like the dawn breaks through the night

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

As Ronin pressed himself closer, the Alchemist had to remind himself in just what state his husband was in. The message was only half-received by his lower half, and as Ronin pressed his lips against Remi's neck, he had to actively stop himself from pinning Ronin beneath him and returning the gesture ten-fold.

Curling an arm around the Star for support as much as well-wanted closeness, Remi grinned against his husband's hair and shook his head. "Gods no. Hardly anything at all. Well. I did hear a rumour that Nate beat up Jack...and that as revenge he and Sunjata were left to wander some underground tunnel for a few hours." Remi shrugged. He probably should have cared, but he absolutely didn't. "And a box with an ascended finger was found in the middle of town..." Actually, that he likely would have to deal with.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving It would be a lie to say that Ronin’s mind was anywhere close to sex, but his body was a different matter entirely, and he basked in the warmth of his husband’s embrace and hummed a note of satisfaction against his neck, like it was something he had only just realised he had been missing for so long. ”That sounds boring,” he murmured, the ghost of a smile audible in his voice as Remi explained what had been happening. In comparison to the LongNight of the Hollowed Grounds, it was fairly tame, after all. ”Wonder where the rest of the Ascended went,” he remarked afterwards, as if assuming the finger was removed and the rest was still running around somewhere. His fingertips danced in a gentle pattern along Remi’s back, the hunter sinking further into long denied comfort. ”When do you have to go be Governor again?”

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

'Oh it is all terribly boring. Though I did meet a man with multiple penises, so that's something I suppose." His grin was audible in his words as he nosed the top of Ronin's head with a small laugh, as if wanting to make the Star jealous. He didn't of course, but anything to steer them away from dark times and dark thoughts seemed fair game.

"No idea. The note that accompanied it seemed fairly..." Remi paused, trying to think up the right word, and frowning as he failed to do so. "Like it was trying to incite some sort of war."

Humming gratefully at Ronin's touches, having desperately missed every single thing about the Star during his nearly-week away, Remi shrugged distractedly. "Well...funny you should ask. I had a chat with Amalia before ..., er, a few weeks ago, and I think a visit to Ludo is in order. It may be that what it wants of me conflicts with my role as governor."

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving ”Multiple penises?” Ronin huffed out a laugh against Remi’s neck, nuzzling closer to his husband. Whether or not he was actually jealous remained to be seen, but he would act the part nonetheless, his arms winding around the Alchemist a little more securely despite the deep ache that thrummed out from his bones. ”Pfff, I bet he was just compensating for not knowing what to do with any of them. Luckily I only have the one and I’m an expert at it,” he mumbled. The words inciting a war definitely got his attention, one eye blearily opening so he could peer up at Remi. ”The hell it will,” he said; he’d had enough bullshit for a war to be on the cards, thanks. Unfortunately the visiting Ludo wasn’t something he could complain about, given his husband’s relationship to the god, and so Ronin merely frowned a little. ”In what way?”

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Had Remi the vocal folds for it, he would have purred out of immediate satisfaction. Softly letting his fingers scatter across Ronin's shoulders, he chuckled into the Star's hair. "Edy did call you the Sword after all, so I suppose there's no arguing about that." He agreed, wanting nothing more than to tug Ronin closer still, but knowing he'd not enjoy it if it meant causing further discomfort.

'Oh, it might.' Remi said, his heart lurching a touch in his chest at the thought. Wessex had been cagey enough when last they spoke, and with everything happening, he could see it. Or at least, he could see the foundations being laid.

"Well...you remember that once Ludo tried to send Rexanna to kill the ascended. Or, so she claimed. And of all the gods, Ludo seems the most...transparent about what it wants." With fingers still wandering the landscape of slowly-scabbing skin, Remi frowned. "If it says I am to be against them...? If I had to close Torchline's borders to all ascended? It seems better to me to step down and take my orders as...whatever I am to Ludo, than to impose its will on all of Torchline."

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving ”Fucking right. I am the Sword,” Ronin said with a crooked smile in return, the Star nuzzling back into Remi’s neck and nibbling playfully at his collarbone. The absurd normality of all of this would undoubtedly hit him eventually, but for now Ronin was savouring every little it of it, much as his body complained about the closeness. Hearing that there very well might be a war, he did nothing more than drag the blankets further about them, like he could shut it all out. ”Then let it come. We’ll deal with it,” he muttered. Ludo was a little bit of a different matter, though, and Ronin huffed a sigh against his husband’s skin, nodding gently in understanding. ”At least it is transparent about it,” he mumbled, before letting out a quiet and entirely unexpected laugh. ”Does this mean you will be in charge about as long as I was king?”

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Say the word and I'll send out a royal decree that you're only to be known as the Sword now, rather than the Star." Remi returned with equal mischief. 'You say that, but I'm actually rather enjoying doing nothing at all about it.' So saying, the Alchemist used his magic to tug the blanket up further, tenting it above their heads and creating their own textile bubble to live in, perhaps forever.

Knowing that the jab was coming, Remi was well prepared to groan dramatically and let his head flop against the pillow. "I can't believe you would even say such a thing. I am wounded, I truly am. By my own husband, no less!" He hissed mournfully, continuing to lament his wounded pride.

"I wonder if I could have you thrown in jail for that. Wait, what am I saying. Of course I could." Leaning over, Remi whispered kiss after kiss down his husband's jawline before pausing to simply let himself soak up the realness of him.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving ”No, I want to be the Sword Star. The Starsword. The Sword made of Stars,” Ronin rambled, his fingers fluttering along Remi’s hips and sides, the moment of joviality a welcome relief after the true horror of the week in the darkness. ”Doing nothing about it? I mean... that sounds absolutely perfect. You reckon we could make this place into a fortress? Just hide away until whatever happens is done?” He smiled. The smile turned into a grin as the blankets shrouded them in warmth and comfort, and Ronin could only gaze up at his husband with the most fake innocence on his face that he could imagine. ”I’ll always be here to say such things to you. In jail or under here, doesn’t matter,” he murmured, cut off by the sudden onslaught of kisses. Unable to stop Remi (unwilling, rather), Ronin eventually tilted his husband’s chin up to catch his lips in a real kiss, relishing the taste of him, the dance of their tongues, the heat between them.

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Shall I grab a quill and note all this down, or do you think you'll eventually settle on something yourself?" Remi asked with a sarcastic and endearing smile, thinking that for all the comedic value an innuendo-laden title would bring, that Dark Star still suited the man on the bed quite well. In good times and bad, it was what Ronin had become.

"Well I've not the magic I had before...but I think with a bit of effort we could. No doubt we'll have visitors, so perhaps we could make a sort of...schedule when we're available to be spoken with. Maybe once a month or so?" Just now, even that sounded like far too much. Remi wanted to devote every waking second to do nothing but Ronin, in whatever form that took: drinking him in, washing away blood from his body and their sheets, and loving him endlessly.

That the press of tongues and lips should be any more intimate than hands or legs was likely just some sort of construct. In the moment however, fire bloomed in Remi's belly as the utter realness of Ronin flared suddenly in his mind.  Kissing him with soft desperation, the Alchemist tugged in a shuddery breath, his mind reeling to keep his senses properly under control. Now was not the time for the things his body was awakening to the ideas of, but gods it felt so good to be like this again, with Ronin against him and no threats looming immediately on the horizon.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving It absolutely wasn’t the time for the sorts of things that Ronin’s kiss suggested, but fuck if he cared. Humming an agreement against Remi’s lips - about the schedule of visitors, the Alchemist noting down his ridiculous titles, all of it - Ronin eventually thought to come up for air, his head tilting to rest against his husband’s blue eyes flickering shut. Part of him, he realised, had still been expecting or waiting for things to change or twist into something monstrous, so the fact that Remi was still here, still whole and real and himself... it was everything. ”I wish I wasn’t in such a state,” he whispered, laughter lacing his voice. ”The things I want to do to you are probably a better cure than any shower.” But there would be time for it later, he supposed, the hunter running his fingers through his husband’s curls, drawing him close and sighing against him.

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Ronin," Remi breathed against the hunter's lips, "please shut up." Respectful of his husband's needs and desires as he'd always been, thoughts of legs and lips and the sound of gasps of air were crowding the Alchemist's thoughts such that a new topic of conversation was absolutely needed. And so, pressing one final and lingering kiss against Ronin's lips, a lusty rsvp for the aforementioned shower, Remi let himself relax down into the bed, an arm still tangled around Ronin.

"Maybe we should build a boat." Remi said after a moment, sea-glass eyes focused on the slanted ceiling above them and a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "Monsoon season will be upon us soon...might be fun if everything goes to shit. And even if it doesn't, it's a bit like a wagon.."

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Letting out a quiet chuckle, Ronin nodded to his husband and sank into that last lingering kiss. His sigh as he settled back into the blankets and pillows was wistful to say the least, the hunter busying himself in playing with Remi’s curls, eyes slipping shut. Thankfully before anything like sleep could take him the Alchemist was speaking again, Ronin smirking and squinting across at the other man. ”A boat?” he repeated, his voice a low drawl. ”I’m up for getting a boat,” he decided, clearly weighing up the possibility of things going wrong in monsoon season and coming up with definitely. Things always went wrong for them, one way or another, and it was better just to roll with it at this point. ”Later, though. I can’t say I plan to leave this bed for a while. You’ll have to feed me breakfast, sorry.”

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Nothing fancy...just large enough for us...maybe with just some canvas overhead. Wouldn't want the likes of Jack and the Ark to thing we're infringing on their territory." This latter bit was added with no shortage of mischief. Though Remi wisely kept Jack as happy as he could, should the shackles of Governor be removed, the relationship between the pair might be very different indeed. "We could have nets and the like trailing out behind us as we sleep, wake up with lobster and fish for breakfast." As long as he didn't think too realistically about it, it was a lovely image.

"What, right now?" Remi asked of breakfast, tilting his head and raising a brow at his partner. "But that involves pants." The Alchemist protested with a light huff, wondering when their house had become so crowded that pants were needed for morning snacks.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving ”I couldn’t give a hot fuck what Jack and the Ark are doing,” Ronin murmured, the hunter’s voice taking on an almost dreamy quality, his mind seizing on an opportunity to imagine the things that Remi was saying. ”It sounds like a plan. We can sleep moored against the docks, and wait until the sun wakes us up. The sound of the birds, the water, feet against the boardwalks...” Ronin sighed deeply, nuzzling against Remi’s hair. A quiet laugh left him at the prospect of breakfast - and of pants, the Star grumbling something reluctant in the back of his throat. ”I don’t remember the last time I ate,” he confessed. ”But it can’t wait a little longer. I need you more than I need food.”