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!
06-30-2023, 03:48 AM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2023, 02:14 AM by George.)
George
It had been quite some time since George had been to Halo. In some ways, it hadn't changed a bit - still cold, still white with snow, even in the last leg of Longheat - but in others, it had changed wildly from his memory. For one, he didn't remember this particular spa having been here when he was here last, and though he certainly could have missed it, he rather thought that it had simply been too long since he'd traveled this far north.
He'd dressed warmly, unused to the cold (I mean, come on, he's from Torchline), but as he entered the warmth of the spa, he shed his outer layer to reveal a dark button-down shirt tucked into jeans. The parka he carried was a light brown and fur-lined. He'd taken some care when planning his wardrobe for the trip, wanting to be warm, but not wanting to appear so unused to the cold that he'd look ridiculous. After all, he was here for one reason and one reason only: Hotaru.
Ever since their date in Torchline, he'd found her thoughts wandering to her often, and he'd wasted very little time before arranging to see her again. It was with some relief that he accepted an invitation to Halo - after all, his affections might not have been returned - and here he was, in her spa, hoping to assure her that he was quite serious about pursuing her. This. Whatever this was.
"Excuse me, love," he said to the receptionist, a crooked grin on his lips and a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "I'm looking for Hotaru. Any chance you could tell me where she'd be?"
In contrast, Hotaru has had no time for her mind to wander or play on fantasies and girlish fancies. Oh she has wanted to, but for once her overwork-mentality conspires against her with how the end of the previous season had become unexpectedly busy. The traumatic visit to the Feverlands, rekindling her friendship with Sunjata, Flora's visit to the spa, the ongoing work on the springs - Hotaru had found herself with hands utterly full, so when George's letter had arrived she'd been sincerely surprised. Pleased, of course, but still surprised.
Concocting a fitting afternoon for a date had taken a bit more planning given she doesn't exactly go on dates, but c'est la vie. What matters is she has a plan now, and is sitting pretty in the back room that had once been her miniature apartment when George arrives. The receptionist titters and flushes at George's charm, and hastily excuses herself to fetch the Valkyrie, who looks up from her notebook and stands gracefully with a smile before explanations can fully form.
Striding out, the receptionist returns to her desk and watches conspicuously as Hotaru grabs one of George's hands boldly and leans up on her toes to kiss his cheek, just shy of the edge of his mouth. "I'm glad to see you're properly outfitted," she praises, something catlike gleaming in her eyes as she smirks. "Though you won't be wearing it for long." Intentionally wording it as something sultry when indeed it is not, Hotaru pulls him past the desk with their connected hands and sweeps him towards the changing rooms. Unisex, but with individual stalls and floor-to-ceiling walls for privacy. "There are clean shorts in all sizes, go ahead and change and put your clothes in the cubbies over there. I'll meet you there." And with a wink she's gone, disappearing into her own stall and giving him no time to linger in her presence.
Not until she is changed into a bikini (her own, instead of the spa-supplied ones which are always one-piece) and standing barefoot by the cubbies - where he'll be able to see the mudbath from.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
It was strange, to be in a relatively strange land with relatively no plan in place for what he was meant to do here. Normally, when he traveled, it was for work-related purposes: chasing down a lead on a rare item, scouting a location to be robbed, shadowing a high-profile mark. Rarely did he travel for personal reasons, and so to find himself in Halo solely for the purpose of wooing Hotaru was decidedly odd. Of course, he had to assume that he would find other ways to occupy his time (he couldn't - and wouldn't want to - spend days pining after the Valkyrie, for certain), but for now, he was entirely out of control of the situation.
On the one hand, it was alluring to know that Hotaru had had to go to some lengths to plan a nice date for them, much as he had done in Torchline. On the other, George didn't usually care for surprises. At least any surprise that Hotaru had planned was likely to be enjoyable, based on their interactions thus far. After all, he'd ended up naked on their first meeting, and somehow that had led to not one but two dates with the woman.
When she appeared from the depths of the spa, George offered a genuine smile, but before he could say much in the way of greetings, Hotaru had whisked him past the receptionist's desks and further into the spa. He grinned at her instructions. "Your wish is my command," he said. Then, teasingly, he added: "Do I get to keep my shorts this time?" Slipping into a changing room, he selected a pair of shorts in his size and quickly changed. He hastily but neatly folded his clothes and emerged from the changing room with the pile in hand, heading to the cubbies where Hotaru waited.
George looked his date over appreciatively as he put his clothes into one of the cubbies. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her in a bikini, but damn if she didn't look incredible in it. "You are stunning," he told her, something low and sultry in his voice.
"Only if you stay on your best behavior," she teases, envisioning stealing away his shorts (and boxers) to leave him in only his pants in the cold of Halo's snowy drifts. She doesn't at all care that she is whisking him away in a flurry of movements and actions, wanting them both to get a mere taste of each other's company to only heighten the anticipation. It works - at least for herself - because as he approaches in attire more reminiscent of when she'd first met him in Torchline, she feels that heat start up in her veins all over again.
His eyes are equally greedy as they take her in, and Hotaru even goes so far as to spin in place to cheekily show off, perfectly confident in her appearance. "Why thank you. As do you, though I have fond memories of you with this little piece gone," she purrs, boldly slipping her fingertip into his waistband to pull at it - and conveniently pull him closer as if to kiss him, only to take the pile in his arms and turn around instead, placing them into the slot next to her own clothes.
"Come, let me show you the mud bath." Taking his hand in hers, she guides him over the smooth tile to the mud bath, which is conveniently utterly empty in a stroke of scheduling bias she'd liberally exercised as the owner. "It has a stone base that is heated with fire to keep the entire bath warm, and the mud is mixed with volcanic ash from Apopo for skin benefits. There is also built-in stone benches and stairs." A true labor of love courtesy mostly of herself and Deimos. Leading the way in down the stairs, the slightly-warm mud clings immediately to her skin until it's nearly up to her breasts by the time she reaches the bottom - though it will be around George's hips given their height difference. Sitting and submerging herself to her shoulders, she turns to lift one leg onto the bench to view him better, something genuinely hopeful hiding in her eyes as she asks, "What do you think?" Halovians may be impressed with anything meant for repose and comfort, but Torchline has far higher standards for things like spas and skincare.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
If increasing the anticipation was what Hotaru was going for, she was succeeding; this was a far cry from their first date, where she had greeted him with a kiss and they'd walked arm in arm to the Miana Pool. This date night began in a flurry of activity and movement, leaving him desperately longing for the part where things calmed enough for them to simply drink each other in. So it was that, as she spun in place for him, George's eyes darkened with desire and appreciation. For the second time, Hotaru came closer (or, rather, pulled him closer by the waist of his shorts, which did nothing to dampen the rush of wanting that had risen upon seeing her in her bikini), and he thought that she might kiss him, but she simply took his clothes to deposit them into the cubby next to hers.
If he was another man, he might have been disappointed, but as it were, he simply chuckled warmly. She was a force to be reckoned with, and he knew that she would find her way back into his arms when she chose, and he was content to wait.
She tugged him along to the mud bath, and he followed without complaint, twining his fingers in hers as he stepped into the bath behind her. The mud was pleasantly warm against his skin, and he was eager to sink into the bath beside her. For a moment, he thought about teasing her, that she would take him on a date where she worked (she had admitted to being a workaholic, after all), but then he saw the genuine hopefulness in her eyes and thought the better of it. She deserved a true answer. "I think it's wonderful," he told her. "It's clear you've really put a lot of thought and effort into the place. What are the benefits of the volcanic ash?" he added, moving towards a bench to take a seat, sliding a hand to find her foot, lifting it carefully into his lap where he can start to massage it gently. This was important to her - he could tell - and so he wanted to know more.
In contrast, Hotaru does not feel that same spark of lust. A twist in her stomach, perhaps, and heat in her veins or cheeks - but little else. In fact it makes her privately panic as she pulls him to the next room, wondering what's wrong with her. He is handsome, striking, kind. Here, against all odds; odds she had put upon herself that had little to do with reality, but still. Her heart races, her cheeks flush - but nothing else happens.
It's a good thing he latches readily onto her question then, sparing her the miniature crisis that is just beginning to bud and grow roots in her mind. It's easy to forget all that when he's looking down at her the way he is, sincere in his curiosity. (She hopes he is. Gods, it's pathetic.)
Letting him pull her feet into his lap, she makes a small purred noise of pleasure in her chest and extends her arm along the rim of the large bath to touch her fingertips to his shoulder in an instinctive desire for shared touch. "It helps exfoliate any dead cells from the surface of the skin, and calms inflammation as well. Mud baths already help with sore joints from age and injury, so it helps in both pain management and skin aesthetics." It's nearly rehearsed given she'd pitched it to so many Halovians before, but it's also in the clear, concise cadence of her teaching voice. Flushing slightly when she realizes that, she shakes her head - messy bun shaking atop her crown. "But tell me about you. Anything interesting since we last met?" The rest belongs in a brochure, not in their date. No matter how proud she is of it.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
George smiled at the little noise of pleasure she made as he continued to knead her feet, trying to pay attention to which spots seemed to elicit the most reaction and focusing his efforts there. He listened to her explanation, amused by the sudden shift of her voice into sales pitch mode. Thus far, he'd heard her normal voice, her flirting voice, and now this - it made him wonder how many facets there were to this woman, and if he'd been privileged enough yet to see the real Hotaru, even if it was only a bit here or there.
But then she was asking about him, and he shook his head ruefully. "I'm not sure how much I'm supposed to reveal," he told her, leaning a little closer as though sharing a secret, eyes twinkling with mischief. "But there's a big heist in the works." Then he sat back. What had been going on in his life? It hadn't been that terribly long since he'd seen Hotaru last, and what little there was to share seemed to be work related. He thought about his temporary houseguest, but he'd recruited them to the guild; and he thought about the curious mermaid in Rae's Fingers, but he'd met her while trying to fence some stolen goods. The Hanged Man reopening would have been a good topic, but Hotaru had been there for that.
"Outside of work, there hasn't really been much going on for me," he admitted. Maybe he was more of a workaholic than he had previously admitted. "I've been told recently that there's more to life than thieving. It seems I may have lost sight of that."
He's not the only one who wonders how much is real and how much is a constructed facade that pulls from reality, yes, but is framed in such a way as to convince him she is lovable. Worthy. Whole, instead of some broken amalgamation of grief and selfishness.
"A heist? That implies quite a few things." Things that intrigue and delight her, curious as to how many are involved and of course what is in the works. Though his honesty is appreciated she cannot help but shoot him a look. "It's clearly a miracle we two workaholics even managed to get together for another date." That way she's not actively calling him out for his work ethic, keeping it playful.
Then again maybe that's the wrong angle, because he touches on a surprisingly delicate topic. Not that she has any problems with that. "They are not incorrect. But I was told recently that trying new things is the only way to form new goals and hobbies - or do you have those already outside of thievery?" If he doesn't he can merely join the club she has unwittingly become president of.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
He hadn't forgotten that Hotaru had once been a thief, and he winked conspiratorially. "Oh, you know, the usual thing," he said casually. "Some valuable objects, a locked safe, a couple of thieves." He said it as though it was just another night on the job, but of course it was bigger than that. That there was more than one of the guild involved said as much.
He laughed outright at her assertion, his smile crooked. "You say that as though anything could have kept me away." In truth, it had been a little challenging to time his absence so as not to affect the guild, but she didn't need to know that. It had been well worth the effort, in his opinion.
As far as hobbies go... well, if things continued on between them, she was going to find out what his were sooner or later. He suddenly felt a little shy; his hobbies weren't exactly what someone might expect of him, and it took a surprising amount of vulnerability to reveal. "Not many," he admitted. "But I do have a few. I swim, for one, though that's hardly a surprise for someone in Torchline." He thought of El's assertion that he should spend more time at the beach and made a face. "Though, truthfully, I haven't done much of it lately. I also knit and crochet, when I have time - Ma taught me when I was young, and it stuck. I think embroidery is actually my favorite of my hobbies, though."
Tittering laughter at his charming way of talking about it ensues, and Hotaru tilts her head to regard him fondly. "Well, do tell me how it plays out once it's over, hm? I don't need to know the details." Though she is part of the Guild now given Flora had asked, Hotaru hasn't been by to make things official or meet the other members. Given her own self-confidence, it's likely she won't unless her daughter calls upon her talents. George will find she's safe to tell - but only when the time is right.
Clearly pleased by his answer, Hotaru doesn't bother to respond to it, lest it devolves into a repetitive sweetness that would cloud the true curiosity she wants to be answered instead. She doesn't let his admission alter her features at all, concealing any reaction good or bad. "I love to swim but I'm admittedly not the best at it. Not a lot of opportunity in Halo, obviously. However I've always been intrigued by surfing." Not that she has attempted it yet, but perhaps they can do so another day? If he knows it himself. "What sort of items do you make? I would have assumed it would be too hot for knit sweaters and the like, but crochet tops can be quite cool. Or do you make functional items to keep at home?" As a seamstress she's seen nearly all manner of clothing, this included, but it would make sense for George to not sell or gift his creations if he wants to keep it a secret.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
"I will," he promised with a charming smile. He was pleased to have found someone who understood and even supported his line of work; it had always been a weight on his mind, that a potential partner might discount him solely because of what he had to do to make a living. Of course, it wasn't just about surviving - he had a love for the craft of it as well, and he'd always hoped to find someone who would understand that.
George was a better swimmer than he was a surfer, but he knew the basics. "I could teach you, next time you're in Torchline," he offered, making a mental note to take the time to brush up on his own skills when he returned home. He had friends who were better surfers than he was, but offering their services would remove himself from the equation, and he was loathe to give up a chance at another date. Assuming, of course, that this one went as well as the first.
He continued to rub and knead her feet, moving slowly up to her calves to continue his ministrations. "It is a bit warm for knit sweaters, but I have a few just in case," he admitted. "Mostly I knit and crochet things for around the house. For embroidery, I like to alter some of the clothes I buy. My ma always liked quilting, so we have a few blankets we've done together." He shrugged. "Honestly, it's... less about the product and more about the process, for me. I have plenty of items I've made just for the sake of it, that I'll probably rarely or never use.
Pleased by the offer, Hotaru sits up a little straighter, intrigue flashing in her eyes. "Then it seems we have a pattern to our dates: alternating between here and Torchline." If he had any doubts, Hotaru puts them to rest then and there. Unless something goes terribly wrong, she wants to continue seeing him. She isn't sure how deep her attraction to him is, but it's something she wants to explore.
His hands along her legs make her stretch and huff a small sound that is suspiciously close to the beginnings of a moan. She'd planned actual massages to be given to them today in the spa, but his touch is very different from the professional, educated ones of her masseurs. "If you ever have a spare blanket you've made, I'd love to own it." Telling him about her den feels too private still, a delicate confession she protects almost rabidly. But she would be inclined to use it in her home, and see if her inner feline likes his scent enough - likes him enough - to grant it access to her inner sanctum. Perhaps then she'll know how she truly feels about him, because in recent years she doesn't trust her human mind and heart to know these things.
"Embarrassingly I have even fewer I believe. Hunting monsters with the Guild barely counts, I'm sure, but hunting in general appeals to me. Enough that the local merchants adore me for how well-stocked I keep them without ever being on their payroll." Because what use does she have for keeping the meat and hides? Hotaru never wants for coin or trade, and can keep herself plentifully fed. "I suppose I enjoy dancing? But the bars here don't have dance floors, so I rarely get to indulge." The reopening had been the first time in a long time that she'd been able to experience it, but it had reminded her of how much she'd missed it.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
George grinned at that, relaxing a bit of tension he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in. It was a relief to hear her agree to another date so readily, and to have a sort-of plan in place for what it might be. He could already see a day at the beach: perhaps a brunch at one of the many restaurants dotting the beach, learning to surf, revisiting the bar they'd gone to the first day they'd met - there were any number of possibilities, and he looked forward to exploring them with her. "If you get too wrapped up in work, I'll come back to personally escort you to the beach," he promised, affectionate laughter in his eyes. He may have said it teasingly, but he would happily drag her back to Torchline if it meant more time together.
As Hotaru stretched beneath his hands, George's lips quirked up in a small smile, pleased to have elicited such a reaction. He made a mental note to send her the quilted, embroidered blanket from the beach. "I will send you one," he told her. He had more than enough blankets, after all, and it was promising for her to want one for herself, right?
He filed away each new tidbit of information into the mental file he had created with Hotaru's name on it: blankets, hunting, dancing... all the while, his mind spinning with new ideas of things he could do with her, things he could share with her. "When you return to Torchline, I'll take you dancing," he said. It had been a long time since he'd had a night out on the town, but he enjoyed dancing when he had a willing partner.
It's an adorable threat that has her laughing, the bright sound echoing slightly in the totally empty room. "Oh? Well then I suppose I should be flattered that my presence is the only thing that can break through your own workaholic focus." She certainly wouldn't mind being carted away now and again. Halo is her home, but lately she has realized there are so many things waiting for her beyond those borders, things she wants to make an effort to reach out for more often.
If he truly does send her the embroidered blanket she will be ecstatic. It had impressed her deeply on their first date, and now of course it holds the memories of that evening. Though she does grin at the idea of dancing and the creation of further memories. "That sounds like a multi-day requirement. Shall I create a reservation at the hotel when I come?" Unless he plans on a very, very long date with surfing and late-night dancing. Hotaru would be impressed by his stamina if that was the case.
"I had some other plans for today if you feel ready to wash up?" If not she's happy to sit and converse further in the mud bath, but she is unsure how long he will be in Halo and how many hours they can while away.
Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
