wonderland

& i sing hallelujah, ripped through my veins

The manticore rumbled a disagreeable sound, whether because Ronin hadn't picked a joke, or because he'd mentioned it at all wasn't clear. Still, as the hunter indeed boarded the type of beast that his guild was probably meant to be hunting, the large creature abruptly stood. Turning his head around slightly to eye the man on his back, Remi's ears flickered back uncertainly. If Ronin had any reservations, now was about the time to say so.

But then again, how could the hunter ever be cooler than the man-turned-manticore, if he couldn't even handle a quick flight?

With a mischievous growl, the large creature lunged a few steps forward as his massive wings fanned outwards from his sides. Leaping up and into the air as his wings pushed downwards, the pair gained altitude with staggering speed. Ears pinned against his maned-skull, Remi climbed higher and higher though remained firmly where the air would still be easy enough for Ronin to breathe.

Finding a thermal and gliding in a lazy circle, the alchemist glanced down at the guildhouse that looked no more than the size of a ball from their current vantage point.

i heard the hammer drop, my blood in the rain

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Given that Ronin couldn't understand whether or not it was a good or a bad growl, he wisely chose silence as he tried to get comfortable on the... whatever Remi was. He didn't want to grab feathers or go near the barbs on his tail, so the mane was really his only option to hold on - and he totally dropped the axe as Remi bounded forward, abandoning weaponry to... y'know... keep safe and alive.

Still, as they leapt into the air - the sky, it turned out, as powerful wings beat down and the ground began to shrink away, Ronin felt the first of many spikes of adrenaline trill through him. He tried to speak, couldn't, and simply laughed instead; a joyous, disbelieving sound, the hunter's smile was wide and boyish as they climbed higher and higher still.

Letting out a whoop that echoed into the dawn and peering around Remi's wings to get a good look at the tiny, tiny guildhall down below, Ronin reached up with one hand, like he could touch the fading stars above.

As Remi found a current and began to glide, the hunter allowed himself to relax as well, blue eyes bright as he gazed on the Hollowed Grounds. "This is what it looked like from up there, too," he said softly. "It's beautiful."

& i sing hallelujah, ripped through my veins

The sound of pure joy coming from his husband was a welcome reprieve from the upset and anger and angst at all that had come crashing down around Ronin's newly crowned head. It made Remi never want to come down, but to glide off into infinity with Ronin. He had the strength for it; in this moment, he was sure he did. Of course that was short lived. Aoife was still below. And Ashe, and Amalia..Deimos, Vai, and Phoebe and everyone else they loved and cared for.

Cocking an ear back to catch Ronin's words even as the wind tried to rush them away, Remi felt something in his belly clench. It wasn't often that he was prideful, but in this moment he realized he had been, as evidenced by the bitter chill coursing through his veins. He had wanted to show Ronin something new. An experience he'd never had...but of course he'd seen the world like this. He'd been a star after-all. Even flying was likely not new, not with how he must have ascended with Safrin. Suddenly Remi felt incredibly boyish indeed and though he'd never admitted to himself consciously that he thought he might not be enough for someone like Ronin, he was starting to wonder what it was the king saw in him.

Rumbling a low note of agreement, the manticore banked gently to the right and adjusted their trajectory such that it appeared they would fly right into the rising sun. Lower and lower Remi spiraled, the movement familiar enough even in this new body and with a passenger. Eventually with a warm morning breeze bringing scents of the Greatwood into their noses, Remi landed back in the training arena waiting for Ronin to dismount before shifting back.

With colour bright in his cheeks from the adrenaline rush of it all as well as the effort of the shift, he pushed a wave of curls from his face and grinned at his partner. "I did not want to kill you even once." He chuckled, running a hand subconsciously up his arm at the passing memory of times while shifted he had indeed tried to kill Ronin.

i heard the hammer drop, my blood in the rain

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Ronin might have stayed up there forever, too - and unlike his husband, he selfishly allowed himself a moment to choose not to think of all that tethered them to the world. Not Aoife, not their friends, not the blight or the Hollowed Grounds, not kings or gods or portals. It was just he and Remi, afloat in the fading stars and the fire of a rising dawn. He breathed a deep, clean breath, nose filling with the scent of the Greatwood as they finally turned back. Part of Ronin wanted to leave part of himself up there... for safe keeping, maybe.

