it's a long way home

Ronin swore and tried to keep the distance between himself and Remi as the alchemist rushed forward. How dare he try and stop him from bleeding the blight full out until there was none left? Brandishing the glass shard in his free hand, still, and gripping it hard enough to cause black to well around his fingers too, Ronin's blue eyes were all but feral as his husband levelled him with a stare. Chest heaving, the reminder of what he had assured Remi not long ago lingering heavy in the air, Ronin's hand started to tremble, the glass slipping from his fingertips to tinkle against the floor. "For fuck's sake," he half whispered, his hand moving to join Remi's and try to staunch the bleeding from the wound he'd caused. "Is this how I spend my last season with you? Treating you like this?" he muttered. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

ration our tears and sighs

Remi's jaw clenched as he watched Ronin parry away from him. Looking at him as if he were truly some wild thing bent on hurting himself as well as Remi, deep down both the lion and the manticore shifted unhelpfully in the wellspring of his magic. Feathers and mane ruffled through his curls as his more predatory urges tried to press forward, to react in kind the challenge and threat Ronin was posing. Instead though, Remi merely held up trembling fingers in a placating gesture as he fought back tears prickling behind his eyes.

As the glass dropped Remi heaved a sigh of relief, his hand tightening around the wound on Ronin's arm as much to stop the black sludge as simply to be allowed near him again. "It would only be a problem if this was your last season with me." The alchemist said almost dismissively, shaking his head slightly though there was little emotion in his voice. Creating a cloth in his hands, he placed it over Ronin's arm only to watch it immediately turn black. Clenching his teeth again, Remi casually reached out with his magic to sweep the large chunk of glass away and out of Ronin's reach.

Remi

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Ronin felt something in him surge angrily as the glass was swept out of his reach, but he swallowed it down with an effort of willpower, as Remi had suggested earlier. As the cloth appeared only to instantly turn black, Ronin swore under his breath and continued to apply pressure to the wound, cursing himself for a fool internally. "Do we need to fetch someone for sutures?" he asked, not particularly (read: at all) wanting to be around anyone else currently. Awkwardly finding a chair at the kitchen table, Ronin sank down into it with his arm still surrendered to his husband. He barely noticed the pain, which was probably another worrying symptom, but for now it proved useful. "It might not be," he said suddenly, about the season being their last together. "Even if the blight does take its course, it might not be the last one." He glared at the ground, not wanting to bring it up but knowing better than to hide it now. "I spoke with Safrin, not long ago," he confessed. "...She doesn't believe the blight will kill me. It will be worse than that." RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

ration our tears and sighs

"I have been told I am fairly good with my hands.." Remi said, trying not to smile. "If you tell me how, I am sure I can do it." There was always Isla, somewhere, if it came to that.  Squeezing Ronin's shoulder softly and moving to find something strong enough both to drink and sterilize the wound (yeah right), he stopped dead with a bottle of something clear in his hand as Ronin spoke.

Turning around, his muscles twitching with restraint, Remi swallowed with as much calm as he could muster. The alchemist wasn't naive enough to question that there were things worse than death. He wasn't even tempted to criticize his husband for withholding the information for as long as he apparently had. The tears behind his eyes felt like shards of glass now, stabbing painfully and making it hard to think or see through them.

"Do you have any idea what that means?" He asked slowly, finally finding his feet again and moving to sit opposite Ronin.

Remi

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"You've been told, huh? Told by me, by any chance?" Ronin asked, finding a shaky smile on his face despite himself, gazing down at his arm and willing it to just... stop bleeding, please. "I think I remember how. It's messy, but I can talk you through it if I have to," he said softly. Hopefully there would be no need. He felt pride for Remi that he was able to stay as calm as he was, his smile turning soft and apologetic, and he let out a trembling breath when the alchemist moved to sit with him. "Sort of," he murmured. "The blight is like a parasite. It will eventually just... take over. That's what I got from Safrin anyway. It will control me, and I'll just be... stuck." What it would do with that control was beyond him, though. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

ration our tears and sighs

"Well.." Remi returned, his easy playfulness in Ronin's presence returning without his permission and making something stab painfully at his heart. "Isla told me once it was like sewing on fabric that liked to talk back. Though...I do think she was making fun of me when she said that." The alchemist said with a sigh.

