sorry i took a bite outta you

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

To say Phoebe was nervous would have been an understatement. She quietly made her way through the snow laden streets, bundled up more than was necessary, Pim unhappily digging through it at her side. In trembling hands she held a small basket with a few baked goods and a bottle of wine – she remembered Remi saying she needed to make numerous quilts to make up for the wrongs she had done, but at the moment her hands trembled too much for her to do so.

He steps brought her to the guildhall doors, where she stopped, staring up at the imposing structure. Usually she would have just waltzed right in. But that was before she had become a monster. The was before she had attacked and tried to literally eat Remi. Now she didn’t feel like she had the same right to do so. Instead, she banged the large metal knocker to alert those inside of someone at their doorstep.

Then all there was to do was wait, and worry.

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

Glancing up from where he'd been reading next to the fire, the alchemist frowned across the room. No one knocked anymore. Everyone barged in, demanding to see Ronin, demanding help for something or other, or just...well. It was a guild after all, the fact that Ronin and Remi (and temporarily Nate and Sam) lived there hardly seemed to mattered.

Rising and padding towards the door with a sweater wrapped around his shoulders, Remi pulled at the ornate handle. Smiling instantly at seeing Phoebe, the alchemist stepped aside to let her in. "Are you feeling better? Or have you simply broken out of jail?" He chuckled, waiting for her to step inside before pushing the door shut behind her to keep the chill from invading the room.

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Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

Remi may have been smiling brightly, but Phoebe looked rather like a kicked puppy sitting in a muddy puddle of an alleyway on Christmas. Her eyes teared up immediately, still slightly blackened as the blight worked its way out of her system, hands still trembling as well. Such a bright, happy greeting hadn’t been expected, and in a way it made her feel worse. She didn’t deserve it, not in the least. Loren’s mantra rung out in her mind ’It was the blight, not me’ - and yet she still couldn’t shake the deep seeded guilt she felt.

”U-uhm… yes I’m feeling quite a bit better…still not fully but I am myself again.” she said softly as she stepped inside. ”Jata came and got someone to let me out.” she said holding the basket out to him. ”I…I am so-so sorry, Remi. I…I am disgusted by what I did to you and I know you couldn’t possibly forgive me but…I brought you this, and I will make you those quilts as soon as my hands stop shaking.” she said, remorse coloring her tone and expression. She sniffled a little and quickly wiped at her eyes to keep the blackened tears from falling.

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

"Jata did?" Remi asked with all the wry skepticism of an older sibling. He assumed then that the tears in her eyes had something to do with her blighted counterpart, until she started crying in earnest. Putting down the basket immediately, the alchemist reached forward to tug her to him, smoothing down her hair and leaning his cheek against the top of her head. "Forgive you? Phoebe it was not your fault. Ronin did the same. Well, with his nails anyway." He corrected with a soft shrug.

"Phoebe that was a joke." He whispered adoringly, his smile colouring his words as he continued to fuss over her hair and hum soothing notes against her.

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Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

She nodded to his question. ”Yeah he did. And then I helped wreck his life a bit so I suppose that makes up for him being a jerk over all.” she said with a little huff, wondering if he would tell Lusea or if the woman would hear it from the midwife herself. But she was tugged to Remi’s chest in short order and pulled from her reverie, wrapping her arms around his waist. ”I know, I’ve been told it isn’t my fault but I still feel guilty. I…It was horrible. Watching it all and not being able to do anything.” she sniffled, willing herself to not let any more tears fall lest she wreck Remi’s shirt.

”Well you deserve I’m sorry quilts!” she said rather pitifully. ”But I’m glad you don’t hate me…I was worried you might…and I couldn’t have really blamed you for it either.”

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

Snorting Remi raised a brow. "You? A life-wrecker? Hardly." As for whether or not any of it made up for what Jata had apparently done to her, well...that was a conversation for later when eyes were dryer and there was a fire going.

Instead of making Phoebe repeat on a loop that it wasn't her fault, the alchemist just hummed a note of understanding. "Ronin feels the same." He whispered softly. "To know what he was doing but not be able to stop it? Honestly, I cannot imagine."

Pulling back to look her in the eyes, Remi raised his hands to wipe away her tears with his thumbs. "Because you make such excellent quilts of course I will not turn it down but—wait, hate you?" Shaking his head with a lopsided smile the alchemist linked an arm around Phoebe's waist and directed her into the greatroom towards the fire. "Never on your life." He said finally, stopping before the hearth and sinking down.

"Next you will say something equally absurd, like I did not taste good." He said with a boyish grin.

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Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

"Ehhhh...there's a first time for everything." she mumbled. But she figured if he wanted to know more he would ask. For now, she would focus on the forgiveness she sought but didn't think she deserved.

"It was like a nightmare, come to life...you know how it is hard to do what you actually want to in those kind of dreams?" she said with a sniffle, trying to get her emotions back in check. She focused in on Pim, who was shaking snow and wet off his scales. The little dragon trilled at her, sending warm, happy feelings to her through their connection. As Remi wiped her tears and assured her he did not hate her - could not hate her - she smiled just the tiniest bit. "Thank you, Remi." she said softly.

She sunk down onto the hearth as well, enjoying the warmth of the fire as it suffused her skin and the thick sweaters she wore over her dress. "You tasted like raw pork if I am honest." she said, wrinkling her nose. Not pleasant but there were worse things - so long as she didn't think too deeply on it.

"How is Ronin? Is he doing better as well?"/say]

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

Well, that was certainly true. Though...the more life that the alchemist lived, the more he thought perhaps some things weren't worth experiencing any amount of times, firsts included.

"Raw pork, mm?" The alchemist mused thoughtfully, shooting Phoebe a roguish smile as he leaned back against the stones of the hearth. "I suppose there are worse things to taste like." Remi thought all sorts of inappropriate thoughts then, of telling Ronin what Phoebe had said and all the innuendos about pork that would likely follow.

"Mmm, he is yes. He still gets fatigued faster than he'd like, but he is home now. He is probably out shoveling snow or some such." Remi pulled in a breath. The proceeding few days had been a whirlwind of emotions for the alchemist, but even so, his smile was easy and boyish. "I cannot put into words how good it is to have him back. You too." He added, reaching out to squeeze Phoebe's shoulder affectionately.

beats in time with yours

Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

Her nose wrinkled and she shook her head. "I'd really rather not think about it to be honest. I still feel so guilty and disgusted with myself." she said with a groan. Clearly all the potential implications did not come to mind for her. Instead, the real implication of trying to eat Remi did, and it caused her much distress. But it wasn't something she could ever make up for.

It was the blight, not her. Ugh. If only she could release herself from guilt so easily.

She nodded a little as he described the state Ronin was still in as it was much the same for her. "I'm still...a bit on edge emotionally, though with sadness instead of anger now." she said with a bit of a sigh. She couldn't wait to feel normal again. Phoebe managed a small smile at him as he squeezed her shoulder. "It is good to be back. I feel as though I've so much to make amends for, though I'm not certain I can." she said, frowning a bit.

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

"I imagine there is a lot of that going around." Remi said with a soft shrug. He offered no words of consolation, because really, what was there to say? He'd seen Phoebe at her absolute worst, as he'd seen Kiada, Jigano, and worse of all, Ronin. Remi knew precisely what it was that had happened to them all and knew the effects first hand; there was nothing to say in the after math of that. But there was also no anger, either.

"Mmm." The alchemist agreed with a hum, before shaking his head. "Much as it likely does you no good to hear it, you really don't. We all just want this to be done with, the non-blighted much as you all do. I just hope..." Swallowing down a lump of anxiety, the alchemist softly shook his head. "Nothing. It is nothing. Can I get you anything? Tea?"

beats in time with yours

Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

”That’s what I am afraid of…” Phoebe said with a sigh. She liked having an action item, like knowing there was something she could do to make amends or fix some wrong. But in this case it wasn’t really her fault, not at the core of it, so there was nothing she could do – and the things that her evil blight twin had done were truly unforgivable. That left her at a complete loss, and it made her terribly uncomfortable.

But Remi’s mannerisms changed and he caught himself short. Her brows furrowed slightly. ”No, it is clearly something. What’s wrong?” she asked him, concern coloring her tone. Was something more amiss than she had originally suspected based on his happy greeting? ”Tea is always lovely, but tell me what is bothering you first.”

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

Lying was not something the alchemist was wont to do, but he found himself slipping towards the idea of it more and more as of late. Shaking his head with a small twitch of his lips, the alchemist silently reminded himself as best he could who he was and what he stood for. At least, who he thought he was and what he thought he stood for.

"Isla mentioned...that there were diseases that miraculously seemed to get better, right before they took their final turn." Remi replied in a low voice, not quite meeting Phoebe's gaze. Slowly though he did raise his too-clear eyes with a weary not-quite-smile.

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Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Let you go and the lonely in
To take my heart again

Ohhhhhhh. Phoebe nodded a little in understanding as Remi finally admitted what was bothering him. ”Well, yes, that does happen, with some diseases more often than others.” she said softly. She would have never crossed Isla’s knowledge of medicine, even if she disagreed, for even in her new form the healer was incredibly knowledgeable. But in this case she had no qualms with Isla’s statement. It was true enough.

However…

”But we are all accustomed to a world where there are no gods, or at least none that intervene in the affairs of man.” she said softly, smiling at him a little. ”Before the blight became worse, Frey said to me that Vi was going to fix the blight and cure the afflicted. I should not think that the high god of life would be happy to see so many die, nor do I think Frey would give me that assurance were it going to fall through. With Vi’s blessing, and Rae's cooperation, the blight will pass and Ronin will be well in time. I have faith in that.” she said with a quiet confidence.

when the heart of this wide-eyed wanderer

Remi's old skepticism reared its head, and the alchemist could do little more than shrug his shoulders. "Perhaps...but the high god of life surely could have done something more simple than ask us to plant roses? Why not just heal everyone? Why let everything get so bad to begin with?"

Ahh, faith. Everyone seemed to have that except the alchemist. Again Remi gave a boyish shrug. "As you said, we came from a world without all of this. Really, what has changed your mind so? You have said that you have had a few nice conversations with Frey...but, what of it? What about any of this makes you believe the gods can't or wouldn't lie? They did trap everyone in a barrier for three hundred years, basically leaving them to their own devices. What makes you think they suddenly care so much now?"

beats in time with yours

Coding base by Sky!