so close, but I'm farsighted

for 1000 nights i've been a restless soul

"Is that a royal decree?" Mischief practically dripped off of Remi's words as he grinned smugly through the bars. He did quite hate the burden of Ronin being king, so at the very least he could absolutely use it against his husband at any and every available opportunity. "I know you Remi." The alchemist playfully mocked under his breath, wondering if it wasn't too late to smush the cake up Ronin's nose anyways.

Turns out though that his offering of the frosting was a decidedly much better idea.

Having expected teeth and a feral snarl, the sensation of Ronin's tongue was a complete shock to his mind and his senses. Not that the alchemist would have ever said his finger was a place he thought about seeking any sort of sexual sensations from, but given his complete lack of physical affection lately and his overwhelming desire for it, Remi nearly melted against the bars right then and there.

Drawing in a surprised breath, heat blooming across his cheeks and fluttering warmly in his belly, as Ronin finally released him the alchemist could do little more than stare blankly at his husband, hand still outstretched through the bars. Looking every bit like some naive boy having experienced his first kiss or something else suitably vanilla (at least in comparison with what Remi and Ronin normally got up to), the alchemist was simply open-mouthed.

Remi didn't understand Ronin's question. He didn't even really hear it. Exhaling the breath he'd apparently been holding, the alchemist transmuted the bars before him into strips of string. Reaching forward with his already outstretched hand to grab at Ronin's collar, he tugged the king towards him, near-delirious with the sudden need to taste his husband's lips and to feel the tongue that had sent hot shivers down his spine.

there is always hope

Still holding onto Remi's hand loosely, Ronin did his very best to look as innocent as possible as he gazed up at his husband, but the small smile on his face suggested that he knew exactly what he was doing. "Remi?" he asked when he didn't receive an answer, his voice low and quiet. Then the bars of the jail cell basically turned into spaghetti, and while the dying blight within him raged and seethed at freedom, Ronin - for the first time in his memory - was able to silence it in lieu of more important things.

Much, much more important things.

"I don't think--" Whatever he didn't think (that he wasn't really in a state for kissing given that he hadn't shaved in weeks, that maybe this wasn't the time or the place for this) vanished from his mind as Remi pulled him up to stand. Without any barrier between them it was all too easy to melt against the alchemist, the end of his sentence tapering into a ragged moan as their lips met.

To hold the other man again was like igniting the fuse on a firework. Terrible Ronin might look, his enthusiasm was still second to none, and one hand came up to clasp Remi's jaw that he might deepen their kiss. At the same time his free arm snaked around the alchemist's waist, fingers searching to get under the shirt that was suddenly in the way, pulling and tugging until he could feel the warmth beneath.

Surging forward suddenly to get out of the string-cell, Ronin backed Remi up against the nearest wall. Closer, more, his body screamed, as if even pressed against bare skin, it would never be enough. Even coming up for air was unimportant compared to this, touch-starved as both men were after the ordeal of the blight.

for 1000 nights i've been a restless soul

If there were any limits to what qualities of his husband would have to degrade before the alchemist stopped finding him insurmountably attractive, they hadn't yet been met. Not that the alchemist thought they existed at all, but scraggle-bearded and unshowered as Ronin might have been, he was still everything the alchemist wanted and then some.

Remi both melted and hardened as Ronin pulled him closer, wanting simultaneously to have and be had leaving his body to both tense and relax in an endless cycle. Releasing the king's collar Remi's fingers raked against the back of Ronin's head as the movements of his lips became distracted and desperate. Had he the time to pull in enough breath to speak Remi might have said something about turning his clothing into roses, but as Ronin's hand—a hand which was warm—pressed against his lower back, whatever playful quip might have been growing on his tongue dissolved entirely into a moan.

The feeling of being pressed against the cold wall of the jail only emphasized just how warm Ronin was against him. He wasn't the roaring inferno he normally was, but nor was his skin the icy blight-cold that the alchemist had grown used to. A cloud of fire felt like it was smoldering in Remi's stomach now, the smoke of which removed every thought from his mind that wasn't Ronin. With fingers made reckless by his eagerness, the alchemist pulled at Ronin's shirt as well, caught as his husband was between the time and space it would take to remove their clothes and the need to remain as close together as possible.

"I would trade all my magic to be able to teleport us home right now." The alchemist growled hungrily against his husband's lips.

there is always hope

The taste of Remi was like electricity on his tongue, their bodies pressed close but somehow not close enough, and a warmth like something he hadn't felt in what seemed like months began to kindle deep and low in Ronin's belly. Parting for breath only for a moment, the hunter smiled warmly, all but drowning in sea-glass green, shattered though it might be. "I am home," he mumbled. Home is wherever you are.

Leaning in again to reclaim Remi's lips, both hands this time went to pay overdue attention to the muscular torso hiding beneath the alchemist's usually loose clothing. "Although," he murmured into the other man's mouth, "the amount of fun we could have in a shower right now... Think I'm safe to go home?" He arched an eyebrow, nipping playfully at Remi's lower lip. "I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise."

for 1000 nights i've been a restless soul

Once upon a time the alchemist was very good at not giving into temptation. He'd been forced to build his entire identity around it, lest he find himself in jail or worse. Now, only a year or so later with so much having changed, perhaps it wasn't so surprising that Remi's self-control had gone by the wayside. That, and with what the alchemist's mind was optimistically screaming was the beginning of an erection pressing against him, he was in hardly in a state to think reasonably about anything, especially with Ronin's hands roaming over him as they were.

With a moan that indicated not that Remi didn't want to let Ronin out, but that he couldn't possibly be asked to wait that long, the alchemist huffed a dark and needy growl against Ronin. "Fine. But only since it is your birthday." He said with a breathy laugh.

As for Ronin being on his best behaviour? The alchemist returned the king's stare with a mischievous one of his own. "Well, and even if you are not.." Leaning forward Remi's nibbled against Ronin's neck and down towards his collar bone while his hands pulled the king's hips snugly against his.

"Come on then." He whispered after his final nip of Ronin's skin.

there is always hope

Remi's mind could scream all it liked - it was absolutely correct, and no one was more pleased about it than Ronin. Groaning appreciatively as the alchemist pulled them closer and grinding against him with unfettered enthusiasm, there was something about Remi's growl that set the kindling heat in Ronin to a full blaze. Capturing his mouth properly again in response to the comment about it being his birthday, the hunter absolutely had no idea what time of day it was, let alone where that day fell in a season.

All he cared about was the body beneath his hands, the tongue dancing against his own, the name falling from lips that he fully intended to worship for as long as he had the energy. Tilting his head back and hissing in a breath as he felt teeth against his neck, Ronin growled a soft curse that expressed, he thought, his impatience well enough.

"Alright," he whispered back, holding Remi for a moment more before stepping back. Wobbly on his feet and likely not as energetic as he wanted to be, Ronin still collected everything up, got his husband into his shoes and his coat, and ushered them out of the prison like a man who, for the first time in a long time, had everything to lose.

~FIN