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!
"You really ought to come and visit us at Stormbreak after this is all over," Mateo is saying, sitting cross-legged in the fragrant grasses with his eyes closed.
One might think he's doing some weird meditation in the middle of the safe haven, but on the contrary, he is merely waiting for Paige to finish with his eye makeup. The Halenani workers (and Paige, he's learning) have brought more than enough supplies with them, and it's interesting to see the different palettes and tecniques from Torchline.
Well, it will be interesting to see, when she's finished.
"Assuming, you know..." Mateo rolls his wrist in a very Remi gesture, "that there is a Stormbreak to go back to."
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
"I know. I wanted to come before, but with things so... weird mom wouldn't let me leave." Paige huffs, dipping her brush into a smoky mauve color that will certainly make Mateo's eyes pop when she adds it to the outer corner and his lower lash line. "Look up." The Attuned directs, taking the brush to his lower lash line and gently smudging it there, head tilting to the side in thought as she does so, studying her work. It's similar to a style she's started to wear herself. While the girl doesn't always bother with her makeup, often not needing it, she clearly has learned a thing or two from the workers.
The idea that there might not be a Stormbreak to come back to is a scary thing and she can hardly wrap her mind around it, causing the corners of her lips to pull down into a slight frown, brows creasing. "I'm sure there will be. You need to come to Torchline, though. You'd fit right in." And he would. With his carefree personality, charming smile, and sea blue eyes.
Blinking his eyes open and obediently looking up, Mateo furrows his brows before catching himself, letting his expression relax back into something neutral. "Weird? Oh, you mean with the cold?" He assumes that's what it is anyway. His fathers had been talking about some shrine causing problems for Torchline, but it had been dealt with just before the war started.
Focusing on some cloud floating by in the distance, clearly this isn't the first time Mateo has sat for his makeup to be done, and he manages a soft smile to hear that he would fit right in if he came to Torchline. "I do not know about that," he says playfully. "It has been a long time since we made our clubhouse on the beach. But I will come and visit anyway. Hopefully the skyboats will still be working."
see what you find there with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair
No, Mateo, not the cold. Paige smudges out the eyeshadow under his lash line, gently grasping his chin as she does so, rising up onto her knees for a better angle. "Not just the cold, but all the animals dying and just the war being so close. She didn't want me travelling." Perhaps a silly excuse, but it was what her mother had told her each time she asked about leaving.
Paige rolls her eyes at his coyness, releasing his chin and drawing back slightly, head cocking to the side to examine her work. "You need a little bit of gold. That'll make your eyes pop." She says, mostly to herself as she turns to root around in her bag, producing the tiny pot of product and another even smaller brush. "The girls would love you now just like they did then." Paige pauses, a smirk curling on her lips, "The boys, too."
It was a bit of a touchy topic. Boys and girls. The feelings that they brought up and how Paige wasn't sure which she liked more. Who she wanted to kiss more. Girls with their soft lips and softer curves and melodic laughs. Then the boys who were sometimes made of harder lines, but still had features that were almost too pretty.
Taking a bit of gold onto her bush, Paige places it on his inner corner and along his waterline before finishing off with a coat of mascara on his thick lashes, envious for a moment of how long it made them. "Have you kissed anyone yet?"
"Ohhhh." Mateo hasn't seen any dead animals, and at this point in the war, he never will. At least they're safe here, he supposes, though he tries not to think about all the implications of that for the rest of his family. Glancing back down at Paige as she turns his head, Mateo raises an eyebrow and tilts his head a touch. "Oh?" He smirks. "I think you've been spending too much time around those brothels."
He stills again to let her apply the gold and the mascara, feeling like himself again for the first time since stepping into the Refuge. "Thanks," he says, fluttering his lashes a couple of times as if to help them dry. As for kissing? "A couple of people," he says; Mateo's first kisses aren't the things of mystery and romance, but more of a quick and sloppy thing that's barely remembered in the long run.
