new beginnings

"Oh, I did not mean it as—" Bashfully, stumbling over words he hadn't even yet said, colour bloomed on the alchemist's cheeks as he looked down trying to wrangle the awkward smile on his lips into something more appropriate. "That was not meant as a comment on your appearance." The other version of the alchemist might have had the nerve to look Rory in the eyes and elaborate. Say that the scarring made him no less handsome than he had been, but this version, the one who couldn't remember having been kissed before, tried desperately to find a way to sidestep the implication. "I just thought perhaps you would have lost some feeling." And why was Remi thinking about whether or not Rory had lost feeling in that particular area? Rory's surprise only made Remi chuckle wryly and shake his head. "The mask that Ludo gave me ... it was stolen." He explained, pale eyes roaming low, somewhere near Rory's hands before he conjured a feather and began to stroke it lightly against his palm as a distraction. "He was not pleased when I told him. The loss of my memories was a punishment." Pausing in whatever invisible-script he was writing on his palm, he hazarded a glance at Rory. Telling him the content of the lost memories seemed both thrilling and somehow dangerous, though for the life of him Remi couldn't figure out why. "Memories of...men I had strong feelings for, in the past." He added with an awkward sort of cough, bashful smile, and very obvious lack of eye-contact. Looking up suddenly with a sunny and bright grin, the alchemist laughed. "What, disorganized and useless?" He quipped cheerfully, falling so easily and charmingly into self-deprecation like a second skin. "Ahh. Yes. I remember seeing you standing around the perch... It is quite a gift. A dangerous one, to be sure, but—" Reaching out as if miming what it might be like to hold the feather, Remi lost himself immediately into his own mental mappings of a solution, which was probably for the best lest, he find himself asking about the hunter's relationship with Jigano. Twisting his fingers as his eyes appeared to see things which were not there, his expression softly changing as a multitude of thoughts danced behind his eyes, finally he came up for as it were, exhaling the breath he'd been holding and focusing back on Rory. "I could create some sort of pouch for it, which would render it safe to carry. But it is so beautiful..." The alchemist's lips twitched slightly as he sighed. "I can..change things...but I have not been able to successfully change a magical item yet." Remi admitted with an almost sad sigh. "You could wait, but as you have said, the feather is not the most practical as it is." Much as the alchemist would like to simply wave his fingers and make the fire controllable, he was not that strong yet. Whether he would ever be he had no idea. For now though, it was out of his reach. A magical pouch was all he could offer his friend. Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine