the promises of the change I'll show

Samuel

There was about an hour or so until high tide would take Hale Ka'aila away, the sun now setting in the purple-orange sky and clouds taking away much of it's light; Sam had thought it would be a scenic place to sit and meet with Remi. He'd left the Governor a note that morning telling him where he would be in the evening, that if he wanted to come and skip the stones they had mentioned he was welcome.

He didn't know if Remi would come, but he was content to just exist there himself anyway, eyes closed listening to the sea breeze and fingers on the smooth surface of the 'cathedral'. Not too concerned about the tide coming in as he still had Loren's shifts in a case of emergency, he let himself relax, glad to have the job of the Inn finished and somewhere to go 'home' to when the day was over. It was gratifying, to know he was able to do these things now, to be a normal adult: a sign of progress, one that he hoped might come through into his and Remi's relationship and remake it anew and better this time around. Unfortunately, Remi had taken a lot of his first friendship and relationship jitters two years ago.

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

On pale wings the Alchemist flew. This is the shift he'd have used to visit Sam anyhow, (his manticore shift now used only for very specific situations now), but with his other shifts carved off of his soul, it felt strange to be left with only one option again. It was freeing in a sense, but strange nonetheless.

Trilling a greeting as the bookmaker came into view, the Alchemist banked gently to bring him round towards the sandbar. With the ease of a lifetime of practice, Remi shifted into his body effortlessly, his bare feet skimming the cool sand only moments before he properly touched-down, fully human again. Cheeks flushed with the adrenaline of his flight and his curls a wind-swept mess, for perhaps just a second Remi looked as he once had, all boyish ease and casual kindness. Straightening though the Remi of now broke through: the scars on his throat were revealed, the hard muscles that had never before been there, the lack of laugh lines on his tanned face.

"Hallo Sam." He called, a hand raised in greeting.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Samuel

Seeing Remi fly into the space, his curls a mess and his face flushed; the sight did indeed remind Sam of the man he had once known (or at least, the way he had written about Remi in his first diaries) and he smiled at that. Perhaps it was only a momentary glance, but it was nice to see there were still some remnants of that Remi in there somewhere, beneath all the hardships of the last years.

"Hello!" He shuffled to the side to make room for Remi. "I'm glad to see you could come: I thought with you being the Governor now, I might have been a low priority in your busy appointment book." With a slightly teasing smile he laughed and waited for Remi to sit with him.

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Moving to sit down by his once-lover and almost-again-friend, Remi pulled up the material of his pants so that he could burrow his toes into the sand, bending his legs comfortably at the knee and letting his arms encircle the V of his legs. He seemed the picture of ease, all billowy white shirt only half-buttoned and dishevelled curls, and though he chuckled at Sam's comment, Remi was, sadly, quite a different man now.

"What's the point of being in charge of a place like this if you can't abuse your authority?" He shook his head offering Sam a wry smile. "But in all honesty, I'm not terribly needed. The last governor was all but a myth, so the fact that I'm alive and can be found somewhere to be yelled at is already an improvement."

Staring out at the waves rolling darkly ahead of them, the Alchemist let himself believe for a moment that there was no Torchline behind him. No nothing at all, save this little island.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Samuel

To an onlooker, Sam thought the differences between him and Remi couldn't be more obvious in that moment: him sat in his pressed suit rolled up at the elbows and with knees and feet together in comparison to the casually crouched Alchemist dressed in loose baggy clothing. It made him smile and he consciously tried to sit a little looser, to be less uptight, to try and match Remi's mood.

"..Does that happen a lot? You getting yelled at, I mean?" He asked. It certainly wasn't a job he'd be able to consider if that was a big part of it.

Looking out at the waves as well, Sam turned to smile at Remi and reached down for the stones he'd gathered on his walk over. "I got some of the flattest stones I could..for skipping, like I said. You'll have to teach me how." He held out some of them to his friend, waiting for a class in the art of stone skipping.

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Pondering this question for a moment, the Alchemist grinned. "I've found that people tend to yell without raising their voices, if you know what I mean." They didn't come in screaming at him, but the gesture was often more or less the same despite their voices being at a more respectable level.

Glancing at the stones, feeling the familiar twinge of loss, Remi reached for one. His fingers dexterously slid over the smooth surface, rounding against the flattened side, his lips tugging up in a small smile. Once he could have made Sam a thousand perfect stones to practice with. But now? Now he merely had to hope he was a good enough teacher that Sam would get the hang of it before their supply ran out.

"Well...I hold it like this." Placing his pointer-finger against the edge and tucking the stone into the crook of his palm, he held his hand out for Sam to see. "Not clenching it. You want it to roll off your finger. That is what gives it its direction."

So saying, Remi stood and walked to the edge of the water. Bending his knees slightly, the Alchemist pulled his arm back and lightly tossed the stone. It skipped a handful of times before disappearing beneath the dark surface.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Samuel

"Oh. Yes, I know what you mean. So they're already angry at you, then?" He supposed that was the risk of working in politics (and why he had no interest in gaining more power beyond his position in the Hollowed Grounds council).

Sam didn't think of the stones in the same way as Remi, having been far away enough from the Alchemist to forget about the more wondrous parts of his magic ability. Instead he just eagerly waited for his lesson, hoping he wasn't going to embarrass himself here; he'd never been very good at sports or anything that required fantastic hand-eye co ordination.

He held his stone in a way that mirrored Remi's, stood up behind him to have his own go...Sam was expecting to see the stone immediately sink, so when it gave one little leap of a skip before plunging into the water he was actually quite pleased. "...It's a start! ..Did you know how to do this before you came here?"

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

"Mm, angry, disappointed, or just think I don't deserve to be where I am." Remi said this with an easy enough shrug, doing his utmost not to sound too bitter. Only Ronin really heard his true feelings about all of it, and so it would stay.

Grinning as Sam tried—one skip wasn't bad to start, honestly—he nodded. "Mhmm. I lived quite close to the ocean, back in Northaven. I'd go there to think or work on weapon-designs and often when I just wanted a break, I'd skip stones." Gods those were much simpler times, despite how difficult they had seemed while he was living them.

"I suppose with only the Oasis, there'd be no real place for skipping stones." Remi mused, glancing over his shoulder at Sam. "So..with no ties like you said...do you think you'll continue to stay in the Grounds? Or..?"

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Samuel

"I hope that'll fade with time..people get used to things." While Sam wasn't really sure how Remi had ended up being the governor, he had faith that his friend would do a decent job of it and that in time Haulani might warm up to him: he had decided to still like Remi after an attempted murder, so clearly he was a very likeable guy.

Growing up by an ocean sounded like a dream. Since Torchline had been available to him Sam had been here whenever it was possible to watch the sea and enjoy the beach, even if he'd had to primarily limit that enjoyment to night time. Leaning down to pick up another stone, he positioned his fingers on it and got ready to throw; when Remi asked his question though he paused, slowly turning to look at him.

"..You...I suppose you're right, I hadn't even thought of it. ...I mean, there's still my shop, and the Loreseeker's guild, but..." Neither of those were things he couldn't work ways around if he really wanted to. Remi having suddenly made Sam aware of the possibility of moving out to Torchline, his mind raced with every outcome. "..I..well, for now we'll see how Deepfrost goes, I suppose. I'm staying with a man called Zeph...do you know him?"

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

"Since when are you such an optimist?" Remi asked with a grin, eyes narrowed in a playfully skeptical stare.

"Well...Torchline could use a bookshop too, you know. Could serve as a meeting place for the Loreseekers who are here as well." The Alchemist replied with a shrug. Not just two weeks ago if someone had asked him if he'd be encouraging Sam to move to Torchline, he'd have laughed himself sore. Now, it seemed reasonable enough. While Remi wasn't looking for more friends in his life—his heart had grown too small for that—he saw no reason why Sam shouldn't be able to enjoy the land that had brought the Alchemist so much peace, despite all the death.

"Zephyr? Yeah, I do. Or, well I know of him. He's one of Jack's..." Frowning, Remi's brow furrowed as his wrist rolled in a gesture that meant Sam should fill in the blank.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Samuel

Sam shrugged. "I don't necessarily believe everything I'm saying, but it's best to...try and think the best might happen." He had been trying to adopt this philosophy into his life with varied success.

It was surprising to hear Remi arguing for his moving to Torchline, Sam too thinking back to only months prior when it seemed like the only thing the Alchemist wanted was for him to be as far away as possible. "...You know..maybe you're right. I'd have to think about it, but...the Grounds are full of memories I'd like to let go, nowadays. Besides, maybe coming to a new place will let me really try to change things for myself." It was a nice musing for the moment at least: he'd try and think about it seriously later.

When Remi started to talk about Jack he frowned, looking over with a clearly confused expression. "Jack? As far as I know, Zeph works on the docks. Doing..um...sailing...things...I suppose." He'd never actually asked what 'dock work' included.

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

For the umpteenth time this conversation, the Alchemist gave no reply. He disagreed heartily with the sentiment, but ... if it helped Sam navigate his way through life, what was the harm? Remi likely would never have the luxury again of just hoping for the best, but perhaps that path was still open to Sam.

"Well, I'll be the first to let you know that memories have a way of following you around.." He raised his eyebrows slightly, nodding toward Sam, who happened to be one such memory. "But here...with the ocean so close, I find them much more bearable."

Trying to hide his smirk, the Alchemist schooled his features best he could into something like a smile, eyebrows raised as he nodded. "Dock work and sailing things. Sure." He grinned. "Just...a word of advice, if he asks you to help him...it might be in your best interest to be busy."

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Samuel

"...Yes. The ocean helps." Sam agreed, listening to the waves that washed up around them, their soft and regular hiss. There was something about it's presence that made everything a little easier to face, something that he was beginning to find almost addicting.

Remi's smile about Zeph along with his words was...concerning, at the least, and Sam frowned, leaning back a little as he looked at his friend questioningly. "Do you know something I don't? ...I...know a lot of the people here are involved in..unsavoury activities, but I didn't think that Zeph was one of them." Perhaps Remi was just teasing him, or playing around with a rumour he'd heard?

Thinking on the crime in the dock though, Sam looked down at the stone in his palm and ran a thumb over it. "Do you ever worry the criminals and so on in Torchline might...get violent, towards you, as Governor? Not that you aren't strong enough to defend yourself, of course--" Sam laughed at the idea of Remi losing in a fight, unawares he had lost so many of his abilities. "--But you have others around you who maybe couldn't."

I drink too much coffee and I think of you often

In a city where reality has long been forgotten

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

'I know lots of things you don't.' The Alchemist quipped back with a slow grin. "Alright, then do what you like." Remi said with a shrug. He wasn't one to give out warnings without reason, but if Sam thought he knew more about his house-mate, then so be it.

Raising a brow, wondering if Sam's question was an idle one or one of concern, the Alchemist shook his head. "Do I worry they will? No; I more or less know it will happen at some point." Turning towards Sam properly now, rolling his own stone lightly between his fingers, he cocked his head to the side. "Who do you mean?"

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing