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!
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
The egg had hatched. And it had hatched into a beautiful opalescent dragon of all things. To say that excitement hadn’t flooded the Artificer’s mind would absolutely be saying a lie. But the problem was, as much as Sera wanted to spend the week getting to know her companion, getting to know what he liked and what he didn’t like – she still had work to do, promises to keep.
It doesn’t mean that he can’t come with her, though.
While still small and frankly, fragile, Sera lets him curl around her neck, wings tucked in tight and long head and tail connected against her skin as if he’s a bold statement necklace while he soaks up the warmth of her skin. And after passing the second floor to grab her blueprints and measuring sticks and anything else she might need, she makes her way down to Doctor Hart’s office.
On second thought, she probably should have knocked, but she doesn’t – she breezes in, wearing an airy blouse and a pair of leggings, hair tied up as she had done before into a messy bun. “Doctor Hart?” She calls out while Levi lifts his head and puffs a bit of air from his pale maw.
You are not quite so put together as the Artificer is. Without this magical room you've talked about to stop time and sleep in, you've been working yourself ragged trying to figure out a cure. So it is that you're wearing scrubs you haven't changed since yesterday with your hair knotted in messy bun on the top of your head. Not a cute messy bun mind you, but the sort that has been pulled at numerous times, the strands which have come undone re-wrapped around so that it looks more like a birds-nest than hair.
Glancing up, your pen hanging out of the corner of your mouth, you smile instantly seeing Sera, which of course causes the pen to clatter back toward your desk. Instantly your eyes fall to the dragon (and not because you were letting them wander over her collar bones), and you offer her a sunny smile. Dragons are quite common in Stormbreak despite how rare of creatures they actually are. "My my, who have you brought with you today?"
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
Whether or not Tobi is put together, doesn’t bother the Artificer any at all. A grin is shot toward the Doctor, taking in her appearance with a brief flicker – able to see the curves and edges of her despite the baggy scrubs she wears. “You look like you could use a break.” She comments with a knowing glance – a glance that almost seems to suggest she could absolutely do just that while she worked instead.
But the bigger question, of who is with her, causes the grin to spread a bit more easily and she slips further into the room, to approach and get into Tobi’s space so she might be able to get a better view of the dragonling. “I named him Leviathan. Levi for short.” She reaches up to run her fingers through feathers and opalescent scales. “When you came back, I went back through Halo and found a crowd. Falke, Luciana, and Amaris were there. A few others too, but… He chose me.” There’s a fondness to her voice with that, a fun little story to add along with it.
But business, right. Clearing her throat she looks around Tobi’s office as Levi lifts himself from Sera’s neck and reaches out with a long neck to flick his forked tongue at the doctor to smell her, ensure she wasn’t a threat, even if Sera’s mental idea of the doctor was everything but that. “I thought I might come to start taking the measurements before we go to Frey.”
"I hate to disappoint you, but looking like I need a break is the norm for me." You say with a sly smile. Despite all the work you have to do, you're glad to see Sera again. Her presence in your office makes you immediately think of Torchline, and you wonder if she's about to pull out those bikinis you two had talked about.
But instead of a slip of fabric, it's a dragon. Which...as far as surprises go, is a pretty good one. They're common in Stormbreak of course, but even so, it's always a bit of a marvel to see one up close. "He's gorgeous." You purr, dark eyes beaming up at the opalescent creature. "I suppose it's a good thing you went back to tell the guards we were leaving." You add with a laugh.
"Oh!" Looking away from Levi, you rub at your forehead, nose scrunched having entirely forgotten. "Right! Sorry the place is such a mess...what do you need me to do?" And indeed, there are stacks of books and papers on Tobi's desk, chairs, and the one couch that can barely be seen beneath the blankets and clothes littered on it. She hadn't been kidding when she said she slept in her office.
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
Her nose wrinkles playfully. “Eh, semantics.” She offers with a gentle laugh, a shrug of her shoulders. It doesn’t matter to her much the state of appearance that Tobi takes, so long as the doctor takes care of herself in the end. And that’s what she’s here for, isn’t it? But Levi takes the show and Sera tips this way and that showing off the pale dragon looped around her neck. “I suppose it is!” She agrees, amusement lingering in her voice as Levi lifts himself again, feathered wings flaring as he crawls down Sera’s shoulder to hop to a nearby table closer to Tobi to continue to investigate.
“Don’t be sorry, you should see the workshop when I’m halfway through a project.” She flashes an easy smile with that, collecting her paper and pen so she might sketch out a rough shape of the room, before taking the measuring stick to it. “You can just watch and hang out with me if you’d prefer? Give me some ideas as to what you’re thinking for designs.” So saying, she grabs the measuring stick and makes her way to the edge of the wall, holding it up so she could get a measurement of how tall the walls are.
“Still thinking of a Torchline theme?” She asks, sparing a glance toward Tobi with a playful gleam in her gaze.
