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!
& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
'I wonder if I'll have a visit from Cian too, then.' Remi mumbles, his voice low, not wanting even words to take up space between he and Ronin just now. "What with Isla..." Because if pawns were being shifted and allegiances solidified, it shouldn't really be a surprise that Remi's friendship with the ascended doctor would be called into question.
Remi doesn't want to ask what he's about to, but keeping things to himself for the sake of preserving a moment is part of what led to the massive fracture between he and the Star. "What do you think of it? That I was with her? And..." If it was this hard to ask, was that an answer in and of itself? Was there even any point? "..if I wanted to, again..?"
Emotions flood brightly from where they touch as Remi pours out all of the things he can't possibly find the words to say: that this thing with Isla is completely separate from his feelings for Ronin. But should he have these desires that his husband can't satisfy? Is he allowed to want her this way? Is he allowed to have her, then? It's a love that doesn't cross the line he'd drawn with Ianto, and yet it's love just the same. But it's...gods, but he doesn't know.
"I love you more than anything else. I will always choose you." Remi says after a moment, feeling as though he's made a mess of things, but at least he knows that much to be true.
& i know that you'll use them, however you want to
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 you do have a visit from Cian, you tell him to mind his own fucking business, sweet as you like," Ronin says warmly, his lips whispering over unruly curls, his smile obvious in his tone. "I'm part of the Order, so it makes sense for him to have a vested interest in what I do inside and outside of work. But you? Nah, he can leave you alone." Ronin's still smiling, but there's an edge of something dangerous in his voice as he relaxes bonelessly into the pillows.
The heat envelops him, and with Remi in his arms and his heartbeat thrumming against his chest, it would be easy to forget about coffee and just fall asleep. Talk about Isla, though, keeps him focused, and Ronin pulls back enough to raise an eyebrow down at his husband, giving the question the amount of consideration it deserves. The feeling pours from the Lullaby, filling all the places that the heat from their bodies don't, and Ronin surprises himself by relaxing into it.
"I think... that this is good for you," he says eventually, maybe even a little bashfully. "I know you and Isla have been more than for a long time. You've never been able to explore things with a woman, either - not like I have. And this is just..." He shrugs. "It makes sense to me, when I think of what both of you are to each other. Is that weird?"
His voice lowers a bit then, Ronin leaning in to nibble at the shell of Remi's ear. "And don't tell Cian, but if you ever want to bring me along too, I wouldn't say no." It's only half a joke, Ronin nestling closer to his husband once more. "It's you for me," he vows, the words rumbling through his chest. "Even if you're fucking a hot blonde doctor."
& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
"We both know how sweet I can be." Remi hums, and while it's true, the alchemist hasn't lost the ability altogether, that isn't the side Cian would see should he try and pitch his anti-ascended propaganda to the alchemist.
Remi is surprised by Ronin's soft relaxation as well, and though the pair have promised to only tell each other the truth, something in Remi is hesitant to believe his husband. Were it not for the magic that made emotional lies nearly impossible between them, he might not have believed it. 'It...yes. It seems weird.' Because in what world was it okay for Remi to receive such easily given permission to have sex with someone else? Free-passes or no, Remi was the only one to have repeated sex with someone else; that it was all on the same night didn't really seem to matter.
What Ronin says next has Remi choking on his breath, leaning back to try and peer into Ronin's eyes. "W-would yo—" His eyes narrow, completely unable to tell if his husband was kidding or not. 'Oh so you do think she's attractive." Between the sheets Remi's +65 END stat makes a second appearance, pressing tentatively against the Star's own trapped erection.
"I just.." Flustered and flushed, Remi shakes his head with a smile. "I don't want to ever risk anything between us again."
& i know that you'll use them, however you want to
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 absolutely knows how sweet his husband can be, and he also finds himself hoping that Cian finds himself on the receiving end of Remi's claws should he decide to go at him with the intention of strong-arming him into something that is none of his concern. "I suppose maybe I'm still feeling guilty about everything. All the shit I was doing here in Stormbreak without telling you, all the Safrin stuff..." Ronin shrugs and lets out a long, heavy sigh. "But I just... After all that's happened over the past few weeks, I just..."
He's not articulating himself well, Ronin's laugh bubbling out of him. "I guess right now, at least, I really don't mind if you want to fuck Isla a thousand times. If you come home to me, to this bed, then go nuts." He burrows a bit deeper under the covers, just in time to realise that he's kindled his husband's interest all over again.
"She's very attractive," he nods seriously to Remi, though the buzz of amusement in his emotions is clear. "And you are very lucky, to be able to bounce between the two of us." Reaching out to tilt up the Lullaby's chin, Ronin's kiss is soft and chaste and lingering. "As long as we keep talking like this, I think we'll be just fine," he says. And he means it, too.
& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
Remi shakes his head, fingers kneading Ronin's back as the slow and lazy scent of coffee reminds him that there still exists a world outside of the two of them, hard to believe as that is sometimes. "But that's what I don't want. I don't want it to be okay only because we made mistakes in the past." He murmurs, not wanting the extra rope-allowance only because that was how far Ronin had pulled it.
The Star will feel a rush of embarrassment and boyish eagerness to hear him say that Remi could fuck Isla a thousand times. "The two of you..." His lips part to say something, but close again, choked off by bashfulness and anticipation both. Ronin's kiss, then, is all the more perfectly timed for its softness, balancing easily the newly-stoked fire in Remi's belly.
'That's all I want.' Remi agrees, and as tantalizing as thoughts of Isla and Ronin tangled up together are, for now, it's only the Star that occupies his mind. "And that coffee." He adds with a grin, nudging Ronin slightly that the Star might use his projection to hand them their cups so that they needn't move.
& i know that you'll use them, however you want to
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Mm... I don't think that's what this is. I might still feel guilty, but I don't think that's why I'm okay with it. I'm not forcing myself to be alright about all of this." Ronin can only shrug his shoulders, a grin spreading across his face to feel the flush of embarrassment from his husband. He can feel his cheeks heating up as well, the Star, relaxing into the feeling of fingers kneading into muscles that are nearly always sore, somehow.
He absolutely wants to tease Remi more with thoughts and images about he and Isla and the Lullaby all rolled up together, but his kiss has been chaste for a reason, and instead he merely coaxes his thoughts into something a bit more pure. Not much, but a bit. "And that coffee," he agrees, all but purring out the words, and silently his projection gets up from the bed as if it was there all along, moving to feed the two of them their well deserved hot drinks.
