{RQ} Petalworks

JUDE

you're like the sun, you wake me up

Jude does not think himself to be a coward, but he knows he's not the most courageous young man either, even with a demigod like Remi at his side. So when he proposes digging up infected echo ferns as the easiest plant to keep alive and return to Safrin, he ignores how pathetic that makes him feel - and keeps himself and the Lullaby to a more populated area around the roots of the Undercroft.

After how kind Ronin had been, and armed with stories from his mother about the two of them, Jude is hopeful he won't be overwhelmed by the intimidation that seems to hang around Remi like a cloak. "What do you think is the best way to dig up the roots from a distance?" Phoebe's warm brown eyes peer up from beneath much darker curls, clearly referencing the unsettling ferns growing otherwise innocuously a few feet from them.

but you drain me out if I get too much

but that was then, and this is now

Though Remi hasn't won any Father of the Year awards, it's still impossible for him not to look at Jude through eyes tinted with parental concern. Of course, precisely because Remi isn't the most intuitive parent, he has no easy words or flowing banter to offer his nearly-nephew to make their trip more comfortable.

"Well..." Frowning a touch, the Lullaby folds his arms over his chest and eyes one of the ferns as if he might be able to intimidate it into yanking itself up from the ground. "I have heard they cause aural hallucinations when touched, and given how close we are to Ludo's Woods, I do not think I would like to test that." Gods knew even if Jude didn't, just how many times Remi had been tricked and trapped in these woods by illusions of various sorts.

"I suppose if we dig down deep enough and far enough away, we can get at the roots safely?" So saying, Remi closes his eyes for a moment and remembers the best accurate shovel that he can. It won't last long of course, but hopefully his memory was strong enough for their purposes. "Here—"

the lullaby

Table by the wonderful SKY

JUDE

you're like the sun, you wake me up

Jude is admittedly owed a little parental concern at this point, though his maelstrom of both daddy and mommy issues leaves him yearning like a spindly flower toward any attention these vague, familial shapes of Remi and Ronin offer him. More childhood stories than man, he feels he knows them only on the efforts of someone else’s heels, leaving him attentive but silent in the hopes Remi might fill the space.

“Can you control them at all? The spirits, I mean.” Certainly not the hallucinations; as far as Jude knows, the infected plants are nearly unstoppable. Ludo’s Woods on the other hand should be more of a positive or powerful place for Remi as the herald’s demigod in Jude’s eyes.

An awed noise curls in his throat at the unexpected materialization of a shovel seemingly from mid-air. Jude offers his hands toward the handle, perhaps a bit drunk on martyrdom or age-typical lack of self-esteem. If anyone is to hallucinate on a plant with unknown cures, it should probably be the string bean weakling and not the walking god. “Channeling probably isn’t very helpful here, but I have long arms,” he tries to joke awkwardly, wielding the shovel like a polearm from afar as he tries to shove the spade end into the earth near the stems of the ferns.

but you drain me out if I get too much

but that was then, and this is now

"Ehm..." Squinting his eyes slightly while mentally fumbling around inside of his mind like a man searching for his wallet amidst too many pockets, eventually Remi blinks himself back into the moment and offers Jude a half-shrug. "Yes and no. I am no Delphia when it comes to that." Still, the Lullaby was fairly confident that if he and the boy weren't left alone that he'd be more than capable of dealing with whatever tried to come after them.

Snorting under his breath with amusement, Remi clapped Jude heartily on the shoulder before creating his own shovel to work with. "By all means. Unless it is Safrin you would channel, in which case it would probably benefit us both for me to hide while you do it."  Remi explains with a raise of his eyebrows before spearing the ground with the spade of his shovel and digging opposite Jude.

the lullaby

Table by the wonderful SKY

JUDE

you're like the sun, you wake me up

Delphia is a regional name to him, not a personal one, but his head bobbles in a nod as if he knows exactly what Remi is talking about. The bobble turns more into a full-body sway when Remi claps him on the shoulder, but his smile is brighter even with the mild concussion, plainly pleased to have earned it.

“I don’t think I’m that strong yet,” he begs off with a strained laugh, remembering the little star earrings in Safrin’s gentle hands and feeling strangely conflicted as he pierces the shovel head into the dirt again. Making a small perimeter before attempting to dislodge the fern. “But I wouldn’t want to put you in danger, so,” he crosses his heart and mimes zipping his lips with a lopsided smile that dims shortly thereafter. “Does she hate you because you love Ronin, or because you’re you?” The question is quiet, tentative. Curious in the way Pandora was, when he’d been raised drunk on Safrin’s starlight, her follower’s whispers his bedtime stories. What darkness could that light possibly hide?

but you drain me out if I get too much

but that was then, and this is now

"No doubt you will be soon enough." Though Remi hasn't heard much of the drama that has been nipping at Jude's heels, the boy is not entirely unknown to him such that he feels fairly confident in his assumptions that sooner rather than later, Jude will indeed be able to call down the star bitch Safrin at any time of his choosing. "Well, I appreciate that." Remi says with a crooked grin as he too continues the work.

Slicing his shovel through the soil, it's with a sigh that the Lullaby shrugs. "Both. Originally I think it was just because of my relationship with Ronin, but over the years I think I have given her enough reasons to hate me on my own." It's said almost as a point of pride, chased quickly by an apologetic smile. "Safrin and Ludo have a complicated relationship, so I suppose I should always have expected it." He adds, wanting to soften his account if only because of Jude's age.

the lullaby

Table by the wonderful SKY

JUDE

you're like the sun, you wake me up

"You think so?" There's something yearning and hungry in his tone, desperate for encouragement he has already received in passing from that comment. His ears bleed carmine with shame once he catches himself doing it, and he thunks the shovelhead into the earth a little harder to try and make the buzzing sensation of the emotion silence itself.

