[Training] Hey Daddy

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

Given the debauchery already prevalent around Rae's Fingers when there is daylight to speak of, the period during and post LongNight seems to turn it up to eleven. He's amped with the potential of getting to knock some teeth in. He'd doled out citations and scares alongside Charlie during the beach patrols, but he'd rarely been able to get his fists anywhere except around her spines, and now he's ready to mop up whoever thinks they could still be troublesome. Probably even a few people he ticketed lurking around.

That Remi has been sent along with the squad, which starts to disperse into the caverns, is basically a different sort of scary dog privilege. "Okay, okay, so like, I'll stop them by shouting 'HEY! Freeze!' and then you just casually say, 'yeah, it's time to chill.'" The 'voice' he puts on for Remi is nowhere close, but he tries to add a touch of an accented lilt to it, but it comes off more like cilantro passing for parsley. "And then, if they don't freeze, you should just pick me up and chuck me like a dart and I'll tackle them."

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Remi’s brow arches, the movement slow and unhurried as he glances down the tunnel, then back toward Kaisel. "Yeah, it is time to chill," he repeats, the vowels wrapped in the low hum of the travelling tongue, rich and deliberate in a way that makes even the joke sound vaguely like a promise. The echo of it rolls through the cavern like the sea shifting its weight.

He studies the younger man for a heartbeat longer than politeness requires; the kind of look that measures, not judges. Then, considering, he runs a hand through his curls and adds with deceptive mildness, "Or, I could just reach out with a tentacle and make them stop instead." A faint smile ghosts across his mouth, dry and fond all at once. "I would hate to have to tell Flora over dinner that I threw her boyfriend into a wall and killed him." His tone is gentle, but the quiet certainty beneath it says he absolutely could, and that the warning, though good-natured, isn’t entirely hypothetical. "I am sure you know how she gets."

He gestures for Kaisel to take the lead, his expression easing into something that could almost pass for casual. "Ronin and I swept these tunnels during LongNight," he says conversationally. "And I believe I heard you spent your time on a dragon?"

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

He does not know where Flora gets all her best qualities from, because he's met all her dads now, and while they are all impressive and capable, none of them are any fun. Maybe she takes after her mother more, or perhaps her grandma, since she'd been the one to raise her and all. A huff of breath and an eyeroll he tries to hide is all that answer the buzzkill Bastion. "I mean, sure, the tentacles are tried and true. But where's the creativity in that?" Maybe soldiering is not meant to be an art form beyond choreographed drills and maneuvers, but you can't limit test by using the same results everyone else already has, and he intends to push his barriers further each time.

A short laugh follows after the easy way Remi tosses out his death, and not because he doesn't know it's entirely possible, but because it's the first genuinely funny thing he's heard since the patrol started today. "C'mon now, we both know you have better aim than that." Although, potentially, he'd have struck the intended target and they'd both be dead on the wall, which he hadn't considered until now. That gives him slight pause in his step, but he shrugs it off soon after and continues on. "I'd just haunt all your thoughts if you didn't get Ronin to resurrect me. Maybe get into some light possession, dabble in some ghoulish moaning late at night." He chuckles, mostly to himself, as he imagines becoming one of the spirits in Wildering House and absolutely pestering Flora still, whenever not actively harassing Remi.

"Did you guys find anything interesting?" he asks with a hopeful rise for a good story as he moves further in, one hand running down the wall a time or two to keep steady over the uneven slopes. There's also a faint wonder if there's anything or anyone left here then, or if Remi and Ronin effectively spooked all ruffians away and this will end up just being another routine drill than anything exciting. "Oh, yeah!" he brightens with newfound enthusiasm. "That's Charlie, my Ancient friend. She's the Priestess in the Grounds. You ever ridden a dragon before?" What he knows of the big demis, important things to keep up on as someone who could channel them, quickly catches up to him. "Actually, I don't think I wanna know," he mutters, not that it helps, he's already fouled his own mind with Remi's voice ringing smug and rich with innuendo about it.

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

"Creativity?" Remi echoes, the word lilting in the travelling tongue as his brow tilts upward. There’s a soft laugh beneath it, low and incredulous, and he shakes his head as though still trying to work out whether Kaisel is joking. "I’m not sure if you know this, Kaisel," he begins, the syllables of the younger man’s name rolling easily off his tongue, "but I’m not actually a soldier. At best, back in the world Ronin and I came from, I made weapons for the soldiers to use in their training drills but rarely did I practice with them."

His shoulders lift in a slow shrug, the motion fluid and without apology. "Most of what I know now, I learned because I had to. None of this—" his hand gestures vaguely at the tunnel walls, the salt-heavy air, the echoes of footsteps "—is fun for me." The admission comes with a quiet sigh, something caught between weariness and understanding; a man who has seen enough fights to the death to know that it rarely leaves room for creativity, only necessity.

The idea of Kaisel haunting him earns a dry grimace and a hand dragged absently through his curls. "All the more reason to keep you from dying, then," he murmurs, though the ghost of amusement touches the corner of his mouth. "Besides, if we wake Ronin up from a nap right now, you might wish you had stayed dead."

At the mention of LongNight, his grin returns, easy and boyish now. "We did scare off more than a few LongNight lovers lurking down here," he admits. "Probably for the best. Things have been...spirited since Jack left." The understatement carries the weight of experience; Torchline’s underbelly is not something easily tamed, and for all of Jack's faults, he certainly had kept his heel on the worst of what Torchline had to offer.

And when Kaisel, with all his youthful enthusiasm, asks if he’s ever ridden a dragon, Remi only turns his head toward him, eyes glinting with sea-glass mischief. The smile that curls across his mouth is slow and knowing, wordless but entirely eloquent. Ronin had a dragon shift, after all.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

Aside from cool battle stories and the tales bards like to pass around, Kaisel does not know much about history. He learned it, at some point, then promptly forgot most of it once it stopped being a test he had to pass. Probably something useful lingered, somewhere. "Soldier's just a term, really," he shrugs in response to Remi. "You're a fighter regardless. We all are." Soldiers just try to do it on purpose, or better, which is part of the draw for him, aside from family footsteps and all that. If he's gonna be a legend, it'd help to get the basics down first, and from there maybe do something more. "Didn't know you made weapons though," he admits, glancing over at the Bastion with a touch of surprise. "Although, seems a bit strange to not use what you make. How'd you know it was the best thing to make then?"

A low hum of agreement escapes him as they walk, hand briefly rising to try and touch a low part of the ceiling as they pass, too lazy to actually leap up for it though. "Most people don't find this fun," he admits, sobering for a moment. His parents, his cousin, they'd all say the same. "Thing is...there's a lot in life that isn't fun. Might as well make the most of what you can, while you can." He doesn't recognize or understand the full weight of everything Remi carries, can't really, but he relents a touch. "Tentacles it is though, and I'll cheer you on." Sidelines again then with demi daddy in tow, it'd seem. He shouldn't be surprised, but he sighs faintly with the disappointment.

The feeling continues through talks of his death to the rather lackluster explanation of what cool shit Remi and Ronin got up to down here during LongNight. "That's it?" he asks with a wrinkle of his nose, wondering now if he's touched anything that someone's bare ass had been spread against, or worse. "Love hardly seems like the worst crime these tunnels have seen." If his step stutters a touch at the captain's name, he tries to pass it off as stopping to adjust his boot. He's managed to avoid the word and the thought of Jack better as of late, but he supposes there's no unwinding the man completely from his life, a reminder he receives every time he catches a glimpse of his back in the mirror, among other things. "Yeah, Jack sure has a way of leaving his mark." Suddenly Remi riding a dragon is a much needed mind scrub.

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Remi only raises an eyebrow, the faintest flicker of amusement ghosting across his face, but he doesn’t elaborate. He’s nearly died more times than he can count, reached into the heart of gods and back again, lost children, rebuilt his world from ashes, and still managed to keep walking. There might be an interpretation of all that which made him a soldier, but it isn’t a title he wears comfortably—least of all when handed to him by a teenager who still thinks being legendary sounds like a good idea.

"For most of my life, I was an alchemist," he says instead, the words rolling evenly through the travelling tongue. "I made things like explosive devices...anything that might give our soldiers an advantage." His head tilts, the smirk that follows carrying quiet, knowing humour. "As for how I knew what was best to make…" His eyes glint as he meets Kaisel’s. "I watched." And, if it had meant being able to spend time with men he'd otherwise have been banned from speaking to socially, all the better.

