bacon my day brighter

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

"Wakey wakey," Ronin announces as he swans through the kitchen, looping his apron over his head and tying it behind his waist in a movement so fluid it's clear it's been done a hundred times before. He's clearly expecting an eggs and bakey! in response by the way his eyebrows raise towards Remi. It doesn't actually matter whether it's morning or not; what matters is that they've both gotten more than two hours of sleep, their children have been let loose on the world (with supervision in the form of Ronin's duplicate, though he doubts Carlo and Calan are aware of that much), and it's time for breakfast.

Which is eggs and bacon, if the Bastion hasn't gotten on board with that just yet. "How did you sleep?" he asks as he rustles about with their pots and pans, ensuring there's also a pot of coffee starting to brew. "Speaking of which, I was thinking of going to Vi later on today to ask about that weird stuff in the Peepholes. I've not seen anything be able to put you down like that in a long time." His voice lowers a touch here, movements growing a little less animated as he recalls their time in the Oerwoud.

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

I don't know who I am, I don't know who I'll be

"Eggs ’n bakey," Remi echoes, though whatever dutiful enthusiasm Ronin might have hoped for is swallowed almost entirely by the yawn that stretches through the words, turning them into something soft and mangled. Still half beneath the covers, he drags his fingers through his curls until they stand up worse than before, his eyes narrowed against the light and the smell of coffee beginning to make a better argument than consciousness has so far. Swinging his legs out from beneath the blankets, he plants his feet and grinds the heel of one hand into his eye as if sleep is something he might physically push away.

"I have not slept that good in a while," he says, and for all the roughness in his voice, there’s a tired gratitude tucked into it. Not quite peace, maybe, because peace is a rare thing in their house and rarer still when their twins are out in the world with only one Ronin between them and whatever sign next decides to give them instructions, but close enough that Remi doesn’t immediately feel inclined to frown at it.

At the mention of Vi, his brows rise. His hand drops away from his face, and after a moment he nods. "I was thinking of going to speak with Mort as well about it." Remi shakes his head, a small sigh leaving him as he glances down toward the floorboards. "It...hit me harder than anything I can remember, honestly." Looking back up toward Ronin, the caution in his expression is there, but dulled around the edges by sleep and the promise of bacon. "Not even Dahlia was able to do that."

but there's a light in the attic and I swear it's calling me

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

Beaming at the shape of his husband still half swallowed by the blankets, clearly the response is what matters to Ronin more than the form it takes. He turns back to the stove to start cooking the bakey part of their breakfast, the soft sizzling enough to have Sugar also peeping out from her nest in one of the net storage compartments along the side of the Northaven's interior. "Glad to hear it. I was the same," he says, smirking up at the pale snout questing for bacon without wanting to properly emerge to get it.

"Oh? We can discuss our findings over drinks afterwards, maybe," he suggests. That's dependent on what flavour of trouble their sons might have gotten into by then, but at the very least they'll be able to get the god part of it figured out. Drinks just might end up being twin-centric dinner instead.

Glancing towards at Remi now and smiling more gently, he steps back enough from the counter to hook one of his feet around a kitchen chair, scooting it out invitingly for his husband to come and sit. "I don't know if we should be reassured or not that this could be bigger than The Family," he admits. At the very least it feels Caido-born, though, rather than another horror from the cosmos.

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

I don't know who I am, I don't know who I'll be

Stifling another yawn into the back of his hand, Remi reaches blindly for the nearest pair of sweatpants, tugging them from whatever heap of clothes has been deemed clean enough to live beside the bed. Whether they’re his or Ronin’s is a question answered only once he’s pulled them on, the fabric catching tight around his hips in a way that has him glancing down with a sleepy sort of suspicion. Ronin’s, then.

Not that this stops him from standing and stretching, arms reaching overhead until his spine gives a quiet pop and his curls are made even worse by the movement. Humming his agreement about drinks and divine findings, Remi makes his way over to the chair Ronin has pulled out for him, though he doesn’t sit right away. Instead, he leans in to press a kiss against his husband’s unshaven cheek, lingering there just long enough to murmur, "good morning," under his breath.

Only then does he slump into the chair, folding into it with all the grace of a man whose body has woken up several minutes before the rest of him has agreed to follow. One hand ruffles through his curls again as he frowns down at the table. "It almost felt like..." Remi begins, one eye half-closing as if the thought itself is too bright. "At least with Dahlia, I could tell where she was just stronger than I was. There was something to push against, even if it didn’t matter in the end." Wrinkling his nose slightly, he looks back toward Ronin.

