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!
cause it makes me that much stronger makes me work a little bit harder
Luciana's expression remained unchanged as Gideon recounted his day. When he asked if he should continue, she shrugged. "If you want." Sighing, she took the last few steps into the storage room.
Blinking as the light filtered in, she set the sculpture down. Stretching her arms and rubbing her shoulders, she grinned at his comment, showing far more teeth than strictly necessary. "I prefer the term blunt."
Folding her arms across her chest, she narrowed her eyes at him. "What's so bad about being dull? Or the life I live? I enjoy my work and I'm good at it." Moving to lean against the door frame, she watched as he looked through his keys.
it makes me that much wiser so thanks for making me a fighter
It was obvious that Luciana was not actually desperately wanting to know what he had done with his day, but Gideon was beginning to feel petty enough to continue anyway, at her passive answer. "Well, then I went for a walk around town for a while, visited the few homes on my list, people who can't make it to the temple. I had lunch with Sera; I swear if I didn't make sure that girl ate, she'd be a speck of dust by now. Then I did my afternoon service, which was mostly on Frey, for some levity after the seriousness of the morning."
The keys rattling in his hand he sorted through them until he found the right one, sliding it into the lock and opening the chest, revealing that it was full to bursting of neatly folded altar cloths, bearing many different colours and patterns. Leaning in close, he began to search down near the bottom, talking over his shoulder at Luciana as he looked.
"Oh, nothing's wrong with that. I just wonder if you find most of your conversations go like this." He said flatly, pulling out two different cloths; one a vibrant blue with pink and white intricate blossoms stitched around the edges, birds coming to pluck at them from the middle; the other a deep red, fruits and bees embroidered into the hem. "Which do you think more appropriate?"
GIDEON
You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames
cause it makes me that much stronger makes me work a little bit harder
Pressing her lips together, Luciana remained silent as Gideon went through the minutiae of his day. She just nodded when he reached the end of the next segment of it. "And then I barged in here." It was a statement rather than a question.
As he fumbled with the keys she just looked on. When he finally got the chest open, she craned her neck to see its contents, but they were soon obscured by the cloths he removed. Her eyes flicked to his face when he responded to his questions.
Shrugging, she kept her arms crossed. "They do. And while you say there's nothing wrong with that, your tone indicates otherwise." She raised her eyebrows at him.
Glancing between the two options, she frowned. Finally she grunted and pointed at the second one. "That one."
it makes me that much wiser so thanks for making me a fighter
"...Yup." Gideon nodded, sighing through gritted teeth. He hadn't really intended to go through his whole schedule, had expected her to get the point earlier...but it seemed he and Luciana were both determined to keep up the communication issues on either side of this exchange.
That his suspicions were correct did bring a sardonic smirk to his face. At least it wasn't just him that was having troubles getting her to even give one polite line of conversation. "Oh, nothing." Choosing the cloth she selected he put the other back in the chest, patting it down with his hands and smoothing out any creases before shutting the lid and locking it again, rising to his feet.
"Well, as pleasant as this has been, I need to stay here and select accessories. I won't bore you with it, so feel free to go downstairs. Thank you for the statue." Desperate to be alone and not in this awkward half-argument, Gideon bid her farewell and stepped into the back of the room, going to open another box and hoping she might take a hint.
GIDEON
You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames
cause it makes me that much stronger makes me work a little bit harder
Nodding at Gideon's monosyllabic response, Luciana grinned for just a moment. "Thank you for telling me about your day." The grin was gonna as quickly as it appeared, her features once again schooled into neutrality.
"Not nothing." Her eyes narrowed. "Something." Dropping her arms to her side she pushed off the doorframe with a grunt. "Why is it so important to you that we have a conversation?" She scowled.
However, she barked out a laugh at his attempt to dismiss her. "Oh no. You're not getting rid of me that easily." She wagged a finger at him. "I was promised a meal, after all." Smirking, she gestured for him to lead the way before picking the sculpture up again.
it makes me that much wiser so thanks for making me a fighter
"You're welcome. If you come back tomorrow, there will be a whole new tale." Very similar to the first, in all likelihood, but who knew? Maybe he'd have something different for lunch tomorrow, or go for a walk at a different time; she'd have to come back to find out the exciting twist.
Sighing as he rose up from the boxes to look at her, Gideon rolled his shoulders and tilted his neck side to side, fixing her with a flat look as he did so. "It's typically what people do when they're together. Keeps things pleasant." Though it was abundantly clear that that was not a priority of Lucianas, and it was swiftly losing importance for him too.
He couldn't help it - at her reminder about the meal, he groaned, unable to imagine the awkward horror of it with the level of connection they were at at the moment. "Yeah...can we do a rain check? Maybe start again on another day where we're both feeling a little more....social."
GIDEON
You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames
cause it makes me that much stronger makes me work a little bit harder
Luciana's lips curled upward, though her eyes remained unchanged. "With a whole new cast of characters?" Meeting Gideon's eyes squarely, her smile slipped away. She regarded him, studying his classically handsome features.
Putting her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes at him. "I see." Pressing her lips together, her nostrils flared. "And has it occurred to you that not everyone finds idle chit-chat as pleasant as you?"
Snorting at his groan she shrugged. "Sure. We can do a rain check." Grunting as she hefted up the sculpture she jerked her chin to the door to the stairs. "Where do you want this?" Her foot started tapping as she waited for his response.
it makes me that much wiser so thanks for making me a fighter
"Probably not, I'm afraid. Unless I'm visiting the other cities, I see the same faces." Not that he minded that; Gideon, as he'd gotten older, had become content with generally sticking to the same schedule, especially as he was doing what he considered to be important and Godly work.
It was clear he had not won himself any prizes with Luciana, but he struggled to worry about it too much in the moment. If he needed any more sculptures, she was Order-bound to provide them, and he didn't have to get on with everyone in their organisation; in fact, it was nearly impossible to. "And maybe some people don't find sniping commentary and awkward silence as attractive as you do?"
Luckily, it seemed she was willing to free him from his lunch obligations at the least. "Leave it here. I'll take it out once it's a holiday." Gideon gestured out into the room, to one of the many surfaces where she might put it. "Thank you, for the piece." Turning back to the chest, he made it quite clear they were done.
GIDEON
You claim to be virtuous, but you're a liar
And you'll feel the heat of the flames
cause it makes me that much stronger makes me work a little bit harder
Shrugging at Gideon's comment, Luciana didn't respond. She did, however, narrow her eyes at his complaint about her demeanor. "There is such a thing as comfortable silence. And a balance between sniping commentary and idle chit-chat." Shrugging, she crossed her arms. "I don't mind talking about important subjects. Just don't like discussing the weather or how long it took you to get ready this morning."
Nodding, she set the sculpture down again, this time on the nearest spot he'd indicated. Then she returned to the exit. "Until next time, Priest." Rapping on the doorframe with her knuckles, she turned to make her way back up the rickety stairs.
it makes me that much wiser so thanks for making me a fighter
