shut the door & cut me open

"Don't say that." Remi whispered immediately, wet and red-rimmed eyes fixing upon the hunter's as he shook his head. "Don't say that like any of this is your fault." Silenced by the feeling of Ronin's lips against his forehead, the alchemist merely shuddered out a sigh, his grip tightening ever more as he continued to let himself drown in the sea of his own ignorance and short-sightedness.

"Alright." Sipping at the air, Remi dragged his palms across his eyes. "I don't see things the way you do." He said, not meaning it as necessarily a criticism of either of them, at least not yet. "Having Nate and Sam here when you came back..this with Loren..the ascended thing.." For the alchemist, it was so simple. If he could help, he would. And when it came to potential lines crossed in his marriage? Well, since he knew he'd never leave, never cheat, never want anyone else, he never questioned the things he did in the way he should. Likewise, since Ronin wasn't really a micro-manager, the pair never really ever talked about what their boundaries actually were.

"I am sorry I keep learning by doing the wrong thing, first."

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving "I can be sad about it even if it isn't necessarily my fault," Ronin said gently, the ghost of a smile flickering across his face. "You didn't sign up for a husband who tormented you in the middle of the night, or threatened you, or tried to hurt you. You'd have gone mad without talking to anyone about it, without trying to go out and live around it all." He shrugged his shoulders. The fresh mentioning of it all - Ascended, Sam, Loren - was a barbed and bitter thing, and Ronin couldn't really hide the sorrow in his face as he remembered it all. "I'm sorry that we never discussed anything about the right or the wrong thing, so we would know what lines exist and when they are crossed." He shook his head.

" I do not want you to be sad ever." The alchemist replied with a sulky smile, knowing it a stupid thing to say but absolutely meaning it with all his heart. The smile faded though as Ronin went on, Remi merely shaking his head slightly. He should have been stronger. He should have thought things through more. He was, in short, precisely the naive sort of idiot who hurt the people around him that Jigano had so rightfully accused him of all those months ago.

Raising a hand, Remi curled it softly around the side of Ronin's face, his thumb running the length of his cheekbones. The pads of his fingers feathered slightly as he gazed adoringly at the man before him. "Mmm, if only you had married someone clever enough to know the difference." The alchemist muttered darkly. He meant the words to be self-deprecating, but sadly they were probably more apt than even he realized.

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving "A sweet thought," Ronin murmured, smiling gently in response to Remi's remark. Leaning into the caress along his cheek and turning his head to press his lips against the alchemist's wrist, Ronin slipped an arm back around his husband's waist. With his free hand he tried to tease the feathers out of Remi's curls with soft touches, and he scrunched his nose as the other man continued to berate himself. "None of that," he chastised, glancing up at him. "Things are not black and white, Remi. You do know the difference - it's just muddled into shades of grey. Heck, I've only been back in the guildhall for a few days. You'd be forgiven for not knowing what to do with yourself." He shrugged.

Remi thought his partner was wrong. Exquisitely wrong. Once upon a time doing the right thing was what the alchemist could be counted on to do, no matter the circumstances, no matter the consequences. And now? Now that the door to choosing what he wanted had been unlocked, the alchemist found that selfishness had a rather alluring pull that he found himself giving into far more often than he'd ever thought possible.

But no more. Even Remi wasn't naive enough to think he'd never again make Ronin sad, but he could damn well ensure it wasn't for this reason.

"I have never wanted to just...be somewhere else more." He confided, a soft and almost sleepy smile stealing across his lips. "Just you, me and Aoife. Hot, cold, it would not matter. Just..somewhere away from this." He vaguely gestured around: the guildhouse, kingships, ghosts from their past. Just back to basics.

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Following Remi's gaze around the guildhall as his husband spoke, Ronin let his fingers dance affectionately along the alchemist's lower back. "Okay," he said, as though it were the easiest thing in the world. "I have a few things I need to do first, but afterwards..." He shrugged. "Wherever you want. We'll take Aoife and we'll get out of here for a few days. Maybe somewhere in the Wildwood? It'll be quiet, and the Fae won't mind us being around as long as we don't encroach into the village." And until then, Ronin supposed he had better hop to it. He had a shield to return (sorry Amalia) and a queen to visit. And a goddess that he really believed he needed to speak to. And... reluctant though he might be, he ought to pay Loren a visit as well.

Whereas normally any and all of Ronin's touches brought an instant heat to Remi's belly, for now in the wake of what he'd done and the egregious sadness he'd seen painted across his husband's features, the soft swirls on his lower back filled him with a bittersweet pulse of adoration for his husband. Sweet, for all the obvious reasons. Bitter, because in the moment he deserved none of this.

"I could make as a home underground, or—" With a boyish smile he turned towards his partner, head tilted. "—in a tree. With lots of safety rails and such for Aoife of course." Remi added with a chuckle. Holding up his hands a small tree appeared, meant to approximate one of the larger ones in the woods. Vines and boughs arched and warped making a lovely tree house hidden high above the Woods, covered in a veil of leaves.