"This just felt like...like a light switch." His fingers flex once against the table before stilling. "It wasn’t anything I could have even tried to fight off, if that makes sense?" In Remi’s mind, at least, it does. It makes the whole thing feel distinct from the Family in a way he doesn’t yet know how to be relieved by, or even if he should.

but there's a light in the attic and I swear it's calling me

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Your eyes grow heavy and suddenly, strangely, the world around you doesn’t seem as it was. Perhaps you’re in a different room to the one you’d just been standing in, or the path or surroundings seem altered. It’s almost as if you’ve sleepwalked your way to this new destination; not enough to be dangerous, but certainly enough to notice.

Please note: this serendipity CANNOT be used for levelling purposes.

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

"Morning," Ronin murmurs automatically in response, offering his cheek for the smooching and having to resist the urge to ignore their breakfast immediately for a taste of his husband instead. (Especially his husband in slightly too tight sweatpants). Listening quietly as Remi explains how things had gone from his perspective, the Knight is frowning as he flips their bacon and reaches for a few eggs from the basket nearby.

"It makes sense, but it doesn't seem great," he admits with a wince. Anything that could shut off the Bastion's consciousness like a lightswitch feels like worse news than the Family, in retrospect.

Before Ronin can offer more dozy insight into matters, two things happen simultaneously. First, he gets really sleepy, ironically in a way that feels identical to what Remi is describing. Second, his future son-in-law fucking channels him.

Whipped away to the desert where there's a creature with far too many eyes, a shadow that looks like trouble and a lot of dead animals, by the time Ronin returns the bright sunshine of Hak Etme is burning behind his eyes, and he glances slowly around towards his husband. "...Sorry about that."

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

I don't know who I am, I don't know who I'll be

Remi nods along, because no, it doesn’t seem great. Still, he’s only half-awake, and so when Ronin’s voice trails off, Remi doesn’t notice it right away. His fingers are curled loosely around the edge of the table, his gaze dropped toward the grain of the wood, mind still worrying at the difference between something stronger than him and something that simply turns him off.

When he does look up, frowning, it's in time to see Ronin disappear. With a sigh that sounds more resigned than surprised, Remi pushes himself to his feet. "Mm," he mutters to the empty kitchen, as if this is somehow an answer to all of it. Crossing to the stove, he takes up the nearest utensil and begins nudging the bacon before it can burn.

Ronin is gone for all of six seconds, and when he returns, his apology is only half-heard before Remi feels the pull catch beneath his ribs. "Oh, for—" The Northaven vanishes as Remi too is spat out in the desert.

When he returns, he's still shifted; the pixiu is far too large for the kitchen, all muscle and wings and startled momentum, and the table shrieks backwards across the floor as one massive shoulder shoves into it. For one awkward second there is too much of him everywhere, too many claws for the boards and not enough room to breathe, before the shift collapses back in on itself and leaves Remi standing barefoot in the kitchen again, Ronin’s too-tight sweatpants still clinging stubbornly to his hips.

He hauls in a breath, sharp with desert heat and adrenaline, then rakes both hands through his curls until they’re hopeless. "What the hell was that thing?"

but there's a light in the attic and I swear it's calling me

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

Armed with a spatula, faced with crisping bacon and with his husband disappearing like they're playing tag-team at a wrestling match, it's only Sugar's squawk of annoyance that has Ronin promptly removing the pan from the heat, figuring that they're going to need a second or two after Remi returns. And he's grateful for it, because when the Bastion does come back it's in a shape far too large for a houseboat that's far too small.

"Fuck," Ronin blurts, staggering back a few feet and wincing at the shriek of their furniture, but giving his husband a chance to get his bearings again. It doesn't take long, thankfully, and as Remi becomes his usually handsome self, the Knight is already closing the short distance between them. "I don't know," he murmurs, hands reaching out for the other man to check instinctively that he's alright.

"It looked like it came out of a nightmare," he admits. "And not like you should be able to find it in a place like Hak Etme."

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

I don't know who I am, I don't know who I'll be

"Sorry," Remi exhales hastily, the word slipping out beneath the last of the adrenaline as his eyes flick toward the table and then back again. His hands are already reaching for Ronin in answer, palms finding whatever they can of him first with the same instinct that has his husband checking him over. There’s a boyish smile tugging at Remi’s mouth by the time their fingers meet. "I’m fine. You?"

At Ronin’s description, Remi huffs under his breath, shaking his head. "Literally," he mutters, because nightmare seems less like a comparison and more like an origin point. "I used my pixiu shift thinking maybe it was some sort of spirit, but I was able to bite into it easily enough." His fingers tighten briefly against Ronin before he glances past him, as if the desert might still be waiting somewhere in the seams of the kitchen. "I saw Kai there," he says, the sleep having been burned away from his voice now, replaced by something lower and more focused. "But not Flora. Did you see her?"

but there's a light in the attic and I swear it's calling me

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

"Peachy," Ronin assures the other man with a lopsided smile. "And a lot more awake than I was." He stands placidly for Remi to make his inspection, and only by the time he's finished does the Knight step in to wrap an arm around his waist, as if they might both be whisked away should someone decide they urgently need to channel them once again.

Wincing as Remi describes his moment in the fight, it would be a lie to say Ronin had been hoping that the creature wasn't real, just by virtue of how horrifying it had been. Grumbling under his breath, he leans in to help himself to a brief kiss from his husband's lips, thinking back on the scene he'd been dropped into.

"Kai called me," he confirms. "But I didn't see Flora, no. I saw... I think it was one of Safrin's children, but he was gone too quick to really tell. He was standing in front of Colt." Anything else, though... a blur, if that. "But then Flora can make herself invisible if she needs, so that doesn't really confirm she wasn't there."

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

I don't know who I am, I don't know who I'll be

Remi allows the kiss to be stolen with only the barest hint of protest, more in principle than anything else, because gods but he’d like nothing more than to let it continue. His fingers curl against Ronin’s side as if in answer to the arm around his waist, holding him there for the span of it and then a moment longer afterwards.

With a sigh, Remi lets his forehead tilt briefly toward Ronin’s before he nods. "Liam was the one who called me," he says with a soft sigh and nod. The mention of Flora's invisibility has his jaw feathering with tension, though it eases a fraction as Ronin points it out. "Mm. That is true." Another sigh leaves him, quieter this time, as he rakes one hand back through his curls and looks toward the stove without really seeing it. "I’m sure she was nearby. I can’t imagine Kai going that far up north without her." Or rather, her letting him go that far without her.

"When I left, the thing looked like it was on its last legs," Remi adds, his gaze returning to Ronin’s. "So hopefully they're able to take care of it quickly."

but there's a light in the attic and I swear it's calling me

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

Ronin's frown is no less concerned for how softly it appears on his face, and with a sudden, long sigh, he abandons his spatula and their half cooked breakfast to sling both of his arms around Remi. He needs it just for a second, this moment to hold onto the real, solid truth of him before they're thrown into what he's sure will be another world shaking matter. "We can both drop by Wildering House and check if she's home before we go to the shrines?" he suggests.

And depending on the answer there, one of them really ought to be heading north to Hak Etme, whether or not the whatever it was looked on the verge of death. "You could teleport to her if she isn't at home," he says, albeit reluctantly. "Find out what happened up there, whether there were any clues about what that thing was and why it appeared?"

It's all a lot of what-if right now, but the shape of a plan still makes Ronin feel better, even if the details are unclear.

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

I don't know who I am, I don't know who I'll be

Much as Remi doesn’t want to hover unnecessarily in the lives of their children, especially not after everything that had happened recently with Flora, relief floods through the bond before he can think to temper it. Bowing his head against Ronin’s shoulder, he lets his eyes close. The kitchen still smells like bacon and coffee, the table is sitting slightly askew from where his pixiu shift shoved it across the floor, and somewhere beyond the Northaven their twins are loose in the world with only a duplicate between them and whatever disaster might next present itself as a suggestion. "Yes," Remi murmurs, his voice muffled slightly against his husband. "I think that might be a good idea."

For a moment he stays there, taking the offered solidity for exactly what it is. Then, as Ronin continues and the plan begins to take shape between them, Remi straightens, one hand lingering at his husband’s waist. "You know," he says, brows drawing together as the thought occurs to him, "I wonder if it might be worth asking Vi or Mort for some sort of...reverse channel." Tilting his head, Remi considers how to explain it. "Like teleportation, but you can only go to whoever channelled you last." He gives a small shrug, seaglass green eyes flicking back toward Ronin’s. "It would save us the flying time, if nothing else."

And, left unsaid but perfectly clear through the bond, it would mean not having to wait helplessly when one of their children, or someone married to one of their children, had already been close enough to trouble to need them.

but there's a light in the attic and I swear it's calling me

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

it feels like we're ready to crack, these days, you and I

Nodding gentle agreement as, between them, the discussion becomes more of a plan with each second, Ronin turns to press adoring kisses into the mess of Remi's curls, releasing him with obvious reluctance as he straightens up. "Will this be instead of asking Vi to help potentially make our houseboat bigger on the inside?" He smirks - it isn't that either idea is unimportant, and Remi's is arguably very valid given what has just happened, but as the state of their table can attest, space is a rapidly vanishing commodity in the Northaven.

"I do wonder why they were up in Hak Etme of all places," he wonders openly, leaning in for a final kiss to Remi's cheek before Sugar can swoop down and bite him for not finishing breakfast. "I'll make this to go?" he suggests of the bacon and eggs, reaching into one of the cupboards to produce a pack of white, fluffy rolls to convert them into breakfast sandwiches.

when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3