Your move

"Remi..." Ronin frowned gently, squeezing the alchemist's hand before letting it go so he could satisfy himself that Aoife was alright. The baby burbled at him sleepily, sighing at the welcome and familiar touch to her cheek before she snuggled back into her father's chest, content to nap. "Remi, if you couldn't kill her and free Ianto... why do you think Zariah would be able to?" Because, he had no doubt, she was blueblooded and it was all too easy for Remi to fall back into his role as commoner. Hearing the other man out, Ronin's expression grew very stormy indeed. "They've proclaimed her queen, you know," he muttered. "A group of followers of hers. And I think you might have just fashioned her with a fortress that she can rule from." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

"I...I did not try to kill her...I said Zariah did not have to either..just...just to free him.." Remi tried to explain, his tongue and mouth suddenly feeling quite dry as he opened his eyes into more blackness. And, it was more or less as Ronin thought. The Zariah's of the world simply could get things done, why shouldn't it be the same when she was in a different world?

Trying to sit up (and failing), Remi half-rolled onto his stomach to try and peer towards Ronin (and failed again). "The..the locks, then.." His brows drew together as confused cascaded down his face which had suddenly gone quite pale. "But..why? If she is queen won't she need to...to see people? And make decisions?" As a commoner of course Remi had no idea how any sort of ruling class worked, no notions of the nefarious plots that were and would be underfoot.

i fell for your eyes

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"And did Zariah tell you exactly what she would do, to free Ianto? What plan she has to break the word he gave?" Ronin had to take a few deep breaths, moving from the bed so he could place Aoife (sleeping, now) down in the basket they kept there just in case. His hands were trembling and he had to clench them tightly to make them stop. He had met Zariah, on the Bone Bridge. They had seen each other plain, understood each other he thought. This... it... it made no sense. And it made complete sense, a nasty little voice in his head whispered. Laying down with Remi and moving to help guide the other man into his arms (because Ronin probably needed the hug more right now), he let out a shuddering sigh, fingers windng gently into the alchemist's hair. "She doesn't need to see people to make decisions, Remi. I... you may have just assisted in the creation of a tyrant." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

"No..." Remi admitted with a shake of his head. Though at the time, and even now, that hardly seemed to matter. "Just that if needed she would kill Arduinna to free him." As Ronin moved away, for a moment Remi frowned, thinking his friend purposely distancing himself. His hand moved into the warm place left by the hunter as his sightless gaze searched into the darkness.

However as the hunter returned, the alchemist sighed gratefully against his friend, placing his head comfortably over his heart and steadying himself against its rhythm. Shirtless as his friend was, Remi slipped his hand around the small of Ronin's back as he winced against his chest. "She said..." Remi began, too tired to work out this mess of implications. "It was only locks—" He wheezed through clenched teeth, his head raising slightly as if to regard or kiss the captain when he stopped dead.

"Ronin..." Remi whispered suddenly in a low voice.

i fell for your eyes

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Ronin bit at the inside of his lip, both loving Remi for wearing his heart on his sleeve and feeling frustrated by how quickly and easily he had fallen for Zariah's promises and tricks. Ronin would have done it himself - had planned to, even, given enough time to get himself back on form, but now... Letting out a long sigh, he glanced down at Remi as he tilted his head up, cupping his cheek gently in his hand. The sudden pause and the serious tone caused him to freeze as well, Ronin frowning in concern. "What is it?" he asked. "What's wrong?" RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

Remi let out a breath in stops and starts, his pale eyes wide and his body quivering ever so slightly against the captain's. "H-hold up a finger." The alchemist said in a whispered voice that couldn't help but tremble. The hand behind Ronin's back now widened to support Remi's weight as the alchemist arched his back to lean away from his friend to give him the room needed to follow Remi's instruction.

i fell for your eyes

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin was still frowning down at the alchemist trembling in his arms when Remi made his strange request. "Uh..." Obviously he was going to comply, obediently holding up a finger and waving it slowly before the other man, though quite what he expected to happen as a result was beyond him. "Like this? I mean... I'm holding it up in front of you." Slowly he was getting used to explaining things to Remi as he did them, but it was far from a simple process. "Are you okay?" Ronin asked, concern clear in his tone. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

The alchemist tried not to smile, not to let himself believe what was right in front of his eyes. Literally. This manifested in his body quivering even more as he tried to contain the laughter that was mounting inside of his chest.

Slowly, he raised his own finger—leaning heavily against Ronin in the process as he shifted his weight—and without any of his normal awkwardness and blind-recalculating, he touched the pad of his finger precisely against Ronin's. Slowly, only once he was sure that he'd in fact done it, he let his lips part in a shaky smile, the breath he'd been holding slowly escaping in an unsteady stream.

"Ronin, I think I can—" see, he was going to say, though as his gaze moved from the hunter's finger to his face, the alchemist started noticeably, pale-eyes growing wide. Blinking in confusion, at the moment all Remi could see was blazingly-blue eyes in a world still mostly shaded in darkened shades of grey.

i fell for your eyes

Coding base by Sky!

Brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and concern, Ronin didn't really know what to do as Remi reached up and... and well. It was something so simple, really, to touch the tip of his finger with his own, except Remi couldn't actually see. Lips parting with surprise, Ronin inhaled sharply and sat up a little, drawing the alchemist with him. "You can..." he echoed, eyes wide, smile bright. "How? Wh... I don't understand." Not that he really cared either, a laugh rumbling up in his chest. "How many fingers do you see?" he asked, drawing his hand back to hold up three fingers between them. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

The alchemist shook his head, a boyish and crooked smile stealing onto his face. He didn't understand it either, but really, the things he didn't understand in this world weren't even worth counting. Playfully the alchemist scrunched his eyes together, nose crinkling. He was fairly sure he could see three, though the shapes were vague almost as if everything were subtly illuminated. Everything that was, except for Ronin's eyes.

"Eight?" He said jokingly, before placing three of his fingers against Ronin's with a grin. "Ahh, three." Remi corrected, before turning his gaze back to Ronin's face and leaning in, peering with absurdly joyful interest at the ex-captain's eyes.

"Your eyes Ronin. It is like..you look..." Softly Remi shook his head, eyes scouring the familiar lines of his friend's face with a renewed interest. "You almost look like you are glowing. Some parts of you are still dark, but—" Reaching a hand up to softly brush the length of one of Ronin's cheekbones, Remi found it seemed to come to life beneath his touch, his skin suddenly singing with vibrancy. Drawing back with a startled inhale, a tentative smile reappeared as he dropped his hand to the blankets that surrounded them, wondering if touch alone would bring things back into view. But no. The blankets remained swathed in grey and black.

"It is just you..I can only see you." Remi concluded slowly, looking back towards Ronin.

i fell for your eyes

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin wrinkled his nose as if to ask Remi how he thought he'd held up eight fingers on one hand. Then of course he realised he was joking (but sue him, this was crazy). His grin returning as the alchemist correctly guessed, Ronin caught the hand pressing against his fingers to give it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, whoa--!" He laughed warmly, not having expected to find the other man leaning in so close, feeling his cheeks heat up rather without his permission. "Like I'm glowing...? This isn't some new demigod power is it?" He glanced down at himself like that might help, though he was caught by the hand on his cheek. Remi startled and so did Ronin, blinking in confusion and unable to wipe the smile off his face. "How do you mean... like... just me in all of this? I... magic, maybe? It must be." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

"You are the demi-god, not me." Remi replied with a soft laugh. "Maybe it is your...your other self, that I am seeing?" He wondered out loud. He'd only seen Remi's astral-self a handful of times and while it was close to what he was saying, this Ronin was certainly more real.

"Your eyes. It ... surely they were never this blue before. Or maybe it is because everything else is so dark." Raising the hand back from the blankets, Remi experimentally placed it on Ronin's shoulder. His hesitation was not out of any worry over physical contact (not given how intertwined they normally slept), but out of a sort of appropriate-awe for what might happen. Swallowing, Remi watched with wonder as colour and clarity bloomed outwards from his touch, painting Ronin back into his field of vision. Exhaling with shaky excitement, Remi let his hand drift across Ronin's torso, his smile widening. "Everything else is dark..like shadow but you—"

Biting back on the absurdly wide smile that wanted to break across his face, Remi inhaled swiftly, a weighty assortment of emotions suddenly bubbling up in his throat. "Ronin I can see you."

i fell for your eyes

Coding base by Sky!

"My star-self? I... I don't know. I'm not trying to use it, but... it's possible." Ronin also sounded doubtful, though, the more time passed; Remi seemed enthralled every time he touched the hunter, suggesting it was something happening with the alchemist rather than with Ronin. Not that he cared, his smile broad and happy as he was suddenly and unexpectedly explored by deft hands. "Maybe," he said with a slow shake of his head, unable to really participate in what Remi was seeing but enjoying it thoroughly nonetheless. He laughed at his exclamation, reaching out to brush an errant curl out of his face. "I told you, we'd fix it. Whatever happened. I don't know how this happened, but... I'm a start, right? You're stuck looking at me for a while, but I'm sure it'll get better." He winked. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

As Ronin moved the curl from his face, something he'd done countless times, there was a surge of...something that Remi couldn't quite describe. Gratitude, friendship, love undoubtedly, and maybe something else. And as it bubbled up, the vision of Ronin only grew stronger until the hunter was nearly blinding in his clarity.

"We." Remi snorted with a grin, though it was just as likely that this really was because of Ronin, or a combination of the two of them, than just Remi on his own. Rolling his eyes—a gesture that now had some weight behind it—the alchemist grinned. "There are worse faces to be stuck with, I suppose." He teased playfully.

i fell for your eyes

Coding base by Sky!