See true, see far

i have been quietly standing in the shade

So Remi had done a stupid thing, and as one does in those situations, he'd grabbed a bottle of something dark and sweet from his shop and gone home.

Or well, to the guildhall. Which was his home and yet felt...strange, just now.

Aoife was still there, and Isla, and Sugar, but now Ronin as well. Ronin the father, Ronin the guildmaster, just as he should be, and yet something nagged at Remi's mind. Something like an errant string on a sweater that no matter how much you tell yourself simply to leave it be, you can't. You need to pull it. Oh sure, you tell yourself that if you do it will just uncoil a bit and all will be well. The distraction will be gone.

But in fact it will unravel the whole damn thing. And you know this, somewhere, deep down.

But you pull anyways.

And so it was that Remi, late in the evening, came home. Entering the kitchen he poured two drinks and set them on the table, merely staring at them. Next to them was a piece of glass with an ornamental circlet of what looked like opal around it.

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin still felt like something of a guest in his own home. It was strange even to be left alone with his daughter, like he was an imposter or like people were watching, just waiting for him to fail. But he had spent the day with Aoife while Remi was out, entertaining his rascal of a child and fussing over Sugar in equal measure. And in those times it just felt right, regardless of everything else that had happened. By the time Remi got home, Ronin had already put Aoife down to sleep - they had waited for the stars to come out so both of them could say goodnight to Vanya - and the girl was snoozing away in her nursery with Sugar dutifully standing guard. He heard the door open and close, Ronin padding downstairs to find Remi in the kitchen. He smiled a greeting to him, moving to lean against the doorframe. ”Is there a celebration going on or...?” He smirked and nodded at the glasses, folding his arms across his chest. Arching an eyebrow at the strange lens, he glanced at Remi expectantly. ”One of your creations?” ronin the long and lonesome road

i have been quietly standing in the shade

"Well, you have fallen from the sky." Remi quipped back easily, glancing over his shoulder and flashing the guildmaster a grin. "And we have hardly celebrated that." Missing the glance towards the lens, for a moment Remi thought Ronin was talking about the alcohol. It wouldn't have been the first time the alchemist had let the captain sample one of his latest batches.

"The...oh." He murmured now following Ronin's eye-line to the lens. Picking it up, Remi closed one eye and squinted, seeing Ronin through the circle of magical glass. It was precisely as he'd expected; no shimmer, no revealed illusion. "I wish I could take credit for this. It was your Safrin's doing, actually. When you were still...well. When you were up there, I met a man in the woods. Ianto?" At this name, Remi raised a brow to see if it would spark recognition in Ronin, before continuing. "He is one of the men I had forgotten. He offered to show me his wagon—not a euphemism—" Remi added with a hasty grin. At least he didn't think it was, as there had been a real wagon. "And I realized that even though Aoife was safe with Vai, if it was one of Ludo's tricks again, I might never return to her. And so,"  Laying the piece of glass flat in his palm for Ronin to see, Remi shrugged. "I asked Safrin for this. So I could always know what was real and what was not."

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

"That's true enough," Ronin agreed with a lopsided smile. He stepped into the kitchen properly and moved to lean against the table, eyeing both glasses before lifting one up, offering it out to clink against Remi's. As the alchemist explained the strange lens that sat on the table between the drinks, Ronin's lips parted to almost object that Safrin was not his, but he stopped himself. It was no longer entirely true, he knew. But he was more hers than the other way around. The sound of Ianto's name had both surprise and happiness for his friend lighting up his blue eyes, Ronin straightening up from the table. "You found him? That's great news, Remi. I... well, I know you've forgotten. But I promise, if you had your memories you'd be thrilled to know you'd run into him." And to know it wasn't a trick of Ludo's, too. Then Remi gazed at Ronin with the magical lens, too, and the ex-captain offered him a cheeky wink for his trouble as he was viewed through it. "That is an infinitely useful device," he agreed, sipping at his drink. "I assume I look perfectly ordinary?" ronin the long and lonesome road

i have been quietly standing in the shade

Accepting the cheers easily, the clink sounding extra loud in the strange stillness (a happy stillness to be sure, for babies and dragons were loud and boisterous creatures), Remi nodded.

"Mmm, so I have been told." Remi said with an uncharacteristic touch of bitterness as he took a drink from his glass. "I suppose I can take down the wanted poster I apparently put up." He added with a shrug.

"Well I certainly thought so." Remi replied with an equally cheeky rolling of his eyes. Raising a brow, Remi held the lens up again, scrutinizing the captain from head to toe. With comic over-emphasis Remi hmmmd, bobbing his brows and making all sorts of contemplative faces. "Nope." He concluded at last. "Though you have never once in your life ever looked perfectly ordinary, so I suppose that is to be expected. " Remi added with a laugh.

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

"I suppose so," Ronin agreed, taking another sip of his drink and rolling the glass absently between his hands. He tilted his head at his friend. "You don't seem happy, to have run into him," he remarked softly - an invitation for Remi to talk about it, if he wanted to. An invitation for the alchemist to talk in general, in truth; so much had happened and so much danced and writhed behind Remi's eyes these days, that Ronin wondered how he carried it all about. With another small sip, Ronin smirked around his glass as he watched Remi make such an exaggerated once-over, setting the drink down on the table and snorting softly. "Want me to strip, make double sure about everything?" he offered with a good natured cackle, tapping a finger against the glass. "I am not sure whether or not to take that as a compliment," he said. "Is perfectly ordinary better or worse than the alternative?" ronin the long and lonesome road

i have been quietly standing in the shade

"Oh, no. It is not that. I suppose I just wish I would not have to rely on you and Vai and everyone else to tell me how I ought to feel about things." Remi replied with a light shrug. "It was nice to see him, even if it felt like it was the first time. Nicer still now that I know he is not actually Ludo trying to lead me to my death."

With a snort of his own as Ronin mentioned stripping, Remi rolled his eyes again and then took a rather large sip of his drink. "Well we already know that your muscles are smaller and that your scars are gone." The alchemist said with a leading tone and raised brow. "I wonder if your ego could handle a full inspection." Remi replied with a laugh, adding a bit more of the dark liquid into each of their glasses.

"Well I suppose that depends on what you think the alternative is?"

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin pursed his lips as Remi spoke, frowning and offering his glass out willingly for a top up. He took another drink while he let his thoughts roll around in his mind, before glancing back at his friend. "Then don't," he murmured. "No one can tell you what you ought to feel, Remi. This is your world, here and now, and you can feel however you damned want to about it. Don't feel glad about seeing Ianto because you're supposed to. Just... enjoy meeting someone new, outside of the barrier." He shrugged his shoulders. "If it helps, I'll not make mention of anything like that again. Whatever you tell me, it'll be like I'm hearing it from you for the first time." Smiling, Ronin made a gesture as if to cross his heart. It didn't, however, stop him from looking outraged at the jab about his physique. "Oi!" He laughed, dipping his fingers in his drink to flick it at Remi. "My ego is just as large as it always has been," he informed the other man proudly, winking suggestively. "Inspect away, I'm sure it will withstand the scrutiny." ronin the long and lonesome road

i have been quietly standing in the shade

With a gentle laugh and shake of his head, Remi eyed his friend with a contented sort of adoration. "Ahh well. If the man from the stars says it is that easy, who am I to argue?" He chimed back easily, thoughts briefly drifting to Sam and wondering how applicable Ronin's words might be to that situation.

"Well I do not plan on losing any more memories. So here is hoping that will not be necessary." Remi replied, holding his glass up and cheersing the air before taking another drink.

Looking appropriately put off and horrified that the ex-captain had sullied his pristine white shirt (which of course it wasn't), Remi folded his arms indignantly across his chest. "I will have you know I slaved for days over that." (Of course he hadn't).

"Your ego might be...but it is spring Ronin. It was not that cold out when you first came back." Remi replied with an equally suggestive tilt of his drink and shrug of his shoulders.

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

"You are an incredibly intelligent man who wears his heart on his sleeve and has terrible luck," Ronin quipped easily, taking another drink. "In short, no one to argue with a man from the stars." Chuckling, he set the glass down on the table just in case Remi decided to retaliate to his little stunt. He let out a boyish laugh at seeing the faux-indignance on the alchemist's face, one that promptly faded when he threw another barb at Ronin's "ego". "Hey. I am a grower, alright? Besides, I didn't see you complaining at the time. Or on the beach. Or when I was in Bastien's church-thing... Remi, I do get naked a lot, don't I?" Unable to keep up the pretense, Ronin rubbed at his forehead and just about giggled at the memories. "I haven't even once seen you in the same light, so to speak. That is an injustice, I'd say." ronin the long and lonesome road

i have been quietly standing in the shade

"That almost sounded like a compliment." Remi replied rolling up his sleeves as if that would be enough to relieve him of all his troubles and flashing Ronin a grin.

"A likely story." Remi returned, unable to hide the smirk of wicked amusement on his face and decidedly not giving an answer to his lack of complaints. "You really do." Remi agreed, snorting into his cup as he drained the glass, trying not to think about the way his cheeks were surely flushing.

"Oh an injustice is it?" Rolling his now-empty glass between his finger tips, Remi gave the guildmaster a pointed look from across the table. "It surely is not just for comparisons sake, then?" He asked with a snort.

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin was laughing as well, taking up his glass again so he could similarly drain it. His cheeks were flushing too, though it was probably just the alcohol. Probably. Either way, he tipped his glass to Remi for a refill. "I can only give you almost compliments," he objected. "You don't want me to stroke your ego too much, do you?" Wiggling his eyebrows, he snorted another laugh and shook his head, leaning against the table now. "Wellobviously not," he said with a wolfish smile. "I don't know if you've realised this Remi, but since being dropped here you are not the same alchemist I met on the beach." Reaching out, he poked the other man in the chest. "I daresay your muscles are bigger than mine, these days. For now, anyway." ronin the long and lonesome road

i have been quietly standing in the shade

Helplessly the alchemist shook his head, the liquor making his smile absurdly wide as he helped them both to another glass. "My ego is not the one on trial here." Remi replied, wagging a finger at Ronin and letting his head tilt accusingly to the side.

Feigning outrage and shock, Remi inhaled comically placing a wounded hand over his chest where he'd be so unceremoniously poked. "Not the same? What ever do you mean?" He asked playfully, before dissolving into a series of giggles that he was actively trying to contain, and failing spectacularly.

"Sorry, my what is bigger?" Remi asked, leaning forward with his ear tilted towards Ronin as if he really had missed what his friend had said. "Ohh, muscles. So good of you to notice." He added with a cheeky wink.

watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made

Coding base by Sky!

"Neither is mine! Or at least I didn't think it was. You can still stroke it if you want." Ronin tittered, cheersing as Remi refilled their glasses and taking a generous sip of the liquor. His giggles were contagious, Ronin having to cover his eyes else the sight of Remi's glee would set him off all over again. Still, as he tilted his head closer and made the innuendo so painfully clear between them, the ex-captain reached out and flicked his ear. "You are such a shit," he informed him through a laugh, pouting down at his own very-much-less-muscled physique. "My muscles will be bigger than yours again one day," he vowed, in that solemn sort of way fuelled only by drink. "Until then I guess I'll just be your damsel in distress." ronin the long and lonesome road