When Kaisel mentions cheering him on, Remi shakes his head, laughter slipping out under his breath. "No, no. I’m happy to hold them still for you to clobber. If you really want to put your skills to use.." He opens his arms slightly, as though inviting a punch, the grin that curls his mouth openly teasing now. "I’m basically the demigod punching bag."

The sound that escapes him next is softer, almost fond. "Mm, well. The rougher sorts know better than to linger when they hear a pair of sea monsters are coming.' The corner of his mouth quirks wryly, but he doesn’t push further when Kaisel’s tone shifts. If he notices the subtle flinch at Jack’s name, he gives no sign, only nodding once, gaze turned briefly toward the black water licking at the tunnel mouth. "He certainly does. Though I think we're through the worst of it," Remi murmurs.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

He is surprised and intrigued further as Remi reveals not swords being smithed but explosives. "Like fireworks you fight with?" he wonders, a touch of awe entering his voice at the idea. Now that sounds fun. He doesn't have much personal experience with tools beyond the general staves and bows and knives, although he supposes the elemental effects that bolster them once in a while have enough variety that something could go boom. His eyes meet Remi's from the side, taking in as much understanding as he can manage.

The offer of holding instead of just sweeping the problem up entirely earns Remi another measured look, brightening with the idea of teamwork yet, even if it'd be without darts or cool catch phrases. His smile creeps back in, proof of enough of deal. As to the rest, Kaisel shakes his head faintly. "Well no wonder you don't find this any fun," he huffs, as if it's obvious now. "No one enjoys being the punching bag, least of all if it's all the time. What if I hold at least one guy and you punch him?" For added effect, Kaisel swings at the shadows they pass by, as if there could be someone lurking there right now.

Jack starts to fade away under images of dragons and sea monsters, but Kaisel pulls a face and stops dead in his tracks, whirling to face Remi. "Don't say that! You're gonna jinx it," he says low but hurried, as if maybe the universe hadn't been listening right in that moment, but needing to shush Remi just the same, especially with no salt or wood nearby, not really. Some things even demigods couldn't guard against.

He pauses for a moment, as if waiting to see if the Captain suddenly comes crashing in as if proof, but the caverns are as quiet as they have been. Boringly so in fact, with just their voices echoing down. Kaisel frowns at it. "I think your sea monster trick worked too well, everyone's still hiding." What a flop of a patrol, nothing exciting happening even at the spot that was supposed to be crawling with it. Maybe they just picked the wrong path and everyone else was having a grand ol' time on the other side. "Well, I can't turn into a sea monster, but maybe we can put on enough of a fight just the same and anyone who is lingering and listening will keep laying low?" he offers with a bounce of his 'brows, not wanting to waste his time or energy completely with slogging through damp and empty caverns. The reasoning is sound...enough.

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Remi shrugs, the motion smooth and faintly amused. "Where Ronin and I came from, magic wasn’t nearly as strong as it is here," he says, tone easy but coloured by the far-off hum of memory. "So it was more hand-to-hand." His mouth curves faintly as he adds, "Being able to throw something that disorients your enemy, or worse, gives you a heartbeat to breathe, and that was useful. When used right." No doubt if asked, Ronin would think of the same disastrous training incident that he was.

He chuckles under his breath, the sound low and rich as he glances at Kaisel sidelong. "I don’t mind it, though. After all the work Ludo used to have me do, it’s a relief to just focus on protecting the people around me." There’s a soft, almost self-effacing look that follows, the faintest tilt of a smile. "Besides...most of the time, I don’t even really feel it." The words are casual, but the implication hangs clear enough that he’s so strong now, the pain barely registers.

When Kaisel stops short, Remi looks back over his shoulder, one brow lifting. "Given why Jack left," he says quietly, "I doubt there’s anything I could say that would bring him back." The statement carries no bite, only simple certainty, though the unspoken truth lingers between them: if anyone could reach Jack, it's Flora, not Remi.

His expression smooths, a hint of humour returning. "Mm, I apologise," he murmurs dryly, "and I’ll be sure to tell Flora that you disapprove of how safe Ronin and I have made things." His grin softens the tease before he exhales, surveying the long, empty stretch of tunnel. "Alright then..." He gestures ahead with one hand, his voice taking on a warm, unhurried lilt. "I can be the ruffian lurking in the dark, and you can try to take me down. Hit as hard as you like, and I'll try and play along as best as I can." There was no way for Kaisel to actually land a hit on Remi unless he allowed it, but he wasn't without the ability to play into the montage.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

He nods along with the idea of something helpful amid hand to hand problems, an issue he's faced a time or two, and without explosives at his disposal. Maybe his fight with Jack would have gone differently then, but given how fast it'd happened, probably not.

As Remi continues and mentions wanting to protect people, Kaisel glances at him with steady appreciation and gratitude. "You've done a lot, but protecting people is definitely the whole point to everything," he agrees, because for all his grand images of statues and stories, they're not worth a damn if there's no one of value standing to look at them. He wants to leave a mark that helps people, the way a hero would. "Guess that's the shitty part about war. Everyone thinks they're fighting for what's best. Both sides trying to protect something." Maybe not everyone, but it wouldn't get to such a head if there wasn't strong forces on either side with that belief. Maybe he's never been in a real battle, but he's lived through the ripple effects of them to see the impacts on his family to know there's nothing quite so simple to the roles or the problems, not really. That's all too heavy to carry around like a burden all the time though, so easier to focus on simpler things that make the moments pass by a little brighter, like turning himself into a personal lawn dart of justice via Remi.

The deeper moment slips away though as Remi just nonchalantly tosses out he can handle all the hits like it's nothing. "Don't even feel it?" he wonders with no lack of awe, but just as equally there's disbelief too. He knows the other man is a legend by all rights, but he can't wrap his head around the magnitude of such strength, and rather thinks Remi's bullshitting a touch. "You're that strong, or you got rid of the ability to feel pain?" The rising excitement in his voice suggests both sound like a great answer. "Does that extend to like, never getting brain freezes any more too?" He looks at Remi like that Pedro Pascal gif driving with GROSS Nic Cage does.

A dry, short laugh leaves him as Remi seems to think himself impervious to summoning the misfortune of another Jack storm into their lives. That's just it, never know what it could take to set the ball rolling. Could already be rolling at this point with the more they keep talking about it, inviting the world to listen and scheme. "Still, best not to tempt fate with idle remarks."

A laugh is his only response to be tattled on to Flora. "Go ahead, I'm sure she'll just stage a kidnapping or something for me then, and I'll be ready." He does huff out a small breath though, releasing some of the humor and the grumpiness about boring patrols. "She really appreciates it, you know." His gaze flicks over at the Bastion, unwilling to speak too freely of things Flora and him share or what she hasn't outright said but is evident in the small ways she eases or smiles. "That you guys step up to help when needed. Torchline, and her." He smiles a bit, voice softening around thoughts of her. "She can do a lot on her own, but it's nice when she doesn't have to. Especially when it's her family who have her back." She has never been shy about using her demi dads to her benefit, but there's a difference on having to call upon them versus them already being there. He hadn't seen everything before they all got to this point, and what's she's told him of the early days sounds bleak and part of him still holds it against each father. They're doing good now though, and that doesn't go unnoticed.

Rolling it all away with his shoulder as his offer is accepted, his smile beams out in response. "Alright, let's see if I can make you feel something then." He reaches into his pockets, slipping on his knuckle dusters, and eases back into a fighting stance as his hands lift up in fists near his face. He's not so mad as to think this won't really end one way, but he's down to try, because he doesn't have much to lose. He knows he's outmatched in a lot of manners, but maybe at the very least he could get Remi laughing by the end, which maybe shouldn't be the goal of a fight, but battles are waged in a lot of ways.

"Special delivery for Remi!" he calls out, smile tugging up higher on one side as he feints a hook with his left, only to roll on his feet and cross with his right toward's Remi's chest. "My fist!"

---

1/4 Kaisel feints a left hook and strikes with his right at Remi's chest

Starlit Knuckle Dusters | A pair of knuckle dusters that glisten with constellations and add air damage on impact.
Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic | Cost: Action

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Remi lolls his head to the side, the movement loose, his curls shifting with the motion. "Some wars are certainly that way," he agrees after a pause, voice low and steady. "But when it came to the Family—" the word comes out edged, his accent thickening like pressure behind his teeth making the capital F pop, "—they were just fucking wrong." The curse lands like a stone dropped into still water, and for a moment his jaw feathers, eyes turning distant with the kind of quiet fury that has been ground down over years of grief and rebuilding.

He shakes it off with a breath, the darkness fading as quickly as it came. "Mmh, well. I think it’s because I’m that strong," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck almost sheepishly. "Though I can definitely still get brain freezes. Ronin’s dragon likes to freeze my toes sometimes too when I take her spot in the bed, and I can certainly feel that." His grin flickers wide and warm for a second, lightening the weight in the tunnel.

"Not a fan of Jack’s, then?" he asks mildly, one brow lifting. He has no idea what sits between the younger man and the Captain, only that the air around the name always seems to tighten. At the mention of Flora, though, Remi goes quiet. The words about her appreciation, about family, settle somewhere deep, and the weight of them pulls his gaze briefly to the stone underfoot. He clears his throat softly. "Now that Ronin’s on her council, hopefully it’s easier for her to boss us around as needed," he says, his tone a blend of rueful affection and quiet apology. "And easier for us to see where she actually wants help."

When Kaisel brightens again, Remi lets out a laugh and steps into the shadows with mock solemnity. "Alright then," he says, rolling his shoulders with exaggerated looseness. "Here I am, writing thieves’ cant all over the caves because I'm going to do crimes..." His imitation of a ruffian is atrocious, somewhere between melodrama and pantomime, and he doesn’t even attempt to dodge Kai's incoming punch.

As Kaisel’s fist connects solidly with his chest, Remi blinks once and deadpans, utterly flat, "Oh no...owww...guess I should run away." The last words are delivered with the driest possible humour, though the slight quirk at the corner of his mouth betrays how much he’s enjoying the younger man’s effort as he turns to 'flee'.

---

1/4
Remi gets punched for 1% of his health. (So no, Kai, it doesn't hurt) And pretends to run away.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

A solemn nod returns Remi's sentiments about the Family, because, yeah. They both seem eager to leave that shadow behind, a laugh slipping free easily enough at the mischief of dragons. Though, it is a mild disappointment to hear that even the strongest punching bag in Caido is not free from brain freezes.

"That's one way of putting it," he mutters of the captain's fan club, but speaks no further on it, since doing so only seems to keep feeing Remi's desire to whip the name around left and right like it isn't as cursed as he who shall not be named. The grimace and stern silence that follows should be pointed enough to leave well enough alone.

A wry twist of his lips answers the potential of Flora's improved bossiness. "Let's hope so," he agrees with a quiet sigh full of affection for the man's stubborn daughter. The council is precisely one of the things he means, about stepping up where needed to aide her. "I'm just glad it didn't go the direction of her pageant idea for electing someone into the role. Was going to be wildly entertaining at least," he laughs, knowing, mostly, that she hadn't been seriously considering it. Sometimes in the moment it's just nice to say shit and live in a fake reality until the feelings get small enough to handle again. "Would have liked to see Ronin running down the beach making political decisions in heels and swimwear though." Pity they'd all miss that.

With the agreement for a spar underway, Kaisel's immediate thought when he surveys Remi's criminal activity is simply, what a fucking dad. No one says they're going to 'do crimes'. In fact, he's now certain Remi has never broken a rule in his entire life. For this reason, and no other, clearly, he's laughing a bit when he swings in on Remi, disbelief tangling up in his chest at the absurdly terrible job of law breaking he's just witnessed.

Still, he's reeling his hand back with wide eyes as Remi just takes it like a giant marshmallow fluff. A bold, relentless laugh wriggles between his teeth as he gawks. "You really didn't feel anything?" Spars with his peers have gone much differently, and though he's never claimed to be a major powerhouse and hardly expected to send Remi flying, he didn't expect the man to just take it point blank. "Oh man, that's some major aura Mr. Taliesin. I did not know you had actual game like that."

Still, he could try for a different tactic, and is musing it over as Remi begins to run with all the same effort of a grownup escaping a toddler that can barely walk. "This family loves running, I swear," he scoffs, pursuing with all the gusto he can muster and flinging himself like velcro towards Remi's back. "HALT, or be dropped against your will," he grinds out, bringing his right elbow down forcefully towards Remi's right shoulder, where a pressure point near the neck should be.

---

2/4 Kai says dope and runs to jump on his back and elbow him

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Remi raises a brow, laughter bubbling quietly out of him. "It really wouldn’t take much to get Ronin into a pair of heels sprinting down the beach," he admits, his grin boyish and bright for a moment. "The political part he might resist, but the outfit? Not at all."

When Kaisel’s punch lands, Remi glances down almost politely, then shakes his head with a rueful little shrug. "Obviously I felt it," he concedes, voice carrying the warm cadence of the travelling tongue. "It just...didn’t hurt." There’s a flash of apology in his eyes, the faintest downturn of his mouth before he adds, "Good form, though." Then he turns to make his exaggerated escape, boots scuffing lightly against the wet rock.

The next thing he knows, there’s a weight flung at his back and an elbow pressing near his shoulder. The Bastion’s laugh rolls low and genuine this time, echoing in the cavern. The hit lands close enough to the pressure point, but it’s like striking the side of a mountain, muscle and magic both refusing to yield. "Ah," he sighs contentedly, "I have a knot there. That actually feels quite nice."

Then, clearing his throat, he drops into the same awful pantomime voice as before—half pirate, half dying fish. "Ohh nooo," he groans dramatically, sinking to his knees with all the enthusiasm of a theatre actor fainting on cue. "The law has caught me. But I won't go easily!"

---

2/4 Remi thanks Kai for the massage and then collapses under the weight of the law.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

If I asked would you come and fight with me?

It's like he's fighting the memory stone he joked with Flora about. Remi's still flesh, clearly, but Kaisel's becoming more and more certain that beneath the normal exterior, it isn't muscle, but a mountain trying to pass as a man. That'd make sense, how he can take so many blows and still feel cold (snow caps, obviously). He doesn't fully believe, but some small part of him is open to the idea, the way Niki could still pass as a ghost and small things that have their rules followed can impart incredible wishes or luck. Just enough doubt in the likelihood of reality to wonder about more.

There's maybe a lesson about trying to move a mountain in all this, but Kaisel has never been deterred by things like stones and dirt before. A bright, incredulous laugh follows the brief moment where he waits and wonders if his strike hit true. Every part of him braced for impact and the delivery of pain as he's been trained to do, and in response, he's thanked. It's a first.

He pops off with a shove, more for his benefit than anything, as Remi begins to sink. A glimmer of Flora's threatrics finally reveals themselves, although Remi's still doing an atrocious job of it all in comparison. Sweeping a leg back, Kaisel judges the distance between them, honing in on the Bastion's exposed side. If his fist garnered nothing and his elbow had been a massage, perhaps a swift kick in the kidney could leave more than a tickle. "We can do this the hard way," he threatens the rogue Remi, "or the harder way," which is likely not the first time Remi has heard such a thing. Kaisel takes one step in and pivots on the ball of his foot, swinging a kick into Remi's side with a grunt of effort.

---

3/4 Kaisel kicks at Remi's side and accidentally makes a gay joke

Kaisel

It's not just our moment, it's our destiny

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

As Kaisel hops off his back, Remi glances over one shoulder with the weary patience of a parent whose toddler is about to test gravity. His curls are mussed, the corners of his mouth tugging upward despite himself. But when he’s given the ultimatum—the hard way or the harder way—he just blinks up at the younger man, brow furrowing with mild confusion rather than innuendo. He doesn’t even get to answer before the kick lands. The Bastion frowns deeply, more affronted than hurt. "You didn’t even give me a chance to answer first," he protests, tone halfway between scolding and incredulous.

Then, with the sort of effortless grace that betrays exactly what he is, Remi surges upright. One moment he’s kneeling; the next, he’s on his feet, the air stirred by the sudden, powerful sweep of tawny wings unfurling from his shoulders. The movement fills the tunnel with a rush of feathers and sea-salt air.

"You’ll never take me alive!" he declares in a mock-dramatic roar, before turning on his heel to ‘flee’ down the tunnel again, clearly restraining the full power that could have turned his escape into a blur, but still moving with disarming quickness, laughter echoing through the stone as he goes.

---

3/4

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)