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!
Ronin saw him out himself with a kiss to the cheek (and almost a pat on the ass, but he thought better of it when he realised that he and his husband were still at the 'holding hands and making out' state of affairs). And then, when the Lullaby was gone?
The Star has a night to himself. He cooks, he potters around, he plays with his son and puts him to bed, then he dances in his underwear - but honestly, when has company ever stopped him - and then he collapses on the threadbare sofa with mismatched cushions, and promptly passes out.
Now the moon is high and the night is black and Ronin? He's snoring away the night with a few lanterns lit and the curtains still wide to let the stars peep in.
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
Ronin will be awoken by a weight suddenly on his chest, followed by that weight disappearing just as suddenly as it came in the wake of a loud thud.
Naked and having fallen off of the couch onto the floor, the alchemist sits up awkwardly and roughly, rubbing at the side of his head. Between his legs is the upset half-erection he's been sporting most of the night, and though his evening with Isla ended well, the concoction of sexual frustration brewed earlier in the night still hasn't been dealt with.
'Turns out I'm still gay, if you were wondering.' Remi snarks wearily, pivoting on a knee that he might bury his face into Ronin's lap with a loud huff. 'Which is probably for the best, because women are confusing—even ones I know well—and.." But what is there to say? Nothing. And so with his unhappy erection skewering the couch and his head against Ronin's hands, the alchemist finally sighs with relief, happy to be somewhere where things make sense.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
03-24-2021, 05:55 PM (This post was last modified: 03-24-2021, 06:29 PM by Ronin.)
didn't think we'd ever make it
There's weight on his chest and then there isn't, and it's the thump on the ground beside him that has Ronin snorting himself awake mid-snore. His eyes blink open, dazed and bleary, and Remi's name is only half formed on his lips when the alchemist is suddenly burying his head in his lap. The other man is talking and the Star is only just about half listening, but his fingers gently comb through soft curls and stroke down the back of his husband's neck.
"I could have told you that you were still gay," he mumbles, a smile very audible in his voice. "Have you even met you?" Yawning widely, he tries to focus a bit more on Remi with a hum of contentment. "So the date went well?" he asks, his fingertips dancing now over Remi's bare shoulders and along the top of his upper back. "I missed you, for what it's worth."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
Remi raises his head to consider what Ronin has just said, the truth of it clattering between his ears like symbols during a parade. Groaning he flops back down, his words lost in the blanket. "Well, instead I tried to have sex with a prostitute." Even the alchemist has to admit how absurd that sounds, especially now, and he winces hard enough that Ronin will likely feel it despite the fabric between them.
Ronin asked if the date went well, and though he's still on his knees beside the couch, Remi turns to press his cheek against Ronin's stomach and dramatically sighs. "I don't know. It was going well, and then it wasn't, and then it was again, and then it wasn't, and.." Frowning up at the Star, staring into his sleepy blue eyes, Remi wonders what the hell made him think what he'd done with Maeve and Isla made any sort of sense.
"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" He asks, rhetorically, but still expecting Ronin to agree. "I missed you too. So much. From now on, only dates with you, please."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I'm sorry, what?" Ronin is sure they'd have had that conversation before Remi went on a date, if they were going to have the conversation at all, and he scoffs and tries (and fails, spectacularly) at keeping the grin from creeping across his face. "The fact that you say tried implies that you weren't successful? You need to tell me everything," he informs him, his fingertips moving up again to tease through the back of Remi's curls; curls that are already messy enough, probably where the alchemist has been raking his fingers through them.
He hums out a sigh that's only half considering (mostly he's just happy that Remi is home), letting a finger run down the side of his husband's jawline. "It sounds exhausting," he admits. "And yes, you are an idiot. But I love you a lot, and it's okay. For what it's worth, I'd love to go on more dates with you. We can hold hands and walk through the Celestine. Or take a tip to Torchline when the skyboats are able to go there..."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Oh, you know her actually. Maeve?" Remi is too exhausted to be embarrassed, and so it's merely with half-closed green eyes that he regards the Star. Lions don't purr, so the rumble of contentment in the back of his throat is about as close as he can come to expressing his appreciation for the fingers in his hair. "I went to the Halenani to try and find Phoebe, and ended up walking in on Maeve and..." Had he heard Locke's name? He couldn't remember. It was hardly important at the time. "..someone. She asked me if men were my preference, and because of Isla I said I didn't know, and she said she could help." Reaching up to wrap his arms around Ronin, knowing better than sliding himself onto the couch if only because of his state of semi-arousal and nakedness, Remi sighs. "Honestly, at first I thought she could just...wave a wand and know." He wasn't kidding either, naive as it was.
"Holding hands?" Remi all but beams. "I'd like nothing more." Well. That wasn't strictly true. Thinking of dates and how the one with Ronin would be markedly different from the one with Isla, Remi's mind begins to pain lewd imagery behind his eyelids of all the things that might have happened with Isla, and would certainly happen with Ronin. Far from being a pleasurable feeling, it has Remi clenching his teeth against Ronin's stomach as his erection tries to make a reappearance for about the third or fourth time that night. Hissing in a breath, Remi clenches his eyes and moves to stand. His palm presses down on himself, which doesn't in anyway hide what's behind it.
"Fuck sakes." He groans unhappily. "Just...I'll be right back. You can keep talking at me." So saying the alchemist stomps toward the bathroom to deal with himself, very much wanting to slam the door behind him, but also not wanting to wake Mateo.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Maeve?" Ronin's smile spreads across his lips much like a Cheshire cat's would, and his fussing fingers continue their progress across Remi's skin when the alchemist reaches to try and wrap his arms around him. "If Maeve couldn't get you off, then you really are gay," he remarks, mapping out the scar so rarely seen on his husband's back, where a fateful skewer of ice began its progress through the Lullaby. "I have no doubt that she would have waved your wand about if she'd been able to make it work magic," he continues, chuckling in the back of his throat at his own joke, before letting the humour go with a soft sigh.
Indeed, holding hands and strolling along cobblestones made warm by the sunlight seems a perfectly twee way to spend an afternoon. And then returning to the Plaza for a late dinner, with sparkling wine or a ridiculous cocktail, and maybe even some music from whoever might be performing that night. Sleepy as he is, Ronin doesn't even consider the filthier aspects of their date - especially given that they've achieved a grand total of one makeout since moving to Stormbreak.
So when Remi suddenly grumbles to his feet, erection proudly refusing to be hidden behind his palm, Ronin's eyes widen and he shuffles to sit up. "Keep talking at you...?" He raises his eyebrows. "Are you sure my darling husband wouldn't like a hand?"
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
"Mmm, not for lack of trying, I'll give her that." Remi replies with a dull shrug, before offering the Star a reproachful look as if his misery was nothing to be laughed at. Though it absolutely was. "It felt very much like being in Northaven again. Scrunching my eyes closed and thinking about dashing men waltzing out of the sea rather than the woman on top of me." Had they been back to their old tricks, Remi would have kissed Ronin then. But in his current state, he simply gazed up adoringly at Ronin and shook his head.
"..No..." Remi calls over his shoulder. "This...this won't be a nice one." And it wasn't. It takes longer than one might expect, and from outside the bathroom Ronin will just heart frustrated grunts along with a rhythm that's liable to make him wince. When the alchemist finally does relieve himself, it's with clenched teeth and a fist against the wall. With an exhale followed by the sound of running water, Remi eventually re-emerges, still naked, dismally shaking his head.
"How..." Pausing and nibbling the inside of his cheek, Remi reaches for a blanket to wrap around himself. "...I guess with what happened with Maeve, and Isla..how much do you want to know? I don't have anything to hide, but I also don't want to..." He shrugs. Ronin's sexual escapades had been for mere sexual release, whereas Remi's thus far...weren't so straightforward.
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Oh? If that's the case, I'll have to find a beach to waltz out of for you. I wasn't aware you were still relying on that memory to get you through awkward encounters with ladies." It all sounds so absurd that Ronin can barely get the words out given that he's grinning so hard, and he's almost half off the sofa when Remi calls to him from on the way to the bathroom. "Ah, noted." The Star gives his husband a sympathetic smile, and while Remi takes care of business, he gets on with the much more menial task of making them some coffee.
Indeed, by the time the Lullaby returns to drape a blanket around himself, it will be to see a steaming mug of coffee waiting for him on the wonky little table before the couch. Ronin sets his own mug down beside it, padding across the room so he can wrap his arms around Remi's blanketed form holding him close and starting to shuffle backwards so they can sit down. "I want to know everything you care to tell me. Especially if there's something you're worried about," he murmurs, kissing his forehead.
"I also want to know that you love me more than all these ladies you've been wooing. I didn't realise I was a jealous man, but I'm starting to understand how you felt when I was gallivanting off everywhere."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
'I'll have you know it is one of my favourite memories." Remi clarifies; it's what he'll be relying on for the next few minutes, as it happens.
"Gods I love you." The words tumble out on a sigh as the alchemist reaches for his husband. Resting his cheek on the Star's shoulder as they awkwardly make their way to the couch, Remi collapses down, forgoing any attempts at being comfortable in favour of keeping as close to Ronin as possible.
"I love you more than all of them, and want you more than anyone else." Remi reassures his husband, and happily so, before chuckling under his breath. "Maeve was...well, obviously it didn't mean anything. I don't even know why I needed to know so badly." He admits, reaching a hand out of his blanket-burrito to take hold of one of Ronin's. "And Isla...I..." Frowning in a way that still dimples his cheeks, the alchemist just slowly shakes his head. "I don't think I can do that again." He says slowly. "I don't think I want to."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Ah, well. Far be it for me to try and recreate something that is already picture perfect. I suppose I will just have to make you some other memories to go with it instead," Ronin murmurs, happily collapsing down onto the couch with his husband and his blanket burrito, his arms encircling him, head tilting to rest against his curls. "I love you too, and I love you more than anyone else I've been with, and I missed you all night and I'm glad you're home," he murmurs, punctuating the words with gentle kisses to Remi's hair.
"I guess if it was something new to you... and I guess you grew up around brothels. Maybe you were looking for that same kind of reassurance from when you were young?" he suggests, not that he's particularly sure himself. Ronin's fingers lace with Remi's, the Star slumping further into the cushions, and it's what the Lullaby has to say about Isla that's surprising, in truth. "Oh?" he murmurs. "What happened? Too close to blurring lines?"
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
The smell of coffee, the utter comfort afforded to him by the man at his side, the kisses against his curls that provided just enough affection to make him feel warm and loved...why he ever leaves Ronin's arms, Remi suddenly has no idea.
'It could be. Maeve did remind me of the woman I used to spend time with when I was young. Though...' Remi frowns, before raising a brow and chuckling. "That could also be why it didn't work. Those women...I adore them, given how many helped raise me, but I think it would feel very strange if I ever wanted one. I know what hard lives they lead. How many do what they do just to survive. I know what they have to go through with some of their clients. To see them the way some do, it..." Remi licks the top of his mouth, as if there's suddenly a bad taste in it. 'Well, unless you decide to go work at Molly's, I'd rather not think about it."
Tapping his fingers against Ronin's hand before reaching out for his coffee with the other, carefully the alchemist sits back as he brings the mug to his lips to blow on it. "Yes, in a way I suppose. But...I don't want that with Isla. I can do friendship that tumbles into something more at times, but I don't want to be in another relationship. And tonight with it being a date, that's how it felt." Looking over at Ronin, the alchemist smiles adoringly, his green eyes drinking in the man next to him, and wanting nothing else in the world. (Except maybe his coffee). "It's just you, for me, Ronin. I don't want anything else even close to what we have, with anyone else."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
03-24-2021, 08:17 PM (This post was last modified: 03-24-2021, 08:18 PM by Ronin.)
didn't think we'd ever make it
Honestly, Ronin has no idea either, and the urge to suddenly bundle up his husband and take him off to bed so they can lounge in obscene comfort for the rest of the night is nearly overwhelming. He doesn't though, of course, because they both want their coffee, and besides, it's quite nice to have these conversations somewhere that doesn't so obviously lead to sex. "I like this," he says suddenly, as if just realising that it's something worth voicing. "I like sitting and talking with you, without thinking we'll just fuck away the difficult parts of the conversation."
So saying, as Remi leans forward, Ronin follows suit to grab his mug, nodding his understanding about what the alchemist had to say about Maeve. "She'd probably be more interested in your alchemy and your work with plants than your dick honestly," he says with a smile. "As for Molly's, maybe I'll pretend for you one night. Spice things up and all that." He winks. "Although, if it's all the same to you, I don't want to wear silk."
He sips thoughtfully at his coffee and listens as the conversation moves towards Isla, Ronin unable not to feel his cheeks heat up to hear his husband speak so. "It's not that I ever thought it needed saying... but hearing you say it anyway makes me very happy," he admits. "But I hope you know I really didn't mind the date. Even if I personally believe I could do a much better job, taking you out."
oh but that's the irony: broken people are not fragile
Bursting out an unintentional laugh and nearly spilling his coffee in the process, the alchemist steadies his hand before broadly grinning in Ronin's direction. "It is, isn't it? Who knew we liked each other for more than just sex." They both did. They very much both knew it, they'd just...forgotten, for a time. But no matter who he called his bestfriend, for Remi, it would always be to Ronin he ran every time things got too dark. Always to him he told his secrets. Always to him, he would pledge everything.
'Oh you think so? Mmm.' Remi looks pleasantly surprised at that. "Well, you'd know her better than I would." The alchemist might have bathed with the madame and made her orgasm, but as far as conversations go, he and Maeve hadn't gotten past first base as it were.
Snorting into his coffee and taking a hasty sip, Remi hisses in air over his lips which are unhappily burning from the coffee. "What's wrong with silk?" He wants to know, brow raised.
Blushing himself, Remi smiles awkwardly down into his lap. "You absolutely could have. She...well." Now the alchemist's adoring blush turned a shade darker as he nudges a shoulder against Ronin's. "..she went down on me, but then stopped because she thought I wasn't enjoying it? She literally started putting her shoes on, when I was moments away from finishing. And then it just got weird for no reason, and..." The smile on Remi's lips is boyish and tired. "Women are...I don't know how you do it."
The Lullaby
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
