a reason to live

the things we hold are always the first to go

Remi was not the only one savouring touch and warmth and presence, Ronin closing his eyes to try and drink it all in. If he did have this blight and things were going to get as bad, potentially, as Safrin or the Undine, he wanted to savour this as much as he could. Not that he intended to get that bad, of course, but one could never be sure. Humming a note of agreement against his lover's neck, Ronin reluctantly sat up and smirked to him.

"Only Zariah, then? Piece of cake. Do you want me to come, though? In case... well." Not in case Ianto was angry. More that Arduinna might be sniffing around the Wishing Wagon - and he'd seen Remi flee the fire-haired Fae at the Crimson Cataract. Letting out a laugh as Remi puffed up only to deflate again, Ronin nudged him gently. "Speaking of husband-to-bes and wedding planning, how are we looking?" he asked.

i'm holding on to you, holding on to me

Remi couldn't help the boyish and juvenile way his eyebrow raised and the words, "I would not have it any other way" Flowed from his lips following do you want me to come. Then, with a good deal more sincerity, Remi nodded. "I would, yes. You cannot move about as easily as I can though. I was thinking...given how many of our friends are currently about to be under arrest, perhaps some sort of cloak that either renders the wearer invisible? Or perhaps that it simply makes them look like someone else?"

Unable to help the warmth that spread instantly across his face, Remi captured his bottom lip with his teeth. "I think we are about ready. Rexanna is helping make a dress for Aoife...Amalia has desserts more than covered. She also found a glassblower who has made lights for us to mimic the stars." There were a few other surprises of course, but Ronin needn't know about those until the big day.

maybe it's all we got but it's all i need

Coding base by Sky!

the things we hold are always the first to go

With a roguish nudge to Remi's ribs, he waited for the other man to return to the conversation at hand and heard him out, nodding slowly in agreement. "I think that would be a good idea. I was going to suggest that I use astral projection to walk with you to the Wishing Wagon, but I don't think I could stretch it that far." Not without passing out. Next idea, then. "I'm more than happy to test any invisibility cloak you want to make though."

Glancing up at Remi, the hunter grinned at seeing him so flustered and excited, Ronin tugging him a little closer and kissing his cheek. "You have been busy," he agreed. "And what are we to wear, pray tell? If you say we'll be naked, I just want you to know that I am in."

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

"We should really test the limits of that." Remi agreed offhandedly. "You think invisibility over face-altering?" He asked, head inclined slightly to the side, which was to say more against Ronin. There were benefits to both designs, and he supposed with enough time and practice he could make both.

Tensing happily beneath the continued affection, Remi blushed, offering his lover an it ain't no thang shrug. "I do not know about you, but I definitely plan on being naked beneath my clothes." He said with a roguish smile, feeling his face immediately heat at the thought of Ronin naked. "Fashion has always been more your area than mine. Phoebe picked out the colours but..." With another shrug, he glanced down at what he was currently wearing; charcoal-stained trousers and a plain pale shirt. "Though I suppose I can do better than this."

the things we hold are always the first to go

"Mm, I think so. Face-altering would still involve the person wearing it to be good at acting or lying," Ronin pointed out with a shrug. "With invisibility, they just need to know how to be quiet. So it'll be thoroughly useless for me," he added with a wink, thoroughly enjoying their little quiet moment in front of the fire and scrunching his nose lovingly at the sight of Remi's blush. "You know, I was originally going to wear an extra layer to avoid the nakedness under my clothes, but I might skip it. For you."

He raised his eyebrows at hearing that Phoebe had picked the colours (was it normal to feel anxiety about that?), though his expression softened as Remi gazed down at himself. "I'll make a few sketches later," he said. "Though you look perfect as you are. There is no doing better. You're always enough."

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

"So clever. You will make a good.." But he found he couldn't say the word. Not yet anyways. It was too...too big (though in the wake of possibly dying of blight, it wasn't big at all). Instead, Remi trailed off and merely nudged Ronin's shoulder affectionately as he tugged in a breath and nodded. "Invisibility it is."

Grinning openly at his soon-to-be-husband, Remi's lips grew crooked as he shook his head with mock disbelief. "You." He scolded. "It would be just my luck that you start playing coy on our wedding day." Remi added with a snort.

Humming a sound that was a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and the always present feeling that this was somehow all a dream (the commoner and the baron? the pacifist and the soldier?), Remi leaned towards Ronin in earnest now, not wanting cheek or hair or neck. "I love you." He whispered softly, before capturing Ronin's lips in a kiss just as soft.

the things we hold are always the first to go

"I have often wondered if I would make a good," Ronin said playfully, proving the point in an instant that he would find it thoroughly impossible to stay quiet - even if it meant being invisible. Nudging Remi back, he flashed the other man a boyish grin and shrugged his shoulders as if to tell him that maybe he was feeling coy since it had come up. Woe was him, he would have to turn up to their wedding in a snowsuit.

He would never tire of hearing those three words, he thought, something warm blooming in Ronin's chest as he looked up at Remi. His lips parted to give his love in return, but instead he found them captured in a kiss (not that he minded at all). Humming approval and turning a little to pull Remi closer, Ronin was in no rush to part from his lover, even if it made breathing difficult.

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

Who needed air? Of course the answer was that both of them did, and though Remi's fingers were happy to explore the well-known hills of Ronin's hip and sides, eventually the happy breathlessness he felt turned into real breathlessness and the alchemist was forced to pull back. Hastening in a breath that wanted to turn into a pant, Remi pressed his forehead against Ronin's, eyes squeezed shut as his nose crinkled. "How do you expect me to keep my hands off of you?" He asked, only half rhetorically. "You have been working out, you come home talking about naked weddings, your impending death looming over us?" Luckily, he was able to say that last bit with a smile on lips pressed quite close to Ronin's now.

the things we hold are always the first to go

Remi wasn't the only one breathless, at least, Ronin smiling stupidly as he was forced to come up for air, his forehead tilted gently against his lover's. With a quiet laugh, he ran a hand up Remi's side and curled it around his back, all but tugging him into the hunter's lap. "Mm, that's easy," he said, drawing back to fix Remi with a dopey grin. "We've been up all night and I'm about to pass out?"

Was that a good enough reason? If it wasn't, Remi was welcome to Ronin after the guildmaster had fallen asleep. Fair was fair, after all, and his husand-to-be shouldn't go without for nothing.

all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies

Remi growled low in the back of his throat, wanting very much to shove the hunter down in front of the fire. If Ronin was so tired, he could simply be on the bottom. Such was not the alchemist though, and he was more than happy to set aside his sexual cravings in favour of cuddling Ronin to sleep. "Uh huh. A likely story." Remi quipped, but not before stealing another quick kiss that begged to be more. Pulling back, the alchemist offered Ronin a hand to help him to his feet. Once there, he'd selfishly wrap an arm around the guildmaster's waist as they ambled up to bed. Ronin wasn't wrong, it had been an excruciatingly long night.

the things we hold are always the first to go

Closing his eyes and kissing Remi back, Ronin smiled crookedly up at his partner. Were it not for the dreadful circumstances he would have happily given in, but honestly, his performance would not have been worth it at this point. And so, slinging an arm around Remi in return after hauling himself to his feet, he dutifully went along with the other man as they headed upstairs. Given that their bedroom now belonged to their house guest, it wouldn't exactly be a familiar or comfortable sleep, but... Remi was there. And that would always be enough for Ronin.

{END}