bone tired

there is always hope

"You have gotten good at this? I'll have you know that since you moved in with me, you have been the one to come home hurt the most." Ronin scoffed, naturally oblivious to the mutinous actions going on over his head. What with the concussion, and all. So, naive and trusting, he leant up to meet Remi's kiss willingly, humming a note of satisfaction that turned into a yelp at the ice that suddenly found its way into his mouth.

Letting go of the alchemist and scrunching up his nose, Ronin took the ice from his mouth to shoot a wounded look up at Remi. Indeed, he did his best to look as serious as possible... if only so he could get close enough to slip the ice cube down Remi's pants instead.

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"I never said the only way I learn is from practicing. I do pay attention, you know." Remi tittered back. "Besides, you died. I think that puts you firmly ahead on the injury-scale."

Beaming down at his patient with a look of complete innocence, for a moment Remi's expression was one of almost angelic naivety and adoration. Unless...Ronin basically stopped doing anything. Frowning suddenly and appearing at once quite serious, Remi (stupidly) stepped forward. "You did not swallow it, did yo—"

Fingers on his waistband were not the warning they should have been (he was used to it, wanted it, craved it), and so as those fingers deposited the ice, Remi hissed and tensed his shoulders. "Ahhhh!" He moaned, his hips flailing slightly as he tried to wriggle the ice and down one side of his pants. "You!" He grumbled happily, tightening a hand on Ronin's shoulder as he shook a leg in desperation.

there is always hope

"Dying might be worse, it's true, but you never got a chance to nurse me back, eh? So it doesn't count," Ronin said simply, his tone suggesting it was the most logical thing in the world even as Remi hissed and grasped at his shoulder and had to deal with ice in his most sensitive places. "Me." The ex-captain beamed up at his nurse, giving the hand on his shoulder a warm squeeze.

"You know, I'm feeling a little better now. It must be the distraction," he said with a chuckle, gingerly touching at the back of his head. "I really took a tumble, huh. You think I'm gonna live, doc?"

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"ahhhh, you are the worst." Remi hissed as the ice cube finally dislodged itself and shot from the bottom of his pant leg to scatter across the ground. Colour had flushed his cheeks during this process—Ronin's touch, the shock of the ice—and he found himself gasping unsteadily for air as he laughed.

Rolling his eyes at the obviousness of Ronin's words, as soon as the hunter mentioned whether or not he was going to live, the smile fell away entirely from the alchemist's face. "One, I was just a nurse a few seconds ago, so I hardly think I am qualified. And two—" His voice dissolved into a husky whisper as the colour spread across the bridge of his nose. Leaning down and grasping the collar of Ronin's shirt to drag the hunter's lips against his, Remi kissed him deeply without pushing any foreign objects into his mouth. "—you promise me right now that you won't. Not for a good and long while, anyways."

there is always hope

Ronin was quite smug and happy sitting in his chair and being the worst, as Remi would likely be able to tell from his grin, though the hunter soon followed suit as he noticed the smile fade from the alchemist's lips. Before he could ask what about two? the other man's mouth was upon his, Ronin reaching up to slide his fingers through the back of Remi's curls. Breathless by the time they parted, Ronin nodded his confirmation.

"I promise," he said. "It's why I came straight back to you when I got hurt. You asked me to be more careful. I can't stop accidents, but I can be better about taking myself out of danger." He smiled. "Okay? I'm not going anywhere."

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

Remi's heart was racing now, the taste of Ronin on his lips as intoxicating as ever, but always more potent when the subject of his friend's death (past-tense, or future-tense) was mentioned. "I can't stop accidents, he says." Remi groaned, a laugh bubbling up in the back of his throat that he was helpless to deny.

"Say it again." The alchemist whispered, still half-leaned down over the chair. His gaze, milky as it was, seemed hazier now. His heart suggested restraint, his body roared against it.

there is always hope

"Well if I could they wouldn't be accidents, would they? They'd be... on purposes." Ronin smirked, shrugging as if to say he was allowed to make up words, given the bump on the back of his head. Still, his playfulness faded as Remi whispered to him, Ronin cupping the alchemist's cheeks so he could gaze into his eyes properly. His smile was warm and his words were steady, even if he hadn't been quite sure which part Remi had wanted him to repeat.

"I promise I'm not going anywhere," he said. "I'll come back to you - so much that you'll probably be sick of me before long." Chuckling, Ronin brushed his thumb along a stubbled cheek. "Okay?"

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"Never." Remi repeated instantly, sinking down between Ronin's knees so that the hunter wouldn't have to keep peering up at him. Resting his arms easily on Ronin's knees, the alchemist gave his head a shake. "Do you really mean that? Do you want to mean it?" Remi asked, finding the idea he was aiming for hard to parse. "I mean, I know you will return here, and I am also here, but..."

One of his hands clenched and then released, his fingers sprawling out and up Ronin's thigh as he took a breath.

There's coming home to me, and then there's coming home to me. Remi wanted to say, but of course that sounded absurd in his own mind, and he could only imagine how it would sound on his lips.

there is always hope

It was very much more pleasant to peer down at Remi, and his headache appreciated it (and the view wasn't bad either). Smoothing a hand through unruly curls, Ronin couldn't help the way his expression grew mildly puzzled, trying to piece together what the other man was saying. "You know, speaking cryptically to a man with a concussion is a form of bullying," he murmured, taking a second to try to put it together.

"Yes, I mean it." He nodded eventually, a lopsided smile returning to his face. "The guildhall could fall over into dust for all I care. It's just a building. I mean you - obviously I do," he said warmly. "What is this all about?"

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

Remi snorted and shook his head. "Shut up." He chided with a crooked and bashful smile that made the corners of his eyes crease.

"I..." With a laugh, Remi let his forehead lull forward until it landed against Ronin's knee. He was being stupid. Perfectly and absolutely stupid. Ronin had literally just pointed out that he had a concussion.

"I just wanted to make sure you were worth it, you know? Before I finished nursing you back to health."

there is always hope

Ronin arched an eyebrow, snorting and rolling his eyes as he was told to shut up, only to let his fingers play affectionately through Remi's curls as the other man's head came to rest upon his knee. "You wanted to make sure I was worth it? Right now? Does that mean that it was still debatable up until this point?" He grinned, not truly believing it but feeling the need to play the outraged party nonetheless.

"Or is it still debatable now? Did I pass - was my answer good enough?" He chuckled, Ronin letting his hand move down to give Remi's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry if I worried you."

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"You literally just asked me to hold your hair back if you threw up." Remi mumbled into the fabric of Ronin's pants, a smile widening against his legs. Shifting so that he was more or less sitting back on his heels now, Remi looked up at Ronin with a somewhat crumpled expression that still managed to be lighthearted.

"Well if it were up for debate, I am not sure you would be in the best state of mind to defend yourself." Remi tittered. "But then again, no, it never has been up for debate." He agreed, his smile growing smaller but no less rosy or warm.

"You didn't. Well...We do not live the safest lives, no matter how often we promise to be more careful. It's just...everytime you go, or I do, it just makes me realize that how easy it is for one of us not to come back again. Promises of not-dying aside."

there is always hope

"Concussion," Ronin said in response, with the slow sort of nod that suggested he was going to be milking this for however long it lasted. Still, his smile was equally as small and pleased at hearing that his suitability for Remi had never really been in question. Playful it might have been, but Ronin was still warmed to know that it was the case.

Still, for all that they had reaffirmed it to each other, what Remi had to say had merit. Ronin's smile faded, the ex-captain nodding gravely as he listened, squeezing Remi's shoulders gently and falling quiet for a few moments to think. "If only I knew someone capable of making magical items," he said softly, "that might allow us to tell the other person what's going on?"

bring back the water, let your ships roll in

"Make me another promise." Remi said suddenly, glancing up with eyes far too pale, that somehow could still see the hunter in blinding, prismatic colour. The words rushed out of his lips before his mind had time to recall them, and his eyelashes fluttered with the uncertainty of what was to come.

It was not how he'd thought, how he'd agonized, how he'd planned.  But what did that matter?

"Much as I would like you to be able to promise that you will not die, not even back from the dead as you are, we both know you can't. And I can't. But at least.." The seaglass of Remi's gaze suddenly grew shiny with the prickle of tears; the sort that don't sting, that don't make your eyes red, but that just appear and can never be faked. "Promise that while we are both alive..." His words came slower now, though all the pretty things he'd once thought to say, the memories he'd wanted to recite, they were all gone now. There was only the blue of Ronin's eyes and those stupidly expressive eyebrows.

"...we will do it together. "

Remi's smile quivered, so many things lodged suddenly in his throat that he wanted to scream, and laugh, and jump, and in general flail. Instead though, with rosy cheeks and shiny eyes, he simply bit his lip. "And seeing as I am already on my knees...

...Ronin, will you marry me?"