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!
So the moral of the story today, Ronin thinks, is just don't. Whatever you're planning to do or say, just... don't do that thing. After walking Ever home and sharing his war wounds and trauma with Remi, the rest of the afternoon passes... not easily, exactly. Nowhere near easily in fact, but it passes. And that's the main thing.
Now Mateo has holed himself up in the stock room at the back of the greenhouse and Remi has sequestered himself off for a nap, and as the sun dips down below the horizon, Ronin prepares to head out. He's not going far, not at all, and there's a bottle of red wine tucked under his arm. It's for Tobi and Finn, to apologise for potentially scarring their young son for life, and as he steps out of the glass-fronted shop greenhouse, he can still hear Mateo jabbering away in the travelling tongue about something or other.
This is your heart undone, Take all the time you want
Tobi has had quite the afternoon. Having returned home to find Ever sitting despondently at their kitchen table, it took only a cursory glance at his notebook to figure out what the cause of his upset was. Wanting to rake her fingers through her hair, pour herself a large glass of wine, take a hot bath, or perhaps scream, Tobi instead fixes her son a snack and lets him know that she has an errand to take care of and will be back...at some point.
Stopping off at one of the wine merchants, Tobi picks out a large bottle of white wine, selecting it purely based on the label. There's a constellation of stars and she thinks it's rather sweet looking. It's a short walk from there to the Taliesin's home, and just as she's about to cross the street towards Ronin's familiar doorway, the man of the hour steps out. Pausing just long enough to wonder if she should interrupt him on his way to wherever he's going, she notices the bottle of wine he has with him and thinks if nothing else, he can show up at his intended destination with two bottles instead.
'Ronin!' Waving, Tobi trots across the street. "Do you have a minute?"
Looking up at the sound of his voice, his eyes widen at the sight of Tobi, and of course Ronin instinctively thinks that she's come to tear a strip off him in person. Groaning internally and bracing himself, the Huntsman paints on a contrite smile and turns to face her properly as she crosses the street. "Of course," he says. "More than a minute, actually. I was coming to see you." Funny old world, right Tobi? Ha, ha.
Holding up the wine, he heaves a deep sigh. "This is to apologise to whatever you might have had to deal with or any questions you might have had from Everest. I... it was a whole time, and I'm happy to go into it in more detail if you want, but... I might need a drink if I'm going to get into it."
This is your heart undone, Take all the time you want
'Oh!' Well versed in delivering bad news with a smile, despite the context Tobi looks entirely cheerful. Her eyes grow wide and sympathetic as Ronin explains, and though her cheeks don't dimple like Remi or Finn's do, they do grow round and rosy. "Oh no, please. If anything I'm the one who owes you an apology." Here, she waggles her own bottle of wine as evidence.
Grinning, the doctor flashes Ronin a bright smile, still holding out the wine. "Well...it seems we have more than enough to drink if I can tempt you...?"
"I... you?" Ronin can't help but laugh a little to see their bottles of wine, his shoulders relaxing considerably. "You can absolutely tempt me. Remi is napping upstairs, we can go to the kitchen," he murmurs, turning to hold the door open for her to lead her through the greenhouse. "Be careful of stray vines," he murmurs as he heads upstairs, smiling over his shoulder at Tobi.
Only once they're in the sanctuary of the kitchen and opening both bottles so they can each try the other's respective vintage does the Huntsman go into it. To spare the repetition, we'll just say that Ronin relays his version of events to the doctor, right from can I watch you and Remi have sex to the wrap-up Safrin conversation.
"So uh... yeah. Cheers to that." Ronin winces and raises his glass.
This is your heart undone, Take all the time you want
"Red and white makes Rose, if you're up for being adventurous." Tobi chuckles, eyeing their respective bottles as she follows behind Ronin. Indeed being careful of stray vines, Tobi is nevertheless relieved to be somewhere a touch tidier. She'd always been an orderly person, but after having lived so long with Finn and Ever she hadn't realized just how much chaos now grated on her nerves.
Listening with an expression of pain, sympathy, and amusement, Tobi covers her mouth that her laugh might not wake Remi, and cheers's her own glass. 'Gods, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. We try and encourage Ever's intellectual pursuits but sometimes..." Her smile turns crooked as her cheeks flush a pretty coral. "Honestly, Finn and I had just wanted to explain why it was he saw us in a less than...appropriate position. I don't think either of us ever expected it would lead to all of this."
"Rose for the second glass," Ronin agrees, clinking his glass with Tobi's and taking a generous drink of wine before setting it down lest he keep going until it's all just gone. Breathing out a laugh, he sags against the counter and lets himself see the amusement in it now he knows the doctor isn't mad about it.
"I can't fault his curiosity, I just worry that it might get him into trouble," he admits with a smile. "All of his questions seemed purely logical. Afterwards I worried I probably missed out a lot of important stuff, about the why behind it all." Rubbing his forehead, he flashes her a weak smile. "I hope I didn't traumatise him. I think it gave me grey hairs."
This is your heart undone, Take all the time you want
Chuckling and not disagreeing that there absolutely would be a second glass, Tobi nods. Resting her chin in one hand as her other plays with the stem of her wine glass, the doctor sighs apologetically through her smile. "Oh I think we're past the point of might." She says with a small roll of her eyes, before frowning warmly in Ronin's direction.
"Oh please, no. You did really well for someone bombarded with Ever's questions. Finn and I are used to it by now, but can only imagine what it's like hearing it all out of the blue." Humming under her breath only to find the sound twisted by her smile, Tobi offers the Huntsman a pout. "Well I always have a set of tweezers with me if you need them removed." She says with a laugh.
"And truly, I appreciate you and Remi talking with him. Not just about this, but about...well, all the questions I'm sure he peppers your way while he's over here. I know it can be..." Tobi's smile falters, only for a second. "..exhausting."
Huffing out a laugh of agreement more than anything, Ronin tilts his glass to Tobi and takes another sip of wine. "Listen, it could have been worse. At least he asked us rather than someone else," he points out. A stranger or even a teacher and it might have gone a lot more sideways than it did with Ronin.
Relaxing against the counter, the Huntsman rolls his shoulder in a shrug. "If it helps, while Mateo doesn't ask as many questions, he has repeatedly caught Remi and I in a lot of compromising positions. Talking is more and less awkward."
And while he notices the minor falter in her expression, Ronin's smile remains nothing but warm. "He's perfectly polite," he assures her. "And in truth, most of his questions are directed at Mateo. And that kid has an answer for everything, if you haven't noticed."
This is your heart undone, Take all the time you want
Groaning dramatically, Tobi lets her head flop playfully against her shoulder at the thought. "Can you imagine if Cian was still around, and Ever asked someone like him?" There's war on the way, her husband is a hardly contained basket-case, and her son was asking if he could watch the most powerful demigods have sex; if you couldn't laugh about it, what was the point?
Glancing up at Ronin and wondering what to make of that bit of information, the doctor opts to down her entire glass of wine in one go. "To having your children catch you in the act." She toasts, clearly hoping that Ronin would refill her glass.
Snorting, Tobi leans back in her chair with a sunny smile. "I absolutely have noticed. He comes up with some very interesting answers. I'd be tempted to believe some of the things he said too, if I didn't know better."
Scoffing into his wine, Ronin shakes his head. "I can imagine, but I don't want to. I'd be more worried that Cian would tell him everything bluntly and show him everything he wanted to see, and then leave you to deal with the consequences." Downing the rest of his drink too, he dutifully mixes red and white for rOsE for the two of them, refilling both of their glasses.
"To forgetting to teach your children to knock and wait before walking into your bedroom," he agrees, toasting as well and chuckling at the reminder of his own son's proclivities. "At least they will get into trouble together," he says with a weary but content sigh.
"Oh - I have been told that you should take a sample of your housewarming gift and test it for dreamdust," he adds with another wince. "Mateo has been experimenting. I hope it is just ordinary lavender, but it is always better to check."
This is your heart undone, Take all the time you want
Humming happily and marvelling at the colour of the mixture, Tobi takes a sip, pauses, and then leans forward conspiratorily. "I should probably tell you...I know absolutely nothing about wine, other than I like drinking it." She admits, before beaming at Ronin and taking another healthy sip.
"Mmm. Who knew there would be so much to remember when it came to being a parent." Tobi agrees, before her lips part with amused surprise to hear that the plant on Ever's bedside table might actually contain a powerful hallucinogenic. 'Ahh.' Chuckling, she nods. "Will do. Is that...something I should check for when it comes to all of Mateo's gifts?" She wonders, not sounding upset at all about the fact that Ronin's son might have brought drugs into the home of a recovering addict.
Grinning and giving her a conspiratory wink right back, Ronin shrugs. "If it helps, I was taught extensively about wine, and I can tell you that it doesn't fucking matter as long as you like how it tastes," he says, taking a matching sip so that Tobi doesn't feel lonely with her drinking pace.
"And who knew that kids would find so many ways to make you feel awkward about yourself?" he adds, shifting to sit at the table with her, bringing the bottles with him. "And I don't think so? We've spoken to him about it and I like to think that the message has sunk in, but if you ever have suspicions... just know we will not be offended if you want to check."
