jack of all trades
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
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#15
MATEO
"Mm? Oh gods, no," Mateo blurts with a shake of his head, managing a smile that only dimples one of his cheeks because of the bread and the cheese. "I was just using them as an example. I know that my pa started being a soldier when he was still pretty young, and I have seen some dragoons whose voices still sound all squeaky. I don't want to fight wars." His fathers are doing that, and it doesn't look fun at all.

The Taliesin boy's maturity has developed out of necessity rather than by chance, though he's still childish in some ways (as evidenced in the Paige hand-holding shenanigans). "Well yeah, I guess so," he agrees, watching Ever use those very fingers to tear the bread and cheese up. "I just... don't think I need to change myself. I'm happy as me," he admits. "Not that I don't think you're happy, obviously."
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
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Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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#16
Everest
"Ooohhh." Ever sighs, relieved, and not bothering to hide it. "Well...I know my mom was in school up until a few years ago. She still studies all the time." He adds with a boyish shrug, plopping some cheese into his mouth. "What do you think you want to do then? Other than grow plants." This latter portion was said rather matter of factly, as if already knowing that botany was necessarily part of his friend's future.

Not taking Mateo's words as a slight, Ever just shrugs again and notches his feet beneath his chair. "Well you're still you. Just like...a different kind of you." Frowning at how poorly phrased this was coming out, the boy falls silent as he chews on his cheese. "Are you ever worried that...since you're an accepted, the Voice will get you?" He asks timidly, blue eyes peering out from behind thick lashes. As an attuned he was more or less safe from such things. The worse that could happen to him now was being cursed, and so long as he stayed away from the gods like his dad often did, he didn't think he could do much to earn their wrath.
the words you speak
become the house you live in
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 802 | Total: 16,314
MP: 3061
#17
MATEO
"Would you not want me to be a dragoon?" Mateo raises his eyebrows, tilting his head and unable to stop himself from smiling at the thought of Ever feeling that strongly about anything. And whilst the other boy might not have intended it, he does actually provide some unexpected comfort; because maybe Mateo can also be a perpetual student if he can't figure out what to do with his time. Not that he doesn't have a few ideas about that, though.

"I thought I could make things with the plants," he says. "Make herbs and tinctures and medicines, or other things. I read a book about some flowers that can make people sleep, and others that can make you see stuff that isn't there. There's even something called a dream cactus that I want to study." Has a pre-teen ever sounded so enthusiastic about plants? It seems unlikely.

Cramming more bread into his mouth, he kicks his heel back against the chair and considers Ever's point, before shaking his head. "Nah, I think you have to choose to be an Ascended, the same as choosing to be an Attuned. That's what my nonna says anyways. And I like cheese too much to want to be one of those."
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
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Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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#18
Everest
"I want you to do whatever would make you happy." Ever replies automatically, wanting this to be clear. "But the dragoons...it's so much following orders and doing what you're told." Those are the same thing of course, but Ever wants to drive the point home. "And what if you're sent away and all your plants die? Or if they make you shave off all your hair?" He continues, shaking his head. "Mom says she's down to reset bones all the time. Loads of them get their noses broken and eventually they never look the same."

Nodding along as Mateo speaks, seeming quite content with his friend's botanical applications so far as they applied to sleep, he frowns hard at the mention of dream cactus. "My mom says that stuff is really dangerous. Some people take too much and their minds just...just don't really come back into their bodies ever. It's like they want to live in a world that doesn't exist." Ever warns gravely, almost sure that it will fall on deaf ears.

'mmmm.' A more playful boy might have kicked out at the bottom of Mateo's chair to send him sprawling, but Ever simply leans forward that he might catch his friend if he topples over all on his own. "That's a good point. I hope I never have to see her." He adds with a genuine shiver. "Or any of the ascended. Have you ever met any?"
the words you speak
become the house you live in
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
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#19
MATEO
Given that Mateo never had any intention of becoming a dragoon, Everest is basically a walking advertisement not to consider it even as a passing fancy. The Taliesin boy's expression goes from mildly amused all the way along the scale to vaguely horrified as Ever continues to speak, and he brushes the crumbs from his lap and reminds himself to ask his father what he used to look like the next chance he gets. "It sounds horrible," he agrees emphatically.

