sweet child o’ mine

everything has its wonders

"You are being some sort of asshole," Ronin said, because it was fucking true, but not for the reasons that Remi gave. "You were given the option to stay away from all of this. You were given the option to stay and let me do this by myself, instead of coming up here to cause more hurt." He shrugged. Like it mattered.

Remi was completely lost to him in this moment - smug, arrogant and pleased with the pain he was causing, Ronin saw no remorse in his husband. No second guessing, no double checking. Just raw enjoyment at inflicting some of his own feeling on those around him. He winced on Remi's behalf as he tore the feathers from his shoulder and tossed them down at the hunter, letting them scatter and fall in his lap, in the grave, or to blow along the cliffside.

"No, Remi. This isn't what I wanted at all."

even darkness and silence

Coding base by Sky!

i've got a river for a soul

"Is that what you think? That I came here to cause more hurt?" Remi's eyes flickered for a moment, not seeing his husband anymore but someone completely different. Someone who didn't know him.

It was like that day on the beach had been, all raw emotion and no restraint. Only now there wasn't the thin veil of shock to cover this with. Aoife's body was gone, days had gone by and it had been fine, in a way. This was inexcusable, but as it had on the beach, it was too far gone now to call a halt.

"My feathers not good enough? That's fine. I never expected to live up to the perfect memory of Vanya anyways."

everything has its wonders

"No, I don't think you came here to do this. But it has happened, hasn't it?" Ronin carefully plucked up one of the feathers from his lap, fingers moving carefully over it as though it was something precious. He pressed his eyes shut as the barrage continued, as Remi found all of his little weaknesses and hurts and prodded them to see how deep they might go. "Remi, please stop," he said softly, aware from the moment he had removed his ring that he had placed himself at the alchemist's mercy. And he knew that he would pay for it, but it didn't mean he was invulnerable.

even darkness and silence

Coding base by Sky!

i've got a river for a soul

"And you had no hand in it." Remi said accusingly, his eyes dipping towards the ring sitting in the sand. Whatever Ronin had been thinking, stupid or not, removing one's wedding ring was not a thing so easily undone by an admission of stupidity. It was a sign, a statement, planned or intended or not. Remi felt it as keenly in his bones as did his finger feel the lack of heartbeat pulsing against it.

"That's not a no, then." Remi said softly and for the first time since Aoife had been taken and her blood spilled so unceremoniously against him, proper tears pricked the back of his eyes. It wasn't right to say that this hurt more than that, as the loss of a child was incomparable. Still, the urge to wade into the water and not return had never been stronger.

"Fine." So saying Remi shifted soundlessly, taking to wing and gaining altitude as steadily as he could until he was nothing more than a blip blotted out by the sun.

~FIN