the light’s on for you

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

The feathers and the fur are a warning that Ronin heeds; this is a dance that he’s navigated a hundred times, through a hundred different issues. ”Well, much as we would like to, we can’t control what other people think. Not about us, not in general,” he murmurs through a sigh, his fingers following the path of feathers in a line down Remi’s back. ”Why does it bother you? Is it that it feels like you’re not being heard?”

Ronin has seen it, here and there; the way people expect more of his husband than he’s capable of giving any more, and while he can’t fault them for trying, he imagines it’s grating. With a smirk, he lets his fingertips trace across the Alchemist’s hips. ”I’ll take that as a resounding no, then. What did she say, when you told her as much?”

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

RONIN

REMI

Almost like magic, feathers and fur disappear as Ronin's fingertips glide over them. Ronin is indeed able to soothe away Remi's savagery and the Alchemist murmurs a throaty-growl of contentment. "They can think what they like. I've given up on caring what they think of the things I do—" (he hadn't) "—but I wish they'd stop telling me what to do. They can doubt and hate me all they want, but what gives them the right to demand change of me?"

Stifling a moan of surprised pleasure as Ronin's hands dip lower, the Alchemist rolls his shoulders, grateful for the release of tension. "Nothing. She...started to tear up and just stared at the sea. Before that she said something about how I don't live in my own world and how everyone is allowed to make mistakes."

Grumbling again, Remi raises his head to glance over his shoulder at Ronin. "Who knows, maybe after everything with Ludo is done I'll...understand more. He somehow doubted it though.

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

Ronin doesn’t believe his husband’s front about not caring - they’d hardly be having this conversation were it true - but he does believe that it’s important for Remi to keep it going. ”I don’t think anyone hates you,” he says gently; doubt, certainly, and demanding change absolutely. But hate? Ronin doesn’t think their friends capable of that level of vitriol for the Alchemist.

Content that he has successfully smoothed away the stresses of the day, the Star leans in, trailing slow and absent kisses that follow the path his fingers took down the length of Remi’s back. ”It sounds like you were both hurting.” He sighs. ”What’s this everything with Ludo, though? Did you tell me about this while I was pretending to be awake again?” Ronin laughs to cover the worry that sneaks into his tone.

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

RONIN

REMI

"I hardly think they'd tell you, if they did." Remi replies, mostly under his breath. It's probably true, too. Ronin, for all his errors in the past, has always been able to win over hearts and minds. They all seem to want to give their best to and for him, which likely means they'd not say the things they really thought of his husband.

Back arching happily beneath these ministrations, the Alchemist sighs happily now, wishing that his body would stretch on forever so that he might always feel Ronin's lips kissing their way down his spine. "Maybe. I just didn't wrap up my hurt in a bow and call it doing the right thing." Remi adds, petulantly.

With a small snort, the Alchemist riggles his hips indicating that Ronin should either rise, or lay down next to him. Either way Remi will roll onto his back, with Ronin either at his side or astride him still. "Maybe. It was when I asked it what role I had to play with the ascended. I mentioned...how little I felt about anything anymore. It said perhaps it could help, if I could shed a tear for someone else. Only..that someone else couldn't be you or Aoife, so.." His shoulders shrug, indicating how likely he thought it was that would happen anytime soon.

honest feelings and bad timing
make the most painful combination.

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

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

”Gods, you’re so right.” Ronin huffs out a laugh at the realisation, wondering how much of the truth is fed to him through a rose coloured lens by the people he trusts. Then again, that only reinforces what he has with Remi; the man he knows will show him the ugly and the dark, as well as the good. ”No, but you did let it sharpen your tongue,” he reminds the Alchemist, as guilty of it himself as anyone.

As Remi wriggles about, Ronin of course stays right where he is, leaving him once again comfortably astride his husband so he might continue his kisses back up again, over his stomach and chest. Brow furrowing, he listens carefully to the news about Ludo, humming an enigmatic note of mostly suspicion. ”Why does it care?” he wonders, peering up at Remi. ”Do you want it? The help, I mean.”

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

RONIN

REMI

The Alchemist opens his mouth to argue, considers, and lets it close promptly again. It's true that he's never sounded more cold and cruel than he has since losing Aoife. Without any semblance of empathy to curb some of his more barbed words, they flow freely and without thought at all. "Well...hmmph." He snorts into the sheets, knowing his husband is entirely correct.

Inhaling deeply, Remi creates a hill for Ronin to climb before he might reach the Alchemist's lips. His hands leave the bed on their own, helpless not to touch the Star now that he's within. Softly Remi's fingertips dance along Ronin's shoulders in choreographed movements that reside deep within his muscle-memory by now. "Mercy killers should be..merciful." Remi murmurs softly, staring into a crown of dark hair. "And I...I feel so very little about the world. Entirely indifferent, save where you're involved."

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

”Hmmph, indeed.” Ronin chuckles, a shiver running through him at the Alchemist’s touch. It makes sense, everything that Remi is saying about Ludo and its wishes for his husband. But there’s still something else. ”You didn’t entirely answer the question,” he mumbles, finally stretching himself over the other man to brush his lips across the line of his jaw. ”Do you want the help?”

Being something for Ludo was all well and good, but the task wouldn’t be an easy one regardless; even less so if Remi was doing it begrudgingly. ”Because my stance is the same whatever you decide, whatever Amalia thinks, or Ludo, or anyone else.” Ronin smirks up at him. ”I only care about you being happy.”

