ghosts and devils come calling

I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes

"And you just said he wasn't cruel," Ronin quips, glancing down at Remi's side as if he might be able to see the blade his patron has poised to slip between the Bastion's ribs. He settles into the fan of the other man's wing, fingers reaching out to gently stroke at the flight feathers, as if subconsciously preening them as they talk. "Mmhm," he confirms dully, and even if Remi is incredulous, it does little to drag the weight from Ronin's shoulders. "At least it would be proof that I'd have been trying," he echoes.

He nods his agreement - they've really only been doing what they know would be safe, would keep their family from dwindling ever further. It still hurts to know that it's not been remotely enough, though. "I don't know. Training? Fortifying Haulani? Demigod business?" he suggests, gesturing broadly towards the sky as if the answers will fall upon them like rain. 

Reaching automatically for Remi's hand as he toys with his wedding ring, Ronin brings his fingers to his lips in a soft kiss. "Oh, absolutely," he mumbles against his husband's fingerprints, not bothering to hide the guilty satisfaction in the admission, as if he's been given permission to say it. "I've even briefly considered threatening not to bring her back, but... we both know that would never happen," he says; the words would never have even made it to his lips. "Still... it's like she has an answer for everything. I don't know if it's arrogance or a deathwish, but I... I don't know that I like how it looks on her," he confesses.

RONIN

Oh if time is a river lets be stones underwater

Remi chuckles under his breath, his shoulder bumping gently into Ronin’s as he leans into the contact, letting himself enjoy the slow, absent preening of his feathers. "We literally just trained together in Halo," he murmurs, tilting his head to give Ronin better access if he wants it. "And we’ve both helped with the defences in Haulani. I don’t know what more she thinks there is to do, unless she wants us laying bricks by hand and holding bake sales to raise funds for more sandbags."

The quip is tired but fond, and when Ronin lifts his fingers to kiss them, Remi hums, low and warm, against the gesture. His own hand turns slightly, fingertips brushing the Knight’s cheek. "That’s why I thought lying might be better," he admits. "Not ‘I won’t,’ but ‘I can’t.’ " There’s no real shame in his voice, only the quiet calculation of someone who’s run out of honest tools and started eyeing the dishonest ones.

But at the mention of how Flora was now, Remi’s humour dims. His curls, still half-damp from the sea, cling to his brow as he shakes his head slowly. "She wasn’t like this before Jack," he murmurs, the words pulled from somewhere tight in his chest. "Selfishly, I thought when they broke up—when she realised what kind of man he is—that maybe she’d go back to the way she was. But..."

A sigh gusts from him, his eyes on the horizon. "She only seems worse, now," he finishes, quietly. "Like something in her’s unravelled, and now she’s clinging harder to the image she thinks she needs to be. Even when it's hurting the people around her and is liable to get her killed."

I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes

"Round up all her friends and convince them into Haulani, then persuade her to join them, then save the world. You know, when we aren't fetching things from the city and helping to procure her a ship to live in," Ronin says dryly, as if it's obvious, the Knight turning automatically to offer further gentle fuss to Remi's feathers. He feels himself start to relax despite the events of the past few hours, just for being able to get everything off his chest to the person he loves the most, and he leans in to press a warm kiss to the Bastion's cheek.

Gratitude weaves into his emotions though the bond, cool and shimmering, and he scoffs a little at the other man's response. "The lesser of two lies, huh?" He smirks. "All things considered, though... we've been really lucky this year. I haven't had to perform any miracles. Yet." Ronin touches the wooden side of the Northaven for good measure.

Relaxing back into his husband's grip, he automatically reaches out to smooth Remi's curls out of his face, nose wrinkling instantly at the mention of the captain. "Yeah, well. She's still listening to his advice, so whatever hold he had on her isn't gone by any stretch," he mutters, shaking his head. "I don't know, Remi... whatever is going on with her, one thing is clear and it's that she sure as shit doesn't want advice from us."

RONIN

Oh if time is a river lets be stones underwater

"Oh, is that all?" Remi mutters dryly, rolling his eyes in mock exasperation as Ronin details the ever-growing list of tasks supposedly required of them. His tone stays fond, though, tempered by the kiss to his cheek and the slow loosening of tension through their bond. He allows it to settle, lets himself be held in it, but the moment Ronin knocks wood and speaks of miracles, the Bastion grimaces.

He sighs loud and long, the sound dragging from somewhere deep in his chest. "Don’t jinx it," he mutters, throwing a glance up at the open sky like he half-expects Vi to throw down a lightning bolt just for the irony. "You’ve done enough miracles to last us five lifetimes already."

But the moment shifts when Ronin mentions Flora still listening to Jack. That draws a faint twitch from Remi’s jaw, his sea-glass eyes sharpening slightly as he turns his head. "What do you mean, she’s still taking advice from him?"

