too timing

On his way to the woodlands Remi's anxious and worried fingers had been errantly plucking at the wildflowers that still somehow bloomed despite the oppressive heat. By the time he reached the small cottage he had an armful of assorted blooms and stems and broken stalks that he picked at and shifted and re-settled and sorted over and over again. He had been gone from Vai far too long, and apparently, he wasn't the only one. Rapping on the heavy wooden door, Remi took a few steps back to peer into one of the windows as he called out for the huntress turned healer turned witch. It was a beautiful afternoon, and it was entirely possible that she was out hunting and not at home at all. Still, he'd try here first. Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

The woods were sweet and silent, dappled in shadow and full of life. So of course Vervain wasn't home when Remi knocked. But that didn't mean she wasn't nearby. "Well look who remembered where I lived," the huntress called, her voice ringing out like the peal of a bell through the forest. Vai marched through the pathway she had made in leather but without the fur, thanks to the heat. She seemed to have abandoned her hunt, for she had no kills with her, but that didn't mean that she was empty handed. (Sort of). Felix was on her back, wrapped there securely with his head lolling on his mother's shoulder. The baby sported a head of thick curls, like Vai, and he was snoring audibly as she approached the alchemist. "Remi," she said softly, nodding to him in greeting. "What can I do for you?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Spinning at the sound of her voice, Remi's smile fell immediately hearing her words. They cut deep into his soul—a soul that Vai had helped put back together and repair countless times—and what had he done lately, save for drown in his own life? "Vai—" Remi murmured, shaking his head and wanting to say that she could do nothing for him, not when he owed her everything. Instead though, he near ran to her, pulling her tightly to him (careful of Felix of course), his head finding the shoulder not currently occupied by the slumbering boy. "I am so so very sorry." He whispered into dark ringlets of hair that had dried his tears more often than he could count. Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

"Hey-- oof!" Vai had no choice but to half catch Remi as he ran to her, arms encircling him as she held him close, a sad smile making its way across her face. "What are you sorry for?" she asked, kissing his curls and grasping his shoulders so she could draw back and get a good look at him. A frown knotted her eyebrows together as she gazed into too-pale eyes, her hand cupping his cheek. "How have you been?" she asked, walking them up towards the cottage door and opening it up so they could head inside. The interior was all Vai - more huntress than bear, certainly, which only spoke more about Devrum's absence. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Not being here? Not visiting? Not even knowing Devrum was gone? "Everything." He whispered, letting himself be gently pushed back. Unsurprisingly, Remi could see Vai fairly well. Felix was hardly more than an inky smudge in his grey-vision, but he was sure that would change. "I should have come around more..I should have been here..." The alchemist shook his head, shame colouring his cheeks. "Oh..you know me." Remi said vaguely, not really knowing where to start. More curses, more forgetting, blindness...but it didn't seem to matter. "Ronin told me Devrum has not been...that he.." Biting the inside of his lip and wincing at his awkward phrasing, Remi reached out to help unstrap Felix if the huntress needed it (likely not), before setting about making them each a cup of tea. Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

"Life happens, Remi. I'm not old or senile enough yet to require house checks," Vai assured him with a gentle nudge, closing the door up and starting to untie Felix from her back. The help was appreciated, but as Remi had suspected Vai had done this more than once, and she had the baby in her arms in no time at all. Rocking him gently, she placed him down in a makeshift cradle (with a mobile of her own creation, of course), before moving to join Remi in making the tea. "Mm... I do know you. I heard that you were hurt..." She sighed deeply, then arched an eyebrow as he spoke about Devrum. Her smile was wistful, and she shrugged. "He is wild," she said. "I knew it when I met him, when I married him. Ashetta is the same way if not for different reasons." And yet, being alone again after a decade of trying to find what she had lost... Yeah. It sucked. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

The alchemist couldn't quite tell if Vai's easy dismissal of his apology was genuine, or just a mask to disguise her disappointment in him. Frowning to himself, Remi scratched anxiously at his hairline, vowing never to go so long without seeing the huntress again. It was as Ronin had said: this was their life now. These people. These friends, this family. Glancing at Vai and running a self-conscious hand up his unshaven cheek, Remi nodded. "I...at least I am not blind anymore. I can see now. Sort of." He said with a shrug. Wild? That hardly seemed to justify it or in any way be a balm. Biting the inside of his cheek the alchemist frowned, tracing the wood grain on the countertop. "Is there anything I can do?" Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

Vai busied herself with the tea as Remi spoke, the huntress pouring them both a cup and ushering him away so they could sit and chat. She flopped down into a chair before the fire; the sheer size of the thing suggested that it was Devrum's seat - or had been, at least. "That's good to hear... How does it work?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as if to suggest that he didn't look any less blind. With a long sigh, Vai blew on her teacup and settled back in her chair. "There's nothing anyone can do, Remi," she said quietly. "Felix keeps me busy, as well as the infirmary. I don't get many visitors, and both Ashe and Devrum have disappeared. What is there to do about that?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Remi decided to take a place on the floor, his back leaned up against the side of the hearth. Shrugging, Remi picked at a bit of the carpet on the floor. "I am not sure. For a few weeks I was properly blind. I could not see anything. And then...slowly I could again. Ronin was the first one I could see. It was like everything else was dark, save for him. And then places I often am, I can see. I think that is how it works anyways. There are a few that I see easily—you, for instance. Everything else is..." Looking around Vai's cozy and quaint cottage, all the alchemist could see was mostly indistinct shades of grey. Shrugging his shoulders and returning his too-pale stare back to the huntress, Remi sighed. Wincing a touch at the bluntness of Vai's tone, not that he hadn't expected it, Remi nodded and looked down into his teacup. "Phoebe's medical college..are you part of that, too?" He asked far too casually, biting his lip at the sound of his own voice. "I guess what I really mean..is what can I do? I have been so wrapped up in my own life that...I really did take you for granted. I will never stop being sorry for that." He admitted, shoulders slumping against the stonework. Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

"Ronin was the first one you saw?" She smiled softly at Remi, waggling her eyebrows at him. "That's sweet. Well... I'm sad that it happened to you. But I'm glad to hear you can see, in your own way. It must make things a lot easier for you." She curled up in her seat, glancing down at Remi sitting by the hearth as if wondering why he had decided to sit on the floor. "Phoebe's college? I remember hearing about it, but... no, I suppose I never got around to joining." She shrugged; she'd been preoccupied, she told herself. Something like that. "...No, I'm sorry, Remi. When I'm alone for too long I turn back into the person I used to be. I stop trusting people, so... yeah. There's probably a lot you can do. But sitting here with me is just fine, right now." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

"Well. We do live together." Remi scoffed, the deception obvious to spot especially given the bashful way his dimples were deepening. But there would be time to speak of that later. "I certainly bump my knees on far fewer tables." He agreed with a small smile that felt stolen under the weight of his guilt. It warmed his heart immensely to know that the huntress hadn't written him off entirely. Placing his teacup on the ground, Remi rolled forward onto his knees to crawl over to Vai's chair. As he did so, his body shrunk, twisting, growing dark and furred until it was a raccoon that clambered into her lap. Wriggling her hands aside so that he could round himself in a ball with his head against her chest, he wrapped his tail snuggly around himself. "Tell me about Felix?" Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

"Yes, quite." Vai smirked and sipped at her tea, arching an eyebrow obviously at Remi. She babysat for Aoife quite frequently, after all, and the guildmaster had a habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve as well these days. Still, she was happy for him and it showed. She only just about had time to set the teacup aside for Remi to clamber into her lap, Vai letting out a laugh and wrapping her arms snugly about the raccoon. Gentle hands glided over his fur, fingers scritching in those hard to reach places behind his ears. Vai smiled sweetle across to the cradle as he spoke about Felix, the huntress nodding. "He's good as gold," she said. "Quiet. He likes to watch the world go by, this one. And he's a deep sleeper, like his father." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Remi tilted his head to allow her fingers to find the places behind his ears, one of his hind paws making encouraging arcs in the air as it mirrored her motion. Shuffling in her arms so that she was holding him as a child might hold a stuffed animal (mostly so she couldn't see the awkward way his human lips shifted onto his raccoon face, and..other reasons), Remi reached out to grab a wayward curl, combing through the darkness with dexterous and anxious hands. "The sleep part sounds lovely. I almost cannot remember the last time I was able to sleep the whole night through. Aoife is getting better, but." Shrugging in her arms to indicate that he knew it was simply part of being a child, Remi tittered happily as he watched the mobile move in lazy circles about Felix. "Speaking of fathers—" Cue the worst segue ever. "You..have been proposed to twice now, haven't you?" Remi asked, leaning his head back to regard Vai upside with dark brown eyes, before reclining again. Яemi I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris, until it's time I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually & know it's mine

"Ah, she'll get into a more permanent routine soon," Vai said softly, sounding quietly certain about that. "Probably at about the same time as Felix starts breaking his routines to pieces." Laughing quietly, she let Remi shift about to get comfortable, content to hold him and enjoy the warmth and the company. She was also watching the mobile lazily twist and turn when Remi broke the silence with his question, however strange it might have been. Laughing, Vai shrugged to the alchemist. "Sort of? I have been proposed to once. I did the proposing with Devrum, believe it or not." She grinned. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe