He said "I bet you don't remember me"
Remi huffs a laugh, the sound warm and tinged with exasperated affection. "Oria was a gift from Mort," he says, lips curving as he shakes his head, curls sticking slightly to his temple in the heat. "And then she met Sugar, and now the two of them are in a lifelong competition to see who can cause the most chaos while still pretending to be cute about it." There’s no real complaint in his voice—just the helpless pride of a parent utterly outmatched by the small, winged creatures under his roof.
But her next words drain some of the levity from his expression.
The mention of more and more infections...of the Barrows...of a Villi nearly unearthing the dead...Remi exhales slowly. His jaw tenses. His arms fold across his chest with a slow, deliberate motion, as if bracing against something colder than the LongHeat sun.
" When Dahlia got to Ronin," he says quietly, the words heavy as stones, "and infected him, she told him if we did anything—if we interfered in any way—she’d go after Flora and Mateo. She said she’d torture them. Kill them over and over past the point of Ronin being able to bring them back." His voice doesn’t rise, but there’s a current beneath it, dark and tight. The kind of fury that doesn’t burn hot, but deep.
"So we’ve done nothing." His mouth pulls into something that might’ve been a grimace, if it had the energy for it. He glances away, biting the inside of his cheek, hating his inability to contribute.
Thinking back to the Villi, Remi's brows draw together. "It wouldn’t surprise me," he admits, gaze distant now, eyes flicking across the still pools like they might reflect something deeper. "It might be a tactic. To force more of us to use the lilies and roses to cleanse our own regions so there's less to use to cure infections, and less to use on Starfall."
His fingers twitch against his bicep, restless.
But her next words drain some of the levity from his expression.
The mention of more and more infections...of the Barrows...of a Villi nearly unearthing the dead...Remi exhales slowly. His jaw tenses. His arms fold across his chest with a slow, deliberate motion, as if bracing against something colder than the LongHeat sun.
" When Dahlia got to Ronin," he says quietly, the words heavy as stones, "and infected him, she told him if we did anything—if we interfered in any way—she’d go after Flora and Mateo. She said she’d torture them. Kill them over and over past the point of Ronin being able to bring them back." His voice doesn’t rise, but there’s a current beneath it, dark and tight. The kind of fury that doesn’t burn hot, but deep.
"So we’ve done nothing." His mouth pulls into something that might’ve been a grimace, if it had the energy for it. He glances away, biting the inside of his cheek, hating his inability to contribute.
Thinking back to the Villi, Remi's brows draw together. "It wouldn’t surprise me," he admits, gaze distant now, eyes flicking across the still pools like they might reflect something deeper. "It might be a tactic. To force more of us to use the lilies and roses to cleanse our own regions so there's less to use to cure infections, and less to use on Starfall."
His fingers twitch against his bicep, restless.
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
