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!
"Mmm... not necessarily, I don't think," Mateo says, thanking the baker and accepting his pastry, before nodding to Ever and stuffing a large bite of it into his mouth as they walk. "The other times I've looked it's been different. Sometimes there's no... extra bits. Or rope. Maybe it just depends on what feels good for certain people?" The explanation comes between snatches of turnover, Mateo fumbling for his keys once they reach the greenhouse and shouldering the door open once it's unlocked.
"Sounds like they weren't expecting to talk to you about it," Mateo says with a smile over his shoulder. "My dads were a bit similar when I walked in on them the first time. But I just asked them not to be so noisy and we haven't really talked about it since." Putting down his pastry to go to the ice box and get out some water for Ever, Mateo has to dance over vines and duck under hanging plants to make it happen, but he does succeed.
"One day, sure," He grins, about the doing it aspect of sex, returning to Ever with a tall, cold glass of water and offering it out. "But I don't know that I want to right now? Maybe that's what your parents meant about the age thing. Like... I don't see anyone our age near Molly's. They're all older - the people who work there, and the people who go in."
Ever considers these suggestions with silent nods and sips of air, his thoughts still scattered and easily distracted. "Well, they were the ones who asked." He points out with a shrug, still carrying around his youthful assumption that all parents were vaguely omniscient. 'Is there anything you'd want to talk about with them? I mean..is it different with two dads as opposed to a mom and a dad?" Maybe Mateo's anatomy notes would offer some insight.
Shrugging past some hanging snakes to sit heavily down at a table largely covered in plants, Ever adjusts his notebook over his lap and sighs. "Okay but why don't you want to now? It isn't like...like hot chocolate, where you might not want some right this second, but you might this week. Or...oh. Yeah that's a good point." Humming thoughtfully, Ever frowns at the aloe plant in front of him that he was sure he could see growing right before his eyes.
'So if sex just feels good for everyone...why can't you have sex with anyone? If it makes someone else feel nice to orgasm, it seems like it would be a nice thing to offer to people.'
Mateo hums to himself as he sets water down for himself and Everest at the table, turning again to go and dig in a chest of drawers across the way. "I don't think so, any more," he says of wanting to ask anything of Finn and Tobi. "I asked a lot of questions to the girls outside Molly's, and so I think I know how it all works now." Taking out folders that are startlingly well labelled (given who it is taking the notes), he searches for the anatomy module and brings them for Ever as well.
"There," he says. "It covers... reproductive organs, the process of reproduction in mammals, and sex education. Sorry for the doodles." He's not sorry.
Sitting down at the table and taking a sip of his water, Mateo taps his heel against his chair. "Well it's not as easy as that, I don't think. People have to want to have sex with each other. If someone doesn't want to, or doesn't have an attraction to that person, even if the other person does, it would be wrong to have sex with them. No means no, that's what the anatomy teacher said."
"Oh." Not normally one to feel jealous, Ever finds that he absolutely is just now. Whether that's because of his hormones or simply because Mateo has been afforded access to an entirely new body of knowledge previously unknown to Ever, he doesn't know. What he does know is that he thinks picking every single pod off of his friend's aloe plant might make him feel better. Instead, he sits on his hands.
Looking at the notes like he was being handed the karma sutra, Ever hums a note of distracted appreciation as he begins to sift through them, the aloe plant forgotten. 'Well, duh.' He agrees with a nod. "When I don't want something to eat, even if it's my favourite thing, I still don't like it." Since food and sex are apparently the same sort of thing, the boy guesses that makes sense.
"Thanks for these." He says latently, nearly stacking the papers together, before adding: 'I wonder if Molly's would take an apprentice. Or...an intern?'
Luckily, Mateo is none the wiser to his friend's sudden green eyed monster, and he's examining his own eyes ringed in mascara and eyeliner and other makeup in the reflection of his water glass. "Mm...? Oh, prego," he says sunnily, shifting to look back at Ever properly now. "Keep them as long as you like, if you want to make your own copy or notes." As is the way it usually works between them.
"I think they do," he says slowly. "One of them asked if that's what I was there for when I first started snooping visiting. But couldn't you ask your dad about it? I was talking about you and how you'd moved to Halo, and they said your dad used to work there. He would know a lot more, right?" Actually, surely he should know everything, so Everest should as well.
Ever glances up because his friend is talking and eye contact is polite. Looking back to the notes, it's with a significantly slower tilt of his chin that he comes to stare at Mateo with his head leaning slightly to the side. "My dad did?" He repeats, confusion lining his forehead. "I wonder what he did. Maybe he was their accountant? He's pretty good with numbers." it doesn't occur to him (yet) that Finn might have been anything more than that.
"I'll ask him about it tonight." Over dinner. While Tobi is around, so that she can attend to his following heartattack.
Smiling to himself a bit, Ever kicks out one of his legs from beneath the table. "Let's never live in different places again, okay? I didn't like it."
"Mm, that's what one of the girls said. He started there when he was a teenager. Maybe he was an... intern, did you say? That would make sense. He might be able to know who to talk to so you can go in and do the same thing." These are all perfectly valid, reasonable and helpful ideas, as far as Mateo is concerned. Such is the way of teenage boys who simultaneously know too much and absolutely nothing at all.
"That sounds like a good idea," he agrees with another dimpled smile, glad to have been able to help Ever a bit with all of this. As the other boy kicks out his leg, Mateo sips at his water again and lets his shoulders relax dramatically. "Deal, I didn't like it either. Everything felt so boring without you here," he murmurs. Hence why he had decided to find more and more interesting things to do.
"Oh, would you like to take one of my plants from the nursery home with you? As a housewarming present? Not one of the dangerous or poisonous ones, I promise."
"I doubt it. That doesn't sound like my dad." Ever says with a shake of his head. "He doesn't like to be around people or be touched." He adds with a shrug. "But if he worked there in any capacity I'm sure he'll know more." Finn always knew more. It was one of the things Ever loved most about him.
Eyeing his friend skeptically, knowing that while Mateo's lies weren't ever malicious that they could still be dangerous, Ever twitches his lips. "Okay. But nothing that smells too strong either. My dad says things like that give him a headache." Tapping his finger on the table, a thought occurs to him just then which, of course, he immediately shares. "Do you think there are any plants that would like to live on a skyship? Or would they not like to be moved around like that? Staying put is sort of...a plant thing, right?"
Nodding enthusiastically to his friend, Mateo considers the matter settled for now. He's sure they'll be able to talk about the results of Ever's conversation tomorrow, and the Taliesin boy is quietly excited to learn some more insider information about the infamous Mother Molly's. As for the housewarming gift, he all but lights up from the inside, sidling off his chair. "I know what to give you," he announces, shuffling off to his plant nursery where baby versions of Caido's extensive flora are being carefully tended to.
When he returns, Mateo is holding a small pot with a dainty looking specimen in it, with pale, slightly fuzzy looking leaves. "Lavandula angustifolia," he says. "Or just lavender, I suppose. It's not too strong a smell, and it can relieve pain, heal wounds, it's an antidepressant and an antioxidant, and it can help you sleep too. You can make it into oils or dry the flowers and use it, or combine it with other herbs in tea." And stop him now before he goes any further.
Ooop, but then plants and skyships. "Oh, I bet a lot of plants wouldn't mind a skyship, they'd just have to be firmly fixed in place. Plants are more fussy about light and humidity. Although I imagine hanging plants or vines would thrive without much effort, since they don't have to worry about sliding around as much."
Patient as always, Ever glances around the kitchen, his eyes not quite settling on any one place. His mind was abuzz with information (and feelings) that he wanted to consider later on when things were more quiet. For now all there was for him to do was wait for Mateo to return with something that hopefully wouldn't strangle him in his sleep.
Return he does with a rather tame-looking plant. Blinking, Ever's eyes widen by degrees as Mateo speaks as if the words were literally filling up his mind. "L..lav-end-oola ang..ust..tea..foleeah?" Italian and Latin had the same sorts of sounds that reminded him of music and made his tongue twirl. 'This is a good choice. Thank you.' Who didn't like a bit of positive reinforcement.
"Do you think they could grow on the sides? The way they grow up buildings here?" Ever wonders curiously. "It could make my ship look like it was a moving plant! I could fly through rain clouds to water it." Mateo might be The Plant One, but you had to admit that a semi-living skyship sounded really cool. 'I wonder if Frey could make it so that the ship was sort of like your terrarium."
"Yes!" Mateo praises as Ever sounds it out, placing the baby lavender on the table between them (next to the aloe that he doesn't know he should be glad that Ever hasn't mauled). "I am glad you think so. I thought it worked for you, and for your parents too. I know your dad has trouble sleeping, and seeing that your ma is a doctor..." He shrugs - it makes sense to him. "I will get you a card with the care instructions too," he adds. He knows Ever likes documented instructions, and Mateo has Big Feelings about having his plants taken care of.
His feet feel itchy and he can feel something bubbling in the back of his throat that's similar to laughter as Ever describes the semi-living skyship (it's giddy excitement, but he doesn't know that yet). "That would be amazing," he breathes, his voice barely beyond a whisper. "You would need to plot your routes to make sure you didn't go too high where it might get cold. Or that you didn't get caught in any storms, because that might damage them or kill them." It's a big responsibility, plants.
"Maybe we should ask Frey. I need to see what else I need to do to make my skyship fly anyways. Once it works, at least you can learn to fly properly." He pauses, raising his eyes to the other boy. "Unless you wanted to get your own ship. Sorry, I didn't mean to assume I would be there too."
Ever grins. Care instructions were exactly what he'd hoped for, and unlike others who just let their intuitions guide them about plant care, Everest would follow his instructions to the letter. Conveniently, Mateo would likely be around enough to tell him if he was doing anything wrong as well.
"Hmm." Suddenly Ever looks thoughtful and perhaps a bit perplexed. "That would change my efficiency calculations quite a bit." He'd prided himself on having figured out better routes for the skyships to take, but if he had to consider atmospheric conditions over and above what was simply safe, he'd have to start all over.
How exciting!
With an expression of boyish joy that only the likes of Mateo would ever see, Ever smiless and rolls his eyes. "Of course you'll be there. Don't be silly." He hadn't given very much thought to what it would mean being a skyboat captain one day, but in each and every one of his imaginings, Mateo was there. He might be drunk or disorderly or asleep, but he was always there.
"I bet Frey could tell us things about sex stuff as well. Even the nature one probably can. Other than your dads, do you know anyone who has met them?"
"All the more reason to have more than one skyship." Mateo grins. "You can have a small, terrarium skyship for leisure journeys, and a more robust design for long-haul, efficient flights." Problem solved, and there would still be just as much calculating for his friend to do. And if Mateo lounged and lived in the leisure ship while Everest was away? Well, that's just the cherry on the top.
It isn't very often that Ever is rolling his eyes at him, or that he's the one told to stop being silly, and Mateo finds his cheeks heating up even if they're dimpling with the force of his smile. "Then it's a plan," he confirms. "And you know, I bet they could..." Mateo has, in fact, met a few people who have met Frey, but he doesn't know that, so it's irrelevant here. There might be someone though. "My sister was grown up by Frey. I could ask her about it?"
"We can have a small terrarium skyship." Ever corrects, still smiling. "That's probably a better idea anyway. Then we don't have to worry about passengers touching things or sticking gum on the leaves or plucking flowers." He would hate that just as much as Mateo would, though likely for different reasons. No, it made much more sense for Mateo's skyship to be their private vessel.
'Hmmmm.' Ever hmmmsas Odd puts the wheels in motion for them to complete this levelling requirement. "It might be worth asking her. You know, to see if there's anything they like or don't like. So far all I know is they like juicy fruits." He didn't understand the innuendo component of this of course, but hopefully Frey would appreciate the gesture just the same. 'Can we go together? I don't know the etiquette about shrines.' But Mateo, as an accepted, probably had the information ingrained in his mind.
