back as the pleasure electrically charges up and down his spine.
His legs tremble again, a quaking shudder, body attempting to arch and he can feel the groan of the wood beneath his hand — hips wanting to press closer toward Neron, cock aching and twitching for attention, Sunjata burning under Neron’s attention — unable to say anything while pleasure zips up and down his spine.
don't be scared of the tide, just prepare for the ride as you float, you float, you float
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Gods, it’s almost too much even for Neron - pleasure and sensation starved as he is the majority of the time these days - and he can’t even fathom what it must be like for the man above him. Moaning into this kiss punctuated by fangs, his hand flexes against the back of Sunjata’s thighs, and he draws back with every fibre on him alight with carnal fire.
There’s very little blood from the bite, given that the purpose was pleasure and little else - and with the ecstasy of it still flooding him, he’s finally content to give the other man the attention he so richly deserves. With cheeks flushed with colour from blood that is not his own, Neron leans in at last, tongue swirling around the head of Sunjata’s cock, his hand moving to squeeze and stroke out a rhythm that jumps right over teasing and straight into hard and intense.
Neron doesn’t waste time with preamble - given how wound up he is, he can only imagine that the Arbiter feels the same, and given that he can’t do much about his own situation, he can at least provide one of them with relief. Humming a note of pleasure, he takes as much of the other man as he can, shrugging the hand off his shoulder that it might tighten in his hair instead.
