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 wish you had," Ronin murmurs before he can stop himself, letting himself relax into this casual affection that feels like something he's been craving for a while now. "If you haven't noticed, I quite like being bothered by you. But yes, please do." If there's a next time, he means. "Even if you still end up using, at least I'll be able to make sure you're okay." Rather than leaving it up to pot luck that someone thinks to check on him. And then, because it's been on the tip of his tongue for over a day now, "...What happened that night?"
It's a difficult decision, the one about the coffee, but at the same time it really really isn't. "In the morning," he says. "I'd quite like to sit here for a bit, if it's all the same to you. Even with the dog in your lap - you can forgive him, he probably missed you."
An offhand comment about their food choices shouldn't make him smile so hard, but Ronin has to look away with how his cheeks are suddenly heating up. "Thank you," he says, and he means it. "But you're the one who just got out of hospital, so we can order from wherever you like. My only condition is that you need to tell me what I'm eating in a language that we both understand, please."
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
Remi is about to say something about how he truly hadn't noticed, what with all the it takes two shots of whiskey just to be around you, but swallows the response back. "Thanks." He mumbles, flushing. It's a new thing for him too, to have someone other than Vai or Isla care about him this way, and the vulnerability of it all shakes look a few more butterflies in his stomach. "I..uh.." Biting the inside of his lip and trying to shift his position as best he could between Ronin and beneath the dog, the musician eventually sags and sighs. "I couldn't sleep. I was planning on just looking at memes until I got tired, but..I saw an article about my show and clicked on it." Staring at the top of Ama's head, his eyes blurry, Remi tries for a smile that ends up looking more like a snarl. "They tore it apart." He whispers. "Tore me apart."
Very aware he shouldn't let it get to him, Remi nonetheless feels the anger and the unwavering sense that he didn't belong in this world begin to claw up the back of his throat. Luckily Ronin's Irish charm or whatever it is makes Remi smile much to his surprise. 'Oh, does that mean you are learning Italian?' He wonders, tilting his head to flash the other man a fleeting, but crooked smile.
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
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 almost expects Remi to tell him he doesn't want to talk about it - he'd neither have blamed the musician nor pushed the matter if that was the case. So to hear Bandcamp be so frank about it all has a soft smile tugging at his lips, and he glances back across at him with a gentle nudge. And if he needs any further coaxing, Ronin reaches up to touch a hand to his cheek, turning him towards the kiss he intends to press against his lips. "A critic is a legless man teaching other people how to run," he mumbles. "I think that popped up on Instagram once, don't ask me who said it."
Another kiss to Remi's lips, and yet another against his cheek, and Ronin finally sits back. "Fuck 'em. Most of 'em couldn't pick up a guitar, let alone get on stage and do what you do." Settling back, he ruins his waxing philosophical by snorting at the prospect of learning Italian. "I'll add it to the list after you've taught me how to make coffee," he says. "How about pizza? I can pronounce that already."
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
The gesture is so sweet and unexpected that Remi finds himself inhaling sharply against Hallway's kiss before his lips manage to close and return the affection. It kindles something warm and low in Remi's belly, but it isn't lust. Or, it's more lust-adjacent than properly sexual. 'That is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.' He mumbles sweetly, before twisting all the more beneath Ama's weight to coax another kiss from the Irishman he's now dating. "Maybe not. But that doesn't make them wrong either. Maybe I am overstepping." He says a touch sullenly.
Raising his eyebrows as Ronin proclaims that he can pronounce pizza, Remi raises a hand, his thumb pressed against his index and middle fingers and makes a show of saying "Peetsah. Not PeetZa."
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
08-25-2021, 03:44 PM (This post was last modified: 08-25-2021, 03:44 PM by Ronin.)
RONIN
the darkstar
light is easy to love.
"More stupid than whatever bullshit some asshole with a keyboard wrote about you?" Ronin asks, smiling against the stolen kiss and not complaining in the slightest. "Overstepping how?" he wonders, trying not to smile further at the sudden sullen tone to Remi's voice. Grumpy Bandcamp is a new brand of charming and handsome, and Ronin warms to it despite himself.
