Only a Look and a Voice

Samuel

The woods were perhaps less confusing than they had once been, the arguments with the Fae clearing a way to Sidhe and to some parts of the forest, but Sam had never been good at directions in the first place. As much as he was discovering new things, trying as hard as he could to be attentive and on his best behaviour for the job he had been given, he had gotten lost a few times.

He was looking for the Mathair, but no one could tell him where to look. 'It's hard to find' was the most he could get, which was not very helpful. Going by night, invisible and quietly stepping to avoid leaves, he was doing well at being silent but not very well at exploring effectively. Even with his night vision, eventually all the trees looked the same and he got into messy loops.

When he was spat back out at what was undoubtedly the Outskirts of the Hollowed Grounds he sighed heavily and pressed a hand to his head, wondering if it would have been wise to ask The Voice for some kind of internal map. At least he could sleep here for the night and be safe, if he hid his things and stayed by a wall invisible.

He headed up to the nearest tree, placed his bag behind it. He was about to sit down and get ready for a rest (which no, he didn't technically need, but it helped him feel less frazzled) when he caught sight of a figure nearby. At first he thought it was one of Zariah's guards and nearly hurt himself with how quickly he got up, then he saw the outline of familiar hair and shoulders...

"...Remi?" He asked out into the Outskirts, not considering his voice would seem to come from nowhere.

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

Sat rather neatly, Remi had a sketchbook rested on his knee and a stub of charcoal between his fingers. Despite his abilities with magic now, Remi hadn't ever bothered creating useful things for himself (a pen perhaps, a magical way to keep his hands clean). Instead, his white shirt was as stained as ever with sooty hand prints, his curls dishevelled, and his notebook a masterclass in ordered chaos.

Even so, blind as he was, the alchemist seemed quite content as he sat and sketched. Sadly the charcoal represented the world as Remi saw it with far more accuracy than it ever had done in the past, but it was something. If anyone could look on the bright side while blind, it was Remi.

Hearing his name suddenly made the alchemist flinch, the charcoal slipping from between his fingers and scattering into small useless clumps onto the page. Looking around and of course seeing nothing but the desaturated world, Remi frowned gently, too-pale eyes peering hard to try and locate whoever it was who had called out to him.

"Sam?" The alchemist mused, hazarding a guess based on the pitch of the voice and the fact that it seemed to come from nowhere.

Samuel

Sam cringed as Remi looked up with a start and dropped his charcoal, but didn't drop his invisibility until he had walked closer and looked about, then sat on the side of Remi closest to the woods. Slowly, he appeared, from his hands inwards, arms then his chest and face, going down to his legs. It felt weird to be visible after so long spent unseen and he found himself feeling entirely exposed.

"I'm sorry for scaring you. I happened to...well, honestly, I got lost, and I found myself back here. I didn't think I'd see you, though. It's a nice surprise." He smiled. "How are things? I don't know if I dare to ask how things have gone with this new Queen, but I would like to know what Ronin said when you proposed. And when the wedding shall be." While wandering had been stressful, it had given him a kind of peace over his broken heart of the past as well, and Sam found it easier to speak of Remi's other love.

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

Tilting his head at the sound of footsteps in the grass, for a moment the alchemist pulled back slightly, pale eyes concerned but not fearful. Instead he simply looked softly unsure, head at an angle which seemed to only accentuate his blindness as he relied on his other senses to reveal what was happening around him. There was no heat for Sam to give off even as he sat, and so it was only as shoes—then ankles, legs, arms, and finally the face he knew so well—appeared that Remi exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Sam." The alchemist chided playfully, shaking his head as colour flushed his cheeks. "Sneaking up invisibly on a man who is blind, is overkill, don't you think?" He added with a sunny smile.

"I thought it would be much longer until I saw you again...not that I am not glad." He added with a boyish tilt to his smile, closing his notebook and setting it on the ground at his side.

