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!
"Yes, I learned that as well." Everest confirms with a nod, listening intently for their tea despite knowing that this friend has it well in hand. 'You are not upset, then? That I potentially scheduled you for something without speaking to you first?" It was the sort of thing he didn't think Mateo would be cross with him for, but given that it was the sort of behaviour that Everest himself absolutely wouldn't appreciate, he thought it best to check.
Rubbing a hand over his shoulder and expecting it to hurt - how quickly we become accustomed to pain - the aviator reaches down to smooth a wrinkle in a nearby pillow. 'Do you think Stormbreak should have a real government again?' He asks quite suddenly, or, perhaps it might seem that way to Mateo, though the question had been on his mind a lot as of late. 'I thought things were going alright, but then after what happened with Sohalia, and how there was...well, no real justice..." Frowning, he glances up with an expression of grave (and probably disproportionate concern).
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
Happily arranging their teacups and pouring the water over the leaves to let them brew, Mateo glances over his shoulder with a dimpled smile. "Of course I am not upset," he assures his friend. "Perhaps if we are lucky you could dock us against one of the cliffs and I can examine some of the flora there. Only if it would be safe, of course." Mateo's definition of the word is somewhat loose, admittedly, but that's why Everest is their pilot.
His friend's next question is abrupt, given that the botanist has been thinking of flowers that bloom in the crags of sheer mountain drops, and Mateo purses his lips as he brings their cups over and moves to sink down onto the sofa with Ever. "There was real justice," he says mildly, blowing the steam from his cup and taking an absent sip of his tea. "My father ensured it. But I do know what you mean. I do not believe I have ever lived properly in Stormbreak with a government, though. Even when one of my parents ruled the place, I was only a kid."
And as we all know, juveniles rarely think past their next rush of hormones.
"Do you?"
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
'Of course.' Everest agrees stiffly, if only because safety is no joking matter. It was a fascinating matter, though the aviator didn't think this needed saying.
Ever, who had been thinking of the invitation he'd received from Sohalia to help clean up the Tower, did not think it had been abrupt, but then, he often assumed of others that they understood the sorts of things going on in his head. Swallowing, the aviator inclines his head to the side which is about as obvious as he ever is about his disagreement. Biting at the inside of his cheek as he accepts his cup of tea, the attuned stares blankly down into it. "Mmmmm." He hums vaguely, adjusting his cup on his saucer until they felt appropriately aligned with one another.
"I'm not sure. I worry without a Government we'll be like the boiled-frog in the pot." He explains. This had been an example in school that Everest had gone to great lengths to understand, though even now he wasn't sure he was using it right. 'If small things go wrong and we don't notice or do anything, that will become the status quo and set up a precedent for worse and worse things. Of course, if the wrong person leads...that might be worse than just a slight slippery slope."
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
With their tea brewed, their trip to the mountains planned and their opinions of Stormbreak justice settled in the middle of the agree-to-disagree scale, Mateo lends his full attention to politics, which, as one might easily guess, is something he finds drier than Hak Etme. Still, for Everest he does his best, sinking fully back into the couch and running a fingertip around the rim of his teacup, as if he might make it sing like a crystal glass.
"It is true. How do we define wrong, though? I imagine much of Stormbreak thought that Cian was a great leader, but my father would have disagreed." Who gets to decide such things - and is it right for them to have such power? "In Torchline, they hold a vote," he offers helpfully(?), "and candidates put forward why they believe they would be a good leader."
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
Everest was liable to talk Mateo's ear off about this topic if the botanist wasn't careful, though hopefully he'd have the self-restraint to stop himself before it got to the point of being rude. For now though, he studies the edge of his teacup for a moment, inclining his head back and forth as he considers his friend's point.
'There was a study done once about the wisdom of crowds.' He says in a low voice. "Where a large group had to guess the weight of a cow. Some guesses were off by hundreds of pounds as you'd expect, but when you averaged them all together?" Ever's blue eyes flick up, shining rather gleefully. "It was almost perfectly accurate." Smiling now as if he had anything at all to do with this outcome, the mirth fades from his lips as he takes a small sip of his tea.
