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!
With the horrendously stressful and tense last week he'd had, fighting with Wessex and his own family over the endless acts and morals of the Ascended, Sam had really begun to value the friends he had that weren't connected to the Voice at all, or at least didn't seem to care too much about what the Gods were getting up to. Zeph was one of them, and he found that he wanted to speak to Vervain again, maybe get to know her better.
He'd heard she was staying with Remi, and while Sam was quite happy to see the Governor, right now he wanted easy conversation with someone he didn't have much history with, so he secretly hoped he might not be home. In his hands he held a bag containing some biscuits bought from the market and a few teabags, hoping Vervain might be able to provide cups and water if she wanted some.
Of course, with the season being what it was he had to carefully plan his visit to be between the storms, carefully picking his way towards the house over wet stones and debris-covered paths. Hopefully he'd be able to leave before the next major one began. Knocking on the door with his free hand, he thought to call in case there were several people home. "Hello? It's Samuel. I was hoping to see Vervain...?"
Samuel is in luck, and Vervain is home. Hearing the knock followed by her name is enough for her to come through from the kitchen where she’s preparing food for later (because what else is there to do in a monsoon other than cook endlessly?). Unlocking the door and opening it, Sam will be greeted by the witch wearing an oversized shirt that probably doesn’t belong to her, wielding a very impressive looking spoon, her hair in a high and messy tail.
”Oh, hello Sam!” She smiles to him cheerfully, stepping aside for him to come in automatically. ”This is a long way from Haulani. What are you doing so far from your shop in this weather?” Automatically she looks over him, as if to make sure he hasn’t been soaked by a downpour.
Luckily Vervain answered the door; Sam realised he'd never seen her not prepared to go out as she did and almost wanted to avert his eyes, but kept a determined smile on his face as he stepped in. He'd seen the house before when he'd come to see Remi, though there was still some interest in how it had changed with the new residents. Coming into the middle of the room he put down the bag on whichever surface was closest.
"Oh, it's not that far...I used to take a lot of long walks in the Grounds." When you didn't need to stop for food or anything else, it was easy to set off for hours at a time almost by accident. "But I came to see you, actually - I brought some tea , I thought we could sit and talk for a while? Recently I um...well, I've come to really appreciate the friends I have that stay around, and I would like to know you better." Hoping that would come off as friendly rather than desperate or weird, he chewed on his lip as he waited for her to respond.
”That doesn’t mean you can’t get washed away by the monsoon,” Vai points out with a playful wink that hides her concern, and she shuts the door behind him once he’s walked inside. The closest surface will be the coffee table in the middle of the living room, but she beckons for him to follow her into the kitchen where she can make sure nothing burns. There’s a pot of stew bubbling on the stove, Vai moving to stir it and turn down the heat before turning her attention to Samuel.
Her eyebrows raise a little at learning he’s come to see her, and she moves to sit at the kitchen table, gesturing for Sam to take a seat as well. ”Is everything okay?” she asks, a smile tugging at her lips. ”You’re welcome here any time, of course. I’ll put on a pot of water and we’ll have some tea. Though I’m not sure what there is to know about me.” She laughs.
"Even then, I can't drown." Sam pointed out with an equally playful smile, quite sure he wasn't in danger. He'd been in much worse than a storm, even with how much he didn't like them, and his Goddess had helped him then. "I promise, I'm fine. I don't think Zeph would let me leave the house if he thought I was actually going to die." The man had been vigilant indeed at the chance of riptides in the sea, so it seemed he would also not want to see Sam dashed against the rocks in a monsoon.
He looked over to the pot, stopping just short of peering to see what was inside, always curious about what meals people were eating; a side effect of no longer having any of his own, probably.
Taking a seat, he made an instinctive expression of no at the question, when he'd actually wanted to lie about it and say everything was fine. Sighing, knowing he wouldn't get away with it now, he tilted his head from side to side. "No, not really, but I don't want to spend every conversation I have with you whining about my own problems. I really would like to know more about you. Has it been nice, living with Remi and Ronin here?"
”You might not drown, but you could be swept away and lost, Sam,” Vai points out, her voice playfully chiding in the way a mother might gently admonish a child. ”You ought to be more careful.” She’s already getting up to fill a pot with water, smirking at the way he peeks in at the stew. ”You’re welcome to have some, when it’s done,” she tells him, though she knows he doesn’t need it.
The mention of Zeph halts her hands a bit, and she looks at him suddenly. Curiously. You are Red,” she says, as it suddenly dawns on her, a smile flashing across her face. ”It all makes sense now.”
But Sam has already mentioned not wanting to talk about himself, so Vai moves to settle back at the table with him while they wait for the water to boil. ”It has been loud,” she informs him with a knowing sort of look. ”But yes, it’s been lovely to see them both again. Someone has to make sure they don’t kill themselves or each other out of stupidity.”
"I have actually been thinking...not right now, obviously, but when the sea is calmer, I was considering trying to go under the water to see the city." Sam wasn't sure if the idea was stupid or not - it seemed bizarre to think he could just walk under the ocean and find the Mer city, but he also couldn't think of a reason why not.
Only laughing at the offer of stew, he shook his head and watched her fill up the pot with water, thinking over his choice of tea. Or at least, he had been, until she declared he was red, something that for a moment entirely baffled him. "..Oh, yes. That's what Zeph calls me." Sam laughed, shaking his head. "I didn't choose the nickname, it just kind of...happened after I started living with him."
He smiled at hearing the house was loud; with Remi's somewhat icy attitudes recently making that a surprise. "Oh dear, why do you say that? I thought they were quite happy."
”To see the city...?” Vai frowns and tilts her head, obviously not realising what he was talking about at first. Then it clicked, the witch nodding in understanding. ”Ah, the merfolk,” she says with a faint smile. ”I imagine that would be quite the adventure. Think - you could be the first to map out the underwater city.” She recalled Sam saying that was what he wanted to do with his new life in Torchline. Granted, there was not much map-making to be done with the monsoons, but Longheat would be there soon enough.
”He certainly has a way with words,” she remarks about Zeph, laughing softly and getting to her feet again to collect two mugs for them. ”What kind of tea did you bring? I have my own stash, if you want to swap flavours.” Then, at the comment about Remi and Ronin being happy, she can’t resist, snorting to Sam.
”Oh they are more than quite,” she assures him, bouncing her eyebrows. ”They’re very happy. Happy in the bedroom, happy in the living room. Happy on the porch, sometimes. They’re happy at all hours of the night.”
"...I'd need some kind of waterproof ink." Sam said out loud, considering the practicalities of this mission; there was also the question of whether anyone actually needed a map of the Underwater City: he was sure the Mer either already had them or didn't need them, and most humans couldn't get there....but all of that was just the usual sort of tangent his mind went on, and not worth saying to Vervain, so instead he went with: "Have you ever met a Mer? I haven't."
He held up the tea he had brought, dark leaves in a small mesh bag. "It's one of my favourites from the Grounds, something a little more bitter and herbal than the teas you get here in Torchline. I have a spare few bags, if you would like to trade...what do you have?" Privately, he hoped she might have something from the Greatwood, as he'd never tried their particular delicacies. "Oh, and how do you know Zeph?"
Vervain's answer about Remi and Ronin would have made him blush had he the blood for it, but it still caused Sam to look down to the floor with a shy laugh. "Oh, I see. I hope no one passes by the porch, then."
08-23-2020, 07:48 PM (This post was last modified: 08-23-2020, 08:38 PM by Vervain.)
Vervain
”And parchment to withstand the water,” Vai adds with a soft frown, also considering the possibilities and practicalities of such a mission. ”Then again, perhaps you could just trade maps with one of the merfolk?” Above land, of course. Sam would still need waterproof materials so the mers could take their maps back home, but it was worth a go. She shakes her head at his question, seeming infinitely curious. ”Never, no.”
Vai is interested in the tea, naturally, remembering the blends from the Hollowed Grounds when she had lived there. Nodding, she rises to her feet to fetch a tin from one of the cupboards, bringing it to the table - and the kettle, as it starts to whistle just then. ”I’d love to trade. I have a few loose leaf teas from the Greatwood - they’re all delicate flavours, floral things. Though there’s a liquorice one too, which is interesting.” She opens the tin for him to look through.
How does she know Zeph, though? Her cheeks colour a bit at that, Vai shrugging her shoulders. ”We met at Longnight,” she explains. ”And... well, I suppose you could say that we are happy, sometimes, in the same way that Remi and Ronin are.” Though what they were to each other was still something they hadn’t really spoken about.
"...I'm not even sure they use maps." Sam huffed out a breath with frown, the whole situation just rife with holes in his knowledge. A lot of people he knew had never even seen a Mer, and it seemed like Vervain was to be included in that number. "Do you know anyone who has? I wonder if there's a way for me to find one and ask them if they need maps..." He'd never really been one for proselytising his own skills, but when it came with the potential added benefit of seeing mermaids, Sam could perhaps get over the shyness.
Eagerly taking the tin of tea, Sam began to lift out bags and sniff at them, seeing which ones intrigued him the most. "Oh, some of these smell beautiful." He commented, even his limited sense of smell pleased at the pungent floral teas.
He was still sorting through them, happily lost in thoughts of what he could trade, when Vervain answered his question about Zeph. At first he didn't quite understand what she meant, then his hand began to slow in the tin, his face turn up to look at her with clear tears forming at his eyes, which he did his best to blink away, not wanting to make this into a thing.
It was going to be a thing.
"I um...oh, I see. Right." Sam mumbled, voice clearly strained, barely able to talk over the cacophony in his head of embarrassment and shame that he had even tried to be with Zeph when the man had someone so much better. That his housemate had been so kind, not even mentioning it, just made it all the worse - he pitied him, and comparing himself to Vai, Sam pitied himself too. Taking a breath that was obviously tear-logged, he nodded. "Sorry. That's good. I'm happy for you."
08-26-2020, 06:23 PM (This post was last modified: 08-26-2020, 06:24 PM by Vervain.)
Vervain
”I’m glad you like them. I’ll trade you some of your blend from the Grounds for anything you want from that tin,” Vai says, smiling and pouring water into their mugs to brew the tea, returning the kettle to the stove. As she moves, she considers Sam’s further questions. ”I imagine that Remi and Ronin have, certainly, as members of the council. And Zeph too. I could ask around, see if anyone would be willing to tell you more. Maybe you could meet one then as well.”
Alas, their easy conversation is not destined to continue. Sam’s silence draws out, Vai returning to the table in time to meet his eyes as he looks up at her. She can’t miss the tears, the witch frowning and running her fingers through her hair. ”Are you alright? Is... did I say something wrong?”
Sam took out some bags he wanted then looking through his own things, shuffled through to find some tea from the Grounds. After his recent visit he'd gotten some more, so he had plenty to give, and he'd give it happily for a chance to try tea from the Greatwood. "Thank you."
Matters of Mers were indeed interesting, but with the emotional reaction Vervain had accidentally brought up in him, Sam knew he had to explain it, as little as he wanted to. "Um...no, it's not your fault, I'm sorry." He shook his head, not knowing how honest to be at first: it was going to be an awkward conversation regardless, but he didn't know if telling the truth would make it all the worse.
Looking to Vervain, her kind eyes, he decided to tell her the whole truth. She'd never let him down with her understanding so far, after all. "It's...It's a little awkward, I suppose, but I've um...I suppose you could say I've had a crush on Zeph for a while." Wanting to sink into the ground, Sam clasped his hands together on the table hard, trying to force himself to continue. "He turned me down and it's all...settled, I just...I'm still trying to get over some of my feelings, I suppose, and I didn't know he had someone. I'm embarrassed I asked him to be with me when someone like you was there." Laughing a quite, self-deprecating laugh, Sam shuffled his feet and stared down at the floor.
Almost on autopilot, Vai accepts the tea blends he’s produced from the Grounds, nodding her thanks and tucking them into the tin, which she closes again. Her brow furrows to hear that it isn’t her fault - it certainly feels like it is - and the witch drums her fingers along the tin as Sam explains, content to be an ear to listen for him for the time being. And it makes sense, when she realises what the problem is, Vai letting out a long breath through a slow whistle, slouching back in her seat.
”I had no idea - obviously,” she says, a flicker of a smile chasing across her face. ”I imagine that must make things quite difficult, given that you still live with him.” Absently, she gives their mugs a stir, pushing his across to him - tea sounds like a pretty adequate thing for just now.
Still, Vai scrunches her nose to hear him put himself down, the witch tilting her head at him. ”There’s someone out there for you, y’know,” she says gently. ”Don’t compare yourself unfairly to others, it won’t serve you. I’m sorry though, Sam. Is there anything I can do?”
