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!
Her free arm drapes over him as he nestles in close, teasing through the back of hair that is quickly growing longer, she's noticed. The other settles the book between them enough that Varus will be able to see if he wants to, but it's not necessary for the reading. "Mm, I think a nice twisted ankle should be on the cards for your next injury, if you'd be so kind," she teases. "I need to practice treating sprains - it's been a while."
Isla doesn't take the bait - and she doubts he'll be surprised by that - so when he opens one eye to peep up at her, it will be to find the medic flashing him a shit eating grin. "I know you can multitask. But you can't invent more hours in the day," she remarks, her fingers dancing down over the back of his neck. "This story is about a mad doctor who drilled holes into people's skulls to let demonic spirits take hold of them." Her tone is cheerful and excited. "I wonder whether the medical practice will be accurate."
“A twisted ankle?” He repeats as if considering it. “Think I could manage that.” Comes the playful tease, the way he seems to wiggle his ankle as his leg drapes across her own as if he’s testing it out to see just how he might have to go about spraining it. Where was the harm when you couldn’t feel pain? When you were Ascended and could heal quickly? When you were dating medic who could and often did alleviate the blaring system alarms in his head?
He does try to get her to take the bait, though, and when she doesn’t and he peeks at her to find her shit eating grin he groans and sinks his head back down into her lap, arm slipping across her middle again even if he chuckles quietly to himself. “Suppose that’s true.” He mumbles into his shirt that she wears, before his head is tilting back up to peer at her.
“Ah, so we’re still going to talk about brain things. Just… With an air of mystery and dramatics instead of your science jargon.” He bounces a brow in his question before snorting. “Alright, lets hear it. But don’t you get any ideas.”
and you ease my troubles with your hands, like the night puts a calm on the valley
"Good. I trust you to deliver," Isla informs him; whether it's a shoulder to cry on, a partner in crime or a spained ankle, she trusts Varus to get the job done. And so as he wiggles his ankle over her and grumbles and generally gets comfortable, she busies herself trying to braid the back of his hair with one hand, the other turning to the first page of her book. "How are you feeling now?" she asks now that he's quite comfortably horizontal (and hopefully not planning on moving for some time).
And as for the book, she can't stop herself from smiling as he realises she's manages to segue brain things into their reading, Isla offering a shrug that plays at being careless. "Get ideas? Does that sound like something I would do?" She scoffs, before settling down and obliging him. Her voice grows soft and almost melodic as she takes them through the first few pages; a typically dark and stormy night, an underground laboratory, a patient and a very, very mad doctor.
“You’re trusting the right man, Isla.” He purrs from his comfortable space in her lap, draped over her not unlike how a blanket would be. And when he’s finally comfortable, he shuts his eyes to run his scans while he listens. “Better.” He offers immediately, shifting into a sense of heaviness as his body begins to work on repairing itself, to fix the wound to his temple and the trauma more internally.
His sensors have begun to quiet down, though, and Varus uses it as an opportunity to ignore them with Isla’s story. “If given the right motivation, I’m sure you could figure out a way.” He teases her lightly, unable to keep the crooked smile from his face as he feels the dull pressure of her fingers in his longer hair. But he draws silent, until there’s a point where he just can’t anymore, and his voice rouses again. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the doctor and the patient aren’t in love…” Unless it was some sort of payback to put demons in ones skull.
Who knows?
and you ease my troubles with your hands, like the night puts a calm on the valley
"You and that silver tongue of yours are going to get you into trouble one of these days, Cal," Isla drawls, though she doesn't sound even remotely worried about it. Indeed, smiling down at the man draped around her as he offers his critiques and his sass, she doesn't think she'd want him any other way. It doesn't stop her from letting his fingers drift towards his ear, though, tickling at the shell of it to get on his nerves. It's not as effective with them both being Ascended, but with luck it'll still be annoying.
Tilting her head, Isla considers the idea of the patient and the doctor being in love, offering a small smile down to Varus. "Maybe not this patient, since it's an intro and this one already has a hole in his head. But you can see that's where the plot is going, right?" She laughs, continuing the chapter as the mad doctor goes ahead and fills his victim's head with a demonic presence. Naturally, it all goes terribly wrong, the spooky laboratory catches fire, and apparently the story is over before it begins.
“Good trouble, I hope.” Despite the fact his eyes are closed, there’s a toothy, fanged grin that’s angled toward her even as he listens. Her fingers trail toward his ear, the dull sensation of her fingers tickling the skin there. And while it isn’t the touch that’s ticklish, it’s certainly the way it pings on his sensors that something is happening there, over and over and over again. And Varus snorts, turning to bury his face into her lap.
He’s still listening even when she explains that the patient already has a hole in his head, and Varus nods, only pushing his face into her lap more and more with it. Listening to it intensely, he feigns a shudder down his spine as the mention of the laboratory catches flames. And when she’s done, his repair is in full swing, his head tilting slightly even if he’s somewhat distracted. “That’s it? There’s no… Demon hunters or?”
and you ease my troubles with your hands, like the night puts a calm on the valley
"That entirely depends on who you subject you your silver tongue, don't you think?" Isla says with a sly grin. "Whisper in the wrong ear and you might end up with another concussion. Whisper in the right one and it might be very good indeed." She giggles as he buries his face, unsure exactly what's happened but aware that she must have tickled something in his sensors to cause it.
Anyway, back to the book. Her hands smooth out the braids she's been putting into his hair letting him settle into his scans, and it's as she turns the page that he pipes up again, Isla smiling down at him. "Well, that was the end of chapter one," she says. "I imagine it was a prologue. There might be demon hunters. Why, do you fancy your chances at being one?"
“Oh is that a threat?” He quips back, unable to keep the toothy grin from spreading on his face even if his eyes are still closed, even as he’s burying his face into her lap as she tickles his sensors along his ear, the flaring in his head so sudden and bright nearly drowning out her words. But her hand flattens out the braids she’s been making in his longer hair and he relaxes a bit more, pressing his cheek against her thigh.
He hums in consideration as she questions his demon hunting abilities, as if he’s thinking about it for quite some time before he nods and just presses his face into her lap even more. “Oh, I could absolutely take some demons.” To this, despite his scans running, he does tilt his head up toward her, opening his gaze just enough to toss her a wink before he settles in again. “Okay, lets see how this goes.”
and you ease my troubles with your hands, like the night puts a calm on the valley
"I wouldn't threaten you," Isla almost purrs to him, flashing him an equally as toothy grin in return. "But someone might, so be careful with your pretty words." Her fingers dance from behind his ear to tickle beneath his jawline, the medic relaxing just as easily into the bed by now, even if she's the one nursing a head injury and reading the book. His cheek presses into her thigh and Isla sweeps her hand down along his back at last, ceasing her teasing for a bit.
"I bet you would be a fantastic demon hunter," she decides, settling in for the next chapter. "If there's one in this book, I'll make sure to add some ad-hoc descriptions, make sure they look just like you." Winking, she lets their conversation fade in lieu of reading the story. There aren't any demon hunters, as it turns out, but as the night stretches on and it doesn't look like they're going anywhere, Isla adds some for shits and giggles anyway.
