[split] give me sweet nothings

Ianto

Giving only a grumble in response to Remi's quip - he simply didn't have it in him to banter with the alchemist right now - Ianto made his way into the portal and stood awkwardly in the not-space, being careful to keep his gaze on the ground until Remi followed and gave his explanations. "I was invited to set up shop there, the last time the Wishing Wagon rolled through the Hollowed Grounds," he said of Halo, though he did wrinkle his nose at the prospect of such cold.

The instructions were easy enough, and the fox's blue eyes found the sign post easily enough. Taking a step forward, he too found himself before the glassy window of the portal. Then, because this space between places made him feel a little queasy, he took another step and moved straight through.

His boots found sand - a sensation not experienced in years for the merchant. And as he turned to glance over his shoulder, he was greeted with the rich pinks and yellows of a roaring sunset over the sea.

Coding base by Sky!

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Remi hadn't realized he'd been holding more than just his breath, waiting for the merchant to follow. He'd been holding tight to some golden thread between them, unfairly binding them both of Remi's own creation. So as the blue-eyed man stepped onto the sands, the Alchemist vowed to put his needs and old wounds somewhere with a lid to be tightly shut, if only so that the pair could enjoy this sunset of theirs.

Taking to wing, Remi's trill was bright and piercing as he soared upwards. His pale feathers were painted in soft purples and pinks as he raced towards the sea. Come on then Ianto, your dawdling has already cost us moments of colour we'll never get back. He called a shade too joyfully, though it couldn't be helped. It felt good to be tethered to the fox by the attuned bond, all the more so in these bodies of theirs that were safer to be in for their lack of hands and lips.

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

IANTO

sometimes love can kill a man

Not much could render the fox speechless, and yet here he was standing before the ocean, unable to summon a single word to say about. The sea birds soaring overhead, the shimmer of the waves, the explosion of colour from the dying sky... Ianto felt his throat tighten as he gazed upon it. Only Remi whizzing by his ear on the wing stirred him out of it, the fox blinking quickly and clearing his throat.

He didn't want the joy in Remi's voice, didn't want the easy enjoyment of flight, but he found his feet already moving, the pull of the sea too much to resist. Ianto shifted smoothly now into crimson feathers, though as a cardinal he was hardly anything menacing. Still, the air currents lifted him up to where Remi was soaring, Ianto relaxing into it. So this is where you live, huh.

Coding base by Sky!

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Slowing his wing-beats (though being much larger, it was hard to slow to the pace of a cardinal), Remi circled in a lazy arc above the sea. It was actually. When we first were deposited here, we lived right on the beach. It wasn't precisely what Ianto was asking, but it might serve as an easy segue into conversation.

I forgot you could do that. Remi said, fighting off the melancholy that threatened to weigh down his voice. Ianto had only ever mentioned his cardinal shift. When last they spoke about it, it was under far darker circumstances and the fox hadn't wanted to learn to fly or even indulge Remi in much of anything, then. Nice to fly though, isn't it?

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

IANTO

sometimes love can kill a man

While being much slower than Remi, honestly Ianto was concentrating more on his own flight. It was a rarity to have so much space, so much free air to soar through, given how dense the Greatwood was. The cardinal dipped towards the water and then up again, enjoying the sun against his feathers and the depth of the colours that had briefly become his world.

Deposited? Ianto asked, wondering what that was meant to mean. Do you still live on the beach?

It didn't surprise him so much, to learn that the Alchemist had forgotten his second shift - Ianto had barely accepted it when they had fallen out of touch. It's useful to get around the woods, he said, though Remi would know that well. And yes, it does have some perks, I'll give you that.

Coding base by Sky!

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Rather unceremoniously, yes. The Alchemist agreed, a false brightness colouring his words. Had he the head and neck to do it, he'd have given his head a rueful shake. My daughter was killed. Words (or thoughts) which once would have been accompanied by despair and no small amount of gravely-anger, were now spoken with a reluctant sort of acceptance. Understandably Ronin absolutely lost his mind when he saw what had happened, and took his anger out on one of the Temples. To save it, or him, or both, Safrin plucked us from the Grounds and tossed us here.

