the wounds are open and bleeding out

I swear I still believe but I don't know

It's only as Remi's arms fold properly around him that Ronin remembers his thoroughly broken ribs, though despite the flinch and his sharp intake of breath, he does absolutely nothing to move out of the other man's embrace. If anything he relishes the pain a little, content to be held as closely and safely as the Bastion will have him. "Just like this," he agrees, tilting his head into the fingers that work their way though his hair.

"You can gloat anyway, you know that. This is a safe space," he says, the barest hint of amusement back in his tone, as if being able to stand here with the other man is enough to make even this dire situation a little more palatable. "Just like with Dahlia," he agrees. "From what people said - the ones who had that weird dream - however many of them there are, there are more still in that island."

And if all of them are like Pierce and Dahlia - well, fuck them, he supposes.

the white knight

the bastion

How do I learn my dreams to mold
To lay them bare in the morning cold?

"Hey—" Immediately loosening his grip and moving to stand back, it's only the fact that Ronin keeps him in place—that, and the slight masochistic streak he's developed over the years that has him understanding the way he feels Ronin reaching for the pain and even leaning into it—that has Remi remaining. "Are you okay? I can fly you back if you need the fountain, or...gods, go to Flora for her compass if that's too long?" Or, you know, Ronin could supernova himself, he supposes we're so good at abilities.

"Ah yeah, super safe. If it isn't dragons, it's men with wildly chiselled jawlines coming to rob you." Remi huffs back. "Did he flirt with you, too?" Only half-kidding (did he though, Ronin?) Remi tilts his head enough to press a kiss softly against the side of his husband's neck before pulling him close once more.

"Maybe we just blow the whole thing up. How many quests do you figure that'll take?" Again, he's only half-kidding.

If they're still out there then the chasm grows
For all you know, for all you've known

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I swear I still believe but I don't know

No, don't-- Ronin might have pleaded if Remi had tried to step away properly, and though he moves gingerly, he does relax when he's convinced the other man isn't going anywhere. "I'll be fine," he mumbles. "Isn't anything that'll kill me." And I feel like I deserve it, he might have added, but as Remi has already surmised from their somewhat masochistic similarities, it hardly needs to be said out loud. "Shame it happened before we could clean this place up, though. I wouldn't have said no to sitting inside for a bit." And pretending they were still hiding from the world as they had done in that year after the war.

"If he flirted with me, I have forgotten what flirting is meant to look like," he says dryly. Certainly there had been no attempts to charm or seduce the item out of his grasp, if that's what Remi means.

Content to be clutched closer, Ronin nuzzles against the strong line of Remi's jaw, feeling briefly as though he, too, would like to nestle himself the other man's bones to rest for a while. "Who needs quests? We can just keep throwing power at it. Maybe it'll explode, or sink into the sea forever. Who knows?"

the white knight

the bastion

How do I learn my dreams to mold
To lay them bare in the morning cold?

"If it isn't one thing with them, it's another." Remi complains with a sigh, as if it only added insult to injury that Pierce hadn't at least waited for Ronin to finish the chore he'd come up here to do before beating and robbing him. Trying to feel through the bond where specifically the Knight had been injured, Remi shifted his weight slightly into order to lessen the pressure to one side of his husband's body even though his arms remained tightly around him.

"First of all, I take that as a personal attack because I flirt with you all the time." Remi points out with a defensive huff. To be fair his version of flirting these days was pouncing on the Knight when he was still sleeping and blowing up into his nose, or giving him the pancake which hadn't fallen on the floor, but after nearly 10 years of marriage, it was the little things, okay?

"We should just bring Melita with us one of these times. If we fly her over and I keep her safe, I don't see why she can't just throw everything her wild magic has at the island before we run back to Torchline." Again, only half-kidding.

If they're still out there then the chasm grows
For all you know, for all you've known

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I swear I still believe but I don't know

Sensing what his husband is trying to do, Ronin shifts to the left with Remi to simultaneously reduce the pressure on his right side and to let the other man know where his injury is. Not that it matters a stitch to the Knight as long as he doesn't have to move out of his arms any time soon. "Mm, well if you ever flirt with me by punching me so hard I forget how to move my body, I'll know that Pierce liked me after all," he mutters, letting himself lean a little more heavily against Remi now that the initial shock of everything has begun to settle.

"Doesn't Melita's magic risk turning her into a frog or making her fall asleep?" Ronin wonders; he can't remember if the Honeybee had told him explicitly, if he'd seen it in action or whether it's just rumour and conjecture from Torchline. Either way, those two things don't seem particularly conducive to blowing up Starfall forever.

Grumbling as he glances up at the (perfect and tranquil, might he add) meadow that sprawls beyond the Tramezzino, it's with a sad frown that he admits defeat to himself; part of him thought if he just stuck around here, Pierce would come back and he might be able to fight again for the sword. "We should go, shouldn't we?"

the white knight

the bastion

How do I learn my dreams to mold
To lay them bare in the morning cold?

Allowing the Knight to shift within his arms without ever breaking his hold, Remi wonders for the umpteenth time why he'd never possessed healing magic. Perhaps it was because the pair were on the subject of being useless, but what good was a shield when it arrived too late to be anything other than a mirror by which to see the injuries already inflicted?

"I mean.." Silently Remi raises his eyebrows, though the mischievous flush that ripples through their bond says more than the gesture ever could about the likelihood of such a thing happening. While it was true that their love had grown from something clumsy and sweet into the sort of deeply-rooted labyrinth that could no less be replicated as it could be tolerated by anyone else, but Remi wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Well, you would know more about that than I would—" Or so the Bastion assumes given the time the pair had spent together definitely not pranking him by drawing all over his face. "—which is why so long as someone is carrying her it shouldn't be a problem." He shrugs. "Either way, it would probably make the Family pause to have their shores suddenly littered with small plastic ducks if nothing else."

Clucking softly under his tongue, Remi exhales into the crook of Ronin's neck before nosing higher and pressing a kiss against his husband's temple. "Probably, but I don't want to just yet." He murmurs. "We can finish cleaning up here and then pen a letter to Deimos about our lost hoe." Whether or not their attempts at subterfuge were working the Bastion had no idea, but he supposed better safe than sorry especially given their current predicament. "Then we can think about going home, though I would not be averse to sleeping under the stars up here with you."

If they're still out there then the chasm grows
For all you know, for all you've known

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I swear I still believe but I don't know

"...Mmk, let me rephrase. Please don't ever flirt with me by punching me so hard I forget how to move my body," Ronin says after a considered pause, smirking despite himself thanks to the flush of mischief that ripples through the Attuned bond and is only echoed further in every place their skin touches. Accepting Remi's affections with a hum of quiet adoration, the Knight straightens up in his husband's arms though by no means tries to leave his embrace.

"Ah, yes. Four of Caido's strongest men and it doesn't phase The Family one bit, but a plethora of ducks? Whatever will they do?" His tone might be quiet and drier than the air in the desert, but the Bastion has succeeded in drawing him at leat partway out of the brooding that had seized him since Pierce's departure.

I don't want to just yet has Ronin relaxing in ways he didn't even know he was tense, and it's with a relieved smile and an eager nod that he leans in to kiss Remi, warm and sweet as the meadow that sprawls around them. "I'd like that," he almost whispers. "Especially sleeping out here under the stars with you. It's been a long time."

the white knight

the bastion

How do I learn my dreams to mold
To lay them bare in the morning cold?

"Well," Tilting his head in order to press even more kisses softly against the side of the Knight's neck, Ronin will no doubt feel Remi's smile against his skin as much in his words and through their bond. "..what if I do other things that make you forget how to move your body?"

Chuckling at that, Remi can only shrug. "Listen, before we threw things at the orb we didn't know what would work and what wouldn't. You don't know that yellow ducks aren't the enemy of weird alien races." Straightening ever so slightly to peer (1" down) at the Knight, Remi grins. "I bet you anything Melita would love the idea."

Leaning indulgently into the warm press of his husband's lips, it would have been all too easy to forget what had happened to the Knight only moments before were it not for the taste of copper on the other man's tongue. Not minding it at all though having to remind himself to be mindful of his husband's injuries, parting just enough to brush his nose against Ronin's, Remi nods. "What if I finish things up, and as you've already found a stash of my gin, you pour me some?"

If they're still out there then the chasm grows
For all you know, for all you've known

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I swear I still believe but I don't know

"I said what I said," Ronin croons in response, and the smile that creeps across his face is getting more crooked by the moment. "As long at it isn't punching me in the face, who am I to stop you?" Actually, that question is probably better left unanswered, given how the Knight is already riddled with guilt and doubt over what's just happened. 

Feathering his fingers through the back of Remi's curls and gazing (yes, 1'') up at him adoringly, he can only dream that bright yellow ducks are going to end The Family's rampage. For now, though, there's work still to be done, and if nothing else Ronin can leave the Cordillera having finished the task he came to complete. It won't eradicate the despair coating his bones, but it won't feel quite so insulting this way.

"I can do that," he murmurs, the words almost spoken directly against Remi's lips, and though it's with great reluctance, he does finally peel away from the other man. Gingerly, Ronin leans down to collect his glass, and it's with a parting glance out at the meadow where, in the distance, some of the flowers are flecked with blood, that he limps inside to get the gin.

~FIN

the white knight