the rainbow connection

OLIVER

To be so at peace with oneself after feeling like a square trying to cram its way into a circle was, well, incredible. Oliver wasn't entirely sure why he was brought to Caido and his lack of memories didn't help. As well, he was slowly realizing how little help he had provided to anyone. Amun had made it clear that staying indoors at the Artist's Guild helped no one, but he also couldn't bring himself to train...not yet. It was a fury of conflicting emotions, some that told him he should be busy fighting and preparing himself for war, but the other half told him to go where he was at most peace and right now? Surprisingly, that was in the newest portal destination: Torchline.

It's funny how he felt at most home here. He didn't know anyone here as far as he were aware, aside from Remi and Ronin who were apparently still here... but even then, Oliver wasn't sure if he entirely believed it until he saw it with his own eyes. Even with that new knowledge, it didn't change how he felt about the place. He wouldn't move here, absolutely no, but this would be a quiet place where he could visit. Meditate. Make himself feel at ease. This place felt like home and he loved it so much.

And that's how he found himself exploring new places. Venturing away from the portal and instead, to see what Torchline had to offer, which apparently included an absolutely gorgeous formation. One that glittered like stars and reflected the image of a rainbow. It was extravagant and he couldn't help himself but smile at the site.

With his dark blue shorts on and a white, short sleeve top, Oliver found himself removing his sandals and sitting out on a rock, closing his eyes and simply being at bliss.

---

Remi

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

The so-called Rainbow Road, aptly named but a bit on the nose, stretched out before him. For all of its beauty, the alchemist merely swept his gaze across the multi-coloured hues that blanketed the land before getting to work. Volcanic rock was extremely porous and possessed qualities that the alchemist wanted to study. That it happened to be prominent in such a beautiful area was mere happenstance as to why he was here.

Dressed without a shirt or shoes as he was normally wont to be, Remi began to carve out bits of rock with his magic. Unbeknownst to him, the geyser was nearly ready to explode.

OLIVER

Things were nice calm and peaceful, Oliver eyes were closed and life was going great....until it all wasn't. Okay, maybe that's a small bit dramatic, but Oliver had never seen a geyser in all of his life, so of course he had never heard one, so it's easy to understand how terrifying one could be if it were placed in an inconvenient position. No, it wasn't under him, rather, it was about a foot away from him.

Like a rocket, the geyser erupted, spraying water into the sky, causing Oliver to quite literally scream in surprise and immediately stand up, practically throwing himself a foot away. On instinct, he used his telekinesis to grab his knife out of his boot and grasped onto it. His body turned around rapidly and he was facing...water. Fucking water. To make it even better, because he was so close, he was sprayed with water cascading from the sky all thanks to the gods damn geyser. With a body that was still shaking, he slowly lowered his weapon and watched the geyser with keen eyes, trying to figure out what the actual fuck just happened.

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

Though Remi hadn't been expecting it, it wasn't a great surprise.

Water rushed into the sky, the prismatic sea-scape made resplendent with colour and vivacity. He of course, didn't care at all. A scream drew his attention, and his sea-shattered gaze was directed towards a rather familiar face. Exhaling a long sigh through his nose, the alchemist paused what he was doing to call out, "It's just water, Oliver. It can't hurt you. Goes straight up, comes straight down."

Where once Remi's voice was kind and warm, generous and sunny, now it was entirely devoid of acoustic content. Flat sounding and with an impassive stare, Remi turned back to the collection of the volcanic rock before him.

OLIVER

The geyser was enough to shake him up, but then a sudden, all so familiar voice called out to him. His head turned ever so slightly to see...Remi?! His eyes widened even more and he quickly stuffed the knife back into his boot, not even considering at first that this could all be fake. "Remi?" He never believed Remi had died, but that didn't mean he completely believed that Remi was here. In Torchline. Last he heard, Remi just suddenly disappeared, so was this where he ended up? Why?