"So I suppose with a large enough voter turn out that might be a good idea, but...I can't help but think of all the biases people have, and how easily swayed their minds might be." Realizing he had forgotten to provide context for all of this, the aviator clears his throat apologetically.
"Sohalia asked Lena, Anju, and myself to help her clear out the Tower. Cian's floor of the Tower."
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
Eyebrows raising slightly, Mateo listens with surprising attention to Ever's study - it's more because he's trying to imagine a group of people shouting out the weight of a cow than because of the societal implications, granted - and he hums his intrigue around a sip of tea. "How do you know that was not a fluke, though?" he challenges with a crooked smile. "A one-off does not prove that crowds have wisdom, hm?"
He assumes, of course, that this will serve as a distraction from Stormbreak politics (and how wrong he is), because the botanist is almost entirely focused on whether he can convince Ever to go out for some dinner when his friend speaks again. Blue eyes widening - hasn't Sohalia only been in the city for a season? - he tilts his head and sits up a bit. "She would become leader?" he guesses; not that it's a particularly difficult guess. "I mean... I think she would do a good job. I just would not wish that on anybody."
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
Not one to argue simply for the sake of it, the aviator is more than content to nod and concede the point. "I'm not sure if it was replicated. I hope that it was for the sake of the point you're trying to make." He says, resisting the urge to reach for some sort of measuring device that he might ensure the precise placement of his cup on his saucer. Instead, he rotates it repeatedly until it feels like it's back in the proper position.
"She is the one who has taken the initiative so it's possible, yes." Whether she's invited himself and the other two merely to help or because she thinks they'd be good candidates as well he can't (read: won't) guess at.
"I hope the work will not be too hard at the beginning. Stormbreak's resources have gone unharvested for years now, so if she only focuses on that we will be ahead of where we were." And then, because Everest's mind works in ways that only he really understands, he raises his gaze to Mateo with a somber look on his face.
"Is she our friend now?" He wonders, placing extra emphasis on our. "Will our relationship dynamic need to change now?"
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
Mateo hopes that it was too, but again, it's because nothing delights him more than the idea that a bunch of people stood around guessing the weight of a cow, not once, but repeatedly. Resisting the urge to put a hand over his friend's to prevent him from over-rotating his teacup, he instead listens to the confirmation about Sohalia's bid for leadership. Furrowing his brow, he takes another sip of tea so he doesn't speak before he's thought about it properly.
"Mm, that is true," he says of Stormbreak's resources. "And I suppose because there is no Order, there is less of a likelihood that something will go wrong." Even if he doesn't believe it, even as he says it. What he does believe, though, is the answer that springs upon his tongue at Ever's next question.
"Well of course not," he says, tilting his head. "Paige is our friend, but our dynamic did not change. I do not see why that would be any different for Sohalia, unless you would like it to change?"
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
"Possibly." Ever replies, not because he necessarily agrees but because Mateo has said something and he feels inclined to respond to it. When it comes to Stormbreak's leadership there seems to be altogether too much guesswork involved for his liking, not that this will in any way serve as a reason for not helping Sohalia out. His discomfort rarely serves as a reason for or against anything at all.
'It did a little.' The aviator says slowly, head inclining at a drastic angle as his eyebrows furrowed together. "In social settings she gravitates toward us now, and we are obligated to help her with things." He points out, before vehemently shaking his head. "No I wouldn't, but if it's going to, I would like to know. I..." Pausing, the sort of vulnerability that began spreading across Ever's face the type that likely Mateo, and Mateo only, would ever see, he looks down at his teacup. Suddenly feeling the urge to smash it on the floor, instead Everest just blinks.
"I know one day someone will change our dynamic, and if you could give me as much notice before that happens, I would appreciate it."
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
Setting down his teacup and absently cracking his knuckles, the botanist lets himself sag against the couch so he can properly regard his friend. "Well, alright, I do suppose that much is true. But outside of those scenarios, our dynamic did not change," he points out. And if anything, Sohalia seems a great deal more meek than Paige, so her intrusion into their lives will probably be minimal if that's how they want it to be.
But as an insidious sort of panic and vulnerability seems to cross Ever's face, Mateo lets any hint of humour drop from his expression. "It goes without saying that I will try to give you as much notice about anything changing as I can," he says, because that's how it's always been. "But may I ask why you seem so convinced about this? I do not see myself as the sort of man who settles down. If anything, I thought that would be you one day."
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
Looking the picture of opposites—Mateo comfortable and chic, Everest stiff and awkward—the aviator can only continue to tilt his head to the side like a dog trying his best to remain in place while also wanting to distance himself as much as possible. "Mmm." He replies warily; for Everest, change was change, even if that change was small and entirely circumstantial.
"I like when it doesn't go without saying." Everest replies guiltily, feeling needy and overbearing for wanting to hear the words rather than just assume them. "Of course you can ask." Swallowing and looking back toward his teacup, his fingers suddenly white-knuckled around its small handle, Ever exhales. "When we were younger, our circle of interactions was smaller. Now that we're older and out of school, you meet so many people regularly that the probability of finding someone you find yourself inclined to spend more time with has grown." Even outside of a romantic relationship, surely there were better-suited friends for the botanist than the awkward aviator.
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
"Ah, of course," Mateo says with an apologetic smile. "In which case, consider this an official notice that I will give you as much notice as I possibly can, should anything change regarding our friendship." Letting his hand flutter to his chest over his heart, the botanist even draws an X there as if that will help make it more real for Everest.
It isn't very often that he hears the aviator speak about their past in a way that isn't factual recollection, and Mateo's eyebrows furrow together as he considers everything behind the words and the white-knuckled grip on Ever's teacup. "The probability may have grown, but the inclination has not," he says quietly, trying not to smile in case the other man thinks he's making fun.
"If anything, I have been quite enjoying your extended stay in Stormbreak since the skyship exams," he admits. "It feels the way it does when we were studying here."
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
Mateo doesn't reach all the way to the left side of his chest the way most do, instead tracing his x over the correct anatomical position of the heart which was a good deal more centered than most gave it credit for. Such was the result of having a friend whose mother was a doctor. 'Thank you.' Simply said, a good deal of tension sighs itself out of Ever's shoulders. He couldn't be said to sag at all, but he certainly wasn't sitting quite as rigidly as before.
Considering his friend's words, noting the way Mateo was subtly changing his language which indicated, to Ever at least, that the botanist was trying to speak as meaningfully as he could, the aviator softened yet again. 'I just want the best for you and am aware that might not always be this level of friendship with me.' He says, and, before he shatters the teacup in his hands, he sets it down on the table.
Turning toward Mateo now and forcing his eyes to meet his friend's, the aviator lets the minuscule smile on his lips grow despite how strange it feels. "I like it too. Very much." He agrees, before his expression grows solemn once more. "I have something I need to tell you, though."
even if i had to lose you to know you, i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
who are these people? I just woke up in my underwear
"You are always very welcome." Mateo smiles softly, letting one hand drop into his lap while the other stretches against the back of the couch, giving him a cradle to rest his head upon. "And I know that you always want the best for me. I always want the same for you - and so at present, this level of friendship with you suits me perfectly well." And he doesn't see it changing, but he leaves the what-ifs in the back of his mind so that he doesn't accidentally panic his friend.
Both the smile and the eye contact are indicators of a Big Deal, and so the botanist is prepared by the sudden, solemn tone that overtakes Ever's voice. Also tilting his head now, he hums a suspicious breath out through his nose. "Go ahead," he invites, "I am all ears."
no liquor left on the shelf I should probably introduce myself
