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!
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"È il Greatwood!" Mateo announces to his father, smiling broadly as he leads them over to the table and the centrepiece. And it is the Greatwood in edible miniature. Fruits and vegetables and mushrooms and edible flowers make up the trees and other foliage, and Mateo has crafted a little houseboat out of peppermint bark that bobs around on a painted Stonesong. "And if you do this..."
He reaches out to poke at something beneath the centrepiece, and the tiny Greatwood shifts and moves, and a rubbery fake tentacle flails out of what looks like the Drop from above. He's very pleased with it, but not as pleased as being able to watch Ever and Remi hold a conversation.
"If he does go to check, he will look like he is asleep," he chips in as a warning for his friend. "But he is okay really. It's just while he's being a ghost."
there's a feeling i get when i look to the west, & my spirit is crying for leaving.
"Assolutamente incredibile!" Remi beams, watching Mateo's work come to life before his eyes. "Questo è uno dei tuoi migliori lavori fino ad oggi." Straightening, the Lullaby turns toward the living room and the two chairs facing the sofa. Pulling in a breath and twisting his lips uncomfortably, he sits himself down. "He's right. I won't be moving, but I will be okay." Remi says in a way he hopes Ever will find reassuring.
Drifting out of his body, Remi moves down the hall, past where Ronin and Tobi are fawning over pictures of their children, and into the kitchen. There he finds Finn, stirring a pot of cold orzo and looking incredibly robotic. It's jarring, to be so near him and also to...not. Unconsciously he flexes one of his hands, seemingly unable to move any more than that. A quick look around is all the Lullaby needs to confirm that there aren't any spirits here (except him), and yet he doesn't return to his body as he absolutely should. Instead, he haunts, by which I mean he simply watches the back of Finn's neck, fixed in place.
He could...slip next to Finn's bones again. Could reach for the knife they so often pass back and forth and see if there's any remnants of himself infecting Finn's body that he might remove. Could he exorcise himself, that way? If only Finn could enter him. (Not like that). (Yes like that). By his foot, Oria looks up at him, having followed him in. The spriggan chitters something that sounds like a warning, and as Remi begins to move closer to the Spyglass, she folds her arms and fumes.
in my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees & the voices of those who stand looking.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Finn, robotically stirring the cold orzo, has no idea what danger has just slipped through the ether and into the kitchen with him. He has been enjoying the wine and has let Tobi and Ronin go to fawn over the pictures in the hallway, assuming Remi to still be preoccupied with the boys. He assumes wrongly, of course.
They say that, subconsciously, your body knows when something is wrong, and perhaps that is why the hairs start to stand up on the back of his neck. With an imperceptible shiver, Finn does his best to ignore it - he's going to feel like that all night regardless, he thinks.
But then an angry sort of chittering reaches his ears and, after checking that it's not coming from the stove, Finn turns around. Unbeknownst to the Spyglass, he's barely a hair's breadth from Remi by now; luckily for him, Oria on the floor catches his attention. "Oh," he says mildly, dropping into a crouch. "Pardon me. I didn't see you there. Are you with the Taliesins?"
"We'll have to host you next time," Ronin is saying to Tobi with an easy smile, nursing his wine in the glass and sipping at it as they chat in the hallway together. "Depending on how this goes, anyway," he adds with a wince that isn't entirely playful. Even if this is a flying success, he doesn't know how the Lullaby will react on his home turf rather than in the comparative newness of Tobi's apartment.
Speaking of Remi has him glancing automatically over his shoulder towards the table... where his husband isn't. Ronin can't see that he's on the couch, of course - all he notices is that there are two boys and no husband. "Remi?" he calls automatically. "Everything okay?"
there's a feeling i get when i look to the west, & my spirit is crying for leaving.
Turning, Oria points into the empty space behind Finn currently occupied by the Lullaby. Gesticulating wildly with her small hands, she flies into the air, continuing to chatter furiously. For his part, this is one of the rare times that the Lullaby doesn't need his companion's warning.
Close enough that had he a body he might have felt Finn's warmth against his skin, Remi can feel his muscles tense and relax in shivery anticipation. Like a predator adjusting itself in such a way as to be perfectly prepared to move and shift with its prey, Remi can feel the way the nearness of Finn is affecting him similarly. Half-remembered moments in time that might have been dreams or reality—or some strange memories in between—burst behind the Lullaby's eyes. His fingers twitch, his lips part, and had he been in possession of his body, he might have broken out into a sweat.
In the living room, Remi suddenly mumbles "No.". Rising without explanation, he storms down the hall into the bathroom, shouldering his way past Ronin and Tobi before slamming the door behind him.
in my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees & the voices of those who stand looking.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
Rolling her eyes in weary agreement, Tobi finds it exceedingly easy to shoot the shit with Ronin. Extroverts both, it's likely the strange relationship that Finn and Remi have that has the power to break down any awkward barriers between the doctor and the Huntsman, uniting them in one cause they both share: making sure no one dies tonight. "Maybe a picnic." She offers with a small laugh. "Tight quarters might not be the best idea."
As Ronin looks to the dining room, Tobi turns and peers down the hallway where she can just make out part of Finn as he kneels down. It's entirely possible that he's speaking to himself, but she'd feel better if she made sure. Placing her hand gently on Ronin's shoulder, the doctor excuses herself with a soft, "be right back, I'm just going to check on dinner."
It's then that Remi storms past down the hall, and though she doesn't want to read into anything, Tobi's can feel her pulse begin to quicken. "Hey, is everything alrigh—oh. Who's this?" She asks of Oria, as if Finn might have invited her to dinner without mentioning it.
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
A picnic actually sounds like a very doable workaround, and Ronin is about to say as much when he realises that his husband is absent(ish) from the proceedings. Except not really, and he's glancing to Tobi and nodding his understanding (check on dinner being code for check my husband hasn't murdered Finn, thank you Doctor Hart) as Remi goes barging past the two of them. "Hey--" he begins, only to wince at the sound of a slamming door.
Hoping that Ever and Mateo aren't reading too much into this (there had been talk of ghosts and he guarantees that this won't make either boy less worried), Ronin follows after Remi. He doesn't even knock at the bathroom door, merely clicking it open and slipping it shut behind him, as if he can gatekeep the rest of the proceedings from the Lullaby.
"We don't have to talk. What do you need?" he asks quietly, breathlessly.
The spriggan's wild gesticulations have Finn (naturally) glancing up and over his shoulder. Seeing nothing, he does furrow his brow, distantly remembering the way a certain alchemist could ghost out of himself only to nestle right beneath his skin, like a yawning maw trying to suck away his essence. But then Oria is soaring up and chittering away, the Spyglass straightens up, oblivious to the danger that metaphorically breathes down his neck.
"I am sorry," he murmurs, "I am afraid I don't know what you are trying to tell me. Do you think perhaps we could write it down?" This is about as far as he gets with Oria when footsteps echo in his ear and he turns to find Tobi - radiant, relaxed, warm - sweeping into the kitchen with him. "Everything is fine," he tells her. "I don't know who this is, but she is very spirited. Would you like to stay for dinner?" This is directed to Oria, before Finn glances back to Tobi.
11-26-2021, 03:32 AM (This post was last modified: 11-26-2021, 04:06 AM by Odd.)
REMI
the alchemist
there's a feeling i get when i look to the west, & my spirit is crying for leaving.
His hands are around the basin of the sink, and it's only the way he clenches his teeth hard enough that they threaten to crack, that keeps him from pulling the porcelain away from the wall. Stars and wildfires pulse behind his closed eyes as he feels a cold sweat trickle down his spine that permeates through his skin into his bones. Breathing heavily, afraid of what he might see should he open his eyes, the Lullaby shakes his head ever so slightly as he's asked what he needs.
What he needs is to not be here. To not be forced to endure this part of himself over which he has tenuous control. He needs to not be forced to make small talk with a man for whom even the brightest parts of himself are still thought of as abhorrent. "This..is not good for me, Ronin." Remi replies in a whisper, vaguely aware of Finn and October's voices as well as the sound of children's laughter, but hearing it as if it were in a dream.
He felt like a ravenous lion, unchained before a freshly killed carcass, and told to be good for just a while longer. Nothing about it made sense to the fleeting part of his rationality that was left. "Remind me why I am doing this." He asks, and though his voice is just the same as it was before, that same low whisper, the accompanying pulse through the attuned bond makes it sound like a sobbed-out plea. 'Please, Ronin.' Because for the life of him he can't remember; not with the nearness of Finn's bones vibrating at a frequency that promises to cure him if only he could break just one of them.
in my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees & the voices of those who stand looking.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It's a quiet consolation A mistake that I don't mind
Tobi, looking surprised and then affectionate, crinkles her nose at Finn. The fact that he's just asked an animated stick if it wants to stay for dinner is the sort of playfulness that indicates to her that yes, everything really is fine. "Hello there." The doctor says pleasantly to Oria. "You're more than welcome to stay, if you like. I hope we have something you can eat."
Tilting her head down the hall at the sound of Ronin and Remi's voices, Tobi solidifies her smile in place as she turns back to Finn. "Did...she come in through a window? Or is she someone's companion?" Ever would probably have told her, but a creature like this certainly seemed the sort to be Mateo's.
With Remi being managed by Ronin, Oria relaxes considerably. Letting her wings fall and then twirling back and forth so that her foliage looked like a swaying skirt, she then jumps into the air that she might hover before Finn for a moment. Peering deep into the Spyglass's stormy gaze, whatever she sees there (or doesn't see, perhaps), is apparently to her likely. Trilling warmly, she rises to the counter where she points at Finn's pot.
