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+---- Thread: cut our teeth and make our bones right here (/showthread.php?tid=7764)
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
Feeling somehow worse for laying it all out like that - because even if Remi's situation is arguably The Worst One, it doesn't make Ronin's future seem like roses in comparison - the hunter runs his fingers through his hair and sits up a bit. He's both surprised but not to hear that the wendigo hasn't been let in on the research elements of his enslavement, but given that he's aware of it, he doesn't consider it a secret. (And even if it was, the likelihood of him keeping it from Remi is low).
[say]"It's where she went,"[/say] he explains. [say]"There are more wendigo up in Alaska than most other places, and she thought she found someone like you. It turned out to be a dead end, but she found something else instead. Rumours about a temporary cure - not just for wendigo, but for any human-monster combination. I don't know many details, but she's looking into it more, apparently."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
[say]'We didn't have..'[/say] Remi starts to explain about Isla, before shaking his head and nodding for Ronin to continue.
[say]'I wonder if cannibalism is more common there.'[/say] He mutters, more to himself than as a proper question, before installing regretting it. The hows of becoming a wendigo was certainly not the sort of thing you could glorify in teenage romance novels as with some other monsters.
a dead end and rumours about did not inspire much confidence in the wendigo, and though Ronin was likely telling Remi all of this as a means of keeping his spirits up, the wendigo just found himself nodding along politely. [say]"Should make for interesting research for her."[/say] He said in the end, placing the aventurine stone back into the box and delicately placing the lid on top.
[say]"Whatever she's given me now is pretty impressive, when you think about it. I've only thought about killing you once since you've walked in, so.."[/say] Remi shrugs, trying on a smile and finding it uncomfortable.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
[say]"Hope really frightens you, huh,"[/say] Ronin murmurs, unable not to notice the polite distance Remi puts between himself and the conversation. Not that he can blame the wendigo, but it doesn't exactly make for the most uplifting chat in the world. As for the only thought about killing you once state of affairs, the hunter snorts out a humourless laugh. [say]"Don't I feel privileged,"[/say] he drawls.
An awkward silence falls during which Ronin seems to be heavily debating something, and whatever it is, he apparently decides to throw caution to the wind, because when he glances back to Remi it's with a quick look around first, as if to check for cameras he knows shouldn't be there. [say]"I know you were serious about dying,"[/say] he says quietly. [say]"But back in the woods, when you said about killing the things that are after me. Were you serious then, too?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
Wondering whether or not to take the bait, Remi presses his teeth together for a moment as he debates opening up this particular can of worms. In the end, he decides that since he won't be able to kill himself any time soon, he supposes he has nothing to lose by TalKIng AboUt His FeElInGs.
[say]"No, hope doesn't frighten me."[/say] He begins in a measured voice. [say]"But what you all--"[/say] Presumably just Ronin and Isla. [say]"--think of as hope or reasons to live or things that make it not so bad...they aren't even really bandaids at this point."[/say] Running a hand through his hair and then leaving it behind his head, the wendigo leans back with a frown. [say]"Take painting my room. Yes, that's nice. Not seeing the pink is obviously an improvement, but it's still a cell. Dress it up however you like, but I'm still imprisoned and there's only so much set dressing you can do."[/say] Unsure where he's supposed to look, Remi's eyes scan the ceiling and the walls as he speaks. The closest he comes to making eye contact with the hunter are a few general glances around his partner's shoulder.
[say]"Say Isla does find a temporary cure, so what. Imagine that Dr. Grimm allows me..what? One night out a month, which is a generous assumption by the way, my life is still one as a slave, Ronin. I don't choose when or what to eat. I can't come and go. I have no rights, no freedoms.
So no, it isn't hope that frightens me. It's the fact that everyone here seems so blind to what my situation actually is, that you think what you're offering counts as hope."[/say]
Now, feeling like a gigantic asshole, Remi's gaze drops back into his lap as they both sit and stew in the awkward silence. It's Ronin who breaks it first, and had the wendigo not just gone on the most long-winded rant of his entire life, he might have snarked something along the lines of, yeah, what else have I got to do? Instead, he just lifts his eyes and studies Ronin's face for a moment before nodding. [say]"Yeah, I was."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
Ronin doesn't know what he expects from his comment. No, that's a lie, actually. He knows exactly what he expects, which is more stony silence or a quick quip and nothing else; that's precisely why he said what he did. So when the result, instead, is an unprecedented peek into the wendigo's situation, there's little Ronin can do but hear him out. It's all things he's suspected, it's true, but fuck if it doesn't hit different coming straight from Remi.
Chewing hard at the inside of his mouth, it's lucky he doesn't break the skin, because gods only know what the scent of blood will contribute to this little heart to heart. Still, the confirmation is enough for Ronin to plough on, and it's perhaps a good thing that Remi has gone on his rant, because it ties directly into what the hunter says next.
[say]"Okay,"[/say] he murmurs. [say]"Well. I don't know what's going to happen, obviously. With this meeting, with Isla and Grimm and how they're going to make life for you. But if we get the chance to go out again on a hunt, as partners... I'm going to let you go."[/say] Not the unleashing kind of letting go, the Free Willy kind. [say]"All I ask is that when the time comes, with all my otherworldly bullshit... make yourself available, yeah?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
Now it's Remi's turn to look surprised, and indeed it's with his eyebrows nearly meeting above his nose that he stares at the hunter waiting for the other shoe to drop.
[say]"They might have a tracker in me.."[/say] He murmurs, pulling his hand from behind his head and rubbing absently at one arm as if he might be able to feel a chip beneath his skin. It's a small detail really, one that Isla could easily answer, but it's something to say in the face of what Ronin is offering.
[say]"How would I stay in contact with you? It isn't exactly like I have a cell phone and I'd have to put quite a bit of distance between me and this place, and.."[/say] Trailing off, realizing that of course Ronin wouldn't have these answers right now, the wendigo instead looks down at the blanket over his knees. [say]"They'll know you had something to do with it. You'll never go topside again."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
[say]"They do,"[/say] Ronin confirms as if it's nothing. [say]"I've been stealing looks at your files and shit whenever I get a chance. No one expects a hunter to go browsing medical notes, so..."[/say] He shrugs. It hadn't even been that difficult, especially given the terms he's on with Isla. [say]"I can cut it out, though. It wouldn't be too hard."[/say] And with the way Remi heals... well, it's barely going to be an inconvenience for him.
[say]"We'd choose a place. Shove notes in a hollow of a tree if we have to."[/say] He shrugs. [say]"And are you sure about that? One swipe from you on me would be enough for me to say you overpowered me and ran. I'd be under a disciplinary for not keeping you in the chain, sure, but I doubt anyone thinks I'd actively release you for good."[/say] And more fool them. [say]"Besides, you think I want to stay here forever after you're gone?"[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
Remi nods in agreement. It would be easy enough to carve out, and so long as the hunter didn't accidentally cut himself in the process, the risk to them both was relatively low. [say]'Pen pals, huh.'[/say] He says with a huff of quiet laughter. [say]"Hopefully we can read each other's writing."[/say]
Pressing his tongue along the bottom of his teeth, Remi lets his head loll back and forth for a moment. [say]"One swipe from me on you and I'm not sure you'd be walking out alive."[/say] The wendigo says guiltily, his eyes flicking toward the hunter's before falling. [say]"But me suddenly without a tracker...you losing control of me after all these hunts together, not to mention you being the only one who I've ever worked well with..."[/say] He presses his lips together. [say]"There's no way they'll believe you weren't involved to some degree."[/say]
Rather than sounding as if he were declining the idea altogether, Remi instead breathes in deeply through his nose and straightens. [say]"We'll just have to do your thing first. Then we'll both be free to go."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
[say]"Just don't write me notes in Italian and I'm sure I'll manage,"[/say] Ronin says with a smirk and a raise of his eyebrows. And while he wants to puff out his chest and tell Remi that he can handle a swipe from him, he knows the other man is only saying as much because it's the sad truth. [say]"Well, be gentle then,"[/say] he says instead, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
Clearly Ronin doesn't expect this level of pushback from a man who has spent the last few minutes saying how bad his existence has become, not to mention the active suicide attempt that's brought them here to begin with. [say]"With respect,"[/say] he says slowly, [say]"why the fuck do you care? You've spent so long telling me you're not my problem, did you forget that I'm not yours either? I wouldn't have offered without already considering the consequences."[/say]
With brows furrowed, the hunter shakes his head. [say]"I don't know how long it will be before I can do my thing,"[/say] he reminds him. [say]"Fae don't have a customer services helpline, I can't ask for timescales. The whole point is for you not to be stuck here not wanting to be alive indefinitely."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
[say]"No, I mean.."[/say] What he'd meant was that if he'd been given the chance to open up Ronin even a little, he wasn't sure he'd be able to help himself and not finish the job. It was probably better that the hunter had misunderstood, and so rather than continuing, Remi just clears his throat and nods.
