nobody's soldier

even my darkness shines for you

"That's my understanding, yeah." Ronin huffs out a laugh under his breath, as if able to feel as bemused about it as he is for the first time. "And I mean... I care about it, but it doesn't feel as though anyone else sees it that way." Shifting as well to gaze at Remi, Ronin finds himself trying to remember any occasion where they'd seen Everest over the past few seasons. Only the Midwinter Ball really comes to mind, and then... well. He'd been different, certainly.

"I feel like I've tripped over into knowing this," he admits in the face of Remi's scepticism, and he reaches out for his husband's shoulder to give it a gentle squeeze. "Deimos said it conversationally, and he didn't seem concerned. Then he mentioned Flora knew, and others..." Blinking a few times, the Knight shakes his head. "Is it not as bad as we think?"

He glances back at Remi. "Also, I thought you'd probably be upset to learn about it, so maybe I'm trying to be a calm presence for you."

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

"I mean...if it isn't as bad as we think, then what's all of this even for?" Gesturing broadly around, what Remi means is all the work they've put in safeguarding Torchline, all the meetings with demigods and leaders, all the prep work, the panic, the concern. If becoming infected wasn't a big deal, and fighting off the void flora and fauna wasn't a big deal, then...well, what was?

Rubbing the heel of one hand against his eye and pressing hard enough to start seeing stars, Remi sighs. "I think I'm just worried about Isla. I mean if he's..." Abruptly the Bastion stops and turns. "You don't think she is, do you?" Gods, if nothing else it would explain the attraction between the two of them if they were both infected, in Remi's mind, anyway.

"Well...don't." Remi grumbles, sinking back against the Knight. "I hate it."

we'll float away

even my darkness shines for you

Unable not to laugh at Remi's grumbling, Ronin reaches out to draw him close as he slouches against him, the Knight nosing into his curls and considering, for a moment, the ramifications of just banning Ever from Torchline until he figures himself out. "I'm surprised Flora didn't tell us," he admits with a furrowed brow. "Considering she rules the region and all." Gazing up at the cloudless sky, the Knight feels suddenly cold despite all else, a shiver running down his spine.

"Gods, would it even be a surprise if she was? Do you... is it worth you going to talk to her, do you think?" he asks, not wanting to risk the Bastion's friendship with the Remedy for anything, but this isn't exactly a small piece of news, despite what everyone else seems to think.

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

"Mmmmmm." Only aware now that his husband was naked because of all the places his magic danced between their bodies, the Bastion sighs. "I feel like the only time I see her lately is when she needs something." Which, given her age and job(s) perhaps wasn't terribly surprising, and yet... "I wonder if Hadama knows." Maybe, surprising as it might be for the Knight and Bastion to hear, the leaders of the region actually had things under control and didn't need the assistance of their resident demigods.

"I..." Biting hard at the inside of his lip and praying that he was wrong about the memory he was searching for, the sagging of his shoulders suggests he wasn't. "..haven't actually seen her since the Ball." He admits guiltily. "Well, if she doesn't know, she should. And if she is infected...I...suppose it would be easier to try and convince her to go to the hot springs than Everest." Nevermind that Isla couldn't really go to the hotsprings, nevermind the possibility that Isla might already know about Ever and not care.

we'll float away

even my darkness shines for you

"Perhaps we should enforce a weekly family dinner or something," Ronin suggests with a smirk, though in reality it probably isn't a half bad idea. "We can invite both she and Mateo, and make sure we keep caught up in what they're all doing." If nothing else, they can at least not be the last to know when it comes to things like this - if Flora would even tell them about it in a casual setting. The Knight isn't sure any more, to be honest.

Inhaling deeply and letting the breath go, he nods his agreement and presses a rather obnoxious smooch to Remi's cheek. "Alright. You go see Isla, and we'll decide from there if we're going to kidnap Ever in the middle of the night and take him to the springs. Who knows - maybe he's just been waiting for something like this, and he'll have already gone by the time you speak to Isla."

In the meantime, Ronin is cold and keen for a warm shower to clean the salt from his skin. "Come on," he suggests, "let's go inside and forget about this for an hour or two?" The world can afford them that much, right?

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

"I bet if we did we'd be the ones who found that schedule hardest to keep." Remi says with a dry laugh, though he too thinks it's a good idea. Maybe they could start bi-monthly. Semi-monthly? Whichever meant twice a month shut up.

Unable to help the way his body almost instantly relaxes to feel Ronin's affection physically against his cheek as well as rippling in golden waves where they touched, Remi sinks further back against the Knight and nods. "I feel like this is going to be one of those conversations with her that I fuck up regardless of what I do." He murmurs, wondering if he couldn't just cheat and seek out Flora first to find out who knew what and save himself a lecture.

"I think I could get behind that." Remi says, glancing roguishly over his shoulder at Ronin and smirking. Pushing himself up before turning and offering a hand to Ronin, the Bastion glances out toward the water and squints. "I sunk three ships today." He adds belatedly, the news having initially been what he was going to tell Ronin when he slithered aboard the Northaven before everything was promptly derailed.

we'll float away

even my darkness shines for you

Ronin's smile is almost a wince as he realises the truth in his husband's words, and he shrugs to the other man as if hopeful that they might be better than they were. (Unlikely, of course, given the fact that Remi has just been given the lily that will fling them back into conflict at best, and all out war at worst). "I suppose unless we make a schedule and try it out, we'll never know," he insists, rubbing at the salt on his forehead leftover by the sea water.

"You will with that attitude," the Knight continues as he takes Remi's hand and hauls himself to his feet, before ducking into the houseboat. And although he laughs, he can absolutely see where the Bastion is coming from. "Listen - as long as you let her know about it, regardless of all else, you've done the right thing." Whether Isla already knows and doesn't care, or doesn't know but still doesn't care when she finds out?

That's something only Remi can navigate with his friend, alas.

Ronin, at least, can be here for him now, and he pushes open the door to their little bathroom to set the shower running. "Behind it, in front of it, on top of it?" he asks with a raise of his brows, stepping under the jet of hot water and just able to hear Remi's words before the shower drowns them out. "Three?" he echoes, impressed. "All pirate ships and notorious ne'er-do-wells, I take?"

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

Inhaling deeply, Remi thinks back to when their children had all been small enough to hold in his arms; when he could cuddle them all day long, strapping them on his chest or back depending on whatever activity he was doing. Now they had their own lives, impressive ones, and though intentionally carving out time to be with them was the most reasonable solution, it left him feeling a touch hollow and melancholic for the days he didn't need to schedule himself into their lives. "Let's try." He agrees gently before it's suddenly his turn to wince as he thinks about what his conversation with Isla might become.

"I know I've said it before, but I miss the simpler times." Remi hums, following Ronin in. "When guilds were being invaded by golums, that sort of thing." When roosting bats were the epitome of what either of them might find frustrating their plans.

Raising his eyebrows, Remi tilts his head thoughtfully to the side as he regards the mirror on the wall. "On top of it might be a little difficult in the shower, but I'm game if you are." He chuckles menacingly, before grinning and shimmying out of his shorts to join the Knight in the shower. Humming out an elongated sound of relaxation as his eyes slip closed, Remi doesn't even need to steal the stream of water away from his husband in order to instantly feel his muscles begin to soften. "Oh I don't know, I didn't bother checking. Just attacked and then swam away." Cracking open one eye so that he might roll it in the Knight's direction, Remi grins lazily as he leans against the wall of the shower.

we'll float away

even my darkness shines for you

"Don't miss them too hard," Ronin warns, grinning out at Remi from the shower. "You know what Caido is like. You might not realise it but maybe we're still living in the simpler times." Compared to what might be around the corner, he means, but of course he still understands his husband's melancholy and nostalgia. 

The Bastion (wisely) strips off and ducks beneath the jet of water to join him before Ronin can snag him by the hand, and though he scoffs in response to the other man's challenge (or acceptance of one, he should say), the Knight is very much game as well.

"Is that so? Not very Mort of you," he says with a grin, tilting his face up into the warm stream of water before stepping forward as if to cage Remi in with his body, close enough to feel the heat rolling from his skin without ever committing to touch. "And here I thought we could trust in Torchline's new coastguard."

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

'Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.' Remi's whine is entirely petulant and not the sort of thing one would expect a demigod of the Bastion's proportions to be capable of making, and yet it warbled from his lips quite readily as he huffed in his husband's direction. "Leave it to you to say something like that." Reaching out to wrap his hand around the statuesque curve of his husband's hip, the Bastion smirks. "Must be all the salt talking." He murmurs, rubbing his thumb along a line of muscle and feeling the subtle difference between fresh and ocean water on Ronin's skin.

Lifting his chin ever so slightly as he's caged between his husband's arms, Remi raises a brow before his smile grows a touch crooked. "You know I always look before I smash." He says in a low voice, and though he doesn't necessarily move, he does seek to reduce the space between them if only by breathing more deeply and focusing on the heat that lazily passes between them. Then again, if the Knight continues to stare as he is—his hair dishevelled and his dark eyelashes matted with water above fey-bright eyes—Remi soon will be touching him without having intentionally done anything at all.

we'll float away

even my darkness shines for you

"Mm, it must be. Maybe I should try swimming in more fresh water - there are quite a few large fountains scattered throughout Torchline these days," Ronin agrees with a crooked smile. He ought to know, having been responsible in large part for their construction. Luckily enough, thoughts about all his hard work are replaced with other ideas (though these are no less hard, it should be noted), and the Knight can feel the warm caress of the other man's breath across his cheek and the way their bodies beg to press together, like polarising magnets.

Grinning - unable to help it - at what he very much hopes is an innuendo from Remi, he raises his eyebrows and lets his gaze slowly drink his husband in, from the wet and dishevelled curls, the scruff on his jaw, to the way the water runs in deft plumes down the hard lines of his body. Feeling his mouth start to water, he clears his throat and tilts his head. "Make sure you take a real good look, okay? I wouldn't want you to smash by accident, one of these days," he murmurs.

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

"Now, I'm certainly no expert, but I do recall seeing a fair number of no swimming signs on those fountains." Remi mutters, lifting his eyebrows and tilting his head skeptically to the side. "A few in your handwriting if I'm not mistaken." He adds casually, but with all the gravity of having just revealed a rather damning bit of evidence.

As it happened Remi hadn't meant it as an innuendo, but if the shoe fit...Letting himself lean fully back against the wall of their shower as if needing its support, the Bastion let his eyes rove properly over his husband. Caught first on the roguish blue of the Knight's gaze, Remi reached out to gently comb a few stray sands of hair back from Ronin's forehead that the salt and pepper spray of his husband's hair wouldn't interrupt Remi's attempts to count the various strains of colour in the Knight's eyes.

Lower, Ronin's body was so much more than a mere amalgamation of bronze muscles and jagged scars, though likely that's what most saw when treated to seeing him shirtless. Remi, who'd known his husband's body when it was relatively free of marks save for a few made by the claws of regular beasts or the sorts that came from mundane misadventures, felt as though he was able to see every herculean task that had formed the rise and fall of his husband's physique, could feel the pain of when the Knight's brawn hadn't been enough to save those he cared about, could taste the relief when it had.

Letting his hand fall from Ronin's thigh to reach for one of the Knight's hands, the Bastion lifts it to his lips, pressing a kiss against every knuckle before turning it over in order to graze his teeth against the jut of muscle leading up to his thumb and then licking away any lingering trace of salt left there by the sea. Despite his efforts to keep his gaze intentionally above Ronin's hips, his eyes followed the lines of water as they trickled down his husband's stomach before slipping lower through the v-shaped canals beneath his abs and finally to where the Knight's erection jutted out to meet his own. Inhaling sharply, a dark heat flaring up through Remi's core that had his toes curling slightly, the Bastion's fingers tensed against Ronin's hand, drawing the Knight closer and draping his arm over his shoulder as if to set the pair up for a dance.

Curling his own arm around Ronin's shoulder to draw the Knight properly against him, Remi silenced the moan of pleasure that parted his lips as his body pressed against Ronin's, by fitting his mouth against the Knight's in a demanding but slow kiss.

we'll float away

even my darkness shines for you

"That's true enough. But they say no swimming, not no Ronin Taliesins, you might notice," the Knights fires back with a smirk and a raise of his eyebrows. It isn't his best touche, but hopefully Remi can forgive him, given that the vast majority of his blood isn't currently occupying his brain.

Where some might blush or look away or shrink under the weight and intensity of the Bastion's gaze, there isn't anyone Ronin would rather stare at him like this. Feeling somehow stripped bare by seaglass eyes despite already being very naked, he surrenders his hand to the other man's soft lips; and with each kiss, Remi will feel the rose gold flush of his husband's feelings.

Already imagining them in a variety of positions that would be considered adventurous in the small confines of the shower, it clearly isn't something that will stop the Knight from trying. Drawn forward and allowing his arm to slip gently over Remi's shoulder, his mouth meets the Bastion's with a bitten back moan. He wants to descend between the other man's legs, wants to manhandle him against the tiles and fuck him under the streams of hot water. Equally he'd like to feel the broad heat of Remi's body pressed over his own, to be owned and taken and had in a way only the man before him can achieve.

All of that is to say that Ronin can't say for sure what he wants most of all, only that it involves every part of his husband, and he says as much with his tongue and his hands and the hard length of his cock pressed between them.

the

WHITEKNIGHT

Table coding by Sky

if you need to, darling, lean your weight to me

It's a problem that likely isn't unique to the Taliesins—to both want to have and be had at the same time—but gods it's the sort of thing they were both capable of doing not so long ago, that for a brief instant, Remi might have been convinced to go back to Ludo if only to replicate this power of Ronin's one last time. All it changed, really, was who would be in the middle, but it was wonderfully frustrating just the same.

I want you, Remi thinks hungrily as his lips continue to chase the flood of crimson and gold that spills in bright waves from his husband's mouth. All around me, I want you. Ronin's duplicate would likely have to be behind him if only so that the press of claws or teeth didn't dispel the magic at an inopportune moment, and if the Bastion was at all worried about how three of them were meant to fit in the shower, his groping hands and insatiable tongue certainly didn't seem to be actively working out a way to solve it.

Already the too-soft pressure around their cocks from the way their bodies were pressed together had Remi's fingers flinching around his husband's shoulders, his palm pressing insistently against Ronin's upper back as his hips rolled suggestively forward. I want you to see what it feels like to cum twice at the same time.

we'll float away