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!
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
Rather than responding, the alchemist just offers Ronin a hopeless sort of shrug; more flattery is clearly needed, especially in lieu of the other sorts of compensation the pair are used to.
Ronin's lips are nowhere near the papercut that may or may not have even existed, but even with the chill of the water making it hard to feel the warmth of the Star's skin against him, Remi's lips part with silent surprise. I thought you said no making this a date..? He points out, a slight hitch in his mental voice.
Flapping his wings to rise alongside the Star, Remi offers him an imploring look over his shoulder. This Ludo thingie is so that I stop waking up naked in bed with other men. Well. Just one, I suppose. The alchemist points out, and though at no point did anyone suggest that there was a race between them to the surface, Remi very much acts like there is as he fans his wings and kicks his feet to beat his husband to the waves overhead.
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
If more flattery is needed then Remi will find his husband both ready and eager to comply - though it's something he's more likely to accomplish once both of them are out of the water. Did I say that? It doesn't sound like me at all. Shrugging back to the alchemist, Ronin is unable to follow at quite the gliding pace that Remi sets, left swimming towards the surface in a regrettably mortal fashion.
Oh, I see, he says, tilting his head up at the other man as he looks over his shoulder, resisting the urge to reach out and grab Remi by the ankle to pull him down again. So you needed a drowned boat rope to stop you creeping around in someone's dreams? It sounds super logical. I bet loads of people have had to do that before. The surface starts to appear as a shimmer overhead, and Ronin does drag his husband back this time, keen to win this game they're not playing.
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
You know it doesn't, does it? Crookedly said, Remi has no real idea of what game they're playing at anymore. Honestly, this could have been a lovely date; so what if there was a garden of skulls and an unnecessary explosion?
No Ronin, that would be absurd. Remi scoffs back. I need a drowned boat rope, some hallucinogenic sap, and some rocks to stop me creeping around in someone's dreams. Honestly. It's like Ronin didn't even listen to him when he talked anymore.
Suddenly there's a tug on his foot, and Remi has time to watch Ronin's abdomen float right before his eyes. After all this time. Remi grumbles, fanning his wings to try and catch the Star, but it's already too late. As they both break through the surface, Remi immediately tries to splash the Star before reaching out to tug him close. "Even though you exploded what was going to be the centrepiece of our bedroom...I still love you."
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
They're playing race to the top, duh, and it's turning into quite an exciting date if Ronin does say so himself. Cackling down their Attuned bond as he glides past his husband, the Star glances over his shoulder shortly before he breaks the surface of the moody sea below Stormbreak. Oh I see. How foolish of me not to realise the extent of your task. Honestly, he might have only been half listening even when Remi had suggested they do this dive into the ocean.
His laughter becomes material when finally they can get a breath of air, only for Remi to splash more water into his mouth. Spluttering, Ronin is putty in Remi's hands as he's drawn close, and he smiles brightly across at the Lullaby. "I love you too," he all but purrs to him, leaning in for a kiss as though it's the most natural thing in the world. Out here in the open water, it almost seems impossible that they could be anything close to going wrong.
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
Cold and clumsily buoyant in the waves, the risk isn't overstepping the lines he and Ronin have drawn, but drowning. Manta stone or no, the chill of the water provides the perfect environment for Remi's hands to draw his husband closer, not minding where they touch thanks to how partially-numb his skin has gone.
"Ronin?" Sliding his cheek across the Star's, not unlike a cat giving affection, Remi pauses as his lips reach his husband's ear. "I may have overlooked...one tiny thing.." Strong as he is, Remi's wings flop miserably on the surface of the sea. Completely waterlogged, all the strength in the world wouldn't allow him to fly now.
"Might you be willing to rescue me?"
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Remi," Ronin croons back, and though his fingertips are numb, he's more than happy to be wrapped up in his husband while they drown here out at sea. But then the other man is still talking, and the Star realises that Remi actually means to tell him something more than sweet nothings. "Mm...?" He has no idea what the other man might have overlooked other than the fact that he has no right to look this handsome while soaking wet, and Ronin is letting greedy hands run down the Lullaby's sides when he realises the problem.
"That's certainly quite the predicament," he remarks, already reaching up to curl a finger at one of the grey clouds overhead to call it down. "Not only am I willing and able to rescue you, it would be my pleasure," Ronin assures his husband, glancing up as the cloud hovers beside them. "I'll even sit with you and warm you up while we fly home."
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
"It really is." Remi agrees with a stern nod, his wings still flopping with dull thwaps on the surface of the water, just to drive home with an utterly impossible situation he finds himself in.
"My hero." The alchemist croons. Having said so, his hands dip below the surface of the water again, skirting softly down Ronin's sides. "I wonder how, given how cold you are." He says thoughtfully, sea-glass eyes full of mischief and warmth despite the weather. "Perhaps it will have to be a combined effort? I warm you up, and you warm me up?"
Remi's smile is sly and suggestive, though of what precisely, even he doesn't know. It's enough to simply be defying logic and going on adventures with his husband once again. Even if this is all the closeness that the day amounts to, he's still more content than he's ever been. "Oh. I forgot to mention." Remi murmurs, because fuck you timelines. "Guess who joined team demi-god?" Then, holding up a finger to belay his husband's reply, adds: "Actually guess."
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"It will have to be teamwork," Ronin decides of the two of them warming each other up, and his back arches just a little beneath the surface of the water; because like it or not, every touch from his husband is more of a treasure than anything he's likely to find in a shipwreck. The Star would like to say he manages to climb onto the nimbus with any sort of elegance, but it simply isn't true - he wiggles aboard, reaching out to help draw the other man up with him.
Out of the water it's even colder, he finds, Ronin shivering and winding himself around Remi so the other man is all but bundled in his lap. His nimbus rises up into the air, leaving their most recent adventure behind, and the Star lets his head loll against his husband's shoulder. Equal parts weariness and contentment, he's happy to play guessing games. "Uhh... it can't be Sunjata, because I saw him recently," he muses. "Oh - Ianto?"
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
Remi is forced to wiggle as well; even as his wings disappear, the alchemist was stupid enough to keep his clothes on making the task far harder than it ever needed to be. Conjuring blankets from memories of nights swathed beneath them, Remi drapes one around the pair of them and rests the other over their laps. Shivering as the wind rushes against them, it suddenly occurs to Remi that: "—if you were on fire right now, do you think this cloud would burn up? Don't do it." He's quick to add.
'How are you two?' He asks of Star and Flood.
"Ianto? No of course not." Remi was quite sure that if anyone ever tried to give the fox that much responsibility, he'd spontaneously develop a possum shift and promptly play dead. 'Well, you wouldn't have guessed her anyway, seeing as she'd all but vanished. But Phoebe."
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
The blankets have Ronin relaxing utterly, even if they're still soaking wet and the wind chill is cutting at best. His arms fold more securely around the Lullaby, and he nestles in close to rest his head against Remi's shoulder. "I won't," he says, his laughter huffing against the wet skin of Remi's neck. "And I'm not sure, honestly. It would certainly burn up the rest of our clothes and probably you, too. I'm not sure I can turn it on and off, who gets burned."
And he most definitely does not want to burn his husband, so Ronin busies himself thinking very warm thoughts and grumbling at the cold mist that clings to them instead. The nimbus ascends, even if it's quite slow, and soon enough they are soaring back up the cliffside towards the top of the Falling. Shuddering out a sigh, Ronin nuzzles closer to Remi. "Phoebe?" he repeats, sounding a mix of disbelieving and impressed.
"So that's where she was? Off... demi-goddessing? What is... I mean, is she coming here as well?"
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
"Oh good. Well I look forward to inadvertently finding out at the least convenient time." During sex, whilst cooking, in the middle of some god-level battle; that would be when they'd likely to come to learn about the extent of their abilities.
'Oh apparently she was in a cocoon." Remi corrects with a laugh that's just as dumbfounded as Ronin's tone. Shaking his head lightly and huffing out a breath that hangs in the air, all he can do is shrug. "Frey, of course. She said that her duties are...to keep things alive and healthy while we ruin everything and fight?" Something to that extent. "But no, she's not actually been given any sort of direction. I told her that she probably should, especially with Torchline just coming into monsoon season." Reaching for one of Ronin's hands, Remi rubs it between his own to try and generate warmth in the Star's fingertips.
"Not surprising, I doubt Frey is going to be as...hands on with tasks or suggestions." Still, that was one more of them. For whatever that was worth.
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Isn't that the way we do things here?" Ronin asks with a small shrug; his smile is audible, and he presses a kiss against Remi's wet and salty curls. "I'll do my best to not set your pants on fire," he says, promising it with all the weight and solemnity of a wedding vow. Probably because it would end up with them removing the rest of each other's clothes and more, and even the thought of that right now is enough to flush the Star's cheeks.
Clearing his throat, he's suddenly very interested in hearing about Phoebe's time in a cocoon (what?), his brow furrowing as he tries to understand. All the while, the nimbus lists lazily over the top of the Falling, beginning its turn towards home in the Pacifist Plaza. And Ronin, for one, can't wait to sit in front of a roaring fire and thaw out properly. (Preferably naked. And rolling around on the rug. And-- stop it, Ronin).
"I don't think we ruin everything and fight," he mutters, though honestly... that's exactly what they do. "Well, wherever she's been and whoever she's sided with now... I'm glad she's alright. Perhaps we can invite her over for dinner."
it was me who wrote onto the wooden door your name
"It is, yes." Despite the weightiness of the Star's words, the alchemist doesn't believe them even for the briefest of moments. "That, dearest husband and love of my life," Remi raises Ronin's fingers that he might press the cold tips of them softly against his lips. "Sounds like an absolute crock of shit."
Reaching over to nudge Ronin in the ribs, Remi offering a scolding, stop it. I can feel those thoughts, nods. 'And maybe this time we can help find her somewhere to live—or you can since you're so good at it. It'll save us the trouble of having a fight when I inevitably suggest she come live on our couch." Not that they had one.
"Is that something we do now? Have people around for dinner?" It was so domestic that it made Remi squirm with delight and awkwardness both.
it'll last there longer than in this body i can stay
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi's sharp elbow gets Ronin right in one of the only soft places left on him (which is most likely the alchemist's entire intention), and he lets out an oof that is both understanding and a touch guilty. "Sorry," he murmurs, taking a deep breath and letting it out again, allowing his thoughts to settle back on the conversation at hand. And it turns out that it's quite easy to do, in fact, what with how Remi's sudden and adorable delight.
"It would be my honour to help her to find somewhere to live. And that, dearest husband, is not a crock of shit," he informs him, brightening as the Pacifist Plaza slowly comes into view in the distance. The urge just to fly in through the window of the apartment is almost overwhelming, which is precisely why Ronin doesn't. It's good for them, he's learned, to be patient. To work for things.
"I think it just might be," Ronin says of the dinner, grinning to Remi. "Would you like to practice your penmanship and write her a formal invitation?"