Remi possibly being fake started to settle into his brain, causing him to almost regret putting his knife away. "I...I was just startled, that's all...never seen one of these before." It was obvious that he was embarrassed, but also that he was holding back quite a lot. He wanted to be sure that this was Remi. The Remi he knew. The one who had saved him from the snow...the one who he hoped he could call a friend. Part of his body called him to hug the man, to reach forward and grasp for him, but isn't that what a siren does? It beckons you closer, calling you towards something you desire. This could be a trap for all he knew.

His fingers twitched as he held himself back from reaching forward. Instead, he took one step closer to Remi, testing the waters. "Is that really you?" There was hope in his voice, but also worry. Surely, Remi would do something to prove it was him. Surely, Remi could then at least hug him or do something to show that they could still talk to each other, that Oliver could still call him a friend.

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

"It's called a geyser." The alchemist informed the other hybrid with an almost bored and distracted tone. As Oliver worked out what he was or wasn't going to do, the alchemist continued to collect bits of volcanic rock for his samples.

The question made him pause for a moment, sea-flecked eyes focused on the greyish rocks before him as he ran a hand up the side of his unshaven cheek. Briefly he considered saying something sarcastic. In the end he simply carved out another chunk of rock and nodded. "Yep." The sunniness and joy that was usually writ into his features was gone; there was no mirth or boyish intrigue in his eyes or in his posture.

OLIVER

His eyes wandered back towards the natural fixture, identifying it now as a geyser. It was beautiful, in a way, now that he got the opportunity to actually look at it as the water slowly lowered back down. Really, he had been startled over such a small little thing and it was super embarrassing now.

Returning back to Remi, Oliver wasn't completely convinced by the response. He had only heard of monsters being able to replicate voices, but maybe not appearances. Of course, it could be a siren, but did Caido even have sirens? Oliver wasn't sure. What he did know was that this Remi acted nothing like the old Remi. There were many reasons why this could be the case, seeing as he had tried to kill himself with claws, he lost his daughter, and his husband destroyed the temple...yeah...maybe Remi wasn't going to offer him a hug now that he really thought about it.

"It's nice to see you again," He truly was happy to see Remi and to know that he was doing well, but he didn't want to overwhelm his friend with too much talking. So instead, he took a few steps closer and watched the alchemist for a second before speaking once more, "Can I help you a bit? I brought my knife? Oh! I can also make some tools if I need to?" The last part was said more as a question, even though it probably counted as a statement. Really, he just wanted to have a moment alone with Remi, to be with the man once more and to truly see if this was his friend. They'd be able to talk about things in a bit, but for now, Remi didn't seem in the proper headspace for talking.

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

Remi didn't return the sentiment.

"Oliver, I am stronger than you. Have more magic than you. A minute ago you didn't even know what this was. How is it you're going to help me?" The words were said in a flat affect, Remi's once musical voice now entirely without emotion. Glancing towards Oliver with a raised brow, the scarring on his throat from where he'd tried to claw it out was gruesome and clear. Indeed the scar tissue on his chest where he and Aoife had been skewered was just as misshapen and obvious.

OLIVER

Part of Oliver was a small bit frustrated and even a bit offended with how rude Remi was being, but he also had to remind himself that Remi had been through quite a lot of shit. It wasn't entirely right for Remi to be an open asshole, but he also had a reason to be upset. Maybe that's how he was handling his grief. Oliver would still treat the man with respect, even if it wasn't returned back to him. He owed Remi for all the favors he had done for him so the least he could do was continue to be nice in this moment of pain.

There's an eyeroll as Oliver squats down. "I didn't know what a geyser was, yeah, but I know what rocks are. You're excavating rocks, right? Plus, shouldn't I at least try to learn more?" What's the point in stopping himself from learning? Remi was basically saying that since he didn't know that he should never learn. Which was bullshit. "Besides, I think I've gotten a little bit stronger since we last spoke...and I've gotten a new magic." And a new shift but they could talk about that later.