Far from falling on deaf ears, Mateo hears the word dangerous when it applies to his plants and other applications and is only more incensed to find out more; his blue eyes light up and he offers his friend a wicked sort of smile. "But what if they were just doing it wrong? I've travelled in dreams already, I used to live in one. That doesn't scare me," he says.

Unaware of the possible state of his balance or the protector at his side, Mateo nibbles at his lower lip and shrugs his shoulders. "My dad's best friend used to be an Ascended," he explains, like he's still unsure how he's supposed to feel about it compared to how he does feel. "I'm named after her. My middle name, anyways. I think I met her when I was little, but I haven't met her again since I came here."
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
Aviator

Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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#20
Everest
Thinking his job complete and his friend successfully saved from the clutches of the dragoons, Ever relaxes momentarily, only to find himself abruptly tensing up. "Wh—no—that's not—" His cheeks flush. "Everyone can't always be doing things wrong." Ever protests, having heard this line of argument from his friend before. "And didn't you tell me the dream your dad made you in, is one he almost never came out of?" Something something Mateo having quite literally saved his father merely by being real, or something?

'Before she was an ascended, you mean?" Ever clarifies, confident he's right about that. 'Probably for the best. I've heard that the Voice can see through their eyes and touch you through their fingers." He'd heard a lot worse too from the kids at school, and erring on the side of caution, he'd decided to take it all as fact just to be safe.
the words you speak
become the house you live in
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
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#21
MATEO
"Okay but in the cases where they end up getting lost in their own weird head space, don't you think they might have been doing something wrong? My dad says the best way to figure something out is to try it," he informs Ever, as if Remi had the final authority on what he was going to do with any dream cactus in the distant future. "And - well - yes, but he didn't. We all made it out and now I'm here and you're here and it's all fine." He shrugs it off.

Ever's not done though, apparently. "No, she's been Ascended for a long, long time. She was a unicorn before that though," he says, understanding it very little but accepting it all the same. "She's a doctor, though. Do you think she would know, if the Voice was trying to peep out through her eyes? I think I would notice."
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
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Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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#22
Everest
"Which dad said that?" Ever wants to know, as if that will make any difference to him at all. "You really don't think you'd get lost in your own head?" Gods, Ever certainly would. He does regularly, without the aid of drugs.

"Mmmhmmm." The Hart boy points out, sounding victorious. "It's all fine because a god intervened." So the moral of the story was, don't do drugs.

"Wait...what?" Shifting in his seat like his posture might be the reason he doesn't understand, he frowns. 'So...he made friends with her as a unicorn, and then stopped being friends with her when she became an ascended?" And how was that even possible? Could all the animals just..become ascended?

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, oh—

'Well, Marny from history said that the Voice can turn them off and just...control them. She says that one time the Voice took over a baby in the womb, and killed the mother from the inside out."
the words you speak
become the house you live in
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 802 | Total: 16,314
MP: 3061
#23
MATEO
"I mean, both of them at different times?" Mateo says, which doesn't really help Everest's case when the boy starts to think about it. One dad might be wrong, but two? Nah. Still, he shakes said head with the sort of boyish confidence that, knowingly or otherwise, will one day become an ingrained part of his personality. "I think I would be okay," he assures Ever without knowing why. "But you can always stay and make sure if it would make you feel better."

He can only raise his eyebrows at his friend when he pulls the god card, though, because yes duh of course that's why it was okay. It's also why the Hart boy is an Attuned. But as their conversation plunges more deeply into the Ascended and his father's prior relationship with one, Mateo shifts somewhat uncomfortably in his seat. "I think so? I think they went on a date too, but I wasn't paying much attention."

His brow furrows now, because what Ever has to say does shake him, but he's determined not to show it. "Yeah well, Marny from history also said that some Abandoned turn to dust if they don't use their magic to hurt people, and my nonna says that's cazzate," he mutters.
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
Aviator

Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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#24
Everest
In the years to come, Ever will perfect his you're full of shit but I can't say that to you look. For now, it's a sort of wobble of his eyebrows that creases his forehead and concludes with a frown. 'Deal.' He agrees impulsively. "I'll...take your vitals, and keep you hydrated." Ever adds, parroting things he's heard his mother say.

'Eww, what?' It's hard to know if Ever's reaction is to the date portion, or to the ascended-portion. Grimacing and shaking his head the way he did when he had to take cold-medicine, Ever leans back in his chair. "Your dads do weird things." He concludes, not sounding judgemental, just factual.

Not needing a translation of cazzate, Ever sucks in on his lower lip and shrugs. "Well..." He begins, wanting to protest but having met Vai, finding himself quite inclined to believe her over Marny. "..Marny also said that there's a haunted house in the Silk Houses. D'you think that's a lie too?"
the words you speak
become the house you live in
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 802 | Total: 16,314
MP: 3061
#25
MATEO
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You can take my temperature and hold my wrist and count and do that other stuff," Mateo agrees, though unlike Ever, he's not able to parrot the vocabulary so he makes do with the actions he's seen people make in the infirmary. "And take notes, maybe." Because say what you like about Everest Hart, but his notes are second to none. And if Mateo is going on a trip (in his favourite rocket ship), he'd like to read about it afterwards.

"I know," the Taliesin boy sighs dramatically to both counts - the date and his fathers' weirdness. "At least they seem happy on their boat. Happier than they were here. They used to stay up all night talking when they were here, and it never sounded like it was about anything good," he admits.

Quite happily distracted by the prospect of a haunted house, Mateo grins and sits up in his seay. "I don't know, but I bet we could find out. And then we could tell her we found out the truth next class. I bet it's not true. I don't think ghosts would stay in Stormbreak - not with the Temple right there."
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
Aviator

Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 6 - Strg: 27 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 21 - Luck: 5 - Int: 0
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#26
Everest
"Yeah. Yeah." Unintentionally, Ever has just agreed to be Mateo's sober companion during his first (??) drug escapade. One day they'll look back on this moment and perhaps frown or laugh, knowing this is where it all began. 'Well of course.' He says of taking notes. What else would he be doing?

"Mmmm." Ever offers, his lips twitching slightly. "My parents used to do that. But now when they go to bed it's usually quiet. I can hear one of them getting up in the night to get snacks though, which is annoying because I'm not allowed to have snacks after 9."

Wondering what he'd inadvertently gotten himself into, Ever finds himself nodding agreeably despite the prickles of fear already blooming across his neck. "Yeah. There's no way there's a ghost. It's probably just the wind. Or a trapped animal." Or an ascended trapped in a box. Or Cian's maybe-dead-wife.
the words you speak
become the house you live in
Mateo Taliesin
Botanist

Age: 23 | Height: 5'7 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 17 - Int: 0
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 802 | Total: 16,314
MP: 3061
#27
MATEO
With their partnership officially formed (for better or for worse), Mateo rocks forward so his chair isn't quite on two legs any more, then gets to his feet as if he's suddenly restless. Whether it's thoughts of his parents and their worrisome midnight conversations, the prospect of trying whatever comes out of a dream cactus, or the haunted house, it's got him crouching down in front of the terrarium again.

"Mm, but I bet if we just poke our heads in the door, Marny will say we didn't stay long enough to really find out," he says with a deep sigh. "Do you think we should try and sleep over? It gets dark real early now, so we'll have a long night to stay up and ghost watch. And I've never had a sleepover before."
the earth has music for those who listen
Everest Hart
Aviator

Age: 22 | Height: 5'11" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
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#28
Everest
With a resting worried face, Ever follows his friend's unsettled movements with quick jerks of his eyes. "Yeah, but if just we go, she'll say we're lying because we're friends." Not a natural liar, already the Hart boy had told any number of mis-truths in service of keeping his friend's safety or shenanigans from reaching the lighting of day.

"Sleep over?" He repeats, as if the words were spoken in the travelling tongue rather than common. "All night?" Ever bunches his fingers together and regards the cheese and bread on the table sternly. "I...guess that makes sense...'cause she'll say we just missed the ghost if we aren't there all night.."
the words you speak
become the house you live in


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