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!
"Gross," Ronin says cheerfully, slipping his arm around Remi in turn so he can lead them away and out of the side street. He knows Stormbreak well enough by now, at least, to know the quickest way back to the Pacifist Plaza, and so they stroll through the snow until they reach a set of steps, until the silk fluttering from the windows disappears and the world becomes a little more placid again.
"Your feathers and some spare scraps of leather from my armour?" he suggests with a grin. "I think that would look beautiful on the sapling." He nods across the plaza, where the sapling has grown at least twice as large as when Ronin saw it last. Around them they stand, now, in a bustling marketplace, and whilst he imagines food will be the last thing on Remi's mind now, the trinkets might interest him.
"Shall we head back to the barracks? Or do you want to keep looking around?"
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Charming as your little room is, I think the fresh air might do me good." Remi replies, feeling better for every step he takes that distances him from the Silk Houses. "Maybe somewhere near the sea? If there's anywhere we can see it from here?" It was down below somewhere, though the alchemist wasn't at all sure if that meant they could see it from the city.
Glancing toward the city-centre where the sapling stretches toward the sky, Remi just nods distractedly. Having come from the Woods where all he's seen are trees, this small but magnificent sapling isn't quite as interesting as the man at his side, or a return to the ocean (even if only visually).
"I suppose the bar was back in the area we just came from?" Because much as Remi might like a drink to wash out the taste of newly-chewed meat from his mouth, he wouldn't for the world venture back toward the Silk Houses. Not just yet, anyhow.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
The sea? Ronin knows just the place, and it shows in the bright grin that lights up his expression. He nods, holding Remi just a little closer and pressing a kiss to his temple. "The bar was back where we came from, but there is a stall here that sells mulled cider, so I'll get us some," he murmurs. "I'll get some twine and wire, too, so we can make our not-balls. You just need to provide the feathers."
Leading them forward, it takes only a few moments for the Star to collect all that he needs, and he's walking them away from the Pacifist Plaza and up an incline soon enough. He holds out a mug of steaming cider for Remi to take, the spices scenting the air all around them. "Do you know," he says, "that Stormbreak has skyboats? We can sail off the Falling, and over the sea."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Ahh, good thing you clarified. I thought I'd provide the string and you'd provide the feathers." The alchemist grins menacingly, before his smile molds into something more genuine. "Actually, luxere fur might be rather nice with it."
Wrapping his hands around the offered beverage, delighted by the smell and heat of it (and the knowledge that should it come back up as the meat had, it would be far more pleasant), Remi raises a brow. Whatever Ronin is about to say is probably the sort of thing he doesn't know, especially given where they are. "What's...a skyboat? Is it what it sounds like?" Remi hoped that it was. Something held up by magic or physics-based means, rather than simply a regular boat given a pithy name because of its paint job, for instance.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Luxere fur? I have no idea where we'll find any of that," Ronin informs his husband with a sly smile, even as a thick ruff of fur appears beneath his collar like a scarf. "Fine, then. Feathers and fur, twine and wire. You've got yourself a bauble. Or close enough, anyway." He keeps one arm around his husband as they walk, the other nursing his mug of cider, and though the cobbles are snowy and their breath clouds the night air, he feels warm to the core.
"It is exactly what it sounds like," he says, his voice hushed as if it's a secret, though the excitement in his blue eyes tells that he hasn't seen nearly enough of them as he'd like to. "I accidentally stole one, not long after I got here. I broke it, too." Oops. "I think this time we can just have one of the pilots sail it for us, and you and I can cosy up out of the way."
It doesn't take all that long to reach the Skyport, not when the conversation carries so easily, and although the stars and moon are winking down at them, it's busier than it was when Ronin first saw the place. The boats still line the cliffs, bobbing gently and waiting for passengers.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Sounds a lot like the hairball I mentioned before..." Remi whispers under his breath, and should Ronin look over, he'll find the alchemist nonchalantly looking up at the overcast sky.
That Ronin stole one (accidentally or otherwise), and that it was subsequently broken is not a surprise at all to the alchemist, who grins broadly, nevertheless saying: "You? Broke a ship?" Taking a sip of his drink, Remi suddenly looks speculative. "Is it even called breaking when it's something as large as a ship? I think the word you're looking for is likely crashing."
Arriving to find ships 'moored' against the cliffs, bobbing on nothing at all, Remi ignores the lines of those patiently waiting their turn, and immediately walks toward the edge to get a better look at the boats. Unlike Ronin's last boating companion, Remi has absolutely no fear of heights, and an insatiable curiosity and interest when it comes to understanding the mechanism of the boats. 'You haven't learned to fly yet, have you?' Remi asks, glancing over his shoulder at his husband for just a moment before kneeling down as if he might be able to look under one of the boats.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my good idea," Ronin murmurs to his husband, indeed giving him the sideways glance that shows Remi looking very interestedly up at the stars. Still, he's smiling over the rim of his mug of cider, and the two of them approach the skyport in a wreath of warm spices and jovial chit-chat. "Uh - no," he objects on the nature of what he did to the ship that he did not steal. "It did not bump into anything, thank you. It was the avoiding a crash which broke it."
Not that it matters, not when he forgets all about it to watch Remi prowl away to peer over the edge of the cliffside, ignoring those in line who glower at him or the skyboat pilots looking as though they'd like to haul his ass to the back of the queue. For reasons Ronin does not go into, suddenly all suspicion of the Lullaby is dropped when his husband appears, and Ronin gives a cheerful smile to those waiting (and ignores one boat in particular) as he moves to join Remi.
"You mean in general? Or fly one of the boats?" he asks, curling a finger up to summon down one of the clouds, should Remi want to use it to examine the vessel further.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
'Well, listening has ever been one of your downfalls.' Remi sunnily points out. His expression remains just as boyishly amused as Ronin poorly offers up a defense of not crashing the skyboat. "Oh I see. So in a sea of just air, it was not touching anything at all that broke the ship." Pursing his lips and nodding as if this was as good an explanation as any he might receive, he flashes a smile toward the man at his side. "That makes sense." It didn't, but what of it?
Remi is oblivious to the change in attitude that Ronin's presence draws. He wouldn't be surprised had he taken note of it—favours won in fighting rings or not, Ronin simply had that way about him—but with his attention focused solely on the magic or alchemy at work (and he was keen to know which), the grumbles and glares went entirely over his head.
"Oh, in general." Remi murmurs, properly on his hands and knees with his head craned at an awkward angle to try and see more. Turning to see the cloud as it knit itself together, ready to hold one or both of them, the alchemist chuckles and shakes his head. "I had meant as an animal." He explains. "Less obvious that way, although.." Now noticing the change in crowd, the alchemist frowns, then brightens. "...maybe they wouldn't mind if we took a quick look under the boats?"
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"That's exactly what it was. You are correct." Ronin nods wisely, sounding thoroughly impressed that his husband has managed to get the gist of how this wasn't his fault. He is still smiling, arms folded across his chest, as they stand at the edge of the cliffs, Remi crouched to admire the handiwork of the boats, Ronin observing like he's some prospective buyer.
Still, he raises his eyebrows and offers a placating pat to his nimbus as Remi clarifies. "Are you saying that my cloud isn't good enough?" He sniffs, leaning against it haughtily. "I don't need to be an animal to fly." As for the crowd, though, and their minding what they do? Ronin chuckles, turning to call to the man directing people in the queue.
"I promise we aren't going to steal anything or touch anything!" he calls, his voice ringing across the Skyport. Then, hopping aboard the nimbus and flying it to Remi's level, he pats the space next to him. "Let's go see what they're made of," he says.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
'No, but you're still very much you when you fly. No one would think twice about seeing a hawk circling the boats." Or maybe they would. Were hawks even found here? Still. Better to be a bird than an incredibly handsome demigod. One of those things was far easier to overlook.
