New memories & old wagons

i'd bring you further roses

Remi laughed and nodded, his expression turning positively boyish and sunny at the thought of the fox draped around his neck. "The fox and the lion." The alchemist mused happily, nodding to himself as if committing the idea to memory and to a future that he would see to fruition.

With a humble snort of indignation, Remi raised himself up slightly on his arm to gaze speculatively down at the fox. The altogether too handsome face was impossible to scrutinize for truth, so the alchemist merely rolled his eyes and let himself flop back down on the bed, perhaps a hair closer than he had been previously. "Whales that fly through the sky, leaving trails of stardust that can predict the future. Amazing." Remi said with a laugh. "Well, I suppose we will have to leave them a path . Just there—" The alchemist said pointing up at Ianto's bare roof. "—you know, when we put up the rest of your stars. " He added with a boyish and bashful half-smile.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

The fox and the lion indeed. Remi wasn’t the only one smiling at the idea of it, though Ianto was soon distracted by talk of the stars and the whales that sailed through the sky. He shot the other man a golden smile as he propped himself up to gaze incredulously down at him, though there was no mockery in Ianto’s expression. He had never seen a star whale, but that did not mean they weren’t sought after by the Fae. That much was true enough. ”Quite amazing, yes,” he agreed quietly, his smile growing a touch wider as Remi settled back down with him, and the fox followed his gaze up to the ceiling of his wagon.

He nodded in happy agreement. ”With the rest of my stars.” He echoed Remi, letting out a soft sigh and nodding. He had suspected that the alchemist would be able to make more of the trinkets, but it warmed him considerably to know that he planned on giving a few to Ianto. ”The Fae would probably enjoy them too,” he remarked.

i'd bring you further roses

Remi tried not to notice the smile, to feel the comfort as he settled next to Ianto. It doesn't have to mean anything, he reminded himself. The fox had said that. They could just be. The frantic beating of his heart didn't have to be anything more than that..

It didn't have to. But that didn't mean it didn't.

"Oh, you think so?" Remi asked, unsure whether or not he wanted to make an effort to be in the Fae's good graces. If they wanted to be left alone, the alchemist was more than alright doing that. But...

"So you plan to stay in the Woods still? Even with the barrier now?" Remi asked, as nonchalantly as he could.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

”Well, between you and me, people from the Hollowed Grounds keep tryin’ to find their way into the village anyway, and I’m worried things might escalate sooner or later. Soon if I can find a way to make the people within the barrier seem... useful, I guess. Like trade partners almost... well, I think it’d be a lot better for everyone.” Amd especially Ianto, which was obviously the reason at the forefront of his mind for wanting to sort it out.

Comfortable with Remi tucked under his arm, feeling more content than he thought he had a right to - more, certainly, than the past few months - talk about staying in the Greatwood nonetheless brought a soft frown to his face. ”This is where I live.” He spoke uncertainly, and there was obviously more to it than that. The Hollowed Grounds made him nervous. ”I suppose I ought to at least visit, though...”

i'd bring you further roses

"Oh well, if useful is what we need to be I am sure my creation of stars will be widely received." Remi snorted in response, nudging Ianto in the side before realizing what it was he'd just done. Colouring slightly, the alchemist cleared his throat awkwardly, lacing his hands together on his stomach. "Just so long as I do not have to go back to making weapons." He added with a shiver at the memory.

"Do...you have to stay?" Remi asked as softly as he could, knowing that it would steer them back towards the topic of Ianto's strange incarceration. But it seemed important to know, for reasons the alchemist couldn't quite articulate. It mattered to him if his friend had to remain in the woods or not.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

”You would be surprised. A people with magic in their veins find the oddest creations to be quite spectacular.” Ianto grinned as he was nudged, glancing sidelong at Remi only to feel him shiver beneath his arm. The fox frowned. ”That was why you were brought to Northaven originally, right? I thought you must have enjoyed it, to make it your reason for coming through.” In retrospect, though, it absolutely did not gel with the gentle person he had uncovered Remi to be.

He frowned, puzzled as the alchemist asked his question, gazing up at his currently star-blank ceiling. ”I don’t think so... I’ve been as far as the fields, in the Outskirts, but that barely counts.” Nibbling at his lower lip, Ianto glanced back to the other man. ”Maybe I could brave it, as long as you show me around.”

i'd bring you further roses

"Mmmhmm." Remi agreed. "It was the only skill I had that they considered useful. Making tea and the sorts of tinkering I liked to do were not the sort of thing they considered valuable to the war efforts." He continued with a lengthy sigh. "Luckily I think most of what I made the Master Chief just hoarded for himself, or Ronin used in his training exercises."

Remi didn't know if it was relief that he felt learning that his friend was free to travel, or if it was fear. In a way, if Ianto had to remain in the woods that would force separation between the two, at least for a time. It would slow whatever was certainly not happening.

With a small nod, Remi too continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Compared to this I think you will find it immensely disappointing. It...is bland. Because of the barrier, I suppose. Then again if this wagon has as many offerings as you have said it does, I wonder if you will ever be allowed to leave, once the people get their hands on you." Meant just as a turn of phrase, the suddenly mental image of hands grasping for the fox made his stomach flip unhappily, so quickly he clarified, "—on it, I mean. The wagon."

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

Ianto hummed thoughtfully as Remi spoke, nodding in agreement. ”It must have been a relief in some ways, to come here. I’d not mention the weapons to the Fae though, if you do decide to try to trade. They’ll undoubtedly be interested, and that night not be a good thing.” The fox smiled across at his friend, seeming glad that he no longer had to do something he didn’t enjoy. Chuckling, he could only shrug at Remi’s judgement of the Hollowed Grounds, and while he didn’t have enough knowledge of the place to make a solid opinion, compared to the Greatwood he was inclined to agree.

”Well, I had quite a bit of fun catching chickens in the farmland. So it’s not all bad.” He winked, before suddenly sitting up to smirk down at Remi. ”Well... before anyone else gets their grabby hands on it or me... do you want to see some of it?” He nodded at the door through to what was presumably the front face of the wagon.

i'd bring you further roses

Remi shrugged. "Perhaps. But at least I knew my place in Northaven, and in Northwind in a way that made things simple. Here it is all wars and Spires and naturals versus outlanders and..." Exhaling a stream of air, Remi pawed absently at the ceiling as if to wipe it all away. Storing the information about the Fae and their likely want for weaponry, Remi nodded his silent appreciation.

If Remi had remembered their shared past, this quip about the chickens would have made him grin from ear to ear. As it was though, he merely snorted and shook his head with amusement that quickly fell away as Ianto suddenly sat up. A look of softly perplexed confusion contorted his features, that shaky sort of feeling that made his belly feel cold and his toes want to curl as heat began to spread up his spine, washing over him. Latching onto the wording that Remi now wished he could take back, the alchemist awkwardly looked up at the fox with a crooked smile and blushing cheeks. But instead of turning it from innuendo to suggestion, Ianto nodded towards the door.

"Oh I have finally earned that right, have I?" Remi said with a breathless sort of chuckle, the tension happily coursing out of him.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

"I don't know much about these naturals and outlanders, but... knowing your place because someone told it to you doesn't sound that great," Ianto pointed out with a half-smile. "At least here you can carve your own path. And you don't have to make weapons anymore, like you said." He smiled, waiting with obvious excitement for Remi to decide whether or not he wanted to see the sorts of things Ianto carted about in his wagon.

Fully aware of the innuendo that might surface, but appreciating that Remi probably wouldn't be into it right now, he merely grinned and nodded and rose to his feet as the other man expressed his interest. "You always had that right," he said. "I just assumed you would prefer tea, first." Winking, he offered Remi a hand up, before turning to unlock the side door.

When he pulled it open, it seemed strangely and unnervingly dark within, the air seeming to... twinkle, almost. The scent of a different kind of incense drifted out, and Ianto nodded. "Guests first."

i'd bring you further roses

"Maybe I like being told what to do." Remi replied in a jovial tone, though somewhat lamely as it was really all he could think to say. Ianto was right, and leaning into the hardships of Northaven just because it had been simple was a poor way to frame this new world.

With a laugh he didn't even try to hide, Remi accepted the hand offered after just a brief moment's consideration. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd ever touched the fox—he'd had sex with him yes, but in this memory-stream he'd also all but collapsed against him after exerting too much magic all at once—but still he felt cautious. Ianto's smile and the mischievous twinkle of his blue eyes were all too easy to want to fall into, and unlike the forest, Remi was fairly certain he wouldn't be spat out again.

With a skeptical look towards the door as surely it couldn't really lead anywhere, Remi was shocked to find that it actually did. With a surprised smile in Ianto's direction, Remi bit his lip as he took a step forward into the impossible room Ianto had revealed.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

"Is that so? I'll remember that," Ianto said with no small amount of wickedness in his tone, though it was cancelled out by the glee in his eyes as he watched Remi take in the new room in the wagon. When he finally stepped into the velvet darkness, Ianto followed and clicked the door shut behind them.

No sooner had he done so when a lantern beside them crackled to life, revealing two shutters that, when opened, revealed the shopfront of the wagon to the outside world. To either side of them, though, wares and knick knacks were stacked high, and distant music could be heard.

"Feel free to take a look around," Ianto said, grinning from ear to ear. "Pretty sure none of it is dangerous this time around."

i'd bring you further roses

In the slow seconds as darkness descended in the room and Remi could sense the door behind him closing, he felt a thrill of panic shoot through his chest. Distantly he had thought perhaps to look at the door and the room within with his monocle from Safrin, but surely since Ianto was who he said, he could trust his friend for all that was within the wagon? However as the darkness threatened to become total and all Remi could sense was the fox just behind him, his heart was suddenly in his throat and his stomach somewhere near his knees as he wondered at just what sort of things the fox had wanted to show him.

But then a warm light flared and the space Remi found himself in was quaint, if not still space-defying.

"Oh well what a relief." Remi said, his nervous laughter eventually filtering off to something more genuine as he looked at all the various things. Pointing to a pair of handcuffs, the alchemist raised a brow and gave the fox a pointed stare. "Dangerous, huh."

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

It was lucky that they were not in animal form, and Ianto had no idea of the butterflies threatening to send Remi's nerves into a panic, the fox meandering around the store room and reaching out absently to push the shutters open, revealing the twilit forest outside. "Hm?" He turned around, barking out a laugh at the sight of the handcuffs. "Hey, they aren't dangerous. Unless you plan to cuff me to my wagon and make off with my wares, that is."

And if Remi did, Ianto would be torn between feeling betrayed and impressed. The fox leant casually on the polished countertop, grinning at the will-o-wisps that began to bob towards the lantern light. "Hey," he told them, "there's nothin' for you here. Shoo."