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!
George was a city boy. He'd always loved the hustle and bustle of Haulani, with its vibrant colors and lively people. Half-floating and surrounded by the sea, they had some of the best views in the world. It was on days like this - bright, clear, and sunny - that George liked to climb up into the clouds (or lack thereof) and gaze out across the ocean, imagining the world beyond their little archipelago.
He was well-traveled, really, having been to all of Caido's major cities, but he always came home to Torchline. It was where he'd been born, where he'd been raised. His ma still lived here, and he had her to take care of - even if she disapproved of his methods. His money, however it was earned (or stolen), put food on their table, and that was all that mattered to him.
Standing upon a little balcony at the top of a flight of steep stairs, George leaned on the railing, his arms hanging over the edge and his eyes on the horizon. A light breeze tousled his brown hair, teasing him with a breath of coolness on an otherwise brutally hot Longheat day. He didn't have much to do until the partygoers and revelers came out - and that would be later tonight - so for now, he was happy just to relax and enjoy the view.
Flora was in full scheming mode. Just after the vote she'd sulked around and had even considered leaving Torchline for good. She could just..go rule the Greatwood like her father had, or even the Hollowed Grounds. Quickly those ideas lost their sheen, though, because as much as the girl was drawn to power, she really did love the sand and the surf and the chaos of Torchline. Or at least, the chaos Torchline used to have.
And if anyone could bring a little chaos into the world, it was the Doubletake.
So, dressed in a painfully low-cut white blouse and impossibly short denim shorts, Flora all but pranced through the upper portion of Haulani, taking in the city with fresh eyes. Having already decided to take over the Hanged Man, Flora was determined to make it even more than it had been under Raza's watch. The other woman had had a banana boa as a companion; did Flora want a companion? Should she have-
-"Oh!" Having knocked right into George as she sidestepped out of the way of a merchant, Flora took a graceful step backward and found herself looking up (and up, and up, gods he was tall), into a face she recognized from having seen the man around, but who she didn't really know. "My bad."
The day really was a beautiful one. In the distance, the blue skies melded almost perfectly with the crystalline waters of the sea, and despite the fact that George was a city boy at heart, he had to admit that nature had its benefits, too. He was in the middle of admiring the scenery and making his plans for the day - he needed to stop by the market for some food for his ma, and he needed to stop by a friend's place for a cut of the profits of a recent sale he'd made of something he'd stolen, and on and on it went - when a slight figure bumped into him, rousing him from his silent musings.
She was a pretty thing, with her low-cut blouse and short shorts, and George's eyes raked roguishly over her. "Well, hello," he said, shifting to the side to make more room for her to get out of the way of the passing merchant. She was familiar, and in more than a seen-you-around kind of way. He'd have to be a fool not to recognize the disgraced woman who'd tried - and failed - to take over leadership of Torchline. "Flora, right?"
05-28-2023, 09:29 PM (This post was last modified: 05-28-2023, 09:30 PM by Flora.)
flora
Not minding at all the way his eyes drank her in the way some might, Flora instead seemed to preen slightly beneath his gaze. If she thrust out a hip and flexed the muscles of her long, tanned legs, what of it? "Hello yourself." She all but purred back, raising a hand to her brow to shade her eyes as she gazed up at him. "Mmhmm." There are so many reasons one might know of Flora, that she chooses to think the man before her knows her name because of her beauty rather than her recent failed attempt at political gain.
"And you're..." Narrowing her eyes a touch playfully, Flora bites her lower lip at she pretends to consider. His name was George; she'd come up with it almost instantly, but where was the fun in just saying so? "...Jefferson? Johnny? Joe..something?"
Well, if Flora was going to be like that, then all the more reason to continue looking, no? His eyes crinkled with mirth as she preened before him, admiring the way the sun caught the curves of her body.
Unlike Flora, George had not made much of a name for himself (except, perhaps in the underbelly of the city), and so it would not have surprised him in the least for her to be completely clueless as to who he was. To his surprise, though, she seemed to at least know something of him, at least by the (butchered) guessing of his name. "You wound me," George said, his face crumpling into a dramatic pout (though his eyes twinkled with mischief all the while). "How could you not know who I am?"
"I think you'll be alright." Flora murmurs apologetically as she places a hand over her heart as if to underscore her sincerity. Really, it's just to draw his eye down toward her collar bones which, in her opinion, was one of her best features.
As for how she might not know him? "It must be short-term memory loss. I did bump into you awfully hard, and you're quite solid, you know." So saying, Flora reaches out a hand to wrap around one of George's biceps, giving the muscles there an appreciable squeeze to make her point. "Honestly, I might even faint." She adds, twisting the hand held over her eyes so that her wrist faced out in a gasp, i'm suddenly so dizzy gesture.
George couldn't help a crooked grin as Flora played along. As she placed a hand over her heart, drawing his attention down, he raised a brow at her. "I might survive," he conceded. "But it will be a cursed life without your recognition." He sighed, as if for dramatic effect - this despite the smile that still lingered upon his lips.
