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!
Let it be said that it's a difficult thing to get the jump on the Captain of the Ark. A difficult thing, yes. But not an impossible one.
Combine the right set of circumstances - insert the return of arguably his closest friend in a catatonic state, combined with a raging migraine and some weird weather fuckery making it impossible to sail out of Torchline - and you've got a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen.
Insert Jack. It's him - he's the disaster.
He slinks into the Hanged Man well beyond what might be considered closing time; more accurately, one ought to say, he slinks up against the doors that are likely locked and bolted, and tries them anyway. His hand leaves a rusty print against the wood, and he totters a little where he stands.
Its just a graze with a knife, he keeps telling himself, and the more his faded linen shirt turns red, the less he believes it.
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
"No, Mateo, you can't use the backrooms as a hookup pla-" Hauling open the doors with a look of disappointment and superiority that was curated just for her brother, the Doubletake does just that as she realizes the dark-haired figure slumped against her door isn't her brother. "Jack?" Having already put out the lantern it's hard to see—dark enough that she doesn't see the blood at all—but the familiar silhouette of the captain's nose and lips is one that's haunted more than a few of Flora's nights over the years she's known him now, and it's one she recognizes right away.
"Come in." Had it been anyone else, she'd have told them to get lost, but this was Jack. Jack who wouldn't be dropping by this time of night without some sort of purpose, and it was the realization of that which made Flora feel problematically needed by the older man. To put it another way, he was one square away from striking an instant BINGO! on the Doubletake's Daddy-issues bingo card.
"Want a drink?"
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
"Nn," says Jack, eloquently. At any other time the flashing neon sign in Flora's thoughts would have been enough to ignite a fire in his belly, except there kind of already is one, and it's hurting more as time goes on, honestly. Slouching into the establishment rather than swaggering as is his standard, the good captain reaches out for Flora to steady himself (and she'll find a red print against her shoulder when she does put on some lights).
"Somethin' strong," he says. "Got needle an' thread, too?" This might be a pajama party yet, if Flora plays her cards right. It's not like Jack is going to be able to carry himself home if this keeps up. This being the blood starting to trickle into the Hanged Man's floorboards under their feet.
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
It's a problem just how much Flora will contort herself in order to be seen as useful, such that she nearly pulls a muscle in her back trying not only to steady Jack, but look effortlessly strong while doing it.
Rolling her eyes as if offended she would serve Jack anything but something strong, she does pause to frown briefly at the mention of needle and thread. "Why? Want to practice your needlepoint?" She wonders, laughing, as she indeed pours him something strong and dark. Pushing it across the bar to him, it's only as she flits about relighting the lanterns that she notices the droplets beneath Jack's stool and the way the captain is hunched over in a position that suggests pain instead of dashing carelessness.
"Hey...are you..." Siddling up next to him, Flora reaches for Jack's shoulder.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Coughing out a laugh as he gets himself somewhat upright on the barstool, Jack shakes his head. "Nah," he mumbles, "hand's not steady enough for that right now. It's for you." For you to practice your needlework. On me.
Accepting the drink and indeed shooting it back in one - it helps to be fucking trashed if someone is going to stitch you up, he's found - the captain winces and taps the bar for another. Except Flora isn't actually there any more, and he has to blink around for her before realising she's snuck up to his side.
"Oh sure," he mumbles, removing the hand currently pressed to his crimson soaked side. "Just bumped into a knife, s'all. Say, you actually got any of that fountain water? Y'know, the good shit." The healing shit.
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
"What part of how I dress makes you think I sew any of it myself?" Flora wonders a touch haughtily, having very much inherited her mother's tastes in fashion but none of the practical skills that went with. Conveniently she had a fairly regular supply of manticore feathers which enabled her shopping habits, so it had never been a problem.
Blinking as the captain knocked on the bar as if asking for another card in blackjack, Flora tilts her head as she realizes just how out of it Jack must be. "Wh-Jack, oh my gods!" Sounding both critical and concerned, Flora stepped back quickly, not wanting to get blood on her outfit. Glancing down and realizing that that ship had sailed already, she huffed to herself. "The foun-oh, yeah. Some in the back." For some reason after Ronin had stabbed himself with one of Mateo's cacti (#TotallyNotHerFault), he'd gone and gotten her some.
"You stay put." Before going into the backroom, Flora quickly pours Jack another shot before opting just to leave the bottle. Returning moments later with a bottle labeled with Ronin's writing, the Doubletake pauses a touch doubtfully. "Do...you need to drink it? Or pour it on?"
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
"You might crochet in your spare time," Jack slurs his defence as if any part of how Flora dresses suggests she crochets either. She steps back and it's a very thin line between staying balanced and I oop for the captain, and he finds himself clinging to the bar with his mostly unbloodied hand. "Not gods, a knife," he hisses, wincing at the shrill tone of her voice as if reminded of the headache he's still got (hooray).
He accepts shot and bottle while she scoots out to the back room, and the glass has been absolutely abandoned by the time she returns. "Uh," he says helpfully, having absolutely no idea. "Maybe both." So saying, he takes the bottle, fumbles with it twice, struggles to uncork it (all the blood), and after a painful few moments, succeeds in taking a drink. The rest he douses against the wound in his side, which he's glad to note is already closing up.
"Thank fuck." It's the lack of pain more than the healing injury that has him sagging against the bar, fingers still loosely reaching for the bottle of liquor. One might imagine something like I owe you one or you're a lifesaver in the wake of all of this, but give him a sec to catch his breath.
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
"Maybe I do, but that doesn't use a needle." Flora points out, before rolling her eyes at his correction. "Well, oh my knife doesn't really have the same ring, does it?" Arguing comes to the girl as a defense mechanism, but based on the blood still oozing from the captain, she doesn't really think he's in any state to chastise her about it.
Watching Jack struggle with the bottle—and really Flora should be helping him do it, but this is Jack, and even wounded, she still errs on the side of caution—it's only as he pours the water on the wound that she sees it clearly. Hissing in a breath, the girl grabs at a rag behind the bar, (a clean one, don't you worry), and presses it softly against the wound before flicking a glance up at Jack to gauge just how much pressure he could take.
"You don't have to get stabbed just to get a drink after hours, you know." She says, laughing shakily, knowing that she was coming across far more like some naive child in this situation than a cool and trusted port of call. If she thought too hard she'd likely remember that Raza who had actually been Jack's friend and fuck buddy had worked here before, and that likely the captain had just come here on autopilot, but likely she wasn't actually thinking about it hard enough to put all those details together.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
"So you do crochet," Jack quips, given that he doesn't fucking know the difference or that you don't use a needle for it. Quite why this feels like a victory in the conversation is beyond him, but he's bone tired and he's lost a lot of blood, so sue him. His hand snakes out to press over the top of hers, adding pressure against his side, and though his grip is cold and relatively weak, it's not getting any worse thanks to the water.
A few moments and an even longer few breaths later and the good captain is even able to gingerly sit up straight, rolling his shoulders in an effort to dispel the rigid tension that lives there. "Fuck," he mumbles under his breath. "Good to know stabbin' works if I'm ever desperate for a drink, though."
Glancing over his shoulder at the mess he's made swamping his way up to the bar, Jack wrinkles his nose and gestures vaguely towards it. "I'll get that cleaned," he tells her. "You were about to leave?"
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
All but holding her breath as Jack's hand covers hers, the moment feels more intimate than it has any right to, and though the girl knows that it's one-sided, she still blushes just the same. Something about having one of the most dangerous men she'd ever come across bleeding in her bar only to lean into the pressure on his wound? If you don't think that's hot, congratulations on your healthy upbringing.
"Ugh, you're the worst." Flora chides, not meaning it, but relieved to see a bit of life flooding back into the captain. "What happened, anyway? Normally you're the one doing the stabbing." Following Jack's gaze, the Doubletake sighs and shrugs. "It's fine. I'll have Everest clean it. He loves messes."
As for leaving?
"Well yeah, it's late, so..." She shrugs again.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
One-sided or not, Jack's telepathy is his achilles' heel for a reason, and in this state especially he absorbs Flora's thoughts as readily as the blood soaking into the floorboards. Thankfully, it's the blood he doesn't have that prevents him from blushing as well; instead, the smuggler merely sits in the quiet moments between heartbeats, wondering how drunk he's accidentally gotten.
"Mm, I am," he agrees readily to being the worst, taking a final deep breath and releasing her hand, figuring the wound must have all but disappeared by now. "Someone whose business I ruined ran into me at a bad time." Which isn't even a lie, and Flora should feel privileged for it. "An' if you're sure. I won't offer again." The bloodstains will just have to add aesthetic.
"My luck must've been in." To catch her, he means. "Go on home, then. I'll crash here if it's all the same."
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
The expression on Flora's face melted from wary concern to shocked amusement; turning her aqua eyes up to Jack's face, searching for some hint that it had been intentional. "Ran into you, huh." She murmured, wanting to laugh in the space between them but holding her breath just the same. Glancing back toward the blood, the girl shrugs and nods. Everest did like cleaning, and it wasn't the first time blood had been shed on her floor.
His words send warmth spreading across her chest and to her belly as if she'd been the one cradling the bottle with her lips only moments before instead of him. "Don't be stupid." She says, still trying desperately to give off that air of casual strength. "There's nowhere to sleep here, and besides, people might think you've gone straight and got a job."
Lifting up the cloth, Flora nodded at what she saw below: the majority of the wound had healed, and though it looked slightly open still, at least it wasn't weeping blood everywhere. "Come on. You can sleep on my couch."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
"Mmhm," Jack confirms, and he has the audacity to shoot her a lopsided smile this time. "Knife first." An ordinary day - even an ordinary bad day - would have seen the dumb fuck off before the blade had ever been drawn. Unfortunately, much as he hates to admit it, the good captain is not invincible, and he'd been caught unawares this time.
"No, you," he retorts, wobbling off the barstool with far too much enthusiasm and having to reach out to grip hold of it so he doesn't slip on blood or overbalance. "I have a job," he tells Flora haughtily, though they can both agree there's nothing straight about him, whether it's to do with business or pleasure.
Still, the grumble that leaves him is the equivalent of an agreement, and Jack clamps his hand back across his side as if he's worried the wound will split back open again, before gesturing for her to lead the way.
are the angels on their way? i’m in the dirt
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.
Never fear, Jack. If anything this small slice of humanity is only making you seem all the more invincible in Flora's eyes. Dropping her eyes away from his crooked smile if only to keep her knees from bending and dropping her to the floor, it's instinct more than anything else that has Flora tugging the captain against her to keep him from also potentially joining her down on the floor.
Never mind that the pair had been together before, there was still something electrifying about being so near to Jack, especially like this, such that Flora had to intentionally try and keep her thoughts above board. At least until they were in her apartment.
Strolling along the boardwalk, the Doubletake looks out toward the partially built fountain. With an immediate scowl, she huffs and inadvertently tenses her grip of Jack. "You've heard about Safrin, right?" No doubt he had, this was Jack after all. "And Hadama and Harper want to finish that stupid fountain instead of, like, you know, preparing for the end of the world, or whatever."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
