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!
Ever frowns. There weren't any requirements in the notes he'd received from Mateo. Only objective facts and labels. Instead of arguing with Ronin, the boy just puts a question mark followed by a bit of notation only he could understand by the bullet-points he'd already added. 'Oh...' He blinks. "Do people have sex without realizing it ever? You know, since there are so many ways of doing it and with so many different body parts?"
Writing the words love and commitment, Ever nods. "I'll be sure to ask him if it's the same for him." He says quietly, putting a star next to ASK REMI WHO HIS FAVOURITE PERSON TO HAVE SEX WITH IS.
'Why?' He wonders, of the age constraint. "Based on Mateo's notes it seems like all the anatomical components are available to anyone of any age." Tilting his head to the side not unlike a dog who has heard a high whistle, Ever crinkles his nose before shaking his head. "That..isn't why I'm interested." He says in a low voice (made lower still by the changes to his voice). "My parents brought it up the other day. That's why I'm curious." Had they brought up wormholes or heraldry, he'd have been just as curious about those.
"Well anything is possible," Ronin considers with a furrowed brow. "But I would think that is very rare. Some people have sleep disorders and it might happen while they're unconscious." He's starting to feel, by the way Ever scribbles down in his little notebook, that everything he says may well be spanning more questions and causing a lot more problems.
"Uh - I would probably not do that," he says of asking Remi. "It isn't considered polite conversation to ask people about their sex lives. Like I said, it's a very private thing." Maybe if he draws a big circle in Ever's book around the whole subject, he'll understand that it's all a very private thing.
The why makes him want to scream as much as it makes him want to search for more ale in the bottom of his cup. "Because until you are older, you aren't mature enough to deal with the emotions and potential consequences of sex," he says. "And while I do commend your curiosity, I think perhaps your parents would want you to go to them if you had any more questions."
07-22-2022, 06:46 PM (This post was last modified: 07-22-2022, 07:26 PM by Everest.)
Everest
"Interesting." Ever says with no small amount of relief in his voice. As he'd asked the question it occurred to him that he might one day inadvertently be having sex with someone without realizing it. That it was a rare thing was a comfort to hear, even if such things were still possible.
"It isn't?" Looking up sharply, Ever's eyes take on a wide and frantic shape. 'But...' He blinks, and then again and again as his brain stutters. "..I didn't...I thought..." The colour drains from his face leaving only blue eyes and two splotches of terror-red on his cheeks. Looking down at his notebook, Ever feels both cold and hot and dizzy, but not like at Molly's. No, not like that at all.
"Okay." He murmurs to himself, wishing he had a blanket or something else to wrap himself up in. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know." Ever adds in a small voice.
The about turn isn't something Ronin expects, but at least he feels less on the back foot about it now. "You don't need to apologise," he assures him, holding his hands up and shaking his head. "You couldn't possibly know until somebody told you, right? And I haven't minded answering your questions." U liar. "I just thought it might be better for you to know in the future, just in case."
Managing a smile and belatedly remembering the black-and-white pattern of the boy's thoughts (look Tobi, he's learning), he does add a caveat. "I should have said to ask people you don't know very well," he murmurs. "Or to ask people without checking they are comfortable to have those conversations. That is why Mateo comes to Remi and I - we are his parents, so of course we want to help him to understand things that he's curious about. And the same goes for you and your parents, right?"
Looking up through his curls, Ever takes a moment to try and understand the situation. it's complicated because if he's done something wrong he really does need to apologize, but it isn't clear to him what the proper protocol is. Opening his mouth to ask why Ronin and Remi only wanted to make sure that Mateo understood things and not him, he (wisely) opts to keep his thoughts to himself and just nods vaguely. "Right." He agrees, if only because agreeing seems to be the easiest and least complicated thing for him to do.
"May I ask you another question? It's unrelated to this and I don't believe it has anything to do with sex."
Ronin should not be glad that he has shut Everest up, but after the collision course of the past few minutes (which will result in him getting very fucking drunk later), he does feel slightly relieved. Lifting a hand to ask for another ale from a passing waitress, he nods at Ever's glass of water. "Are you sure you'd not like something different?" he murmurs, before the boy is off again.
Raising his eyebrows a bit, Ronin nods to him. "Of course you can," he says. "But just before we change the subject, I do want you to know that while peeking at Molly's might get you in trouble if you are caught. So keep that in mind if you and Mateo go back for more research, okay?"
Ever does want something different, but his mind is too buzzy to think about it right now, so he just shakes his head no. "Oh..Mateo said that because we paid for it, it was alright." He says slowly and entirely without confidence; not because he doubted his friend, but because he was doubting everything right now.
"I was just wondering if you had ever met Frey before. Mateo and I wanted to go and see them but we didn't know what sorts of things they liked...." Flipping to a new page without much enthusiasm, the boy adjusts his grip and peers nervously up at Ronin.
"Did he?" Ronin raises his eyebrows at that, considering asking for more information before he decides promptly against it. "Well, I suppose that's alright then," he says, absolutely planning to bring this up with both Remi and Mateo later on. Quite what his son was using to pay in order to spy on whores is one thing, but he's almost certain it's bullshit besides.
He's surprised to hear the conversation swing to gods, Ronin blinking and accepting his new drink of ale with a murmur of thanks. "You know, I don't think I have ever actually met Frey personally," he admits, smiling a bit. "I tend to speak with Safrin the most. But I have heard that Frey enjoys sweet things, especially ripe fruit." So pretty much the same as Ever knows.
Everest nods, thinking of the makeup lessons he was now indebted to complete. He didn't know of course that 'paying' to watch Molly's workers was about as inappropriate as sneaking peeks at them.
"Oh." About to close his book, the remainder of what Ronin has to say stays his hand. Marking down the note about fruit despite knowing it already, he considers for a moment before looking back to Ronin. "And...what's Safrin like? If it isn't inappropriate to ask, or private, or if you don't mind me asking." These qualifications are said in a single breath, but Ever is pretty sure he's covered all his bases.
"It isn't inappropriate or private, and I don't mind you asking," Ronin confirms to the boy, in the hope that he's able to at least steer them onto a topic that makes both of them feel a bit more comfortable. "Safrin is..." How to describe it to a teenager, he wonders. "She saved my life - she's the reason I'm here right now, speaking with you."
Pausing for a sip of ale, Ronin exhales and lets his eyes settle back on Everest. "She's a very generous goddess, in my experience. And very kind to those who show her due respect. She enjoys beautiful things, and she likes to be flattered. I suppose all of us like compliments, right?" He smiles.
Pushing up his sleeves, he turns his forearms in the light so that the golden constellation tattoos shimmer on his skin. "She gave me these, too. When I'm in trouble, I can use them to summon creatures to help me. Some heal, some create water, others make fire."
'Do you mean that literally or figuratively?" Ever wonders, knowing that saved my life can often be a way of expressing assistance but not literal life-saving. Writing down Safrin's preferences without judgement, the boy looks up and nods without much commitment. He didn't like compliments, but nevermind.
Peering forward at the golden markings on Ronin's skin, Ever's lips part before he's furiously trying to detail the tattoos in his notebook. "That's very interesting." He mumbles, genuinely meaning it despite his clinical tone of voice.
"Is that all?" He wonders of Safrin, not knowing if Ronin had more to say of his goddess over and above the things she liked and what she'd done for him.
"Literally," Ronin says. "A group of us were taking on a monster a few years ago, and I was hurt very badly... I didn't make it. Safrin put me up in the sky as one of her stars, but was able to bring me back down again so I could be with the people I loved, and keep living." His smile is soft and grateful, even now.
He holds his hands out for Ever to sketch the constellations in as much detail as he likes, nodding his agreement. "She is where all of my abilities come from," he says. "It's why a lot of what I can do looks like it comes from the stars. Because it does."
Is that all, though? "I don't think anything could be all when it comes to Safrin. But I could talk about her all day and not do her justice, so as long as you don't have any specific questions about her, I think that's a good introduction to what she's like, yes."
Ever looks up, his expression skeptical. Not because he didn't believe Ronin, but because as was his tendency to fixate on, something the Huntsman said didn't seem technically correct. "Well, if you died already then she didn't save your life." He points out, erasing something and amending his notes. " It sounds like she gave you another life." Ever continues, completely missing the point of the story.
Humming a sound of appreciation as he finishes his sketches, Ever mumbles a thank you, before twitching his lips. "I...don't think so. I will be polite and complimentary if I ever meet her. And maybe I will carry around a gift for her just in case." Closing his notebook and placing his pencil neatly on top, the boy eyes his water skeptically before mentally calculating whether or not he could wait until he got home to go to the bathroom or if it was worth risking an unknown toilet if Ronin was going to take long.
Of course Ever opted to hold it, which luckily didn't turn out to be a mistake.