Banking a lazy circle so that Aumakua was in view the Alchemist gave himself a mental shake. But no, I don't live on the beach anymore. We've a house up there, by the lighthouse.

Chuckling a touch at that, Remi rounded back on the small cardinal. Perks? That's all you've got to say about suddenly being able to fly? To reaching places you couldn't go before?

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

IANTO

sometimes love can kill a man

As Remi dropped that particular emotional bomb, Ianto actually forgot to fly for a second, the cardinal dropping a few feet and pulling himself up dangerously close to the water. What? I... shit, Remi. I had no idea. I'm so sorry. Because what else could you say in response to news like that? Beating his wings and turning about, Ianto made his way back towards the beach. His appetite for flight had understandably dampened at hearing what the Alchemist had been through.

Still, he spotted the lighthouse as Remi pointed it out, giving a mental nod to try and remember it in future. I mean, I was victim to a lot of weird stuff when I was bound to Arduinna. Flight is flight. Perhaps when I first learned, it was magical. I rarely use it these days. Ianto had always been more comfortable in a fox's fur, after all.

Coding base by Sky!

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Perhaps it was silly to think Remi would come through the portal as a hawk and Ianto as a fox, and everything would fall into place. How could it with all the pair had been through and all they hadn't?

I asked you to be my friend again precisely because you didn't know. Remi reminded the cardinal. Banking towards the sands, the alchemist angled himself downwards, landing easily and shifting as he did so. Turning to sit so that he could face the sea, the Alchemist drew his knees up to his chest. Though as men there was a decided awkwardness between hawk and fox, it was better than the slow tide of emotions through the attuned bond.

"I'm not surprised the Greatwood has been empty. There was a war very nearly started between them and the Hollowed Ground. No one is allowed near the village on penalty of death."

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

IANTO

sometimes love can kill a man

And yet you told me within half an hour of asking me to be your friend again, Ianto pointed out, though in reality he didn't think Remi had even really asked anything. His landing was considerably more clumsy as he attempted it mid-shift, as the other man had done, Ianto stumbling a little and turning to plonk himself down in the sands to enjoy the sunset on the water.

There was an awkwardness between them, and Ianto raised an eyebrow as Remi changed the subject, answering a question that the fox hadn't asked. "I know," he said with a wry smile. Being one of those who could go to the Sidhe Village without penalty of death, it had been where he had been spending much of his time to avoid the fuck out of the rest of the world.

Letting out a long sigh, he ran a hand back through his coppery hair. "Sorry, Remi. It just... it feels like you had a lot of expectations of me, inviting me here. I don't know what they are, and I don't know if I would be able to live up to them if I did."

Coding base by Sky!

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Well, you asked. Had I started out by saying, 'Oh, Safrin tossed Ronin and Aoife and I here', you'd have asked why. Would have asked about her. Seemed easier. Maybe it wasn't.

Remi tried not to look at the fox as he landed roughly at his side, turning to slump in the sands as the Alchemist had. He wanted to though, and he supposed that Ianto was right. Things were going to be strange so long as Remi kept policing his gaze and his words; it spoke of expectation in a way he hadn't even realized it had, and the recognition of that made his stomach grow tense with worry.

"You're right." He admitted at least, eyes trained on the setting sun. "I did, and it wasn't fair of me. I..." But there wasn't any point in explaining what he did want of the fox, because that wasn't fair either. Ianto wasn't a prop to be used, especially not since the offering of friendship had been genuine on the Alchemist's part. "..I've grown far more selfish." Remi said with a shake of his head, offering the merchant a quick and apologetic smile.

"How about just the sunset then?" The Alchemist suggested, sounding boyishly hopeful whilst the sky darkened all around them into bursts of colour.

And so it was that the pair sat in a not entirely comfortable silence, watching the sun set.

~FIN

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun