like you know what it means

The white sheep of the family

”Like I said, I just came here to drink. You’re the one who started the conversation.” Before Loren could snark back at the next comment, the bar positively erupted in violence. Ignoring the approaching attackers, he snagged Remi’s neglected drink as a woman hopped up and rang a gong. The healer downed most of it with one gulp as the barkeep yelled for them to take it outside.

Then he stood up and gathered whatever pieces of glass were nearby with his telekinesis. At the same time, he unsheathed his knife, before turning to stalk towards the exit. He didn't even bother checking to see if the alchemist was following. Instead, the Launceleyn headed a good distance away from the bar, as far as his opponents would let him.

Then he faced them and snarled again.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Only there was no one to face except for a dead-eyed alchemist holding two bottles of something. He hadn't really checked before snagging them before stumbling unsteadily out of the bar. Remi knew well enough Raza's boys will be boys face to know that she was not having it, and so rather than goading the men on, he'd simply sniped the two bottles and made his way out.

"Here." He said, lips slurring the word slightly as he pressed the bottle against Loren's chest, nearly stumbling into the man in the process. 'Compensation an' apology for starting a conversation." So saying, Remi only made it a few feet towards the beach before abruptly (read: gracefully falling) onto the sands. Rolling up his pants that he might put his feet into the water, he uncorked whatever it was within the bottle and took a long sip in the moonlight.

The white sheep of the family

As Loren turned to discover it was just Remi, the healer almost snarled again. Indeed, his eyes flicked around as if he was seeking an opponent. Finally, he grunted and smashed the glass into the ground with enough force to shatter it into pieces too small to harm anyone. Clearly upset at having been denied a proper fight he snatched the bottle with a bit more force than was necessary.

As the alchemist stumbled to the ground, the Launceleyn snorted. Uncorking his own bottle he took a long swig before flopping down beside the other man. Initially sitting cross-legged, Loren eventually dipped them into the water. As he did, he took another long pull from the bottle. He jerked his chin at Remi's cut. "Want me to take care of that?"

Regardless of the response, the healer turned to stare at the ocean. "So we covered why I'm drinking alone in a strange land. We didn't get to you." The words were disinterested, and he gazed out at the distant horizon rather than Remi.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Remi glanced crookedly at the Launceleyn before puffing out an amused breath of air. "Naw." He replied, accent elevating the word as the alchemist shook his head. "Long way from my heart."

Glancing again at Loren's profile, the healer looking all the more severe for the moonlight etching out his features, Remi silently considered for a moment before shaking his head. "Not a strange land for me. I live here now. Have done for a month." As for the drinking? "Well, my daughter is still dead. Today Ludo offered to help me die and I declined and Ronin..." Remi narrowed his eyes out at the fading line of the horizon. "Well I think Ronin is out making reparations whilst I sit here." Remi took a drink. And then another. "He needs to be with someone else. Someone with good left in them. That isn't me anymore." All of this was said with the finality of a drunkard, but the words seemed considered just the same.

The white sheep of the family

Loren just shrugged and took another swig. As Remi went on to speak about why he might drink, however, the healer glanced over. Then he laughed bitterly. "Right. Of course. Sorry." He pulled his knees back to his chest and just stared at the horizon.

When he spoke next, it was quiet. "You idiot." Despite the fact that he was basically whisper, there was a great deal of scorn in his voice. "That man loves you so much he's willing to look past the fact you asked me to kiss you. Was willing to stick with you through death and sickness." For a moment, his fingers grew white knuckled on the bottle. "That's in the vows, right? Sickness and health, good times and bad."

Taking another long drink, he blinked away tears that suddenly sprang to his eyes. "You might not have good left in you. So what? No one is asking you to be good, and if they are, fuck them." He pointed the bottle at the other man. "But you don't get to decide who he wants to be with and why."

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Remi snorted at that. "Y'are not." He countered, sparing a glance at Loren through a mop of curls before turning back to the sea.

Flopping back into the sands, the weight of his body making a wummphhh in the sands, Remi sighed loudly. "Y'know, you're the only one still on about that. It'was over in one conversation between us." Humming under his breath and opening his eyes to stare at the stars, he merely shrugged. "It's till death do us part. And we've had a lot of death. Vows never covered one of us becoming a heartless husk." Thinking on it, Remi paused. "The vows didn't cover much actually." They'd promised everlasting love. Not everlasting life or commitment.

"So he deserves better." The alchemist replied softly. "He deserves everything, and I..." He squinted at the stars. "..I'm not that anymore."

The white sheep of the family

Loren shrugged. "I am, actually." The words came out softly, barely audible over the lapping waves.

Unlike Remi, the healer remained upright. It made it easier to keep taking long drinks of whatever it was he was drinking, which he did. "Kind of my point." He waved the bottle vaguely. Then he snorted. "So make new vows." The suggestion was made without much sympathy for the alchemist's words.

In fact, the Launceleyn had so little sympathy that he actually turned to punch the other man in the arm. Gently, of course. "Martyrdom and self-pity are my things, thank you very much." Loren's tone was more than a bit annoyed. "So I know enough to hear it in someone else. What part of you don't get to decide for him was hard to understand?"

Finally he lay back on the sand. He rested the bottom of the bottle on his chest. "Who cares what you think of yourself? You're his everything. And we both know how rare that is." For a moment his eyes grew haunted, so he took another sip, though he had to lift his head up to do it. Coughing a little, he wiped his mouth.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Remi eyed Loren for a moment, almost warily before nodding silently.