Unlike the king who was thinking in earnest about making this a reality, the alchemist thought it merely wishful thinking. The pair had never had a break, had never been told they could have a day off nor had they ever asked for one. It seemed entirely fanciful to think they could start now.

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Whilst Remi enjoyed his wishful thinking for what it was, Ronin was already making mental notes to arrange for their time off. It was the least he could do after treating Remi horrifically throughout this whole blight mess, as well as the damned kingship thing. No, it would be happening - and if his husband wasn't expecting it, well, all the better the surprise. "A treehouse? That sounds perfect. Lucky for me, I have a cloud to fly on these days." He smiled to the alchemist. "Come on. We'll make some tea and thaw out from the snow. You can tell me more about these treehouse plans of yours?" He nudged the other man gently.

"Oh, so that is still a thing, mm?" Remi hummed with healthy interest, brows raised. "It does not just appear when you are falling from manticores, then?"

To continue to repeat what he'd already said, rephrasing apologies as if simply speaking more would somehow get him closer to the heart of what he felt he'd not said, obviously would do no good. And so rather than labour the point further, the alchemist simply pulled the king against him into a tight hug. Closing his eyes, Remi breathed in the scent of his husband, fresh and clean (if not sweaty from all his work). But it was a distinctly Ronin smell, and the alchemist felt his heart skip a beat as he let himself momentarily drown in it.

"Alright." He said, biting back another flood of apologies before turning back into the kitchen.

"Well. If we make the first level Aoife-proof, then the higher levels we needn't worry about." Obviously this was to be a multi-story affair. "Our room can be at the top, beneath the stars." Shooting Ronin a roguish look as he set about heating the water for tea, Remi tried to shrug casually. "I will need your help of course; it will take a lot of wood on my part."

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving "It is still a thing, yes. It doesn't go nearly high enough for a manticore, though. I'll have to practice, see if I can make my cloud stronger." Chuckling to himself, Ronin was surprised to be pulled into a hug, but not remotely against it. His arms folded around Remi in return, Ronin tilting his head to rest it against the alchemist's curls, enjoying the shared warmth and the unspoken reassurance that radiated out from the other man. Releasing him to follow into the kitchen, Ronin leant casually against the door and watched his husband potter about. Raising an eyebrow at the obvious innuendo, he nonetheless offered Remi a crooked grin. "A room beneath the stars sounds wonderful. Though I don't know where you think I'll be getting all of this wood from."

"Is that a thing you ever thought you would be saying?" Remi wondered with a smile. "..making my cloud stronger?."

Grabbing a tin of tea—half of it collected and dried from the Wildwood and half created by Remi's own hands—the alchemist grinned to himself before shrugging and shooting an innocent look over his shoulder. "You just spent weeks out there. I believe in you. You always rise to the challenge, after all." Remi added, turning and leading against the counter with a smug and boyish smirk.

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Ronin snorted and shrugged his shoulders honestly at Remi. "I never expected to die and come back to life. Making my cloud stronger seems a small thing in comparison. Then again I suppose it must be the same thing for you, right? You ever think you'd be making weird little tree creatures?" Watching as Remi meandered about with the tea to prepare it, a small smirk found itself curling at the edges of Ronin's lips as he heard his husband out. Rise to the challenge? That he certainly did. So hopefully it wouldn't be a surprise for Remi that, when the alchemist turned around to lean against the counter, it would be to find Ronin already there as well. Not feeling as though he needed words to convey how he felt, he merely leant in to kiss the other man with a low hum of agreement. His fingers brushed over Remi's jaw, tilting his head up and back that he might deepen the kiss, as though eager to show his husband what he had been missing.

With a comical huff the alchemist gave his husband a stern look. "They are not weird. I think it is rather nice." He said with a defensive sniff, tilting his chin upwards. Remi really didn't think it was strange at all, but then again the Attuned-bond made his affinity with nature a bit more unnatural than it would have been for say, someone like Ronin.

With a startled smile at seeing the hunter so close, Remi drew in a breath thinking he was about to be chastised more for his weird little trees, when instead he found Ronin's lips against his. More than welcoming the gesture the alchemist found one hand curling around Ronin's lower back while the other tangled through his dark hair, pulling him ever closer. Letting his tongue flicker forward to softly press against the king's, the alchemist moaned a soft note of encouragement as his fingers tightened tentatively, suggestively, questioningly.

I forgot what it was like, to think I found you finally

Coding base by Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Remi's weird little trees might well be rather nice, but Ronin had his own ideas about that right now, and they all involved the fingers in his hair and the hand curling about his waist. Humming low in his throat, he teased his tongue against Remi's, free hand winding around him in return to urge them closer still, hips tilting to grind playfully against the other man. "You can see," he whispered, his smile audible in his voice. "For the first time, you'll be able to properly see all the filthy things I'm going to do to you. Lucky." With a wicked laugh, he leant in to capture Remi's mouth anew, shifting that he might get his hands under the alchemist's thighs to hitch him up and onto the counter.