this madness of now

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Molly the mare." Remi repeated with a grin. "Well at least now I know the bar is set low for naming the wagon." So saying (<3) he twisted at the waist, flicking his fingers towards the side of their wagon. In big chunky letters, the following appeared,

R&R's Things & Stuff

And then in smaller letters,

(We do things, and have stuff).

Turning back smugly with one eyebrow raised, Remi popped the last of his fish into his mouth as he regarded the birds. "Oh, plenty. Watch." Rolling up invisible sleeves (he was in a t-shirt of course), Remi looked earnestly at the birds. 'Alright birds. Who is the more handsome of the two of us? Is it...Ronin?"

Silence.

"Is it...me?" Compelling them into noisy squawking, the alchemist gave his counterpart as bashful a shrug as he could manage.

"Excuse me? Molly is a perfectly fine name for a mare, and I would thank you to take as much care with our wagon name," Ronin said haughtily, watching Remi turn and level his magic at their new venture. Narrowing his eyes as the letters appeared (and squinting comically to attempt to read the smaller script), Ronin snorted and turned back to his breakfast. "How wonderfully vague. Are you very sure that we won't confuse people rather than enticing them in?" Watching the birds now and relaxing back on his elbows to watch the spectacle unfold, the hunter let out a laugh that sounded genuinely, warmly amused for the first time since they'd landed in Torchline. "I feel I may not be complimenting you enough, if you have to resort to gulls to make yourself feel handsome," he quipped. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"No I am not sure of that, but I also don't think I mind one way or another. Enticed, confused, or put off entirely." Remi shrugged dismissively. " Unless of course you are questioning our ability to provide for ourselves and are suggesting we take this seriously as a real job." With an entirely crooked grin.

Urging the birds forward to peck at Ronin's bootlaces (or whatever he was wearing, and if not, his toes then), the alchemist huffed out what was meant to be a disgruntled sigh. "What do you mean feel handsome. I think you will find this well-rounded survey has established that I am handsome." Then, laughing, Remi leaned to the side to place a kiss against the scruff of Ronin's jaw. "But that is true. You don't compliment me near enough. Do you know what else you don't do near enough?"

Ronin opened his mouth and then promptly changed his mind and closed it again. Initially yes, he had been thinking that they would have no choice but to take this seriously and as a real job if they wanted to actually stay alive. But then he remembered that his husband wasn't an alchemist, he was the alchemist as far as Ronin was concerned, and they would likely want for nothing at all. The wagon, the mare... all of it was just to keep themselves occupied, really. "Oi!" Ronin was pulled from his thoughts by the birds pecking at his bootlaces, the hunter kicking out at them and pulling his feet in. "You're handsome and my laces are worms apparently," he said with an expression of ridiculous outrage, one that only smoothed away a little as Remi leant in and kissed him. "I will make sure to shower you in compliments. What else don't I do near enough?" RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Apparently." Remi grinned in reply, mentally shooing the birds off with a crinkle of his nose.

"Take me swimming." The alchemist replied with a boyish thrill to his voice. Other than brief quest-exercises in the Oasis, the pair had never been swimming, what with Ronin's obnoxious attractiveness and Remi's complete need to avoid being around anyone that handsome, way back when.

And it wasn't as though they had anything else to do that day, what with horses and wagons named and breakfast eaten.

Ronin watched the birds' departure with obvious and haughty suspicion, his cheek still pressed close against Remi as his husband whispered with such delight into his ear. A small smile crept across his face, one that grew into something truly mischievous as he turned his head to gaze at Remi. "You know, you are absolutely right," he murmured, promptly hauling himself to his feet and dragging Remi with him. "Probably wise to walk to the sea given that we are still wrongly accused of being thieves," he said. "So... stay, I guess." Waggling a finger to the mare, Ronin's free hand slipped into his husband's so he could lead them through the foliage. "It has been so long since I went swimming." RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"I often am." Remi agreed, rising nimbly up with his husband and interlacing his fingers into Ronin's. "Ahh, is that what all the commotion was about this morning?" Looking properly incredulous and innocent, Remi gave the mare a fleeting glance. "Stay where you are if you don't want to be hobbled." He warned with a grin, though he did punctuate this with a mental command for her to remain where she was. Given the lushness of the grass and the shade, Remi didn't think she needed much convincing.

Bursting through the foliage and emerging onto the road, Remi had to tug at Ronin's hand to kick his husband into a run to make it over the already blisteringly-hot stones. Given Remi still wasn't wearing shoes, the white sand of the beach was hardly any better.

Bursting into a sprint, Remi tugged off his shirt before throwing it at Ronin as if it might trip him up. "Race you!"

