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
Finn doesn't think he's ever descended the stairs from his apartment so quickly. He's moving fast enough that he's at risk of tripping and falling, and it takes long enough for him to actually be able to wonder why the Tower was made so tall. But he manages it, in the end, to reach the ground floor and to ghost past the medical clinic without setting foot through its doors. For once in his life, Finn doesn't feel like he needs to see a doctor for medicine.
He wants to see this particular doctor for something else, though. Arriving at the door to Tobi's apartment, for some reason it doesn't matter one bit that he's been living there for the past week or so - Finn still reaches out and knocks. And he waits, polite but somehow fidgety as he gazes over his shoulder, like Tobi might sneak up on him somehow.
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
It takes a moment for the door to open. On the other side of it, a puzzled expression on her face, Tobi's fingers still against the piano keys as she looks over at her shoulder toward the door. She wasn't expecting anyone. No one but Finn, but he had a key, and given the position of the deadbolt, the door wasn't locked. Groaning slightly as she shifts off the bench, she calls out, "-coming!" in a cheerful, if not tired tone.
Reaching for the hand such that the cream shawl she's wearing fans out around her like a wing, or a cape, Tobi tugs the door open, not expecting at all to see the man she's basically living with now, standing on the other side of it. "...uh?" She hums, dark eyes darting down and seeing nothing in his hands that suggests he couldn't have opened the door himself. Puzzled, she offers Finn a crooked smile, taking a step back that he might come in.
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
The door opens and it's like Finn is seeing Tobi for the first time since coming back from Torchline. He sees the woman he was planning meet in the Celestine, he sees the doctor who has taken care of him for so long it almost seems like second nature. He sees her the way he saw her that day in her office, when they had kissed and then some. Finn sees her and he smiles; soft, carefree and boyish.
"Mountains aren't just funny," he says, his tone serious, the words carefully chosen as if he's worried about getting them in the wrong order. "They're hill areas." And that's what the Spyglass decides is the most suitable to break the ice between he and Tobi, before he steps forward and into the apartment and leans in to kiss her, as if the past season had never happened.
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
There's a small voice that whispers he wants out; why else would Finn knock instead of just coming in? Whatever pull that thought might have had on Tobi disappears utterly as Finn smiles in a way she hasn't seen in weeks. It makes her heart flutter with happy confusion, her breath shivering over her lips slightly.
"They're..hill...areas...?" Tobi repeats trying to understand. Of course she expects the words to be factual and informative, so the fact that they're talking about mountains being funny, completely out of context, has her quite perplexed. But then Finn is kissing her, and for a moment Tobi's lashes flutter over eyes that remain open and wide with astonishment. It has been weeks since Tobi has been touched by anyone who isn't giving her an exam, or who isn't accidentally kicking or hitting her during withdrawal. Though she and Finn have obviously touched in passing—a hand held in support here, a pat on the back there—this was something decidedly different altogether.
Much as Tobi wants to kiss him back, to grab at his collar and pull him against her with relief and want both, she instead forces herself to pull back just an inch or so. "Finn," Whispering his name on a shaky exhale, Tobi swallows as her heart hammers. "Are...is everything okay?"
Much as she has daydreamed about Finn in precisely this manner, she can't ignore the fact that extreme personalty swings when it comes to someone newly off drugs and with the sort of other issues Finn has, are not good signs.
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
He wishes he might be able to draw her as close as he wants to, but with their son very inconveniently in the way Finn is forced to be somewhat practical about it. It makes it easy for Tobi to draw back away from him, while the Spyglass reaches out meanwhile to knock the door shut behind him. "Everything is okay," he says softly, the smile lighting up his face again. "Did I not say it right? Sorry - I could only practice on the way down the stairs," he murmurs. Puns, evidently, are still something he's destined to misunderstand.
"I went to see Frey, about Torchline. About... all of it, what happened there," he murmurs, his voice a little lower, a bit more uncertain. "They helped. I can remember it without it hurting. I feel good. I feel like I did when I left your office before everything went to hell."
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
Furiously blushing such that the rush of blood in her ears makes it hard to think, Tobi just blinks up at Finn for a moment looking at him with large puppy-dog eyes. "..hill areas...hill areas." She says slowly, her smile widening and widening until she can't help the laughter that seeps from behind her lips. "Finn!" Tobi cries, wanting to reach out and loop her arms around his neck, but prevented from doing so by the child incubating between them.
Swallowing and trying to fix her attention on what he's saying rather than the fireworks of joy exploding in the back of her throat, Tobi nods along. Her breath hitches slightly as he mentions her office. They hadn't talked about it much, and given everything and how it had all unfolded, the doctor had very much just assumed that everything which might have been had been firmly swamped by the circumstances of their life.
Stunned into silence, Tobi's mind floats amidst all of this information, unsure whether to offer congratulations or concern for the strings that might be involved. "...kiss me again." She shyly requests after a moment; Tobi is not a selfish woman by any means, but gods be damned she very much wants this one thing.
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
"Do you get it?" Finn is grinning as she repeats the words, and were it not for her laughter (because even he can't miss that as a confirmation) he'd likely have explained the entire pun to her, completely ruining it. He very much enjoys the sound of Tobi happy, he realises, though it's with an additional pang of hurt that it dawns on him how little he's heard it lately. Vowing for that to change very soon, he reaches out to carefully tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear when she's requesting that he kiss her again.
His smile softening considerably, Finn is all too happy to comply, the Spyglass leaning in to press another kiss to Tobi's lips. This one is soft and gentle, his arms slipping around her so he can draw her as close as he's able, melting into the feel of her against him, the way it doesn't spark anything but warmth and a fluttering sort of anticipation.
