Lions, and Bonding, and Bears Oh My...
Devrum Calob
Farmer / Butcher

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#1
DEVRUM
As long as Devrum had known Vervain, Remi was always a part of her life. Devrum's sole interactions with the lad were either in passing or unavoidable since they would be assisting Vervain somehow.

There had seldom, if any, time he had spent with the young man strictly on their own for the purpose of just getting to know one another, shoot the shit, or whatever kids called it these days.

It wasn't like Devrum to go about being a social butterfly, but whether he accepted it or not Remi was a part of Vervain's life, and she loved him so dearly. After all she had done and accepted on his end, Devrum owed it to her to at least sit with him for a normal period of time and get acquainted with who he was other than a familiar face he just happened to see every now and then.

He was sure his invitation would be accepted curiously, but he did his best to make the young man feel comfortable. The best way to get to know someone was to test their work ethic, that's how he viewed it at least.

It was just after dawn when the clattering of wood could be heard and hammer smacking echoed the woodlands. Devrum, hard at work in building a home for he and Vervain, was about halfway done with the foundation of the house.

Had Remi accepted the invitation for the early meet, it would not take him very long to follow the noise and the muttered curses which cut through the trees like a passing wind of obscenities.
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#2

The last time Remi had been in the Woodlands his mother had lured him into a magical swamp and tried to convince him to commit suicide. When that had failed, he'd been overtaken by a lion, killed his mother, and then belittled by the god who had appeared before him.

So while it was not in Remi's nature to decline any sort of invitation, the Woodlands were perhaps the last place in this entire hellish landscape that he wanted to find himself.

But of course he went anyways.

Dressed as he normally was, in a pale shirt and khaki-coloured pants stained with both charcoal and blue paint (he'd since given up on trying to find the blue of Loren's eyes, given Frey's magical intervention), Remi easily followed the sounds of the bear-man's labours. "Hello Devrum." He called out when the trees parted enough for the alchemist to get a good look at the much larger man and to know that his voice would carry over the sounds of clanging and wood snapping.

Unsure what to really expect from this encounter - Remi's father had been less than rubbish when it came to being a parent and he was even less of a good man - and so father-son type bonding was not something the alchemist was familiar with at all. But if Devrum just needed a hand with construction work, that was certainly something the alchemist could do.

remi
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Devrum Calob
Farmer / Butcher

Age: 45 | Height: 6' 0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
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#3
DEVRUM
When feasible, one should always eat the rude.
Thump...Thump...curse...Thump...Thump...Thump...curse...

Devrum hammered away, holding up one of the foundation beams as he drove the final nail in its place before looking and turning to Remi when he arrived.

"Come on over here..."

The bear man muttered, motioning Remi over with his fingers as he walked over to one end of another beam, pointing to Remi to grab the other end. Devrum could have clearly picked it up on his own, but what was the point of having spare hands  here if he wasn't going to use them.

"Wait..."

He stopped before lifting his end, walking over to Remi and reaching into his back pockets taking out a set of makeshift gloves he made from spare leather he had gathered over a day of prep work for Remi to come and help. While crude in appearance, they certainly looked like they would get the job done.

"They don't look like much, but they'll get the job done...minding the splinters and what have you..."

He'd wiggle the gloves for Remi to take.

"Sewed them myself...just don't go telling that bit of business around..."

He threatened in a subtle, joking manner.

"Put them on and let's get to it..."

Devrum would wait for Remi to take the gloves if he wanted to, before going back to his position and waited for Remi to set himself.

"On three we lift and going to swing around over to the left side of them makeshift markers I made for the outline of the house."

Branches buried in the ground with rags tied to the top marked the outline of what the house would look like, different colored rags indicating where the support beams would go, and would be where Devrum would guide Remi once he was ready.

"Do much of this sort of work when you were younger?"
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#4

Obediently as ever, Remi nodded immediately and did as he was instructed. Looking at the beam Remi briefly considered letting his hands transform into paws so that he wouldn't get splinters, but that would cause him to lose a great deal of dexterity which would probably be needed. As if thinking the same, Dev called a halt and wanted him a pair of loves. With an appreciative grin, Remi slipped them onto his hands and gave Dev a sideways glance. "Of course not." Remi agreed with a boyish smile. He'd never felt the sort of masculine need to hide certain skills, but he supposed he understood it in a sense.

Nodding with easy understanding, Remi bent his knees and waited for the bear to give the signal. With clearly less strength than Dev, the alchemist was not without muscle and he was able to navigate and maneuver the beam to where the butcher had set the markers.

A light sheen of sweat broke out against his forehead and even as his muscles began to sing slightly, Remi found himself smiling despite the strange and horrible past few days he'd had. Manual labour was not really something that came with his territory anymore, and he'd forgotten what an antidepressant it could be.

"Ahh, no." Remi answered with a light shake of his head. "My father was a merchant and so we spent most of our time traveling. I can fix a wagon better than I can build a house I think." He admitted with an untroubled smile. "I always just made due with what we had at the time. I would sleep under the wagon if it was raining rather than ever thinking to construct a tent." Remi continued with another shrug and sheepish grin. No doubt someone like Dev would find that foolish; living in hardship when there were so many resources around. But Remi's formative years were spent trying to keep his father's business afloat while the man whored and gambled and drank. Practicality was contextual.

remi
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Devrum Calob
Farmer / Butcher

Age: 45 | Height: 6' 0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
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#5
DEVRUM
When feasible, one should always eat the rude.
Devrum listened as he guided them to the desired position. Hardship wasn't something foreign to Devrum, his body held plenty of markings that told a different his story of surviving several. Though he wasn't much of the coddling or comforting type, he understood.

"Here is good."

He gruffed as he motioned for Remi to lower the beam onto the ground so Devrum could lift on his end for placement. If he had done so, Devrum would push it up to straighten.

"Hold her steady boy."

Orders grumbled as he went in search for a hammer and support beams to keep it in place while the young man would be charged to making sure it didn't fall and squash anything in its perimeter, mainly himself.

"My father was head of the farmlands in Northwind, third generation."

Devrum recalled with a grunt here and there as he hammered the support beams, motioning with his hand for Remi to let go.

"Hard worker, nothing came easy for us...he was charged with the produce and the lives of the folks that helped him grow it. Still managed to maintain a marriage and care for a sickly, sorry sack of shit of a son..."

He voice softened slightly toward the end as he mentioned himself, clearing his throat he'd look at Remi.

"Come on over here."

Motioning to the squatted position in front of himself, he'd wait for Remi to listen before continuing.

"Looks like I'm just hammering these supports for the sake of it, but it's all in the positioning. You miscalculate one angle and everything is fucked."

His arm would reach around Remi and point to where he wanted to hit the nails.

"You want to strike around here, the leverage will only support the beam's placement. Alright? Go on, you do the rest, I'll keep watch..."

Devrum stood, arms crossed as he made sure Remi had listened, prepared to make corrections in needed.

"I was a sickly thing, bones lacked strength, muscles withered from lack of use...spent most of my youth being wheeled around or on crutches. My father though, never made me feel like any less of a man for it. I was there, watching, helping where I could to support the family.

He was a good man. Far better than I deserved...can't say he would have approved of what I've done since his passing but...I'd hope he'd understand why I did what I did."


It wasn't abundantly clear to Devrum how much Remi knew of him, of his incarceration and the acts that landed him there, but there wasn't a need to go into it if he wasn't asked.

"Suppose he would be approving this though...everything we had he built with his own hands."

Devrum recalled with a small flicker of a smile before looking over to Remi and checking his progress with a pat of his back, the first pat was firmer than he intended, though the other was gentler against the young man's back.

"Did you have family in Northhaven? Before it all gone to shit...?"
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#6

Obedience - something which had been ingrained into Remi by society as well as life - was readily given. Instead the alchemist held her steady as the bear man searched for the tools needed to fix the beam in place. Peaking his head around, he listened as Devrum surprisingly began to elaborate a bit on his life. Vai was an excellent conversationalist, and Remi had often thought it was amusing to see her with someone who he'd only seen as gruff and more or less capable of only grunts and gestures to communicate his meaning. Thinking now that perhaps he simply hadn't been around Dev at the right time or perhaps the bear just needed to warm up to him a little, Remi smiled and happily listened on as he spoke.

Releasing his hands as instructed. "Sickly?" He intoned tilting his head slightly. Dev appeared if not the picture of health, at least someone who wouldn't go down without a fight, even if that fight was caused by an illness.

Again doing as he was told, Remi knelt down before the bear-man and continued to listen.

"Everything is fucked." Remi repeated. The wording was far more crude than the way the alchemist would have worded it, but he found himself agreeing with the sentiment wholeheartedly. Most of Remi's creations were done on a much smaller scale; the measurements more minute, the infractions more severe. But Dev's example resonated with him, and Remi found himself bobbing his head in agreement, and finding he rather liked the way the swear word felt in his mouth, out here in the fresh air.

As Dev reached around Remi, the alchemist stiffened slightly. Not because it was a man around him (though once upon a time this closeness with anyone would have sent his mind flailing), but because of what it represented. If Vai was roughly a mother figure then that might make Dev roughly a father figure. And as it was, Remi's father had been horrible and subconsciously Remi was reacting to that in some way.

Picking up the hammer, Remi hefted it in his hand several times to get the weight of it. Swinging it gently he felt the way the head balanced itself in his hand to try and predict what sort of a swing he might need to accurately hit the nail. Taking a breath, his hands used to much more dexterous labour than this, Remi swung and ... well... he didn't miss entirely, but he did bend the side of the head of the nail given his inaccuracy. "Ahh!" He exclaimed, inwardly recoiling slightly and shifting the hammer in his hand. Trying again he found his aim much truer.

Listening with his head cocked slightly as he worked, he couldn't imagine the description Devrum was given and how it came to be the man who stood behind him. "I am sorry to hear of his passing." The alchemist said under his breath, the words almost involuntary they came so quickly. Politeness was almost second nature, and yet it didn't sound perfunctory. Remi truly was sorry to hear of it, especially since Devrum seemed to speak so highly of the man.

Vai had explained a little of what had initially gotten the bear locked up, but not in detail.

As Dev's hand found the back of Remi's shoulder, the air rushed from the alchemist's lungs, he stiffened, and the hammer went wild. Clearing his throat and running the length of his arm across his eyes to clear the bit of sweat starting to accumulate, Remi chuckled but shook his head no. "Northaven? No. My father remained back in Northwind and my mother died when I was younger..." Trailing off, Remi's accent seemed to become thicker as he became more introspective, feeling the need to reciprocate the way Dev had. "My father was a merchant, though not a particularly good one. He spent most of his time whoring and drinking - both when my mother was alive and after she had passed - and spend the remaining time trying to cheat and steal his way into the next week. He sold junk dressed up as priceless artifacts and babbles." So saying, the alchemist sighed his disapproval and shook his head. "I did what I could to keep us afloat. My skills lay in the creation of things like tonics and liquors and pigments and things." Shrugging gently - paint was certainly not the same as making a house - Remi smiled. "It got us by, at least."

remi
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Devrum Calob
Farmer / Butcher

Age: 45 | Height: 6' 0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
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#7
DEVRUM
When feasible, one should always eat the rude.
Devrum listened, leaning against the beam while also quietly observing. The only real sign of acknowledgement was the low growl heard when Remi began describing his father. He said nothing, because if he did it wouldn't be words of comfort, but ones of thoughts of devouring a man who would go about abusing his way of life, neglecting his child. He would continue watching the young man work before giving him a firm smack on the side of his shoulder.

"Get up. Calling a break. Get something to eat. Vai seemed confident you'd show up so insisted I go about making you something to eat."

Devrum would call out as he began walking toward where the porch would eventually become as he pulled an extra crate, spilling the remainder of his tools on the floor to make a seat for Remi.

"Not sure what kind of appetite you got...meat, non-meat...made you a salad and some chili. Could have either or both. Didn't want to take any chances."

He'd wait for Remi to sit, if he followed along before opening the bowls for him and resting them on the side of his crate.

"Sorry about your dad. For what it's worth you're a good kid."

Devrum would step away a moment before returning with two cups and a clear gallon jug.

"You were forced to grow up early huh? Suppose in a way it helped you adjust to the fucked up nature of life before most others. Probably hardened you slightly for it, and truth is, probably for the best. Ain't condoning what happened to you, but some times going through the shit that early, only makes you stronger now."

The gallon tipped as the clear liquid of a makeshift moonshine was poured. A healthy glass, like one would drink water. Before he clinked his glass to Remi's and took a seat next to him.

"You adjusting well enough to all of this? Find yourself needing or missing anything? Don't have much of a place now, but when I get this done, you could come stay any time. I know Vai would like that...we'll see if I still like you by the time this day is done though."

Devrum smirked, half-joking as he motioned Remi to eat up.
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#8

Flinching again—Remi would probably never get used to Devrum's hearty brand of physicality—he grinned at the mention of Vai's mothering. "Meat please." Remi replied with a wry smile. For as gentle as he came across, Remi's shifts were predators after all.

As Devrum turned a crate over for him to sit on, Remi reached out as if to stop the bear, wincing as the tools clanked on to the ground. "I would have been happy to sit on the ground." The alchemist said with a tiny shake of his head. Though Devrum would have been a commoner back home as well, Remi still did not like it when others did things for him. All of his life he'd gone without much, and something inside of him recoiled at the idea of others going out of their way to do things for him, when the basics would do just fine.

Glancing at Devrum from beneath a veil of curls, Remi forced a smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Not everyone is good." The alchemist said simply, running a hand through his hair as he took his seat.

Dev's pep talk? drew very little reply from Remi, who instead looked studiously at his hands. There were many who would probably think the alchemist probably still quite soft. Then again Remi always had been an interesting mixture of open and honest but veiled at the same time. He'd killed a man once, but Remi very much doubted whether or not any of his friends would ever think him capable of such. But was he strong? Remi didn't know.

Taking the drink - presumably moonshine or something distilled from potatoes, the alchemist gave it a sniff and tried not to cough. It was certainly strong, though Remi expected no less from the bear. And, given how often he had made (and failed) at creating different liquors, the alchemist was no stranger to overly potent potables.

As Dev asked if Remi was adjusting, Remi gave a hearty laugh and took a long drink from his glass. It burned delightfully and though Remi's body wanted to shudder at the taste, he stilled the urge and leaned into the burn instead. "Things are very different here." He said, shaking his head. "I have met two gods, been cursed by both, but I have opened my own shop for the first time and if Ronin is to be believed, apparently I am no longer a commoner." Grinning towards Devrum, Remi tipped his glass towards him "And now I am helping to build a house for a woman I love dearly. So I suppose things could be worse."

remi
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Devrum Calob
Farmer / Butcher

Age: 45 | Height: 6' 0 | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship:
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#9
DEVRUM
When feasible, one should always eat the rude.
"We all done some kind of shit we ain't proud of. Ain't no one entirely good. Someone goes about claiming those kind of things, is the one you need to be looking out for. Never trust anyone who ain't got their hands dirty. Means they've made a habit of getting other people to do it for them."

That much Devrum knew. It was perhaps why he hated nobility, and a bulk of the Northhaven society, and preferred isolating himself in the farmlands. The city was littered with hypocrisy. 'Good men, Good women' he scoffed at the notion. Opportunistic, like any other person placed in a position of power, that's what described them best.

As Remi proceeded to go on about his shit luck, Devrum couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry...just...sounds fucked up."

He attempted to reason, shaking his head with some laughter.

"Never put much faith in the belief that I wasn't in control of my own life. Good or bad, to know there is something or someone else out there fucking around with us though...I don't like it."

A side-eyed glance was given to the young alchemist when he spoke of his love for Vervain and being happy to help along with building her home. He simply nodded in agreement. Vervain was easy to love. She was warm and strong and just knew how to hold you to make you feel safe. Even for Devrum, who made a habit of being overprotective, and never paid much mind for his own safety, found security in her arms some nights as she groomed his hair with her fingers.

"I hate change."

Devrum muttered, staring into nothing really before looking at his bowl as he picked at his food.

"Always did. Change never brought me much of anything that did me any favors. Change took my dad, brought me to a hell I never expected to survive. Brought me to a new world that ended up as fucked as the first...change...fuckin hate it...least, thought I did. Change also brought me Vai. Gave me a wife, a daughter...brought me here, gave me a chance to make something of my life. Brought me you. You're the most significant person in her life that ain't blood related. Not that it matters to her."

A large chunk of chili had gone down the wrong pipe, but Devrum wrestled it down with a beat against his chest. Easing his breathing with a burp that sounded other-worldly. Like beast and man became one.

"Said you were cursed by these fuckers of faith right? The hell did they do to you? Don't seem that much worse for wear."
Remi Taliesin
the Bastion


Age: 31 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
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#10

For a moment Remi merely regarded Devrum's summation of his luck being fucked up, before a cheeky smile slid across his features and he laughed as well. "Very." Remi agreed through laughter-parted lips as he took another drink of the moonshine Dev had offered.

I hate change.

Still a bit punchy from his bout of laughter, the alchemist could only shrug boyishly. "I guess this place really sucks for you then." He said brightly with a crooked smile. If Devrum could laugh at the fact Remi could be cursed by the gods, it was only fair for the boy to similarly laugh at Dev's situation. However as the bear continued, the smile slid off Remi's face and the alchemist listened earnestly, his cheeks flushing as Devrum mentioned how much he meant to Vai.

Running a finger around the rim of his mug, vaguely he wondered how much Vai had told Devrum about him. Probably only as much as she had to. He assumed there was an honesty between the bear and the huntress, but not the sort that required Vai to come home and tell him every detail about her day. "She is like the mother I never got to have." He mumbled with a sweet and sad smile.

As Devrum coughed, Remi's mind quickly wondered whether or not he'd have the arm-circumference to give the bear a heimlich if it came to that. Luckily it didn't, and Remi sighed with relief as the bear proclaimed his cleared airways with a prehistoric sounding burb.

Nibbling the inside of his cheek, Remi paused, unsure how to answer this latter question. "One of them, Ludo, tried to trick me into killing myself. When I didn't...he gave me magic, but he said it made me an abandoned. I do not believe the gods here view those with magic favorably ... or at least, when I met another one, it did not seem pleased at all that I was suddenly possessing of power." Swallowing, Remi could only shrug. "The other...Frey...The first day I encountered it was with two women. It stripped us of our clothing and bound and gagged us. After that it tried to make the two women..uh.." Trailing off, Remi gave Dev a sheepish smile and shrugged again. "And so when I met the god a second time, I simply asked if sex was what it traded in, since it very much seemed that way, and on that second meeting it took my clothes again—and the woman I was with—and bound us." Heat flushed Remi's cheeks but he merely sighed it away, running a hand through his curls. "Having angered it, it took...well." Softly Remi looked down, examining his hands for a moment. "I was in love with someone. And this god took those feelings away." Looking up, Remi shrugged once more. "I feel nothing now, not any of the passion or adoration that I used to feel."

remi
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning
And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.


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