[SE] god of wine

RONIN

the white knight

Ronin is also wondering about the coconut shrimp and, more to the point, where it might have all gone, and he manages to catch the eye of a nearby server and gesture hopefully at the basket with a grin. Hopefully this will herald more shrimp in the near future. And while they wait, there's dubious cocktails to enjoy. "You really should have," he agrees sagely, raising his glass and giving the sea breeze punch a decent enough sip.

Vodka and cranberry explode on his tongue, and it's cold enough to make his teeth hurt, but overall it's the sort of drink that goes down like juice - aka, high approval. "Mine is dangerous," he announces with a low chuckle. "In that I could drink a lot of it and not notice, and then you would have to carry me home." Which might happen whether or not he sticks to cocktails, given his reduced tolerance to alcohol.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the rabbits, anyway." Grinning, he sets his drink down and regards Remi with unabashed adoration, the Bastion drenched in the last dying rays of sunlight from outside. "I could get used to this, you know," he says. "Menial beach work, cocktails, bumbling home. It feels like how peace is meant to be."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

And you should know,
I left but never lost my place

Remi grins as Ronin makes hopeful eyes at the server, a silent promise in his smile that yes, they will absolutely finish another basket of shrimp if it arrives. Maybe even a third. It’s the kind of easy, gluttonous indulgence that’s only allowed at sunset with sand in your shoes and your husband looking particularly charming in backlit hues of gold.

As Ronin takes his sip, Remi watches like a hawk, then beams, arms lifting into an unmistakably Italian shrug of exaggerated innocence. So what if I carry you home? his expression says, mischief crinkling the corners of his eyes. "I’ve carried you through worse," he says with a playful huff, before raising his own glass again for another long, thoughtful sip.

This time he lets it linger, the cream and amaretto coating his tongue before he swallows and exhales a sigh of contentment. "Mmh. The only thing missing is live music." His gaze flicks around the cozy little wine bar, noting the absence of a stage or anyone tuning instruments. The bar did in fact have live performances, but only on the weekends.

Then, with a melodramatic snap of his fingers and a shake of his curls, Remi leans back in his seat and smirks. "Tsk. Guess we’ll just have to come back tomorrow night." His foot nudges Ronin’s again under the table, a touch of something quieter threading beneath the teasing.

and these nights I miss you most
my heart is yours to break

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

the white knight

"Mm, you have," Ronin agrees with a broad smile around another sip of his cocktail, as if Remi has just given him permission to get himself in the sort of state that necessitates being carried. "And I am always grateful for it, so you know. Whether it's because I'm drunk off my ass or because I've just been shredded by some awful monster." Offering Remi a wink and reaching out to clink their glasses together, he resists the urge to take a third sip of his cocktail in quick succession, putting it safely out of reach for a few minutes instead.

The lack of live music also has Ronin glancing around, and he scrunches his nose as he also catches the notice about the weekend. "I mean, I could always make live music if you were really in the mood for it," he says with a boyish laugh, his smile nearly a threat as he gazes back towards Remi, content to play footsie under the table with him. "Though that might ruin our chances at being allowed to come back tomorrow," he adds, promptly reconsidering his caterwauling.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

And you should know,
I left but never lost my place

Remi shrugs with all the nonchalance of a man who has, in fact, carried his husband both bleeding and drunk without ever breaking stride, his grin boyish and fond as Ronin sets the Sea Breeze Punch aside like it might betray him with one more sip. "It's really all the same to me, so long as you end up in my arms."

At the offer of live music—threat, really—Remi visibly considers it, gaze drifting to a sign on the far wall before doing a slow, skeptical eyebrow lift. It’s the face of a man who has learned the hard way that while Ronin is many things, musically gifted is only sometimes one of them. With a quick shake of his curls, Remi snorts. "No, thank you. For all the taverns and inns we’ve been kicked out of, I’d like us to stay in our good graces a bit longer." He leans back, nudging Ronin’s foot under the table with playful approval.

"But," he adds slyly, reaching for his drink again, "if we start coming back more often, maybe we could suggest a karaoke machine." He lifts the glass in a silent toast to the idea. "I will just need to prepare myself to fight off everyone who wants a piece of you the second you start singing some power ballad on stage."

and these nights I miss you most
my heart is yours to break

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

the white knight

"If that's the case, I can easily stay sober and just let you carry me home," Ronin says, tasting the lie on his lips and smiling around it. Only two sips into his punch and he already knows the zig-zagging trajectory the evening is guaranteed to take; sober is not a part of it, especially not after learning that remaining that way is once again optional.

Steepling his fingers and waiting for Remi's approval (or denial, as the case might be) of his offer of live music, Ronin sighs and lets his foot brush against the other man's calf in response. "Fine," he says airily. "Because it's you, I'll keep my musical talents for the ride home." The one where his husband will be carrying him like a damsel, yes. That ride.

"Oooo, karaoke though," he echoes, his hand sneaking out to grab his drink as well before he even realises he's copying Remi. "And you won't have to fight anyone off, husband. My eyes will only be for you no matter what I decide to sing." He winks.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

And you should know,
I left but never lost my place

Remi laughs, warm and affectionate, the sound curling like sunlight beneath the thatched roof of the bar. "I want you to enjoy yourself," he says with a faux-magnanimous gesture, raising his drink as though it were an endorsement of reckless joy. "Especially if you're going to be carried home either way."

The idea of shared musical destruction clearly delights him. With a mischievous gleam in his eye, Remi leans in across the table. "Maybe one day," he begins, conspiratorial, "we pick one of the bars we’re not that fond of. You can belt out your sea shanties and I’ll blow the dust off the harmonica." He taps the table lightly, nodding with mock-seriousness. "I'm sure between the two of us we can get a handful of notes in tune."

But then Ronin is winking again, smug and sweet, and Remi’s whole face softens as he watches him. Gods, the way love could still hit him like a wave even after all these years. Still, he smirks, tipping his head and curling his fingers around his glass. "If you’re only looking at me, you’re liable to trip over all the adoring fans you’ve got, you know. Gods know what I might do if you fall and suffer another concussion."

and these nights I miss you most
my heart is yours to break

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

the white knight

"Well I will certainly drink to that," Ronin says, raising his cocktail as well and, with a self-satisfied smile, taking a very generous sip of it. Setting the glass down to join Remi in his secretive table leaning, the Knight's smile is utterly crooked as he listens to the other man's suggestions. "Does the harmonica go well with a tambourine?" he wonders. "Because I've always wanted to belt out music with one."

He can see it now - and see the audience either cringing away, leaving entirely, or suffering through the performance because of who they were - and the laugher is already there on his lips when they are quite wonderfully interrupted by the arrival of a second basket of coconut shrimp. Trilling his thanks to the server as they leave, Ronin grabs one out of the basket and offers it to Remi.

"With our track record, we could end up triple married," he says, beaming. "Or perhaps I'll wake up and we'll have adopted a stray dog, or sailed the Northaven out into the Oerwoud somewhere."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

And you should know,
I left but never lost my place

Remi grins, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Nothing goes better with a harmonica than a tambourine," he declares with theatrical confidence, before pausing just long enough to tip his head and add slyly, "Except maybe the triangle?"

When the shrimp arrives, Remi leans forward across the table and accepts the offering directly between his teeth, sighing with unabashed pleasure as he chews. "I think I could spend an entire season eating nothing but coconut shrimp," he hums once he swallows, licking a bit of breading from his thumb before reaching for one of his own.

Ronin’s laugh draws a mirrored one from Remi, bright and boyish, the kind that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle with warmth. "As long as it’s with you," he says softly, without a hint of teasing this time, "I don’t care what kind of shenanigans we get up to." And he means it. Triple-married. Dog-adopting. Northaven-in-the-Oerwoud level chaos. He’ll take it all.

Still smiling, Remi reaches across the table and gently takes Ronin’s hand in his, thumb tracing thoughtlessly along the Knight’s knuckles. The light has grown softer now, golden with the last remnants of sunset, and it makes Ronin look like something out of a dream; a beautiful, ridiculous, tambourine-wielding dream.

"Thank you," Remi murmurs at last, tone shifting into something earnest and quietly emotional. A slow, radiant warmth blooming like sunlight through still water, shot through with brilliant, bittersweet saffron and pale, aching gold bleeds out from where their fingers touch. The feeling of bare feet on warm sand, of waking up already held.

The gratitude unfolds gently, spiralling like the unfurling of vines: soft greens and flushed rose hues, petal-deep and honey-rich. It is quiet, but profound, this contentment; a subtle balm pressed into the bond between them, as if to say: thank you for lifting me from the shadows, for this evening, this table, this life.

and these nights I miss you most
my heart is yours to break

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

the white knight

"The triangle," Ronin breathes, theatrically enamoured with the idea. "Of course. I could switch it up during your harmonica solo and give everyone the best of both worlds." Neither might be worlds where their audience wishes to stay voluntarily, but that, of course, is none of the Knight's concern. Surrendering the shrimp to Remi's teeth and grabbing one for himself, he hums his fervent agreement.

"Hear hear to that," he agrees. "Maybe we can go and catch shrimp in the Northaven after Longnight, make a little business out of it." A business that will of course fail, because the Taliesins are liable to eat all of their stock if it tastes anything like what's in the basket on the table between them.

He's licking his fingers when the Bastion suddenly snags his other hand, and Ronin feels it before the other man says anything at all; a warm and golden cascade of gratitude, like a gentle wave cresting the sand and tickling over his feet. Finding himself smiling long before Remi's true thanks hits the air, he squeezes his fingers, basking in the rich light from the sun's last rays and marvelling at how green it makes Remi's eyes look.

"Thank you," he replies, voice soft and low. "If someone had told me this is what my life would look like back in Northaven, I'd never have believed I could be so lucky." He grabs his cocktail and raises it in another toast, this one entirely sincere. "Here's to being happier than we ever thought possible."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the bastion

And you should know,
I left but never lost my place

Ronin’s toast is still warm between them when Remi’s crooked grin returns, sly and sunny all at once. "Fitting," he drawls, glancing over the rim of his glass, "you have been known to switch a time or two." The edge of mischief in his voice isn’t sharp—it’s sugar-glazed and fond, a teasing nudge tucked in amidst the love that brims over.

He leans in just a little, conspiratorial now, curls catching the gold of the setting sun. "We can get matching aprons. And we’ll call it..." He squints at the sky like the name might float down on the breeze, before shrugging. "Something punny. The Shellfish Shanty, maybe. Shrimply the Best?" The shrug turns sheepish as a laugh escapes him, helplessly fond of his own terrible ideas.

The air around them is sweet with salt and sun and the promise of nothing urgent. Clinking his glass against Ronin’s with a grin that’s softer now—awed, almost—Remi lets the hush of this shared peace sink into his bones. One hand lifts to signal the server, two fingers up in an easy, wordless request. He tilts his head toward Ronin and adds a casual point for emphasis: that one’s a double.

Then he turns back to his husband, the smile still on his lips but melting slowly into something smaller, quieter, steadier. The kind of look that doesn’t need to be chased or named to be felt. The kind of love that has roots.

Letting it linger in the fading light, Remi takes another sip of his rabbit cocktail, the petals brushing his lips like memory. Whatever comes next, they’ll face it together—whether that’s a tambourine solo, a drunken stumble home, or building an empire of shrimp and karaoke.

~FIN

and these nights I miss you most
my heart is yours to break

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!