As the dragonling makes his way onto the table where you can see him better, you lean in. You aren't afraid of dragons, even young ones, but his age does suggest he might have a propensity to bite or snap, so you keep a healthy distance. "Why Leviathan?" You murmur, marvelling at the colour of his scales and the delicate flap of his wings.
Rather entranced by the way Sera just...goes about things, you nod a touch helplessly with a rather dopey smile on your lips. "Yeah that would be.." Well, a set-back, sort of, given how much you have to do. Even so, you can't seem to say no.
"Well...I think so. But seeing as I've never even been to Torchline, we might need to go and do some...research? You know. To make sure that we're accurate."
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
The question of the name, however, has Sera shrugging lightly, a huff of a laugh leaving her. “He picked it himself. Though I think it’s because he prefers to be called Levi.” But the bond was still new and she was still getting used to figuring it out, what sort of sensations were ones that indicated what the dragonling felt on things. It’d become easier as the days went on.
But she’s off to work, measuring and scratching down the measurements and ideas for material to make them out of, what material the wall currently was made out of so she’d also know what she needed to bring. And then? She glances back toward Tobi at the mention of Torchline and research – it’s like a lightbulb goes off in her head. “I was going to bring some bathing suits, wasn’t I?” She chimes, tsking herself for her lack of memory on that.
She moves to the next wall, figuring out the measurements while she considers it. “If you’re not too busy, my apartment is on the sixth floor. Once I’m done here, could take a quick trip up and try them out?” She doesn’t turn back to look at Tobi yet, pulling the measuring stick down and writing the height of the wall next to a small diagram on her notebook to add to the blueprints later.
(WHAT, I SWEAR THIS THREAD STOPPED SHOWING UP. PLEASE LET ME REVIVE Q__Q)
'Do you like it?' You all but whisper, as if not wanting the dragon to hear your question. You aren't sure if you'd like another presence in your mind all the time. Wouldn't it be distracting? Bothersome? What if there were things you wanted to keep to yourself? Secrets, or just..the sort of inside-your-head-voices that you don't really want to share with others?
Happy enough to watch Sera work despite having no idea what she's doing (measuring obviously, but your knowledge when it comes to anything even remotely carpentry-related is slim at best), you flash her a smile at the mention of bathing suits. "You know you were." You agree slyly. "You must have just been so focused on your work that you forgot." The mention of going up to Sera's apartment doesn't flush your cheeks as much as one might think it should. "I'd like that." You hum, glancing toward the door leading to the clinic. "So long as no one bursts in with something sticking out of their chest, that is." You aren't superstitious, but you cross your fingers with a laugh just the same.
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
(ALWAYS GAME FOR THE REVIVAL <3)
The dragon doesn’t seem to mind, not as Sera continues her measurements around the room, figuring out what might be best for the expansion. “It’s strange… I’m getting used to it though.” She offers quietly. She’s getting used to some of the tug and pull he offers, clearly a mind of his own. If he doesn’t want to do something, he simply won’t.
But Sera’s gathered the measurements, written them down, pulled out the blueprints to make a little mock version of the Doctor’s office so that she might be able to figure out the placement of the expansion and how big it should be.. “I do remember we had a conversation about this.” She teases lightly, flashing an amused grin October’s way. “Busy bees that we are.” Though Tobi took it on a whole different level than the Artificer did.
Once she’s picked a rough place for the expansion, confirmed that the dips and edges of the walls were reflected in her blueprints, only then does she wrap up the blueprints and her notebook and turn back to Tobi. “Well, I’ve gotten everything I needed and it seems like nobody’s running in with critical wounds.” The grin she offers is wide and bright. “I’ve got tea and cookies upstairs, we can hammer out the final details of the expansion up there with the suits.” Her head tilts a bit, waiting perhaps to see if Tobi’s still willing.
You accept Sera's words at face value, without trying to read too much into them. You've no idea what it's like to be in her place after all, getting to know another mind quite the way she is, and you won't pretend that your imagination is good enough to weigh in one way or the other. Even so, you don't love the idea.
'Well it's good that your memory is intact. I'd only mentioned it in case it was a symptom of exhaustion or this strange sickness." You both know this isn't the case, and that's why as a doctor you're able to make this joke so easily, flashing your raven-haired companion a twisted smile.
You pause, head cocked toward the door as if waiting to hear a sudden scream of pain from out in the main room. Lips parted, you give it a moment, both holding your breath in anticipation of the inevitable, and hoping that it doesn't come. When it shockingly doesn't, you grin, standing quickly and nodding toward the door. "Quickly then, before something disastrous happens." So saying you rise from your desk, hastily bunching papers into a messy pile.
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
She feigns a bit of shock back toward the doctor, a playful grin spreading across her face. “Don’t believe I have any memory issues, no.” She chimes, flashing a grin. “But of course I’d need the doctors approval on that account.” Clearly teasing, she winks toward her friend (are they friends now? It feels like they could be) as she gathers her things.
