short story long

the bastion

Remi is still turning Ronin’s words over in his mind, trying to find the seam between Flora’s devotion and defiance, when the Knight is suddenly on his feet and tugging him up after him. Surprise catches first, widening his eyes for the space of a breath, and then a crookedly boyish smile presses itself onto his lips, deepening one dimple. His fingers close around one of Ronin’s hands as he steps in close, careful of the bassinet, careful of the sleeping boys, but not careful at all with the way his affection rises through the bond, rich and golden and threaded with something grateful enough to ache.

"Definitely option one," he murmurs, a low chuckle tucked into the words, and then he leans in before Ronin can threaten the sea again.

The kiss starts soft, but there is nothing uncertain in the way Remi’s mouth finds his husband’s. His free hand curls against Ronin’s waist, drawing him closer by slow degrees, while the clever press of his tongue turns the kiss from reassurance into something warmer, something meant to smooth away the discomfort still clinging to them and replace it with the familiar, necessary truth of being together. Whatever waits outside the door, whatever conversation Flora will need and whatever mistakes they may or may not make next, Remi lets all of it fall back for the length of the kiss, giving Ronin the only answer he trusts himself to offer without making anything worse.

I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

kiss your perfect day goodbye

"You know, I thought you'd say that--" Cut off, and happily so, by the sudden press of Remi's mouth, Ronin steps forward enough that he can loop his arms around the other man in turn, drawing him flush against his body. The quiet certainty of his devotion floods through the bond between them and in every place they touch, like a rogue wave rushing in to swamp out any guilt and uncertainty. There would be more mistakes - there always are - and they'd learn from them, of course. They always do, and they always handle it together.

Kissing him until his lungs burn and his body aches with it, Ronin parts at last with the world having gone softly warm from the radiance that shines out of him. "In our defence," he says wryly, panting for breath, "I don't think in any of the parenting books that it covers what to do if your child becomes a demigod to a goddess who once held your happiness hostage and used to hijack your dreams."

He raises his eyebrows boyishly at Remi, then, as if to corral him into agreement that this is hardly a typical failure when it comes to their list of fatherly faux pas.

because the world is on fire

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

A garnet flush moves through the bond as Remi’s emotions shift from gold into something warmer and redder, a gently heated breeze stirring through him beneath the press of Ronin’s mouth, until for a few blessed moments there is no goddess, no door, no ache of fatherhood gone briefly sideways, only the familiar impossibility of still being so thoroughly undone by the same man after all these years. When they part, Remi huffs out a small laugh, blinking as if the room has tilted half an inch to the left while his lips remain curved in a helpless, boyishly adoring smile.

"No," he agrees with a playful roll of his eyes, his voice low and a little breathless, "they certainly do not." His hands linger at Ronin’s waist as if letting go too quickly might undo the spell of it, and though the heaviness has not vanished, it has at least been pushed back from the centre of his chest. "Perhaps we missed our chance to write that particular chapter," he adds, sighing as if they'd missed out on some great fortune.

Then his smile tilts mischievously, the dimple returning as he shakes his head. "If nothing else, I suppose it might have saved Sunjata the headache."

I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

kiss your perfect day goodbye

"Fuck the chapter, we could have written a whole book by itself on it. Not a parenting book, maybe, but at least one about the pros and cons of demigodhood." Laughing softly, Ronin draws Remi close again as if they're magnets of opposing poles, and though he doesn't kiss him a second time, he does brush his nose against the Bastion's. "Maybe we could've just given the book to the kids, then," he adds, scoffing under his breath. "Or would that count as quite literally giving them the damage?"

The mention of Sunjata has him raising an eyebrow at first, before he remembers the tangled threads of his own parental relationship with Flora and tips his head back to grumble a soft curse. "Fuck, do you think I should drop him a line? I can be like hey, whatever happens just keep a smile on your face and be polite, or something. Though... I don't know, actually. If there's anyone better at putting their foot in their mouth than I am, it's Jata."

because the world is on fire

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

Remi snickers despite himself, the sound tucked low in his throat so it does not dare travel as far as the bassinet, and he swats Ronin’s shoulder. "Yes, that probably would count as literally giving them our damage, but.." Brushing his nose against Ronin’s, his mouth still tilted in the helpless shape his husband always seems to coax out of him, even when the day has been sharpened at every edge, he grins. "..at least then we could say it was their choice to read it."

Remi's hand splays against Ronin’s lower back while the thought of Sunjata shifts the humour into something more wry. Remi inhales, brows rising. "Actually, I more meant that it might have kept Sunjata away from Safrin at the beginning," he says, one corner of his mouth twitching, "but honestly, perhaps it is worth mentioning."

His expression tilts toward mischief then, brightening his seaglass stare as he widens his eyes at Ronin. "Maybe we should invite him over," he adds, voice soft and teasing. "See if he is still fun now that he is the Heartless."

I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

kiss your perfect day goodbye

"Mm, that way we could have officially held up the subject as being off limits unless they wanted to read our bestseller. They could have written essays on us," Ronin says with the exaggerated weariness of an opportunity he knows has long been lost - though the way he smirks towards the bassinet suggests that a book might yet be written. "Then again, I bet Flora would have used it as a doorstop, so..." He shrugs.

Understanding dawns with Remi's correction about Sunjata, his own hand rising to gently tease the drying curls out of his husband's face, and he scoffs a laugh under his breath that's all too wary of the sleeping twins. "Hey, we could give it to him belatedly. Just in case he feels an unexplainable urge to switch alignments," he suggests, before nodding. What almost forms on his lips as a commitment to forewarn his fellow demigod (and former stepfather to Flora) dies at the mischief that sparks through the bond.

Blinking at Remi before finding a smile creeping across his own face, he nudges him playfully with his hip. "You, me, a social life?" He gasps. "Careful - those sorts of suggestions will make people think you're having a midlife crisis. But yes, let's do that. I'm no longer a hormonal mess, so we can have someone babysit and everything."

because the world is on fire

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

Remi clucks his tongue softly at the tragedy of the opportunity missed, sighing through his nose as he shakes his head with a gravity entirely undeserved by the subject. Flora’s hypothetical dismissal of their life’s work has him snickering a moment later, though, and he nods with a helplessly fond roll of his eyes. "Or maybe she would have pressed some of the flowers Mateo gave her with it," he adds, the affection in his voice softening the tease.

Leaning into the fingers Ronin drags through his drying curls, Remi’s grin returns with easier warmth, his eyes half closing for a second before he looks back at his husband. "In that respect," he says, catching Ronin’s meaning with a bright little lift of his brows, "I do think our shoes are worth following in." Whatever else their histories have been, whatever divine messes and mortal wreckage have filled the road behind them, finding themselves in service of better gods when the old ones ask too much is not a lesson Remi minds leaving behind.

When Ronin nudges him with his hip, Remi clasps him a little harder against his body, refusing to be displaced by the nudge. "Do not get ahead of yourself," he says with a playful scoff, though his smile betrays him immediately. "I did think we would invite Sunjata here, but..." He trails off, raising his eyebrows as his grin turns more openly mischievous. "If you are up for a night out, we could always have Vai come and babysit?"

I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

kiss your perfect day goodbye

"I'd have taken that, though," Ronin says of the pressing flowers. "That at least means she would have had to open the book. She might have passively absorbed some wisdom from its pages." Or trauma, arguably, but listen. You can't make an omelette without reading a chapter about your father killing his best friend while she was a unicorn, or something.

Something softens in him unexpectedly at Remi's next comment, and though the smile on his lips still tilts towards playful, the flash of relieved affection he sends down the bond is unmistakable. "I don't think I realised how much I needed to hear that," he says honestly. "That there are things worth passing down to our children. That we're not just one big warning about what not to do, including how to parent."

Barely stifling the urge to kiss his husband again, instead Ronin allows himself to be corralled closer, arms winding back around Remi properly. "I would love that," he says openly, voice barely beyond a whisper. "And I think Vai would love it as well. I'll send a letter to Sunjata and he can take a break from the snow in King's End for a bit to come and visit?"

because the world is on fire

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

Remi lifts his eyebrows and feigns a wince, though the smirk tugging at his mouth ruins the effect almost immediately. "Soooo," he murmurs, tilting his head to the side as if he is weighing a very serious accusation, "are you saying this is our fault, then?" The quiet chuckle that follows is barely more than breath, careful of the twins, but it warms some of the tension left in his chest all the same.

Then Ronin’s honesty settles between them, soft and unexpectedly bright, and Remi’s expression changes with it. The relief and affection spilling through the bond makes him shiver with delight, not dramatically, but in that small helpless way his body still sometimes betrays him when Ronin reaches him exactly where he is tender. He smiles, his hand spreading more securely at the small of his husband’s back as he tilts his head. "If nothing else," he says softly, "our marriage has lasted where many would have failed, and I know for a fact that I have kept loving you more and more over the years." He leans forward, brushing his nose against Ronin’s, letting the words sit close enough that they hardly have to cross any distance at all. "That is a lesson I think they have all learned from us."

The thought of snow and Sunjata and an evening that is not entirely defined by newborn schedules has him chuckling under his breath, and he nods. "That sounds wonderful," he agrees, though unlike Ronin, he makes no effort to resist the urge that rises between them. Instead, Remi closes the last bit of space again, catching his husband’s lips in another kiss, soft but certain, his affection spilling gold and garnet through the bond as if, for all the mess left waiting outside the Northaven, this much at least remains blessedly easy.

I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

kiss your perfect day goodbye

"I think it's safe to assume by now that most things are at least partly our fault when it comes to our children," Ronin concedes, though the words no longer hold the sharp guilt that they would have even a few minutes prior. "Good and bad, I guess," he adds, his smile softening further as he feels Remi's warm hands press more firmly at the small of his back. Not bothering to try and stop the heat that floods his cheeks to hear the Bastion speak of their marriage and the mutual feelings they both still carry, he sneaks a kiss to the corner of his mouth at last and nods in agreement.

"Well, almost all," he murmurs with a smirk. "Though maybe one day someone will pin Mateo down for good." He shrugs, unbothered either way so long as their son is happy.

His lips part to speak further - to wonder at the best time for planning this little outing, perhaps - but before he can make any suggestions, Remi's mouth is back on his and the thought vanishes entirely. Clasping him closer automatically, only the frayed threads of exhaustion and the knowledge of the two tiny forms sleeping nearby keep his hands from wandering further, but every flick of his tongue and press of his fingers betrays what he'd do if the timing were better.

"I love you," he whispers breathlessly when they part. "And that's why I'm going to offer for you to have a nap while I keep rocking the bassinet."

because the world is on fire

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

Remi chuckles concedingly under his breath, his eyebrows rising as he nods. "Maybe we ought to do a better job of giving ourselves more credit during the good times, then," he murmurs, his hands still warm at the small of Ronin’s back.

At the mention of Mateo, Remi tilts his head, a grin spreading boyishly across his face as if the thought has caught him by pleasant surprise. "Maybe we are the reason for that too," he says, amusement threaded softly through the words. "If he knows what he could have, why would he settle?" It is teasing, certainly, but there is enough pride beneath it to warm the edges, enough love for the life he and Ronin have built that the joke does not quite remain only a joke. But then, should Mateo decide to remain a bachelor forever, so long as he was happy, it didn't matter to Remi.

The kiss pulls a softer sigh from him, and though heat flares low in his belly with a familiar, inconvenient insistence, Remi swallows it back with the long-suffering restraint of a man who knows there are two newborns asleep nearby and that even the briefest indulgence can become a disaster if timed poorly. When Ronin offers him a nap instead, his expression tips wry and impossibly fond, his smile creasing one cheek. "Gods, you really are a great man, you know that?"

He brushes his nose against Ronin’s once more, lingering just long enough to make his reluctance know, before giving him one last squeeze with both hands. "Just throw something at me if you need me," he murmurs, before finally letting go and making his way toward their bed with the unsteady purpose of someone who has been surviving on love, leftovers, and fragments of sleep for far too long. The collapse is immediate and messy, all loose limbs and damp curls and a shirt twisted slightly under one shoulder, but the moment his body hits the bed, the warmth still glowing through the bond makes it clear that however frayed the day has become, Ronin is the last thing he lets himself feel before sleep starts dragging him under.

~FIN

I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!