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!
09-09-2020, 10:14 PM (This post was last modified: 09-09-2020, 10:14 PM by Remi.)
REMI
the lullaby
walk me home in the dead of night
It isn't a new trick by any stretch, but oh, how Remi adores seeing the muffled surprise and outrage in Ronin's blue eyes, and of course the inevitable wriggling which follows. Grinning widely, clearly quite proud of himself even if his efforts at subtly missed their mark, the Lullaby just shrugs with boyish ease at the rejection of his offer. "Fine, fine. Suit yourself, huntsman." Gods but it feels good to laugh.
Pulled around and then flung, Remi allows himself a moment of pure free-fall before wings snap from his sides to help catch him before he's enveloped completely by the snowbank. Though Ronin's focus is elsewhere by now, Remi still turns and draws a large heart in the snow. The left side is, predictably, more crooked than the right (isn't that always the way), and so with a scowl, he huffs at it, and magically the heart is made symmetrical.
Mouth agape at the suggestion, a wicked amusement bright in his sea-green gaze, Remi just grins. "I think it's a terrible idea, and I absolutely want to try." And then, like the bacon-sandwich-wine-dipping barbarian he is, the Lullaby shoves the marshmallow stick right into the fire so that both puffs pick up their own flame.
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”I knew we would be on the same page,” Ronin says with a sweet smile, though the look in his eyes is just as wicked as his husband’s. Spying the heart out of the corner of his eye, he feels a warmth bloom in his chest and finds himself scooting closer to Remi, an arm wrapping around his back so he can watch their marshmallows lightly toast their way to melty perfection. Or in Remi’s case, blacken and catch fire.
”You’re so good at this,” he tells him proudly, voice muffled where he’s shoved one of the treats from the bag in his lap into his mouth. He offers one to Remi as well, pressing it against his lips with his eyes still on the flaming mallows. Because those are for show now, obviously. ”You could light the way in the dark with those,” he says, his tone dry. ”Like two happy, melty torches.”
"Y'know, that almost sounds like sass, Ronin." Remi grumps, opening his mouth and all but devouring the fingers which offer him an uncooked marshmallow. "I take it that means you don't want one?" He asks of the charcoal-husks loosely wrapped around liquid-sugar. Not bothering to wait for an answer, Remi reaches out his fingers, predictably burning them first, before managing to pop the burned mess into his mouth. Heaving air in and out to cool the remainder of the marshmallow, he offers his husband a bright and unapologetic grin. "Mmm. My' 'avourite." He says, still trying not to burn the top of his mouth.
Putting two more marshmallows onto his stick and this time acting as though he's actually going to roast them to golden perfection (the lengths he goes to to make Ronin happy..), he glances over his shoulder at Ronin, nudging his counterpart. "So, water from some hot spring huh. Is it magic? Or does it just...I don't know, counteract this, somehow?"
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Does it? I would never.” Ronin gasps dramatically, only to feign injury as his fingers are nearly taken off with the marshmallow. ”So bitey, husband.” He finishes his treat, leaning in to kiss Remi’s cheek and nibble at his ear, as if in revenge. If revenge was mutually beneficial, of course. He watches with a mix of amusement and horror as the other man repeatedly burns himself on blackened sugar, slowly shaking his head as if to tell him he’s good, thank you very much.
More mallows follow, at least, and these look like they might actually make it out alive, Ronin idly letting his hands trace patterns over Remi’s back as they talk. ”I imagine it’s some sort of magic. Apparently Frey is responsible for them, so it’s got a god’s touch to it. I’ll be honest, for once I didn’t ask many questions. I just want to get there and have you back.” He grins.
"Always." Remi all but purrs into Ronin's revenge. He ignores completely the judgement he reads in his husband's blue eyes, plopping the other marshmallow in his mouth and happily smacking his lips for good measure. Bluebloods He thinks haughtily through their bond, before feigning a look of surprise, as if not intending Ronin to hear.
"Are you kidding." Remi asks flatly. As he turns to look at Ronin fire catches on his perfectly toasted offerings. Singing a melody of curses before blowing on the roundish squares which are now ruined, the Lullaby huffs a sigh and turns to face Ronin properly. "Since when has Frey ever been the cure for anything?" Anything other than erectile dysfunction, perhaps.
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin raises his eyebrows in a perfect caricature of unimpressed baron, trying to look as haughty as he’s being painted out but ruining it entirely with the smile that keeps trying to creep across his face. He should be more mindful of Remi’s misgivings about this Frey-given cure, but nothing seems capable of dampening his mood tonight. Indeed, he chuckles at the curses that sing through the air around them, reaching out to pluck one of the charred marshmallows from the stick, having to toss it between his hands to stop from getting burned.
”About the same amount as Ludo, Safrin, Vi, Mort, Rae... or any others we’ve missed somehow.” Ronin shrugs his shoulders, blowing on the over-toasted treat before popping it in his mouth. His reply is clear - does it matter? Since when has one god been better or worse than another when it comes to this kind of shitfuckery? ”You’ve sold me on these,” he says of burned marshmallows, licking his fingers.
Remi both loves and hates how well Ronin can still don the affect of baron. It brings with it flashes of a time when his friendship with Ronin was questionable thanks to the world they lived in. But at the same time, who wouldn't want to see the Star's expression schooled into something chiselled and haughty, if you could know it was all for show? Even here, seated on a log, Remi's knees feel weak for seeing it.
