Ashe
the woods are lovely, dark, and deep
but i have promises to keep
Painting had once been something she did so often, such a long time ago. She’d had a whole room just for her art - her pianoforte, her painting, her poems. Kalt would sit and play his guitar quietly while she created. Ashe had stopped all of it when she lost her father. She had played the piano once since - at Jasper’s funeral. And she had painted only once since - her father’s portrait over a year ago.
Then after Kalt and her mother had tended to her, she'd asked him for paint, for brushes, for canvas... and she couldn’t stop. She didn't sleep, only paused when her lover bade her to for necessities. She painted and painted and painted, the brush gliding across the canvas and sweeping color and life where she knew there was none. Kalt had played his guitar, soothing frayed nerves as she worked. She stopped only to ask him to alter it so it would be dry paint instead of wet, so she could continue until it was finished. She ended up abandoning her mixing pallet in favor of using an entire table surface, sitting cross legged on the ground with the canvas propped on the wall. She couldn't stop. Every time she stopped, there was that hollow and dark chasm yawning open in her chest, threatening to swallow her whole. Live. His voice never left her, and his face didn’t either. Two days later, she finally emerged from the obsessive trance she had been drawn into. She’d been bathed, her clothing changed before she even began her project, but she hardly looked any better. Aside from the evidence of healed cuts and burns, her right arm possessing the worst of it well past the elbow, there were heavy and dark circles under her eyes. Lips were pale, her hair a disheveled mess. Paint covered her hands, her fingers, smeared on her face and stained her shirt from Kalt, her leggings. She hadn't changed when she finished, simply stating she needed to go. Now she walked in the early evening with a flat, square item over half her size held awkwardly in her arms. Her steps slowed when she got to the Guildhall, the sight of it jarring. Painful. Her face crumpled in anguish, and she had to look away at first. Standing before it, she took a few moments to collect herself before she approached. Once she might have strode right in. Now she adjusted her cumbersome package and knocked on the door three times. ”Remi?” she called without entering, some part of her afraid to cross the threshold. Knowing what she wouldn’t find within. and miles to go before i sleep. |
a line at the edge
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Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
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03-17-2019, 02:42 AM
the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
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The days had all but bled together. Only Aoife kept any sort of routine, and it was with the rising and setting of the small child that the alchemist maintained his day. He was nothing now, nothing save her caregiving and caretaker. That was all he was capable of right now, though some might disagree that he was even fit for this. Sam for example, had come and gone and he had...memories. He'd taken all of our memories. But if he'd only just—
—no. Remi schooled himself with an exhausted sigh. No, there was simply no point. The alchemist had no fight left in him anyways. And was there any point in trying to tell someone that you were worth loving? That you were worth the effort? If you had to make that argument, wasn't it all already over? Hearing the knock on the door Remi had to quell the painful spark of hope he felt that it might be the bookmaker. It wouldn't be Vai—she'd just let herself in—but the point was that it wouldn't be Sam. Trying not to sigh and lean heavily into the deep wellspring of despair that lovingly threatened to drown him in depression, Remi rose and went to the door. He could hear a voice calling his name, one he recognized instantly but it sounded so much smaller than he was used to hearing it. That wasn't a surprise though. He wasn't the only one broken and bleeding in the wake of what had happened. With a smile on his lips that hurt his heart, he gazed down at the blue-eyed wolf of a woman before him. They were like siblings in this weird family which had been assembled, which made seeing her all the easier. At least he wouldn't have to pretend. [say]"Hey."[/say] Remi said softly, warmly, despite the emptiness he felt. [say]"Aoife is just in the other room. Come in—"[/say]
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Jaecarys
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03-22-2019, 09:45 PM
the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
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Remi too saw ghosts of Ronin everywhere, each room seemingly pregnant with the expectation of his arrival. And it hurt all the more so because Remi didn't always catch himself doing it right away. He'd be making food, and would inadvertently get out two mugs, nearly pouring two cups of tea before realizing. Remi suspected it was like that for Ashe now as well, moving through what felt more like a tomb now, and so didn't notice Soot's tiny arrival and then quick departure.
At the mention of the star-eyed child, Remi glanced towards the greatroom where Aoife was happily contained in her bassinet. Vai's mobile spun above her while the rattle that Rexanna had brought was clutched in a chubby hand which shook it wildly. Sugar was at her side, snapping her teeth at the rattle as if it was some monster that the tiny dragonling was protecting the girl from. It both mended and broke Remi's heart to see the sight, and he had to swallow down a ball of emotion that grew in the back of his throat. [say]"Well."[/say] Remi replied, clearing his throat and exhaling a steady stream of sad and stale air. [say]"She does not seem to know what has happened. I think she senses something, but..."[/say] Helplessly, the alchemist shrugged. He couldn't decide at all if it was a blessing that Aoife did not know her father was gone..or of it was a curse.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
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03-22-2019, 11:59 PM
the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
Change author: Posts: 10,919 | Total: MP:
The praise meant nothing, though of course Remi smiled just the same. That he was looking after her well was ... was nothing. It was nothing compared to the life without a mother or father. She would have Remi, who would love her and do what he could for her always, but that wasn't the same. Remi was no Ronin, and no matter how many echoes of her father the alchemist might reproduce, Aoife would always be at a deficit without the seabird and captain at the helm of her story.
At the change of topic, Remi took a steadying breath and looked down, glad for his mind to shift away from Aoife's future. [say]"I did not know you painted."[/say] He said with a small but genuine smile, wondering what would be on the hidden canvas. Tilting his head in a decidedly avian sort of way as she said he didn't have to look, Remi did inhale a shaky and wounded breath, his lips immediately trembling as his eyebrows furrowed. I just... don't want anyone to forget what he looks like. Remi's heart clenched and his eyes immediately went to Aoife, contentedly batting up at the mobile. There were those who might forget...but there were also those who would never know. Gods it hurt. It hurt. Biting the inside of his cheek hard, Remi reached down, wanting to take Ashe's hand. [say]"Can we look together?"[/say]
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Jaecarys
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the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
Change author: Posts: 10,919 | Total: MP:
The alchemist didn't try to help as Ashe maneuvered the painting. Not only did he know that the once-assassin was more than capable of managing on her own, but there seemed something almost cathartic in her movements. Or at least, had he helped, somehow Remi thought that would make things worse. And so he stood sentinel behind her, breath lodged unhelpfully in a lump behind his adam's apple as he waited.
The cloth fell. Ashe's fingers slipped between his. It was so perfectly Ronin that it almost shocked the alchemist into a bought of hysterics as the reality of the situation flooded his senses. For a moment Remi's fingers loosened as the floor whispered words of welcome to his knees and his legs began to weaken. It was only at the last instant that he caught himself, his fingers tightening around Ashe's slender hand in his as he choked back a sob. The breath he'd been holding crocheted painfully in his chest, bursting out of trembling lips coated in agony. His free hand reached forward, fingers lightly tracing the curve of Ronin's jaw in midair. Tears blurred his vision, but instead of wiping them away, Remi merely touched the end of his nose gently with his fingers as his face below crumpled and wavered with heartache and chasm-deep longing that seemed to stretch on forever. [say]"He would probably have said something stupid about how you painted him with too many clothes..."[/say] Remi said finally, a small laugh hitching in his throat that quickly turned into a sob. Silently he shook his head, having absolutely no words. Instead he let his eyes trace the lines beside Ronin's lips, the blue of his eyes and his overly expressive brows, simultaneously wanting to tear it down and never be reminded of what they had lost, but also to never look away from it.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Jaecarys
Change author: Posts: 1,248 | Total: MP:
the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
Change author: Posts: 10,919 | Total: MP:
[say]"I have ... never been prone to violence."[/say] Remi admitted softly into the silence. Though to someone as well-trained as Ashe was, surely that would not have been a surprise. Even so—and perhaps especially with his lion form—he was quite capable of horrible things. [say]"..but I heard someone speaking of what happened, and they did not even know Ronin's name.."[/say] His lips twitched upwards into the shape of a smile, but his expression was instead one of sadness. [say]"I cannot remember a time lately when I have been so immediately angry, even though I understood...so many here never knew him, how could they possibly know his name. And yet.."[/say] With a hollow sort of half-laugh, the alchemist frowned and shook his head uselessly.
As Ashe slipped against him, Remi raised an arm to easily welcome her against him. Once upon a time Remi had been free and easy with physical contact—with women anyways. Now with so much confused and complicated in his mind—his memories of Loren gone and those with Ronin obscured, Sam coming into his life and then choosing to forget him, Ianto gone entirely—the alchemist was quite starved for affection. Only now he was guarded in a way that he had never been before. His heart had always been on his sleeve, bleeding for all to see. But now he hid it, for he wasn't sure what else it could possibly take. But like the wolf, lions were pack animals. And strange siblings though they might have been, love and heartbreak had now bound them together. [say]"When Aoife is old enough to know what she is looking at..who.."[/say] It would what? Be good enough? Would let her know what her father had looked like? And what good would that be, with Remi as a poor replacement in this strange world where her parents looked down on her as stars? Gently his arm tightened around Ashe, though his eyes remained on the portrait. [say]"I love you, Ashe. I...I only told Ronin at the end. Just before he...well. Before Safrin did what she did."[/say] Looking down at his much more petite counterpart, Remi tried on a smile despite how weighty it suddenly seemed. [say]"I'd not have the same happen with you. Or worse, not at all."[/say]
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Jaecarys
Change author: Posts: 1,248 | Total: MP:
the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
Change author: Posts: 10,919 | Total: MP:
04-05-2019, 11:52 PM
If Remi could have simply enveloped Ashe he would have. He wasn't so naive to think that he was the comfort that she needed or that she in turn could be his panacea, but something about their anguish felt as though it ought to be combined. Like something this momentous should not be spread out between two bodies, but should instead be bound together.
As she looked up at him, his fingers tightened ever so slightly around her. As it had been the last time he'd held her this long, that fateful day they'd first met, there was no wandering of his limbs, no subtle glances of her out of the corner of his eye. He was tired and weary yes, but kindness had always come naturally to him, and should Ashe crumple, he would be there to hold her up. [say]"I do."[/say] He said simply, leaning his cheek against the top of her head as she sighed against his chest. [say]"Though I have never had siblings before. You will have to tell me when I am doing something wrong."[/say] Nosing towards Ronin, Remi's stomach muscles tightened as he fought off the urge to both laugh and sob, deciding to aim for that nowhere emotion in-between. [say]"He certainly would have."[/say] As she began to unravel, though tears darkened his own eyes Remi pulled her closer. The alchemist was not so masculine that he felt an obligation to console, merely that her sentiments echoed loudly in his own chest. [say]"I only told him I loved him at the end. He never knew in life how much he meant to me."[/say] The alchemist said softly into the waves of raven hair. Shaking his head, Remi hummed a note of disagreement in the back of his throat. [say]"No."[/say] He murmured softly. [say]"I asked him if he would start up another army, and he said he did not want to. You living your own life did not stop anything."[/say] He added trying to be reassuring, though in the wake of Ronin's death surely there was no chance he could stop the second guessing. [say]"We all failed together, though I do not know what else we could have done."[/say] He said uselessly, hands tightening against her for a moment before releasing as she continued to speak. [say]"Alright."[/say] Remi said with a small laugh, glancing around. [say]"Welcome to the guild. Sorry the place is such a mess."[/say]
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Messenger
Age: 28 | Height: 5'0" | Race: Attuned x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds Level: 7 (lvl 3 Attuned) - Strg: 10 - Dext: 27 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Jaecarys
Change author: Posts: 1,248 | Total: MP:
04-06-2019, 05:50 PM
the Bastion
Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline Level: 15 - Strg: 70 - Dext: 65 - Endr: 101 - Luck: 100 - Int: 3
Played by: Odd
Change author: Posts: 10,919 | Total: MP:
04-08-2019, 11:24 PM
Swallowing down the strange ball of grief that was suddenly tinged with amusement, Remi laughed. [say]"Alright. First rule: no one dies."[/say] He said naively, yet there was a strange confidence in his voice as if this was truly something they could vow.
[say]"I think those were the kind of friends he liked best."[/say] Remi hummed with a thoughtful sort of sadness. After all, looking at the roster, it seemed true. There was Loren, who had left them both. Remi, who always needed Ronin more than Ronin ever needed him, and Ashe who always seemed to exist somewhere on the cusp of who everyone thought she was, and who she actually was. With a snort, the alchemist shrugged. [say]"Be that as it may, I have never been particularly neat or tidy."[/say] Biting the inside of his lip to keep it from trembling too much, Remi nodded immediately. [say]"Of course. She is your family too."[/say] He said gently, gesturing for Ashe to follow him over. Leaning down, he whispered a sing-song greeting over the bassinet that had the wind-chimes Vai had made dancing overtop. In Aoife's lap she had two stars to represent Vanya and Ronin, and a dragon as well. Speaking of, now that they were in the greatroom, two pale and frosty eyes suddenly appeared from the depths of a 'cave'. Well cave was an overstatement. It was really just a conglomeration of all the things Sugar had created to make herself a den: broken chairs, blankets, pots and pans. Content with Ashe's presence, Sugar gave a snort of greeting and then snuggled back into the dark.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission. | ||||||
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