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!
07-17-2022, 01:41 PM (This post was last modified: 07-18-2022, 04:24 PM by Ronin.)
you may not want to change but the world is unforgiving and will do it for you anyway
Tal isn't wrong, and although Sugar is napping, the faint smell of cheese muffins cooking in the oven does start to wend up and into the eaves towards her. A pale snout emerges over one of the beams, snuffling out towards them. "You can have one later," Ronin calls to her on autopilot, smiling and leaning down to check the progress of the first tray. Just a few minutes more, he thinks.
Wincing as he straightens up, he gives a gentle shrug to the other man. "It does, but it's never been something I've looked for, if you know what I mean?" It sounds presumptious to say that leadership just... falls into his lap, but it doesn't make it any less true. "And no sisters, no. Not by blood," he says, his tone tinged with sadness. "The woman I considered my sister has been missing for years, though. I like to think she's out there somewhere, enjoying herself."
He didn't really get what Ronin meant, but he tried to look wise and knowing and nodded along so the leader of Stormbreak wouldn't give him the same exasperated look his older sisters sometimes did. Hearing that the Commander didn't even have sisters growing up made a certain amount of sense and Tal tapped the pads of his fingers lightly against the sides of the bowl he still held as he tried to imagine one of his sisters just... running off.
That was more his thing. The unwelcome dash of self-awareness and the awkwardness of missing siblings caused the courier to duck his head sheepishly and then look around for something else to talk about that was less emotionally weighted.
He glanced up and caught the underside of a slender, scaly chin. The brief grin was fond as his gaze slid back to the door across which Boreal had stretched himself. "I remember when she was that small," he admitted, fingers stilling for a moment on the bowl. "Sometimes I wonder what it'd've been like if she'd stayed that size." A disbelieving snort and a plume of smoke came from the boxy, muscular bulk of the big companion on the threshold.
Tal, wisely, chose to ignore it and gestured towards the rafters instead. "So, uh, how'd you two, y'know, meet?"
you may not want to change but the world is unforgiving and will do it for you anyway
Tal distracts himself by changing the conversation, and Ronin does similar by leaning down to fetch the first batch of muffins from the oven with a thick hand towel. The smell of freshly baked cheese and herbs fills the air as he exchanges one tray for another, shutting the doors again and leaving the first tray to cool on the countertop. All of this, naturally, has Sugar shuffling a bit further forward, trilling her impatience.
"If she's anything like Sugar, I imagine she'd be mischievous and a minor pain in the ass," Ronin remarks, grinning and whistling up to the pale dragon to persuade her to swoop down. She obliges, draping herself around his shoulders and sticking a cold snout in his ear in greeting. "Oh-- uh, she was-- stoppit." Ronin barks out a laugh at her antics, trying to concentrate on Tal.
"She hatched from a clutch of eggs beneath a frozen oasis," he explains. "She was the only survivor. I figure that's why she's so small, because it's been a few years since then. How about you?"
07-18-2022, 06:42 PM (This post was last modified: 07-18-2022, 06:42 PM by Talyson.)
Tal wandered over to the tray of piping hot cheese muffins and leaned over to take a hearty sniff, sighing contentedly.
He shot Ronin a grin, relaxing when Sugar came down to join them. The grin became a laugh at the small dragon's antics, and there was a Whuff? of interest from the door and the shuffling of scales on stone as Boreal scrambled up and bounced a little to peek over the counter tops. Not that she had to bounce far.
"Not so different," Tal admitted, still grinning. As Boreal ambled over to shove her broad head under his hand to receive attention, too, he scrubbed at the hard scaly ridges over her eyes. "Was makin' my first solo trip takin' trade goods out to the nomads, an' I took shelter from a storm under some rocks stickin' out of the Sea. Found a nest with some eggs in it, but Boreal's was the only one that was still warm, so I took it with me when I left." A scaly tail wagged as she was being discussed, and the glacial dragon looked up at Sugar inquiringly.
"Sooo... how long do you think until we can try 'em?" Tal asked innocently, fingers edging closer to the cooling tray.
you may not want to change but the world is unforgiving and will do it for you anyway
Their origins are where the similarities end, unfortunately; Sugar might delight in tormenting her bonded, but she is hardly a socialite, eyeing Boreal with wariness that might become a blast of icy breath given enough provocation (or no provocation at all, who honestly knew). Laughing warmly to watch Tal and his companion together, Ronin tilts his head and grins. "Well, being out in the cold didn't seem to do you much harm," he notes with Boreal.
As for the muffins? They are of a mind and an appetite, it seems, because the Huntsman is also turning to inspect them. "A few more minutes if we want to keep our tastebuds," he says with a smirk. "But right now if we're not fussy." Ronin, at least, isn't fussy, and he's already extracting a muffin from the tray to share with Sugar.
Boreal's long, scaly tail wagged like a dog's when Ronin talked to her and she leaned her considerable bulk against Tal's hip with approving rumble, sandwiching him firmly against the counter. "I think she - oof! - liked the cold," Tal admitted, fond exasperation in his voice as he pushed ineffectually at her shoulder. "But she grew up with my sled dogs, so it's a good thing she's sturdy."
Luckily the muffin tin was already in reach, even if Tal was momentarily trapped. Boreal rested her ridged chin on the counter without having to stretch (one of the downsides of a very large dogdragon), sniffing with pointed curiousity until Tal followed Ronin's example and wiggled one out, blowing on his fingers every few seconds as he grinned. "Where'd you get the recipe?" he asked, breaking his own prize in half and offering one to Boreal before nibbling at his own with happy winces.
you may not want to change but the world is unforgiving and will do it for you anyway
"A dragon and sled dogs? I imagine you keep very busy," Ronin murmurs with a smirk, allowing Sugar to huff a freezing breath over the muffin after he breaks it open. It doesn't do much to cool it, but it's enough, and he feeds her morsels while he tries to huff through his own portion of it.
"I'wath a fa'ily re'pee," he tells the other man while trying not to scorch his tongue off. "Ith re'ee eathy." And he'd extrapolate, surely, were it not for the current situation he finds himself in. Chewing comically and setting the muffin down to cool afresh, Sugar is chittering against his shoulders as he moves to take the next batch out of the oven.
"Yeah," Tal agreed ruefully. Busy wasn't even the half of it, sometimes. "But I guess I've got sisters to help me out." There was something to be said for having family around; even if they were nosy busybodies of older sisters.
Boreal wolfed down her half of the treat almost without chewing. The heat certainly didn't seem to bother the fire-breather any but her companion was a different story. Tal blew on the treat trying to cool the hot, fresh bread down that way but without a frosty dragon's assistance he was barely able to taste the muffin past the pain.
Totally worth it, though.
"Ha'! Ha'! Ha'!" The courier tried to suck air between his teeth as nibbled. "Coul'I ge'ih'? Mmm! 'uck, ith really good!"
you may not want to change but the world is unforgiving and will do it for you anyway
Busy with his own molten mouthful and with his hands full of the next tray of muffins, Ronin can't answer right away. Finally chewing and swallowing, and taking a spare baking sheet to fan the muffins, he glances back at Tal with pink lips and a sheepish smile. "Sure," he tells him, giving the muffins another good fanning before leaving them to cool naturally.
Heading back to the counter (where he hopes the muffin he broke in half for he and Sugar will soon be a safe temperature), he grabs a scrap of parchment and a pencil to jot down the recipe. "You can use any cheese and herbs you like," he remarks once he's done. "I like to experiment. I imagine you'll have different flavours available in Halo as well, right?"
Yeaaahh it was going to be a few days before all his tastebuds were working again, but for the moment Tal had no regrets. While Ronin wrote down the recipe the courier started poking around the kitchen looking for some milk to cool his throbbing tongue.
"Uh... I mean, sure?" he hazarded a reply to the Commander's question. "Cow cheese is kinda rare. Most of the local stuff is from sheep or reindeer. We're gettin' more herbs growin' in the greenhouse now, though." Something they'd worked to tidy up in preparation for LongNight. "So there's a bit from everywhere, if y'know where to look."
Giving up on the search for relief - maybe he could hit a tavern on his way back - Tal ambled back to join Ronin by the second muffin pan, looking proudly down at the creations he'd helped to... er. Craft. "Kinda weird that the Fiat Lux is in the Feverlands this time," he noted a little dubiously. "After the Festival of Lights. D'you think someone's maybe playin' a trick on us?"
you may not want to change but the world is unforgiving and will do it for you anyway
"Oh? That's a good investment, huh," Ronin says of the greenhouse. "Next time I'm in Halo, maybe I'll have to visit you and you can show me what you've made." Muffins for muffins, right? What could go wrong? Grinning, he hazards another bite of his treat and is happy to find it not entirely scalding any more. Munching his way through it - and feeding Sugar her due share - once he's done he's able to start separating the batches from the trays to pack them up.
"You mean Liat Fux?" He smirks, rolling his eyes at the obvious attempt to change the name of the ill-fated festival. "I'm not sure about tricks... festivals have been in the Feverlands before. I think someone was maybe just trying to make the most of Flowerbirth. Which... I can't blame them for, I guess. Especially with Halo and King's End being so strange."
Packing one batch of muffins into a basket, he sets them down for Tal to take with him, seeming just as proud of their work. "We make a good team," he remarks. "You can feel free to deliver flowers to me any time."
"Yeah! It's--" Tal tamped down on his proud enthusiasm with a cough, adopting a more nonchalant expression that was definitely natural. "Uh. I mean, it's alright. I could show you around." Smooth as chunky peanut butter.
The courier rolled his eyes with an amused huff at the name correction, but he shrugged at the mention of strangeness. "Torchline's kinda nice right now. Balmy, y'know? I'm not sweatin' my skin off there for once." A Halovian's skewed perspective on normal temperatures in other parts of Caido?
Hefting the basket, Tal grinned and nodded. "We do, yeah! An' uh. If you ever need any flowers delivered back, just let me know," he added with an awkward bob of his head and very deliberate not-look towards the suggestive flowers in the corner. "See ya around, Ronin!"
Boreal rumbled her own contented farewell and lumbered after her human as he headed for the door.
