too timing

'Ahh good. We'll just trade, then." Remi grinned, his tongue clucking against his small and sharp teeth. "Oh? Though even as I say that, I suppose I am not surprised. " Remi said, his thoughts finding his lips before his brain could interject. "What was it like. Both times." He asked, voice almost nostalgic and faraway sounding as if his mind was completely elsewhere. Still, he let his small hands work through the curls in his grasp, combing over and over and over 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

Vai was happy to let Remi play with her curls, the huntress grinning and glancing down at him. "Sounds fantastic," she drawled, not particularly looking forward to Felix keeping her up at all hours, but that was just part of the deal. While she was curious as to why Remi wanted to know about her proposals, Vai wasn't one to deny him anything. "The first, with Tristan... Well, our families were rivals, you understand. They owned a neighbouring farm, I used to ride there to see him. I got there one morning at daybreak, and he was there waiting for me. He proposed on a hill, if I remember, as the sun was rising." Letting out a sigh, Vervain teased her fingers through Remi's fur. "Devrum was less romantic. He was attacked at our house in Northaven, you might remember. In the infirmary, I told him that if he was going to make me worry about him forever he at least ought to have the decency to make me his wife." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Remi leaned back, eyes closed. His strokes of Vai's hair grew slower as he imagined the scene. Though the details were scarce, he filled in what he needed. The warmth of the sunrise, her surprise? the adrenaline, the lawlessness of it. Kisses and vows and happy tears beneath the rising sun. With a small laugh that snapped him out of the romance of the moment, Remi huffed and nodded. He was sure that the bear was romantic in his own way; the way probably being bring a towel to bed to clean up with after sex. "Mmm. I do." Remi said with a nod, remembering it well. He had helped clean up the blood. So very, very much blood. "I remember the wedding too. I think it was the only secret I have ever managed to keep from you." Remi added, grinning to himself. 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

"I think it was the first time I had been surprised in a long while too, so well done." Vai chuckled to Remi, closing her eyes as well now to remember the wedding in the woods in Northaven. That had been one of the last happy times in the place, as far as she recalled. Of course, dwelling on those memories gave way, eventually, to more sadness, so Vai let them drift away after a while. "Why do you ask?" she mused aloud. "Not that I will begrudge telling you anything, but it came a little out of nowhere." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Remi's grin grew toothy at the memory. He remembered how it had all come together, in the dusk with the hope that the army wouldn't show up to stop the proceedings. And for a wonder, they hadn't. "Out of nowhere?" Remi repeated, grabbing more strands of hair and braiding them together with little to no attention given. "You know I love hearing your stories." He added his accent thickening roguishly. "I am not sure what Ronin had told you recently, but..." And so it was that Remi filled Vai in on the parts of his life that he'd selfishly made a priority. Some of it she knew of course, but told in this arc it felt weightier somehow. There was Loren, his unreciprocated love, his dilution of his relationship with Remi simply because he had just left. How Sam too had left him after Ronin's death, eliminating his memories of the alchemist and their relationship. How devastating it was to learn of it, and even worse to be an unrecognized figure in the bookmaker's life; the questions of what they once were, and how hard it was for Remi to admit that indeed he had loved the red-haired man and how no, he had no interest in rekindling what once was. Remi's initial re-meeting with Ianto, and how pretending that things were fine proved to be far, far too hard. Too thin. "Memories make us who we are, I think. If Sam and Ianto have taught me anything, it is that a gap like that is almost impossible to overcome." But there was someone for whom there was no gap in either of their memories of each other. Someone who had never left him, who had always been there. Removing himself from Vai's arms, Remi hopped from the corner of the chair onto the ground, sprouting legs and his regular body as he did so. "So yes...there is a reason I asked about proposals." He said, turning his head slightly to the side to give the huntress a sunny half-smile before a particularly boyish brand of awkwardness overtook him, causing his cheeks to flush spectacularly. 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 couldn't help but smile softly as she watched the raccoon braid her hair, and she stroked absent fingers along his fur whilst he spoke. Granted, it wasn't the sort of story that one could ever find pleasant, the huntress letting out a soft sigh and listening to him list off the once-hads and could-have-dones. Losing memories, she agreed, was one of the most terrible things to do to a person, and Vai sat up to allow Remi to hop off the chair. He shifted back and her eyebrows raised, the truth of what he was saying dawning on her slowly. When the penny dropped, Vai's smile returned as a sunny, dazzling thing. "Oh, I see," she said, rising to her feet as well and stepping forward to envelop him in a hug. "Congratulations are to be in order then soon, I hope. What have you planned?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Letting his head fall happily into the crook of her neck where it had been so, so many times before, the alchemist hummed a note of complete and utter satisfaction. Until her question made him cringe comically as he pulled back from her, lips twisted both up and down causing the bridge of his nose to crinkle. "Nothing." He admitted with a laugh-turned-grimace. "I went to one of Safrin's shrines to ask her for help...a ring made of the stars to remind him of where he came from, but then I thought perhaps that would not be a good memory. She did not answer anyways, so I suppose I have more time to think." Ruffling a hand through his curls, Remi shrugged. "I am sure he would be perfectly fine if I just rolled over in bed and tied some string around his finger but.." Remi cheeks flushed, his dimples deepened and the sunny-shine in his gaze seemed to catch the light from some inner radiant emotion he was feeling. "Maybe it is selfish, but I just want it to be more than that. You know?" 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

"Nothing? Looks like you have a lot to do so far, then." Vai smirked, hugging Remi close and pressing a kiss to his curls before she released him so they could talk. His ideas so far were (naturally) adorable, and she let out a chuckle at the idea of something so candid as pillow talk and a piece of string. It suited them, funnily enough, but she knew what he meant. "Well," she said, "you possess creation magic, Remi. Why don't you make something that would suit the both of you? As for when or where... I think if you cast your mind back and remember what you've both been through, you'll know what to do." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Remi grinned and nodded, letting the huntress release him as he stooped to pick up his tea cup. Moving to flop down in the chair next to hers, the alchemist drew his legs up beneath him, chewing thoughtfully on his lip. "I just... I have never wanted to make something perfect before." He admitted with a shy laugh, before turning towards Vai and letting his head lean youthfully against his shoulder. "Unless it is too soon? On the one hand I...I do not even really remember when I fell in love with Ronin. It was just always there. I only really realized it when he died.." Trailing off, Remi took a sip of tea to try and drown the unhappy lump in his throat. "We live together, have done almost everything together...so in that sense, I thought it seemed...well.." Blushing, the alchemist trailed off again seemingly unable to form a coherent thought when it came to the hunter. "But in another sense...I suppose it is fast. We only...ahh.." The blush deepened to a comical level, the tips of Remi's ears now growing pink as he thought of the first time he and Ronin had actually been physical together. 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

Sinking back into her chair and sipping at her tea, Vervain smiled across at Remi and shook her head. "Sweetie, nothing is ever perfect in that way," she said. "Make it perfect for you. Make it something you know fits what the two of you stand for. If you have that, the rest will fall in place." Winking at him, she rested her head back against the chair and smiled up at the ceiling, scoffing at the mere idea of it being too soon. "You're fine. You've been together longer than Devrum and I were. You two are inseparable and anyone can see that." She cast him a sidelong look as he drifted off, unable not to hide a giggle behind her hand. "Remi... that stuff doesn't matter. You love him, don't you? And you want to do this? So do it. Life is too short - as you well know. Especially when it comes to Ronin." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Remi felt an anxious, but not necessarily unwelcome, flutter in his stomach as he considered Vai's words. The problem was, there was so much between he and Ronin. Stars and oceans, snow and drinks, routines and fireworks. The list went on and on, and each instance while perhaps small and not always exciting, was a stitch in the larger tapestry. Gods he was cheesy. Blushing but not trying to hide the immediate smile her words caused, Remi just stared down into his tea with a stupid and adoring grin. "I get so...so excited thinking about it, I can barely talk." He admitted, feeling the way his chest expanded with delight and eager anticipation. 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

Beaming across at Remi, Vai found his good feelings thoroughly contagious, and she took another drink of tea before slumping in her chair to relax. "Then it sounds to me," she said quietly, "as though you need something to say it all for you. Some gesture, some message, to get it all off your chest and show him how you feel." She shrugged, letting him chew that over for a while. A good time for it, too, for Felix finally began to stir in his cradle, prompting Vervain to rise to her feet to fetch him. The boy was rosy cheeked and sleepy, his head a halo of bedhead curls, his chubby fists clutching at his mother's shirt. He fixed Remi with a bleary stare, naturally unsure of the visitor. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

"Exactly!" Remi said, tossing his head back against the upper portion of the chair and sighing loudly for comic effect. "Now if only I knew what that was." He added, shaking his head with equal parts amusement and frustration. "Afternoon, you." The alchemist crooned at the young boy. Leaning forward, Remi squinted through the haze of darkness only able to see a vague silhouette of the boy before him. Still, it wasn't a lie at all when Remi looked up with a warm smile towards the huntress and said, "He is beautiful." 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

"Why don't you make some fireworks, like you did back in Northaven? I'm sure you could get them to spell something, with that bright smile of yours." Vai winked, bouncing Felix gently in her arms and pressing little kisses to one of his chubby cheeks, drawing a slow and sleepy smile from the boy. The huntress's cheeks flushed with pride at Remi's comments, and she swept over to sit back with him, Felix propped to sit upon her lap to let him wake up. "He's fascinated by you, I think. Normally he's howling for food about now. Only time he does howl, usually." She chuckled. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe