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!
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
He had waited outside the portal for as long as he could do, until the sun rose too high in the sky for Adam to be able to hide in the shade anymore. Pet hadn't shown up, and even though it had barely been a morning of post-Longnight, Adam couldn't help but feel worried, and oddly guilty (though he couldn't quite place why). He'd gone back to the Advocates reluctantly after sunrise, hoping Pet wouldn't feel abandoned when he came through the portal to no welcome.
That was, if he came through the portal, but Adam didn't want to imagine an alternative. They'd only just come back. Life couldn't be that unfair, right?
Laying in their pile of blankets and pillows in the corner, he stared at the door, waiting for Pet to walk through it any moment. He'd take limping, he'd take half-monster, whatever, as long as he came in alive. Pressing a pillow close to his chest, Adam watched and waited, not knowing what else to do.
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
The best and worst thing about the first day of Flowerbirth was the rising of the sun. Sure, it meant the end of Longnight, meant that they’d survived another week of utterly unspeakable horrors, but it also trapped Peter in the Grounds far longer than he wanted, waiting until the shadows crept Longnight enough that he felt safe slipping through the portal and back to Torchline.
From there at least, it was a simple trek, along a path that he’d somehow memorized already. He’d already been quiet before, but ascension made it even easier, had him utterly silent until he finally crept through the door to the Advocates his eyes immediately moving towards what could only be described as a nest in the corner.
Pet very bursts into tears in the doorway, abject relief overtaking him at seeing the shape of Adam there. Without hesitation, he crosses the room, boots coming off as he moves to clamber in agaisnt his husband, trying to replace the pillow with his body.
03-02-2021, 10:35 AM (This post was last modified: 03-02-2021, 10:54 AM by Adam.)
Adam
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
Adam opened his eyes as Pet was halfway across the room; he did jump at the sudden sight of a person there, but upon seeing who it was, all he could do was grab Pet tight. One arm going around his waist and the other pushing into his hair, Adam pressed his face close into his husbands neck and just held him there for a long moment, taking in a heavy breath of his own to stop the flow of any tears that might threaten to come.
"Holy fuck, Pet, I was so fucking scared." He whispered into scarred skin, squeezing tighter; if he could pull Pet into himself in that moment, he would have done. "I didn't know if you were gonna come back, and if I was gonna have to do this life thing again alone." His voice wavered, and knowing he was risking actually sobbing if he kept talking, Adam instead pressed a kiss to Pet's neck and then finally pulled back, just enough to look at him.
"Are you alright? What happened? Where did you even go?" Had Pet gotten to stay with the main group, or had he been whisked away too? Adam was aware he looked like shit himself, all sorts of nicks, bruises and scrapes on his painless body, but he was far more preoccupied with Pet, looking him up and down for any new scars.
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
For days, for an entire week, Pet has been held together by nothing than tension? Nothing more than the burning, impending death. It might be different again, but that didn’t mean death was spent her Pet was ready to face, not alone. Not so soon. Adams arms wrapping around him have that dam crumbling though, a trembling taking up residence in his arms, his eyes filled with still unshed tears as he presses into his husband.
”I’m okay.” Its the first thing out of his mouth, and it’s a lie, made immediately obvious by everything else, by the way the words are muffled, pressed into Adam’s throat. He whines pitifully when the other man pulls away, clutching hands trying to hold close, trying to keep from moving.
They should probably talk though. He should probably have some kind of real conversation. ”I um, I was with uh... Wessex. And...” And things had been fine, until she’d done something and he’d frozen again, had nearly died, again. He can’t say that though. ”We um... managed to escape to... to a safe house. And then just... waited for the sun. Where did... where did you end up?”
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
Pet obviously was not okay, but Adam kindly didn't point out that lie, just held him closer and stroked his hair. This was automatic, not something he had to think about anymore; his fingers sifted through Pet's hair and he made soft, soothing hums into his skin. Adam had never been the gentle, comforting type, but it felt so natural here, that he would calm Pet.
With Wessex was both a good and a bad thing; on the one hand, it meant Pet had probably had some decent protection, but on the other, it meant he might have been pushed into doing more risky, unreasonable stuff. Adam sighed as he listened; Pet always gave too little, always spoke in little hints and broken sentences that had to be decoded. "Did you...kill any monsters then, or just escape?"
Not that he cared, so long as Pet was back and okay.
"Uuhhh...I ended up at the Labyrinth with Nate and Kia and a couple other people...one guy died." Adam paused and swallowed, but didn't linger too long; unfortunately he had not known Edwyn, so there really wasn't all that much to say. "There was this...thing...that pretended to be Sunjata...then a monster. It flew, and uh..." Giving a slightly proud chuckle, he grinned. "I jumped on it. Nearly died and all, but it looked cool."
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
Already, Adam’s arms around him bring comfort. Pets arms wind desperately tighter around the other man, his fingers curling to press in against skin at the wide open expanse of Adams shirt. Anything to feel that little bit closer.
For whatever reason, it’s calming to have questions, to have something as simple as talking on his mind. ”N-No. I killed...” He casts his mind back, before the freezing hiccup, when things had seemed to be going so well. ”I killed some.” An amount that he could feel some kind of proud about, considering he hadn’t asked to be a part of this, and that he hadn’t prepared at all.
That’s enough about him though, his attention shifting, suddenly wrapped up in Adams every word. The immediate mention of death has him cringing, an almost involuntary shiver going through his body, though he can’t bring himself to say anything. ”A thing?” Not a monster then, not that that assuaged any of his fears. Especially not as Adam continued.
First things first though, before the outrage he has to say: ”That does uh... does sound cool. But,” All at once his brows pinch and his lips puff out in an exaggerated frown, ”how’d you... how’d you jump onto the monster?”
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
"Well hey, look at you, badass." Adam lightly teased, smiling as he patted Pet's back a couple of times. It wasn't too much of a surprise to hear that his husband had successfully killed a few of the beasts; he'd always known Pet had a dark side, was capable of violence that he'd learnt from a life of having it forced on him. He didn't really like to see it or think about it, but it was useful.
Adam wasn't actually sure what the 'Sunjata' they had met had been, so all he could do was shrug. "I don't think it was a monster, and it fucking certainly wasn't Jata...but I don't know what it was. It's dead now anyway, I think." He hoped.
Asked to tell the tale of how he had jumped on the monster, Adam grinned and shifted up to rest on his elbow, gesturing out with his hands. "Well. So I was riding on Isla - she changed into an uh. I don't know what the fuck it was, but it looked cool and could fly. Some kinda furry big bat thing, maybe?" It had been a bit of a blur, in the moment.
"The monster was this big ugly beetle. I jumped right on it - like pwwweeeeuuuuu-" Using two fingers to represent his legs, Adam jumped them onto the back of his other hand. "Then I stomped on it."
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
A thin smile crosses Pet’s face, proud despite the terrible weight of Longnight. ”Wessex uh... took care of a lot of them. And... the big one.” He assumed. ”Sh-she uh,” his voice wavers here as he remembers the creeping cold, ”she had some big... stuff.”
As tickled as he is by the demonstration, Pet can’t help the worry that shoots across his face, his brows pulling together. It sounds spectacularly dangerous, more so than what he’d been caught out doing, and it doesn’t sit well in his chest. But Adam was here, whole and hale, so that had to be worth something.
”Did you kill it?” Theres a kind of solemnity in Pet’s voice, a grim curiosity. He knows he should hope that the answer is yes, know that he should hope that Adam eradicated one more beast that stood against them, but there’s a certain amount of horror that comes with killing anything, and it’s a feeling Peter does not want his husband to experience. At least no more than he has to.
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
"Yeah? I bet it wasn't half as cool as your moves, though." Adam grinned, giving Pet a teasing poke in his side. Wessex was a Demi God or whatever, but Pet was his husband, and he was like, an action hero. He could do jumps and flips and shit and get blades out of his arms. "I wish I coulda seen you out there, babe. I bet you were amazing."
Adam shook his head at the question, not particularly upset he hadn't managed to land the killing blow, knowing that he'd probably have not liked it; Pet was just about the only person he'd ever admit that to. "Nah, I got off it just before it died...I'm not actually totally sure how, but it was loud. Uhhh...then we just walked back here. Isla went off to the town to help, but..." He cringed and laughed, clearly not impressed with that idea.
Stories told, Adam laid back down and pulled Pet in close to his chest, stroked his hair and laid there in silence for a while, just happy to be. Of course though, eventually his mind began to wander. "...Hey...babe...I did wanna talk about something. D'ya think we could go to the Grounds soon? They've got a room there and apparently we can fuck there? Like, for real. I know it seems kinda silly, but...I really wanna. I wanna feel close to you like that again, y'know? Feel fucking normal." His fingers slowed and he glanced down to see what Pet thought.
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
A hiccuping gasp leaves Pet, the closest he can get to a nervous chuckle. He wants very much to be done with this arm of the conversation, to be moving past it, so as badly as he wants to poke fun at himself, he bites his tongue, nods and smiles thinly and presses in against Adam.
"I'm really... I'm really happy you're okay." He had absolutely no idea what he'd do with himself if Adam hadn't been okay, if something had happened. It already felt like they hadn't had enough time, that long stretch of peace fading from his mind faster than he'd liked, and the time together before that cut off far too quickly. With any luck, there are no more disasters lurking on the horizon, no more surprise wars brewing. hahahaha
Pet's arms shift as he does, moving to cling even more fiercely to Adam, like the particularly driven limpet that he is. He leans into the fingers in his hair, his head turning in so he can press his lips against the other man in something that isn't quite a kiss, but that seems to have all the weight of it. They're even still pursed a little bit when he looks up, meeting Adam's glance with his own curious eyes. "I don't think it's silly." It's all he offers after the explanation, his lips just barely curling into a smile. "It sounds nice. I... I wanna go."
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm glad about you too, babe." If he'd come back from all that shit to find out Pet was gone, Adam wasn't sure he'd have kept it together (as much as he barely was at the moment).
Returning the kiss Pet gave with a bit more passion (it definitely was a kiss, as far as Adam was concerned), he stroked a hand up his side and grinned. "Hell yeah then, it's a plan. As soon as we can work out the trip." That said he pulled Pet close to his chest again, laid quietly for a while just being with him. He had married Pet because he loved him, after all, and even if the proposal had been a spur of the moment thing, the feelings were real. It was uniquely peaceful to lay there with Pet's presence.
Eventually though, his mind, determined as it ever was to fuck him over, began to buzz with thoughts of the last week or so. Adam chewed at his lip, thinking about phrasing and whether he ought to say anything or not, but...the point of marriage was that you could expose your heart, right? Even the ugly bits. "...Y'know...I have...found it kinda hard, since we came back. To get my head around being married. I mean, don't get me wrong - I love you, and I want to be. But it's just...a lot. I never thought I'd do it again." There was more to say, but for now he left it there, waiting to see how Pet felt about that.
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
For the first time since he’s come back from the Grounds, a proper smile graces Pet’s lips, sharp and unsteady and just for Adam. ”I think... lots needs to be uh... done, fixed, before... before anything.” Speaking of fixing though, of building and rebuilding. ”Are... do you wanna... stay here?”
”Its... weird, kind of, for me too.” Adding emotions to his words drags them down, something always seeming out of sync when he tries, but for the moment, Pet is as steady as he can be, his eyes locked on Adam. ”I don’t... I wanna do things right, but...” A helpless little shrug rolls across his shoulders, new fangs wearing a mark into his bottom lip. ”Can I uh... can I help? Make it easier?” He’s always better with a point to strive towards, a goal he can understand, why would it be different for this?
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
"In Torchline? Yeah, I think so. It's the best place in this hellhole. It's got decent weather and the ocean and exciting shit happens. I think...maybe? Eventually? We can go out in the sun?" Adam closed one eye and frowned, speaking in a higher pitch as he got further into things he wasn't sure of. "I'm pretty sure I've seen Ascended out in the sun before. But like, old ones."
There was comfort in hearing that Pet was finding the whole marriage thing weird too, even if it was definitely for different reasons. Adam watched carefully how Pet shrugged his shoulders, worried at his lip...would he be ruining any kind of comfort they had by continuing to talk about this? Knowing the damage would probably be worse if he spent years swallowing it down, he forced himself to continue.
"The thing is, Pet...I'm not very good at committing t'anything. I never have been. I just...I change my mind on what I want all the time and I don't like being trapped." Oof. Bad start; Adam cringed and quickly tried to recover: "Not that I'm trapped with you - I love you. I really do, and I haven't changed my mind on this. But..." Gesturing loosely before himself in the air, hand turning one way and the other, he found himself bringing his voice down quieter. "There's other things I want, too."
"I mean like - I met this woman a few days ago. Fucking stunning. I didn't do anything with her, though I probably coulda...but I wanted to. Or like...like I want to be able to go somewhere and do whatever I want and...I just..." Words failing to describe any of what he meant with any grace at all, Adam groaned and pushed a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I'm fucking this up big time. I guess what I'm saying is I miss being free to fuck whoever I want or go anywhere on my own, but I still love you and want to be with you and stuff? But like, we've got all of forever to do that. Don't you think we'll get tired of it after that long, if we don't do anything else?"
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
”I think so.” Wessex is really his only example, but with her being a Demi-god, and Pet in a state where even thinking her name makes him tremble slightly, he leaves it alone.
Brows knit closer and closer together the entire time Adam is speaking, all of Pet’s face pinched and concerned before he gets anywhere near the end. There’s a handful of things Adam days that make his unbeating heart drop in his chest, and a handful of quick catches and gentle reassurances that soothe it, but by the end Pet is simply confused. I-I...” He tries to begin, falling quiet again as he muddled his way through feelings.
It takes a long time for him to speak again, Pet shifting so he can fix Adam with a more even stare. ”I don’t know if I... understand? It’s... it’s not love stuff, just... other stuff?” Then, as if he’s talking to himself: ”I’ve never done... other stuff.” But if he’s being honest, Pet isn’t worried about himself. ”How uh... how do I know, or... how do I make sure that you don’t get bored anyway?”
