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!
He does as she says, gritting his teeth to roll onto his side, even as his stomach cramps and tells him to expel the little to nothing in it. He doesn't - thankfully, since the sheets have just been changed - and as Tobi's voice fills the room again, Finn is torn between trying to sink into it and wanting to tell her that he doesn't give a flying fuck about Mount Everest or whatever else it's called. He barely notices when she stops speaking, lost as he is in the madness of his withdrawal.
But then suddenly the pain starts to ebb away, Finn's stormy eyes peeling open to watch through a gaze that blurs at the edges as Tobi works her literal magic. "You don't have to," he says, the words sounding too large in his mouth. But she does have to, and he needs it, and they both know it. So as the healing whispers through him, unknotting his muscles and soothing the aches and pains that riddle his body. It has him sagging into the blankets and pillows, panting.
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
"For you I will." Tobi whispers sweetly. I think I always will. "Do you want something to help you sleep?" If perhaps she could release the tension enough in his body, maybe they could trick his mind into falling unconscious. But then, Tobi didn't know if the things that might still haunt Finn's dreams were worth trying to avoid.
Her horn retracts as she tries to find a way to be comfortable next to Finn. A wall of pillows separates them—as does her belly—but she's able to reach his forehead with a cool cloth. "You'll be doing this for me, soon." She chuckles under her breath, though the words aren't so much meant for Finn as they are just Tobi filling the silence that Finn punctuates with pants of pain. But it's true: soon enough Tobi will be the one fighting away the pain, sweating and tensing and shaking all over. But then again perhaps not, if Phoebe is able to keep her word and let her use her fabled child-birthing crown from Frey.
"Is that allowed...?" Finn wonders, shooting her a wobbly smile and an even more unsteady nod. "If you have anything, I think I would like that," he admits. He would prefer the familiarity of night terrors over this, and that says a lot for just how bad this is.
As Tobi's horn retracts and gentle fingers move to press soothing cold against his forehead, Finn finds himself wishing he could be closer, just for a second. To just be able to hide away in the darkness of her amrs, even for as little as a few minutes - it sounded divine.
"Hm...? Yes, I suppose I will," he agrees, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. "Though I hope you aren't doing this for over four days. That seems a little bit excessive."
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
Ignoring the question of whether it was allowed—such was the benefit of pretending only to be his friend instead of his doctor—Tobi nods. "Just a second." Rolling away with a stifled grunt of effort, Tobi waddles her way into another room. Finn may or may not be aware of the musical sound of chimes that accompany the movement of boxes and things, and when Tobi returns she's holding two small pills and a glass of water. "You can't swallow them dry, or they won't dissolve and will take longer to work." She says in a warm voice, knowing that he'll likely want to just ignore the water.
"It absolutely seems excessive." She agrees. "But our son seems quite content where he is, and the world is a big and scary place. I'm not sure I'd want to leave either."
Finn is aware of the sound, but whether or not he equates it to noise that's actually happening or yet another hallucination is another matter entirely. He blinks up at the doctor as she returns with the pills and the water, accepting both with a murmur of gratitude. It's true that he wants to pass on the water, especially because there's no way he's getting up, but he instead manages the incredibly difficult task of drinking sideways to take the medicine. Let no one say he doesn't manage it, though, passing the water back and lolling into the pillows again, waiting for them to take effect.
"Mm. The world is a big and scary place," he agrees, something warming and melting inside him to hear her call the baby growing in her belly our son. With barely a thought, Finn uses the hand not tucked beneath his pillow to shove at the wall Tobi has build between them, gesturing for her to make herself comfortable. "Just while I'm asleep," he suggests. Asleep and unable to shift about too much. She can play little spoon until he wakes up again, and perhaps both of them will feel better rested.
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
For a moment Tobi thinks she's going to need to figure out a new way to rebuild the barricade, only to find it Finn is intentionally disbanding it. Just while I'm asleep; even so, the thought of both being comfortable as well as Finn's lack of upset to have her near him, makes her heart sing. "Just while you're asleep, then." She murmurs in response.
Tossing the pillows aside with no forethought for the books below that they land on (gods, all Tobi wants is to lay comfortably, her books be damned), she tucks herself next to Finn as gingerly as she can. It's difficult given how his weight causes the bed to sink toward him, and Tobi's size certainly doesn't help. So as she sort of rolls against him, she tenses and freezes in place. "...okay?" She whispers, feeling all sorts of feelings about being nestled up against Finn again, the foremost of which was simply concern for his wellbeing.
Whether it's a placebo effect or just the knowledge of sweet oblivion for a few hours; either way, Finn is already starting to feel dozy. So as Tobi makes her way onto the bed he doesn't move, letting her shift around and get as comfortable as possible in her own time. Indeed, as the weight of the bed sends her rolling against him, the Spyglass is bonelessly relaxed about it. "It's okay," he murmurs, shifting so he might draw the covers over them both - undoubtedly to be kicked off within moments by either one of them.
"Goodnight for now, Tobi," Finn mumbles, eyes slipping shut so unconsciousness can seize him. It's either as he's just drifting off or when he's already asleep that his arm slips around her; a natural adjustment to get comfortable himself, perhaps, or maybe he just wants to. Regardless, it's not something he's likely to remember when he wakes up.
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
Finn is indeed an inferno, but for the moment, there's something so simple and sweet about having the blankets tugged over the both of them. It makes Tobi think that everything is okay, if only in this moment. "Night, Finn." The whisper comes out almost as a squeak, such are the butterflies vying for an escape in the back of her throat. Taking a few breathes to fix this moment in her mind that Finn's withdrawal wouldn't only be a thing of darkness and violence when it became a memory, Tobi lets herself be lulled to sleep with thoughts of deadpan jokes and the warmth of the man behind her.
As Finn's arms slip around her, Tobi's maternal instincts spark alertness in her bones and muscles. She doesn't wake, but her fingers slip through his own where they rest against her belly. It's for just in case, as much as it's a comfortable place for Tobi to rest her hands.
Finn sleeps like the dead for those few hours, and not even maddening dreams can drip their poison into his ear. Of course, all things must end, and when he awakens again it's fully in the grip of his withdrawal, as Tobi had warned would happen. This lasts, on and off, for another three days and a night; the symptoms change from shivers and nausea to irritability and a fever so high that it causes a seizure at one point, but then, in the small hours after midnight, it breaks.
The Spyglass has crept out of bed, hollow and hungry and gaunt, so he might take another shower. He leaves Tobi sleeping, ending up wandering around her kitchen in another towel, fixing up some tea with fingers that shake, adding a generous amount of honey to both cups. With that done, he adds whatever he can find to a tray - some granola bars, yoghurt cups and peaches, and pads back towards the room where he's been rotting for over a week.
Quietly clearing his throat, Finn shuffles to place the tray down on the bedside table and reaches across to rest a hand gently on Tobi's shoulder. "I made some breakfast, though... I now realise that it is the middle of the night."
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
Really, this is a good run through for Tobi for what having a baby will be like. She sleeps in seconds and minutes, instantly riled and alerted to the smallest sounds or movements on Finn's part. They shift and wander throughout the bed, sometimes ending up sleeping at opposite angles to one another, sometimes with their heads where their feet should be. Around the second night Tobi has given up on changing the sheets, and now they just pass out on blankets piled up over plastic, their bodies too tired to care.
Though her body has recognized Finn's slow and methodical escape from bed as not being one she should be alarmed by, Tobi's mind is in for a rude awakening as his fingers brush against her shoulder and his voice rouses her from sleep. With a jolt she tries to sit up (she can't), leaving her wide-eyed with her hair askew and heart in her throat.
In the dark, Finn is silhouetted by silver lines and shadows that make his eyes appear black. 'Finn, what are—' The smell of peaches and honey reach her nose, and a smile tugs at one side of her mouth. "How do you feel?" She wonders, reaching out to feel his forehead with the back of her wrist. 'Did you shower?'
The touch to his forehead might have once caused him to flinch back, but such is Finn's current state (not to mention the past few days) that he barely notices it. Instead, as Tobi smiles, he's smiling too, nodding gently; he feels perhaps a bit cooler to the touch than is normal, likely a result of the shower and desperately needing something to eat and drink.
"I feel good. Hungry," he admits, moving to light a couple of lanterns so he might see her a bit better. "I showered, yes. I made tea, and whatever else I could find... Is that okay?" He's suddenly self-conscious of the fact that he might have raided Tobi's kitchen by accident. "Do you want something else...?"
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
He doesn't have a fever, and the shower has washed away whatever clamminess might have remained making Finn feel...good, just as he says.
Watching him light the various lanterns around the room, Tobi heaves herself into as much of a sitting position as she can manage amidst the sea of blankets. "Oh no, of course it's fine. I just..I should have done that for you. Sorry, normally I wake up when you move." Tobi frowns a touch at this realization, wondering what had let her sleep so deeply. Shaking her head slightly—it didn't matter, not right now anyway—she blinks to adjust to the light and peers at Finn. "You look really good." Medically, anyway. There appeared to be a bit of colour in his cheeks, and now that she could see his eyes properly, they didn't look quite so bloodshot.
Reaching out for a yoghurt pot and a granola bar, Tobi begins to spoon out the yoghurt, happily licking it off the granola bar. "Mmm. This is perfect." She hums, indulgently, as if he's just presented her some sort of delicacy on a silver platter, rather than the various easily grabbed leftovers in her kitchen. But she really does mean it, and her sleepy smile says as much.
"You have done more than enough for me Tobi, I promise you that," Finn murmurs with a weak smile, and as she hefts herself into a sitting position, the Spyglass is there for once to rearrange the pillows around her, making it easier for her to be upright. Still, when she mentions that he looks good, of course that brings a flush to his cheeks, and Finn perches on the edge of the bed beside her to pick up his cup of tea.
Perfect is not what he would expect to hear from some yoghurt and granola, but he feels the same way about the hot, honeyed tea in all honesty. "Mm," he says instead over the rim of his cup, gently nodding. "I think that was the last of it," he mumbles, uncertain but hopeful at the same time. "I'm sorry for everything I said. I don't remember a lot of it but... I shouldn't have been that way with you."
when the night falls on you & you don't know what to do
"That isn't how taking care of someone works. There's no quota to reach." Tobi reminds him adoringly, nodding a silent thank-you as he shuffles the pillows around her. It makes her feel a bit like a queen on a thrown, with her body propped up and a handsome man offering her food. She sort of hates it, or she would anyway, were it anyone other than Finn.
Chuckling, Tobi just shakes her head as she cromches the last of her granola bar. "Consider it forgotten. Though I will say, you lose absolutely all of your wit when you're like that." She grins cheerfully. "That's how I know it isn't really you." Pausing to try and still the smile that's making it nearly impossible to speak, she adds: "That, and the amount you swore." Laughing, Tobi shakes her head again before fixing Finn with an adoring smile. "You did it, Finn."