Until he's getting roasted for his pronunciation of something he figured was real fucking simple. "Oh I am terribly sorry," he drawls, lifting his hand to mimic the other man. "Peetsah," he articulates, trying carefully to mimic every syllable in Remi's cadence. "How's that? Even if it's shit, can we please order it anyway?"
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
"By trying to play on my own." Remi murmurs, distracted by how long Ronin's eyelashes are. "It's true that lead singers tend to get more attention than the members of the band, even if they sing too. It just...is how it is." It was also the case that Remi simply was the most attractive member of the band. And you don't even fucking like girls his bandmates often complained, as if his looks were wasted on him.
Rolling his eyes, Remi reaches across to close his fingers over Ronin's. "No, no. You have not earned that yet." He says of the paradigmatic Italian gesture, before pausing and staring at his hand over Hallway's. Feeling suddenly nervous, Remi laughs at himself as he presses his fingers between the mechanics. He's only really done this in the throws of sex, pinning the other man's hands against walls or pillows. Now though he takes a moment to press his thumb in a light circle around Ronin's palm, marvelling at how utterly thrilled he was to be holding this idiot's hand.
"Sì, possiamo ordinare una pizza." He agrees with a smile.
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Well for starters, you didn't try to play on your own. You did play on your own, and you were very good," Ronin informs him. "Don't a lot of other bands give individual members a solo? Like the drummer and whatever?" He shrugs gently against Bandcamp. "Might be a better way of softening the blow - and shutting your critics up - before you play."
But honestly, Ronin doesn't fucking know shit, so Remi is more than welcome to laugh him off about it. As his hand is captured, though, he can't help but raise a brow, as if to silently question just what qualifies the other man to make such a statement. (He's Italian, is the answer - that's what qualifies him). "Well at least I said it right," he reasons. "And I'll take that as a yes, then. You can sit tight here and relax, and I'll order." Shifting to grab his phone, he finds the place they ordered from last time and dials them up, trying not to get distracted by the feel of fingers against his own.
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
Remi wants to protest that being called VeRy GoOd by the man he was currently fucking wasn't the high praise Ronin probably meant it to be. But no sooner has he tilted his head toward Hallway, all of his arguments dissolve as Remi's mind is once again rendered utterly blank by Ronin's arresting blue stare. "Yeah. Maybe I'll give that a try." He says as if it really is a good idea.
While Ronin orders, Remi mentally critiques how he says every word (Ronin's accent stressing all the wrong syllables), chuckling to himself all the while. He has also taken to tracing every callous on the mechanic's hand, tilting his head slightly as his mind invents all the things the other man might do in his line of work to create such hard bubbles of skin. "How very unmillenial of you, to call them." Remi notes with a smirk once Ronin has hung up the phone.
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
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 can feel the other man's eyes on him, only able to communicate as such with a gentle squeeze to the hand that's come to examine his own, as well as a sly smirk across the couch. "Next time, you can order. Over the phone," he informs him once he has hung up. "It'll be between 20 and 40 minutes. That's enough time to fuck around on Netflix enough to choose and re-choose something to watch, right?" He grins, tucking his phone away and finally trying to peel himself away and extract himself on the sofa.
Stretching once he's upright, he turns to offer his hand to Remi suddenly, as if to help him to his feet. "Come here a sec?" He smiles, and for once there's no crookedness in it. "Since we're officially dating, now, I'd quite like to be able to hold you without being in the middle of sex."
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
Remi hears that's enough time to fuck before the annoying part of his brain stops listening to anything else and latches onto those words. What makes it worse is that Remi isn't even in the mood. Well, he is, in the way that most men tend to be ready and able at almost anytime, but he's just gotten out of the hospital and further, he's rather enjoying just cuddling with Hallway. "Mmm, yeah." Remi hums without conviction.
Watching as Ronin stands, wondering if he missed something the other man said, the musician glances at the offered hand with a rather quizzical narrowing of his eyebrows. "Oh." Remi's blush is as instant as his hand is, reaching out for Ronin that the other man might indeed help him to his feet. Still shaky (and with a huff of annoyance from the dog), Remi manages, finding himself suddenly slipping against the mechanic in a way that's entirely new for him. For them.
