don't know if you love me or you want me dead

Haulani is just as breathtaking as Kaiholo Port. Aithne wanders the streets between houses and shops of many colors, shapes, and sizes, wondering if she's ever seen this many people in one place. Perhaps in Stormbreak, but when she'd lived there, there had been some semblance of order to the streets and city blocks. Here, it seems to be chaos, especially closer to the water, where Aithne has spent the better part of her afternoon. At least it's a bit cleaner here than at the port, where stacks of barrels and crates and nets and ropes had lain about every which way. While there are still a lot of people milling about, and there are more buildings squished together than she's seen in quite some time, it's a more orderly flavor of chaos.

The girl skips along cheerfully, pockets full of coin she lifted from unsuspecting strangers on her way from the Port. Just now, she pauses before an absolutely adorable little cafe that seems to be busy enough that she can only assume that the food and drink are worth sampling. As such, she pushes her way through the door and places an order for a hot chocolate at the counter before turning to survey the room for open tables. Finding none, she shrugs to herself. She'd known it would be busy before entering.

Still, it would be nice to rest for a moment, so she selects a table at random and approaches the stranger sitting there. "Hello," she chirps, flashing her best innocent smile - a feature that is belied somewhat by the fangs. "Everywhere else is full. Do you mind if I share your table?"

Aithne Murphy

the bastion

Were Torchline capable of cold in any meaningful sense, Remi might have thought to bring a coat. As it was, Deepfrost in Haulani meant only that the air had lost a little of its usual weight and the breeze off the sea had teeth instead of breath, leaving him perfectly comfortable in a knit sweater with one hand curled around a mug of tea and the other idly tracing the grain of the table in front of him.

He had been abandoned, though not very convincingly; Ronin had gone only as far as the other side of the café, caught by someone who had recognised him and who now seemed determined to make the most of it. Remi watched him through the shifting press of bodies with an expression that did a poor job of pretending to be anything other than fond, his curls slightly unruly from the wind outside and his smile tucked mostly into the corner of his mouth.

The second mug of tea steamed untouched across from him, Ronin’s jacket hooked over the back of the empty chair and Remi’s gaze had just drifted from the cup back to his husband when the girl’s cheerful greeting drew his attention, and though he did not recognise her, his expression warmed with the quiet politeness of someone who had been startled out of a pleasant thought rather than disturbed.

"By all means," he says, gesturing toward the chair with Ronin’s jacket on it before reaching to lift the garment free and fold it over the chair beside him instead. Glancing back through the crowd to where Ronin is still very much in conversation, Remi huffs a soft laugh under his breath. "If my husband makes it back before his tea gets cold, it will be a miracle." The explanation comes with a small tilt of his head toward the abandoned mug, affectionate rather than impatient, and he nudges it a little farther from the edge of the table to make room for her hot chocolate.

I got a feeling inside that I can't domesticate
It doesn't wanna live in a cage,
A feeling that I can't housebreak

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

The man before her is handsome, but he's also distracted by something across the cafe. As he comes back to himself, Aithne continues to smile her bright, bubbly grin. He recovers quickly from whatever he'd been thinking or looking at, and quickly moves the jacket she hadn't noticed from the extra chair at his table. She follows his gaze to another man across the room, who seems deep in conversation with someone else, then glances down at the hot tea meant for the husband. "I don't think he'll be getting free any time soon," she says, amused. "They look like a talker."

Slipping into the chair, Aithne rests her cup of hot chocolate on the table, wrapping her hands around the mug to warm them. While it may not be as cold here as it would be anywhere else in Caido, there's still a distinct change in the air from when she'd visited during Longheat, and the heat from her drink is welcome in her exposed fingers. "I'm Aithne, by the way," she says, reaching a hand across the table to offer it to shake.

Aithne Murphy

the bastion

Remi glances back just in time to see Ronin nodding along to whatever is being said to him, and the sound he makes in response is low and amused. "Oh, they both are," he says, raising his eyebrows with enough emphasis to suggest there is a great deal of history behind the assessment. Not that there is any real complaint in it. Even as his gaze returns to Aithne, the affection remains, softening the edges of his smile.

When she offers her hand, Remi reaches across the table to take it. His grip is careful, warm without being crushing, the sort of gentleness that has been learned rather than assumed over the years. "Nice to meet you, Aithne. I’m Remi." He releases her hand after a moment, though the brief contact is enough for him to notice the chill in her fingers. His eyes flick from her hands around the mug to the door, then back again. "I can ask them to turn up the heat, if you like?" he offers, easy and matter-of-fact, before his head tilts slightly. Only then does his attention shift, not rudely but plainly, to the horns that mark her for what she is.

"My best friend is an Ancient," he adds by way of explanation, as if that ought to make the offer less strange.

I got a feeling inside that I can't domesticate
It doesn't wanna live in a cage,
A feeling that I can't housebreak

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

It doesn't take a genius to see how much the man loves his husband, seemingly unbothered by the other man's disappearance to chit-chat with others. There's something about it that makes Aithne feel a bit lonely, though she doesn't stop to inspect the emotion for longer than a heartbeat, quickly discarding it as weakness. There's absolutely no reason for her to feel that way, not when she has friends back in the Grounds. She doesn't need someone to look at her the way Remi looks at his husband. This is just her bad habit of coveting what doesn't belong to her rearing its ugly head.

In any case, she startles as Remi seems to note the chill that has settled in her bones, and shakes her head with a rueful smile. "Oh, no, I'll be fine," she demurs, forcing herself to relax so that she's not quite so obviously colt. "It's just the season. You know how it is." And so he should, if his best friend is an Ancient, too. "At least Torchline is warmer than most places, this time of year."

Aithne Murphy

the bastion

Remi hums, nodding as he brings his tea nearer, though he doesn’t yet drink from it. "It certainly is," he agrees, his smile easy. "I find it has made me much less tolerant of the cold, now." Chuckling, he tilts his head to the side, a bit of boyish mischief alighting in his seaglass eyes. "Truthfully, I turn into quite the baby now when I go to Halo or anywhere cold."

Even with the café full and Ronin still caught across the room, there is nothing hurried in the way he settles back in his chair. His gaze drifts briefly toward the windows and the pale Deepfrost light beyond them before returning to Aithne. "Was the weather what brought you into town, then? Or are you staying for LongNight as well?"

I got a feeling inside that I can't domesticate
It doesn't wanna live in a cage,
A feeling that I can't housebreak

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Aithne likes Remi, she decides. There is something charming about him without being disingenuous, and she appreciates that. At his declaration that he turns into a baby in the cold, the Ancient snorts. "I don't blame you," she says fervently. "Even before I turned Ancient, I hated the cold. Now it's just... set in stone." (Haha, get it?)

Remi glances out the window, and Aithne's gaze follows, lingering there for a beat as she considers. "The weather, partially," she admits. "But I'm also curious about this LongNight rager I've heard so much about." What kind of trouble can Aithne get into during LongNight? Only time will tell. She leans forward in her chair, eyes sparkling. "Is it true it's just one week-long party? Do people ever sleep?"

Aithne Murphy

the bastion

The pun earns her a warm chuckle, entirely unguarded, and Remi’s smile turns crooked and almost boyish as he nods his approval; bad puns and dad jokes have long since become one of his most fluent love languages.

"Ah," he says, lifting his brows at the mention of the party, and glancing once more toward the beach beyond the café windows. "As long as I have lived here, there has always been a party of some sort. Bonfires all along the coastline, games and food stalls and music." His shoulders rise in an easy shrug as he wraps both hands around his tea. "There are certainly some people who take advantage of the dark, but for the most part it is simply a good time." At her question about sleep, he laughs again and nods. "I am sure some definitely try to." His eyes find Ronin across the room, still entirely ensnared in conversation, and his expression softens with familiar fondness. "Not us, though. Normally we spend the entire week patrolling."

I got a feeling inside that I can't domesticate
It doesn't wanna live in a cage,
A feeling that I can't housebreak

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!