Climbing down from the manticore's back, Ronin was ready and waiting as Remi shifted, his grin broad and filled with a mix of love and adrenaline. "I saw! You were magnificent," he told him, sweeping up to slip his arms around Remi and stealing a kiss from his lips, pride all but radiating out him in a wave of starlight. "What was it you became?"

& i sing hallelujah, ripped through my veins

Heart already happily thudding away in his chest, Remi's lips met Ronins with a breathless sort of clumsiness that only made his smile grow wider. "I will take your word for it. I have not actually seen myself like that." The alchemist countered with a bashful sort of shrug. "I do not know what I was. I was hoping you might know...or perhaps Vai, from all the stories she has read."

Blushing all the more for the beacon of starlight his husband had become, Remi reached out for one of Ronin's hands hoping to proactively try and dampen some of the upset that was likely about to come. "I uhm...there was a monster out in the fields. That is how I became...that." The alchemist bit the inside of his cheek. Though he was clearly fine, monstrous shift aside, he was sure his husband would have something to say about him disappearing off into the night to fight monsters (with or without him). "It was a giant vampire gourd...completely blighted on the inside." Remi added, hoping to distract Ronin with the details.

i heard the hammer drop, my blood in the rain

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

"It is definitely... different. But not?" Ronin laughed; it was like all of Remi's shifts combined, with added extras. And... well, good thing he had been in control, because Ronin wouldn't have stood even the remotest chance should Remi have decided otherwise. Brushing his curls affectionately out of his face, Ronin allowed the capture of his hand and merely took a moment to enjoy the pink in the alchemist's cheeks, the happiness on his face. They didn't have enough of that lately, despite the wedding and the joy that had come with it.

Running his thumb over the back of Remi's hand, Ronin's smile faded as his husband finally let loose on the details. A soft frown drew his eyebrows together, and when he lifted his gaze to Remi again it was troubled. "Is it because you don't trust me, that you go out alone?" he asked. "I mean... that you don't trust that I'll come home alive." It had happened once, after all, and it wasn't the sort of precedent that one could set twice.

Blighted, though, a creature large enough for Remi to turn into... well, what he had turned into... Ronin shivered. "At least it didn't get into the Greatwood. I... I mean, do you feel okay?"

& i sing hallelujah, ripped through my veins

"Never." Remi assured him instantly, his head leaning slightly to the side as if to convey his sadness that such had been Ronin's first thought. "I was just out for a walk. Neither of us has been sleeping well, and for once you were and so I did not want to wake you." He explained, the kindness in his eyes fracturing slightly as he wondered whether or not this had been a selfish gesture on his part.

"Mmm, indeed. I cannot imagine what would have happened if it did." Remi agreed, reaching out a hand to snake it around Ronin's waist and pull the ex-captain closer. "And yes...I think I am fine." He replied with a small smile. It would be his luck to somehow survive this, the curse being he'd have to live on without Ronin. "Arduinna was there.." He all but whispered, hesitation and anxiety smoothing out his accent such that Remi sounded decidedly unlike himself for a moment. "She promised us all...a gift of sorts for protecting the woods. Whatever we would like." Tugging in a breath, the alchemist smiled to himself, the bittersweet news a weighty and unwanted burden on his tongue. There was no easy way to reconcile his love for their starlit daughter with Remi's insurmountable love for her father. Perhaps that was why the gift he'd been given seemed prickle at his heart. "She could not save you, as she did the Undine. But.." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small charm. It glistened in the early morning light as it spun elegantly on the end of a necklace. "This can protect Aoife from getting the blight."

i heard the hammer drop, my blood in the rain

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

A sad smile found its way across Ronin's face, and he nodded his understanding. Of course it wasn't intentional, or because he wasn't trusted - and it was a solemn reminder that no, he hadn't been sleeping well lately. It was just unfortunate that Remi's act of kindness had led him out into the fields, into danger. He leant into the alchemist as he was pulled closer, an arm moving around his shoulders in return.

I think I am fine was all they could really expect these days, and the hunter nodded again, pressing a kiss to Remi's curls. That didn't stop his blood from all but freezing at the mention of Arduinna, his fingers spasming against Remi's shoulder as Ronin pulled him closer. He couldn't trust himself to speak, especially as the other man spoke of gifts, of payment, of healing...

Stepping back slightly to see what Remi took from his pocket, the guildmaster gazed upon the trinket with a shadowed expression. On the one hand, he wanted nothing from Arduinna but the news that she was gone...

