the light’s on for you

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”You say that, but if you watch me day to day I’ll surprise you with my idiocy,” Ronin remarks mildly, though the smile he shoots at Remi is sweet and amused, and he runs his thumb across the Alchemist’s knee. Exhaling a sigh through his nose and taking another sip of his drink, he mulls over Remi’s question. ”Probably spare them the gory details for now,” he suggests. ”All they need to know is that you work for Ludo, and that sometimes it calls you out to do tasks.”

That, at least, should buy them some time before Seren and Felix undoubtedly started asking more complicated questions. As for the man who wasn’t Remi’s man? ”What didn’t he have to say?” Ronin scoffs. ”He was quite the talker. Talked about stopping the Voice before a war starts... offered you and Seren sanctuary should anything go wrong. Sold me quite the nice little package.”

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

"Then I'll undoubtedly see it." The Alchemist crooned across the table, finding Ronin's hand on his knee and giving it a squeeze. "I can't take my eyes off of you at the best of times."

Listening to his husband's advice—the only advice he actually listens to these days—Remi nods. Running his hand up the side of one unshaven cheek and then letting his head slump against it, he sighs a bit. "Alright." He agrees. "Tomorrow then...a family meeting." Gods if that wasn't a weird thing to say.

"Better that you got the talkative one." Remi huffs with a smirk, before letting his head tilt ever more to the side. "Safety? Hah. As if such a thing exists for us in this world." Letting his eyes softly scan Ronin's face, Remi narrows his eyes with a playful challenge. "So, did you buy it then?" He asks taking a sip of his drink. "This package he was selling?"

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”A family meeting, huh?” The words sound as foreign to Ronin as he guesses they do to his husband, but he can’t help the smile that flickers across his face. ”I’ll be sure to lurk in the corner and fold my arms, and put my stern dad expression on.” It was an expression that didn’t exist, as far as Ronin was aware, so he’d have to make it up pronto.

Scoffing, he nudges his shoulder against Remi’s. ”You trying to say I talk too much?” he accuses, knowing all too well that he couldn’t shut up if his life depended on it, such was his smart-assery. Still, he nibbles at the inside of his lip as the Alchemist continues, exhaling a sigh and letting his shoulders slump a bit.

”Not entirely,” he murmurs. ”I said I would help in the fight against the Voice. Not necessarily the Ascended. And they would have to keep you both safe.” His blue eyes darken a touch at the prospect of anything other than that happening.

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

"Maybe we can even darken one of the corners to make it properly moody for you." Remi replies, trying desperately not to smile but failing spectacularly at the imagery. "So long as you don't begin to glow. It'll ruin the entire thing." He adds with a crooked smile.

"No, I'm saying I wouldn't have had the patience to hear him out. At least mine is always brief." Annoyingly so at times, but it was better suited for Remi's patience than someone who tended to be long-winded. It was probably for the best that Remi 'got' Finn and that Ronin 'got' Dorian. Neither of them likely would have done at all well with Cian.

Looking up, the lines on his forehead deepening, Remi considers this and tries to exhale out his breath in a way that won't come across as a dreary sigh. "Well if I'm to be part of this war too, I'm not entirely sure how that will work with keeping me safe." Remi points out. "And...well. When Sam tried to leave the Voice it nearly killed him. Not because of anything she did, but all the things she stopped doing for him." Shoulders sagging somewhat, Remi can only tilt his chin at an angle as he shakes his head once with a grimace. "I think fighting her is tantamount to fighting them all."

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”That sounds suitable. I’ll do my best not to glow, but that will involve not enjoying myself whatsoever. It’s not likely, I’ll warn you now.” Ronin is grinning now too - and oop, he’s glowing already. Still, he can hardly be blamed with what he considers the best thing in the world sitting next to him. That’s his excuse and he’s sticking to it.

”He might be brief but he also didn’t really give you anything to go on. I know more from Talkative Man than you do from Brief Man,” he points out, raising an eyebrow at Remi’s definitely-not-negative sigh. He sees his husband sag into himself, knowing already that what he’s going to say won’t be good, just by the look on his face. Naturally, he grumbles dramatically and shuffles closer to flop his head on Remi’s shoulder; only then is he ready to listen to what he knows will be logic but unpleasant.

”You can only be part of the war if you choose to be,” Ronin murmurs. ”And if you don’t choose to be, I’d at least want to make sure you were safe.” He won’t have it any other way, in fact, and if this Order wants him to do anything for them, they’ll treat the stipulation with the respect it deserves. The link between the Voice and Ascended, though? That’s more difficult to parse.

”...If she continues to spread her influence, though,” he mutters, not knowing how to end the sentence other than to know it won’t be good.

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

Remi shoots his husband the most disapproving look he can muster (read: not a very good one), as he begins to glow. "Uh huh." He says skeptically of Ronin's ability to keep himself under control, not minding one bit that he couldn't in this context.

"I've learned...different things from Brief Man." It felt like a relief not to refer to Finn as your man anymore. Brief Man didn't really fit him, but anything was better than making unnecessary associations.

Slipping an arm around Ronin as he bonelessly leans against the Alchemist, Remi rests his cheek against Ronin's head. "Where you go, I go." Remi said in a voice that comes out far flatter than he intends it to. "If LongNight has taught me anything, it's that I can't go a week without you. Less so knowing you might be in danger." Swallowing and looking down at the table, the Alchemist merely sighs. "Consider me signed up, if that's what you've decided."

Humming a note of agreement under his breath, Remi tilts his chin so that he can press a kiss to Ronin's forehead, before letting his cheek retake its place on top of Ronin's mop of dark hair. "Yep...". What else is there to say other than that? That those they've come to view as friends—Nate, Sam, Wessex, Bastien?—are they to be reduced to collateral damage?

With a groan, it now being his turn to slump against Ronin, the two of them like sacks of potatoes, the Alchemist buries his face in the crook of Ronin's neck. "Amalia and I ... had it out." He mumbles into Ronin's collar.

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”Different things, mm? Like how annoying it is when people don’t give you any information?” Ronin smiles into Remi’s shoulder, closing his eyes to accept his fuss with a gentle sigh. He tenses somewhat to hear that the Alchemist will be joining him on this venture purely by virtue that he is on it to begin with, but he swallows down any objections. ”Where you go, I go,” he agrees instead, kissing the side of his neck and forcing himself to relax.

Because Ronin has decided - that much is obvious to the Star even if he’s not been able to admit that to himself until this point. A soft laugh leaves him as Remi slouches down as well; he slings his arms around his husband, nuzzling his nose against a stubbled cheek. He waits - because there’s going to be something, he can tell - and eventually Remi lets it tumble out.

”Oh?” He glances up, leaning in to kiss soft curls. ”Want to fall into bed and tell me about it?”

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

"Among other things." Remi mumbles. His fingers tighten softly around his husband when he feels the Star shifting, but he says nothing. If Remi were a better man perhaps, he could leave Ronin to his own decisions. Could have some autonomy. But he wasn't, and so he couldn't.

"That," Remi nibbles against Ronin's neck, kissing his way up to his husband's ear before abruptly sticking his tongue inside, "Sounds perfect." Trying to flail away before the inevitable retaliation, the Alchemist grins sunnily at Ronin, already feeling much of the weight he'd brought home with him lifted from his shoulders.

Sneaking upstairs—the pair having got remarkably good at this, given how often they were forced to do it in their own home—Remi strips himself of the majority of his clothing to compensate for the heat, before quite literally flopping down sideways onto their bed. "I called her pathological." Remi says into the bedsheets, his shoulders rising and falling with the loud huff he directs down into the bed.

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”Brief Man has many talents,” Ronin remarks, blue eyes fluttering shut at the kisses and attention, though the sudden tongue in his ear puts a swift stop to that. Trying to cringe away with a noise that has no words but definitely displays outrage and mild disgust, Ronin takes a swipe at Remi, but of course his husband is already gone, and the Star sneaks upstairs while grumbling a variety of threats and curses. And the odd attempt at an ass grab, of course.

