the bastion
Remi leans into the kiss pressed against his curls, his eyes closing for a moment as something golden and aching warms through the bond between them. There is comfort in being known well enough that no explanation is needed for the things he cannot quite say without making them worse, and for a few seconds, he lets himself rest there, damp hair and tired bones and all.
"I wonder if Kai did not give her the reaction she wanted either," he murmurs after a moment, opening his eyes but not moving away, "and that is why she took ours so much harder." His expression twists faintly, not with accusation so much as wary speculation, because he cannot imagine Kaisel celebrating blindly either, not if he understands even a fraction of what marriage to a demigod may now ask of him.
When Ronin says he will speak to her, Remi nods, though the motion is slow and heavy with the knowledge that time might help the edges dull, but it will not make the conversation simple. "Would you like me to come with you?" Then he sighs, the sound loosening something more fragile than frustration from his chest, and his gaze slips toward Carlo and Calan again as if Flora’s parting shot has found its way into the blankets with them. "Do you think she was right?" he asks, nearly sheepish now, his voice low and rough around the edges. He looks back to Ronin with a small, uncomfortable tilt of his head. "About us giving our damage to our children?"
He swallows, his hand stilling beneath Ronin’s for only a moment before his thumb moves again, a tiny restless sweep against warm skin. "I always thought we were just warning them," he admits, brows drawing together as he tries to separate wisdom from fear, love from the old scars that have never quite stopped aching when the weather changes. "Wanting them to learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them, but..." The frown deepens, and there is no neat ending waiting behind it, no reassuring answer he can offer himself. "How would we even know if we had gone too far?" That instead of protecting, they'd merely started projecting?
"I wonder if Kai did not give her the reaction she wanted either," he murmurs after a moment, opening his eyes but not moving away, "and that is why she took ours so much harder." His expression twists faintly, not with accusation so much as wary speculation, because he cannot imagine Kaisel celebrating blindly either, not if he understands even a fraction of what marriage to a demigod may now ask of him.
When Ronin says he will speak to her, Remi nods, though the motion is slow and heavy with the knowledge that time might help the edges dull, but it will not make the conversation simple. "Would you like me to come with you?" Then he sighs, the sound loosening something more fragile than frustration from his chest, and his gaze slips toward Carlo and Calan again as if Flora’s parting shot has found its way into the blankets with them. "Do you think she was right?" he asks, nearly sheepish now, his voice low and rough around the edges. He looks back to Ronin with a small, uncomfortable tilt of his head. "About us giving our damage to our children?"
He swallows, his hand stilling beneath Ronin’s for only a moment before his thumb moves again, a tiny restless sweep against warm skin. "I always thought we were just warning them," he admits, brows drawing together as he tries to separate wisdom from fear, love from the old scars that have never quite stopped aching when the weather changes. "Wanting them to learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them, but..." The frown deepens, and there is no neat ending waiting behind it, no reassuring answer he can offer himself. "How would we even know if we had gone too far?" That instead of protecting, they'd merely started projecting?
I can't pass the test,
don't wait for me.
don't wait for me.
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.
