Reading is fundamental (OPEN)

R E M I "If only." The alchemist agreed, lips twitching with disappointment. He'd gone out to study the barrier recently to see if he could glean anything of importance but he'd come away empty handed. Well that wasn't true—Rory had run into him when he'd been sketching which had been a happy surprise. "Then again I would be pleased if I knew there was a way to affect it at all." 300 years and it remained impervious to all assaults, and yet naively still the alchemist clung to the hope he might find a way through. Just as he clung to the ghosts of so many other things. The feather proved to calm the alchemist's mind just as he thought it would. It hadn't been so long ago that Remi would have found himself quite uncomfortable sitting alone with another man, and would have been at a complete loss as to how to comport himself. Northaven had had such conservative views about such things, and given Remi's preferences he'd done everything in his power to try and appear as normal as possible. But of course normality in that context was not something Remi truly understood, and so he constantly found himself at a loss for how to behave around other men in a way which wouldn't arouse suspicion. Now in this new place and with certain bonds cast aside (metaphorically and literally), the alchemist was still rather uncertain of himself, though it no longer manifested in quite the same way. He could look Jigano in the eyes for example (those blue, blue eyes) without flinching and needing to turn away. Still, the feather helped. Looking up sharply, Remi's expression was one of awe-struck bafflement. The way his pale eyes searched the angular contours of Jigano's face suggested he was looking for malice or trickery there, but there was seemingly none to be found. "Really?" He smiled wonderingly and shook his head as his smile expanded to dimple his cheeks. "Mmm." Remi agreed with a nod, tapping the book gently with the feather. "That sort of verification is precisely what I was after." Volcanettes? He'd have to ask Isla about that. With a bemused smile and shrug of his shoulders Remi glanced across the table at his fair-haired counterpart consideringly. "I do not know." Remi replied, not meaning to make the response quite so mysterious as it came out. Clearing his throat slightly he run a hand absently through his curls as he continued: "I...have developed a new animal shift here. It came about...ahh...during a rather tense and violent situation. Since then I have not always been able to control it well. My friends know this and are encouraged to be armed should I need to shift into that form...in case I lose myself." The words flowed from his lips easily as honesty had never been something Remi tried to evade (except when it came to what had previously been thought of as sexual deviance), but even so his eyes were sad and his smile had faltered somewhat. "Unfortunately those measures have not always just been a precaution." He concluded cheerlessly. Leaning back in his chair as he read, a finger scanning down the lines as his eyes moved steadily downwards, he suddenly stopped. Head tilting to the side in a decidedly avian gesture the alchemist frowned. Flicking his eyes across the table to see if speaking would be terribly intrusive, he cleared his throat slightly before reading aloud: "Revenge is a dish best served cold is a saying that has its origins during the LongNight. Those who have been harmed in the past will often leave raw meat at the doors of their enemies to encourage monsters to attack during the week-long darkness. Raw meat is also a deterrent to the luxere." Raising his brows, Remi looked across the table with a skeptically disapproving stare. "I do not know what a luxere is, but that sounds terrible.