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!
”Ah, I see,” Ronin says quietly, offering a gentle smile to his husband and carefully surrendering Mateo to his arms (for the comfort of it as much as anything else). ”You’re right, though. We do only seem to remember the things we’ve lost.” It doesn’t take long for him to devour his burrito, so while Remi feeds their son, he happily takes over in feeding his husband. ”This isn’t my first rodeo,” he murmurs, chuckling at Mateo’s appetite.
”I know where he gets that from, at least,” he says with a grin, his free hand smoothing across the infant’s silk-soft curls. ”So, did you decide when you wanted to head for the Greatwood? Imagine this little one, starting to sit up and grab at all the leaves during LeafChange.”
"But perhaps you're onto something..why don't you pack my things as perfectly as you can, and I will burn it into my memory." Offering the Star a shit-eating grin at this obvious attempt to get out of packing, Remi happily chomps away at the offered burrito as Mateo guzzles down his own breakfast.
"Yeah, you." Remi says with a mouthful of egg. "And before you argue, remember that it is technically a nipple he's drinking that from. That's a point in your column." He adds with a chuckle before greedily reaching out for more burrito.
Sighing with unfettered love and infection, for a moment Remi can only just gaze down at the babe. "Sooner rather than later, I think. Apparently, the Fae are...in need of more ascended parts for something Safrin is up to." He eyes the Star at this, not that Ronin is at all responsible for the things his benefactor does. "I told Wessex I would go and see. Though now that she's got her senses back, perhaps she won't need me to interfere." If that's the case, the world is their oyster. Almost.
"I'm surprised no one from the Order has shown up yet to collect us. I thought we'd see one of them the second I stepped down as Governor to be honest."
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Remi, if you’d like me to pack both of our clothes, you only need to ask,” Ronin says, the words murmured sweetly against the alchemist’s cheek as he leans in for a kiss, meanwhile feeding him another bite of burrito. ”Excuse me, I was going to say he takes after me. Also I hate to break this to you, but when you were a babe, I imagine you also sucked on a nipple.” Grinning, he steps back again and gazes down at their son, oblivious to his fathers’ antics in lieu of the most important thing in the world - milk.
If only their conversation could stay so whimsical; Ronin’s gaze darkens somewhat to hear about the Ascended, and his eyes flick to Remi again as he lets out a long sigh. ”These adventures of ours always do seem to come with caveats, don’t they,” he says, sneaking a bite of Remi’s breakfast for good measure. ”Mm, I imagine the Order will show up sooner rather than later. All the more reason for us to get a head start.”
'And if you'd like to pack both of our clothes, you need only say so." Remi counters slyly, his husband's judgemental commentary being incredibly unsubtle thus far.
"Mmm, and look how I turned out." However their son turned out, whatever he wanted to be like, Remi was sure it would 1. have nothing to do with how he was fed as a child, and 2. not matter in the least to his parents. Especially not this particular pair.
Snapping three rows of teeth at Ronin as the huntsman, still smelling of blood beneath the scarf, steals part of his meal, Remi gives the Star a warning look. "You're going to lose your fingers one day. If not from Sugar, then me." He adds once his teeth are properly shaped again and the instinct to attack the man who stole his food has subsided.
'And what will we say to them? If they ask us to come to Stormbreak?" Remi's stomach flutters unhappily as his mind links Stormbreak with Finn, a man he's absolutely no desire (and yet every desire) to see again.
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
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 see,” Ronin drawls, grinning. ”If that’s the case - Remi Taliesin, will you do me the honour of never stuffing an unfolded shirt into a bag again? I’m willing to shoulder that particular burden.” He snorts, as if to ask how Remi turning out the way he has is anything to do with it, given that as infants they were likely all privy to the same nipple sucking. Ah, but then there are three rows of teeth snapping his way, and Ronin huffs out a breath that blows his dark hair off his forehead.
”You are the sweetest man I’ve ever met,” he says to the Lullaby. ”You’re also fucking nightmare fuel.” So saying, he feeds the rest of the burrito to Remi so he can’t offer any sly quips (at least not for a couple of seconds). ”If I lose my fingers to Sugar - or to you - then I absolutely deserve it,” he says breezily, taking their plates (and Ianto’s empty one) back into the wagon to wash up.
”Obviously we’ll say yes,” he calls back through the open door. ”The place has got my curiosity piqued. I’d quite like to see it, wouldn’t you?” None of his response suggests that they’ll be there because of the Order, or permanently.
"Why Ronin, I thought you'd never ask." Remi gushes, his smile back to being entirely sunny now, until of course it's stretched across rows of teeth all snapping toward the Star.
"Well," The alchemist mumbles as the remainder of his breakfast is shoved into his mouth. Chewing happily, the beast in him satiated in more ways than once, he swallows and shrugs. "I'll just have to stay in your dreams always then, so they never become nightmares." The thought has indeed crossed Remi's mind, of what would happen if either of them hurt one another inadvertently. It wouldn't be the first time, with the alchemist having taken a few swipes at the Star when he'd initially become a lion all those long seasons ago. But the stronger they grew together, the more dangerous they became.
"I don't know..it all sounds so...foreboding." Remi grumbles, placing Mateo on his shoulder to try and burp the boy. The infant grunts a few times before belching mightily and spitting up a bit of milk onto Remi's shoulder. Not that he minded one bit of course.
"Ianto shouldn't be a problem there, right?"
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”There’s that sweet man I married,” Ronin says, and if his voice is a little muffled, it’s definitely not because he’s stuffing his face with leftover bacon. No sir. ”Oh, I’m sure it’s hugely foreboding. I bet it’s got rain and gargoyles for days, and everyone is dressed in stuffy suits, and they all have stupid names and titles.” As for whether Ianto would be welcomed there? Ronin emerges in the doorway of the wagon with a sunny smile and a scarf wrapped around his antlers, and he absolutely doesn’t need three rows of teeth to seem predatory.
”I’m sure they’ll accept him with open arms. Because if they don’t, there’s going to be a problem, and I have a funny feeling that the Order don’t really want to have a problem with us,” he says, raising an eyebrow down at father and son and gesturing vaguely to Remi’s shoulder. ”You’ve got... everywhere,” he says. Helpfully.
"Ohh you're right. And cloaks. They all definitely wear cloaks." Burping in agreement to this, Remi chuckles and sets Mateo down on a blanket. Already sleep is tugging his eyelids closed, and it takes only a moment of soft back-rubs for the boy to drift off toward sleep.
Snorting a touch at that, he and Ronin having never truly combined their strengths together yet in all the ways in which they might, he just nods. Glancing at his shoulder where Mateo's milk and spit have seeped into the material, Remi flashes his husband a broad grin as he strips the shirt off his back and tosses it toward Ronin. "Well, that's your problem now." Then with a charming smile he adds, "Or are you alright to pack dirty clothes..? I won't interfere. I know you have a system."
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Cloaks and masks,” Ronin agrees, mimicking a sort of cloak-and-dagger movement, only to be entirely thrown off when a shirt covered in spit up is tossed his way. Snatching it from the air and balling it up, he tosses it carelessly over his shoulder into the wagon. ”I pack the clothes. Washing them is your remit,” he informs Remi with a grin, stepping down to the ground and pausing a moment simply to watch and enjoy as the alchemist gets their son to sleep.
Now that the boy is safely out of grabbing range, the Star carefully unravels the scarf from around his antlers, grumbling at the bloody velvet but leaving it to do its thing. ”You still want to fondle my nubs?” he asks with a shit eating grin, gazing up at the Wishing Wagon with something like pride on his face. ”We got there,” he says suddenly. ”It couldn’t be more different to our plan, but we did get there.”
'And if I don't was them? Will you really let me go naked?" No sooner had the question left his lips then Remi thought he already knew the answer. Ronin absolutely would. And worse, Remi would be forced to wear one of those cloaks and masks they'd been speaking out.
With one hand propping up his head as he lays in the sand next to Mateo, Remi hazards a wry smile up at Ronin, eyebrows raised. "I think you know I want to do a fair more than that." He nearly growls, making sure that his fingers stay soft upon Mateo's back. "I could remove all that velvet for you in a few minutes, I'm sure."
