the house that built me

Remi grinned wolfishly at that, nodding. "Perhaps I'll just keep secret any new abilities I come across." He said with a snort and easy shrug. Selfishness was still an ill-fitting cloak upon his shoulders, but it did well to keep the chill out of his bones, and Remi found he rather liked the weight. Leaning back, the alchemist fixed the bard turned Sage with a look that was both amused and perhaps a touch instigative as well. "Many hate you for that, you know." He said easily, sea-glass eyes clear. "An Outlander preaching about a world to which he's still so very new. That you're the best man for the job I don't think will ever overshadow that fact, though." Remi blinked slowly, studying Jigano despite being oh so very poor and reading into deeper emotions behind expressions. "I don't think their possessiveness of this world will ever change." Shrugging his shoulders a touch at this, Remi tapped his fingertips against the wood. "His relationship with Safrin grows more complicated by the day, but I think he's trying to find the light in all of it." The alchemist replied, a touch vaguely. The Star had recently had sex with Safrin after all, so whether that made him better or worse, Remi really couldn't judge. 'How is Rory?' Having not seen the gentle farmer in nearly a year or perhaps more, Remi had assumed that, unsurprisingly, Rory's gentle heart simply hadn't been keen to bear the weight of drama and death that accompanied the shenanigans of the Outlanders. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

"I'm hardly one to fault anyone else for that," Jigano toasted wryly, considering his own penchant for squirreling away information, and how long he'd hidden his Attuned shifts after he'd arrived. "If anyone comes looking for trouble they won't be prepared for all that you can do, that way. Being underestimated is useful at times."

He saw Remi's hint of belligerence and braced himself for a provocative dig, but the other man's words  were only the truth and the bard relaxed with a chuckle, enjoying his wine as he tilted his head in gratitude of the compliment that followed. "Mm. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get frustrated by that sometimes, but they're not wrong. If the Silver Lore had survived among the Naturals..." he sighed, trailing off on what-might-have-beens. "But it didn't. And I didn't have any useful skills, like baking or bootmaking, so here I am, glorified scholar-adventurer and general busybody sharing what I've learned the hard way." His smile became gentler as he plucked on the green string in his soul, calling forth a pair of oranges and offering one to Remi. "Besides, they should be possessive of their world. You never know when you might lose it..." And be flung through space and time to some other world not your own.

It sounded like Safrin had at least refrained from smiting Ronin too harshly, though Jigano had no idea what 'complicated' could mean in relation to a goddess. Though if any of them were 'complicated', Safrin certainly seemed to embody the description. "Please pass my greetings on to him," the bard murmured. "And my well-wishes for you and he both." Mention of Rory had his smile returning, though it was a sadder thing. "Rory is well enough. He stays mostly to the farm and his hunting. It's a quieter life compared to how things were last year but... it's a good one, too. He'll come back to the world again when he's ready, but until then the goats and horses still need tending and the crops still need planting and harvesting. I can help with most of it, though I'm still hopeless at carpentry and fixing the corral fences," he admitted ruefully.

"Silver Lore?" Despite not knowing what it was, the timbre of the words immediately made the alchemist frown. It sounded so very pretentious in a way that immediately made him want to dislike whatever it was Jigano was referring to. Softening at the sight of the offered fruit, Remi gladly accepted it with an appreciative nod. His dexterous fingers made quick work of the peel as he sighed with no small amount of exasperation. "Should they be?" He asked, not quite rhetorically, speaking down to the orange with a raised brow. "My whole life I've been labeled and segregated for things over which I had no control. Who I was born to, and now where." Remi popped a slice of orange into his mouth, raising his eyes to Jigano. "And no matter how long we stay, how helpful we are, we'll always be Outlanders to them, I think. Resented when we succeed in this world where they haven't, criticized unjustly for failing in ways that they have. And all because they had the luxury of being born in one place rather than another." Pulling in a breath, Remi nodded that he would pass along the Sage's greetings to Ronin. Remi had no idea what the relationship was between the two former kings, but just now he didn't much care. Grinning at Jigano's lack of carpentry skills, the alchemist shrugged his shoulders. 'Ahh well, if you were good at everything I expect Rory might go a bit stir-crazy, for having nothing to do?" remi Too long till I drown in your hands

He couldn't help but grin at the way Remi reacted to the old Guild's name. "According to 108, they were a group of Naturals who once gathered knowledge and tended to the Atheneum. It's most likely their Hall that we found and turned into the Loreseekers' base." Though they hadn't known it at the time.

He began to peel his own orange, listening to the other man's experiences and opinions thoughtfully, and nodding at the end. "There's truth in that, too," he agreed. "But we're not the only Outlanders anymore, now that the portals are open. For good or ill... the Hollowed Grounders are as much Outlanders in Halo and Torchline as we are. From a certain point of view," he amended wryly, certain the Grounders themselves wouldn't look at it that way. But the Halovians and Torchliners might. "My skin is certainly thin enough that I struggle with it, but I've been finding an equilibrium lately. Or at least trying to." He shrugged, smile wry as he glanced across at Remi. "Having a purpose and friends among the Naturals who try to make me feel at home helps with that. So does having a god on this world to pray to and serve, however strange that still feels at times. But to each their own." He toasted the former alchemist with a section of orange before popping it in his mouth.

Talk of their respective mates brought the rueful grin back to his angular face quickly enough, and he chased the orange with the wine, cocking his head a bit as he tried to decide whether the citrus had been such a good combination with their drinks. "Mmm. I don't use much magic at home," he admitted. "Not the easily-visible kind, at least. Enriching the fields was one thing, and of course I'll use my Healing to help with any injuries or difficult births among the animals, but other than that?" He shrugged. "I didn't even have magic until the start of this year, so mostly Rory just teaches me to the best of my ability to do things the way we had to do them last year." It took longer and didn't always look as pretty when he was done, but there was a satisfaction in the work, too, that magic often lacked.

More splinters, too, but it was a price worth paying when they had no reason to rush.

"Speaking of Healing, though, are Isla and Sugar... did they find you again?"

'One oh eight?' The alchemist replied, looking incredulous. At the time of the Spire invasion, breakthrough, success, failure—whatever—Remi had been home with Aoife, mourning the loss of Ronin. The details of what happened were a blur at best. "Well, they're idiots to think so. From what I've heard here, trade and such has continued more or less as it always had. Hindered by the portals being down of course, but.." He shrugged. "It's one of the reasons why I'm not planning on going back. That mindset of ownership of a world that none of them even know.." Exhaling an unimpressed stream of air, Remi popped another bit of orange into his mouth. "Mmm, don't get too cozy with the gods, or I'm sure you'll hear about that too. Both Ronin and I have already." Maea's jealousy that Ludo had punished Remi, as if being noticed in any capacity was worth wanting, had been obvious. And then of course there was Ronin, who bred his own special brand of jealousy from those around him. 'I like doing things with my hands.' Remi said with a nod, as if agreeing. 'The old fashioned way, I suppose.' Maybe it was a foolish thing, to not make use of all his gifts, to want to do things the hard way, but the alchemist found he really did. And with the shift in his magic, he often had no choice now. "Mmm, they did. When Ronin went back to help with the Temple repair." The alchemist said a touch gravely, though the reason why wasn't exactly clear. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

"An Ascended whose name was a number. They were..." Jigano trailed off, trying to think of how to describe the clinically observant sleeper who had awoken from an ancient slumber only to give their life for their goddess. "...unique, and taught me many things about this world before they died within the Spire." Back before Naturals and Outlanders had sparked to near-conflict and Demons had been slain.

Remi's exasperation - impatience? Frustration? - with the Grounder mindset triggered a flicker of agreement through the Attuned bond, though Jigano tried to judge a little less harshly than he used to.

Baby steps, and all that.