As Ronin's voice rings out, clearly narrating what it is they're about to do, the alchemist looks up with a cheerfully confused expression. Powerful though Remi has become, he's never learned to weild his weight in a way that doesn't make people glower at him for it. Ronin on the other hand is a masterclass in being humble despite his godliness.
Flashing Ronin a look which is both wildly in love as much as it is scolding, the alchemist does as he's told. Snug next to the Star, he points directly beneath one boat, wanting nothing more than for Ronin to sweep them directly beneath. Conjuring a feather in one hand, the alchemist holds it gingerly between his two fingers, head cocked to the side.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"No one will think twice about us circling the boats now either," Ronin says with a purposely smug little smile, and he cuddles Remi closer against his side as he finally joins him on the nimbus. Letting his fingers strum gentle patterns across the Lullaby's hip, he directs the cloud beneath the boat so that his husband can have his fill of the mechanisms or magic that helps to keep them airborne.
Ronin, of course, has absolutely no interest in this sort of thing. He's spending his time watching Remi - the cogs turning behind his eyes, the feather twirling between his fingers, and all the other signs that are a hint towards the curiosity the Lullaby feels. And it's likely that he's about as interested in his husband as the other man is in the skyboats. "What do you think?"
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
'I don't know what metal I need to describe your tongue as anymore." Remi chuckles. Silver didn't quite cut it, but then again neither did golden. Ronin was in a league of his own when it came to what his tongue could accomplish (and yes, how that tongue worked between the sheets and thighs was certainly part of it).
When Remi is in this state of mind, he almost entirely loses the ability to speak in full sentences. With one hand raised, he twitches his fingers this way and that, expecting Ronin to be able to direct his cloud in tandem with these pulses. When he fails to do so (read: when Remi's instructions are entirely fucking unclear), the alchemist will grunt or huff, though won't make any further attempts at clarity.
Leaning forward, his tongue stuck out of his mouth, the alchemist holds the feather aloft as they glide under the boat. Remi's eyes flicker between the hull of the skyboat and the pale tines of the feather, waiting to see if the sensitive hairs pick up any magical vibrations or other distortions.
But they don't.
"Amazing." He whispers under his breath, before flicking his fingers that Ronin should take them higher. Reaching up with fingers suddenly ended with claws, Remi scrapes a barnicle away from one of the ships. "Does this count as a bauble for the tree, do you think?"
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Maybe it's not metal at all. Can you imagine having a diamond tongue?" Ronin muses, shifting so he can sit behind his husband and give him the full panorama of the boat before and above them. Arms slipping loosely around his waist, Ronin lets his chin rest on a warm, well-muscled shoulder, and he directs his nimbus here and there as best he knows how. Because he isn't paying the slightest bit of attention to his husband's analysis - unless watching the Lullaby's expression shift and change counts - it means he absolutely has no idea what the other man wants from him.
But they get there eventually, and he glances up as a very deft claw scrapes a barnacle from the underside of the boat. "It is, right?" he agrees, leaning in to kiss a stubbled cheek that smells of spiced cider. "I think it definitely counts. Can you get one for me as well? We'll hang a beautiful pair of barnacles on the tree."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Sounds heavy." Remi says with a laugh.
The alchemist grins slyly at that, finding some boyish and gutter humour in hanging barnacles on the tree. "You know if you had a diamond tongue, you could just lick them off." He notes as he stretches an arm off to easily sheer away another barnacle. Hopefully having cleaned the hull would earn them a few brownie points with the dockmaster, over and above whatever silent offerings Ronin had made.
"Here, you can have the bigger one." Remi says, depositing the grimy bauble into his husband's lap with a proud and shit-eating smile. "Shall we drop these off and then go back to your room?"
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