Creating a needle and...thread, he guessed, Remi listened while actively trying not to listen to what Ronin was saying. He tried to hear it as an alchemist and not a worried husband. "A parasite." He repeated, creating another cloth to wipe Ronin's arm with. If the bleeding (oozing?) didn't stop, there was no way he'd be able to stitch him up even if he knew what he was doing.

Tugging in a breath, Remi nodded and squeezed his eyes closed, fingers tapping lightly on the bottle he'd brought over. "Okay." He said breathing out. "Okay, okay, okay.." Only it wasn't, and he knew that.

"Gods you bleed a lot." Remi said with surprising amounts of frustration in his voice as he stood, gathering the blackened cloth in his hands, to throw it with a wet splat into the sink. Kicking at the basin, Remi leaned forward and let his head drop.

Remi

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"Isla? Make fun of you? For shame," Ronin muttered with a crooked grin, as if to say that the medic would never have done such a thing. (She had, did and would, and they both knew it, of course). Wrinkling his nose as Remi tried to wipe the ooze from his arm (and fighting off a wince at the sight of the needle, hoping it wouldn't have to be used given how much they'd already been through today), the hunter nodded slowly. A parasite, slowly eating at him - physically and mentally, to add insult to injury. The splat of the cloth against the sink and the sound of Remi taking his frustration out on it had Ronin rising carefully to his feet again, his brow furrowed with worry. "I'm sorry," he said, like any of what was happening was down to something he had done. "I didn't want... I don't know. If the worst happens, I didn't want you to just... keep looking for me, after I wasn't really there any more." Reaching out to clasp Remi's shoulder with his other hand, he tried to turn the alchemist so he could draw him into a hug, his injured arm still held out so as not to bleed all over them. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

ration our tears and sighs

Claws pushed their way out of Remi's nail beds without his even noticing. They pressed as if through butter into the metal of the washbasin as his forearms flexed with tension, a snarl fitting itself seamlessly on his lips. Hearing Ronin behind him, his hands curled even tighter before all of the strain and frustration ebbed away entirely. "You do not know that. That you will not be there. If there is even a chance, I will never stop looking. Even if I have to lock you away and deal with your ghoulish screams at all hours." He said, his voice entirely lifelessly as he turned easily enough at Ronin's insistence.

"You should sit down.." Remi advised, though no sooner had the words left his lips, his arms were around Ronin tugging him close. Not even the decaying earth smell or blackish sludge mattered much at this point. Ronin was still Ronin, in this moment at least. "This is not how this ends." He whispered against the hunter's too-clamy neck, pressing his forehead into his shoulder and tightening his grip against him.

Remi

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"My ghoulish screams would make a difference from the complaining at least," Ronin said, attempting a wry smile that faded as he spotted the claws, the snarling frustration, the realisation that as hard as this was on him, it was just as hard on Remi if not moreso. Once he was gone, at least he was gone; the aftermath didn't have to fall upon his shoulders. As the alchemist turned into his embrace, Ronin let his arms fold around Remi to hold him tightly, injury be damned. He would sit if they both did, but in that moment it was enough just to have the other man close, Ronin letting the fingers of his good hand tease and wind through Remi's curls. "No," he agreed solemnly, tilting his head to rest it against the other man's, relishing his warmth, his heartbeat pulsing against his finger. "No, this is not how this ends. We've a lot more to do together, you and I." Stepping back just enough that he could tilt Remi's chin up to meet his eyes, Ronin flashed him a roguishly charming smile through the marks of blight and weariness. "I love you," he said. "Now and always. Whatever happens, okay?" RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