"Hmm. It occurs to me that if we tell the locals around here that we're from the Hollowed Grounds and not mention that we're Outlanders, it's not like anyone could prove we aren't Naturals as well... if they even cared. Those I've met so far seem less caught up on it than the Grounders do." Though even abroad he'd met more Outlanders than Naturals. "You've been around here longer than I have, though. What's your experience been with the local opinion on Outlanders vs. Naturals? Hell, do they even think of themselves as 'Naturals' without having as steady an influx of Outlanders as the Grounds have had?"

A silver brow arched at the mention of gods and jealousies, though, ever-curious. "Oh no... what did someone say? As if it isn't the gods's choice who they speak to," he added, a flicker of amusement in his thoughts at the idea of any mortal demanding Ludo or Safrin speak to them.

"The old fashioned way," Jigano agreed with a grin. "It probably helps that the magic I wielded on my world was far more limited in scope. I could do a few tricks of larger scale, but each spell tended to be very focused, compared to Caido's magic. I had a spell that could make armor from ice, for instance, but I couldn't make a sword or cup or anything else with it. Just that one shaped item. And being able to create water was a different spell entirely, unconnected." He shrugged. "But as much of a relief as it is to have any magic it all back, I remember what things were like when I first arrived... how dangerous it is to rely on it," he finished softly.

The bard simply nodded in relief at hearing that the companions had been reunited with their people again, though he was curious as to Remi's strange solemnity. "Was... did something else happen with them?" he asked hesitantly.

To this, the alchemist had nothing to say. Nothing polite, anyways, and given that he didn't care to drudge up the past or cast stones at the dead, he merely shrugged "Lying to fit in? Why that doesn't sound like you." Remi returned, perhaps a touch shadier than he intended. The bard hadn't exactly lied when he'd first come, though many would argue that his brand of deception and truth-withhold was precisely that. "Mmm, those around here seem more annoyed that we're outsiders in general, regardless of where we come from. Though.." Through the bond Jigano would feel a prickle of animosity and rage as Remi recalled the memory of one of his first nights here with Ronin. When they'd been attacked and might have been assaulted in other ways had their attackers not bitten off significantly more than they could chew. "..Outlanders are still disliked most of all." Shaking his head at that, Remi suggested that no, it wasn't like that all. "It would be like calling yourself a non-guest in your own home." To this, the alchemist gestured a vague sign with his fingers, before eating the rest of his orange. "Oh, the usual. That Ronin was brought back by Safrin and should treat his waking moments as gifts from her, that I should feel BleSsEd for all my time spent with Ludo, despite all the curses and trouble its brought me." He rolled his eyes a touch at this. "It's like as Outlanders we're expected to be able to justify the approval or disapproval of the gods. Nothing can ever just be." Listening, Remi nodded. He remembered Jigano telling him this vaguely before. Singing to make those around him stronger, or some such. "Perhaps you'll gain those things back again. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to hear it." Folding the peel of his orange back together again, roughly at least, Remi tilted his head to the side in a non-commital gesture. "Sugar is fine. Isla..is fine as well." Swallowing, his gaze soft upon the peel, Remi looked up and exhaled slowly. "My time with Ludo has made me think that...perhaps it wasn't a kindness on its part that it placed her soul into that body, but a curse. Or a lesson, mayhap." remi Too long till I drown in your hands

The bard merely shrugged, a slight smile on his lips at the dig at his honesty. He rarely lied outright, not intentionally - though he was certainly guilty of it on more than one occasion - but not telling the entirety of the truth? Oh, that was very much on brand for him, and he didn't bother denying it. Remi had known him too long and knew better, anyways.

He tilted his head curiously at the odd spark of anger in the bond, eyes narrowed in consideration of the man across from him. "Not the warmest welcome when you got here, I'd take it?" he asked softly.

Jigano simply nodded at Remi's apt description of the local mindset, but he almost snorted wine up his nose at the tale of the former-alchemist being 'blessed' by Ludo's attentions. "I'm sorry... they said what?!" He coughed, making sure everything got down the right pipe before continuing. "I take it whoever it was didn't know either of you very well?"

'Being' was something the bard was working harder at doing, and he sent a pulse of fervent agreement through the bond. "Yes... well. I suppose if they don't like it, they can take it up with the gods themselves?" Surely that would go over well, trying to dictate to the deities where they should and shouldn't bestow their interest - not all of which was good interest, as Remi demonstrated with Ludo's various curses and quests, and now this most recent and bloody of tasks...

"Perhaps. But... I don't know that I need them back," he admitted hesitantly, testing the words. "Being able to Heal would have been enough. Being able to shift items with me is certainly useful. But the rest..." He shrugged, smile rueful. "The rest are convenient, to be sure. But as you said once before, they can create more problems than they solve with those who come with expectations and wanting favors."

He was very glad to hear that the companions weren't hurt and the bonds remained, but as he sipped his wine, Remi's sober look and admission of what had happened to Isla brought a faint frown to the bard's face... and a slow nod. "We didn't know better, then," he offered softly. "Not a curse, I think, but a lesson? Yes, I can see that. And not a particularly kind one. Still... its worn Isla's face when I've spoken to it before. I think... I think that the soul of the woman we knew has passed on to Mort's realm. What that makes your companion, I don't know. Perhaps a new soul with echoes of Isla's?" He shrugged a little helplessly, for all he had was guesses, and only Ludo knew the truth.

"Far from it." Remi all but whispered, his voice like gravel. The muscles of his jaw bulged slightly as he clenched his teeth together, his fingernails tipping into points for a moment before the alchemist sighed away his anger. "Indeed. She used words like worthy of its attention. That she'd leap at the chance for a relationship such as I have with it." Remi scoffed darkly at that. "How easy everyone is willing to sacrifice things, until it actually comes time for it. Then again, I suppose I never really sacrificed anything, as it was never my choice." His one proper favour owed to Ludo hadn't yet been called in, after all. "Mmm, or with each other. So long as they keep me out of it." Remi agreed. Chewing on Jigano's words, Remi found he agreed fully. Convenient. Troublesome. Those were apt descriptors of what magic was to him. " I agree, though perhaps it is only because you and I have come by our magic in this world differently than the others. It was always labelled as a curse for us, in a way which isn't true for them." Them, being the other hybrids. The abandoned. To his knowledge, only he and Jigano had gone about things the 'wrong' way. Had started off without powers, acquiring them through hostile means. Remi smiled sadly, his expression one which suggested he too had seen Isla as she had been, when in Ludo's presence. "I'm not sure. At first, it seemed to be her. She spoke to me as she always had, criticized and chastised me. Joked with me. " Unsconciously, Remi ran a hand up the side of his arm, frowning as he bit the inside of his lip. "But over the years, she's lost all colour. She doesn't speak to me anymore, it's all imagery and sensation like the rest of the companions. I think perhaps it isn't another soul, but perhaps an echo...growing fainter with time." remi Too long till I drown in your hands

As much as he might have wanted to ask more, Remi's agitation and anger were clear enough, and Jigano saw no reason to fan those flames any higher. He nodded in understanding, assuming that whatever had happened had been violent, and let the matter drop.

"She... wants to be cursed and repeatedly tricked towards potential death?" Jigano tried to clarify, a little baffled by who this person was and what they'd been thinking. "I suppose there are all kinds in the world." It was the nicest thing he could think to say at the moment. He tilted his head at the other man's scoffing pessimism, eating another section of orange with a neutral hum that wasn't so much agreement as acknowledgment of Remi's point of view. That Remi had lost, or had things taken, or been wounded by the world, yes, but that no one was willing to truly sacrifice? He suspected it was the pain and anger talking, and that arguing would do more harm than good. There were people out there who would, even if they were an admittedly rare breed.

The gods could take care of themselves, but magic was outside of their purview - unless one counted the strange way deific displeasure seemed to spawn it in the human soul. "I struggled with that, at first," he admitted. "Trying to balance the relief at having my healing magic back with the shame and guilt of it being a curse... Deimos helped me over a lot of it, if you can believe it," he added with a wry smile, unsure if Remi knew of the friction that so often sparked between the bard and the General. "And you did, too." By example, among other things.

Reminiscinces of Isla were bittersweet, and Jigano nodded silently at Remi's thoughts on the matter. He would know better than anyone what had become of the lovely doctor's soul. "Amalia has gained the ability to speak to companions," he offered. "I don't know if it would make things better or worse... but it's something you might develop in time, too."

Remi gave the bard an incredulous look, nodding his head with skeptical agreement. "Mmmhm. And she's welcome to it." He grumbled. The alchemist didn't know, and merely took Jigano's words as referring to Deimos' rather gruff exterior. It didn't surprise him though, that there was an understanding and helpful man beneath all the grunts and stern looks. "Oh?" Remi raised a brow at that. "Well, I suppose it can't be all bad blood between us." He quipped with a dark grin, raising his cup of wine to his lips and draining nearly all of it. "Has she now? How nice for her." He didn't think it would help. Remi could still speak to Isla, the same way that Amalia would be able to. It wasn't a lack of ability on his part, merely...there was less and less Isla to talk to anymore. "Nice as that might be, to use Sugar to play tricks on Ronin and the like, I'd be happy enough if nothing about my abilities changed any time soon." remi Too long till I drown in your hands

"We have our moments," the bard agreed, still struck by the strangeness of seeing such dark humor on the face of a man who had long been a source of optimism and sad smiles. Something had been lost to the world when Remi's edges had turned so jagged and hard. It remained to be seen what had been gained in its place, but Rory had a saying: Everything changes. It was as true of Remi - and their strange, oft-strained relationship as anyone else.

He tilted his head at the lack of interest in Amalia's new gifts, but it felt part and parcel with the alchemist's wish to distance himself from the world. And she had sought favors of the crafter of wonders as well, in the end, just as they all had in their ways. "Stability for a time would be... reassuring," he agreed ruefully. "The changes in the world tend to come so fast it can be hard to keep up. Torchline alone is full of enough new wonders to keep even my curious Guild busy for a time. I'm still getting used to just seeing the ocean, and wondering what's beneath it." He smiled wryly at his companion, sipping his own wine as he saw he was getting down to the last drops of it. "Have you devised a way to peek beneath the waves, or are keeping your feet on dry land for the time being?"

"Are any of your shifts aquatic?" Remi didn't know enough about snakes to know whether or not that was a useful way of investigating the world beneath the sea. "The gems from the heads of the mantas allow you to breathe underwater. Ronin killed quite a few to secure himself a sort of...necklace that he wears. But I'm sure he's got a few extra if you like." Holding up his arm, the skin began to morph into a rubbery pinkish purple. Round suckers appeared, all individually controlled. "I have, yes." Remi said with a sly smile as his skin returned to normal. "Octopus. Excellent for undersea excursions and creeping the fuck out of Ronin." This last sentiment was said with exceptional smugness as Remi refilled both of their glasses before taking a sip of his newly filled cup. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

"No, though my snake form can hold breath and swim well enough. I haven't tried diving in it before, though... or fighting through such big waves," he added with a chuckle, toasting the storm outside. He tilted his head curiously at the mention of the mantas, though, his limited explorations of the region not having turned them up yet. "Mantas?" he asked curiously. "I'm trying to remember if I read about them... are they the flat ones?" Admittedly, given that the books he had read were from his own world, he knew they might not be the most up to date with Caido's wildlife.

Feathers, he was used to. Fur? He'd seen that ripple across Remi's skin before as well. The sudden shift to rubber and suckers had him choking on his wine, though, having to hammer at his chest to get his breath back in surprise - and a fervent pulse of empathy towards Ronin, wherever he was. "Oh," he wheezed. "That's... new? What is it?"