The Lullaby is still skeptical, but trapped in this world of dreams it doesn't seem like it makes much sense to argue. Ronin will be out doing the legwork after all, and watching him eat marshmallows is more than distracting enough to lull Remi's mind somewhere far less concerned.
"I knew I would." The Lullaby chirps proudly, leaning over to kiss away a bit of sugar from the corner of Ronin's mouth. "So how do you think all of this works? You coming into my dream?" It hasn't occurred to the Lullaby yet that he's just as active a participant in this.
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Hey - I was saving that for later,” Ronin objects, grinning as Remi swoops in to kiss sugar from his lips. Then he goes and ruins it by asking about logical stuff, the Star rolling his eyes and all but dragging the alchemist into his lap, as if that will persuade him not to make him talk shop. ”Well, I’ve been able to do this dream walking stuff since Seren went back with Safrin... she mentioned it could help with other things.”
He exhales softly, kissing the side of Remi’s neck. ”I guess your fever is the equivalent of being lost in a magical sleep...? So I can help to draw you out of it?” Not that he knows the full extent of it all yet. Honestly, for now Ronin is just happy to be able to talk to his husband; it’s about all that’s keeping him from snapping.
"Well, I was saving it for now." Remi returns without missing a beat.
"I just...is it only me? Can you ... come and go when you like? Do you feel rested after?" He can't help the stream of questions. It seems...important somehow. That it was Safrin who gave Ronin the ability immediately suggests that there is some catch. Something they don't know. "Things here aren't...real, are they?"
Because things in dreams had been real for Ronin before...
"I suppose it's real enough for me, but what about for you?" There was something forming in the back of the alchemist's mind. A half-baked idea that was missing a few ingredients before it might resemble anything at all.
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin chews at the inside of his lip, gazing into the fire until it burns his eyes and makes spots dance before his vision. Remi can’t help the stream of questions but they don’t help Ronin in the slightest, and his cheeks flush pink as he’s asked if he wakes up rested. He doesn’t want to tell his husband no, even though his silence says more than words ever could, and eventually he lets out a long huff of air.
”Safrin said to me that dreams are like a whole other world. Like a place between life and death. She said I could see Seren here... Aoife, Vanya... could build any paradise I pleased. I can help people from their nightmares, I can bring them out of sleep they’ve been forced into. But if I’m not sure of myself the whole time, I can get lost...”
He shrugs his shoulders to Remi. ”I’m nothing but sure of myself when I’m here, with you. So I’m not lost yet.” Flashing his husband a soft smile, he leans into rest his head against the Lullaby’s. ”So... yes. I suppose you could say it is real, for me.”
He hears the answers he'd hope to avoid spelled out in silence and smoke. As Ronin says the name of their daughter the Lullaby bristles in the Star's arms, his expression one of cold alarm. "Aoife, that's who—" Turning around sharply, his eyes scanning the evergreen woods which stand tall and silent around them, Remi blinks with the same confusion he'd had when Ronin had first found him. "I think I saw her." The hesitation in his voice suggests that it might not have been the most pleasant thing. Not a joyous reunion.
"Lost? In the darkness?" Lost, the way I am lost here, without you? Humming a note of contentment and pulling himself ever closer to the huntsman, Remi looks up at the sky. "It's strange to think that we're out there though. In our bed, asleep."
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin jumps a bit, following Remi’s gaze around and furrowing his brow, and as her name leaves his husband’s lips in turn, the Star’s breath catches in his throat. ”You didn’t,” he says, sounding quietly, soothingly confident about that. ”If you did, you wouldn’t be looking like that.” Seeing Aoife wouldn’t fill him with trepidation. It wouldn’t be a nightmare.
He welcomes Remi’s closeness and leans into his touches, giving his shoulders a gentle squeeze. ”Or lost in the light,” he says. ”If we were to paint a picture of a world so much better than the one we live in, why would we ever want to leave? That’s where we have to be careful. Too much of anything can be bad.” He smiles. ”It is strange, though... Probably even more for you. You’ve just been... here.”
There's...truth to what Ronin is saying. Remi knows it all the way down to his toes from the tips of his ears, and yet...yet...Already the ghost of the memory is gone, and with it the reluctance he feels to cast his husband's reassurances aside. "Surely not of anything..." Remi whispers suggestively, exhaling a warm breath down the collar of Ronin's jacket, swiftly followed up by a trail of kisses. He knows what the Star means of course, but too much of Ronin?
Never.
"When you aren't here it...isn't really like anything at all. I'm not sure what it would be like when I"m not sick. Time passes differently, or maybe not at all. It feels like forever, and then suddenly I see your light and everything snaps back into focus." So...yes. It was weird.
because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
A laugh rumbles up through Ronin’s chest and throat, his eyes closing to better enjoy the sensation of kisses along his neck. He wraps his arms more tightly around the Lullaby, eventually unable to resist tilting up Remi’s chin to enjoy the sweetness of his lips instead. ”Okay, maybe not anything,” he agrees in a breathless whisper; too much of Remi sounds like the best sort of paradise, in his opinion, and the Star has to stop himself from getting too carried away.
Remi’s words help to sober and ground him, and Ronin presses his cheek against the alchemist’s crown of curls. ”I’m sorry,” he whispers. ”If it feels real for you, then that really must feel like forever...” Closing his eyes, he pulls in another chilly breath. ”It definitely doesn't make it any easier to leave you,” he mumbles. ”At least I’ll have you back soon. For now, though? In a place where we can have anything, what do you want to make?”
