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!
Snorting at Milo's question, Saiden shrugged. "I dunno if any of 'em are nice," he drawled, shooting his fellow smuggler a grin. "Ludo was good to me, though. And sailors have got a soft spot for it, since too many of us are lost at sea." The cook scratched his side as he spoke.
Then he shot the other man a sly grin. "Frey, huh? You into that sort of thing, then?" The Hali chuckled.
Nodding at Milo's words, Saiden whistled a low note. "Ten? That's pretty young." Smirking, he shifted the box to his other arm. "Maybe I should get to know Zeph better then. Any tips?"
He supposes it’s fair that they’d worship Ludo in that regard, trying to remember which of the deities it was his family chose. It was really a combination of all of them, though it was easier for the majority of his family. His family was made up of Accepted and Attuned, and his little abandoned tricks had all been kept a secret since he realized he had them. It’s what got him into smuggling in the first place, a way to hide it.
The subject of Frey though does have Milo snorting and rolling his shoulders. “Yeh, well, Frey seemsta be the one I can relate t’most.” Not to Safrin, not to Ludo. But likewise, he hasn’t met the deity.
When it comes to how long Milo’s done this work, he shifts his attention toward Saiden briefly, considering, before he shifts the pack and looks ahead, mumbling a bit of a laugh. “Don’ act like ya got the biggest cock around n’ you’ll prolly be a’ight.”
Arching an eyebrow at Milo, Saiden grinned. "Is that so?" Chuckling to himself, his eyes crinkled. "What's appealing to ye about them? Besides the obvious, o' course." He winked at his fellow smuggler.
Bursting out laughing, the Hali nodded at the other man's advice. "Aye, I think I'll be alright on that front." Smirking, he shook his head. "Besides, it's not about yer size, it's about how ye use it."
Halting as they came to an intersection, he waited patiently for Milo to figure out which branch of the tunnel to take. As the cook stood there, he examined his fellow Abandoned. "So when yer not meeting strange men in tunnels, what do ye get up to?"
Aside from the obvious? Milo focuses on the pathway ahead, a bit of a crooked smile crossing his face. “Th’nature ‘n stuff. Th’ way fish change ‘n adapt when things change. That sorta stuff.” Evolution, though he doesn’t know the term of it. The way things seemed to change and grow when life became too hard for them. But he shrugs, passing by that thought for how Saiden would get along with Zeph.
“Mm, true.” He offers, easily distracted by the branch in the tunnels as he peers at the markings on the wall to tell him which way to go. “Yer not that strange. ‘ve seen ya ‘fore on the Ark.” But he picks which side of the tunnel to go through, casting a glance back at Saiden before he’s walking down the left path, shifting the pack on his shoulders again. “Mostly help m’ family. Mom’s gotta shop in the Port that my sisters help with. Dad ‘n my brothers are fish’rmen.” But he looks back over at Saiden with a raise of a red brow. “You?”
10-02-2020, 05:55 PM (This post was last modified: 10-02-2020, 05:55 PM by Saiden.)
our sins are washed away
Nodding at Milo's words, Saiden rubbed his jaw. He frowned when he felt the bristles and stubble there. "Ye know a lot about fishes?" The frowned turned into a grin at the mention of them.
Laughing at his fellow smuggler's description, the cook smirked at the other man. "I'll take that as a compliment. But ye do meet strange men in tunnels, then?" The Hali waggled his eyebrows.
Following Milo down the left tunnel, Saiden picked up the pace so they were walking side by side again. "Sounds nice. I'll have to pay them a visit sometime." He glanced over at the younger man. "Are ye close with yer family? How many siblings have ye got? And why get involved with smugglin' when ye've got a nice job as a fisherman waitin' for ye? Especially when ye like fishies so much."
Scratching his belly, he smiled. "I cook, mostly. Maybe yer family can supply my shop." With that he shrugged. "Explore when I've got the time for it."
“’nuff about ‘em, yeah.” Milo replies, a small shrug given while they continue their trek down the branched tunnel. At the mention of whether he meets strange men in tunnels, Milo can’t help but to let out a small huff of a laugh. “Eh, sometimes men, sometimes women.” If he’s understanding what Saiden’s getting at, at least. “Not picky, really.” And he isn’t, but that’s beside the point as he focuses on the tunnel walls again.
“Yeah, we’re close. Got… Sev’n siblin’s.” He mulls it over. He was one of the younger of them, though, one of the ones his parents hadn’t paid much attention to. They hadn’t paid attention when he told them he’d gotten a job on the docks helping with the Ark. They hadn’t known any better. “Don’ wanna fish. I like t’be active, runnin’ around, ‘n all that. Can’t do that when ‘m stuck on a fishin’ boat waitin’.” His lip curls in distaste at the thought of it, puffing out a sigh.
But as Saiden speaks of cooking, Milo can’t help but to notice the man scratch again, and his brows furrow a bit at the thought. “Maybe.” He offers by the means of supplying the kitchens and what not. But there’s another thought that gets the better of him. “Ya itchy ‘r somethin’?” He asks, raising a brow.
Grunting at Milo's comment about fish, Saiden's eyes widened at his fellow Abandoned's next statement. "Good to know. Not particularly picky myself." The cook found himself grinning and he whistled a few snippets of a sea shanty that had particularly bawdy lyrics.
Smiling, he found himself staring down the tunnel as they made their way around a bend. "I come from a pretty big family myself. It's good yer close." Laughing at the younger man's explanation for the career change, the Hali nodded. "Smugglin's certainly more active. But it can be peaceful, out there on the water, a line in your hands, nothing to distract you from the sea or the sun or the sky." Sighing, he felt the smile slip away.
He frowned, then shrugged at Milo's question. "It's the sweat and the bugs. Not a good combination, and I haven't found a way to keep either off me yet." Slanting his eyes at the other man, Saiden grinned. "Don't worry. I'm not contagious and ye've got nothin' to worry about."
The fact that Saiden isn’t picky either doesn’t surprise Milo. If anything, he somewhat expects it, given the way the man seemed to flirt with everything. “Makes it easier, y’know.” He shrugs, but continues on as they walk around a bend. He talks of his family, listens as Saiden mentions his own and the correlation to smuggling. “I kinda…” He puffs out a sigh with a bit of a laugh. “I like t’distraction. Don’ like ta be left by m’self much unless ‘m runnin’.”
Usually because him being left alone with his thoughts meant the casual reminder that despite having a big family, they were all well respected in Torchline and here he was the smuggler, making excuses for why he can’t go to dinner that night, why he’s out drinking and paying visits to the Halenani. It’s easier that way.
As for Saiden’s itchiness though, Milo barks a laugh to that. “Showers ‘r a big help with that.” He rumbles, amusement clear in his gaze. “I knew yer a big Ark sailor ‘n all that but y’can take a shower ‘r a bath ‘r a dip in the water, fix ya right up.” And the ability to dry off in the cool shade of the palms.
Nodding, Saiden grinned. "Aye, I know." Studying Milo's features, the cook cocked his head to one side. "Is that so?" He hummed a note. "What kinds of thoughts are ye left with when yer alone?"
Then he found himself chuckling. "I'll have to keep in mind yer a runner." Winking at the other Abandoned, the Hali smirked. "In case I decide to pursue ye, o' course." He waggled his eyebrows again, a mischievous light in his eyes.
Smiling, he nodded. "Certainly big." He drew himself up to his full height. "Planning to take a shower or bath or a dip right after this. I just wasn't expecting my package to be as heavy as it was, y'know?"
“Nothin’ good.” A surprisingly honest answer, though Saiden probably wouldn’t be able to dig more detailed responses from him on that subject. All he needs to know is that Milo craves distraction, craves the ability to just ignore it and pretend it’s not a problem, until the next day.
Even that thought makes him crave a drink.
“Ya better keep it in mind.” He shoots back, a placating smirk crossing his face. Though he doesn’t know why Saiden would need to pursue him, the thought is enough to have him shrugging and focusing on the next.
“If yer itchin’ aft’r that, then yer not gettin’ clean enough, y’know?” He rumbles, a laugh leaving him as they walk through the tunnels and come to another fork in the road. He pauses, reading the words on the walls before choosing the right path at the fork. “If ‘m runnin’ a lot, sometimes I’ll take a few showers’a day.”
Arching an eyebrows at Milo's answer, Saiden grinned. "So ye seek out company often, then?" He chuckled.
Smirking right back at the younger man, the cook nodded. "Noted." Pausing for a moment as he had to scramble over and around a few rocks that had collapsed into the center of the tunnel, he glanced at his fellow Abandoned. "Other than running what do ye like to do in yer spare time?"
Laughing, the Hali shrugged. "Maybe ye'll have to show me how to wash up properly some time." He winked. "Nah, I'm usually better about it. I just wasn't expecting it to be so godsdamn hot today or for the packages to be so heavy." Groaning as they reached yet another branch, he wiped some sweat from his brow.
“Yeh.” The brothel and the bar. It was how he didn’t remain alone with his thoughts, not when he could focus on something else or get far too drunk to remember what plagued him anyway.
Other than running? He considers it while he makes his way around the rubble. “Sometimes I spend time with ‘m family. Sometimes I help watch the youngin’s. Other times I go ‘n drink at th’Hanged Man ‘n spend the night at the Halenani.” A shrug offered to that, brown gaze swinging over to the fellow smuggler. “Whattya doin’ when yer not boatin’?” It’s only fair if he returns the question, after all.
As for teaching him, it erupts another bark of laughter from Milo. “Y’maybe when ya got it und’r control.” He flashes an easy grin Saidens way before bushing his sweat slicked red hair back from his face. “Yer in Torchline. Better expect it t’be hot all the time.” He chooses the left tunnel now out of the branching after reading the signs, and casts a glance back over to Saiden.
Nodding at Milo's response, Saiden grinned. "Sadly no family to spend time with anymore."
His easy smile fled for a moment before he slapped it back into place. "But sometimes I go 'n drink at th' Hanged Man n' spend the night at the Halelani. Surprised I haven't seen ya at either of 'em." He laughed. "Other times I work at a seafood shack I set up during a long bout o' shore leave."
Chuckling at the other man's evasion, the cook nodded again. "Understood." Shrugging, he found himself smirking a bit. "What can I say? I'm thick." Winking at his fellow Abandoned, the Hali followed Milo down the latest tunnel.
Saiden’s story sounded a lot like some of the other people he spent time around, and while the smuggler was grateful for having his family – eternally so – there were just some things that they didn’t understand, that kept him to himself most of the times, and that was fine at the end of the day. But when Saiden continues on, talks of the Hanged Man and the Halenani, Milo offers a quiet hum of a laugh, a shrug of his shoulders. “Ya weren’t ev’r lookin’ fer me, so maybe ya did ‘n ya didn’t realize it.” That’s the easiest, though Milo can’t quite recall seeing Saiden around – likely because his drinking habits had picked up once the Ark had gone out on her voyage.
As for the seafood shack, he makes note of it, figuring that he might as well stop by for the more ‘official’ businesses of Torchline. A front, as it were.
They continue to walk and Milo can suddenly see a bit of light reflecting off the stones ahead and he glances back toward Saiden with a raise of his brow. “Uh huh.” Milo says, flashing an amused and crooked smile back Saiden’s way. “If yer gonna brag ‘bout it, ‘m gonna assume yer not.”
