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!
"I am never leaving your sight again," Ronin whispers back, able to reach up now and brush a few errant curls out of Remi's face, to let his free arm slip around the Lullaby's middle to draw them close enough that the other man's wings might hide the worst of their indecency. "Not awake, not asleep. I'll be right here - you'll be sick of the sight of me." Smiling gently, he snags Remi's hand in his own to press it over the now steady beat of his heart; a beat that will be echoed against the Lullaby's finger.
"I'm sure. All I need is you from here," he promises. "...And perhaps a pair of pants. And some breakfast on the way back to the boat." A man of simple tastes, is Ronin, unless you're counting Remi. (And he certainly is).
Leaning again for a kiss to his husband's cheek, he steps in to hug the other man tightly enough that it would crack a rib on a normal person. "I love you," he repeats, just in case Remi has forgotten in the past few seconds.
I've been sleepwalking, Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
Softly rolling his eyes in protest though unable to fully pull them from the Nova, Remi can only bite at the inside of his cheek that his tongue might smooth away the sob forming upon it. "A million lifetimes in a million different worlds and that could never be true." Nearly he added a caveat about that changing should Ronin develop any more gray hairs, but given the Nova had properly almost died, Remi just smiled sweetly instead.
"Gods, anything else? A songbird to come and comb your hair with its feet?" Okay, so maybe not even death could keep the Lullaby from joking at his husband's expense.
Returning the gesture albeit with a bit more care, Remi finally exhaled the tension that had kept his ribs from fulling contracting ever since Ronin had awakened him. "I do not even know how to feel." He murmured against the Nova's neck, before realizing that he'd been counting his husband's heartbeats without meaning to. "I just...and it is not even that you almost died, so much as-" Pulling back and gazing into Ronin's dawn-brightened eyes, Remi swallowed helplessly.
"...I was not there. I always thought, if it was to happen..."
the lullaby
Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I will take that as a challenge, husband," Ronin replies, sweet wickedness in his tone as he leans up to brush his nose across Remi's. "A songbird comb, yes, and perhaps a carriage pulled by tumsea," he continues, more than happy to list his (very reasonable) demands as they prepare to fumble their way out of the fountain. It's a task made difficult by neither man's willingness to let the other go, but somehow they manage it.
Only once dry stone is beneath his feet again does Ronin lean back into Remi's embrace, letting his head loll against the Lullaby's shoulder. "Well of course, if it were to happen, we would be together," he whispers, meeting the other man's gaze and reaching up to clasp his cheek. "Because I didn't die. I'm right here." It's as though he's proved himself right purely in the fact that he's still breathing.
The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.
Trying to kiss the worry lines from Remi's brow and the corners of his eyes, Ronin's hands swarm gently upwards to press into the downy feathers where the Lullaby's wings melt into his shoulders. "Do you remember what it was like to wear pants? And do you mind doing just that?" he asks with a gentle laugh.
I've been sleepwalking, Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
'You do that." Remi agrees, and though he desperately wants to memorize everything about this moment if only to reassure himself that it's all real, time seems to slip through his fingers far more quickly than he'd like. It leaves him holding his breath and exhaling in little bursts as his fingers clutch clumsily against whatever bits of Ronin they can reach.
Slumped against the fountain with the weight of his husband against him, a shiver slides across the Lullaby's back as he clutches Ronin closer. "You nearly did." It isn't a helpful thing to say, but it's the only thing that comes close to scratching the itch that Ronin's brush with death has left all over the Lullaby's skin.
Hardly feeling the brush of Ronin's lips at first, it's only as Ronin teases at his feathers that Remi seems to come back to himself. "Pants, mm? Those are the ones that go on your hands, right?" Closing one eye and scrunching his brow, Remi conjures first an inkwelllll apple, before grinning and tossing it over his shoulder. With a sigh, Remi conjured a pair of threadbare sweatpants, having seen them worn low on his husband's hips often enough that the memory of them came complete with every stain and crinkle of fabric as to perfectly match the ones slung over a chair back on the boat.
the lullaby
Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"But I didn't," Ronin hisses lovingly in protest, and even as the morning light begins to dry away the beads of water on his skin, he continues to draw strength from the fountain Remi is propped against. And, naturally, the more the Nova comes back to himself, the more of a lovestruck menace he's liable to be. "Mm, I think so. At this point I'll take a sock to protect my modesty," he says, the words mumbled through a kiss against Remi's throat.
Nonetheless, as the sweatpants are dutifully conjured, complete with streaks of paint where Ronin has tried to clean his brushes on them while working on something, the Nova draws back enough to slip them on. "I'd have eaten the apple," he protests warmly, finally backing up to step out of the fountain and drawing Remi with him. "Come on," he invites. "I'm well enough to stroll, I think. Especially if I get to lean on you."
I've been sleepwalking, Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
"It is going to be a while before that matters." Remi counters with a loving grumble, and though the Nova is clearly gaining his strength back by the second, the Lullaby is apt to treat him like an invalid for significantly longer than is necessary. "Mmm, you say that, but I recall many conversations about a certain statue of you to be erected in Stormbreak, where birds were meant to perch on your modesty."
Not bothering to hide his gaze as Ronin slips into his sweatpants, the Lullaby just shrugs absently at the mention of the apple. "It would not have filled you up anyhow." Memories were like that of course. "I am sure we can find something for you to snack on." He adds; either some merchant would be pottering about, or they could pluck something off a tree or bush.
Reaching out to slip an arm around the Nova's waist, not entirely trusting the easy strength humming through his husband's body, Remi glances accusingly up toward the sky before offering Ronin his other hand. "So what...what actually happened?"
the lullaby
Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I will keep saying it until it does matter," Ronin assures the other man, sneaking a kiss to his cheek and relaxing into the arm that slips around his waist. "I should ask Sohalia to commission that statue," he says at the reminder, smirking and glancing up at Remi. "I imagine people would put socks on the statue as well." Not on its feet, of course.
Resisting the obvious I'll snack on you as they begin wending their way through Haulani's streets, instead the Nova accepts his husband's free hand and draws it up to his lips, pressing a kiss against the knuckles. "Deimos and I were both there," he murmurs softly. "We found Safrin in a clearing. She looked..." He shakes his head. "Like the light had gone out of her. Her hands were burned, she couldn't speak."
Sighing out a long breath, he turns away from the memory to purposely nose against Remi's curls instead. "That owl - Artemide, I think - gave her enough energy to regain consciousness. And I offered mine, so she could tell us what happened. But she let me go before she could give the whole message." So I wouldn't die goes unsaid.
I've been sleepwalking, Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
"Did you just suggest you'd ask a teenage girl to make a lifesize naked statue of yourself?" The alchemist wonders, jostling the star just a little. "Honestly, I know you are by far the most charming man in this entire world, but gods Ronin, sometimes..." Grinning crookedly and falling all the more in love with the man at his side for his occasional bumbling stupidity, Remi just laughs and rolls his eyes.
Softly sighing, Remi does his best to focus on the feeling of Ronin's lips against his fingers to prevent the Nova's description from becoming too visceral in his mind. "I wonder what it could have been. Or...what it will be, I suppose." Given the warning Safrin had managed, it seemed trouble was all but inevitable now.
Feathering his jaw slightly and wondering for just a moment why Safrin hadn't bothered to call down someone else—anyone else—who wasn't at risk of dying the way Ronin was (who? who else?), Remi presses his eyes closed for just a moment before snapping them open. "Whatever comes...it will be from the stars, won't it?" Tugging the Nova to a halt, the Lullaby does his best to keep his voice even. He manages it, just, though the cost is a new sheen of tears across his sea-glass stare. "And what really is a falling star, save for that which comes down from the sky."
the lullaby
Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Are you trying to say that she wouldn't, if I asked?" Ronin grins despite knowing full well what he's just said and why it's problematic, but leaning into it is apparently the flavour of the morning now. "Because now I should ask, just to see what she says." Relaxing against the man at his side and keeping his eyes peeled for anywhere that looks as though it will serve them an obscene portion of breakfast, it's a shame that their conversation can't continue to be buoyant and easy.
And as Remi stops them, Ronin can almost see the way the cogs turn in his mind and the pattern they're beginning to form. "Hey," he says, reaching out to clasp Remi's cheeks with both hands, as if he can wipe away his tears before they've fallen. "Hey, no. No. Don't let that run away with you."
One might expect tight hugs or insistent kisses, given the Taliesin track record for this morning alone, but instead Ronin draws the Lullaby against him as if he's something fragile and delicate, something to be wrapped in cotton wool and set down somewhere warm and safe. "Just because it falls from the sky, doesn't make it a star. A lot of things fall from up there," he whispers. "But as soon as Safrin is well enough, I will check. And until then, I will be as safe as I can. I promise."
I've been sleepwalking, Too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
"I am saying that she absolutely would if you asked, which is problematic for many reasons, not least of which is that I doubt Stormbreak would even need you to pose for such a statue." Able to joke about it now, Ronin had spent the majority of the open portion of their relationship up in Stormbreak, and it hadn't escaped the Lullaby's notice just how many gamblers and whores knew his name even now.
"I am not running." Remi whispers with a small shake of his head. Though dawn was stretching golden fingers out across the sands, the Lullaby was able to sweep together enough shadows to draw protectively around he and the Nova. 'Do they?' Not wanting to get philosophical about it, instead, Remi pulls in a shaky breath and gazes reflectively up at the sky.
"I still have the feather." Trying to rally himself by forcing a smile, Remi regards the blue of his husband's eyes whilst trying not to wonder if he'd ever think back on precisely this moment with horror and longing at his husband's funeral. "But we have yet to find breakfast. Come on."
the lullaby
Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"You say problematic, I say a point of pride," Ronin says, doubling down on his naked-statue-project for no other reason now than because it distracts from the altogether horrific nature of the rest of their conversation. And as Remi insists he's not letting the potential doom and gloom of their future get on top of him, the Nova leans in to seal it with a gentle kiss, as if trying to taste the truth of the situation.
"You still have the feather," he whispers back, his voice feeling altogether more muffled by the shadows. "And I still don't plan to be out of your sight at all. So yes, let's find breakfast, and you can remind me of the names of all those plants Mateo says he's going to propagate and put all over our boat."
Unaware that this is likely the last ordinary moment he's going to share with Remi for the foreseeable future, Ronin tucks himself back against his husband's side and leads them further down into Torchline's streets, seeking out warm pastries and strong coffee to begin the day in earnest.