ration our tears and sighs

That smile hurt. It cut down to the quick and farther still. It cut through all the layers and seasons that had made Remi the man he was now, to just a simple soul that had fallen so in love with his best friend that he had hardly realized it. It wasn't just that Ronin suddenly looked as devilishly handsome as he always had, with a smirk that made Remi's knees weak, but only now did Remi realize how long it had been since he'd seen it last. With the spire and the fae, the blight and the juggling of crowns. It was always something, and though their wedding had been one of the sweetest moments of his life, not even marital bliss had been allowed to last.

With a throat too full of emotion to say much of anything, Remi merely sighed lovingly, letting his eyes close against the bright halo of colour surrounding his husband as he nodded. "Whatever happens." He agreed, clearly his throat against the thick and foggy sound of his voice.

Remi

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Leaning in, Ronin pressed a gentle kiss to the alchemist's forehead before drawing him close again and holding him like he was a lifeline. However much they were falling apart, the two of them, it was still easy to draw strength from the man he loved, to bolster himself against the world with Remi's support. Whatever happens would stick with him, he hoped, and the next time the blight seized him maybe he could think of this moment and pull himself back. For now, however, there was yet more to do. "I think the bleeding has stopped a bit," he murmured, glancing to his arm. "Could you make a dressing? Once I'm cleaned up, I'll sort out this mess. You don't have to help with that part - it's my fault it happened." He winked. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

ration our tears and sighs

Wanting nothing more than to drag Ronin to bed, to spark constellations on the ceiling and drink obnoxious amounts of chocolaty hot beverages while cocooned in an endless sea of blankets (or nothing, depending on Ronin's temperature), Remi nodded agreeably as Ronin gestured to his arm.

With a low chuckle, Remi reached for Ronin's hand and squeezed it playfully. "I can become a mythical winged..lion..thing and I am married to the king. I do not actually think I have to help with anything anymore." Shaking his head and breathing deeply, Remi created a few compresses in his hands as well as a rather tacky-sort of substance made mostly of sap to help the bandages adhere to themselves with.

"Playing doctor with you used to be a lot more fun." Remi grumbled, though his smile was genuine now as he nudged Ronin to take a seat.

Remi

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"We really ought to find out what that mythical winged lion thing is," Ronin said mildly, squeezing Remi's hand back and lifting it to press a kiss against the back of his palm. "Perhaps we can take Aoife to the Atheneum one of these days. I'm sure she'll love how quiet it is." Laughing, he obediently shuffled back over to his seat and sank into it, though not before ensuring that Remi was coming with him. Humming out a sigh of agreement, he flashed the alchemist a cheeky grin. "You are absolutely right," he agreed. "Though that does mean when you decide to lend a hand, it is all the better." Falling quiet so they could bandage up his arm, Ronin held the injured limb out for Remi to see to. "At least it was only my arm," he muttered. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

cut up our losses into doable doses

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Remi snorted and nodded. "I suppose you could name me, if you like. Then again.." Shooting his husband a playfully disapproving look, he shook his head. No doubt while the innuendo would be glorious in whatever Ronin came up with, the last thing he needed was for Aoife to be calling him something with the word cock in it.

"Ahh yes. Libraries are known for their excellent echoes." Remi agreed. Sitting, he raised a silent brow as he grinned. "You only need a hand from me tonight? My, I am getting off easy." Then with a straight face as he pretended to be thoroughly invested in the wound he added, "Or you are."

Nodding and cleaning the area as best he could without reopening the skin which, despite all odds, seemed to be trying in earnest to clot and knit itself back together, Remi merely fixed Ronin with a boyish look. "I know you have missed your scars, but honestly Ronin." He chastised gently, before wrapping a final layer of cloth around the outside, sealing it with honey and bark scented sap.

Remi

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