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!
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
If Finn had been any good at reading social cues or wordplay, he might have said something like oh, I see - then perhaps unofficially we could try it. Alas, he can only smile and nod in a way that suggests he isn't actualy all that sure what Tobi means from a medical standpoint. Smooth. Then the situation continues to take a nosedive, and Finn reaches deep within himself to remember why he was so drawn towards the clinic - why he wasn't able to concentrate all damned day.
And he does remember - the soft brush of her lips against his own, the feel of her fingers, gentle and pliant in his hair, the stroke of her hands down his back. Finn rubs at the (much tidier) stubble on his chin and shakes his head at Tobi, his cheeks pink and dimpling as he smiles to her. "No, I..." He stalls, then tries again. "I would like to. But could..." Finn draws himself up as if forcing himself to get a grip, managing a smile that's as sad as it is nervous.
"Could you stay where I can see you, if possible?"
For a moment, Tobi isn't sure what to make of his request. She's nodding instantly of course—whatever you need, Finn ready and waiting on her lips—but she doesn't understand why. It isn't...a line, surely. Finn isn't the type, and even if he was, it seemed an odd sort of come-on, just the same. Falke, she knows, would be laughing at her were he here for this. Or judging. Probably both.
"Of course." Tobi's smile is hesitant, and despite the events of that morning, something keeps her hands where they are in her pockets rather than reaching out to brush away the frown she sees tug at his lips.
'Uh, just a second—' Turning, Tobi reaches behind her desk for a round object, not unlike a wheel. It's thicker though, about four inches wide all around, with thick rubber. "There's no way I'm strong enough for you, so let's start with this." It's said with a laugh and a mind too innocent to make the device to be anything other than the innocuous thing it is. "Come sit?" Leading by example, Tobi sinks down onto the plush rug on her floor. "Do you want me to show you how it works first?"
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
She agrees and Finn lets out the breath he's been holding, raking his fingers back through his curls. "Thank you," he murmurs, chewing at the inside of his cheek. "It is because of the Silk Houses," he say suddenly, the need to be more honest with Tobi something that surprises him, but it feels also like a release somehow. That doesn't stop his cheeks from flushing with what absolutely feels like shame, though.
Still, he does move to join her on the plush rug, tilting his head. "Strong enough... for me...?" he echoes, watching as she produces what looks like the most ineffective rolling pin Finn has ever seen, or perhaps a wheel for a cart that a cat would pull. "Uh... yes, please. What is it for? Why are we on the floor?" And why is something like that lying around on your desk?
Tobi's mouth drops open, not because of the admission, but because of how stupid she'd been not to realize it sooner. "Finn," She all but moans suddenly, his name ringing with apology from her lips as she offers him a smile. "Don't ever hesitate to tell me things like that, okay? I...I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner." She'll do better. Never again does she want to see that sad smile on his lips with her as the cause for it.
"Watch." Tugging on the wheel, it expands until it's diameter is suddenly about 10x what it was before. Sitting up straight with her knees together, Tobi places it against her lower back. "It takes a combination of muscle control, but also forcing yourself to relax into it. It can be a bit jarring at first, but you'll get it." So saying she raises her hips slightly so that she can push herself up so that the wheel is supporting her back. "And then you just—" Move her legs, the wheel rolls down her spine and then back up towards her neck.
Forcing herself to exhale, Finn will hear a delightful crackle as Tobi's spine relaxes. "mmmm." She hums happily, returning to a sitting position and grinning at Finn. "That's what I meant about being strong enough. No way I can manipulate your spine that way." But in other ways? Hands in her lap, one of Tobi's fingers brush against the fingertips of her other hand, silently remember the way Finn had felt beneath.
"..mm, want to try, now that you've seen how it works? It really does feel amazing once that tension is gone."
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
"You have nothing to apologise for," Finn begins, holding up a hand as if to stop her in her tracks. It's too late, of course, and he finds himself sitting cross-legged and feeling increasingly wound up about how not easy this feels compared to this morning. It's a situation that, surprise surprise, does not improve when he finds her arching back over the wheel in front of him. Swallowing hard, the Spyglass isn't sure where to look, especially given what the position is doing for Tobi no matter how baggy her scrubs are.
