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!
"Sometimes you have to make the mistake to learn from it," Mateo points out with a dimpled smile to his friend. "At least now they know, and you can stay in Stormbreak now." At least that's what he assumes they're going to do. If they decide to hop away to Torchline or the Greatwood, Mateo might just have something to say about it (not that it would make one bit of difference).
Skipping back helpfully as Ever moves closer, as if to maintain the polite distance between them that he knows the other boy likes, Mateo is still grinning like an idiot as they approach the cocoa stall. "Well you can look at the skyboat I have until then. It doesn't fly yet but it's got all of the components," he says. "And maybe you can teach me too?" No formal training for Mateo though thanks. He'll be a rogue sky pilot (and a really bad one, but neither could possibly know that yet).
And as Ever mentions the reason behind his wanting to learn to pilot one? Mateo reaches out and gives the scarf his friend is wearing a squeeze, like he can transfer the affection directly to Everest via the garment. "That would have been incredible," he says sincerely, before whipping around to order their drinks.
Before, when Mateo's boat was just something he and his father were building for fun, Ever had no important thoughts regarding its construction. Now, though, his mind was suddenly crammed with building code concerns about how many shortcuts the Taliesin's might have taken during their vessels construction. "I..can..." Try? Think about it? Talk you out of it? Ever decides to let the conclusion of his sentence become a breath of hot air blown into his scarf.
Humming out a note of concern as his scarf is touched, Ever waits until their drinks are ordered before continuing. "There are much more efficient routes the boats could be taking." He says conversationally. "And if the captains made better use of the thermals the way the birds do, they could cut about 20% of flying time off of their trips." Does Ever have the calculations to back this up? Absolutely he does.
"And..I know I'm not in Halo anymore, but if your family is going to stay split up all the time..." The boy shrugs, not knowing how to casually say, I've learned this niche skill and am planning on building an entire career around making it easier to stay close to you.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
07-06-2022, 06:13 PM (This post was last modified: 07-06-2022, 06:22 PM by Mateo.)
MATEO
"You can," Mateo agrees, oblivious to the other endings to that sentence that the other boy is thinking about. Besides, Everest might be pleasantly surprised to discover that the Taliesin skyboat is entirely up to standard, given that they only had blueprints to follow and little to no previous knowledge of the construction.
Glancing over his shoulder as Ever makes conversation in a way that Mateo considers almost outgoing (but then such is the way when talking about something that interests him), he flashes him a dimpled smile. "You will have revolutionised the way skyboats are piloted before we even graduate from the Collegium," he says, sounding very proud indeed.
He knows what Ever means but he's smart enough to get the message, turning to offer him out his cocoa. "I think it's a really good idea," he says softly. "And I think you'll do really well."
"Someone needs to." Ever murmurs, trying to deflect away the compliment. Reaching for the cocoa the boy frowns behind his scarf. "I...was supposed to get you the drink." He realizes, flashing Mateo a worried stare. "..sorry. I got caught up on our routine." The hot drink was for the passing of Mateo's family member and insofar as this was meant to be a gesture to comfort his friend, Ever hadn't done much of anything.
"Would you like to sit and talk about your feelings?" Nodding his head towards a bench, Ever tries to listen for his friend's answer while also trying to ingeniously come up with a way of drinking his cocoa without actually removing his scarf from his face.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
"It's okay. The cocoa was the help, it doesn't matter who got it," Mateo says with an easy shrug of his shoulders, slurping at the whipped cream on top of his own drink. "And I missed our routine, so... it was nice to get back to it." Even if the reason for it was a little bit tragic. Which leads right into sitting and talking about his feelings.
"I..." Mateo says softly, even as his feet take him to their usual bench. "...I don't know how I feel. I mean, I do, I feel sad and it sucks and I don't know why it had to happen. Apparently it was a group of people from... from here." Slumping onto the bench, he rubs at his forehead with his free hand.
"But I don't know what to do now, you know? I've never... no one this close has ever been gone. I miss her."
Blinking uncertainly, Ever is fairly certain that this isn't true and that it's just Mateo's way of trying to make him feel better. Which, given their situation, only makes Ever feel even more guilty. Following his friend like a dutiful puppy, Ever sits politely down next to Mateo, still puzzling how to drink his cocoa while scarved.
"From the Plaza?" Glancing around skeptically as if expecting to see a group of clearly suspect patrons, Ever looks back to Mateo. "My mom says that there are seven stages normally associated with grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance. So...if you're sad...maybe that means you're almost finished?" Presumably sadness fit under the umbrella of depression, and if that was the case, Mateo was dealing with his feelings extremely efficiently.
"We could...try and find a way to have dozens of lanterns made on her behalf so that when the Festival of Lights comes, Ludo will almost certainly pick hers and you can see her again?"
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
"From Stormbreak. I don't know if they were from the Plaza directly," Mateo clarifies with a soft shake of his head, prodding at his whipped cream now to make it melt into his cocoa. He raises his eyebrows at the news about these seven stages of grief, glancing back at Ever and sucking the leftover cream from his finger. "I... I don't remember going through all the other stages though," he mumbles. "I haven't been in denial, or angry, and I don't think I've tried to bargain with anyone..."