Stretching and clicking their bedroom door shut, he of course follows suit and peels off a large part of his clothing; even with the rain, it doesn’t take much to get too warm with the heat that kindles between the two men. ”Pathological?” he repeats with a boyish chuckle, clambering astride Remi so he can run dexterous hands over the Alchemist’s back and shoulders, working out tension from the muscles. ”Gosh, I can’t imagine why. Bit of a strong sentiment though, don’t you think?”

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

Remi raises his head only enough to raise a brow at Ronin that he should be so bold as to offer anything other than sugary-agreement, before flopping back down and shrugging his shoulders. All but melting beneath the weight of his husband then, instantly relaxing beneath his expert-touches, Remi again shrugs, though this time it is with far less conviction.

"I mean...I told her that I was allowed to make my own choices, no matter the consequences. To which she all but said that I wasn't if my actions went against what she considered right." It was a poor rephrase of the conversation, but right now that certainly seemed like the crux of it.

Stretching out his arms so that he could use his forearms to rest his cheek on, Remi considered one of their pillows with great interest for a moment before silently snarling at himself. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the only one with a leg to stand on about what I did during LongNight." Glancing back at Ronin, Remi's expression seemed to say and we already had that talk, so.

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”You are allowed to make your own choices,” Ronin says in mild agreement - because it’s true. He furrows his brow as Remi continues, knowing simply from being around Amalia that what his husband says is likely on the embellished side, but... well, Remi’s still his husband, and that means accepting certain liberties. With fingers kneading at the knots in his back, he catches the Alchemist’s glance over his shoulder and takes the opportunity to lean in and drop a kiss on a bare shoulder.

”That’s right. And I love you to death and then some. So there’s no issue there. Some people aren’t like us though, Remi. We can’t all be so lucky to have someone to work through our trauma with.” He’s not necessarily saying that Amalia doesn’t have the same kind of support, but equally... not everyone could just accept the Alchemist the way he was. ”So you two aren’t buddies right now, hm?”

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

"I know. And I'm not asking her to be there for me, or even to understand." The Alchemist continues, pouting adorably at a pillow and clutching at their sheets like a sulky cat kneading the bed. "All I'm asking is that when I make a decision that concerns me, or even us that she respects it. She can live her life however she likes, but that doesn't get to dictate ours."

Grumbling, mostly because of just how good it felt to have Ronin's fingers pressing deep into his muscles, the Alchemist shakes his head. "No, I'd not say so just now. The conversation...just sort of ended...We'd both more or less reached the point where we were just yelling, so I walked off."

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

gladiator, picked a fight with the gods, i'm a giant slayer

”Mm,” Ronin says helpfully in agreement, his brows drawing together in a frown as he focuses on a particularly stubborn knot in Remi’s shoulder. ”So... if that’s a given - and it is - then what do you suppose Amalia was trying to say? Behind all the... pathology.” He tilts his head, touch growing more gentle once he feels the tension release. ”She was out with me most of Longnight too, you know. Maybe she’s just dealing with it the only way she knows how.”

There’s no judgement in his voice, not for either of them, but there’s no doubt that his husband and his wellbeing have Ronin’s primary focus. ”So the conversation is left mostly unfinished.” He reaches up a hand, carefully rubbing at the back of Remi’s neck. ”...Too soon to invite her to dinner to work it all out, you think?”

bone shaker, dominator, freight train, wreckin' ball, i'm the gladiator

RONIN

REMI

Hissing in a breath as feathers trickle from his curls down to the top of his spine, Remi bites down on a curse as Ronin's fingers press against a particularly unhappy knot of muscle.  Releasing the breath he was holding, Remi considers his husband's question for a moment. "Maybe she is, and if so, she's fine to do it. But she doesn't get to just call her anger righteous because it suits her to do so. She doesn't get to wrap up her need to have everything go according to what she thinks is right, and still call it friendship."

The feathers continue down the Alchemist's spine before spreading out into golden hair. Snarling softly at the notion of dinner, Remi huffs a sound that is a fairly clear too soon. "I think Amalia still expects something of me. It's like...the fact that I'm no longer the poster-boy for kindness is somehow a threat to her." He shakes his head slightly to indicate the words don't properly express the sentiment he's feeling, but Remi isn't really sure how to go about it.

Of everyone, so far Amalia and Sam have clung most strongly to pulling Remi back to the way he was before.

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection