the last blues we're ever gonna have

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

"Hmnm." Is all the Lullaby has to say. Rather than point out that Mateo has never done anything like this for any friend so far, Remi decides merely to pull the botanist against him once more and wonder how it was he'd inherited none of his or Ronin's height.

All at once the Lullaby looks both exasperated and annoyed, and the brutish way he runs a hand over his eyes very much suggests he'd rather a thousand awkward conversations with Mateo than one social visit. "And...he did not say why?" Remi asks with a bit of a grimace, already wondering what sort of excuse he might use to best avoid this. Could he send Ronin instead?

REMI

Mateo

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of Mateo's friends to not get (sexually) assaulted on the regular, but he leaves his father's hmmm to grace the air without further comment. And given that he's not privy, either, to the jab at his PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE, THANK YOU height, as Mateo draws back, it's only with thoughts of Talyson at the forefront of his mind.

"He did not," he confirms, almost apologetically. "I did not know it would be an issue. And you do not have to meet with him - I was just passing along the message." Swallowing down the urge to actually say sorry, Mateo finds himself lingering awkwardly in the shop. "Do you... want to stay?" he asks. "Not here - I live on the skyboat we built - but... yeah. You can if you want to."

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

"I just..." Exhaling and having to remind himself that Mateo was not Ronin, and thus not a person to dump all of his problems and hangups on, Remi just shakes his head. "I will reach out and mention you told me as soon as we saw one another." He'd mention it to Ronin, and perhaps the Huntsman could take his place. Regardless, it shouldn't be Mateo's concern now that the message had been delivered.

"You...since when?" What a wonderful reminder this was of just how distant of a parent he was. Glancing almost nervously upstairs where there had been an apartment, the Lullaby frowns a touch before reminding himself not to be judgemental. "Has your lab extended to the upstairs, or..?" Maybe Mateo ran another business up there?

REMI

Mateo

"Okay," Mateo says with a small smile, though he doesn't feel particularly settled by the Lullaby's response. Perhaps next time he ought to reach out to Ronin directly and allow any correspondence from outside of the immediate family to run through the Huntsman's filter. It's an internal reminder that gets added to an even more internal to-do list, one that is liable to be forgotten if the urge to drink or take something is anything to go by.

Since when, though? "Oh, since... I... I suppose it has been over a year now," he says. Maybe more. "My laboratory is still only at the back space," he clarifies. "I mostly use upstairs as storage for the shop here, but I keep the bedrooms clean, in case you..." In case you ever wanted to come back. "In case of visitors. You can stay up there, if you would prefer to...?"

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

"Ah." The Lullaby mutters, straightening a touch guiltily, glancing toward the spiral stairs that lead into the apartment upstairs. In the dim light of whatevertimeitwas it was hard to remember the golden rays of sunlight that lit up the kitchen, or even of the small bedroom he'd once shared so happily with Ronin. Stormbreak was a place filled with troubled memories of the Lullaby, though he knew enough not to tell Mateo that he'd likely never spend another night in the room upstairs.

"Well, I am not particularly tired just now, but I would quite like to see what you have done with our boat if you have the time..? I can always come back in the morning if you are tired." Mateo might be the son of two demigods, but unlike them, he had to sleep. "I can always put you out if you need..?" Raising a single finger to indicate the magical method of sleep he was referring to, Remi tries and failed again to use his demigod abilities to channel Ronin to him.

REMI

Mateo

Ah, indeed. Shuffling his feet, Mateo brightens to hear that Remi wants to come and see the skyboat, and he quickly shakes his head at any indication that he might be too tired to show him or that he might need to be put to sleep. Perhaps it's a little tragic (it is) that he treats visits like this as the equivalent of Christmas, but he doesn't want to miss anything if he can help it.

"No, let's go," he confirms, keeping a few steps back from Remi just in case he might be put to sleep like a naughty toddler. "I just need to lock up first." And Mateo does just that, ensuring that his laboratory is very secure before producing a set of keys to let them out of the shop. Taking care not to make too much noise clicking the lock, he soon sets off across the Pacifist Plaza and towards the Falling.