Indeed, by the time Tobi sits back up, Finn is rubbing at the back of his neck and staring hard at the edge of the rug, nodding silently and reaching out to accept the wheel. "And if my spine should simply snap?" he asks, trying to follow her lead and position the wheel against his lower back with his knees together. Difficult, when all he can think about is the curve of Tobi's breasts against the fabric of her scrubs, and that would likely explain why Finn is completely undisciplined with it.
He follows Tobi's example, of course, except the Spyglass does nothing to relax his muscles, and honestly? It just hurts more, and his silence speaks volumes.
Tobi chuckles and shakes her head. "I'm not strong enough to manipulate your spine, and in this position, you aren't strong enough to snap it." And, because she is a doctor, she adds: "It would take over 1000 pounds of force, so unless you've got something very heavy in your pocket, you don't have to worry."
Having thought nothing at all of what she might have looked like arched so easily over the wheel, it leaves her to wonder if Finn hadn't been paying attention at all. "I think I can see you actively tensing up, Finn." Tobi points out with an amused smiling, rising onto her knees to peer down at him warmly. "It won't work just to tell yourself to relax. Just..think of part of your smile in particular and try to relax the muscles around it." She reaches out, meaning to place her hand on his back before stopping and letting her eyes roam back to his. "Can I touch you?" The words are closer to a whisper than they have any right to be. "Just so you have an area to focus on?"
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
"I have no idea what you mean, Doctor Hart. I am in nirvana, here," Finn manages through clenched teeth, and he blinks up at her as she appears suddenly in his field of vision. Maybe it's the pain, but he's actually able to listen to her instructions this time - in fact, as she reaches for him the Spyglass barely even flinches. "Go ahead," he murmurs, exhaling shakily and closing his eyes to focus.
Honestly, it's not as though Finn is able to stay in this sort of position for long anyway, but with the gentle pressure of Tobi's fingers as a touchpoint, the Spyglass does slowly force himself start to relax. And with a small shift of his knees to get the wheel moving, Finn's back doesn't make so much of a delightful crackle as it sounds like a popping bonfire. His eyes blink open and he shoots Tobi a sharp look. "Is that a good sound?"
She nods, her fingertips softly pressing into the muscles around his spine to give his mind something to focus on. "Try and make it relax, right here." Tobi instructs in a soothing voice. And indeed as he manages to make the wheel move, his back does start to relax and pop. "Mmhmm!" Her response is bright and enthusiastic as she beams down at him. "Now raise your hips a bit more, and then try and sink into the curve of the wheel as much as you can."
Leaning over him slightly, Tobi reaches a hand out toward his opposite side, eyeing him as she does so and waiting for a sign he wants her to stop. Without one though, she'll just help try and keep him straighter on the wheel so that he doesn't careen off the side.
"Okay, and now let yourself sit back up—" If he manages this, she'll pull the wheel away, before laying herself down flat on the rug. "Hmmmmm." Tobi exhales in a relaxed woooooosh of air. "Lay down. See if you feel the difference." With even the few pops he's managed, Finn should find that there's a good deal less tension in his back when contrasted against the floor.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
Tobi is all sunshine and enthusiasm. Finn? Finn is flushed tension and clear skepticism, though he does as he's told (he's good at that) and moves in line with Tobi's guidance and the wheel. Letting out a long, deep breath and finally starting to let the wheel do the work, it's a good thing that Tobi is there to stop him flopping off the wheel completely. By the time he's upright again, Finn does already feel better, and then she's lying down and he doesn't need to be told twice.
"Oh..." As he lays flush with the ground, suddenly it's like Finn can feel every part of the rug in a way he was never able to previously. He breathes in, and the breath he takes is much deeper, comes much easier. "Okay... perhaps I was harsh on your wheel thing," he mumbles. "So I should do this... every night, before I go to sleep?"
"Mmmhmm." Tobi all but purrs, both smug that she'd been right and joy-filled that Finn seems to have reaped the benefits. "For specific areas of tension you can do this with a ball, too. Something like...a tennis ball." She nudges his side a touch playfully at that, grinning up at the ceiling and enjoying the relaxation she feels as well.
"You can, yes. It can also be a good way to gauge if you've been carrying around additional tension you didn't realize. But.." Letting one eye fall shut and crinkling her nose, Tobi lets her head loll toward Finn as she chuckles under her breath. "..I feel like you're pretty aware of your tension." The Spyglass likely didn't need a ball or a wheel to remind him that his body was forced to endure the weight his mind carried around.
"But...stretching regularly is probably one of the only things I do. Gods know I don't get out enough for regular exercise, but I always make time to stretch, even if it's just little things." Tobi adds with a light shrug.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
"A tennis ball, hm?" Finn glances sidelong at her, all but melting into the ground now. "I think I might have one or two lying around. I wonder how I came upon them." There's no doubt that the stretching and the addition of the wheel has done much already to relax the Spyglass, but Tobi is right - he is aware of his tension, and this has merely scratched at the surface.
"And I suppose I will need to drop by the clinic every day, then, before retiring up to my rooms." Finn's tone suggests matter-of-fact, but the smile that sneaks across his lips tells a different story. "I am the same, when I am not called out to do field research. Perhaps now that the weather is turning warmer, we will have to pick up our lunchtime walks again." He recalls strolling out of the Tower in the middle of the day with Tobi, back when he'd been recovering from the illness caused by Tanau.
And if he daydreams too hard, he might get lost. So, shaking it off, Finn focuses again on the doctor. "Is there anything else you think might help?"
Tobi doesn't try to contain the smile that radiates across her lips as Finn says the word tennis ball, and of course he'll know precisely why. "Why, because of me of course." She replies, her expression turning cheerfully sarcastic as she widens her eyes at him. "I can't believe you hadn't thought of that." Because this was Finn. Finn who didn't do jokes. Finn who was literal. So of course Tobi was going to jump on every opportunity to ruin his jokes the way he ruined hers.
"You could always—" —do them yourself, she nearly says, like a complete idiot. Luckily her brain ties her tongue before she can ruin what Finn was proposing. "—that's a good idea. It's always good to stretch with someone else, so they can help keep things aligned." She clarifies quickly, before feeling her stomach give a tiny flutter. "I'd really like that. Though...I'm sure Nurse Milligan will miss seeing you." Tobi adds with a laugh that's more shivery than she intends it to be.
He asks about other things she could recommend, and gods if her mind doesn't immediately go to places that threaten to make her blush. "I know of a few that are good for academic and researcher-types. Ones that my parents used to do. And..I can do them facing you." She adds, her some both hesitant and reassuring.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
"Unfortunately, my mind is not as sharp as it was prior to bending myself backwards over a torture wheel," Finn retorts smoothly; he might not be as sharp, but apparently loosening up and not being in so much passive pain gives the Spyglass's wit some room to flex, too. His eyes have fluttered shut again, mainly because he doesn't know how to look at Tobi now without seeing her as she was that morning, tucked beneath his arm.
"Then it's a plan," he says with a gentle smile. A date, he might have said, but that ties his tongue even further than it has been so far. "And you say that, but I have a feeling she is already planning to skewer me with a knitting needle, so the less contact I have with her, the better."
He opens his eyes again, oblivious to the places that Tobi's mind have taken her, Finn instead offering a boyish smile and a nod. "That would be helpful. Thank you," he murmurs. "Just... tell me how you want me. I mean-- for-- you know what I mean."
Tobi can't help but burst into laughter at that. She covers her mouth with her hand as if that will help, her eyes trailing toward the ceiling. As she looks back at him though, she laughs once again. It isn't even that Finn is that funny so much as the ease in tension is something she sorely needed; apparently, humour works just as well for the awkwardness she feels as the wheel does for her spine.
'No, she wouldn't dare. Because then she'd have to come and check on you while you recover. Unless—" Tobi gasps comically. "—maybe that's her plan." She waggles her brows at him, beaming.
Oh, she knows what he means, but that isn't how her mind takes it. At least not the sensible part of her mind. For a moment Tobi's expression has sobered, her smile falling away in lieu of lips that have dared to part of their own accord. The flutter in her stomach rises to the back of her throat, and it's only as Tobi realizes that she's utterly stopped breathing, that she forces herself to blink away the near-paralysis she feels. "Yeah, no. Of course I know what you mean." She replies with an awkward chuckle, shifting to sit up.
"Uhm. If you could..sit in front of me. In whatever position is most comfortable for you." Tobi explains. "And if it's alright with you, I'm going to touch your face. Well, your jaw, anyway. You can keep your eyes open, you don't need to close them, or anything."
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