Letting out a long sigh and slumping back, Mateo closes his eyes as though they are too heavy to leave open. "That sounds really nice, actually," he says with a nod. "I think my nonna would have really liked that. And the seeds I have are from her garden, so maybe once they've sprouted I can replant them somewhere else. Places she'd have liked."
"Ohh." That certainly made more sense. Pushing his lips out like he might somehow drink his beverage through osmosis, Ever sighs, giving himself a few more moments to come up with a way of drinking his cocoa before having to remove his scarf. "Well...Maybe you haven't even started to grieve yet." The boy ponders. "But that still narrows it down. You're either at the beginning, or the end." But definitely not the middle.
As Mateo leans back, Ever takes advantage of his friend's closed eyes. Tugging down his scarf to reveal an upper lip and cheeks made fuzzy with patches of dark hair, he takes a welcome drink of his cocoa. 'Maybe we could make lanterns that serve as seed-starter kits. And we could give them to everyone to take care of until the Festival."
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
Definitely not in the middle; that sounds about right to Mateo as well. "I think I'm more at the beginning of grief than at the end of it," he says quietly, pursing his lips and trying to melt into the bench as if that would somehow stop him feeling so tired about it all. "At least you are back, though. That makes it a lot better." And he keeps saying it, he knows, but he can't find the words to articulate the massive swell of relief in his chest at not being by himself any more.
"Oh - that's a brilliant idea," he says of the seed-starter lanterns, blinking open his eyes at precisely the wrong moment. Mateo barks out his surprise in a stream of clumsy curses in the travelling tongue, scooting towards the end of the bench and trying not to spill his cocoa. "Ever when did that happen. And why don't I have that much?"
"Oh." He says, confused, as to how his presence was helpful. "That's good." Wishing his notebook wasn't in his bag that Tobi had taken, Ever sets himself a mental reminder to be on the lookout for behaviours that would indicate where Mateo was in the grieving stage in the days to come.
"NN—" Jumping, Ever's cup tumbles from between his fingers onto the ground, spilling his cocoa everywhere and sweetly scenting the air. Collapsing his neck like he was some strange species of turtle, it took him only a few seconds to realize that there was no use in hiding it any longer. Not now that Mateo had already seen.
Staring regretfully down at his spilled drink, the boy sighs miserably. "A few months ago. And I won't stop no matter what I do." He admits sadly. "The worse part is? It's spreading."
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
"Noooo!" That, of course, is to the cocoa, and Mateo is flailing to try and help with Ever's falling cup - which only results in the tragic sloshing of most of his own drink onto the ground as well. "NOOOO," Mateo bleats again, and if it weren't for the fact that Ever has a patchy, peach fuzz thing going on, he might have cried about it.
As the other boy tries to shrink down, Mateo tries to ogle more, so thankfully Ever stops so it doesn't result in a neck cramp for either or both of them. "Spreading where," he wants to know with narrowed eyes, reaching up towards his (currently clean shaven) upper lip. "Mine only appears here, and I only have to shave it like... hardly ever." Is he grumpy about it? Maybe.
It's all quickly becoming a nightmare, and so, in response, Ever freezes. With his eyes wide he lets his gaze grow fuzzy as he stares blankly at a patch of concrete. Maybe he should ask Frey for some sort of shift that lets him turn really small. Would Mateo still be staring at him if he were an ant? Oh, but that might be dangerous. A butterfly perhaps, or what about a—
—"?" Turning his head once Mateo's gaze grows impossible to ignore, Ever swallows hard. "Uhm. H-here..and.." He gestures to his chest, before kicking out a leg to indicate those as well. "..and..other..places." This is said in a very low voice accompanied by a scarlet flush to his cheeks. "It..it's probably just because of my shifts, you know? Because I'm normally covered in hair, and so..."
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
"Oh. Oh, I thought you meant like other places on your face," Mateo says, almost breathless as he tries to take all of this in. "Like on your tongue or out of your nose or..." Cringing, he shakes his head. "I got that other stuff too, so it's probably just growing up or whatever," he mutters, rubbing at his smooth cheek in annoyance, as if jealous that he doesn't get anything there to shave yet.
"Are you going to let it grow? You'll be like a really patchy wizard," he says off-handedly, stroking his chin thoughtfully (still no hair there, sorry bud). "It sucks that all this happened in the season we didn't see each other, huh." There's only a small amount left of his cocoa, but he still offers it out to share with Ever.
Shooting Mateo a look of horror as he interprets growing up as a literal image of the hair between his (their?) legs, growing up until they were nothing but a tangle of dark curls, Ever gulps and reaches down for the cup between his legs. Twisting it back and forth between his fingers, the boy nods with a panicked sort of agreeableness.
"Am I...what? No, of course not!" Why of course not? Well...because. Because it was a change and it was different to everyone else. "Uhm. Yeah." Shaking his head at the offered cocoa (which in his opinion was mostly sugary-cream the way Mateo drank it), he sighs. "And uhm..I uh...I heard your voice do the thing too." Glancing over his shoulder at his friend, Ever continues to spin his cup between his hands. "I thought if I stopped talking it would stop happening but...it didn't."
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