”Commotion? I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about,” Ronin said, as if his arrival that morning with the wagon had been timely and calm, without any shouting or chasing. Giving the wagon, the Hels and the mare a sunny wave, he allowed his husband to tow him along at a quicker pace, laughing as Remi tried to navigate the hot road and hotter sands on bare feet. The notion of a race was one Ronin couldn’t rightly deny, though he was already set to lose by having to get his boots off. ”You cheated, sir!” he called, shoes abandoned at last and his shirt pulled over his head - a minor wince as he pulled at all too fresh scar tissue. Remi would beat him to the waves, of that there was no doubt, but Ronin still found himself halting before the lapping, sparkling water. The amusement dropped from his expression and he found himself, for a moment or two, caught somewhere else, in another life, painting a ship and speaking to a beautiful woman. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"I absolutely did!" Remi called cheerfully over his shoulder. As soon as his feet touched the frothy waves he felt something with in himself rise; a moment of weightlessness at the top of an invisible arc. He realized instantly that Ronin hadn't followed him into the waves and he too felt his joy seem to melt away, dissolved into the brine.

"If only memories were as easy to stop as monsters." He noted softly, turning his back to the sea to regard his husband with an understanding gaze.

Blinking at the sound of his husband’s voice, Ronin glanced up to see Remi before him, ankle deep in the water with the sun blazing behind him. The hunter found himself smiling despite the bitter sweetness that tugged at his heartstrings. Bathed in a halo of gold, Remi was every bit as enticing as the siren who had walked ashore in Northaven had been, and Ronin took a deliberate step into the sea to join him. ”We are here to make new memories. Ones I won’t want to stop,” he said warmly, reaching out to catch his husband around the waist and draw him closer. He leant in for a kiss, as if to seal the promise of this being something new, something more than all they had left behind. ”Come on, let’s swim.” RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Even had Remi known the contents of his husband's thoughts, he'd not have shied away from them. They'd both lived lifetimes and lifetimes now; jealousy was just another way to deny the here-and-now they found themselves in.

"As if I'll give you the choice." The alchemist hummed against Ronin's lips, already imagining how they might taste sun-burnt and salty. With his arms encircling Ronin's waist as well, the alchemist began to drag the hunter into the water with a boyish grin. Taking a comically large gulp of air, Remi would try and throw himself backwards with Ronin in tow, forcing them into the waves once they'd passed the shallows.

”Oh I believe it,” Ronin said, his smile turning very sly indeed. The memories to be made on a long stretch of beach in the sun were infinitely better than those that still haunted him from LongNight (and the rest). Allowing himself freely to be tugged into the water, Ronin felt something within himself ease and let go, like he had been waiting so long for the open sea, for so many complicated reasons, that just being here was enough. Obviously, being pulled under by Remi was just par for the course at this point. Calling out in alarm mingled with outrage, Ronin only just about got a gasp of air into his lungs before they were both plunged beneath the waves. Flailing about and being intentionally difficult about it, he fought to get his feet under him again. ”You are such a shit!” he spluttered. ”Get up here and fight me like a man!” RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

nevertheless it was never the last; hold on strong or you fade out fast

As Ronin struggled he'd find Remi's grip shockingly...firm. Almost as if his flesh was glued where it melded against the alchemist's. As the pair surfaced, rat her than wearing an expression of relieved joy, Remi would look confused. Looking down at his arms, he saw what appeared to be suction-cups of a sort, and where they touched Ronin he felt, momentarily, unable to move them.

"Ah..." He hummed uncertainly, trying in vain to pull himself away from Ronin. Then, to make matters worse for the both of them, obscured by the waves Ronin would feel two tentacles wrap around his calves, possessing the same eerie suction-cup like strength as that which was currently keeping Remi's hands firmly in place on his lower back.

Clearing his throat, Remi managed to pull off one of his hand with a sound like popping bubble-wrap. Looking down at fingers covered with tiny coral-pink suction cups, he narrowed his eyes for a moment before giving Ronin a shaky grin. "Let no one say you don't bring out the best in me."

Though what that was, he currently had absolutely no idea.

"Uh..." What else was there to say, really, as Ronin found himself unintentionally carrying his husband as they surfaced from the water. "Any time you want to let go, y'know, you feel fr-- don't you fucking dare." While ever-so-amusing, the feeling of tentacles wrapping around his legs was far from erotic, and he wanted to ensure that Remi knew that straight away. Scrunching his nose at the pop noise of the alchemist removing his hand, he reluctantly examined the strange little suction cups. "You went from shark teeth and scorpion tail to octopus, and this is me bringing the best out in you?" Ronin raised his eyebrows, a smile managing to work its way across his face now that he was a little more aware of the situation - and Remi didn't seem much more than inconvenienced, which helped. "If you wanted a hug though, you could have just asked." RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.