you've always got my shoulder

the bastion

And you should know,
I left but never lost my place

Remi laughs, the sound loose and sun-warmed, eyes crinkling at the corners as he leans back slightly to take her in again. "You haven’t aged a day," he teases fondly, the compliment coloured more by emotion than vanity. There’s grey now at his temples, silver scattered like ash through his curls, and a few more lines frame his eyes and mouth—but the boyishness of his smile hasn’t dulled in the slightest. If anything, it’s brighter for how long it’s lasted, though the appearance of it is far more rare than it had once been.

"I’d half-expected you to show up with dick-fireworks again," he adds with a mock-serious nod, his hand lifting briefly as if to mime some grand explosion. "You know. Keep the theme consistent."

He laughs again, softer this time, the sound chased away by the hush of the ocean nearby and the pulse of lanternlight behind them. At her question, his grin falters—not in sadness, but in reflection—and he exhales through a smile that tilts a little crooked. "It feels like...no time has passed at all," he says, glancing toward the waves where the torches catch on their crests like stars. "And like we’ve lived a thousand lives together." His eyes return to her, warm and earnest. "And I think both are true, in their own way."

and these nights I miss you most
my heart is yours to break

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!