My thoughts on you

Remi needed some alone time. Normally the alchemist sought the comfort of people and his friends, but just now all of that seemed horribly convoluted and complicated. He'd attacked Ronin, hadn't seen Loren, couldn't visit Vai because he was having hallucinations of his mother whenever he tried, and Ianto and Martha were still unaccounted for. Raking his hands through his curls Remi did his best not to allow himself fall into the pit of despair but given how often he'd been in pits lately, it seemed like a rather easy place to let himself go. Looking uncharacteristically weary and sombre, the alchemist made his way deeper through the glade into an area he hadn't yet encountered before. It was beautiful, this little slip of paradise, but the alchemist could hardly find it in himself to appreciate it. Instead his pale eyes merely surveyed the area with a carelessness that wasn't befitting. Sitting down and placing his back against a tree, Remi closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. remi Trying to teach my common sense to not waver with my confidence

Martha felt like she had been walking in circles, and perhaps she had. She'd been in this glade ever since she'd woken up. She would have shifted to look around and take in her surroundings, maybe find people, if it hadn't been for the medical bag on her shoulder. She didn't want to set it down and then lose it. Just having some medicine was better than none at all.

So, walking in circles it was, although she was rather tired of it. She was about to sit against a tree trunk when she heard someone sigh. She jumped. It didn't matter if it was someone she knew or not, some human interaction would be a blessing at this point. She walked over to where she'd heard the voice, and it took everything within her not to squeal when she recognized who it was. He seemed...out of it, so maybe a hyper giddy hello wasn't exactly appropriate.

Instead, she sat down next to him, and rested her hand on his. "This certainly isn't home, is it?" She asked him

Too lost in his own thoughts was Remi that he hardly heard the sound of the veterinarian as she approached. It was only as the grasses rustled around him as she knelt by his side that his pale eyes slowly opened. The mixture of seeing her face and her hand against his cause a bubble of emotion to so immediately expand in his throat that the alchemist gave a little squeak of surprise as his jaw all but dropped. Immediately Remi leaned forward, gathering his friend into his arms and burying his head against her neck. "Where have you been?" At another time he might have been playfully chastising her, but now the words were already on the verge of tears and the strength with which he held onto her should have told Martha all she needed to know about his current frame of mind. Though she knew him well enough that she had probably picked up on that already. remi Trying to teach my common sense to not waver with my confidence

Martha held Remi close, closing her eyes and breathing him in. He was there, something, someone real, and she had missed him so much. Everything in his body language and tone told her that he'd been through hell and back. She didn't want to let go of him, wanting to assure him that everything would be alright, even if she didn't know for sure.

"I've been lost, Remi. Pretty sure I've been walking in circles. How did you get here? What happened? And don't say nothing because your face tells me otherwise."

She reached up and wiped at his eyes and cheeks, trying to clear away his tears, then hugged him again. "I missed you."

Tears had spring to his eyes just hearing the sound of her voice. Perhaps he should have been used to this; they'd been separated and reunited once already, what was one more time? Even so, then alchemist gasped into her dark hair and skin, tears silently staining his cheeks as his lips trembled with emotion, unable to speak quite yet. "I do not know how we all arrived here." He said honestly, allowing her to lean back slightly if she wanted but still holding her close as if she might vanish at any moment. "I am not even sure that everyone has made it." Then again, with Martha turning up now, perhaps there was still hope that the others were out there. "Everything has gone so wrong Martha.." He breathed hopelessly, closing his eyes tightly and letting a few more tears streak down his face. As her hands wiped them away, Remi tried to smile but his lips continued to tremble. "I missed you more than I could ever say. I thought we promised no more leaving?" Trying to turn his lips upwards at his joke, Remi's heart all but collapsed in his chest as he took another weary breath. remi Trying to teach my common sense to not waver with my confidence

Martha's heart sank as she watched her friend fall apart. She'd seen him in pieces before, but never like this. She pulled him in for a closer hug, feeling that the contact was probably what he needed most, and she used her other hand to stroke his hair in a comforting manner.

"I would never have left if I could have helped it, Remi, I hope you know that. And I'm here now, and I won't leave unless I'm dead. Which hopefully won't be anytime soon."

His attempts at joking had failed him. He looked like a child who so desperately needed his mother. Martha wasn't a mother, but sisterly love was the next best thing, right? She leaned back again.

"Why don't we go for a walk? Maybe it'll help you clear your head."

"No I know." Remi said with a sulky nod of his head. None of this was anyone's fault but his own. That is what made it all the worse. As she mentioned going for a walk, Remi had to stifle the urge to simply shake his head and continue sulking against the tree. But the alchemist wasn't normally one to stew in his sadness, and even though he didn't feel like he had the energy to hold his head up much less go for a strong, it probably was a good idea. "Alright." He agreed with a sigh. Letting Martha move away, Remi braced himself against the tree behind him and moved to stand. Stretching slightly as he'd been stooped over for quite some time, the alchemist exhaled wearily and looked around. "Well, seeing as we both don't really know where we are, I suppose it doesn't much matter which way we go." Offering a hesitant smile, Remi extended a hand for Martha to lead the way. remi Trying to teach my common sense to not waver with my confidence