fuck up my nights

if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right

"I do. But that has never stopped you from telling me that I shouldn't." Remi countered, wondering suddenly if this is what people felt like when they were talking to him about his own recklessness. The urge to shake him until sense just sort of...fell back into place.

"You are far too crafty to not know how to fly." The alchemist said, unable to help the roundness of his cheeks or the indent of his dimples therein.

Cheeks reddening instantly, not with affection or love but with sudden despair, the corners of Remi's lips twitched slightly into a faint smile before it disappeared entirely. He was about to say that perhaps the fox was right, until he realized something. Sure, the two men had each done what they thought they had to...only...Only Remi was about to say that he would never stop trying to help the fox out of his situation.

But Ianto had never tried to help him. Remi had never had to tell the fox to stop trying to help him, because he'd never offered.

"Starting to see?" The alchemist replied after a moment, forcing lightness into his voice. "I think I am. Yes."

don't be a fool

Remi was right - he'd never stopped telling him he shouldn't, no. And yet, here they both were all over again. Burying his hands in his pockets, tail flicking at his heels, Ianto shrugged.

"I suppose I'll pick it up in time," he said. Whatever revelation the alchemist was having, the fox clearly wasn't privy to, and all he realised when Remi spoke was that he had perhaps been a little callous with his word choice.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to imply... I mean. What do you mean? You can't actually see, surely?"

if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right

"I was kidding." Remi said reassuringly with a half-smile. "Ahh..I see..." Glancing around, the alchemist narrowed his pale stare, inspecting the forest-anew. "Places that I am not familiar with are dark, like I am seeing them at night. The more I am acquainted with them, the brighter they get. Still they are mostly grey. Even at home, there is little colour."

Glancing back towards the fox, for a moment Remi let himself fall into a moment of forgetfulness, ignoring the rising animosity, the bubbling and growing wedge between them. "But there are some..you for instance, that I can see. You are..bright. Full of colour. Maybe more than you ever were, it is hard to say."

don't be a fool

Ianto's brow furrowed as he heard Remi out, though he was more surprised than anything to learn that he could be seen in a full rainbow of colours, compared to the muted, grey world around them. "Oh," he said, unable not to wonder why that was, but retaining some sense of decorum not to ask about it.

"I'm glad," he said instead. "That you aren't blind... I mean, not like you were." When he'd been stuck in a world of blackness and they had pretended things were fine. "So you say you made a deal with this Zariah for my freedom? Well... I'll make sure the message gets to Arduinna, loud and clear. She'll probably have her own feelings about Zariah."

if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right

"No, not like I was." The alchemist agreed.

Drawing in a breath and running a hand through his curls, Remi exhaled in a steady stream and nodded. "Maybe Arduinna will kill her and then all this queenliness will be done with. And if someone Zariah does win, then.." Shrugging, knowing that it would probably just cause the fox to frown should he finish his thought.

"If...you ever do need helping learning...to fly that is.." Remi offered in a low voice, doing his best to keep the shine of hope free from his accent.

don't be a fool

"Maybe," Ianto said softly, but with the sort of tone that suggested he wasn't at all certain that any of these imagined outcomes would end up bearing fruit. Still, Remi had set a ball rolling by making that agreement, and there was nothing that his godmother loved more than a good deal.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Ianto nodded and moved to start walking again, slowly back through the woods. "I'll let you know," he said, unsure at this point if he was lying or not. "Come on. I know the fastest way back to the Outskirts."

if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right

Ianto's response was more than the alchemist had expected, and he found the strained smile on his lips easing as it steadily became more genuine and carefree. "I can go. You..." Pausing, Remi swallowed and shook his head. "If Zariah sees you, I am sure she will try and make you join her army regardless of where you live. I just realized I was not even allowed to come out here." Flashing the fox a mischevious smile, Remi shrugged. "Oops."

don't be a fool

Ianto was in no position to press matters, and so he fell to a halt as Remi assured him he could go. Maybe once he would have insisted on joining him, but... well. Times had changed and so had they, as was evident in the way they no longer fit together. He scoffed at the mention of Zariah, shrugging his shoulders. "She'd have to go through someone with a lot more power than her to get me to join an army," he muttered.

Arching an eyebrow at hearing that folk were apparently banned from the Greatwood under this new rule, Ianto let out a low whistle. "Sounds delightful." He shook his head. "Better move quick, then."

if you make it all wrong then i'll make it all right

"Who says that is a bad thing?" Remi quipped easily, more than happy to provoke a confrontation between Zariah and Adruinna. At least it would put certain problems and uncertainties to rest.

"Ahh yes. Welcome to not-not-Northaven. No exploring, no large groups, mandatory military.." There were likely other rules, but Remi could hardly remember them. Surprisingly, for his first act of outright lawlessness, he did not actually feel that bad about it.

"I will do. See you..." Soon? Around? Remi didn't know, and so he left it open, hopeful, vague.

~FIN