'Don't think it works like that. If it did, it wouldn't be called divorce, it'd just be called making new vows." Remi mumbled, trying to pour the wine (or whatever) into his mouth and mostly making a mess.

'Careful now. I'll manticore-out and eat you." Remi warned with the barest of a smile. Still, he might not have been kidding. "Is it martyrdom when you aren't dying for anything?" He asked, probably rhetorically. "Not self-pity. Just the facts. I feel nothing Loren." Remi said almost casually, chillingly so, as he stripped off his wine-soaked shirt and cross his ankles in the sand. "Nothing. Not even sadness anymore. It's just...it's all gone."

Tugging in a breath, not needing to look over at Loren to know where he was, Remi exhaled a long breath. " Is it? Deimos and Amalia found each other. Rexanna and Bastien. Sam and... whoever he's with now. The doctor. Jigano and Rory.." Remi gestured vaguely with the bottle. "You and Abasi, for the brief time." He sighed again. "Love seems fairly common, actually."

The white sheep of the family

"Do you want a divorce?" There wasn't any judgment in Loren's voice, or even any curiosity. Indeed, it was fairly disinterested, all things considered.

Just shrugging at Remi's threat, the healer took another sip. "Go for it." Spinning the bottle between his palms, he  shrugged again. "It is if you're making your suffering worse for no reason." Then he shook his head a bit sadly. "That's not true, or we wouldn't be having this conversation about Ronin." It came out quietly, but without hesitation.

Again, the tears threatened, but he refused to let them fall. He was only partially successful at blinking away the tears. "Fine. You're right. Love's common as the sands on this beach." Taking a long drink, he let his head flop back onto the ground. "But it doesn't always last, so we should recognize how precious it is while it does, and cherish it."

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

"No." The alchemist replied instantly. "I did tell him he could...that it was alright to find what he needed in others though." because what are timelines. Shrugging into the sands enough that his shoulders had begun to recede slightly, Remi breathed out. "I'm not so naive anymore to think I can give him everything he needs. Especially now."

"You would not be the first man to regret encouraging my more aggressive side Loren. Gods know I have enough reasons to hate you." This was said just as evenly, but again the question of just how idle it was wasn't answered.

"I'm not sure I am suffering. I'm not anything anymore." At Loren's judgement, Remi could only shrug again. "Says you."

The alchemist wasn't looking for tears, nor at Loren really, and in the dark there was hardly enough moonlight to illuminate the glisten on the Launceleyn's cheeks. "Mmmm." Remi agreed. "Cheers to that." Without much coordination he vaguely cheers'd in Loren's direction. Successful or spilling on the man was just as likely as the other.

"How does that saying go? If you love something set it free?"

The white sheep of the family

Snorting, Loren shot Remi a curious glance before looking back at the ocean. "And what did he say?" Shrugging, the healer took another sip. "Like I said, go for it." It was clear he didn't care about the alchemist's threat one way or another.

The Launceleyn lifted his bottle back in a salute, not even noticing that the other man spilled on Loren. However, he found himself frowning, though he didn't look at Remi this time. ”And if you set him free, what would he do with that freedom?” The healer took a long gulp, managing to spill on himself in the process and not caring in the slightest. ”Cause it sounds to me like he chose you.” With that, he stood up and began to stagger into the water.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

"That it was all too complicated right now to think about." Remi replied with a lackluster shrug.

Well then. Reaching over, Remi aimed a punch right at the flat of Loren's bicep where what feeble muscle there was should protect the bone from breaking. Not holding the punch at all, Remi's fist shot forward with all that 32 STR to land a solid blow against the Launceleyn's skin. "That's for leaving me." He said, the edge to his tone suggesting there was still a laundry-list of items he might assault the healer for.

"Chose. Past-tense." The alchemist said slyly, sitting up as Loren made his way onto his feet. Drunk swimming was absolutely a bad idea, though it was entirely possible that the Launceleyn was just going to wade out into the sea and never come back. Besides, Loren was a big boy now even if he was just a walking skeleton, and gods knew Remi was in no position to be handing out advice.

Standing he too made his way to the water, sighing with instant satisfaction as the waves rolled against his feet.

The white sheep of the family

Shrugging as well, Loren took another drink. As Remi's punch landed with bruising force, the healer let out a hiss of pain. "Alright. Sorry. What else?" Again, besides the now slightly pained tone to his voice he wasn't bothered by the violence. In fact, he seemed to be inviting it.


Stopping when the water came halfway up his shins, he swayed a little. "Well then. He chose you. Dunno why it has to be more complicated than that." Reaching out idly with his magic, he made the water in front of him dance and leap a bit. "He's an adult. He can make up his own mind about things." There was something bitter and dark buried deep in the words, but mostly he sounded bored.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

'Don't you dare apologize now." Remi slurred drunkenly, though with open hostility. "Don't apologize like you wouldn't do the same thing over again."

Huffing out an annoyed sound, Remi looked up towards the darkening skies. "You dunno why? Might be because you've never had a relationship longer than a few months, never been married, never lost a daughter." Remi grit his teeth together and his fingers balled into fists at his sides. For a while his anger and resentment towards Loren had faded away. Now, just those simple words had brought it back and he knew that if the pair continued this conversation, he'd drown Loren in the sea.

"So that's why I'm here. Because I'm empty and an asshole and my husband is out making the world better while I stand here shooting the shit with you." So saying, Remi kicked out, splashing an arc of water towards the playful creations Loren was weaving.