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
"Yeah." Tobi replies with a nod, her cheeks so rounded from her smile that they've begun to ache. "I do."
There can be no real passion like this, not when they've both been hardly sleeping, not when there is an entire life sandwiched between them, and not when Tobi still has so many questions. But gods if Finn's lips against hers aren't enough to make it all bleed away for one bright and shining moment. It feels as though she's melting against him, like all her fears and worries about what the next few days, weeks, months will bring, might just flow away. That is until she suddenly feels something warm against the inside of her ankle, and realizes that the feeling of melting might not have been quite so metaphorical.
Pulling back with a sharp breath, Tobi reaches out her hands to put them on Finn's shoulders, that she might brace against him in order to look down. She can't see her feet, but she can feel what, to her mind, feels like a jug of water has just been dumped down the front of her leggings. "..Finn.." Her fingers tighten against his shoulders, but not by much. "Finn, I can't see, did..." Was this happening?
Right now?
"..did my water just break?"
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
Tobi isn't the only one able to lose herself in this, and for Finn it's like he's been holding his breath for the longest time, and finally his head is able to break the surface to take a gulp of air. Except instead of literal air it's just the feel of Tobi's warmth and her touch - a touch that doesn't make him flinch, a touch that he's inviting in - and he might be starting to walk them back towards her couch when she suddenly braces against his shoulders, Finn's eyes blinking open.
He can see past her feet, and the expression of mild perplexion on his face says it all. "Yes, I think it did," he murmurs, glancing back up to meet her gaze. "That is the last time I am telling you a pun." It's as deadpan and serious as Tobi might expect, And given that her apartment floor is now a slipping hazard, he doesn't remove her hands from him. "Does that mean... right now?" he asks.
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
"Finn," Even in the midst of everything, Tobi is able to playfully admonish the Spyglass for this threat, shaking her head and giving one of her palms a shove against his shoulder though not moving to release him. "No, it doesn't mean right now." Tobi adds more seriously, offering Finn a reassuring smile. "It could still be hours, which..." Pulling in a breath, Tobi holds it for a moment, letting the air move from one of her cheeks to the other as she thinks.
"I don't really want you to go, but we need to get the word to Phoebe—Frey's demi here. She said I could use a birthing crown that Frey gave her. It is meant to take the pain out of childbirth." Tobi was quite certain she could handle the pain, but if she could do without it, she absolutely would. Exhaling and biting the corner of her lip as she gazes up at Finn, Tobi allows for a very slow and somewhat shy smile. "Finn," She whispers, as if they weren't the only two in her apartment and as if he weren't just a few inches away.
"We're going to have a baby." Tobi gushes, not hiding the quiver of fear in her voice, nor the excitement that colours her cheeks.
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
Hours? Hours is doable, Finn thinks, and Tobi isn't the only one doing micro calculations in her mind at the sudden timescale forced upon them. But what she has to say takes precedent (something that Finn will realise is true for everything in the coming hours) and he nods as she explains, already sifting through all he knows about Phoebe (a decent amount) and where she is (nothing) in Stormbreak. But he'll find her - if anyone can, it's the Spyglass. "Then you stay here. I'll clean up, and then I'll go and look for her," he decides.
He's about to draw away to do just that, in fact, when Tobi speaks again, and Finn blinks down at her in confusion. But her excitement is as contagious as her fear, and he finds a small smile flashing across his lips as well. "Yeah," he whispers back. "We are. But not right now," he reminds her. The repetition is entirely to keep him calm, and he hopes she'll forgive him.
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
"Okay but...not right away. Can you just stay a little while?" Tobi's smile is crooked and hopeful. "Please?"
Snickering at that, Tobi is forced to nod in firm agreement. "Not right now. Soon I'll start to have contractions, but it's only when they're consistent and a few minutes apart that we'll need to go to the clinic." How convenient that they were only a handful of steps away from it.
Releasing Finn gently, Tobi takes a step backwards which pins her against the wall. Looking down she's able to see part of the puddle she's inadvertently created. "Sorry." She mumbles, crinkling her nose and giving Finn a bemused look from beneath her bangs. "I really did like the pun." Pausing, Tobi blushes, but she doesn't drop her gaze. "And the kiss. I really hope this doesn't stop you from doing either, more."
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures
Not right away and we're having a baby start to fight for dominance in Finn's mind, which likely explains the confusion on his face as Tobi asks him to stay. But with a deep breath in and a focus on her smile, it's the please that seals the deal, and he nods to her. "Alright," he says. "But I still need to clean this up." That, unfortunately, is non-negotiable. Still, as she explains what will happen next, it's probably a reassurance that they both need, Finn nodding and storing the knowledge away.
At her apology, though, he raises his eyebrows. "Why?" he asks. "Did you do this on purpose?" Because they are going to have words if she did. Luckily, the blush on her cheeks has him distracted, Finn straightening up to go and get a mop to busy his mind and his hands. "Well," he says dryly, "I suppose I can continue to do both, but you must stop having babies about it."
when the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
"...and if it isn't too much trouble, can you pull my leggings off as well? It'll be impossible for me, especially since they're wet." First a kiss, then another, and already Tobi was asking Finn to take her pants off. One could see how they ended up in the situation they were in.
What words would those be Finn? Don't you do that, the next time you're pregnant with my child? Skirting away from the small flood she's created, Tobi leans against the arm of her couch as Finn potters about finding things to clean up with, waiting for him to be content enough with the state of her floor to undress her. "Lucky for us both that as a medical professional, I can tell you that there is no chance of me getting pregnant from a pun or a kiss." From the things his wit and charm inspired, absolutely there was. "Not unless there's something you aren't telling me."
and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