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

"Yes, but what makes you think you can help." The alchemist glanced towards Oliver's lean arms, nearly devoid of muscle. Remi on the other hand seemed carved from nothing else, and that didn't even begin to take account the animalistic strength inside of himself. "You can try all you want, doesn't mean you're useful to me though." The alchemist said with a shrug.

"Congratulations." Remi said under his breath. Nearby the ground seemed to rumble and hum, a clear indication that another spout of water was only a few minutes away. "Still not as strong as me." He added, pivoting to another outcropping of stone to gather different samples.

OLIVER

Ouch. Now those two comments did sting a small bit, but Oliver wasn't going to let them completely damper his mood. He was in a beautiful place with someone who's his friend. Things were going great, really. "I could be surprisingly useful. At least let me give it a shot?" Besides, Oliver wanted to spend time with Remi. Even if Remi wasn't excited to see him, he was super overjoyed to be around his friend, to spend time with him. It did hurt a small bit to know that Remi almost didn't want him to be there, but it's fine. It's absolutely fine.

Following after Remi, Oliver looked around the area. "I mean, obviously you're stronger than me. Doesn't mean I'm totally weak. Besides, I can dig pretty damn well as a fox." He didn't appreciate the fact that his friend was treating him like a child. Oliver knew he was strong, maybe not as strong as Remi but still strong. He didn't want to be treated like crap.

And how did he handle it? By changing the subject!"What do you plan on doing with the rocks you're gathering? Have you discovered anything new about them so far?" It was an attempt to change the subject, obviously. He wasn't a fan of this negative talk nor the idea of Remi hating him, so he wanted to shift it away as far as possible.

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

It was probably easier to just give in than to continue to argue with Oliver. In that, the blonde reminded him annoyingly of Phoebe. "Fine." Remi grumbled in agreement. "The more porous the rock the better. Any with defects or imperfections can be gathered too, so I can study what might have caused them."

To this, Remi just shrugged. "Well, we aren't digging, are we." He pointed out.

"Study them. There's nothing like this in the Grounds or where I came from. Nothing at all like the volcanoes that created this." This change in subject seemed to soften Remi's mood somewhat, or least his voice sounded slightly less gruff.

OLIVER

A nod and Oliver begins to look for rocks that he can easily dig- er, whatever it is Remi is doing. It sure looks like digging to him, seeing as he is removing chunks of rock. What else would it be called? No matter. Using his magic, Oliver tried to not show off as he created a small blade of sorts. One that would hopefully help out with removing rocks. He didn't think his telekinesis could help and no way would illusions be any assistance.

Before he could really begin working, Remi had already moved on to a new area and Oliver somewhat followed, going towards the same color but a few feet away. It was there that he found a rock formation where some parts seemed easy enough to remove. "I may be talking out of my ass...but maybe the colors mean that the rocks have different properties? Since why else would each one look different?" Oliver wasn't an alchemist so he wasn't sure if he was correct, but he might as well make a hypothesis.

Using the blade, he carefully removed a chunk of rock and inspected it. "If you cant find a purpose for it, it could be a super good pigment for dye...it's so vibrant." He walked back over to Remi and placed down the rock he had excavated next to his friend, allowing the man access to it. "I may talk a couple of small samples back with me to see if I can figure anything out with them."

I JUST WANT MY EXISTENCE
TO BE MORE THAN TREMBLING

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

Breaking off chunks of volcanic rock was hardly digging, though Oliver would find the blade he created useful. "Well...colour is a property so in virtue of them being different, yes, they have different properties. But if you mean something over and above their appearance, I doubt it. Likely it's caused by the chemicals in the area"

The mention of dyes and pigments merely had the alchemist shrugging. Where once he might have encouraged the idea if only to be kind, now he made no attempts to keep the conversation in the air. "Not really interested in making dyes." He said a bit gruffly, using his claws to break more of the stone off.

"Do what you want." What experiments Oliver decided to run on his own were not Remi's concern. He'd given up the role of big brother, of kindly alchemist, of generous soul.