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!
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
On the contrary; still getting used to his parents dropping by to visit, Mateo soaks up any attention and affection that Remi wants to give him, especially now that he's not standing around con il pene fuori wondering what the fuck has happened to his family. "She did? What an odd side hustle for a doctor," he remarks, though there's no judgement at all in his tone (have you met Mateo?)
"Dad knows about it, right? The Greatwood trip?" He thinks he recalls Remi mentioning it in their colourful travelling tongue debate, but he feels the need to make sure. "It is Leafchange, after all." And the amount of mind bleach he's needed to forget some of those past seasons is impressive.
Similarly brightening at the prospect of getting something from the Greatwood, Mateo nods. "Could you bring me back some sweetgrass?" he asks. "I am going to try and cultivate some using the terrarium."
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
"Mhmm." Remi confirms with a smile. "Isla is...a woman of many talents. Hence her being a very good choice to be your namesake." He adds, trying to reiterate the we're just friends nature of all of this. A picture of parental patience, the Lullaby just exhales softly and nods. "He does know, yes. While I am away he is going to be doing another of his Safrin...things." It was never clear what that would actually entail only that Ronin usually came back all the more chipper for having had the chance to shine like the good little star he was.
'Yes of course.' The Lullaby agrees instantly, already planning on trying to find both rooted sweetgrass as well as some seed pods for his son.
With the fire now under control, Remi glances over his shoulder and beckons the Remedy over with a tilt of his head. "Mateo, you remember Isla."
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
The reason why neither father nor son have been able to find Isla instantly is largely due to the fact that, when fires happen, burns happen too. She'd been able to suffocate the spread of the flames with her magic, snuffing them out before they can leave little more than a charred bit of velvet, but one of the girls behind the bar had suffered a nasty scorch on the back of her palm in the efforts leading up to that moment.
As a field medic she's able to patch wounds and apply first aid in places much worse than the back room of a bar, and so when she emerges, it's having dressed the girl's hand and with two drinks on the house for herself and Remi. "I've changed my mind. I feel right at home here," she says cheerfully as she is beckoned back over, only to find herself speechless at being face to face with Mateo after so long.
"I saw you at the Hanged Man," she says, a touch shy. "But I remember you when you were only little."
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
"Ah, capisco." Mateo nods, knowing better than to ask more detail about Ronin's Safrin things. At least his father seems to be coming down from the Cordillera and hanging out with friends, which sounds like the most ordinary thing in the world until it's applied to Remi. "Thank you," he trills, already planning a multitude of recipes for the sweetgrass when the golden-haired Ancient makes her presence known.
He doesn't remember Isla at all, having been a baby when he'd last been actually introduced to her, but luckily decorum is something he's inherited from the Supernova, and he inclines his head politely to the Remedy. "Hopefully I was not in a brothel back then," he says with a warm laugh. "Please do not allow my father to reorganise any of my belongings while you are using La Verbena, by the way. Especially the plants."
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
'Ah, you see?' Remi flashes Isla a triumphant grin as if he'd known all along that she'd fit in. Blushing anew, the Lullaby loudly clears his throat and tries to pin Mateo with a look so full of wordless communication that it makes his eyes bulge slightly.
"Sadly Mateo had to go. He has left some unfinished business upstairs. Non è vero, Mateo?" Eyebrows raising until they have nearly disappeared beneath his curls, Remi has half a mind to grab his son by the scruff of the neck and deposit him at a shrine where the botanist might become an attune so that Remi could properly silently chastise him in moments such as this.
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Should'a seen what I wore I had a cane and a party hat
The joy about not being Attuned is that, even though he is full aware of his father's attempts to get him to leave, Mateo can pretend not to notice them without mental consequences. And Remi had caught him with his pants down, in fairness. Speaking of which, "It is true. I was in the middle of perfecting a smoky eye, and my previous model was about to show me a very interesting technique with her tongue," he says.
Smiling sunnily between the Lullaby and the Remedy, Mateo finally does take that as his cue to go. "I will leave the keys in the lavender," he tells Remi, though given that the lavender Mateo has cultivated covered nearly half of the boat, that doesn't say much. Either way, like a good son, he vamooses and leaves his father to his play-date.
I was the king of this hologram where there's no such thing as getting out of hand
In the privileged position to enjoy the lyrical gymnastics between father and son without suffering either first or second-hand embarrassment, Isla is left smiling cheerfully after Mateo, giving him a wave goodbye for his trouble. She had, naturally, raised her eyebrows as well to hear what he'd been up to when they'd rudely interrupted, glancing at Remi as if to make completely certain he was also aware.
Once the botanist has departed, she finally lets out a laugh, jostling her shoulder against the Lullaby's. "You've certainly raised a colourful character there," she informs him, sounding nonetheless proud to have her name make up part of Mateo's. "So I take we are allowed to use the skyship? I didn't realise he lived there, Remi."
'Grazie mille, Mateo.' The Lullaby calls after his son, inhaling deeply and trying to simply imagine away the heat on his cheeks as his eyes remain fixed on the botanist's receding form.
'Colorato è una parola per questo.' Remi replies to Isla without thinking, before clearing his throat and offering his head the sort of shake that suggests whatever he'd just said wasn't worth repeating. "We are yes, and.." With a sly smile, the Lullaby tilts his head at an even slyer angle. "Does Mateo strike you as the sort of man who has ever wanted for a bed...?" It wasn't to call his son a whore, though Mateo likely wouldn't have taken issue with the word, moreso that the botanist's network of friends and associates was so deep that likely the hardest part of all of this would be figuring out some way of sorting through all of his options.
"Come on, we had better go before there are any more rumours."
i'm holding onto the pieces of my heart's debris
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
07-09-2023, 04:35 PM (This post was last modified: 07-09-2023, 04:35 PM by Isla.)
ISLA
Raising her eyebrows at the musical words that spill from Remi's lips, Isla enjoys them for what they are and contents herself with enjoying the fact that they have a skyboat to sail. (She doesn't even know if Remi has any idea how to sail one, but he'd offered, so... surely he does?) "You know, I have only seen him all grown up from afar, apart from these past twenty seconds... but no, I've got a feeling that he wouldn't struggle at all."
At least she doesn't have to worry about potentially leaving Mateo homeless - though if that was a real worry, she'd also have a few stern words for Remi, too - and at the Lullaby's suggestion, Isla nods and turns back towards the exit. "Well, it was nice to see the reception area of Stormbreak's finest brothel," she says, offering a wave to the girl whose hand she had bandaged, before leading them out onto the street once more.
