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!
I was born in a big gray cloud screaming out a love song
He’d been made aware that baking was to be taking place that afternoon, and had been sent to fetch a few ingredients in preparation. He isn’t surprised to find his fiancée already underway when he returns, bags at his side, but he is surprised to find her pouring a rather alarming amount of salt into the bowl. “Um, darling,” he tentatively edges in despite the amusement already budding, “are you certain you’re using the right canister?” She isn’t the type to intentionally waste a batch, so maybe she is merely distracted.
Depositing the bags on the counter beside her, Harper ducks in to kiss her cheek briefly and glances down at the bowl - yep, still salt. Moving to begin unpacking the requested items, he chuckles. “I’d ask if you’re pregnant given how distracted you were when carrying Edmund, but I’m pretty positive you aren’t.” They use protection each time, which Harper knows isn’t foolproof, but she also takes natural contraceptives as most Torchline women do.
among broken chords and unnamed cries - what a place to come from
S is for salt. Salt is salty and gross when you have to much of it. You know what else is gross when there is too much of it? Pride. Know who has too much pride? Sunjata. That's what's running through her head when her light returns, drawing her attention from the batch of cookies she's utterly ruining with the amount of salt she's putting in. Salt instead of sugar for salty Sunjata. Safrin would be so proud.
Her head snaps up and she huffs out a breath, brows pinching together as she shakes the canister a little more vigorously, dumping more onto the pile. "Yes, dear. I'm sure." She replies primly, voice honey sweet as she turns her cheek to accept the kiss from her soon to be husband. Satisfied with the utterly disturbing pile of white crystals in the bowl, the Queen places the salt cannister back onto the counter.
Humming, Maeve cuts her eyes towards Harper, lips quirking up at the corners in a tight lipped smile. Though he can clearly read her emotions through their shared bond, feeling no real annoyance towards him in the moment, proving it's all for show. "You know I'm not, my sweet intended, seeing as you continue to deny my requests until after we're married." A silly little detail in Maeve's eyes, but something that matters to him. That their child be born to them properly. Who was she to deny him something so simple?
If you're a lover, you should know The lonely moments just get lonelier
I was born in a big gray cloud screaming out a love song
Well, if she’s sure…Harper chuckles, a quick check in on their bond assuring him there’s truly nothing wrong. “You should’ve told me to pick up more salt too at the rate you’re going,” he teases. Would that much salt even bake up correctly? Harper has no idea, but he’s game to find out.
Her feigned grimace makes him laugh out loud, returning from the cabinets to wrap his arms around her waist to press forceful kisses all up and down her neck, cheek, and temple as if she were resisting. “I could never besmirch your good name by having a child out of wedlock!” he cries dramatically, as if she hadn’t already done so. It is entirely his own issue, and he knows it, as does she. One originating from Phoebe’s own refusal to wed, and Jude’s existence. So much hurt passed down over the years, creating so many hang ups in so many people. Maybe Sunjata does deserve those cookies, though Harper regards the man rather fondly compared to Maeve and Phoebe.
Pulling away a little but keeping his arms loosely around her and resting his chin on her shoulder, Harper chuckles. “Just means we need to get married sooner, hm?” They’d been planning it slowly, but post-war life had been busy. Not to mention Edmund’s disappearance. Harper refused to get married without the boy present, and was sure Maeve felt the same.
among broken chords and unnamed cries - what a place to come from
She has to bite back the laugh that's threatening to bubble up in her chest at his teasing, wrinkling her nose as she takes up the wooden spoon and begins to beat the salt into the butter and eggs already hiding beneath the white pile. "That's alright. I know how much you love going to the market. Just means you can go again." The Nightshade sing songs, leaning back into his chest as his arms come around her waist, but she's soon assaulted by his kisses and this time she does laugh.
The sound bright and melodic, filling their home with light as her affection flares along the bond in a blinding burst, wrapping around them like a warm blanket. "Such a noble man of honor you are. How did I ever get so lucky?" Turning in his arms and thus abandoning her mixing for the time being, the Queen's own loop around his neck as her fingers find their way into his curls. They've gotten longer, more wavy now that the weight of his hair are holding them down instead of letting them bounce back the way they would if he'd cut it. Nails scratch lightly at his scalp as she gazes up at him, jade eyes meeting warm blue with nothing but adoration swimming in her gaze. She didn't mind waiting. In truth, she wanted it too. Even if the desire for a child sometimes made her will weak.
"We will. Soon. As soon as Edmund is home..." She promises, rising up on her toes to press a tender kiss to his lips, sighing against his mouth as her heart constricts in her chest. They were no closer to finding him now than they were when he initially disappeared.
If you're a lover, you should know The lonely moments just get lonelier
01-17-2023, 01:34 AM (This post was last modified: 01-17-2023, 01:36 AM by Harper.)
Harper
I was born in a big gray cloud screaming out a love song
He muffles his laughter into her hair, always happy to do chores but aware that she's right - he loves the market, loves seeing the people, getting his boots on the ground, and feeling the pulse of Torchline's life firsthand. "I'd object, but you're completely right." She knows him too well, always has.
Her joy is like warm sparks on his skin, sending goosebumps in their wake, and Harper grins as his own affection rises to meet it. The ring was one of the greatest gifts she could have given him, and being able to feel her through the bond will never grow old for him. "I don't know, but I ask myself that every day." Realistically they have both suffered so greatly, in love particularly, that perhaps this is fate's way of giving them a break.
Leaning his head willingly into her touch, a low rumble of appreciation reverberates from his chest to her back as her nails scratch at his scalp and spread through his curls, making his eyes drift low. Still, they remain open enough to see her love be shadowed by her concern, and he squeezes her slightly to try and assuage her fears. "Speaking of Edmund," he begins gently, "I was thinking how long it has been since I went to see Safrin. I intend to ask her if he's okay while I'm there." Hopefully the goddess would abide such a request, if she had any answers at all. Harper has long regretted the lack of time he has found on his hands to visit his herald. With the new season, perhaps that could finally change.
among broken chords and unnamed cries - what a place to come from
The Nightshade smiles softly at the press of his face against her curls, "I should go with you more." She murmurs, deflating slightly in his hold, shoulders slumping as she draws in a quiet breath before she's turning in his arms. Doing her best to push the sudden guilt away, the Queen runs her fingers through his hair, holding his gaze instead.
Everyday she's grateful to have the bond tethering them together. The gift might have been from Locke, but even she doesn't think it wound have bound them together the way it does her and Harper. His response earns him a gentle smile as she brings him down for a kiss, chasing his words with a sigh. Fate, destiny, or simply chance. Maeve wasn't going to argue with whatever took pity on them, allowing them this bit of happiness in a world like Caido, and gods she was going to cling to it with all she had.
"I ran into someone who possibly saw Edmund in the Climb." Maeve begins, brows knitting together as she recalls everything Danta told her. "I think he might have pledged himself to Dygra, Harper. I- I don't know if he's ever going to come home now." And her voice begins to tremble, cookies forgotten for the time being, thoughts instead occupied by her missing son.
If you're a lover, you should know The lonely moments just get lonelier
I was born in a big gray cloud screaming out a love song
"You can if you'd like, but you don't have to push yourself." Her nightmares, the scars and wounds still present in her mind, Harper knows he cannot heal them. Still, he will not do anything that risks worsening them either. It is a delicate balancing act; lucky that Harper was an acrobat, then. He won't let her down, not even in the midst of all this uncertainty.
Her kiss is gentle, and Harper returns it at the same chaste, lingering level. Though as they part, his brows draw down, immediately concerned and attentive to this news. "We don't know much about this new god," he admits quietly. "Or at least, I don't. Maybe he thinks he can't come home because we are both devoted to Safrin?" Just as the boy had always been, or so it had seemed. But if that's what he thought, he was sorely mistaken - he would always be welcome in their hearts and their home, no matter what path he took in life.
among broken chords and unnamed cries - what a place to come from
Push herself. That's all she'd been doing lately. Pushing herself. Pushing herself to lead, be a good mother, a devoted partner; all easy tasks on their own, but combined? She was barely keeping her head above the water. The Nightshade knew what she needed to do, even as the guilt gnawed at her, drawing her further into herself as she was held in his embrace. "I- I don't think I can do it anymore, Harper. That I can do this." It's clear from the swirling emotions trickling along the bond that she's not referring to them, but simply everything else. Her position, the high expectations and decision making. Maeve was tired. Wasn't it her turn to rest? To have peace? Apparently not.
"Maybe..." They would love him as they always had. Even if she didn't understand his decisions. Even if he had too much of Locke in him, running off without a word, making her sick with worry. "I just don't understand why he would runaway without saying anything." Her voice cracks, hitching higher as her emotion swells, causing her throat to tighten with tears that threaten to slip down porcelain cheeks.
If you're a lover, you should know The lonely moments just get lonelier
I was born in a big gray cloud screaming out a love song
Harper will never ask her to push herself beyond. Of anyone, he will catch her if she falls, fill the gaps where she is stretched too thin. So the moment she finally admits what he has been wondering all along, he wraps his arms tighter around her and replies as simply as he can. "Then don't." Gently urging her to turn around to face him, he touches her cheek gently with one hand. "The war is over. The rebuilding is done. If you're done, then you're done. There doesn't have to be anything more to it." The rest would be the worries of someone else, and Harper was sure it would be someone acceptable if Maeve and Safrin had anything to say about it.
As for Edmund - "He's young, love. At that age everything feels like the most dire, inescapable thing. He may not have been thinking clearly." And while Jude is his first biological child, and Edmund has been wavering over the line of calling him 'uncle' for years now, Harper has trained and mentored and uplifted so many children and teens and young adults that he feels confident in his assessment of the situation, no matter how few facts they have.
among broken chords and unnamed cries - what a place to come from