...On the other, she had perhaps saved their daughter. "Then we should make sure we put it on her right away," he said softly. "Come on. She'll be awake soon anyway, and the whole guildhall will know about it. I... I'm glad you came home to me. I hope it'll be the last time you have to go without me, though." Needless to say, Ronin was not used to being the one waiting at home.

& i sing hallelujah, ripped through my veins

Not flinching at all as Ronin's fingers tightened against his shoulder—it was comforting really, for Remi to know he wasn't the only one who had such a visceral reaction to the wild fae's name—Remi swallowed and nodded.

"Like I would ever go home to anyone else." Remi said teasingly, nudging the King's shoulder with his own as they made their way back inside. "Well, I suppose if you are going to be grumpy with me for fighting monsters without, that is not really any different from you being grumpy from lack of sleep." He added with a wry smile.

Oh, but perhaps there was one other thing to mention.

"You have never been bit by an ascended before, have you?"

i heard the hammer drop, my blood in the rain

Coding base by Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

"Good. Just know the feeling is mutual, if I ever had the energy to go places anymore." Ronin grinned as he was nudged, falling into step with Remi and heading inside as well. "Unfortunately I think your foreseeable future just involves me being grumpy." He shrugged, attempting lightheartedness, though he knew just how dire the situation was. (And then some, after his conversation with Safrin).

Holding the door open for Remi, he raised his eyebrows at the question, not having expected it after talking about the blight. "I can't say I have," he said slowly. "For all of the good people we've met who are Ascended, I can't help but think of Archie. So understandably, I try not to get too close to the teeth."

say it's here where our pieces fall in place

Remi swallowed uncomfortably, feathers appearing in his curls as he stepped past Ronin and into the guildhouse. "Right...No, that makes sense." He agreed with a tentative dip of his head. "I...did I ever tell you, about it? Or..do you know what it is like to be bitten?" He added, his level of discomfort wafting off of him in waves now as evidenced by the strange not-quite-fur-not-quite-feathered texture his neck and upper arms had taken on.

It was in moments like these having a real partner in life was perhaps the greatest gift the alchemist could have ever asked for. Where his moral compass was obscured by biases pounded into him through his youth, Ronin's was normally much more direct. And even if it wasn't, he was sure his husband would have more than a few thoughts on this particular topic.

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Ronin smiled affectionately, rumpling up Remi's curls as the feathers began to sprout in them, giving him away completely. "I've heard about it, and you may have mentioned something about it with Sam. Though I don't remember, honestly." He shrugged.

"Orgasmic is the word I think you'd use, no?" Ronin was leaning against the banister now, having paused on his way up the stairs to wake Aoife. He had a feeling they'd want to make the most of the time before their daughter woke up, somehow. "I never thought I'd see you shy again, after the things you've said and done to me," he remarked.

say it's here where our pieces fall in place

Remi's blush was entirely complete. From the apples of his cheeks to the tips of his ears, the alchemist seemed entirely undone by the hunter's comments. More and more feathers appeared as the alchemist halted as well a step or so behind Ronin such that he had to look up at his husband. Orgasmic. Yes it certainly was that.

"Well I suppose that is the thing." Remi managed after a moment. "On the long list of things we never did talk about before, is this." Biting the inside of his cheek as he tried on a crooked (and guilty looking smile), Remi tugged in a breath. "During the fight against the gourd...with Sam and Rex there—" (Rex, who Ronin was likely yet to know had become an ascended). "—I...offered. So that they could use my abilities against the creature. " In the silence that followed, Remi's jaw flexed uncertainly.

But..there was more. Of course there was more. In the midst of battle was one thing. When there was no danger though?

Holding out his hand, Remi turned it palm-side up revealing two clear holes in his wrist. "Rex wanted to know what it was like to fly. I did not think about it really until she actually bit me.." Properly chagrined now, the alchemist dropped his gaze.

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Ronin started to realise that something was awry with just how awkward Remi was becoming, the hunter folding his arms across his chest and looking a touch uncomfortable. He wasn't sure was, exactly, Remi was going to come up with, but it couldn't be good if this was the way the conversation was going. So when it turned out that he had only (or so he thought) offered to share his power in a time of understandable crisis, the hunter relaxed a bit.

Which was obviously the worst thing to do, because it meant when the alchemist continued he was caught by it completely, his face falling a little, something muddled in his expression that even he didn't seem sure of. "Oh," he said. "Well... I... Your body belongs to you, Remi. I'm not going to tell you what to do with it."