New memories & old wagons

i'd bring you further roses

Had Ianto's trembled, Remi likely would have left. But the fox offered him something that only a precious few in his life ever had. It wasn't just the chance to be weak and vulnerable, Remi's ego was far too non-existent to be worried about that, but that someone else could be strong where and when he could not...it was too precious a thing to simply fly away from.

Where Sam had said it would be too hard to go on, the fox laughed and said it would be fine. Looking up with a disbelieving smile, his mind suddenly feeling lighter and dizzy for the way Ianto could so easily redirect the current of his emotions, Remi laughed a relieved and shaky sort of sound. "Oh well then." He said with a mock shrug. "If it just that easy, then—" Had his hands not been in Ianto's he would have tossed them in the air to punctuate the point. As it was he just offered the fox a disbelieving, but amused crooked smile.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

"Then you've got nothin' to worry about," Ianto said simply, finishing Remi's sentence for him and giving his hands a warm, gentle squeeze. "Whatever happens, whatever you decide. I'm not worried. Ludo doesn't scare me." He tipped the hawk a cheeky wink; granted, he hadn't had any interactions with the soul guide (and he was actually a fucking coward), so he could afford to be cocky. But that was future Ianto's problem.

Slowly letting his hands slip away from Remi's, Ianto paused for a moment before daring to try and pull the alchemist into an embrace. It would be too easy to give in to passions and too-quick decisions, but this was more important. So if the other man allowed, Ianto would draw him close, fingers once more finding the feathers in his hair whilst his other arm wound around his waist.

i'd bring you further roses

Head tilted to the side Remi gave the fox an imploring look. A look that said be serious, but as his green eyes melted into blue, he knew that Ianto was, in his own way anyhow. And though Remi so badly wanted to just fall into and against that confidence, all of his experiences him and back home (which was decidedly not his home anymore), told him to do otherwise.

That space was best.

Which is of course precisely what Ianto took next.

With that same boyish look of surprise as the contact, Remi stiffened in the fox's grasp. The only thing that saved him from dissolving completely into feathered and bones light enough to take him out of the wagon was the knowledge that Ianto would just...let him be, if he wanted. He'd never tried to console Remi out of feeling what it was he needed to, and so though it was awkward with Ianto's arm around a body that wouldn't yeild and a head tilted slightly down so that his gaze was at the fox's neck, eventually, fractionally, he softened slightly.

After what felt like years of indecision and still without looking up, those too-blue eyes more than he could take, one of Remi's hands brushed against Ianto's leg as if testing the limits of what he could endure. Slowly it rose, feather-light (literally in some places), to his hip. At the same moment his head had moved with near-glacial slowness up, not making eye contact but not cowing in Ianto's embrace any longer either. Heart hammering and blood rushing loud enough that he was quite certain he'd be unable to make out anything short of a scream Remi tilted his head upwards slightly more so that they would be at eyelevel, if the alchemist dared to raise his gaze.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

Awkward it might have been, but nothing lasted forever. And Ianto smiled softly as he felt, ever so slightly, the alchemist begin to relax against him. At no point did he try to keep the other man in his grip - in fact he had just been about to step back when he felt the hand ghost over his leg and hip, Ianto raising an eyebrow just as Remi started to look up. Sort of.

"Hey," he said, vaguely aware of the will-o-wisps that had snuck into the wagon now and that were bobbing about them in lazy patterns. "It's meant to be nice. Hugging, I mean." The fox risked a playful grin that he wasn't sure Remi would see. "And normally I charge for them, so you must be a big deal." Reaching up, he carefully brushed an errant curl out of the alchemist's face, his fingers just barely brushing over the other man's cheek.

i'd bring you further roses

"Hugging." Remi repeated, adoring Ianto implicitly in that moment for finding him a pathway where he could break the tension he felt with a laugh, and not with a panicked exit. He wanted to say something about how hugging was certainly not the thing they were doing, but he was almost certain the fox's follow up would be to ask what it was they were doing, and that was not something the alchemist was prepared to answer.

"Well I would not want to put you out...since we have such a professional relationship and all. I hope you will accept my stars as payment.." These last words where hardly more than a whisper as Ianto moved a curl (momentarily more feather than hair) out of his face. It forced Remi to look up, his eyes drifting over the gold and copper scruff, the line of Ianto's jaw, the dark lashes, and finally to the fox's eyes that were impossibly expressive. Swallowing, Remi grabbed onto a passing will-o-wisp like a lifeline, letting his eyes drift to it as it bobbed behind the fox's head.

"Is this your idea of mood lighting?"

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

”Well, yeah. My arms are around you, and you haven’t punched me in the face yet. Hugging.” Ianto grinned to the other man cheerfully. In truth he honestly hadn’t meant it as anything more; Remi was far too flighty, still, to take that kind of a risk with. (The irony of ‘flighty’ was not wasted on the writer of this post). For now the fox was content to feel close to Remi, to not feel quite as dreadfully alone as in the past few months. He felt his stomach give a little flutter as the alchemist finally looked up at him, even if his attention was quickly captured by the bobbing lights around them.

”Your presence is payment enough, but the stars are a nice touch,” he said, smirking. ”And that depends. If it’s working, they are mood lighting. If not, they can bugger off out of my wagon.” The fox’s laugh was carefree, and he blew one of the wisps away from where it bobbed and danced around their faces.

i'd bring you further roses

"Do hugs normally last this long?" Remi returned, perhaps a shade bolder. Despite Ianto's anatomical description offered as proof of what they were doing, Remi couldn't recall a time when his heart had so hammered or his blood felt like it was suddenly a mixture of fire and ice during a hug.

Blushing, Remi tried to return the fox's smirk but found his smile growing boyish and flustered. "So what is the going rate for a hug of yours, these days?"

As for whether or not the will-o-wisps were working Remi really couldn't say. "I guess that depends what sort of mood you were going for." He quipped, straightening ever so slightly.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

"It's not unheard of for them to last this long," Ianto murmured, gently shrugging his shoulders. "Not normally between friends, granted. And I suppose this does ruin our professional relationship. But it's okay - I kind of like it this way instead," he admitted, turning slightly so he could lean against the counter of the wagon within having to let Remi go. As for the 'going rate' of his hugs, the fox snorted. "Now that depends entirely on the person," he said. "For you, though? Well, hugging you is priceless, so I guess it's free."

He tipped Remi a wink, then paused for a moment or so before letting out a laugh. "I'm so sorry. That was terrible, even for me," he said, glancing around the wagon which was softly lit by will-o-wisps as well as the lantern by now. "I think I was going for mysterious and sort of vaguely magical," he quipped.

i'd bring you further roses

"We had sex and yet somehow maintained our professionalism, but an extended hug is what does us in?" Remi said, laughing despite himself and finding it easier to touch on the more explicit parts of their past if it was done so with an air of amusement. "I am glad you understand your business practices, but I doubt I ever will."

"Priceless, mm?" Remi said with another sly grin, finding himself nodding in agreement at Ianto's acknowledgement of just how corny the sentiment had been. It felt absurd now, to have the fox's arm slung low around his waist, his own hand gently roaming over the merchant's belt while their conversation meandered on. Even more so perhaps as Ianto shifted to lean against the counter. But Remi found that he didn't quite want to break the contact and so for a wonder, he didn't. "I think that just means I am cheaply had." Remi added with a snort.

"Mysterious and vaguely magical, huh." He repeated with a soft smile, glancing around. His eyes alighted on a number of different objects for which his mind couldn't even begin to come up with a use for (but that might have had more to do with the thoughts crowding around behind his eyes and less to do with the obviousness of Ianto's wares). "Well, I think you have likely succeeded." The alchemist decided at last. "Where does all of this come from?"

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

"You seem particularly hinged on the fact that we had sex, Remi. You don't remember it, so don't worry about it. This is all new as far as I'm concerned." Ianto smirked to the alchemist; all new apart from the fact that he was already in love with him, which he'd of course said but in not so many words. "You aren't meant to understand my business practices. They're a well kept trade secret," he informed Remi with a chuckle, his fingers gently tracing patterns across the other man's lower back.

At hearing Remi say he was cheaply had, Ianto couldn't help but bark out a laugh, shaking his head. "I'll not believe such a slanderous lie," he said, following the alchemist's gaze around the wagon and shrugging as if to say it didn't matter too much. "My godmother," he said offhand. "She creates such things, or finds them. Or trades for them. Either way, she is responsible for their place here."

i'd bring you further roses

"Can you blame me?" Remi asked, ruffling his free hand through his curls from back to front, and then back again. As Ianto's fingers danced across his back, his skin responded just as keenly as if there wasn't a layer of clothing interrupting the movements. Trying to still the shiver that wanted to race outwards from the base of his spine, the alchemist drew a deep breath, eyes latched on the coppery scruff roaming up Ianto's jaw.

"Things that are free are priceless in their own way, are they not?" Remi replied with a shrug.

The mention of the fox's godmother had Remi's eyes falling to the collar around his neck. With just a touch Remi could transmute it into strings or grass, couldn't he? "And in turn you sell them for hugs and the like?" He asked, half in jest and half serious.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

"I suppose not, though I do wonder why." He offered the other man a crooked smile, nudging him gently. "If you had wanted me to ravage you in this wagon, I assume you would have been more forthcoming about it. And you'd not have sprouted feathers at a hug or an arm around you." His smile growing into a grin, he relaxed back against the counter, searching to meet Remi's gaze even as he seemed so intent on looking anywhere but directly at the fox.

Priceless, free... while Ianto would usually have enjoyed the wordplay, he did remember Remi, and he knew well the alchemist's penchant for replacing serious conversation with banter. "Mmhm," he said, nodding in agreement with the other man's appraisal of the situation. "For whatever price I deem fair."

i'd bring you further roses

"Why?" Remi said, surprise evident in his tone until he saw the smile and felt the gentle nudge indicating the fox was kidding. As if Remi's cheeks couldn't flush anymore, the word ravage drew the colour around to the tips of his ears and made his stuttered laugh awkward and breathy. "Ah, well." He said, trying not to gulp. Glancing down at his arm there were indeed still feathers there, and with a forced exhale they began to disappear back into his skin. Not all, but some at least. Though Remi could feel Ianto's gaze on him, he couldn't meet it. To do so would be to willingly enter a riptide that he knew would seem simple enough at the outset—just a quick glance up—but would end up dragging him far, far away.

"Will you sell them to those within the barrier, now that it is down?" He asked, wondering if Ianto's grandmother was an equal-opportunist merchant, or if she held the Fae's viewpoint when it came to the outside world.

but it does you no good

Coding base by Sky!

it's not what it looks like

”Remi...” Ianto’s voice was gentle, and a touch surprised to see the alchemist so flustered. He couldn’t wipe the adoring smile off his face, gently flicking at one of Remi’s crimson tipped ears, as though that would help (it most certainly wouldn’t, no doubt). ”What am I supposed to do with you? You’ll pass out soon, with all the blood that’s rushing to your cheeks.” The fox sighed in mock disappointment, though he was genuinely worried that Remi couldn’t get more embarrassed.

Ah well. In for a penny. ”Maybe I’ll sell to those within the barrier. It depends on what she wishes of me,” he said, shrugging even as his fingers slid gently into curls thick with feathers. ”Shall we head back in? Or are you alright here?”