Letting his eyes focus from the man to the wagon behind him, Remi smiles and nods. It's strange how it all worked out...that it would be Ianto's wagon...a son given to them by Ludo...and after years together, finally they'd found the freedom they thought they had at the start. "I can't wait to start." The alchemist muses, his voice softer now so as not to rouse Mateo. "I think that's part of why I'm so antsy to go. Almost like at any moment something might happen to keep us here. Some new catastrophe that needs taking care of...someone who won't let us leave."
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
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 doesn’t even bother with a verbal response at that, merely giving his husband a long and lingering look. To see him shirtless and scarred, laying in the sand and lulling their son to sleep? Naked is just the start of it. Still, he scrunches his nose at the alchemist’s next comment, as if able to already envision what he has in mind. ”Yes, I bet you’d strip it off with your tongue, wouldn’t you?” he muses with a laugh.
The mere idea that someone or something might emerge to stop them at this point has Ronin grinning, and he shrugs his shoulders to Remi. ”We are different men now,” he assures him. ”Duty and empathy have knocked us into the dirt, you and I. I’m pretty sure there’s enough selfishness between us now to tell anything that tries to make us stay to fuck off. In no uncertain terms.”
"Listen. My tongue is specifically meant for flaying skin from bone I'll have you know." Gods his mouth waters just at the thought. It's a heat that sinks from the back of his throat all the way into his belly. "It'd be faster than leaving you to shed out for another week." He adds with a shrug, trying to ignore the warmth he feels spreading across his cheeks.
Humming under his breath at that, Remi can only shrug. "Even if that someone was Safrin?" He wonders, thinking it would be no surprise at all for the goddess to show up and ruin things for them as she so often did. "Or Amalia?" The Shield's displeasure was evident but who knows, what are timelines, and while she wouldn't stop them probably, there were enough small speedbumps to get the alchemist's hackles up. "Is there anything left for you to do here? Or anyone. I mean..." Remi grins widely. "I'm sure Sunjata is going to miss you terribly."
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”If that were true, I’d never let you put your tongue in half the places it ends up,” Ronin informs his husband, and the heat he can see flushing across Remi’s cheeks is enough for him to hide away the partial shift with a self-deprecating little smile. It’s uncomfortable, but so is this conversation. ”I love you so much, but please don’t think of licking my antlers too hard.” He scoffs, rolling his shoulders and turning to sit on the bottom step of the wagon.
”Gods are off limits,” he quips, raising his eyebrows in a warning. ”You know that if Ludo whispered in your ear that we have to stay in Torchline for an extra season because there are souls to collect, that’s what we’d be doing. Less of the sass.” Because it’s screamingly obvious that Remi holds a boiling sort of hatred for his goddess, but more often than not, Ronin is the recipient of that ire.
”Why would Amalia stop me? Why would Sunjata? We’ve had conversations about both of them before - and I told you I don’t see Jata that way, especially not now. Is everything okay? I’m getting the distinct impression that I’ve done something wrong, here.”
Rolling his head across his shoulders to relieve some of the tension, the alchemist exhales a stiff breath. "One day if you have a predatory shift, you'll understand." Sooner perhaps, given the slight change in the Lullaby's magic. Now that his empathy ran both ways he could let the Star truly feel what it was to be overcome with predatory need in a way that couldn't quite shine through the attuned bond.
Raising a brow at that, Remi just nods his head. "Alright. Understood." Stretching out a hand that Ronin might come near, he huffs an apologetic sigh. "You're right. I don't mean to." He offers, smiling up at the Star. Perhaps it didn't matter that there seemed to at least be a method to Ludo's madness that didn't seem present with Safrin. Suddenly giving Ronin a child? What purpose was there in that? What purpose in sending him away for LongNight, especially when it was all just a lie? Clenching his teeth together, too close to things which couldn't be said, the Lullaby turns his gaze onto the face of their sleeping boy, his expression softening immediately.
Hearing the change in Ronin's tone, the alchemist looks up again with a soft look of confusion. "Well...Because Amalia is our friend and she's hurting? And as for Sunjata, it was a joke." Brows furrowing, not sure why his husband was interpreting the jest the way he was, Remi shakes his head softly. "Surely he's the one you're closest to other than me. I guess that was my way of asking if you were going to do something for him to say goodbye." The quip had come too easily to his tongue, but that didn't mean it came from a place anymore deep than mere boyish mischief.
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