"How are things up at the Cordillera?" he wonders.

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

Easily able to see in the darkness, it's nevertheless a familiar and easy stroll toward the cliffsides where the various aerial ships are docked. "Quite warm. You would not think being that much closer to the sun matters, given how far away it is in the big scheme of things, but.." The Lullaby shrugs. Sunburns don't bother the Taliesin's very much, if only because of how quickly they can heal, but the heat is still just as oppressive. "The waterfall flows upwards right behind our houseboat, and we have managed to grow sturdy enough ivy on a trellis that we have removed the fencing and it now just hovers inside of the falls." Did Remi have aspirations of making it climbable one day? You know he does.

"The dragons do not bother us very much, or when they do, it is usually us who has provoked them first." The Lullaby adds with a shrug, as if harassing dragons was the sort of activity just anyone might do with their afternoons. "I am not saying that Ronin has been stealing from them, only that his hoard of things has grown in direct proportion to the number of dragon-sightings near our valley." Again, he shrugs. If Ronin's worst vice was stealing from dragons, so be it. It wasn't as though the Lullaby was in a position to judge.

REMI

Mateo

His father paints a picture of bliss that's hard to rival, and Mateo's dreamy smile gives as much away; oppressive heat or not, the cool spray of a waterfall and freestanding ivy is as enviable as it is fantastical, and as they head up towards the Falling, the botanist can easily imagine reptilian silhouettes soaring overhead. "What could be worth stealing all the way up in the Cordillera?" he wonders with a bark of laughter. Granted, as alike as he and Remi are, there is no small part of Mateo that takes after the Huntsman, as well. (Just look at his social life as evidence).

"It sounds peaceful," he murmurs - and while the addition of literal dragons might make it a strange descriptor, Mateo knows his parents well enough to know that this is still preferable to war and leadership.

It doesn't take them long to step out onto the Falling, the sleepy, docked skyships creating the illusion of quiet and empty space, but of course come sunrise all of that will change quite quickly. Mateo leads them to an outcrop from the skyport that appears rarely used - as it should, given that Mateo's ship doesn't get much action in the sky, per say.

The little schooner is mostly obscured on one side by an outpouring of foliage; a curtain of lavender, carefully cultivated over the seasons. In the dark the vessel doesn't look like much, but despite having very little working knowledge of skyships - and an attention span of a gnat - the botanist has taken care of it well. "Here she is," he murmurs, almost bashfully.

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

"You will have to ask your other dad about that." Remi replies with a dry laugh. The only things the Lullaby hoards tend to be physically tied to certain people or memories - a napkin with blood on it, for instance. So while he understands his husband's desire to have, the things the dragon likes to keep are not ones Remi would ever pick out for himself. Which, coincidentally, is probably good for their marriage.

Thanks to the light the Lullaby smells Mateo's boat before he can properly see it. The wall of lavender is as much of a giveaway about where the schooner is moored as much as its silhouette against the dark sky, and Remi would be a liar if he said his heart didn't break a little with longing to see the vessel he and Mateo had once worked so hard on together. "Ah Mateo, è bellissima..! Io... non riesco nemmeno a crederci." Turning toward his son with a sad but proud smile on his lips, Remi gives his head a little shake of disbelief.

"I hope you know how proud of you I am. Truly. I know I do not say it enough, that I am not here enough, but.." Turning to the schooner as if the fact that Mateo had turned their little project into a proper thing on his own was evidence of the fact that the botanist had turned out alright despite Remi's mercurial presence in his life, Remi has to laugh. "..this is incredible."

REMI

Mateo

Not realising he's been waiting for his father's approval until he gets it, Mateo lets out his breath in a whoosh and turns to smile broadly up at Remi, all dimples and helplessly tousled curls. "Thank you, Dad. That means a lot," he murmurs, the words sounding a little strained with the force of his smile, and he steps forward to the little schooner and crosses the boarding plank to reach her deck.

"Come in," he urges, beckoning for the Lullaby to follow as he descends into the cabin in the hull. Unlocking the door, Mateo finally has the opportunity to light a few lanterns, revealing a space most adequately described as cozy and cluttered - and almost reminiscent, in retrospect, of a certain Wishing Wagon in the Greatwood.

You know, except it's also wall to wall plants.

"I still haven't given her a name," he confesses. "I was wondering if I should call her after nonna, or perhaps Aoife..."

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

Whatever had cracked in his heart upon seeing the boat, Mateo's dimpled smile filled with golden light. Smiling despite himself, Remi does as he's told and follows along behind the botanist. The interior, which had always just housed the tools and materials they'd needed for the schooner, was now seemingly an extension of Mateo. Though the Lullaby doesn't make the connection between a certain fox's wagon and where he presently stood, Remi was just as charmed by every nicknack and eclectic throw pillow as he'd ever been by Ianto's wagon.

"I think were Aoife here now...she would have found winged shoes to race along the skies with you, rather than being on a ship." Remi says with a sweet and soft smile. It's only now, years and years after his daughter's death that he can speak of her without feeling molten fire racing up the back of his throat. Even so, he shakes his head at the idea of naming the vessel after her.

Vai, though?

"Not many here in Caido would know that il vervaine is properly called la verbena." Remi muses a touch suggestively, one brow raised to see what his son thought of the idea. The spray of pink flowers, common in Northaven, was called something different here in Caido, if they were called anything at all.

REMI

Mateo

Having to move a few such throw pillows to make room on a patchwork couch for them to sit, Mateo is already ducking under the gauzy purple hammock he uses when the skies are rough at night to reach his kitchen countertop. It might be very early morning but he's still set on making tea, since his father is visiting the place where he lives and all that. "Winged shoes," he almost whispers, the smile still plastered to his face. "It sounds like a dream come true."

And Mateo should know, being one. (Eyoooo).

Having set the kettle on the stovetop to boil, the botanist turns as la verbena hits the air and, purely by coincidence of course, a wayward breeze outside sets the ship's wind chimes to gently tinkling. "I think she likes it," he murmurs softly, gazing around at the schooner. "La verbena, eh? It is about time you were called something," he says with no small amount of pride. "Do you think nonna would have liked skyships?"

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am

This scar I can't reverse, when the more it heals the worse it hurts

Chuckling, Remi nods as he sinks down onto the couch. Though he shouldn't be surprised at all by how comfortable it is, the patchwork appearance had made him wrongly assume it was going to be quite lumpy. Running a finger across one of the pillows, Remi smiles to himself as he traces out a star. "She never liked to stay still. Even when she was asleep her dreams were so vivid she almost always moved about."

Of all families, the Taliesin's certainly believed in ghosts, but it was that knowledge that kept Remi from thinking the chimes whispering outside were any sort of sign. Then again, perhaps the next time the Lullaby saw Mort he'd ask just how much influence the god allowed the souls in his realm to have on the world.

"She was always very adventurous, even though you might not always think she would be." Vai had so many rather mundane talents (her cooking being second to none, for instance) that it was easy to forget what a free spirit she had. "I think you would not be able to peel her from the ship's bow." Remi adds, smiling crookedly.

REMI

Mateo

"I do wish I could have met her," Mateo laments, not for the first time. Though he knows that his older sister's being alive perhaps means the rest of them, himself most of all, likely wouldn't exist at all, it never stops his imagination from grasping at it. With a soft sigh that betrays how tired he might be at such a late hour, the botanist nevertheless prepares their tea and glances over his shoulder to hear about his grandmother.

"Oh? Well... she may have gotten a little bored up there, because the ship rarely sails," he admits a touch sheepishly. Having learned to build the schooner, his talents haven't extended to flying her; and with a friend like Everest, really, who needs to learn? Once the kettle begins to sing, Mateo pours the water over the leaves in their mugs and brings them across to sit with his father, setting the drinks down on a small barrel nearby.

"Maybe I'll start taking her down to Torchline more regularly."

i've told you time and time again
i'm not as think as you drunk i am