She’s stock still, an arm extended for Levi to crawl up to her shoulder to perch there, waiting for the ball to drop and someone to come in with pain and terror. And when it doesn’t, she’s already moving with a wickedly amused grin. “Come along, then!” A hand extends out to reach for hers to guide her up the stairs to the floor she lives on.
And once they’ve reached it, she unlocks the door, slipping into it and opening it up for Tobi to come in. Levi abandons her shoulder, gliding to the ground to the makeshift nest he’s made near the kitchen – likely to hoard food scraps. The room itself is pale and bright, surprisingly warm despite it all with deep navy hues for pillows on the couch, bright and large arched windows that filter in so much light. “Cookies are on the counter over here.” She offers with a nod of her chin toward it as she breezes into the kitchen to fill the teapot up with water and get that warming up.
'That you do. Rarely are patients all that accurate about their symptoms. Better I check for myself." Sera's rambunctiousness is rubbing off on you, you can feel it in the lightness of your voice and how quick you seem to be replying to her with a quip or playful argument. It isn't like you at all; sure you can be funny, but you aren't funny. You aren't this lighthearted. It's certainly all Sera. Some people just...have that sort of gravity about them.
You watch as Sera pauses to let Levi slink back into place as a necklace, before Sera's hand is reaching out for yours. A touch breathlessly, though you're still smiling, you accept, and off the pair of you go.
Stepping inside of the Artificer's home...you...are entirely surprised. You'd imagined mess, all sorts of complicated architecture and structural things you didn't understand. What you see instead is...well, homey-perfection. Blinking as you enter, taking it all in, you grin over your shoulder. "Is the cookie comment for me, or Levi?" You chuckle. Not quite making yourself at home, you do walk around, eyes scanning over pictures, nicknacks (or perhaps the lack thereof), and other small details about Sera. It's with a doctor's eye that you do this, not to diagnose, but merely to get the full picture of this rather enigmatic woman.
// down by the river i was drawn by your grace, into tempest of oblivion and to the lover's place i was stuck in a puddle, full of tears and unwise, dark doings now i know, that we've paid unlike //
Well, thank goodness for October to come and ensure that Sera hadn’t lost her mind. Especially as they breeze up the stairs and meet their destination, Levi falling into his place and Sera playing the part of hostess as she was prone to doing well enough for only the ones she invited close. And she sets the heat on the stove, the tea kettle on top of it, before she’s slipping away and grabbing a cookie for herself. “For you of course. I promised cookies and tea, didn’t i?” She flashes another wide grin, moving toward a spare closet in the back that she’d built in, one for more seasonal attire that wouldn’t clog up the rest of her wardrobe.
Upon October’s inspections, however, she’d likely find family photos – a few of her and her sister along the Celestine, a few of them and her parents looking on proudly if not a bit smugly at the success their offspring had seen. There’s other things here and there as well, more homey types of décor – candles settled along the edge of a mantel, a coffee table in the center in front of a warm plush couch with books an odd mix of schematics and the rogue romance novels within.
When Sera returns, it’s with far too many suits, one that’s a deep, royal purple, a full body one with a bit of frills along the hips but quite a deep V of a neck. The next few are varying patterns of stripes and polka dots, similarly a full body with cut outs tied together in designs as if to say if one were to tan there they might end up with a cute little mark left on either side of their hip. The last couple are more bikini style, tops and bottoms, varying sizes and floral patterns, one with a tie that’s tied around the neck, the other one that settles on broad shoulders.
“Take your pick, no need to rush. And if you want to try all of them, be my guest.” She flashes a wink October’s way before moving back toward the kitchen as the kettle begins it’s slow quiet whine.
So distracted by the wealth of things that scream Sera in one voice or another, you jump slightly as the Artificer returns with an entire shop's worth of bathing suits. Jaw dropping, you look from the mess of colours and patterns in Sera's fingers, up to the woman's dark eyes, and then back again. You've always known that Sera is a bit of a fashionista judging by the various outfits you've seen her wear to meetings and such, and the fact that you're fairly certain you've never seen her in the same thing twice, but gods.
"What...how?" You ask with a laugh, reaching out to try and alleviate your new friend of some of the items she carries. With a playfully overwhelmed look, you select a few suits—there are some which catch your eye, but are surely much too revealing for you. "We'd be here all night if I did that." You say with a smirk, tucking your choices under your arm and heading into the bathroom to change.
You try on one which given the height difference between the two of you gives you about the worst camel-toe you think you've ever seen. Ditching it and opting for a deep purple one-piece with a plunging neckline, and cut-outs around the hips, you give yourself a cringy look in the mirror. This is not the way you ever dress, and though your life of no sleep, red wine, and constantly being on your feet has kept you slim, still you aren't used to seeing yourself like this. The v-line of the neck is holding your breasts weightlessly aloft, revealing smooth half-circles of cleavage that you've absolutely never seen on yourself before. Pulling in a breath, you open the door, peeking your head out.
"Do you think this is really what they wear? In Torchline? It feels so..." Stepping out, you gesture to the amount of material you're wearing. "What if there was an emergency? How would I work in this?"
