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!
Though being unpopular was not a goal Flora often set for herself, being successful, was. And though it felt strange trying not to fill the Tavern, so long as the Doubletake reminded herself that the emptier her bar was, the better on this particular occasion, the less she found it bothered her. Besides, Talyson had helped her numerous times in the past (once or twice notably without payment), and was possibly still in the running to become her third dad; in short, he was a Good Guy, so why not.
To that end, all weekend Flora had loudly mentioned renovations being done on Monday evening. She'd also made sure to emphasize that her next shipment of the good stuff wasn't due in until Tuesday. Given how busy she'd been spreading rumours about her own bar, if she happened to forget to turn the sign around to open, who could blame her?
Still, a few regulars showed up, but all in all, if Tal had wanted a poor turnout, he'd got it.
Leaning against the bar with her new dragon happily frosting various shot glasses, Flora combed a hand through her hair awaiting Tal and whomever else he might have dragged along with him. As a final act of assistance, the Doubletake made sure that everyone in the bar was appropriately well lubricated just in case Tal turned out to be a terrible singer.
Welcome to this poorly advertised karaoke ME!
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat Me and karma vibe like that
Tal didn't exactly sneak through town after his encounter with Koa at the Miana Pool, but he definitely went out of his way to keep his head down and not look around for friends and regular customers to greet on his way to the bar. Boreal trotted beside him, looking entirely pleased with herself (and never mind the fresh dragon tooth marks still dimpling the courier's trousers).
He was relieved not to see a line outside as he eased up to the door - and even more grateful to see the 'closed' sign still flipped. Slipping inside, he bee-lined straight for the bar and the enchanting blonde behind it with a broad grin of mixed relief and anxiety. "Hey, Flora! Thanks again for helpin' me out with this. An' who's this?" he added peering at the little dragon curiously. Boreal peered up as well, a bass croon of greeting rumbling from her throat as she sat back on her haunches.
Knowing that the lady never liked to be kept waiting, the courier was already dipping his hand into his Bag of Holding to pull out a large, insulated bottle full of fresh memory snow. He set it on the bar between them while introductions were made and the band got warmed up.
Looking up, Flora flashes the courier a wry smile as he approaches. "Happy to help." She counters before the dragons take center stage with Spice trying to make herself appear larger and failing spectacularly at it. With her small wings outstretched and huffing pathetic blasts of air at the fire dragon, Spice looked more like a spitting cat than an intimidating dragon. Frowning, the Doubletake reaches out to run a reassuring fingertip down the little dragon's spine, and although it does nothing to dull her angry blue stare, she does stop burping frost.
"This is Spice. Ronin found her in the mountains. Her..." Leaning forward to whisper, she adds: "..something killed her mother. She was the last one." Flora explains with a theatrical pout, before happily accepting the bottle of snow. "Oooh, thank you! I'm going to try out a new cocktail with this." She lied, before setting it behind the bar where it would surely melt before the evening was through.
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat Me and karma vibe like that
Boreal tilted her head curiously at Spice's display of draconic might, giving a little croon of encouragement to the small companion. Her scaly tail wagged behind her in a serpentine slither across the floor, oblivious to her fellow's temper - or else finding it adorable and misinterpreting it as a desire to play. When a dragon was raised with dogs some wires were bound to get a little crossed.
Tal leaned on the bar, grin fading as Flora related Spice's story. He nodded slowly, his hand dropping to scratch the base of Boreal's horns. "Figure it was somethin' similar with Boreal's egg, back when I found her." He grimaced, giving Spice a look of sympathy.
He was just as happy to change the subject a moment later, however, handing over his delivery and then rubbing the back of his neck pensively. "Well. I better get it over with. Sooner rather'n later an' all that shit." He turned to look at the open space where he'd be singing, then back at Flora with a hard swallow. "What, uh. What've y'got for liquid courage, bartender?" he asked, maybe a little too desperately.
But Ludo hadn't said anything about being sober for this particular task.
"You'd think with dragons being so...so big that it would be more rare, but..." With her lips twisted in a frown, Flora glances from Spice to Boreal sadly. 'At least we found them though, right?' She adds, brightening.
Waggling her eyebrows encouragingly, Flora's expression sobers for a moment before another grin takes over her features. "I have just the thing." She beams. Turning on a heel and reaching for two different bottles, the Doubletake begins to pour them in heavy-handed doses into a shaker which she then fills with simple syrup and lemon. Giving it a rough shake, she pops the top off and strains the liquid - a rather startling gold colour - into a cup. Turning away from Boreal, Spice tromps proudly over to the drink and, inhaling deeply, blasts the rim with her icy breath.
