Born are Miracles

PHOEBE

Phoebe hadn't found a good way to tell Remi and Ronin about her wedding present. It was a miraculous offering, something that truly only the blessing of a god like Frey could give. But the means were...embarrassing in a way. Uncomfortable at least. And Phoebe - while certainly no longer suffering the insecurities that came with lack of experience - was simply modest and demure. She didn't feel comfortable discussing herself in these sorts of situations. And something so...kinky? Yeah. May as well consider her tongue tied and permanently red in the face.

So she decided the best thing she could do was have a tipsy picnic with Remi, and use that to push through her insecurities to describe it.

The young midwife had sent him an invitation to join her in the Glade for a midafternoon picnic with the expressed wish that he bring whatever alcohol he wished. She had set up a big blanket and some pillows and brought a basket with some yummy munchies in it. Pim was curled up in the sun to nap a bit a-ways...and while she waited, Phoebe had a glass (make it two) of whiskey. "Remi!" she called out brightly when she saw him coming, waving excitedly.

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

Though Remi wanted to spend every waking moment (and all of his sleepy ones as well), wrapped and tangled entirely up with his new husband, life did in fact go on despite his marital bliss. And so, grabbing some of the extra wine left over from the wedding and then having an inappropriately long goodbye with his new husband, Remi and Isla set off towards where Phoebe's picnic had been set up.

Given she'd asked him to bring alcohol, Remi could only assume she'd heard the news about Emmett. And so rather than arriving with a light heart, the alchemist instead worried and wondered over the state of his friend. However as he dismounted from the darkened unicorn only to hear his name called so joyfully across the grasses, his brows knit together in confusion for a moment. Uncertain, but deciding to go along with it for the moment, Remi flashed the blonde a smile as he held up a bottle of wine and slowly made his way over.

"Hallo Phoebe. Beautiful day for a picnic." He said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head before taking a seat.

PHOEBE

She giggled a bit as he kissed her head, glowing under the affection, as small as it was. The opened bottle of whiskey and flush of her cheeks likely indicated where her extra exuberance was coming from. "It's always pretty in the Glade but I especially like it in Leafchange." she said in agreement. From the basket she pulled out a glass for Remi, as well as some of the munchies she had - little berry hand pies and some bits of smoked meat and cheese and fresh baked rolls. "I've been a little baking happy so help yourself!" she said with big grin, leaning back against the pillow she had been lounging on before.

Pim lifted his head for a moment, tail flicking slightly as he looked over at Remi. A few sniffs in the air, and the little dragon was content with who was there, trilling a little dragon greeting towards the man before tucking his head back down to nap in the sun."So how are you liking married life, huh?" she said with a smile his way. Not that she needed to ask. He seemed to practically glow. Of course it was treating him well. She sighed wistfully and sipped at the whiskey in her glass, with such ease that it may as well have been apple juice. "I appreciate you joining me. I'm sure you'd rather be back at the Guildhall."

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

Blind(ish) as he was, Remi didn't miss the flush on Phoebe's cheeks (in fact it was like a healthy blob of colour in his new vision), or the way her voice bobbed and bounced as if there was an soundless melody it fit against. "Mmm, delicious." He hummed, though there was still a glint of suspicion. Drunk, and happy-baking? Half of that sounded like something Phoebe would do after learning of Emmett's death..

Nodding at Pim, Remi uncorked his wine bottle and filled his glass.

Brandishing a warm smile, aglow with a blush of his own, Remi tugged in a happy breath. "I can safely say it is the best thing I have ever done." He gushed. The guildhall...on a mountain top...the bottom of a ravine...it wouldn't matter, so long as he was with Ronin. She was certainly right about that.

"Ahh well, needing to come up for air and all that." Remi chuckled. "Are you...alright?" He asked, trying not to sound too concerned or worried, but suddenly quite unsure about what this picnic was about.

PHOEBE

Phoebe herself grabbed a hand pie, savoring the mix of gooey berry goodness inside. She smiled at Remi, observing the happy glow about him as he spoke of Ronin. The best thing he had ever done...such a simple statement but one fueled by powerful emotion. "I really am so happy for you." she said with a big, bright smile. Another sip of her whiskey kept back her desire to feel jealous, even slightly. Remi deserved this joy, and she was determined to not marr it with her own desires for someone to sat marrying her was the best thing they'd ever done.

She had other things to focus on after all.

Her head lolled over to look at him, brows furrowing a little at his question. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" she said. "The sun is shining, the trees are changing to pretty colors, my dearest friend is glowing with happiness and I am tipsy. What could be wrong?" she said grinning at him.

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

Her words, her merriment in the face of what Remi knew they had found at the bottom of the Underground, wounded him more than he could have said. Setting down his glass of wine (albeit somewhat precariously upon the grass, though there was plenty more should it spill), Remi reached out his hands wanting to take Phoebe's. Not a skilled liar or deceiver by any means, the pain and sadness that was evident on his face was without reservation, as one of his thumbs softly stroked the top of one of Phoebe's hands.

"Pheobe there...there was an accident. In the underground. An infestation of ROUS that Ronin and a few others were eradicating.." Swallowing hard, despite his shattered stare Remi nonetheless tried to seek out and hold Phoebe's deep chestnut gaze. "Emmett...He..." Emotion clogged his throat, and somewhere far off, Ronin would likely feel Remi's heartbeat increase drastically via the ring on his finger.

PHOEBE

Phoebe's hands wouldn't be hard to take. A look of confusion crossed her face at his sudden seriousness though. Whyever did he look so sad and hurt? He had just gotten married to a man he loved, he had a perfect little family, things were going well for him! Her own life was a little bit chaotic at the moment but that wasn't anything for him to be so sad about! The blonde's expression didn't change for the time being. A hunting trip? ROUS in the Underground? Well why would that....

"Emmett...he..."

Her expression immediately dropped, the dread suddenly filling her gut making all the color run from her face. He didn't need to say it. She could put the pieces together. Anyone who had lived through war and seen the destruction it could bring knew what this conversation would be. Emmett was dead. Dead. He had broken up with her, breaking her heart in the process, and just as it was beginning to mend she could feel it cracking again. But her sudden renewed grief did not just shatter her heart, strings of hope, pulled taught in her soul, snapped under the sudden onslaught of emotion that roiled through her.

In the distance, Pim's head suddenly shot up, and he looked around, confused by the sudden pain his companion was feeling. It overwhelmed the little dragon, and he roared mightily, enraged at the feeling he had no way of beginning to conceptualize.

Phoebe's hands trembled and she pulled them back, away from Remi, recoiling in on herself. She did not cry, for she had no tears to shed. She did not wail or shout, for it would accomplish nothing. Eyes, honey brown with eternal warmth flickered out, as if in learning of the farmboy's death, that a piece of herself suddenly shriveled away too. The young midwife said nothing to her friend. She simply stared blankly into the glass of whiskey that she had held, at an utter loss.

Finally, at length, she suddenly lifted the glass to her lips and downed its contents, pressing her lips together as it burned her throat so blissfully. She tilted her face towards the sky, staring as if it might give her answers for a moment. "I see. Thank you for telling me." she said quietly, all together too composed.

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

The words left his lips and the silence stretched long. Softly squeezing Phoebe's hands with enough pressure to know that he was there for her, while letting her process, Remi bit the inside of his lip, forcing himself not to fidget or offer empty platitudes. Glancing across at Pim, Remi merely shot the dragon a weary smile, shaking his head softly as if to indicate that the threat was within, and not something the rapidly-growing dragon could take on himself.

"Phoebe." Remi whispered, wanting nothing more than to hold her close, to dry her tears should they come, or simply to give over whatever he had that she might want, if only to ease the pain. "He was so brave..." He added, feeling a personal stab of hurt at the memory of Emmett dancing over the line dividing the Hollowed Grounds from the Greatwood, taunting and teasing Remi to come over. "I am so sorry. I know things ended....so suddenly.." Hitching in a breath, Remi slid himself slightly closer, not knowing what it was the midwife wanted or needed.

PHOEBE

"He was always very brave." she said quietly, still looking at the sky. Even in the sunlight it felt as though all was dark. The world, once vibrant, was in hues of black and white, the sounds around her muted. How much pain in one year could one take before they broke? Her entire family was gone forever. The family she thought she might have perished during LongNight. The child she so desperately wanted had died. And now Emmett, her first and only love, despite all their hardships, was gone too.

What did it all mean? Why was she surrounded by loss and pain when all she wanted was to quietly share her love with another?

"Don't be sorry." she said, looking at Remi with a smile of all things. "It...it suddenly makes so much sense. Why he died. Why my baby died. Why I was brought here alone and continue to be alone. I've been so silly...fighting my reality, wanting what I am not meant to have. Just because I can be happy doesn't mean I am supposed to be." she said, calmly, as if explaining something so simple. "I've been foolish, chasing love and family and happiness as if I am to ever have it. It's why they are called dreams - they aren't real for the person dreaming them."

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

"Phoebe" Remi repeated yet again, this time his voice laced with surpirse. "Even...even if that is true, that it was not meant to be, that does not mean it was any less real. Any less painful." The alchemist for instance, who knew deep in his bones that Ronin was his forever and always, could still lament and feel sadly pulled by the tide that was the loves of his that did not work out. Loren, Sam, Ianto, and even Rory.

"You will have all those things." Remi replied in a low, but confident voice, reaching out for her hands again. "Now is not all there is." Who knew that better that he, after all?

PHOEBE

Phoebe shook her head, looking back down at her hands. "Was it real or did I just want it to be?" she said with a light shrug. "Did I just want to believe that I could be loved? Wanted? So much so that I allowed myself to live in a delusion." She frowned, watching her fingers turn white as she gripped the glass that she held with all her strength, as if it alone anchored her to the ground.

She gave him a small, mirthless smile and shook her head. "You can't say that with such confidence." she said, looking back at the empty glass. "There are plenty of people - kind, lovely people even - who end up sad and alone. Why else if that is not their lot in life? Not everyone is so lucky as to find someone to love and who loves them in return."

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

"You are loved." Remi reminded her with a reassuring smile. And not just by him; Remi genuinely believed Emmett had loved Phoebe. They were both too young, too inexperienced to know what to do with their feelings perhaps and how to navigate the world together. But that the love had been true? Of that the alchemist had no doubt.

Sighing softly and feeling as though perhaps this was merely Phoebe's way of dealing with things, Remi merely nodded silently not wishing to argue. Instead he sipped at his wine before giving her hand a final squeeze and laying on his back to let the sunshine rain down upon him. "Well, you will always have me." He said simply.

PHOEBE

She briefly considered clarifying, but she didn't think he would understand. He had Ronin - he had found the person that matched him. What if hers didn't exist? What if everything she wanted was simply a pipe dream? What was even the point of existing if the one thing you knew would make you feel complete wasn't in the cards for you? Phoebe glanced at him as he laid back, then refilled her own glass to the brim. "I appreciate that...I look forward to the day when you are no longer burdened with my troubles." she said quietly.

The young blonde took a long drink of her whiskey, downing about half the glass, pausing to enjoy the burn. "I asked you to come here to share good news and now I've gone and wrecked that too." she sighed.

I gotta find my place
I wanna hear my sound
Don't care about all the pain in front of me
'Cause I'm just trying to be happy

Remi the Alchemist

i've been the archer, i've been the prey

Remi frowned softly and shook his head causing a few curls to flit across his forehead. "I do not." He retorted softly, reaching up to gently stroke the curve of one of her knees with his hand as he leaned his head gently against one of her legs.

"Good news?" The alchemist repeated, his shattered sea-glass stare opening again as he tilted his chin up to look at Phoebe all but upside down.