"This feels almost like you just asked me to dance." He remarks with a nervous half-laugh that tries to hide the way Remi's breathing has become rather staccato in nature.
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I'm actually a pretty good dancer," Ronin says with a soft smile, more than content to help hold Remi up as the other man finds himself shakily on his feet. Drawing him close - but not dancing, he'll be glad to note - he lets his arms slip around the musician in an embrace that almost mimics the one back at the hospital, but without the passing out. "So what were your plans?" he wonders suddenly, letting his hands run down the length of Remi's back.
"For us going away, I mean. I heard talk of a lot of candles," he says, his smile turning very sly despite himself. "Or is this one of those occasions where you won't tell me, in the hope that you'll be able to do it next time?" Ronin doesn't mind either way, and he leans in for what seems like the hundredth kiss he's giving Remi today, but it's still not quite enough.
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
"Oh?" Remi finds himself pleasantly surprised by that. It's new enough in their relationship that of course there was still a lot to learn, but this is sweet and novel in a way that steals the musician's breath. "Is all that heavy metal just a cover-up in your shop then? To hide the classical music you practice dancing to?" Pressing against the mechanic, Remi finds himself noticing the man in entirely new ways; the height of him, how they're very nearly the same height and yet their proportions are different, the way he could stand here with his cheek pressed not quite against Ronin's forever (or at least until his legs gave out, which might be sooner than he'd like to admit).
Shivering beneath Hallway's wandering plans, Remi tilts his head slightly to the side with a small frown. "Plans...? Oh. For the weekend." He says at the same time Ronin clarifies. "I did in fact pack candles. I might have made a special trip to Ikea for them..." He admits with a blush. "And I—" Cut off by Ronin's kiss, Remi wraps his arms around the mechanic's neck to try and reduce the space between the topography of their bodies as much as he could without being rough. This wasn't a moment for rough or hastea, which was convenient indeed because Remi planned to savour it as long as he could.
"I brought..some paint...and..." Break their kisses with scraps of a sentence, Remi sighs against Ronin's lips. "..well. Maybe I will leave the rest for next time."
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I don't practice. Not any more, anyway," Ronin says with a grin. "I was put through my paces by my parents, though. It was that or having to learn how to play the clarinet, and I wasn't really into sitting still," he explains, one of his hands playfully shifting to Remi's waist and the other to his hand, as if he's going to lead them in a waltz. (He isn't, obviously - Bandcamp would likely die). "Maybe I'll have to support you and start playing your music in my shop"
His laughter is soft and free of judgement to hear about the special-Ikea-candles, though the paint has him tilting his head. "Oh? This is starting to sound like you were planning to woo me out there," he murmurs. Joke's on Remi - Ronin was already wooed, mostly. "Mm, keep it as a surprise," he agrees. "For now, shall we get you settled on the couch again? I think technically you still count as sick. I'm not as good as those nurses at the hospital, but I'll do my best."
A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else
"The clarin—" Remi stifles a laugh against Ronin's shoulder. "A late bloomer then. When it comes to wooden instruments in your mouth." He says, because of course he does. Ronin turns the romcom dial up a notch as he takes Remi's hand, but the musician can only roll his eyes. Soon enough Ronin would find that Remi had exceptionally thin skin when it came to his music, but for now calloused hands and blue eyes were enough to keep his dark thoughts from descending. "As I have said so many times, you're a real prince."
Biting the inside of his cheek, Remi tries for a casual shrug and fails spectacularly given how his smile gets the best of him. "Oh, I was planning something alright." The something turned out to be paints bought specifically for wood surfaces, that the mechanic might paint on one of Remi's guitars, in front of a fireplace or the sunrise perhaps. 'Well...' Glancing over his shoulder where Ama was keeping his eyes tightly closed (on purpose, probably), Remi just rolls his eyes. "I'd prefer the bed. If we're just going to be flipping through the Netflix menu until food is here, I would at least like to be laying down."
we're only human but w?'ve got hands and hearts and noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