The rest softens him again. He reaches for Ronin’s hand, lifts it to his mouth, and hums his next thought against the Knight’s fingers. "I don’t know if that makes us bad parents," he murmurs, each syllable brushing warm against his skin, "or if she’s just being a bratty child. She never did have a real teenage phase." He huffs a quiet laugh, turning Ronin’s hand to press a kiss to the pad of each knuckle. "Maybe she’s just going through it now, only with more poison and privileges than normally comes with the territory."

I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes

"Gods, I am trying not to." Jinx it, he means, Ronin playfully casting a glance up into the open sky as well, though if there are any divine lightning bolts being thrown around today, they don't seem to be from Vi, and they certainly aren't over Torchline. "Mm... I hate it, if I'm honest," he admits, his voice growing quiet. "I don't know if I'm supposed to feel... holy, or something? Being able to bring people back? But I don't. I just feel sad, and tired, every single time. Worse, when it's someone I know personally." And more awful still when it's family.

As for Jack, the Knight scoffs and rolls his shoulder in a weary shrug. "It's why she asked me to go and fetch her champagne from Haulani. He told her some nautical tradition or some shit, about christening her ship for good luck." Very small on the scale compared to what advice he might have offered, but it had still grated to hear that the man who had broken her heart was able to bend her ear so easily.

Relaxing, for no other reason than because it's impossible not to when Remi is kissing any part of him, Ronin snorts under his breath. "Yeah, well if that's the case, it's a really bad recipe for the queen of a region," he points out, shifting suddenly to coil his arms around the other man properly, drawing him back into a real embrace. "Once this void nonsense is over," he announces suddenly, "we should take the Northaven and move to King's End."

RONIN

Oh if time is a river lets be stones underwater

Remi nods quietly, the curve of his expression sobering as Ronin speaks. He’s never held the kind of power his husband does—never been responsible for pulling someone back from death’s grip—but gods, he’s seen the cost. Enough times to recognise the fatigue behind Ronin’s eyes long before the Knight ever speaks it aloud. "I think probably on Vi or Mort understands how it must feel," he murmurs gently, his thumb brushing along Ronin’s jaw.

He frowns at the mention of Jack's contributions, blinking a few times as the pieces tumble into place. "I didn’t see him at her party," he says slowly, brows furrowed. "I assumed they weren’t talking." The Ark had been in and out of port often enough to suggest the good captain was around. "Fuck I hope they are not getting back together."

At least the kiss of humour eases some of the tension in his jaw. Remi snickers, shaking his head. "I do not envy Hadama," he agrees, smirking slightly. But as Ronin’s arms suddenly tighten and the idea of King’s End is offered like a dream just within reach, Remi leans back just far enough to meet his husband’s eyes, something warm and reckless blooming in his chest. "Why stop at King’s End?" he murmurs, smile boyishly crooked. "Once the void is dealt with, let’s just sail out and keep going. We can pretend to be cartographers and set out to see if there's anything else out there."

I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes

"Mm, well they're literal deities, so if they could cut me a little slack with the reversing-death abilities, that would be really nice," Ronin says with a smile that's more quietly sad than amused, turning his head to sneak a kiss to the pad of Remi's thumb as it brushes along the curve of his jaw. "And I didn't see him either, but something must have happened to get them back on good enough terms to hold a conversation," he mumbles of the captain and their daughter, Ronin letting out a soft sigh.

"Is it bad that I wouldn't care if they did, so long as it knocked some sense into her?" he admits, reluctance lacing through his tone. "Maybe he can do what no one else can. Or maybe she'll throw him overboard too and go flaunt her skyship at The Family." At this point, both seem terrifyingly plausible. 

Raising his eyebrows at the Bastion as he spots - and feels - the spark of chaotic warmth blooming in him, Ronin finally lets himself laugh. "I mean, why not? We can fly, you can teleport, we can be channelled, letters always reach us. No one can say we aren't available," he agrees. "Let's do it. An adventure sounds nice after all of this." 

The Knight leans in for a much needed kiss, feeling the tension locked in his spine start to ease--

Which is exactly when Vox's broadcast rings, clear as a bell, into his mind.

RONIN

Oh if time is a river lets be stones underwater

"Do you hear that?" Remi deadpans, glancing skyward with an expression that might be mistaken for reverence if not for the annoyed squint, as if expecting Vi or Mort to appear from the clouds and offer the Knight their apologies. His grip on Ronin’s hand tightens slightly, and though the tease is light, the sigh that follows is heavier, less willing to be brushed off.

He runs a hand through his curls with an agitated flick. "From what I’ve heard he ended things with her because of what happened with Dahlia. If she’s still outside the barrier, clearly whatever he said didn’t make much of a dent. Then again who knows, maybe if she wants him back badly enough she'll fold." Then again, the idea of their daughter caving to a man like Jack Barclay and having that seem like a not terrible outcome was not a situation Remi thought he'd ever see himself in.

Still, the warm thread of the adventure lingers in his chest, golden and sunlit. Remi’s mouth twitches into a smile, and he’s just about to suggest building a retractable stargazing dome on the roof of the Northaven when Vox's voice tears through his thoughts like a knife through canvas, jagged and falsely cheery. His wing tenses instinctively around Ronin, and his jaw slackens as the broadcast crackles on.

When it ends, there’s a beat of perfect stillness, before wide-eyed and white-faced, Remi slowly turns toward his husband. "A more decisive phase of leadership?" he echoes, voice caught somewhere between disbelief and horror, his breath catching like it’s been struck out of him. "What the fuck do you think that means?"

I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes

As The Family's broadcaster crackles his way through their minds, Ronin, like his husband, falls completely still. His entire body tenses, and thoughts of Jack Barclay and their daughter's relationship to him suddenly feel very small and easy to deal with in comparison to the message they receive. Instinctively, the Knight peers up into the sky, as if he might be able to see exactly what has happened up in Stormbreak, though given that he'd been present (and arguably responsible) for the Tower's destruction once, it's all too easy to imagine the scenes far above.

By the time the broadcast ends, leaving a ringing and ominous silence in its wake, the Knight is holding Remi instinctively close, his face drawn and pale, his blue eyes flinty. "I don't know, but I'll bet every bit of revival magic I have that it's not fucking good," he mutters, voice pitched low as if worried Dahlia will hear them even from there.

"We need to send something to Deimos, to let him know we can't make it. I can speak to Sunjata, see if he's willing to try to progress things on Starfall instead? I saw Noah in Halo as well - maybe he'll pitch in." Suddenly getting to the core of the island seems just as necessary as their staying far away from it.

RONIN

Oh if time is a river lets be stones underwater

The air around them feels thinner somehow, like the Tower's collapse had sent a shockwave straight through the sky and sucked the breath from it. Remi doesn’t speak at first, his mind whiplashing between the past and present, standing in the rubble of a broken Stormbreak all over again, blood on the stones, his husband having nearly died from another enemy who wanted to take over. The only difference now is that the enemy is inside the building and calling it a renovation.

His hands curl into fists against Ronin’s chest before he exhales a curt nod, jaw feathering with tension. "If the next level’s water, it makes sense for Sunjata to be there," he murmurs, and there’s a hollow sort of practicality to it. "Maybe Sah too. He’s an elementalist if I remember correctly..." Remi trails off, his throat bobbing with the weight of what he doesn't say.

"Fuck," he mutters, low and caged and furious, the word spat more to the ocean than to Ronin. "Do you think Flora would stay if I threw her behind the barrier?" His hand slides up the back of the Knight’s neck, curling into his hair as he leans their foreheads together. "Because gods if this isn't impossible."

I shouldn't laugh, but I know I'm a failure in your eyes

Clasping one of Remi's hands as it balls into a fist against his chest, Ronin nods his quiet resignation on the matter. Sunjata, then. Perhaps Sah too, maybe Noah as well. A solid, tested crew of people who had walked in and out of Starfall previously on their own two feet... but it isn't them. And that will always sting a bit. Huffing out a long sigh and tilting his forehead against Remi's, the Knight closes his eyes for a few seconds as if to help ground himself to this new and ever more dangerous reality. 

"I think she'd walk straight back out and call you selfish," he says honestly, of Flora, trying for a twitch of a smile and failing completely. "Come on," he suggests a moment later, drawing Remi into his arms to hold him close, even as he starts to totter back across the deck towards the Northaven's interior. "We've got letters to write. And I don't know about you, but I could use a very strong drink."

RONIN

Oh if time is a river lets be stones underwater

"Of course she would," Remi murmurs, his voice both bitter and fond in the same breath, his smile full of resignation. Still, he doesn't try to argue—not with Ronin, not with Flora, not with fate. The storm has already started, and all they can do now is brace for the next wave and try not to get their daughter killed.

Rising without letting go, he grumbles softly as his fingers curl tighter around Ronin’s, guiding them both inside the houseboat with a tired sort of purpose. The liquor cabinet yields a bottle of their strongest gin with barely a creak, and Remi pulls it free like it’s a lifeline. A mismatched plate follows—crackers, cheese, and something vaguely pickled—because if they’re going to drink like it’s the end of the world, they might as well snack like it too.

Settling onto a chair, he passes Ronin a glass, then leans in to press a kiss just beneath his ear. "The letters can wait," he says quietly, pouring a generous measure for them both. "For now I’ll settle for you, and this, and pretending none the anything else of it exists."

~FIN