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!
Despite the fact that Ever was sitting on a bench staring at the crowds that ebbed and flowed around him like clusters of fish, it would be wrong to say he was people watching. What is closer to the truth given the notebook in his lap and the pen racing across the clean white pages, is that he is people studying.
If he lets his eyes blur he thinks he can see patterns in the way that people move; sounds that accompany certain types of movements. Only...when he focuses on the details, he is unable to track or predict what will happen. A man offers a woman ice cream, and he thinks this should be followed up by some sort of physical touch. Only...she just crosses her arms and shakes her head. Elsewhere, a boy trips and where Ever expects to her admonishment and see tears, there is only laughter.
Frowning, he scribbles something and then crosses something out elsewhere in his notebook.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"Watch out!" Mateo's voice is a musical trill towards Ever, and if the other boy isn't careful he's about to be smacked in the face by a fluttering piece of paper that has escaped his grasp. Ever might have been people studying, but Mateo has been scribbling down his homework on the way out of the Collegium, only for it to get torn out of his fingers. (He finishes it as soon as the class is out, because then he doesn't have to think about it any more and he can focus on more enjoyable things).
Either way, he's out of breath by the time he reaches Ever's bench, hoping that he's been able to catch his rogue bit of paper. "Sorry," he pants, "it went off by itself. You'd almost think it didn't wanna be homework."
Having no reason at all to think that the warning is meant for him, Ever's vision is suddenly and completely whited-out. He doesn't flinch or start as one might expect, but carefully reaches up to pluck the paper off of his face, studying it with a completely blank expression as if not understanding at all what he's seeing or what has just happened. He likely would have continued to sit this way, blinking stupidly at the paper, had Mateo not followed in the wake of his homework.
Glancing up at the older boy, Ever frowns, still silent. Where someone else might have laughed awkwardly or just shrugged off what was a fairly innocuous event, the young attuned seems extremely perplexed even now that the situation has been more or less explained. "I think it was the wind that carried it off." He offers, helpfully. Placing a finger in his mouth and then holding it up to feel the breeze against one side but not the other, he nods rather matter-of-factly.
"Is this from today's lesson? I didn't think it was due for two days?"
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Quite frankly, what happens and the boy's reaction to it is hilarious, and Mateo has to choke back his laughter to see him stock still on the bench with the paper covering his face. He manages it - just about - by the time the paper is finally pulled away, conveniently as Teo arrives at Ever's side. Rather than the greeting or easy joke he expects from a classmate, what he's offered is... a bit weird, but if you've met Mateo's parents, you'll know that's not a problem for him.
"Yeah, probably," he agrees, offering a nod in response to his question. "Mm, I don't like to wait though. If I do it right away I can't forget, right? I like science anyway." And it's science homework, as Ever has probably already guessed. Plopping down next to him on the bench, he juts out his hand. "I'm Teo. What're you doing?"
07-29-2021, 05:41 PM (This post was last modified: 07-29-2021, 05:49 PM by Everest.)
so much life in one little world
"I suppose so." Sounding perplexed, something about Mateo's explanation seems off, but not in a way that Ever can articulate just now. He liked science too, but as he wasn't asked, the boy keeps that information to himself.
Scooting over to make room for Mateo—there was plenty already, but it seemed the polite thing to do—for a moment he just looks down at the offered hand. Not only is it a very grown-up gesture, but it also involves touching the other boy's hand which was not one of Ever's favourite things to do. Still, he'd learned politeness reigned over just about everything thanks to his parents, and so he returns Teo's shake with a poor excuse for one of his own. Gripping the other boy's palm with his fingers and shaking weakly, Ever has to swallow down the need to say that he knew who Mateo was already.
"I am Everest Hart." He replies in a perfunctory tone, before glancing back to his notebook. "Research." Ever answers, as if that should have been clear to someone who liked science the way Teo said he did.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Mateo is as brazenly social as Everest is awkward, and he swings his legs off the side of the bench and shakes the boy's hand with confidence and a dimpled smile. "Everest? That's a cool name," he says.
"It's nice to meet you. And thanks for saving my homework with your face." Speaking of which, he reaches across for the paper with the looped writing all over it. Mateo still has a long way to go before reaching Remi's penmanship, but he's trying. It's just another way to feel closer to parents who are currently far away.
"Oh? What'cha researching?" he wonders, scooting closer even as Ever has moved further away, that he might peek over his shoulder at the notebook to see what he's up to.
"It is cool." Ever agrees, though not in the same way Teo means it. "I am named after a mountain in one of the Outlander worlds. It reaches so high into the sky that it's always covered by snow, so it is very cool." Cold is the better word, but he'll let it slide in an attempt to be conversational.
"You're welcome. I haven't even started yet. I find it..." Not confusing necessarily, just...jumbled. Like he had all the pieces in his mind, but they'd all been put into a box that kept being shook around just when he was starting to piece it all back together.
Looking over someone's shoulder is rude, but it's probably more rude to pull away at this point. So, allowing this invasion of privacy, Ever holds the book flat on his lap. "Well, I was wondering if humans were like other animals. You know how when you watch animals in the Celestine—" He says this as if everyone past their time this way. "—and you can...understand what they're going to do next, if you watch them long enough?" Pointing to the pages, Ever taps a skeptical finger against a tally in one corner.
