[God Quest] Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

Remi tilts his head back slightly, sea-glass eyes blazing with a fierce, reckless intensity that speaks clearly of all the lines he'd willingly cross—every boundary, every rule—to protect Ronin. "I would burn down every hope anyone had of pushing back the void, if that's what it took to save you," he admits softly, the words hushed but uncompromising. It isn’t a joke; it's a truth as devastating as the violet haze he’s only just lifted from his husband's mind, and Remi offers it without regret. His role as a demigod might be to serve as a fount of strength for the others, but he was nothing without Ronin.

His arms tighten protectively around Ronin’s waist, tentacles churning steadily beneath them as he ferries them slowly toward shore. As the waves lap at their shoulders, Remi brushes his lips softly against Ronin’s temple, needing the contact, the reassurance, even as his mind returns to darker questions. "When Dahlia kissed you in Stormbreak," he murmurs quietly, breath warming the damp skin beneath. "Is that when this happened?" There's no jealousy in the Bastion’s voice, only a quiet dread and lingering anger at what the Reaper had put his husband through. "Is there...anything else that you remember, now? Anything you might have left out while you were under her influence?"

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

gratuitous violence; unnecessary, satisfying, heartbreaking

"I believe it," Ronin says softly, reaching up to brush a thumb across Remi's cheek, seized by a sudden and fresh wave of adoration for the man in his arms that nearly leaves him unable to breathe. "Thank the gods it only took one rose then, eh?" Trying for a smile that's a little easier with each attempt, he makes no complaint about being held closer, happy to drift along in Remi's wake as he ferries them slowly back towards the shore.

Nosing against the scruff of his jaw to leave a brief kiss there, the Knight's brow furrows as he considers all that had happened and how he'd gotten into this situation. "In Haulani. When I came home hurt. She kissed me after she beat the hell out of me," he mutters. "I suppose she thought I was more useful infected than dead. Maybe it was just funny to her."

Falling quiet to think hard, Ronin walks himself back through that night. "She was serious, about us not interfering, about the threat to Mateo and Flora. She threw that out before we ever exchanged blows. Though whether she'll go after them when she finds out about this just to spite us..." His breath hitches, sudden panic seizing through their bond; a sudden and nearly feral urge to find their children and make sure they're safe.

"She just asked me to keep everyone out of the void's way. To lie about the Family, to slander them if I had to, so I could keep up the ruse that I wasn't infected. And she said I was to kill anyone who tried to cure me." A fresh wave of shame flushes through his body, Ronin pointedly glancing away.

RONIN

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

Remi's jaw tightens as he listens, feeling Ronin's shame roll heavily through their bond, dark and thick like oil on water. He leans forward, brushing his lips softly against Ronin's cheek, as though he might chase away the bitter sting of memory that still lingers there. "Leaving you alive was a mistake," Remi says firmly, pulling Ronin closer as he finally guides them to the shallows, tentacles slowly receding back into legs as they find footing in the sand. "That said...I wonder whether or not Mort would ever allow me to borrow that ability of yours, like the way Ludo once let me do." It wasn't for Mort to necessarily give life, but surely he could borrow from Vi, just as he'd done with the rose?

Despite the reassuring press of Ronin against him, Remi feels the prickling heat of his own anger swell sharply at the edges. His seaglass gaze flickers momentarily toward the violet island in the distance, a silent promise of violence coiling like a serpent beneath his skin. "Flora...she sent a note to me asking me to hurry and heal you," he says softly, voice edged with protective fury as his fingers trace a soothing path down Ronin's spine. "I don't know what she is planning, but Deimos mentioned her maybe going to speak with Dahlia.." Remi tilts his head, gently pressing their foreheads together. "Of all of them I thought she would understand the seriousness of Dahlia's threat, but...I am almost not sure if I should mention this to her yet."

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

gratuitous violence; unnecessary, satisfying, heartbreaking

Closing his eyes - because whether or not it was a mistake to infect him rather than killing him, they are still no closer to getting rid of the Family and their influence - Ronin accepts the kiss to his cheek with a shaky smile, feeling his feet skim the shallows of the coast and shifting enough to hold his own weight again. "I feel like giving a demigod of death the ability to instil life is a little too far-fetched even for us," he admits with a playful nudge to Remi's ribs as they swamp out from the waves. "Not that I'd ever complain about you being able to share that particular burden."

A burden he feels even more keenly as he leans in to press his forehead back against Remi's, keeping an arm firmly around him and taking a pause in the sand as if to properly ground himself. "Going to speak with Dahlia?" He hisses, his brows drawing together in a frown, Ronin straightening back up and gazing towards the sky as if for help from somewhere.

"...Just because I can bring our daughter back to life every time she puts herself in danger, it doesn't mean it's easy," he says, his tone suddenly fragile. "It's different if it's someone I don't know, or if it happens in the heat of the moment. But I'm not a carte blanche for her to not be careful." Shaking his head - because the last thing Ronin wants to do is sound ungrateful for his ability, or like he's complaining - it had nonetheless shaved years off his life (or very much felt like it) to find Flora still and unmoving in the Greatwood. And he'd really like to avoid a repeat of the experience.

RONIN

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

Remi's expression softens into something weary and deeply understanding as he watches Ronin's gaze drift skyward. His fingers flex gently against the Knight's back, offering silent reassurance even as a fresh wave of emotional exhaustion settles between his own shoulder blades. "I know," he says quietly, voice laced with an ache that mirrors Ronin's fragile tone. "I think she's taken it quite literally everytime we said that we'd be there for her." From flaunting their names as a child to get what she wanted, to using pieces of them to afford the lifestyle she'd chosen in Torchline, to channeling them to get her out of danger and now, to using them to evade death.

Leaning forward, the Bastion kisses Ronin lightly. "We'll figure it out," he murmurs against the Knight's lips, determination threading through the words despite the lingering weight still heavy against his ribs. "For now, though, let's just get you inside, mm? I'd like to think we've filled our danger quota for today."

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

gratuitous violence; unnecessary, satisfying, heartbreaking

"Yeah..." Ronin's tone is rough as he glances back down towards Remi, just in time to catch the kiss he directs against his lips. Slipping his arms around him properly to draw him close, it's a necessary few moments that the Knight takes for just the two of them, his eyes slipping shut against everything that has happened this afternoon alone. "Mm, we always do," he agrees, despite the fact that figuring it out has begun to be the vast majority of their lives. "I sort of miss our days in the Cordillera, don't you?" He smirks.

Blinking his eyes back open and glancing towards the Northaven, Ronin cringes and lets his arms tighten around Remi. "I don't know if there really is an inside any more, given what I did to it," he says apologetically. "Can I instead interest you in renting out the nicest room in the nicest inn? My treat." As if anyone would ever dream of charging him.

RONIN

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

Remi chuckles softly, nodding emphatically as his eyes grow warm with nostalgia. "Gods, yes," he agrees. "Just you, me, and dragons. Simpler times, despite everything." He follows Ronin's gaze to their battered houseboat, lips quirking into a boyish grin at the impressive damage Ronin had inflicted. "Mm, yes," he muses dryly, turning back to Ronin with mock seriousness. "If this was your way of hinting we need a remodel, it's certainly effective."

His hands gently skim down the Knight’s sides, settling comfortably at his hips as he tilts his head, pretending to consider the offer with exaggerated care. "You absolutely can interest me in that," Remi murmurs, eyes sparkling with warmth and affection. "On one condition: the room must have a bathtub nearly as large as the bed itself."


~FIN

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!