Maybe you'll meet me at the station Or maybe somewhere down the line
"Oh..okay. Sure." Watching out of the corner of his eye as if Remi is some rueful child who is being given too much leeway, Ever watches the Lullaby sink down and then...fall asleep. "And..he's really okay?" The boy wonders. Comedically timed, this is precisely when Remi jumps up, storming down the hall where the sound of the slamming door makes Ever jump. Looking to his friend with worried and accusatory eyes, he swallows and sits down hard in one of the chairs.
"And is that part of it too?" He asks, his shoulders bunched up by his ears. If his parents weren't here, Ever might have suggested that they abandon their plans and just go. But of course this was his house, and his parents were here and surely if there was a problem, they'd do something about it.
"Was it a ghost, do you think?"" Ever wonders in a lower tone, opting now to give Remi the benefit of the doubt.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
11-26-2021, 11:05 AM (This post was last modified: 11-26-2021, 11:24 AM by Ronin.)
RONIN
the dark star
He has seen Remi in many different places in their time together; in a lot of moods, through highs and lows and all things in between. But Ronin has never seen this particular toxic cocktail, his blue eyes flicking over each and every part of the Lullaby as he reaches out behind him and softly locks the bathroom door. It isn't to stop someone coming in - it's to stop Remi getting out, hilarious though the thought may be that something as flimsy as solid oak would stop his husband.
It's bad, worse than he could have foreseen, but swallowing that reality will have to wait. The plea through the Attuned bond they share tugs at all the heartstrings he shares with Remi, and though his pulse has quickened and his mind is still trying to comprehend things, he softly nods. "Okay," he says, almost like he's trying to tell himself, and then again, "Okay."
A deep breath is all it takes, and behind Remi the warm and solid presence of Ronin's projection will appear, to either tease or wrestle him away from the basin. Either way, once he's upright the real Huntsman will move in, closing the distance between them to seal his lips with a balm against the chaos. He lets thoughts and feelings flood out in all the ways he knows how; they are here for their family, and they are all here together because it's how they always will be. And one little Spyglass, however bone-deep the poison might go, is not enough to topple Remi.
"We'll make our excuses before dessert," he whispers against Remi's lips, guiding the Lullaby's hands against him, even as one of his own slips beneath the other man's shirt, pressing against the small of his back. Love and reassurance radiate down the bond between them, his touch strong and insistent as if the feelings might melt down through his fingers and into Remi's skin. "We'll drink our wine and make our small talk, and when we're done, there will be this and more to look forward to." This and more involving being sandwiched between two Ronins again, if that's what it takes. "Do you think you can manage that with me?"
Whether wilfully or otherwise, Finn decides to remains ignorant of whatever is happening between the Taliesins, keeping his focus between Tobi, dinner, and their new friend. "She is a spriggan, though not any of the types I have read about," the Spyglass explains softly, smiling as Oria chitters away before his face. "It is possible that she came in through the window from the Celestine, but... I feel like she might belong to Remi." It comes out of nowhere, almost like it's been whispered from a dream, and Finn drops the thread almost as soon as he has picked it up.
"Oh - you are welcome to some of that. It isn't heated up yet, though..." As if Oria is their only dinner guest now, Finn turns on the stove so he might warm through the orzo - and he's decided, unintentionally, that they will be eating imminently by doing so. "Is everything alright?" This he directs to Tobi, even if his back is to the doctor. Finn is still as relaxed as he's likely to get all night, the Spyglass reaching up into one of the cupboards to collect a small dish used to pinch spices out of, then rummaging in a drawer until he draws out a thimble.
"There you are. I don't know if we will be able to get you any cutlery," he tells Oria as he sets her 'plate' down and fills the thimble with some of his wine. Is this weird, even for Finn? Yes, and that's either a very good or a very bad thing.
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"Mmhm," Mateo begins in reference to his father being really okay, until of course he abruptly really isn't okay, the boy's blue eyes widening as Remi all but flees the scene. "I... er, not usually," he admits to his friend, turning to follow Everest over to the table. Hopping up into the chair beside him, Mateo wriggles until he's half facing the Hart boy, bouncing his eyebrows exaggeratedly.
"You know, I think it probably was," he whispers after a moment of thought. "My dad doesn't normally act like that. I think he found your ghost and he's shooing it out of the apartment. It probably tried to escape into the bathroom." His logical brain is doing battle with his child's mind, of course; knowing what he knows about his father, it doesn't seem to entirely make sense. But Ever isn't the only one trying to give Remi the benefit of the doubt here.
"This is good though, right? You can make cookies in peace, and you don't have to worry about anything stealing your homework." He tilts his head, before glancing to the kitchen. "Dinner smells really good, doesn't it?"
