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!
Finn is just about to take a sip from his glass when Tobi reaches out to unceremoniously swap them around, leaving him blinking and confused at the replacement given to him. He wants to comment on it, though he's not quite sure what he'd say, and by then of course the doctor is enjoying her own tipple. So Finn joins in, and the smile reappears, warmer and smaller in the simple pleasure of fizzy peach water. "Thank you," he says softly, one of his legs kicking back absently against the stone bench they're seated upon.
At first he thinks he's genuinely annoyed her, until he remembers who it is he's talking with. "I thought it was quite fun," he says in his defence, which is hilarious in itself given that they both know his sense of humour is on the wry side on the good day when it actually exists. When her next riddle comes, his brow furrows and he hums out a sigh under his breath. "Do they eat time?" he wonders.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
'You would.' Tobi scoffs, though her expression is altogether adoring and cheerful. Even if she's the only one enjoying this assault of riddles, the doctor is more than happy to give herself over to selfishness. It's what she's been trying to teach Finn, after all.
'Yes. But where's the pun in that?" Tobi grins, exquisitely pleased with herself for this intermittent wordplay. Her delight makes her cheeks round and rosy, and her dark eyes sparkle beneath her thick bangs. Hiding her mischievous smile behind her glass, Tobi helps herself to another sip of her drink as she leaves Finn to ponder.
Go on, mr. clever. What kind of time would a clock eat?
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
The wordplay, if it's acknowledged at all by Finn, goes completely over his head, and he taps his heel back against the bench and sips at his drink as he continues to ponder, clever mind ticking through the options. Get it, ticking? Get it? Granted, he's a bit distracted - unexpectedly so, in fact - by Tobi's delight next to him. It's enough to have him smiling around his glass, and he's about to say that he gives up when her quip about puns finally registers.
Finn lowers his glass and nudges his shoulder against Tobi, a gesture that's unexpectedly familiar and strangely comfortable. "It goes back four seconds?" he guesses, though rather than seeming triumphant, the Spyglass is almost shy in his thoughts about it. "I am not as good at this as you are. It still doesn't make sense, even if that is the answer."
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
With all the excitement of a dog whose been shown a ball, Tobi all but dissolves into bright laughter. 'Ahhhh, you got it!' She cheers, her enthusiasm entirely genuinely as her feet stamp out triumphant rhythms on the floor like a mini applause. If Tobi wasn't such a smiley creature her cheeks might have started to hurt from her constant cheer, but of course she is, and so they don't.
"Oh shush." Tobi scolds adoringly, flashing Finn a white smile before clinking her glass against his own. "It doesn't have to make sense, it's just for fun." She replies with a rather boneless shrug, riding the high of her elation.
"Hey Finn..?" Now it's Tobi's turn to kick out one of her feet beneath the bench, suddenly childlike in her uncertainty. "Can I tell you something?" She turns her head toward him, her smile lopsided and thick brows softly furrowed.
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
She's so excited that he gets the joke, even if he doesn't really get the joke, and Finn is left blushing a bit in the wake of her attention and her cheer. Indeed, even the others taking a break around them are casting a few strange looks their way, but ultimately Tobi's happiness is contagious. More are leaving the area with smiles on their faces than not, and Finn is one of them. "I was not aware that fun did not have to make sense," he informs her, trying at haughtiness and reaching instinctively for his guitar again. Now that was fun, and it still made sense.
Her question, though, is unexpected, and Finn pauses where he's been about to settle his instrument back in his lap to look down at her. "Sure...?" he says, a bit uncertainly, though he and Tobi are comfortable enough with each other by now that there's a little less trepidation in his voice than there otherwise might be.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
"Well, you learn something new every day." Tobi trills with equal enthusiasm and brightness. It might seem strange that the doctor would potentially ruin or upset what has thus far been a perfectly enjoyable encounter with Finn by steering the pair back into uncertain and weighty waters, but sometimes when the moment feels right, you go for it.
That's what Tobi had been trying to encourage Finn to do as of late, hadn't she?
"There's something about me that no one knows." Tobi begins, running her thumb across one of her eyebrows before letting her hands plop into her lap. She studies them where they lay, not sure why she has this sudden urge to spill a lifelong secret. Perhaps it was to show Finn that it was okay to be vulnerable, or that he was deserving of her trust. Perhaps it was so he knew he wasn't the only one carrying things around with him. Or, perhaps Tobi, ever the honest, was just tired of always hiding.
"The bernese mountain dog shift...everyone thinks it's my only one. But..it isn't." Turning her palms up and inspecting the lines that run across them, she sighs lightly before turning toward Finn with a rather fluttery laugh. "Gods, I don't know why this is so hard to say."
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
That, at least, is something with which Finn can fully get on board - you really did learn something new every day. Indeed, here he was, learning how to be okay in his own skin through tiny acts of bravery. Through sitting on a stone bench and playing a guitar; through watching the sea at the side of a cliff. So when Tobi speaks, he recognises in her one of those similar, tiny acts of bravery. And so he places his guitar back down, giving the doctor the courtesy of his full attention.
"You have another shift?" His tone is nothing but warm curiosity, the Spyglass tilting his head and feeling his fingers twitch with the urge to touch a hand to her shoulder. It is a learned custom, but Finn finds himself genuinely wanting to offer comfort at the same time. "You don't have to say what it is, if you don't want to," he murmurs.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
Tobi smiles as Finn puts the guitar down. She wouldn't have minded if he held it, knowing what a protective barrier holding the guitar likely was for him. She'd have absolutely understood too if he felt as though he needed it, though she appreciated him for that small gesture more than she currently could say. Not with her tongue so twisted around the word unicorn.
"No, I do." Tobi replies, offering the Spyglass a reassuring smile. "I've just..I've never said it out loud before." The word unicorn was laden with meaning, especially in Stormbreak. They were creatures of the abandoned first and foremost, but they were also found predominantly in King's End, where all manner of magical nastiness occurred. Imagine Tobi's shock to hear her parents say—with disapproval—that many Outlander cultures thought of them as virginal, pure, and beautiful.
You're being stupid, Tobi tells herself. And she is, and knows it. Placing her palm facing up on her leg, the doctor looks to Finn.Hold my hand? the gesture says, more clearly than Finn's had the other day in her office.
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
There was a time only a few days ago where the idea of reaching for that upturned hand would have filled Finn with trepidation. Where the idea of willingly offering such contact, such simple and human touch might have been overwhelming. But the Spyglass is growing even if he doesn't realise it, and as he sees his own gesture echoed back in Tobi, he reaches for her with barely a thought. His fingers are cool from playing the guitar and holding the glass, but he wraps them around her hand regardless.
"I find it easier, sometimes, to write things down when I can't find the words to say them," he offers; a slow and hesitant suggestion, as if she would think it a silly idea. Because as far as he has come, he knows without being told (and it's obvious that people talk when he's not around) that he is broken, and that his reactions aren't ordinary.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
Tobi's relief and appreciation is palpable and evidenced by the way she releases the inside of her cheek where she'd been biting it, and huffs a small breath of embarrassed laughter. His suggestion isn't one she finds silly at all, and even though she can absolutely find the words for what it is she wants to say, it is the saying it that she's struggling with. Pulsing her fingers against his, too caught up in what she's set in motion to properly appreciate Finn's willingness to reassure her physically, the doctor just nods and smiles.
'That's a really good idea.' Tobi whispers, conspiratorially and bashfully. 'Do you have a pen?' Her eyes dart to what he's wearing, fairly confident that in some pocket somewhere there will be a bit of paper or parchment and something to write with.
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
Tobi's assumptions about him are absolutely correct, though Finn has to place his glass down to use his free hand to rummage in the pocket of his pants. He withdraws a small notepad and a pencil, offering it out to the doctor with a smile. "You never know when a good research opportunity is going to present itself," he murmurs. Or when inspiration for music will strike, for that matter.
Knowing better than to stare, and besides finding it more comfortable not to focus too hard on their clasped hands or whatever Tobi might be writing, Finn reaches for his drink a second time and takes a slow sip from the glass. The fizz dances on his tongue and reminds him of Flowerbirth and warm, breezy days. He makes a note to get out into Stormbreak more, when the snows melt.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
"You better not have just called me research." Tobi scolds, aiming for levity but her nerves making it fall quite flat. She hums an embarrassing note before clearing her throat as she flips open the pad. Right-handed as she is, Tobi is forced to give Finn's fingers a squeeze of i'm letting go now, before loosening her hold of them.
'You have no idea how much I just want to write another bad joke, and pretend this whole thing was a pretense.' Tobi admits, partially to break the tension she's created, and partially so that she in fact takes that option away from herself.
Drawing her lower lip between her teeth, Tobi begins to write.
My other shift is a—
Her handwriting is predictably messy. Used to taking notes quickly and writing things in shorthand, the doctor sorely lacks the ability for pretty penmanship. But as she continues writing, the letters grow darker with the extra pressure she exerts on the pencil.
u n i c—
Does she even need to keep writing? Doesn't he know what it is? Her cheeks flush and her ears ring, and the letters become darker and fatter as if she's carving them into the page now, instead of writing.
—o r—
But that's as far as she gets, before the tip of the pencil breaks. It's as loud as a falling tree in Tobi's ears, and all she can do is stare down at what she's written, in horror and fear.
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
Appreciative of the forewarning, Finn lets his hands fold back into his lap. His original intention is to wait until she's finished, to let her pass him the note and read it when she's ready, but the scratch of pencil lead on paper with force enough to mark the pages beneath... it isn't Tobi. And so the Spyglass looks across, stormy eyes blinking back his surprise. He hasn't read a thing yet, but he's reaching out just as the pencil lead snaps, making him jump.
"Oh. It's alright, I think I have..." A spare, he wants to say, before even Finn, with his walls and his labyrinthine boundaries is able to see Tobi's level of fear and discomfort. He gazes down at the word, at unicor, and feels the blush of taboo around it - anyone in Stormbreak would have done the same. But this is more than taboo - this is Doctor Hart. This is every terrible joke she's ever told him, every ounce of comfort ever offered. This is one of the only friends Finn can claim to even maybe have.
The silence stretches between them, second by second that the clock isn't hungry for, until eventually the Spyglass reaches out to very gently ease the notepad and pencil from her fingers. "You took me to see one, in the Celestine when I was sick. It healed my arm. It was beautiful."
02-19-2021, 10:08 PM (This post was last modified: 02-19-2021, 10:08 PM by October.)
October
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
His words are far away, across a sea perhaps, or a field of ice. They echo, but she understands them. Oh I don't need a spare. You'll know what's written, and then you'll hate me for it. Who needs that silly old N at the end. You may as walk just walk away now. The words are cheerful in her mind as she stares down at the white page, marred by her secret.
And then he reaches out and pulls it away, and Tobi has no idea if she appreciates it (it is a secret after all), or if she's hurt by it. So instead she just blinks down at her lap. "Mmhm." Tobi hums simply, bobbing her head ever so slightly. "I knew what it could do..what you needed." She adds, her shoulders slumping in a half-hearted shrug.
"I've healed you myself..once or twice.." Tobi swallows hard, glancing over her shoulder at Finn with dark eyes swimming with apology and cheeks flushed with shame. 'I..' Glancing back, she begins to pick at the nail polish on one of her fingers, as if ridding her nail of the colour would count towards the absolution she sought. "I'm so sorry." Because while yes it had a positive impact. Magic? Even from a mythical shift? It was one step above being an abandoned in Stormbreak's eyes. 'I never told you because..if anyone found out, I didn't want it ever to come back on you...which..I guess I've now ruined."
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
