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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 - Remi - 08-06-2023
Considering for a moment, the wendigo hisses in a doubtful breath. [say]"Did you ever have to take cough medicine when you were little? I always hated it, so one day I had the bright idea that I would dilute it in a large glass of water."[/say] Raising his eyebrows slightly, one corner of Remi's mouth curls up in a smile as he waits to see if Isla can see where he was going with this. [say]"Turns out, drinking the entire glass of water was far worse than just enduring the small spoon-sized amount."[/say]
The way she pulls her hand back as if there was nothing meaningful in the gesture on her hand, felt like ice water being tossed onto slowly churning coals. Having to resist wincing, the wendigo just swallows and shakes his head, trying not to imagine himself as some large and luxurious jungle cat that Isla was allowed to pet and play with as its caretaker. He's deadly yes, but not with me. See how much he likes to be pet?
[say]"I am not sure so that's how that works. It has been a few years since Sunday School for me, but...I cannot remember too many angels who were so regularly murdery."[/say] He admits with a chuckle.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Isla - 08-06-2023
Tilting her head as Remi begins, Isla's smile starts slowly but eventually spreads across her face; of all the ways to succinctly make a point, cough medicine is not what she's expected. [say]"Alright, noted. And while I was given medicine as a child, I always took it. Good patients make good doctors and all, right?"[/say] She winks. Was that even true? It definitely didn't translate the other way around, anyway.
[say]"Well, I happen to be ex-Catholic, and I can promise you that plenty of the angels were murdery as long as it was in the name of God."[/say] She raises her eyebrows at him, before scrunching up her nose. [say]"Just realised that didn't make you sound less murdery or more angelic,"[/say] she says through a laugh, shaking her head.
[say]"Anyway. How was it, for your first time out there? I... well, I've got two options for you,"[/say] Isla continues, hating it even though she has to do it. [say]"I was ready to give you another four hours as a test drive as soon as two days from now, but Grimm has been making her case that this is making things more difficult to run her tests. So... either things continue at normal pace, and I give you another dose in a week, or I can go ahead in two days, but... she'll be all over you like a rash until then."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 08-06-2023
Rolling his eyes affectionately, Remi huffs a sound of laughter at the doctor through a wry smile. [say]"You would."[/say] He says, still imagining Isla living out her youth somewhere near sandy shores and an ocean for her to splash around in.
Looking moderately impressed and surprised, the wendigo frowns with amusement. [say]"Is that so? Well I suppose that so long as whoever is ultimately pulling my strings is god, then I'm in the clear."[/say] His lets his head loll from one side to the other as he widens his green stare at Isla; was she his God then? Or Grimm?
Finding himself soothed at the sound of her laughter, Remi lets his arms drop from where they'd been folded across his chest as he shrugs. [say]"Well it was-"[/say] Falling silent as Isla continues on, the wendigo's expression goes from boyish to concerned in the span of a breath. [say]"Ah."[/say] Biting at the inside of his cheek and feeling his face flush again, this time out of anger and frustration rather than affection, Remi exhales a long and slow breath before looking at Isla with resignation darkening his gaze.
[say]"Which would you choose?"[/say] He asks softly while mentally considering just sinking to the floor and putting his head in his hands. If he wasn't so sure that Isla would immediately hug him to try and make him feel better—oh no! my poor tiger—he'd have done it.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Isla - 08-06-2023
[say]"Some medicines are not even that bad. Did you not have good tasting cough syrup?"[/say] Isla wonders - and if only they could continue down this playful vein of conversation, that would be just great. As it sinks in for Remi, what he might be missing and what he might have to suffer in return, the doctor lets her gaze drop to the floor, her shoulders stiffening. Though she doesn't expect him to ask her opinion, Isla can only give a soft, uncertain sigh and shake her head.
[say]"I have never experienced the sort of pain you have, so I would be inclined to wait the full week. But then again I've never been given a reprieve of humanity either, so if having that sooner feels worth it... I suppose I would grin and bear it. But I'm not in your shoes,"[/say] she says softly. [say]"Regardless, whatever your decision, I'll do my best to keep her from getting carried away."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 08-06-2023
[say]"They are all that bad."[/say] Remi argues emphatically, scrunching his nose and suddenly looking all the more Italian for his judgements about taste.
For a moment, and really it is that fleeting, Remi hates Isla for her rational detachment. It makes her seem cold and horribly manipulative, and for just a breath, words form on Remi's lips that want to demand what sort of information cuddling with him or holding his hand had yielded for her, since it couldn't have been done for any emotional reasons.
The feeling passes, leaving Remi feeling suddenly exhausted and embarrassed. Running both hands up his face before raking his fingers through his curls, at least the decision is a fairly easy one. Thinking he can get through Grimm if he knows that he can see Ronin again almost right after has the wendigo naively confident about what he can handle in the interim. [say]"Alright. Let her do her worst."[/say] Remi mumbles, wishing he sounded defiant but instead just sounding defeated and tired.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Isla - 08-06-2023
If only there really were a device or a medicine capable of forming telepathy between them; alas, Isla is left to let Remi richochet through his emotions in the silence that yawns between them. Only when he makes his decision does she nod to him, inhaling deeply and letting it out again. [say]"Alright. I'll... pass the message on,"[/say] she says, before glancing to her watch. [say]"We're almost out of time. Come on..."[/say]
And so it's not with a bang but with a whimper that Remi will topple from humanity back into his wendigo state - and the following 48 hours will make however he feels on that come-down seem like the date he never got to go on with Isla. Ronin does come for him the next evening, but is informed that the wendigo is unavailable and to return in a day or so.
By the time Isla is able to properly administer another dose of her serum and escort the wendigo out to the entrance of the medical wing, the doctor is ashen faced and unable to even properly look at Remi. Make no mistake - it isn't fear or disgust in her expression, but anger and shame on his behalf.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 08-06-2023
It isn't often that people gatekeep the complex's greatest secret weapon, especially when there are monsters on the loose that need beheading and/or eating. So when Ronin is turned away from signing Remi out for a hunt, he knows. He just knows that the coin has flipped from everythings-going-okay back to abject-torture, and by the time he's allowed to see the wendigo - in human form, no less - he's got no idea what to expect other than the worst.
And there's nothing he can do for the worst. But he's going to damned well try, which probably explains why he's got a large flask of his good whiskey in one pocket, and as many chocolate bars as will fit in the other. Look, there's nothing like being an average guy to realise that sometimes you just need stuff to feel better, okay?
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 08-06-2023
There are no words which can aptly describe the horrors the wendigo has undergone over the past 48 hours. That's not to say that an itemized list of Grimm's testing wouldn't have provided a fairly robust picture, but it would leave out the maniac delight with which she administered the tests; the glee in slamming the door in Isla's face and turning off the cameras; the pleasure she clearly derived from Remi's pain; and the needless way certain procedures had been drawn out for no reason other than to cause the wendigo misery.
With his hair sheered down to the root and scars already formed from where someone had been careless with the knife, it's with a walk that's far too slow that the wendigo emerges from down the hair. Being a wendigo and enduring Grimm had been one thing, but being human and having to deal with the memories on repeat? On having to deal with his humanity being stripped away as a human?
Barely able to meet Ronin's gaze whether intentionally or not, Remi's eyes remain downcast as the guard gives his shoulder a shove in order to slam the door behind him. [SAY]"H-i."[/say] The wendigo says, or attempts to anyway, but considering that Grimm had taken every second available to her, Remi's vocal cords hadn't had time to properly heal before Isla gave him the serum.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 08-06-2023
[say]"Hey, fuck you man--"[/say] Ronin is already snapping to the guard as he shoves at Remi's shoulder, but he ends up talking to the door in their face instead. One look at the wendigo and honestly, the hunter can't look at him too closely again. Not here, not right next to the fucking medical wing, because gods if he doesn't think he might take a swing at Doctor Isla fucking Lockwood for letting this happen to his friend.
Instead, it's with a rough, [say]"Hey,"[/say] that Ronin shrugs out of his coat and drapes it around Remi's shoulders, guiding them out of the medical wing as fast as the other man's footsteps will allow. [say]"There's a flask of whiskey in the left pocket. Drink it - all of it."[/say] His voice is rougher than he'd like and he can't stop glaring over his shoulder, and though he hasn't told Remi where they're going, the trajectory of their footsteps ought to make it clear that this isn't going to be an undertown jaunt even if that was the original plan (it wasn't) - they're heading straight to his place.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 08-06-2023
Shuffling, with hardly the strength to lift his feet, Remi all but slumps against Ronin before dazedly reaching into the pocket of the jacket and pulling out the whiskey. Frowning, because he knows the alcohol is going to burn the hell out of his throat, Remi does as he's told both because he's had obedience brow beaten back into him over the past 48 hours, but also because he can't stand being inside his own head right now.
Spluttering and trying not to gag as pain and fire erupt in tandem, he wheezes what's meant to be a thank you before twining an arm around Ronin's waist, utterly heedless of who might see and what they might make of the two men like this, or of the wendigo rendered so weak. Gripping at Ronin's side as best he can with fingers that don't feel strong enough to even peel an orange, Remi glances up only once as if to confirm where they're going, before hobbling along as much as he's able to.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 08-06-2023
Readily accepting the other man against his side, Ronin does his best to help Remi hobble the distance between the two sides of the complex - something that takes an absurd amount of time, in his opinion. And when they do finally arrive, although his apartment is only on the third floor, he opts to take the rickety old elevator. There's only one, and given how many people are in the hunters' side of the complex, it can get very, very crowded, but Remi is human right now, so he's more worried about who might see them rather than the other way around.
Blessedly, though, when it arrives it's empty, and so as they step in together, it's a brief moment of rest and respite. [say]"You don't have to talk,"[/say] Ronin says, his voice low and hushed despite there being no one else around, and the doors rumble shut and they begin to rise towards the third floor. [say]"We're almost there."[/say]
Keeping a steady arm around the wendigo, once they ping their way out into his hallway, the apartment with the iron horseshoe above it is upon them soon enough. [say]"At least these locks keep regular people out as well as everything else out,"[/say] he mutters, getting them open as quickly as he can. [say]"You can head straight down the corridor to my room, if you want."[/say]
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 08-06-2023
Let it never be said that Remi doesn't have a card or two up his sleeve.
Knowing what he does about Grimm, she'd immediately set out to ruin things between the hunter and the wendigo if she had been able to see any sort of relief from Remi as he was picked up from the wing. No doubt she had spies all over the city as well, and so it was only as Ronin's apartment door was closed behind them and the silver locked into place that the wendigo straightened. He was exhausted, demoralized, and in pain, but perhaps not as much as he'd portrayed on their walk over.
[say]"Not without you."[/say] Remi whispers gruffly, his throat still vaguely on fire before turning and pulling the hunter to him with a shocking amount of force given the pantomime of utter exhaustion he'd just been portraying. Having thought of little else but the taste of Ronin's lips, the wendigo's kiss is greedy and shaky with relief and a desperation currently tinged with the taste of whiskey.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Ronin - 08-06-2023
[say]"Wh--"[/say] Ronin's heart skips a beat in a way that, as a wendigo, Remi would absolutely have noticed, but here and now it's just the sudden press of lips against his own, the bite of whiskey and greedy hands. And gods, the relief is such that Ronin doesn't even care, the hunter slipping gentle but firm arms around the other man as he walks them down the corridor without wanting to break a single stride.
[say]"You clever bastard,"[/say] he hisses into the kiss, pushing his jacket off Remi's shoulders and fumbling to open his bedroom door. The descriptions are something we'll save for later, but floor space aside, let it be known that Ronin's bedroom is cluttered (and not just regular cluttered, Howl's Moving Castle cluttered), as if to make up for the minimalism of the rest of the apartment.
[say]"I was so fucking worried about you,"[/say] Ronin manages, breaking the kiss just enough that he can check Remi over for immediate injuries, simultaneously trying to relieve the other man of his shirt.
RE: cut our teeth and make our bones right here - Remi - 08-06-2023
[say]"Mmmm."[/say] Remi hums in agreement, finding the taste of the hunter far too intoxicating to bother with a proper response. As a wendigo in weeks prior he'd eyed bits and bobs of the hunter's room and had smelled the strangest assortment of herbs and oils within. Now, utterly bound up with the nearness of the hunter there could have been a roaring fire going in one corner and he'd hardly have noticed.
[say]"I'll tell you later-"[/say] Remi mutters hastily, already tugging at his shirt and yanking it over his head. Where he throws it and what it lands on he doesn't care at all, and though he should likely be returning the favour and helping Ronin peel off his own shirt, the wendigo's hands are instantly on his friend's belt. [say]"-I'm okay though."[/say] How much of that was a lie even Remi didn't know. He was okay enough to know that he wanted Ronin more than he'd ever wanted anything else, but not okay enough to promise he wouldn't break down into tears after.
[say]'Gods I want you,"[/say] Remi mutters, sounding distracted before looking somewhat relieved by the revelation. [say]"I'm so glad you're here."[/say] He adds, before testing out his dexterity by trying to kiss Ronin while simultaneously unbuttoning and removing his pants.