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!
Remi laughs as well, happily cradled in Ronin's arms. His body feels as though it is filled with lead, and were the Star not there to support him, he'd be flat on his back. "You say that, but I don't recall showering or brushing my teeth for the last two weeks, so.." He's about to make a joke about joining Amalia in the shower, but doesn't. There isn't any tension that needs to be dismissed with a joke.
"It's so good to...be with you and not have to worry about losing my mind again the second I get too warm." Then, starting to piece together a few more things, he tilts his head back to gaze up at Ronin. "How long do I have?" If Amalia was with it enough for sex and to shower on her own, surely that was a good sign? Though Remi has no idea how long its been between when Ronin told him of the water initially, and now.
Reaching up a hand to press it to his eyes, the alchemist shakes his head with indecision. "Everything and nothing sounds good right now, to be honest." He feels as though he could shift and take down an Ursur, though his body is quick to remind him that no, he absolutely can't do that.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Then we’ll just have to make the most of your shower,” Ronin says softly, caring not one iota about the physical state of his husband if it means he can hold a conversation with him in peace and clarity. Nodding his agreement, the Star seems suddenly exhausted, and were it not for the joy in the moment (and the fact that he’s not sure Remi will ever want to sleep again), he’d be slipping into a nap right now.
”It’s been about four or five days, for Amalia,” he whispers, unable to quite believe it himself, a smile colouring his words. ”So at least that long.” Kissing his forehead, he shifts up a little on the bed so he can sit with Remi properly, though not for one second does he even consider letting him go.
The indecision is fine with Ronin - he gets up from the bed at the same time as he stays wrapped around his husband, his projection padding out of the room to see what he can forage. ”Then we’ll start slow, from nothing, and move up to everything,” he decides. Only a few minutes later, Ronin’s astral self returns with a bowl of soup and a mug of hot, sweet tea. ”Aren’t you lucky? I can feed you and keep you close at the same time.”
Four or five days, Ronin says. For Remi, it feels somewhere between a year and a century since the Star invaded his dreams with the good news. Still slumped over like some well-worn ragdoll in Ronin's arms, the alchemist nods with both relief and resignment. Four or five days. Ice water threatens to fill his veins at the mere thought of slipping back into madness, and the rather forlorn look he offers the Star communicates as much.
As Ronin peels away from himself, Remi can't help but wheeze out an entirely grateful laugh. "Gods I'm glad you could do that. Right now I'd absolutely choose starving if it meant I could stay here with you." He says, watching the projection leave the room. Raising a brow at Ronin's phrasing, Remi can't help but grin a touch wickedly. He's tired, so it doesn't last long, but the sentiment is enough to make him feel light all over. "From nothing to everything. That sounds wonderful."
As astral!Ronin returns and the real Ronin sasses his husband, Remi just wriggles himself down into a more comfortable position against the Star and shrugs. "I think you're the lucky one, given that you aren't at risk of having your fingers bitten off." Even so, Remi's stomach rumbles, demanding it be fed.
"So, Amalia stole the water from Loren, huh?" He mumbles between mouthfuls, finding the imagery of it incredibly amusing.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”I know,” Ronin whispers, the Star leaning in to kiss Remi’s temple. ”But we’re leaving for the Climb in a day - enough for you to get your strength back, and then we’ll be able to buy more time when we find those hotsprings. And we’ll stay, until I can get answers to cure this permanently. With you there, it’ll be easy.” Grinning, he lets the other man shuffle into a more comfy position while his astral self settles at the side of the bed.
To any watching it might seem absurd, but this is an every day thing for the two men; one Ronin feeds the Lullaby tea and soup, and the other spends the time fussing over him. Straightening his collar, smoothing out tangles in his curls, running a thumb over the scruff on his chin where he needs a shave; Ronin can’t seem to get enough of Remi, and he’s unashamed in his ministrations. ”I’d risk my fingers for you,” he says with a grin.
Nodding in response to the question, Ronin suddenly realises that he never asked Amalia about the details of her theft. ”Mm. You’ll have to ask her how, exactly. I think it’s how the water ended up frozen, though.” He smirks.
"Hey," Remi hums emphatically, eyes narrowing slightly as he gives his husband an imploring look. "This isn't all on you." There is responsibility on Ronin's shoulders to be sure, but not all of it. Morgan, Chulane, Amalia and now himself, hopefully, will be there to carry some of the weight.
Mostly content (because, well, it's hard not to be left wanting with two Ronin's in bed), Remi lets himself be fussed and fed, enjoying both equally. Playfully and predictably the alchemist snaps his fingers at his husband, following it up with a wry and adoring smile. Every touch and every look is a balm, and though the Lullaby thinks that perhaps there will need to be a conversation about things done and said in dreams, all of it seems as though it can wait.
"Lucky for you it was frozen." Remi chuckles, before tilting his head as if just hearing the shower water properly. Blinking a few times, as if it would help shuffle his thoughts back into place, he glances back to Ronin. "Is she alright?" He wonders, concern furrowing his brow. Amalia has...never quite struck him as the type for what Remi can only imagine occurred between she and Ronin. "Will she want to talk about it?" Or, apologize and then run away, more likely.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Don’t care,” Ronin says cheerfully, his fingertips dancing across the back of Remi’s neck as he simultaneously offers a sip of sweet tea. ”I’m finding this for you. Because I need you, and I love you, and I can’t be without you. The fact that it saves the rest of the world is incidental.” The Star’s words are punctuated with kisses delivered along Remi’s shoulder, and he happily drowns in the feel of his husband at a normal temperature, being able to eat and drink and recover in peace.
There will be conversations about what happened, of that he has no doubt, but Ronin looks forward to those as much as anything else. Eventually the soup is gone, of course, and his projection rises to his feet, bouncing his eyebrows as if to ask what the Lullaby would like to snap his fingers for next.
”She seems alright,” Ronin murmurs, closing his eyes and hugging Remi close. ”Though I could be wrong, and she might have left the shower running to make a dash for it. She wanted to see you, though. To make sure you were okay. She’ll probably want to talk about it about as much as she wants to be sick again.”
Sighing with complete relaxation, Remi takes a sip of his tea before nuzzling his nose against the base of the Star's neck. "I can't get over how..real you feel." He murmurs, pressing his lips against Ronin's shoulder. It isn't quite a kiss, so much as it's another way for Remi to feel his husband. The texture of his skin, the temperature of it, the vibrations of the things he has to say singing through him. "Is Sugar out hunting? I think I owe her about a thousand apologies."
Biting the inside of his lip as amusement makes crooked his expression, Remi offers the projection an entirely shit-eating grin. "I would like..bacon sandwiches...and wine." It is absolutely not the sort of thing to help him get his strength back, but gods if the thought of it doesn't make his mouth water. He's sure that both Ronin's are going to have something to say about this, and so Remi sweetly lets his head loll back against his husband's shoulder, fluttering his lashes up innocently at him.
"Ahh, so I shouldn't pretend to be cross, then?" He guesses with a chuckle. The agreement between he and the Star might not be conventional, but then again, little about them is. The only emotion the alchemist feels about the Sheild and Star's coupling is a rather dismal sadness that his sickness had driven the Star to that point. But perhaps that wasn't giving Amalia—or Ronin, really—enough credit. Maybe it would have happened anyway.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”I can’t get over how real you sound,” Ronin offers in turn, slipping his hand into Remi’s to let his thumb trace soft circles over the back of his palm, happy to be the recipient of all the touches the Lullaby wants to give him. ”Sugar is out rolling in the snow. I think your fever got a bit much even for her, after a while. She’ll be back soon.” Still, bacon sandwiches and wine have the projection narrowing his eyes at Remi, and as the alchemist lolls back, there’s a similarly scandalised look on the real Ronin’s face.
”For you, anything. You bloody heathen,” he mutters, leaning in to kiss the tip of Remi’s nose, while his astral projection dutifully goes to pour wine and make bacon. He laughs at the potential joke - and that in itself tells him how much better he’s feeling - shaking his head in a definitive no. ”Were it anyone else, sure, but it might just be cruel to Amalia,” he says. ”She seemed to need it, too. Shame she’s not your type.” He chuckles.
Remi frowns but nods understandingly. "She's the only reason I had any clarity at all when I was awake." He mumbles. "Perhaps she and I can go hunting together, once this trek is done with. We'll take down an Ursur together, or something similarly ridiculous." The alchemist loves the white predator not simply as an extension of Ronin, but in her own right as well. Though it's probably for the best that she was out; Remi hasn't the energy to divide his time, and as much as he adores her, it's Ronin that he wants.
Smiling smugly, Remi reaches up the hand not intertwined in Ronin's to softly brush the back of his fingers against the Star's cheek. There aren't words to communicate what he wants. Apologies don't quite measure up, because he isn't really to blame. And yet it still feels as if there's a chasm between them to be scaled, or filled in, or sailed over. "I love you completely."