"Tadaaaaa!" So saying, Flora pushes the drink over. "Mateo and I came up with it. It uses botanicals from the Oerwoud and water from the upside-down waterfall in the mountains."
Just what were the botanicals? Oh, they were blushberries marinated in gin.
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat Me and karma vibe like that
07-06-2023, 06:19 PM (This post was last modified: 07-06-2023, 06:20 PM by Talyson.)
"We sure did," Tal agreed, his sadness tempered by fondness as he glanced from Flora and Spice back to Boreal. "An' this one, at least, is spoiled rotten!" He teased his dragon, scrubbing has hand over the scales between her horns as she rumbled happily, one hind talon thumping the floor twice in approval - or possibly agreement. Or por que no los dos?
Tal was in the mood for a little spoiling himself at the moment as he tried to gather his tattered pride and take the stage, but luckily he was in the company of a seasoned professional and she had just the thing. He watched curiously as she worked her bartending magic, and grinned as Spice added the final touch. "See?" he informed Boreal. "Look how helpful y'could be-- hey! I take it back!" Boreal's cheeks had puffed up, smoke emanating from her nostrils as she eyed Tal's trousers with gleeful chaos, but at his retraction she settled for a smoky burp and looking thoroughly smug and pleased with herself.
Tal hurriedly reached for the glass and took a fortifying sip gulp. "Botanicals, huh? Sounds healthy. Thanks, Flora." Carrying the glass with him, he could already feel the heat of the concoction traveling to his neck and ears. The stuff was potent, he decided gratefully, not even thinking to ask what kind of botanicals.
Bracing his shoulders he headed for the little stage and stepped up, tugging the red shirt beneath his black vest straight, and grasping the glass like a lifeline as he looked to the band and gave them a nod.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Heh.
Melita wandered by the Hanged Man often – a given, some days, meandering through for a quick drink after days by the sea. Today though, she could hear telltale music beginning to play. Maybe the mer was back – Calliope, wasn’t it? – she was pretty good –
But wandering in, barely poking her head within the doorframe, made her eyes widen, before she ducked back out quickly. Talyson? What was that fucking little –
And then a plan. Quickly. Efficiently. Stupidly, but a plot nonetheless. Snagging a runner nearby, she whisked off a note on a tiny slip of paper and instructed the lad to send it along to Jack, pondering if he’d like a dose of amusement.
Before she slipped right back in, waving to Flora, and taking a seat towards the middle, a look of utter disdain crossing her features, staring straight at the courier.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
Alright, so it's true that Melita and Jack butt heads on a lot of stuff. (Most things, in fact, but that's neither here nor there). What the good captain has come to realise, however, is that the Honeybee is good for a bit of chaos and fuckery, and if she's taken the time to send him a note inviting him to some, it's going to be good.
And thus, completely ignoring whether or not the sign on the Hanged Man was flipped to open or otherwise, Jack swans into the bar with high expectations, wiping the blood from his knuckles. (He's a busy man, yeah?) And the captain doesn't come alone, either; of course the rest of his crew blusters in along for the ride - and don't worry, Tal, some of them will want to sing karaoke after you.
Tipping a wink to Flora and moving to sit beside Mel, he raises his eyebrows. "Ain't that the guy whose shoes you wanted?"
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Ground is shaking underneath now that you're here Body's skipping beats when you appear
Soh was in Torchline for Official Business, but that didn't mean that she couldn't make time to see a friend. She'd promised Flora to come by and see the Hanged Man sometime, and this seemed like as good a time as any. The 'closed' sign gave her pause for a moment, but then she heard a band warming up - and, after all, hadn't she seen someone come in ahead of her, anyway? Maybe they just forgot to flip the sign? With a shrug, Soh slipped inside, fully intending to find Flora, say hello, and then slip away again.
But what she saw when she entered was... let's call it 'confusing'. Talyson stood in front of everyone, looking for all the world like he was about to sing karaoke (which was not at all like her friend). Melita and Jack seemed to be hanging out to watch. Soh observed all this with a furrowed brow before spotting Flora and making her way over to the young woman. "Hey, Flora!"' she said with a sweet smile for her friend. "What's, uh... what's going on?"
The world is on fire since you've come here All I've ever desired is here with me
Tal drew in a breath, ready to get it over with, when the door opened--
And there she was.
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walked into this one tonight. The courier paused, his blush creeping up his cheeks as he found his mouth suddenly too dry to sing. He compulsively gulped the rest of his totally healthy botanical cocktail and glanced desperately to the band leader.
The woman rolled her eyes and began the intro one more time, ignoring Tal's attempt to tell her to cut off the music.
He looked back to Melita and the expression on her face, and hail... maybe she was still mad at him about the limbo game, but maybe it was time he faced the music, and there'd never be a better time than tonight.
Bright red and stealing bashful glances at the Honeybee, the courier had eyes for no one else as he started to sing:
"You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
And when two lovers woo
They still say "I love you"
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by
Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate
One heart alone is lost without its mate
That no one can deny
It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by..."
No one was more surprised than Tal when his voice smoothed out under pressure, taking on a low tenor croon mellowed by the combination of alcohol and blushberries as he serenaded Melita from the stage.
Eating fire is your ambition to swallow the flame down
Content with the appearance of her smuggler comrades, and ready to do some heckling, she leaned back in her seat, snagging at a favored bottle of booze. “Yeah, he’s a git,” she uttered to Jack, though she couldn’t quite remember why she wanted Talyson’s shoes. Impulse, probably. It would’ve been fun to toss them over the hill, hear the plunk in the water. Not enough to forgive and forget over the limbo incident, but certainly on the way to making her feel better. Maybe being a shithead here would work too.
And he could look her way allllll he fucking wanted, because there was a big scowl planted right on her face. Brows furrowed. Mouth drawn into something that might resemble an indignant snarl. Anyone with some modicum of sense would see she was primed to likely stage a siege at any moment.
Then his song started.
And he kept staring at her.
“What’s he going on about?” She murmured to the Captain, completely unbothered and unaware. Then she looked around the room, wondering why the courier didn’t stare at anyone else.
It took a few more seconds to dawn and click in her mind, and then her jaw clenched, looking like an absolute mule. Hell no. How many times had she tried to get rid of this dude? She should’ve let that damned island eat him. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted in return. “Not interested!” in a manner that lacked all singsong notions.
to be lit up from within, vein by vein to be the sun
Smiling sunnily to Talyson as he took his drink - and a healthy sip - Flora settled back to watch the drama unfold. Waggling her fingers at both Melita and Jack, it's with a bright croon of delight that the Doubletake stretches her fingers out toward Sohalia, ushering the Heart toward the bar. " Hey you." Throwing her arms around the other girl, Flora pulls back enough to flash her friend a smile. 'You picked a great night to drop by.' Grinning, both cheerfully and sarcastically, she nods her head toward the stage before stepping back behind the bar.
"Lemme guess, just water?" She asks with a roll of her eyes, before Tal started to sing.
Mouth open and eyes shining, Flora swatted Sohalia playfully on the arm in a are you seeing this??? gesture. 'Oh my gods.' She chuckled to herself, before mentally crossing Tal off the list of potential Step-Dad candidates for her mother.
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat Me and karma vibe like that
He's been promised a dose of amusement, and by all the gods does Melita deliver. Jack has been happily ogling Flora and nursing a tumbler of whiskey while the rest of the crew get in their cups and try to sing (badly) along to whatever intro the band is playing, when the victim of the shoe-thievery himself starts to serenade the Honeybee.
To say that Jack is delighted is an understatement, and he swats at Melita's arm even as she tries to ruin Tal's moment. "She's jus' shy, love! She likes you - told me herself!" he calls out, because you don't invite Jack somewhere unless you want chaos to follow on his heels.
And the great thing about chaos is that it doesn't care who it targets.
full speed ahead 'til i'm dead
Jack being an Abandoned is common knowledge these days, however his Telepathy remains a well-kept secret:
Magic: Passive Telepathy | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 30ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered
Also branded with a small star tattoo beneath his left eye.
Well, he’d figured she was still mad at him, but he’d hoped that maybe… maybe if he confessed she might be willing to give him a chance…
The shout cut through the music – and Tal’s heart. Well… more or less. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known it was a long shot, but the direct and forceful rejection had the courier visibly wilting. His shoulders rounded down and his gaze dropped to his feet as he swallowed hard against the rush of heat to his cheeks and ears. He froze on the stage, willing his feet to move but feeling like they were nailed to the floor with mortification.
But then! The voice of an angel, offering redemption!
He glanced up to spy Jack one of Mel’s friends sitting next to her, giving him all the encouragement he needed! After all, hadn’t he been just as stubborn and stand-offish when they’d met? Maybe… maybe Mel was just shy, and giving him a taste of his own medicine!
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tal looked at Melita bashfully from beneath dark lashes, twisting his toe against the floor boards of the stage. ”Mel… I mean, Melita… would y’do me th’great honor… o’ bein’ my date tonight?” he asked, voice gruff with hope and the sweetness of alcoholic blushberries.