Even with his hands and eyes occupied, Jude's ears are expressly tuned toward Remi. "Ludo is the only herald I haven't met," he admits, though he's unsure if Dygra counts as a herald or if she is on the same level as the big three. It feels like a slightly safer topic than continuing to ask why? "I always thought about visiting it, but with my parents..." Jude shrugs limply, communicating clearly that familial expectation had ensnared him from a young age. "We're all told the right gifts to bring and what each herald signifies, but how do you know which one is right for you?" Had Remi ever prayed to Safrin before the chasm between them was formed? Jude levers his shovel handle to begin wiggling the plant loose, fretful and regretful for it given his abysmal small talk.

but you drain me out if I get too much

but that was then, and this is now

"I do." Remi confirms, offering the younger man a warm smile. Whether he notices the effect of his words in relation to Jude's efforts or not, the Lullaby seems more than appreciative of his nearly-nephew's aid.

"It is worth meeting, I would say." It's a biased opinion of course, one that Remi recognizes with a lazy shrug. "Well...I think as an accepted you are in the unique position of not having to decide. They all present benefits, and as my son would be quick to tell you, there is no need to rush into bed with any of them." Not unlike Jude, Mateo had his own complex familial expectations when it came to the gods, which he met by basically avoiding them.

"Had I not inadvertently pledged myself to Ludo so early on, I think I would absolutely have taken more time before committing myself to any of them."

the lullaby

Table by the wonderful SKY

JUDE

you're like the sun, you wake me up

Nobody has ever told him to simply not pick, and from a demigod it's a revelation so simple as to feel like lightning is now connecting his vertebrae instead of a spinal cord. "You don't think they'd get angry at competing with the other heralds?" He knows Attuning is desirable for heralds, but he's never quite understood why, and to be decisively indecisive feels like sneaking a cookie from the jar beneath the cover of night.

Distracted, his shovel goes deeper than planned, and beneath his body weight the clustered fronds of the plant shake as it breaks free of the earth and nearly topples sideways off the head of the shovel. Yelping a curse, Jude levels his shovel and manages to save it. It makes it easier to ask, "You have a son? What's his name?" It feels like prying, but Jude isn't exactly swimming in similarly aged people, so it's a bit like trying to have an adult set you up on a blind date with their child when you're both leaving your prime. Except painfully platonic.

Slowly lifting the oddly nefarious plant on his shovel, Jude looks back to Remi. "How are we getting this into the container safely?"

but you drain me out if I get too much

but that was then, and this is now

"Let them. It can only work in your favour." Remi replies with a shrug. "There are no rules about any of it. If they want you badly enough there is nothing to stop them from offering you everything. Look at the difference between Ronin and Deimos when it comes to Safrin. Ronin is..." Not quite able to help the way his jaw feathers in response to her name, Remi sighs as a means of unlocking his tongue. "..tethered to her, whereas Deimos is free. The only real difference between them is immortality." A big deal for some, but maybe not so for others. "But Safrin made that work because she wanted Deimos."

Chuckling gently as Jude's strength surprises him, Remi lets the boy right himself on his own. "His name is Mateo. He lives in Stormbreak and runs a flower shop." Though there were other reasons one might know Mateo, it felt better as a father to stick only to residence and occupation.

Glancing at the plant, Remi nudges the container forward and uses his own shovel to add some dirt into the bottom. 'Just like that, I think.' If it tried to grow legs and wander off he'd be ready for it.

the lullaby

Table by the wonderful SKY

JUDE

you're like the sun, you wake me up

Ronin is a more familiar name and face than Deimos, but notoriety and legend makes distance into something parasocial. "Do you regret becoming a demigod? I think my father regrets Attuning. He seems really torn up about Safrin these days." And it's why Jude isn't sure he wants to walk that path, even if the connection is looser, the leash easier to slip.

"Maybe I'll go buy something. Support the family business; plants seem to run in it, huh?" He tilts his head toward the infected fern. Jude's grin is an attractive thing when he stops overthinking it, mischief a spark in Phoebe's caramel irises set into his own face. He steps to the end of the shovel's handle to keep the plant as far away as possible, waiting for Remi to step back before he stiffly lowers it and tips it sideways into the container. Using the shovelhead to flip the lid back onto it, he eyes the lopsided plant within and shrugs. "I guess it doesn't need to look pretty so long as it survives."

but you drain me out if I get too much

but that was then, and this is now

"Well...that is hard to answer." Remi hears himself saying, his lips moving before his mind can catch up, leaving him huffing out a breath as he tries to allow the latter the time it needs. "I did not choose this. I...found a friend, dead, and begged Ludo to bring her back. I promised I would do anything if it did." He explains after a moment. "So while I would not choose to become this again if given the chance...I would still give anything for her." It was a nonanswer, and perhaps one too complex for a heart as young as Jude's, but there it was.

As for Safrin? Remi can only frown. "And probably with good reason. She is nothing if not impossible to satisfy, put it that way."

Chuckling, the Bastion can only shoot Jude a crooked and knowing smile before allowing the younger man to place the plant inside. Pulling in a breath, the Bastion shrugs and stands. "Exactly as you say. Shall we?"

So saying, Remi will fly Jude back to Torchline as a manticore should he wish it, or let the younger man pick his own path.

~FIN

the lullaby

Table by the wonderful SKY