Raising a brow at the mention of Ronin and his proposal, Remi's cheeks flushed and the dimples therein deepened as he ran a hand through his curls. "I only said I was thinking about it." The alchemist said, chuckling almost nervously. "Though...I did actually. Or..well.." Squinting and crinkling his nose in an expression of mischievous embarrassment, the alchemist shook his head, glancing easily at Sam. "I actually sort of just blurted it out one night. Not how I had planned it at all."

Samuel

"You told me that you could see me, Remi. You can't make me feel too guilty." Sam pointed out, an amused smirk on his lips. "I thought it would be longer too. I'm not coming back though, yet...just saying hello." Some nights, he did miss his warm bed and his shop, his cat, the easy pace of life selling books. But the potential to be something more (and avoid being drafted) kept him in the woods.

He laughed a little and shook his head at Remi's description of the proposal. "Oh dear. Well...maybe that's better than a plan. I know if I had a plan for something like that I'd be terrified up until the last moment and probably do it wrong." Sam leaned forward. "You didn't actually answer my question, though. What did he say? I assume it was yes as you don't seem too awfully depressed."

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

"Sight or not, I cannot see you when you are invisible." Remi pointed out with a laugh. His smile faltered slightly to hear that Sam's adventure was apparently not over yet, but seeing as he looked more or less whole and intact, the alchemist kept his continued worries to himself.

"Ahh, perhaps. I had just thought to...you know. Say something about how long we have known each other, something about Aoife and Vanya.." Worrying his lower lip with a boyish amusement between his teeth, Remi shrugged as a blush scattered itself across the bridge of his nose. "Then again, blurting it out while Ronin had a concussion and was worried about whether or not I would hold his hair if he started throwing up is probably more like us, anyhow."

Us. It sent a quiet thrill through the alchemist that was hard to hide. He did feel a shade guilty, wanting to gush about his love for Ronin to Sam of all people, but...such was the strange nature of their relationship, after all.

"And yes, it was a yes. A concussed yes, but he did still agree in the morning." Remi added with a wry smile.

Samuel

"...Hm...I see. I thought maybe, since it is more of a sight based on feelings, you might have been able to." He shrugged, not sure how the cross-sections of magic and The Voice's technology worked. Perhaps it would be a good subject for a paper, if he ever got back to his work.

Like most stories Remi told, the tale of his proposal was odd and contained a few concerning details. "...Concussed? You didn't do that on purpose so he was more likely to accept, did you?" Sam laughed, a little more confident than he ever had been in his jokes. "But I'm glad he said yes. Not that I really thought he wouldn't."

And he hadn't - as much as Remi had once been his fantasy, it was easy for anyone to see how meant for eachother Ronin and Remi were. "So..things are good, then? For you? No big trouble..? I did advise you stay out of anything too dangerous with your eyes as they are at the moment."

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

Tilting his head thoughtfully to the side, Remi exhaled a puff of introspective air before nodding. "That is a good point. But...apparently no. Or at least, not yet." As with all aspects of magic, the alchemist really had no idea how it all worked, what the limits were, or what to expect next.

Nudging his shoulder against Sam playfully before shooting his friend a look of feigned insult, Remi shook his head. "No...a group went into the Spire." He explained with a slight shrug. Biting the inside of his lip, Remi merely gave Sam an uncertain stare. "Well...it is fast, as you mentioned before. And...we never did discuss it."

With a smirk, the alchemist flopped himself backwards into the grass, enjoying the cool feeling of it against his arms. "Big trouble? Either than Zariah constantly breathing down my neck, no I suppose not." He answered with a boyish grin.

Samuel

"I suppose we'll see, then. It does bring me hope, the things you can't see. That one day you might find a way to entirely restore your sight." He added hopefully. Sam wasn't sure if it was possible, but Remi seemed the kind of person for whom things would work out in the end, he thought.

Into the Spire...? Remi seemed to not want to linger on the point so he didn't ask, but it was clear from his surprised expression he had not been expecting the words. Sam didn't know the purpose of the Spire beyond what it had already been used for; had expected that after the barrier fell it would only stand to collect dust in the middle of the Hollowed Grounds.

He watched Remi lay back and then followed suit, laying next to him and staring up at the dim sky. "Breathing down your neck...? Have things gotten worse quickly? I did not want to stay to find out. Do...do you think she'll really be Queen? Or at least...I suppose she already is Queen." Sam paused to work out what he meant. "Do you think she'll be Queen for long?"

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

Remi bit the inside of his cheek and offered his friend a thoughtful, if not entirely convinced, shrug. Running his fingertips over his eyes and then grinding his palms pleasurably against his eye sockets, he let his fingers curl up through his curls. "If my track record holds, I will likely find a new way to get myself into trouble should that happen." He replied with a wry chuckle.

Letting his fingers splay out into the grasses, Remi tugged in a breath and held it for a moment. "She...she has a way about her." Was all the alchemist could really say. He didn't have the words to describe the strange feeling that came over him in her presence (magic, it turned out), and he always felt quite befuddled whenever she left. "I do not know...she is very powerful, and she has experience doing this, whereas...well, no one else here really does...I am not sure who could stop her, or how."

Samuel

"You probably will." Sam laughed, agreeing. "But maybe you'll be able to see it coming."

Bad and possibly tasteless puns aside, he waas concerned by Remi's description of the Queen. He made it sound almost as if she could hypnotise him, though Sam was sure Remi did not actually like her. "Do you...want to stop her? Do you think we should?" It suddenly occured to him he did not know if Remi approved of the Queen or not.

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

For a moment Remi's hands stopped, his fingers ceasing their delicate exploration of the grass. Nibbling at the inside of his cheek, he flopped his head to the side to regard Sam properly for a moment. "I know I have said this before, but where I came from...you...it did not matter if the rulers were good or bad. Mostly they were bad, but that was just...sort of the way of things." He said, eyes roaming softly over his friend's freckled face.

"It has never occurred to me before that stopping someone like Zariah was an option. And now that it is? I am surely the farthest person who would know what to say about it." Remi's shoulders shrugged against the crisp ground. "She has threatened me on more than one occasion, and those that I love. Some of her rules, ones about large gatherings...it seems just petty. Is that a reason to overthrow someone?" Remi paused, genuinely asking. "But then there is how she went about it...but she has good thoughts as well, and I just..."

With a half-groan, Remi shook his head.

Samuel

Sam listened to Remi carefully, leaned onto his side to pay attention to what he was saying. Really, he did not have a true answer for the question. He'd never been in the situation they were in and even if he had been, he didn't have the character of a revolutionary. After all, what had been his first reaction when this had all happened? To run into the woods.

"...I..see what you mean." He said slowly, quietly, trying to think of something better to say. "I think something definitely needs to be done, but whether that's getting her to change her laws by convincing her or just getting rid of her altogether...I don't know." Sam frowned. "I think..me and you...we aren't...I mean maybe you but...I don't think we are the people to do it, Remi."

He looked behind his shoulder at the trees, then reached for Remi's hand. "What if...you and Ronin and Aoife and Sugar come and live in the woods, with me? We could...we could make a little shelter, and just...live by our rules. All of us. You could have a private room, of course." He laughed a little, then looked at Remi hopefully.

And it's hard to write about being happy
'Cause the older I get

I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

it was all dead end roads, heaven knows

Remi found it strange, that while on the one hand he was being told by others that with his powers came a sense of responsibility to those around him; if he could protect, he needed to. Hearing Sam say quite the opposite had a surprising effect: it merely made the alchemist all the more sure that Ronin was right. He couldn't run away from this. This wasn't Northaven where things were not his problem. "Well, I doubt anyone would ever look to the two of us to rule much of anything." Remi agreed with a boyish and breezy laugh. "Though perhaps you are wrong. Maybe you could weigh down Zariah's foot with your cube and then we would be rid of her."

The feeling of Sam's hand against his shot a bolt of adrenaline straight into Remi's heart. Whether it was a latent response to simply being touched by anyone, because it was Sam specifically, or because the alchemist was now engaged to Ronin, Remi couldn't quite say. Either way, his fingers stuttered slightly in the bookmaker's grip, feathers appearing in his curls.

"If Zariah is so bad that she makes you want to live in the woods, that is all the more reason to put a stop to what she is doing." Remi said softly.