It's just like these two to somehow argue about helping one another, but here we fucking are. Feeling suddenly bristly at his partner's tone, the wendigo manages the first real bit of eye contact since Ronin has entered, but only because it's more of a glare than anything else. [say]"Yeah, why the fuck would someone who is intimately acquainted with just how shitty this place can be, want to spare someone else that same fucking fate."[/say] He snaps, and then, because Ronin had really opened the door up for this quip in particular, Remi adds: [say]"Guess I'll just keep doing what I'm told, right?
Fuck me for having an opinion."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
Ronin can't help but laugh at the other man's bristling, shaking his head uselessly. [say]"It's really fucking annoying when someone throws your attempts to help back in your face, isn't it?"[/say] he says quietly, because gods if the tables haven't just turned from their conversation a few minutes ago. Still, rather than storming out like he wants to, the hunter huffs out a long sigh and scrubs his hands across his face, rubbing at his eyes.
[say]"I just didn't know why you'd want to wait, given that you didn't know how long it would be for. And neither of us know what's going to happen at that meeting either. Life could get a fuckton harder for you."[/say] He shakes his head again, dropping his hands and glancing back to Remi. [say]"But you're right. I'm sorry. If you want to do this in a safer way, that's probably smart. Of course you've got a say in this."[say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
Remi has the words fuck you locked and loaded behind his teeth, but gods if Ronin wasn't fucking right. Huffing out a nondescript sound that's as close to acquesseing as he can come, he too stays put instead of storming off.
[say]"If I'm free up there...I suppose I just can't imagine how that would work. Right now it's the doctors who keep me fed, but if I have to hunt for my own food?"[/say] Remi grimaces as he shakes his head a single time. [say]"If I have to stay near enough topside to check your tree-messages and not get caught? Or what if I do get caught, by someone other than Grimm? Topside has known about me for months now given everything, and if they catch wind that I'm loose, and also stupid enough to be sticking around?"[/say]
Again, Remi shakes his head a single time. [say] "It isn't that this is the safer way, it's the way that's most likely to work for both of us."[/say] Because at least once Ronin's thing was taken care of, they wouldn't have to risk their lives passing notes back and forth.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 05-08-2023
Now they're both making good points and being grumpy about it, because Ronin hadn't thought much past the be free, Remi, be free! part of the plan. But the wendigo isn't actually some abused test animal; he's an anomaly, a monster that's somehow still got human reasoning - or a human with a monster's hunger, if you want to look at it a different way - and it's not as simple as 'go and live in the woods and hunt some deer'.
[say]"Alright, so maybe I jumped the gun a bit with the initial plan."[/say] Ronin even has the good grace to sound haughty about it, though when he glances across at Remi, there is a whisper of dark amusement in his expression. [say]"We'll keep ironing out the details, then. And when my thing is taken care of, we'll go from there. How does that sound?"[/say] It feels like a time where he should be offering to shake the wendigo's hand, but simultaneously that seems kind of dumb.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 05-08-2023
Remi smirks, not bothering at all to hide his amusement. And why should he? They're both a couple of absolute morons who don't have the emotional maturity to go, gee, being friends with one another is hard, huh? Sorry about it.
[say]"That sounds good."[/say] The wendigo agrees, biting at the inside of his lip to keep his smile from spreading too rapidly. Still, what felt like a glacier of tension had seemingly broken between them, and Remi can't quite help the way his shoulders sag with relief.
[say]"Maybe one day you can smuggle in...I don't know, a picture book about Fae Changlings so I have some idea what to expect from all this? If not that's fine, but if I step into one of those faerie circles because I think the rocks are neat, that's on you."[/say]