"I don't think people are like that, though." Hence the research.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Clearly Mateo does not agree with what might be rude and what might be polite, and he is more than comfortable with his proximity to the other boy, gazing down at his 'research' with curiosity burning in blue eyes. "Una montagna? That is cool." He knows what Everest means in the literal sense, but it doesn't make it any less fun. "My name means... Mateo. I... I don't think anyone has ever told me what it means, actually." He grins.
He does pass much of his time in the Celestine, in actual fact, but Mateo spends more time watching the plants than the animals. "Oh - well. People aren't the same as animals, are they? I mean, we are animals, but we're more..." he gestures vaguely in a way that suggests he's seen an adult do it, rather than knowing what it actually means.
Frowning deeply at his counterpart—in years to come with Ever's brow is permanently creased, we'll be able to look back and point to this moment as where his wrinkles began—the boy gives his head a shake. "No, mountain." He repeats, slowly, as if Teo was a bit thick. "Maybe it doesn't mean anything." Ever offers with a small shrug. "My father's name doesn't mean anything, even though it sounds like part of a fish."
Considering this, Ever gives one of his feet a kick beneath the bench. "Yeah, more." He agrees, before his face creases once again into a frown. "Or maybe not even more. But we all eat and die and are made by the gods, right? And we might think we're smarter, but lots of animals don't start wars, or pick fights with one another."
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"That is what I said," Mateo says brightly. Una montagna. It means mountain, in the travelling tongue where my dad is from." Still swinging his legs, he meditates on the prospect of not having a meaning to his name, before wrinkling his nose. "Your dad's name is Gill?" he guesses. "Maybe I should make up a meaning for it myself. Mateo means... big tree," he decides.
His brow furrows as well to hear Everest speak so - and in the years to come, the expression will also become a familiar one for Mateo, but only in the presence of his friend. "Most animals pick fights with one another, I think," he objects. "But only humans go shopping. Want to come and get milkshakes with me?"
"Oh." Ever hums, not that he sounds at all swayed by this explanation, but since arguing is something he rarely does, he leaves the subject alone. "No, Finn." He replies with a genuine smile as he thinks of his father. 'I suppose if you found a new kind of tree and called it a Mateo, then it really would mean that.' Ever suggests, suddenly looking interested. He wasn't such a fan of finding new things, but cataloguing? Nomenclature? Sign him up.
Just as Ever is about to tug more at that particular thread, Teo's question catches him off guard. His mouth starts to immediately water at the prospect of milkshakes, but even so, he gives his head a small shake. "I'm not supposed to have snacks before dinner..." He replies a touch sadly. But not wanting to disappoint his new...acquaintance? he quickly adds: "But I'll go along with you if you want!"
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"Oh - Finn. That works too, yes," he says with a bright smile, and his blue eyes grow brighter still at the prospect of discovering a tree to name after him. "That's a great idea. I suppose all of the trees in the Celestine have already been discovered though. I would have to go somewhere else, like... like the Oerwoud, or the Feverlands. I think I would like a jungle tree more than a swamp tree though." Clearly he's already mapped this all out, even as he jumps to his feet with milkshakes on his mind.
It doesn't even occur to him that others might have rules about snacks and dinner - a child of the Collegium, Mateo has routine and things he's supposed to do, but no one to really make sure he does those things. "You can have some of mine?" he suggests. "It's not really a whole snack if you're just sharing some right? You can even choose the flavour."
"Do you think so? I suppose they've been discovered by Frey, but with all the strange creatures coming in and out, who knows?" Ever's eyes go from intrigued to horrified as Teo mentions adventuring to places like the Oerwoud and Feverlands as if it was nothing at all. But then, as the son of a demigod, maybe it wasn't? Could he ask, or was that rude? Erring on the side of caution, Ever just bobs his head in agreement. "Yes, there certainly doesn't seem to be a bias against the swamp."
Opening his mouth to argue, Ever finds any objection he might be able to make already swiftly smoothed away. "Err.." He shouldn't, but without a polite why of saying why, he finds himself forcing a smile onto his face. "Okay." Maybe he can...do extra chores to make up for having a snack before dinner. That's what it was, no matter what Teo said.
"So...your parents are in the Greatwood now? Is that...nice for you?" Ever, as you can see, is very skilled at smalltalk.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Who does know, truly? Mateo softens at that, nodding to himself as if perhaps the Mateo tree might be found in the Celestine after all. "The swamp is muddy and smelly, mostly. Isn't it? I've never been, but my dads say that it's like that," he tells Everest, leading them away from the bench and through the square towards the little milkshake stand he likes to frequent. And the other boy's agreement is met with another cheerful, dimpled smile.
"What flavour d'you want? I like all of them except banana," he says, pointing up at the list. "Mm...? Oh, yeah. They went to take care of the woods. They said I could go as well, but I wanted to stay here. I've not been in the Greatwood since I was a baby. I miss them a lot, but I like Stormbreak. What do your parents do?"
