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!
Danta isn't sure he likes this bar yet. It was all going great until it stopped being the vibrant heat of noon and whatever enchantment on the Hanged Man tilted the sky towards lazy dusk, a sea breeze ruffling through his fair hair. But whatever, maybe the booze is great, who fucking knows? Not him, not until he actually goes inside.
Right now, though, he's distracted by the portion of the tavern that hangs directly over the waterfront. Crouched at the edge of the well-worn boards, his ruddy leather coat splayed behind him to disguise the feline twitch of his tail, he's facinated by the dart and twist of dark shapes (fish? merfolk?) beneath the water.
Hands clasp his knees, fingers drumming along them, and he tilts his head as if debating whether the water is too cold to investigate. (Probably, is the inevitable answer - he just has to get there).
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
12-18-2022, 02:44 PM (This post was last modified: 12-18-2022, 03:58 PM by Maeve.)
I would fall from grace just to touch your face
The days since she'd last seen her son grew longer and longer, the Nightshade growing restless with them. Her demand for answers that seemed to never come making her all the more frustrated. The continent of Caido was large and with little aside from a letter to go off of, Maeve had no where to start lest she request the assistance of her goddess and comb the whole of the content herself.
Adjusting the stack of flyers in her arms, Maeve removes one, tacking it up onto the pillar that Dantalion is kneeling nearby, paying him little mind as she makes sure it is securely fastened to the wood. Her brows knit together as she studies the most recent picture of her son, heart squeezing painfully in her chest at how much like his father he looks now that he's grown older. She was hoping that his father's recklessness would have skipped Edmund, but it seems he fully inherited that from the man who gave her one of the most precious people in her life.
Drawing in a breath, the Nightshade rolls back her bare shoulders, not minding the balmy cool air that settles across her skin as the sun begins to set on the horizon. As if noticing the man on the deck for the first time, the Queen murmurs a soft, "Excuse me." Voice like honey as she slips around him, stepping over his splayed jacket and consequently his tail, heels clicking across the wood.
No, no, - excuse him, truly. Danta has just about decided that no, it is absolutely not worth finding out whether the water is very, very cold for the sake of perhaps catching a fish, and he's in the process of straightening up when heeled feet click around him. Now, the Ancient isn't a foot man, per say (he's an everything man, as will become evident to anyone who shares more than a couple of sentences with him), but they are some good feet, and blue eyes rake further up the length of Maeve's legs, to the hips and ass that sashay through the Hanged Man.
There's got to be something in the water in Torchline, he decides. Either that or everyone shares an exceedingly attractive ancestor.
Before he can go and introduce himself (read: flirt, invade personal space, and do his utmost to get a taste of Maeve), the sketch on the flyer she's just tacked up catches his attention. "Huh," he murmurs. "That looks like a kid I met. No horns, though." Seems like a really big detail to miss out if she's looking for one of his kind.
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Despite no longer being a working Madame or even putting herself in the position to be blatantly ogled anymore, the Nightshade knows when eyes are on her and there are definitely eyes on her. They start at her feet, dragging up the expanse of her toned legs that can be seen through the sheer skirt of her dress, tattoo stark against the milky white of her skin where it wraps around her ankle and disappears over her hip and beneath her corseted top.
His words, however, cause her to stop short. The Queen turns, dark brows lifting towards her hairline in surprise and painted lips turning down into a pretty frown. ”Excuse me?” She repeats again. This time a question tinging the words as jade eyes study his features, flicking up to the horns protruding from the crown of his head, momentarily distracted by the way her own crown of starlight glitters against the diamonds.
She really ought to stop asking to be excused; Danta doesn't believe she'd ever need to for a single day in her life. But as she turns and he gets an eyeful of the front now, too, it's difficult to focus on the words he'd just spoken. Blue eyes drift from the starlit crown, down the deep raven of her hair and plunging into her cleavage, and his tongue is already running along the bottom of his teeth when he realises she's directed those words at him.
"Oh," he says, nodding at the flyer she's pinned up, "I was just saying that the young buck in that picture looks exactly like someone I met a week or so back. But your poster is missing a couple of things." He gestures to his own horns crowning his head, cocking a smile in her direction.
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
There were very few people who could so quickly rise on Maeve's list, but right now, Dantalion was at the very top. Her surprise quickly melts away and she shifts closer to him, head tilting to the side like a cat as a quiet hum slips past her lips. "Am I? What exactly am I missing?" She asks, arching a dark brow as her hand lifts, fingers barely tracing the outline of his diamond horns. "Is it a pair of these?" The Nightshade's eyes sparkle inquiringly, following the motion of his own hand as the front of her body threatens to brush against his own.
His height put him over half a foot taller than her, but the Queen didn't seem to mind, tilting her chin back to look up at him with an almost coquettish smile gracing her lips. "How about you fill in the missing parts for me, hmmm?"
"As it so happens," Danta drawls, "it is. His were much less pretty, though. Obsidian, if I didn't know any better." He tilts his head just enough that one of the diamond tips of his horns might brush against her fingers, sparkling in the manufactured twilight of the Hanged Man. And as her hourglass figure threatens to brush up against him, he does absolutely nothing to prevent it.
"Like what?" he wants to know. He could make some obscenely dirty joke about being able to fill her missing parts, but even Danta remembers how things work with flirting. Perhaps that sort of behaviour might have been acceptable in the Climb, but... well. They aren't in the Climb right now. Manners, manners, and all that.
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Worry twists her stomach and Maeve has to fight to keep her face from screwing up with the groan she clamps behind her teeth. If he did what she thinks he did Safrin help him... The Nightshade lets her lips part as the tip of his horn brushes against her finger, eyes widening slightly at the sensation before she draws a line from the top almost down the the base, following the curve of them lightly. "Obsidian? I don't recall him having any horns the last time I saw him..." She hums softly, pursing her lips in thought before she glances up at him from beneath her lashes.
"Like where you last saw him or what he was up to. I'd be most appreciative." And at this she does finally allow her body to press against his, delicate curves molding along the front of his chest as one of her hands splays across his front and the fingers of her others play in the loose tendrils of his hair.
"Maybe he's been doing some growing while you haven't been looking," Danta suggests with a crooked smile, glancing up as her fingers brush along the tip of his horns and down their curves. It's enough for him to imagine what she might do if she were touching the tip of other parts of him, and the Ancient watches - and feels - the way she presses against his body with a carnal sort of delight.
"My memory is a little foggy other than the initial recognition," he lies - and they both knew he would, given what's just been put on the table. His hands slip around her, calloused but surprisingly gentle as he samples the soft swell of her own curves. "But I am sure given enough time I'll be able to jog it for you. You might have to bear with me, though."
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
The accuracy of his statement couldn't be more spot on if he tried and Maeve bites back a snort, shaking her head as she does so, "It would certainly seem that way. Rather rude of him." The Queen mutters, head cocking to the side as her fingers continue to absentmindedly twirl one of his curls as his arms slide around her slender frame. Not a stranger to the game that they're currently playing, Maeve isn't spooked by the sudden shift, but she knows in her mind that he won't get very far despite what he might think. Still, he's warm in the cool air and she hums, leaning into him as if there is no where else she'd rather be as she meets his gaze with jade eyes, bottom lip caught between her teeth as a coy smile tugs the corners of her mouth upwards.
"Perhaps a drink is in order then." She purrs in response, hands sliding down his arms and finding his own, untangling them from her waist as she twists in a little dance. Her eyes cut at him from over her shoulder, a smirk settling on her lips, "Keep up, pet." The Nightshade gives him a little tug, pulling him deeper into the belly of the Hanged Man where those around are quick to avert their gaze from the Queen, knowing better than to question whatever is happening between the pair.
Hey, he doesn't know what might happen, and maybe Maeve will succumb to his obvious charms and he'll bed her by the end of the evening. They just can't tell, right? (It's what he tells himself, anyway). Humming some sort of an agreement under his breath as she twists and takes his hand, Danta trundles in her wake and thoroughly enjoys the warmth rolling off her body, the feel of soft skin and the sweet scent that fills the air in her wake.
"What's your poison?" he wonders, as if he's some exotic gentleman and will be responsible for getting their drinks. He's not to know she's the fucking Queen, okay? And besides, if he keeps this up maybe she'll call him pet again. "It's been a long time since I was in Torchline. I confess I'm not sure what's good any more."
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
He can think whatever he wants to think. Maeve won’t deny him the pleasure of his fantasies. After all, she made her living off of them before she became Queen and she’d make her living off of them well afterwards.
The dimly lit room swallows them up as she ushers him into a corner booth that’s secluded, a few lanterns on the table and candles flickering inside, casting a warm glow over her skin as she crosses her legs beneath the table. The movement causes the slit of her skirt to part, exposing the tattooed skin of her pale thigh, flowers inked into skin in stark comparison as she flags down a server. ”We’re known for our spiced rum, but I’m a fan of absinthe personally. A little harder to come by, but they keep some in reserve just for me.” As if on queue, a bottle and two glasses appear along with other accoutrement necessary for the drink in question.
”I don’t think I ever caught your name… What should I be calling you other than pet?” Arching a dark brow and knowing very well she was opening a can of worms, Maeve sets to making them both a drink, passing him the glass once she’s finished.
Don't you worry, Danta's fantasies are doing a very fine job indeed, especially as she ushers them to a secluded little booth and sneaks him a peek at milk-white skin and dark tattoos. His eyes are still lingering on the slit of her skirt and the way her curves are outlined through the material when she brings up Torchline's liquor, the Ancient raising his eyebrows and absently reaching out to let his fingers play among the candle flames.
"Just for you, mm?" The corner of his mouth kicks up in a smirk, Danta finally lifting his gaze back to her face. He ignores the server as they set down the bottle and the glasses, more interested in Maeve pouring the drinks, and if his fingers brush against her own as he takes his glass, so be it.
"You can call me whatever you want," he says simply, knocking back the shot in a clean motion. "But my name is Danta, if that suits you more."
'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
"Of course just for me. I am queen, after all." This is said casually, a passing notion meant to be breezed by as her eyes flicker over to the flames that lick across his finger tips eagerly, desperate to kiss his skin. There was a time she might have also been desperate to do the same, but her attention was solely captured these days. It doesn't stop her from shivering as the warmth of them skate over her knuckles when he takes the glass, the sharp contrast of temperatures causing goosebumps to rise over her skin before she's chasing them away with the shot of liquor in a smooth swallow.
Humming, the Nightshade sets her glass back onto the table, tipping her head to the side to gaze up at him with eyes that seem a touch hazier. Softer around the edges as she curls a touch closer into his space, "Danta... I like it. I'm Maeve." She purrs, lips tugging into a feline grin as her free hand slips over his thigh. "Do you know what it means?" Fingers trail along the inside of his leg, nails teasing at the spot just above his knee, "To intoxicate. Do you find me intoxicating, Danta?"