Snorting at that and giving his head a shake—she wasn't his type, no—Remi shoots his husband an impressed look. "That good, huh?" He doesn't bother to try and hide his surprise, though it isn't a cruel sort of shock. Remi knows well that he can appreciate women for their beauty and little more, and so isn't in a position to judge their desirability by more than mere stereotypical means.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
09-20-2020, 10:56 PM (This post was last modified: 09-20-2020, 10:56 PM by Ronin.)
RONIN
”She adores you,” Ronin says simply, knowing that Sugar will be on her way back the second she gets close enough to realise that Remi is feeling like himself again. ”I’m sure it won’t take much coaxing for her to come out with you. We’ll need her at the Climb, too, so don’t expect her to be going far.” Smiling softly, the Star leans into Remi’s touch, wanting and needing so much more of it but happy to drown in what he’s got so far.
Humming out a content sigh and turning to kiss the inside of the other man’s wrist, his smile is something utterly, utterly content. ”I love you with everything I have,” he replies. There’s a wall of something between them, but he’s happy to scale it in time. For now, the smell of bacon is drifting in from the kitchen, and Ronin’s stomach rumbles too.
”It was a ride,” he confirms about Amalia, his smile growing into something both bashful and satisfied. ”Treat it as a warm up for you, though. But first, get your strength back.”
"If she thought being around me was bad, I can't imagine how she'll feel about the climb." Remi huffs. The suggestion she stays back lingers on his tongue before he swiftly realizes just how impossible of a proposal that would be.
"I'm so thankful that everything you have..includes bacon." Remi mumbles dreamily as he looks up at Ronin. Indeed, were it not for an expedition just a day away and Amalia in the shower, Remi would likely have suggested a nap by now.
"Don't say that." Remi scolds, of Amalia being a warmup and not an experience in her own right. "Besides, when have you ever needed a warm-up?" He adds with a laugh, nodding. Remi would likely last even less time than Ronin had in his current state, and as eager as he is to have his hands all over the huntsman again, he'll delay the gratification he could feel, for more satisfying pleasures later on.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”I guess it just means it’s our turn to take care of her,” Ronin says of the icy reptile, already knowing Sugar to be far too stubborn to stay in the Tundra where she’ll be safe. It is something that the dragon and Ronin share in common, unsurprisingly. ”Bacon and wine,” he adds, glancing up as his projection returns with a glass of wine and a veritable pile of sandwiches - he figures Amalia might be hungry too. If not, he has faith that he and Remi can finish them off.
Speaking of the Shield, Ronin holds up his hands in apology. ”I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, smiling softly. ”I’m just... trying to make her feel okay about it, I guess. I know that it’s not the same for her as it might be for us.” Guilt, shame, like a mistake has been made. He doesn’t want Amalia to feel as though what happened is anything other than fun and completely acceptable.
Already Remi's mouth is watering, and he can do little else other than nod distractedly about Sugar. Reaching out greedy hands for the wine glass and a sandwich, despite his hunger, after Remi has dipped a corner into the wine, he holds it up to Ronin. "Eat it, or I go back to sleep." He threatens, though they both know it's wildly untrue. Still, Ronin absolutely doesn't know what he's missing.
"Making her sound like she's an appetizer probably won't do it." Remi says, not wanting to belabour the point but also knowing that his husband has a tendency to be both endlessly charming, and a complete idiot. "That might well be." Remi says with a nod, dipping and then stuffing nearly an entire sandwich into his mouth. It certainly is the case that the Lullaby and Star can both differentiate fucking from love, whereas with others it's often more complicated than that. He does wonder, idly, if that will be the case for Amalia. Ronin is certainly attractive, but to be there for her during a time of need? When her world is already confused? To be many of the things she found lacking in her previous relationship?
Well, time would tell. It would certainly be an interesting but not unexpected kink in their friendship, for both Lullaby and Shield to be in love with the Star.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin is predictably horrified as his husband holds up the wine soaked bread, his own sandwich in hand by this point. ”As if I’ll do anything else, with that on the line,” he grumbles good-naturedly, leaning in to take a bite out of the sandwich. And honestly, it is pretty good, though the Star makes a point of being dramatic about it. ”I think it’s more the crumbs in the wine,” he remarks, which is as close to acceptance as Remi will get.
Ronin is an endlessly charming idiot, and he concedes the point with a gentle nudge to his husband’s ribs as if to tell him that he’ll not be so careless with his words in future. He can’t say it out loud, of course, because he’s also stuffing almost a whole sandwich into his mouth. While Remi’s mind wanders, Ronin’s is singularly focused on eating around the man in his arms, and whenever Amalia does decide to come in, it will likely be to this beautiful picture.