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

RONIN

REMI

Rather than answering, Remi's lips part and his eyes roll back into his head, lashes falling shut. Gods if he could just stay this way forever, with Ronin laid over him like a blanket, his skin like a dark sky that bursts with fireworks at every touch and ministration the Star has for him. It's perfect. Everything is utterly, utterly, perfect. Not for the first time, the urge to leave his own body and simply enter Ronin's crosses Remi's mind, but he's enjoying the physical connection far too much. "I...haven't been successful on my own, this last year. Perhaps the help would be good If I can...find a way to do what it asks of me."

Gazing up into Ronin's eyes, Remi lifts a hand to push a wave of dark hair away so that he might fully see his husband's captivating blue stare. Exhaling a sound that is entirely adoring and awe-filled, Remi just sweetly shakes his head as he leans up. "I can tell you that it's near impossible to feel sad about anything, right now." His kiss is a shallow one, if only because his lips are pulled too far back in a smile to be of much use.

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

The answer is given, and Ronin smiles against his husband’s skin. ”Then I’ll help you get that help however I can,” he murmurs to him. How that might be he doesn’t know - but if it’s what Remi is trying to achieve, then Ronin is in. Where you go, I go.

The hand whispering across his forehead brings his attention up, letting him drown in a sea of green, lost in the brightest sort of smile that he knows and loves best. It’s contagious, even as their lips meet in a gentle kiss, and Ronin’s eyes flutter shut to enjoy it all the more. ”Good,” he mumbles into the kiss, voice quiet and content, heavy with affection.

”It’ll sort itself out. Whatever’s happening, with gods and our friends and whatever the fuck people are thinking, we’ll weather it. So give me more of those smiles when you can, okay?” With a soft laugh, Ronin kisses the corner of Remi’s lips.

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

RONIN

REMI

Tilting his head back slightly with soft laughter, Remi lets his fingers comb through Ronin's hair while his other hand roams up and down the Star's ribs as if they are piano keys that can't yet be played. "Let no one ever say you're not the demanding sort." Remi says, all dimples and delight. "More smiles, Remi. Next thing you'll be demanding more kisses too. More days whiled away in bed."

Gods, what a horrible life he leads.

"I'll weather you." Remi snarks, leaning forward to tug at Ronin's earlobe with his teeth. He lets his cheek graze against Ronin's before his head hits the pillow again, offering his counterpart a boyish smile for his trouble. "Who knows, maybe Ludo will make me a magical polecat, who senses feelings. Remi Taliesin, scarf of empathy, they'll call me."

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

Arching his back into the touches, Ronin’s smile hides nothing - not his smug enjoyment at being such a demanding husband; not his ridiculous love for Remi; not his pleasure. ”You knew what you married,” he drawls, inhaling a sharp breath, an almost laugh, at the teeth that come nipping at his earlobe. ”You will, and you have, and I love you for it.” He winks down at his husband.

”A polecat, you say? I’m afraid if Ludo does that then it’s not going to be able to snatch you away to do your job. Your full time occupation will be my empathy scarf. I’m sorry, that’s just the way it has to be.” Ronin neither looks nor sounds sorry, brushing his nose over Remi’s and letting out a content sigh. ”Would you object if I just fell asleep right here?”

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

RONIN

REMI

Remi grumbles something that might be an argument, but the sounds don't form themselves into words. There are too many other things to be concerned with rather than what Remi did or didn't know at the time he proposed, and then subsequently married the Star. All he'd properly known, and all he knew now, was how hopelessly in love he was and always would be. There couldn't exist a Remi who wasn't entirely devoted to Ronin.

"That could be perfect...If Ludo is cross with you, surely Safrin will come to your aid. Maybe those two can go fight each other for a few centuries and leave us be." It's a blasphemous idea and probably quite unrealistic but...well, if Remi gets to wish for anything on his birthday this year, maybe it'll just be that.

"Object? Me? No, never." That said, Remi's hands wander over Ronin's lower back, pressing down near the base of his spine to release any tension built up there. "I can't promise to stay entirely...flat if you do, though." He adds with a wink; the suggestion of actually having sex isn't indicative in the movements of his hands or his voice. Other parts though certainly have their own ideas.

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

”Chance would be a fine thing, Remi.” Ronin chuckles at that; to just do this for centuries while the gods went and fought and the world left them alone? His husband might not be alone on that particular birthday wish. The Star shifts a bit so he can bury his face in the side of Remi’s neck, though anything he’s about to say fades into garbled nothing at the sudden attention to stiff muscles (not that one, you filth - though, give it time).

Sighing contently and running a hand down the Alchemist’s side, fingers gently catching on and paying attention to each nick and scar, Ronin lets out another soft laugh. ”Neither can I,” he mutters. ”If that happens I guess we’ll just have to sword fight.” Remi will probably feel his dirty grin, the Star utterly relaxed against his husband.

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

RONIN

REMI

"Well if it does come to that," Remi whispers against the skin just below his husband's ear, his grin equally filthy at this point. "I'll win, since I'm taller." Loving to rub it in at every and any occasion (and oh, how Remi does indeed love to rub it in at every and any occasion..), Remi lets his laughter fill the space over Ronin's shoulder as he wraps an arm around his husband's torso, his other still kneading the muscles that fade into his husband's lower half.

As the pair tumble off to sleep in a tangle of limbs, Ronin will find himself awoken not by the morning light streaming through their windows, but by lips pressed against the shell of his ear, and a voice whispering: "En guard.."



~FIN

back when i was living for the hope of it all

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection