wonderland

As angry as Ronin might have been, the ex-captain's ire was not normally so easily directed towards the alchemist. Even before they were together, Ronin funneled his aggression at other things. Never at Remi. Vaguely the alchemist's hands twitched, wanting to reach for something in his pocket. To write. To record.

With kind eyes, Remi watched the various blows made against the defenseless (and headless) dummy, biting the inside of his lip quite hard as mentioned he was King. They hadn't talked about it before, not really. Remi had never once questioned that Ronin was the best one for the role, but that didn't necessarily mean he wished it upon his husband either.

"Punished?" Remi almost laughed, the sound coming out with a far rougher edge that the alchemist intended. Had he hackles, they might have raised. Instead it was merely feathers than temporarily fanned through his curls. Slowly he shook his head. As if he would ever let that happen.

As for Wessex? "I do not know. If she knows about the outcome of the vote, I would think her happy with how things played themselves out." He said with a mild shrug, surprised to hear that it was the ascended giving Ronin grief, and not the Launceleyn.

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

"Punished," Ronin repeated, planting the axe into one of the fenceposts with a heavy thock and running shaking hands through his hair in frustration. "Oh she is anything but happy," he muttered. "As far as she's concerned we might as well have thrown her into the Greatwood as a group and left her to rot forever. On purpose. The only person she is loyal to is Edrei. Which as you can imagine is fucking fantastic." Still grumbling to himself, he stalked over to Remi so he could lean against another one of the fence posts, fighting down the fury bubbling up in his chest and throat. He was angry, it was true - and having to hold his tongue as much as he'd even managed in front of his apparent fellow Queens was a big ask - but even he noticed that it didn't feel quite right. Not quite him. "Remi, could you come in here please? I'm... I'd like to calm down, but it doesn't seem to be working." taliesin a long and lonesome road

Again, the alchemist shook his head decisively. There would be absolutely no punishment handed down unto his husband. Not while his counterpart felt the pulse of his heartbeat against his hands, anyways. Still, for all his piss and vinegar when it came to anyone offering harm to his husband, Remi still flinched as the axe was deeply embedded into the wood. Glancing at it with the eyes of a scientist, Remi noted that while Ronin’s hands still shook slightly, the axe was buried quite deep. Ronin was growing stronger, while growing weaker just the same.

With a groan, Remi shrugged. “What I heard from her was that she was willing to lead during times of war. With Zariah gone, I did not think us there anymore.” That, and Remi didn’t particularly think sending out invitations and keeping an active roster was anyone’s role. They had met some sort of un-vocalized quorum and that was all that mattered. Better with them all, but still more than acceptable without.

As Ronin leaned against the opposite side of the fence, Remi’s eyes softly scoured his lover, noting the sweat, the tension, the smell of earth, the colour of his skin. There was something...darker, now. It was hard to discern, given how painterly and too-vibrant his eyes perceived things now, but there was a strange sort of vignette around Ronin now.

Meeting Ronin’s gaze, Remi complied immediately; lowering himself through the slats of the fence and rising next to Ronin on his side of the fence. With a gentle smile Remi pressed a hand to Ronin’s chest. ”No...no it does not.” He agreed with a doubtful yet optimistic smile.

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

"You'd think that were the case, wouldn't you? But here we are. From willing to lead under certain circumstances, to only offering herself as an advisor to Edrei, to telling me all but to fuck off from her lofty position on the throne." He snorted. "A little taste of power is all it takes, huh." Still, for all his prickliness and his anger, the root cause of it was only partially down to Wessex. (Don't get him wrong, she was a big fucking part). Remi joined him on the other side of the fence and Ronin let a cold hand come to rest over the alchemist's as it pressed to his chest. Beneath their fingers his heart hammered like a wild thing, though Remi's touch managed to stifle the harsh glow that had been emanating from Ronin in his anger; he hadn't even noticed it was there. Closing his eyes, he took a long, deep breath and let it out again. "How the fuck do you put up with me?" he grumbled. "I've not asked your opinion in all of this. I'm sorry, Remi." taliesin a long and lonesome road

Raising a brow slightly, Remi nodded thoughtfully. Power did corrupt, that was a lesson even a lowly commoner had learned along the way. “How does it taste?” He asked a touch cheekily, a touch earnestly.

Ronin’s hand was cold. Too cold. His heart beating fast, but too fast. The alchemist had experienced his husband’s laboured and wild heartbeats in all sorts of situations, but something about this rhythm seemed frantic instead of steady. The glow was there still, though whether that was a good sign or not, Remi couldn’t tell. Spreading his fingers to let Ronin’s fall between them, Remi raised his shattered stare. Today his husband’s eyes were like a tumultuous sea, easy to drown in as always, but oh so deadly.

”Easily.” Remi replied, choosing not to reply with an easy quip about how hard it often was, but instead going with enamoured honesty. “Besides, no one has really asked your opinion on all of this either. Merely if you would accept it or not.” He added, more than happy to deflect the question back to Ronin.

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin shot a look at his husband that was equally as loving as it was withering - how did power taste, indeed. "Bittersweet," he muttered, "same as it did when I was captain, just... more so. Though I am doubtful that I'll have much of an impact between Wessex and Edrei. She's most likely to agree with anything Wessex puts forward, so... good luck on that majority vote, huh?" He shrugged. Remi helped. Even with the hammering of his heart; the clamminess of his hands; the anger that still tried to brew and spit within him, the alchemist's presence was a steadying calm, a lodestone that Ronin turned towards. Letting his fingers splay between Remi's, the hunter smiled weakly at his response. "If you say so," he retorted, his free hand reaching out to slip around Remi's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. "Well... it's done, now," he muttered, a touch defeatedly. "Now I just need to figure out what to do with this place. Are kings allowed to be guildmasters?" Snorting softly, he glanced sidelong at Emmett's axe in the fencepost. "I wonder what the kid would have thought about all this." taliesin a long and lonesome road

Bittersweet. Remi didn’t quite know how to parse that. Indeed he couldn’t even imagine what the taste of power might be like, nor its weight, nor the thrill of it. “I am sure you will think of something.” With a suggestive smile, Remi shot his husband a coy look. “You always do.” And it was precisely that, Ronin always landing on his feet, that had landed him the crown in the first place.

The hug was unexpected but far from unwelcome. Sighing against Ronin’s shoulder, Remi’s free hand snaked around his counterpart’s waist. Meant both as a gesture of love but also silent confidence in Ronin. “So long as you do not start demanding I call yo king in bed, we will be fine.” He grinned, the smell of earth in his nose making him want to cough, but he did his best to breathe through it.

With a snort, Remi pulled back enough to give Ronin a mischevious stare. “I think you can do whatever you like, King Taliesin”. He couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose a bit at that. Glancing along Ronin’s line of vision, the alchemist tilted his head slightly. “Emmett?” Remi felt himself stiffen. “He...would probably have told you that you weren’t his Da.” The joke was ill-formed and made Remi wince all the more, having never properly dealt with Emmett’s sudden demise. “He would be glad to see you with the crown, I think.” Biting the inside of his lip, his eyes hardened as they fell on the axe. “I did not know you kept that.”

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

"At least one of us can stay positive, eh?" Ronin smiled weakly, holding Remi close for a moment longer as if to draw strength from the way all of this refused to get him down. Releasing him as he spoke about kings and beds, Ronin snorted and wrinkled his nose. 'King Taliesin' sounded horrendous, and he shook his head firmly against it. "I didn't mind being a captain in the military, but it doesn't feel like I really did anything to be a king. I'll keep calling myself by own name, thanks." He would have to think on the guildhall, on what he would do with it and whether he would continue to run it, but in the meantime his gaze followed Remi's to the axe. "You think?" His smile was sad, his guilt obvious. "Da or not, I hope I can at least make the Hollowed Grounds safer, so what happened to him in the Underground never happens again." Stepping away from the fence post, he moved to take the axe up again. "He dropped it in the commotion with the ROUS," he explained. "I was thinking of keeping it as a weapon myself, but... I don't really know if it'll last long, with the stuff I get tangled up in." taliesin a long and lonesome road

Was that Remi's role in all of this? To stay positive? He might have asked, but he doubted if Ronin himself knew what it was he needed, and so instead the alchemist merely grinned and nodded. "Well, you both did and didn't." Remi said with a shrug. "It is who you are, as much as whatever you might have done."

Remi over analyzed his husband as he pulled the axe from the wood; did he do it with his normal amount of ease? Had there been tension? Did his hands shake?

"Mmm." Remi hummed distractedly, before re-focusing his mind and moving to stand next to Ronin again. Looking down at the axe, the alchemist ran his fingers along the handle, pausing where the metal moulded against the wood. It was crudely done, strong, but as Ronin said, likely not up for the sort of tasks the reluctant-king would ask of it. "If only there were someone who could help you with that." He mused, nudging Ronin shoulder.

"Indestructible..capable of cutting through anything...playing music when used..." With a cheeky grin, Remi fanned his arms from his sides in a mocking half-bow. "Your wish is my command, my lord."

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin winced to Remi, unable to deny the truth in his words. Did and didn't was about right. He could have always said no, after all - but as Remi had said, that wasn't who he was. "Well, just remind me as often as I need about how much trouble and grief I've caused us. I want to make sure I'm always held accountable - and it's a good excuse to spoil you with gifts." He winked. Weighing the axe in his hands, he looked over it as well as Remi examined the tool-turned-weapon. A felling axe, by the look of it, comfortably wielded in one or two hands, the handle smoothed in places by the grip of a man who would never hold it again. "Oh, ha ha. It felt rude to ask - you've already done enough for me." Smiling, Ronin shrugged down at the axe. "Making it a little more sturdy would definitely be a plus," he agreed. "And perhaps make it so I can't lose it?" He laughed awkwardly; having it return to his hand when called wasn't a bad shout, though. taliesin a long and lonesome road

Just get better, Remi wanted to say. But no matter how light he might have wanted the words to sound, he knew they never wound, and so instead they lingered like rotting things on his tongue as he merely smiled weakly. The alchemist wanted nothing, save for Ronin. Trinkets strewn about the house to remind him of happier times should the hunter die again would just be that: reminders. Reminders of having not saved his husband in time.

"Oh shut it, you." Remi scoffed. "I feel awkward enough as it is having these powers and you are not helping." So saying, the alchemist picked up the axe holding it easily between his hands. Biting the inside of his cheek, he tugged in a breath and closed his eyes, focusing his mind intently on the object before him.

Ronin would see the quality of the wood seem to shift and change. Remi didn't want to change the intrinsic properties of the axe, very much wanting to respect the original craftsmanship that went into it, but needing to make subtle adjustments. Opening his eyes, Remi held the axe out to Ronin. "Hold it." He murmured, his mind clearly still lost in the shuffle of magic. Not unlike future-finger print recognition, as soon as the king held the weapon it would remember him and in doing so, would always return.

---

Remi has made

Emmett's Axe (Upgraded) | An indestructible axe that will always return to Ronin when thrown. (Made by Remi).

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

"Oh, I do apologise. Should I be asking for magical items left right and centre, until I'm armoured like a titan?" Ronin flashed Remi a mischievous smile, though he fell dutifully quiet as his husband took the axe in his hands to do his thing. He saw the subtle changes in the wood, in the grain and the fixtures, Ronin watching with clear interest; it wasn't often he actually got to see Remi do what he did best after all. Accepting the weapon and doing as instructed, Ronin swore he felt the wood warm under his touch, like it was soaking him in, and he weighed it in his hands again. It felt different and the same all at once. "Thank you," he said quietly, carefully leaning it against the fence post and planting a kiss on Remi's forehead. "For the axe, and for everything else." The glow around Ronin had softened to something a little less harsh, a little less furious, and he could already feel his pulse slowing down. "My hero," he remarked, nudging Remi. taliesin a long and lonesome road

The alchemist shrugged, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "I did say how much I liked a man in uniform.." He mused, implicitly wondering if he was overstepping his bounds should he create some sort of monitoring system for Ronin cleverly disguised as a cape or some such.

The alchemist chuckled awkwardly, bashful even when it was his husband offering appreciative affection. With his free hand Remi ran his thumb over the patch of skin poking out from Ronin's collar as if the light bleeding from his husband was a tangible thing he might experience. Cold, clammy, Remi noted, though his smile was no less loving despite his mental note-taking.

"Oh hush. You are the hero, not me. Now go on and throw your axe and let's see if I have done this right."

But of course just in case he hadn't, Remi took a few steps away putting a healthy amount of distance between himself and Ronin.

nobody hangs hard times on the wall

Coding base by Sky!

"Make me a uniform and I promise I'll wear it for you," Ronin said cheekily, flashing Remi a grin and trying not to think too hard about what he might have unlocked in doing so. He'd not put any restrictions on the uniform after all. Leaning into the touch, he was a little surprised when Remi moved away again, Ronin glancing back at the axe and smirking. Ah, yes. Just in case he ended up decapitating himself (or Remi). "It's not really built for throwing - too big." He hefted it onto his shoulder, moving to one of the hay bale targets they used for shooting practice. "Might be able to get it to do something, though." It wasn't a hatchet, but if you threw anything hard enough it would stick, right? So saying, Ronin took a deep breath and launched the axe in a spinning throw at one of the targets. taliesin a long and lonesome road