She reached out to wrap a hand around one of George's biceps, and his lips twitched again as she squeezed. "Ah, but we can't have that," he said, reaching for the hand that had been on his bicep and making as if to tug her against his side, where he can properly support the "faint" woman. "Perhaps a drink will revive you."
Tutting softly under her breath and rolling her eyes affectionately, Flora eventually concedes. "Well we can't have that, now can we George." She purrs, bobbing her eyebrows playfully.
Slipping easily against him, Flora slides her hand so that she might twine her arm around his. "I would say lead away, but as it turns out, I just happen to own the bar now." Grinning up at him, her nose crinkling slightly beneath a spray of freckles, the Doubletake nods her head toward the pathway which would lead them from the upper city and down toward the coastline.
"I still have a few things to do before the grand re-opening" Flora explains. "But I'm sure I can find a glass or two and something to fill them with."
Though George was still surprised that she knew who he was, he smothered the feeling in favor of a playful grin. As Flora wrapped herself around his arm, the thief raised a brow. "Do you really?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. That must be a new development. He tried to keep tabs on who owned what bar in the city, after all - his, er, profession relied on knowing the ins and outs of all the local establishments. "Congratulations."
He'd meant what he said about getting a drink, and Flora seemed keen enough on the idea, so George turned toward the stairs and began to walk, his arm helpfully held for Flora to continue holding, should she choose to do so. He pondered the idea of nicking a bottle of something on the way to Flora's bar, but it seemed like a lot of effort when it seemed she had some waiting for them. "When might your grand re-opening be?" he asked. "I'll have to be sure to make an appearance."
"I do." She purrs proudly. No need to mention that she'd only taken it over the day before; that seemed tacky and entirely irrelevant to the conversation at hand. Better to let the thief think that he'd missed a trick than to admit that actually this had only just happened.
Indeed the Doubletake continues on at George's side, more than content to stroll through the streets with a handsome man on her arm. "Well...There's still a few things left to do...I'm not one to rush." This is said with her chin turned up toward him that he might see the feline smirk on her lips.
"The back room needs a bit of work, yet..." It's innocuously said. To any other ear it would merely sound like Flora was just...listing a task that needed to be completed. To a thief's ear however, it might sound a bit like Flora was in the process of breathing new life into the criminal underbelly that had once been Torchline's bread and butter. Every criminal worth their salt knew that the back room of the Hanged Man was where business went down.
George was perfectly content to be the handsome man on Flora's arm, and he grinned crookedly down at her at her insinuations. The thought that the back room needed some work gave him pause, but his smile only grew. Perhaps there was more to this chance meeting than he'd originally anticipated.
Having grown up on the streets of Torchline, George was perfectly well aware of the meaning behind Flora's words. Every deal worth knowing about went down in the back room of the Hanged Man; George had been in a few himself, back before the place had fallen into disrepair. If Flora was intending to put the place back on the map... well, count George in.
"I might know someone who can help you with that," George said, winking conspiratorially. "I'm sure you've plenty to do, and we wouldn't want you straining yourself, would we?" Especially not after she'd felt so "faint."
"Oh ho. My lucky day." Flora trills, not deigning to say more until they are safely inside the bar where prying ears and eyes wouldn't be a concern. Once the pair are through the batwing doors, the Doubletake lets go of George's arm but only so that might slip behind the bar to fetch them each a glass.
George might notice that although there was a magical twilight within the bar as ever there had been, the furniture was entirely new and no longer was everything covered in a layer of salt-sweat and spilled liquor. "I still have a few more things to do before the grand re-opening, but..." Pouring them each a healthy dose of something amber and sweet smelling, Flora picks up the glasses and hands one to her newest accomplice with a shrug. "I think it's coming along alright." Raising a brow so that George might insert a compliment in the silence, Flora clinks her glass against his.
"Oh no, love, the luck is all mine," said George with a chuckle. He'd be more than happy to help with whatever tricks Flora had up her sleeve - after all, things had gotten rather dull in Torchline of late, and it was past time for the underbelly of the region to liven things up again.
The Hanged Man was decidedly not how George remembered it, but it was a good change. There was new furniture, for one, and it no longer stank of old sweat and spilled liquor. "I like what you've done with the place," he said as he joined Flora at the bar, taking the glass she offered and raising it to clink his glass against hers. "To new friends," he added, and then took a long drink.
05-30-2023, 03:16 PM (This post was last modified: 05-30-2023, 03:19 PM by Flora.)
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"Why thank you." The Doubletake purrs, quite pleased with how this serendipitous turn of events was unfolding. "I'm sure some of the locals will have something to say about it, but..." She shrugs. If a few rough and tumble old men were upset that the wicker chairs that previously were contoured to the shapes of their asses had been replaced with something more modern and pleasing to the eye, so be it. Curmudgeonly she could deal with. Bad taste, she could not.
"So then George, you know what my business is..." Glancing over her shoulder to where the door to the back room stood, innocuously closed with a few crates in front of it to dissuade anyone from entering, Flora turns her attention back to the thief. "...what's yours?"
