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!
"Oh, you don't want to be growling at me." Remi warns with a grin that is both amused and menacing. "I'm the much bigger predator, you remember." Then as Ianto hops off, Remi feigns indignation and confusion. "Me? I didn't do anything. It isn't my fault you couldn't keep your paws on your potatoes." He pouts, before standing and leaning over to grab both bowls.
"Now, now. No need to sulk, there's still plenty more." Remi says with a boyish smile. There aren't more clothes though. Not ones that are easily accessible, so the Alchemist is just going to have to manage with a soppy crotch for now. Disappearing back into the house and returning with two more bowls of stew, Remi gives the fox a pointed stare before putting his portion down on the ground. He puts one end against the bannister though so that it won't slide away. That's assuming the fox eats it from the opposite side of course.
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
My potatoes have never taken flight around anyone but you, Ianto points out, ears pricking up at the prospect of more food, peeking in through the door to watch Remi pad away down the corridor. As he returns, Ianto backs up and makes sure to give the bowls a wide berth until his own is set down, a thrum of gratitude pulsing through the bond before he trots over to begin again in earnest.
So is this meant to be the weather for the rest of the season? he wonders, gaze lifting to the wall of rain before dropping to his food again. Glad I didn’t end up wandering off a cliff or something. He’s chuckling, but really it had been about as likely as his finding Remi, for a while out there. Are you all just going to stick it out here?
08-05-2020, 06:27 PM (This post was last modified: 08-05-2020, 06:27 PM by Remi.)
i could be anything in the world
"Well that hardly proves anything." Remi says with a mild shrug of protest. After all, how large could the sample size of men-Ianto-has-eaten-potatoes-with possibly be? Not large enough to draw a conclusion from, that was for sure.
"mmhm. More or less." Remi agrees, sitting down again to try and eat his food again. "I guess it's a bit like being stuck in during LongNight only...there aren't monsters about trying to kill you." He shrugs, trying not to let his mind picture the fox disappearing down a cliffside with more vivacity than was strictly necessary. Given his current emotional state, the appropriate amount was 0.
"Well, I think some of the other buildings were hit pretty hard. I might have to find some time to go and sort things out and make sure everyone is alright." Remi replies with a bit of a sigh. "But mostly...yeah. I don't go to the Hollowed Grounds anymore except when I have to. Same goes for Halo." The Greatwood had always been a place more or less off-limits, even though Remi had been given a pass early on.
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Quite, Ianto murmurs, with the distinct tone that it certainly did prove something. His hackles raise just a bit as Remi mentions Longnight, Ianto lifting his muzzle to flick an ear in the Alchemist’s direction. I was lucky enough to avoid it at the Hollowed Grounds. I can’t imagine it, and I don’t want to. His whiskers twitch and he returns his attention to the stew.
Snuffling a note of discord at the idea of the Alchemist having to head back out into the storm, he makes short work of food this time around (now that it’s not running away from him) and moves to sit at Remi’s side, gazing out into it all. I just meant until the end of the season. But I don’t blame you for not wanting to go back there. Never been to Halo, myself. Sounds cold. Ain’t for me.
"No." Remi agrees in a low voice. "And I hope you never try." To imagine it, that was. It went without saying that the Alchemist never wanted the fox to see it first hand, but the mind could be just as cruel.
Remi too finishes without incident, putting his bowl on the ground so that the fox could lick it clean if he chose. "I mean, we're already both a mess." He says, nudging the fox with his leg and then patting his lap. "Halo is cold, and rather miserable. Dragons everywhere, these big tusked bear things roaming all over the place.." Assuming the fox had made his way onto his lap, Remi would loop an arm around him, while the other absently worked through the scruff on his neck.
"Hey you...didn't hear anything about an ascended-murder-plots from the fae while you were still in the woods, did you?"
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Oh, Ianto chooses. Licking the bowl spotless and looking up at Remi, he wastes no time in hopping up into his friend’s lap, grumbling a note of contentment as he settles and sprawls out. It’s the best sort of comfort, to be fussed over when he’s in fur, and he stretches his head up to flop back on Remi’s shoulder so he can scritch at the fluffy white (well, brown) fur on his chest. I was born a mess, he informs the other man, letting out a whine of encouragement and snuffling into Remi’s ear.
Gross, is his opinion of Halo - an apt one, if there’s shit like dragons and other spooks around. Ears perking up at the whole Ascended-plot-thing, a pulse of confusion reaches Remi through their Attuned bond. ...No, I can’t say I have. But... they’re very secretive these days, even with me. I try my best to keep out of things. Hence his being in Torchline.
Snorting under his breath but only half leaning away as Ianto's muzzle tickles his ear, Remi tugs the fox all the more closely as if he's nothing more than some semi-sentient stuffed toy. His fingers roam across brown, white, and copper fur, feeling out the places where bones and muscle bleed into thick tufts of fur. It's shockingly comforting to have the little body pressed against him, all warm fluff and quick pants.
"Mmm, probably for the best. But if you do hang around Sam more, just know that someone seems to be trying to ignite a war against the ascended." Keep away from Sam for other reasons too, he wants to add, but doesn't. That sort of thing borders terribly close to the line drawn with Ronin's help.
"How much more world do you think there is, here?" Remi wonders, leaning his cheek against the side of Ianto's muzzle softly. "I mean..if this thing erupts into war, I want no part of it. Do you think there are more places for us to go? Or is this...it?" There's Stormbreak, but right now it sounded about as unappealing as Halo.
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Stuffed toys are not nearly so wriggly as Ianto, though the fox is more than happy to receive his fuss. He delivers playful yips and snaps of teeth, pawing at Remi’s face more than once to leave a streak of mud there, before the Alchemist presses his cheek against his maw. I will definitely keep that in mind, he murmurs; gods know the fox is keen to keep himself out of trouble, and this spells trouble with a capital FUCK.
How much world is there, though? The fox whines low in the back of his throat, huffing out a dramatic sigh. Oodles, I bet, he says. This place will always surprise us. There’ll be more and more and more places, and we’re gonna end up wanting to see it. It’s the curse of souls like us. Always on the fucking move. He laughs.
The brown streaks of mud compliment Remi's green eyes as they narrow toward Ianto. He's not bothered at all by the mud and if anything, he probably deserves it for leaving his friend out in the rain the night before and stealing one of his potatoes.
"Souls like us, huh." The Alchemist murmurs, hissing in a breath as one of Ianto's paws shifts more southernly than it ought. Adjusting the fox's position on his lap and breathing a sigh of relief, Remi lets his eyes blur against the sheets of rain that fall seemingly without end. "How do you know what you stand for?" He asks suddenly, his voice soft and genuine and perhaps a shade worried. "How do you know...what you're alright being, versus what is just easier."
Leaning his head back to give the fox a softly confused stare, a dimple appearing on just one cheek as Remi's lips curl up uncertainly on one side. "I'm trying to...make rules for myself again. Sort of like I had back in Northaven. Only...since I'm the one making them now, it seems all a bit..." Releasing his fingers from where they've been buried in Ianto's scruff, Remi makes a vacuous sort of gesture as he shrugs.
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ianto snorts and relaxes further in Remi’s arms, shifting the offending paw out of reach. Sorry, he laughs through the bond, pretty much cradled like a baby against the Alchemist by now, his whiskers twitching annoyingly against his ear. The question comes unexpectedly, Ianto’s wet tail flicking here and there as he considers it; if foxes could shrug, that’s what he’d do in the end. What’s easier doesn’t feel good. Just feels easy, he says slowly, shifting to tuck his head under Remi’s chin.
It was easy being under Warren’s thumb. I was successful, ran a full train of Wumpus Wagons. Didn’t want for nothing. But it felt like... like wearing a suit that’s too small. Or a belt that’s too tight. His ears flatten at the memory. This is the first time I’ve ever felt alright with what I am, he confesses. I’ve always been... someone’s property. The orphanage, Warren, Arduinna... I know what it feels like when it’s just easy.
Following Remi’s hand, he snuffles into the Alchemist’s collar. I holed myself up for a season alone, he said. Gave me the time I needed to get my shit together.
One day, someone should study the psychology of shifted-humans. It was a strange thing indeed for Remi to be so worried about something as simple as Ianto playfully pressing his fingers against his lips, and yet be so very alright rocking the fox in his arms like a child. He wouldn't even bat an eye should the fox lick him. It was weird, shifting. But it was something different, and gods if Remi wasn't infinitely thankful that Ianto was in the body he was in, just now.
"But what feels good isn't always a good measure of what one should do." Trickling his fingers down the fox's spine while at the same time tilting his head into the feeling of whiskers frustratingly light against his ear, he falls silent as Ianto continues. Not that Remi's experiences were similar, but he did know the sort of ease the fox spoke of. In Northaven, brutal as some of the confines were, at least the rules were clear, the lines already drawn. He just had to toe them and everything would be alright.
"Mmmm." Remi hums against the fox, feeling the vibrations of his own voice reverberating through the small body. "I just...let myself go here for the last year, but it didn't help. And unlike you, I think being alone might be worse for me."
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
The bark that Ianto lets out is a close approximation of a laugh, huffed down the Alchemist’s sweater, his ear twitching against his cheek. wHaT oNe sHOuLd dO, he repeats, terribly mimicking the other man’s accent. What should we do, Remi? Join an army? Not kill animals? Have children? Leave the elderly and sick to die? He snorts. The goalposts change whoever you ask. Depends on who’s king, I find. No offence, to him or Ronin.
Reaching up, he presses a muddy paw this time to Remi’s nose, growling a note of amusement. That’s because you’re shit at being alone, he tells him, like it’s obvious. Always have been. Bet it doesn’t feel good to be a bastard to everyone, or to push ‘em all way. Bet it just feels easy.
"Oh not bad." Remi quips. "You must have been practising." He adds, referring to Ianto's attempt at his own accent, before tensing his stomach muscles to unsteady the fox as he huffs down Remi's sweater. It's a rather sweet feeling actually, but retaliation is necessary. 'Well, we can't all be mischievous free spirits with gold teeth." Remi snips.
As the fox shifts, Remi's eyes nearly go crossed as he tries to focus on the paw, before scrunching his nose and huffing out a stream of air out of his nose as if he's some sort of frustrated bull. Quickly though he raises a brow. The...not being alone part is difficult for him to agree with, if only because he can't recall those times anymore. Early memories with Ianto and even Loren are utterly gone. Falling silent, the fox's words shockingly apt, Remi merely nods as he rocks himself and Ianto back and forth for a silent few minutes.
"I...can't believe how easy." He says after a moment through incredibly dry lips. "I never really thought I was the sort of person who could...care so little." And indeed, no one is more unnerved by the Alchemist's casual cruelty than himself. "But I'm trying to find my way back, only...I suppose I don't know where the line is, between the pushover naive idiot I once was, and the me-now. I don't suppose you have any bright ideas, mm?"
THE ALCHEMIST
but all i wanted was to be his
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Oi, I earned these gold teeth by getting the real ones knocked outta me, fair and square. Actually it had been neither fair nor square, and Ianto’s nose wrinkles at the memory. Jostled by Remi, his front paws flail a bit as he slides down the Alchemist’s chest, muddy belly exposed and his head coming to rest in the crook of his friend’s arm. Then he goes and starts rocking them, and Ianto’s jaws part in a mighty yawn, golden eyes slipping shut until Remi speaks again.
You’re not, he says, his voice sounding equally as comfy. You’re just doing a really good impression of someone who cares so little. People who don’t care don’t ask the sorts of questions you do. But what can he do about it? First off, Ianto swats at Remi’s chest with a paw. Don’t you badmouth the naive idiot, he says sharply, chuckling. I mean... the you from before only thought about other people. The you now only thinks ‘bout himself. Smoosh ‘em together and what do you got? He peers up at the other man, as if waiting for the answer.
