passed down like folksongs

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

It is a thing more intimate than Finn knows, for Remi to see a piece of himself so elegantly twirled between the fingers of another man. The Spyglass wouldn't have any reason to think it circumstances being what they are, but Remi does not give out pieces of himself often. Clearing his throat slightly, the Alchemist just nods. "That—" He says of the motion of Finn's fingers, "—I find helps with thinking." Indeed, it is one of Remi's near-constant ticks: feathers twirling in his fingers.

"You're not?" It isn't that Remi doesn't hear the sincerity in Finn's voice, so much as it's likely easier for the pair of them if it's deflected with a bit of humour. Shaking his head the Alchemist crosses one arm across his chest to tuck it beneath the other. "I was being an asshole about it. I'm sure the mermaids have found it by now, not that they'll know what it does." He grins a bit at that, imagining Delta coming up with all sorts of theories about what the opalescent star-stone is meant to do.

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

As if caught out by Remi’s words, Finn’s fingers cease their twirling. He clears his throat quietly, placing the feather back on the table and recovering the glass of water again to take another sip. ”I find it helps me to stop,” he murmurs, stormy eyes flicking down to the blanket in his lap now, as if suddenly and acutely aware that it’s not the one that was on the bed originally (he knows because it’s balled up nearby where he left it).

Snorting under his breath, Finn does not refute Remi’s outlandish words - they both know it’s true, and the deflection does its job. ”May they have the sweetest of dreams, those merfolk,” he says with a light sigh. He speaks nothing of Remi’s assholery; that seems like it would cut just a bit too close to the bone.

”You still helped me to sleep in the end, though.”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

"Ah. Well...I suppose that's another for the differences column." Remi murmurs, not realizing what his words imply: We've both been keeping track of all this between us, haven't we? The things alike and the things not? Well. There's one.

"Well, you're welcome." He says with a forced huff of laughter that dies quickly. Running a hand over his eyes for a moment, Remi lets it fall before giving the Spyglass a look. "In the vein of things we aren't meant to talk about—" Quickly, something in his expression, something utterly hard to define but present in every bedraggled hair on his jawline, says no, not that. Or maybe it doesn't at all. "—this war. Your home that you can't talk about. Dorian offered a safe place for Seren and me, if Ronin signed on and..." Pulling in a breath and letting his eyes roll up towards the ceiling, he shakes his head with woeful skepticism. "..Unless you live in a fairy tale world, that is quite the promise to make."

Slowly, his eyes fall back to Finn's face, his own stare a shattered but realistic green. "And I know it wasn't a fairy tale." He's seen what Finn's world did to him.

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

Oh, Finn hears the implication all too well. Setting the glass back on the side table, he reaches up to rub at his eyes; eyes that no longer ache with fatigue. For a while the world is a little clearer, and for a while thoughts flow smoothly, like a clean and pure stream of water. ”I suppose it is,” he says, amused. ”How large is that column now, I wonder?” How unlike Finn, to sound lighthearted.

It’s dashed back to reality soon enough, luckily, and he settles back again to listen to Remi. The vein of things we aren’t meant to talk about... Ah, so Dorian has gone to see the Dark Star. He should have assumed as much, given the Orator’s need to be prompt. He chews at the inside of his cheek.

”It is no fairytale. But Dorian is no liar, either, and if he has said so, you will be safe in Stormbreak if that need arises. To risk the Star’s ire, or to give him the means to ensure he joins us? I know what I’d choose.”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

Remi grins wryly at that. "Objectively, or in relation to the other column?" The Alchemist asks, his grin growing crooked. It's easy to dance around the truth of things, of moments made but never discussed, of mirrored thoughts taking place in both of their minds. Too easy.

"If you think there is anywhere we can go that we'd be safe...you're fooling yourself." Remi mutters, his tone still boyishly light, but the words are grave somehow still. "Interesting that it's Ronin's ire Dorian is concerned with." Raising a brow as if insulted, Remi puffs out a hmph sound under his breath. "But promising safety while in the same breath recruiting us for war? I hope you don't actually believe us so naive."

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

”In relation to the other, of course,” Finn says, much more interested in variables rather than mere numbers. If only the moment of joviality could continue; alas, they are already back onto the usual prickly topics of his job and the obligations that Remi wants no part in. ”You have never been to Stormbreak.” Finn shrugs his shoulders (regretting it instantly with the flash of pain), his tone equally light and infinitely certain.

The offence taken by the Alchemist lights something almost - almost - mischievous in Finn’s eyes, and he rubs at the sore muscles that run down the back of his neck and shoulders. ”Yes, well. I rather failed in my recruitment of you, so you no longer hold interest,” he says. ”At least not until someone more skilled comes along to sweet talk you.”

Finn doesn’t think they are naive, not at all, and it shows in his expression. ”I do not believe in war,” he murmurs. ”But I do believe in prevention.”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

"Impossible to know. The other column isn't a list so much as...a shape." The differences between the two men were many. And realistically, their similarities could probably be reduced to a few symptoms of mental illness, an acceptance of the macabre, and beautiful faces that were easy to take advantage of. But...that wasn't all of it. But Remi didn't know what all of it was, and thus the list was simply a shape in his mind that felt a certain way in relation to the other column.

"For you, or for the Order?" Remi wonders, wondering if the words are meant to be bait or an invitation.

Setting his jaw against that, the skin around the Alchemist's eyes tightens as his eyes wander absently to the corner of the room. "Prevention." He says in a dry and rough voice. "And how has that been going for you?" Sweeping his eyes back, the Alchemist tilts his head slightly, as if posing a challenge. "The barrier came down..what? 2 years ago now? Ascended back in the world. The Voice going where she pleased, portals being opened. A few of us with these—" Reaching into his pocket, Remi pulls out his guardian sphere and tosses it onto Finn's lap. "And you've all...what. Made notes about us?"

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

”I’m a fan of triangles, myself,” Finn comments, as if that should have any bearing whatsoever on the ‘shape’ of their column of differences. He can feel his head clearing further, the last of the medicine wearing out of his system, leaving him refreshed and in phenomenal pain, thus rendering this burst of energy somewhat useless. He huffs out a laugh at Remi’s question, running a hand gently over the bruise along his cheek. ”For the Order. I find you fascinating,” he says.

As for how Finn’s method was going? He tilts his head carefully at the Alchemist. ”Well we aren’t at war yet,” he points out. Stormy eyes track the strange sphere he suddenly withdraws, lips parting to respond that they have done more than simply make notes, only... well. Remi’s aim is unfortunate, and the orb lands exactly where it shouldn’t, causing Finn’s breath to hitch in his throat, for knees to come up reflexively, for agony to explode in sore ribs as well as nether regions.

”I don’t know what that is but it’s a lot heavier than it looks,” he wheezes.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

Remi tries not to choke on the imagery flaring in his mind. That it should have gone from our similarities are a shape to oh, like a sex-triangle? shocked even him. What was weirdest of all, was Remi wasn't even entirely sure he was in the triangle. His place seemed somewhere separate and dark, but still it made him uncomfortable to think of Finn in such a situation, just as it did hearing he'd been a prostitute. "Let me guess, an equilateral man?" It's the best he can do amidst heat rising into his ears.

It only gets worse at what Finn says next. Such are things they've both silently agreed not to mention. Instead of saying, I find you fascinating as well, Remi just lets his eyes plummet to his hands as the heat from his ears drains into his cheeks. "Does that make you a narcissist then?" He mumbles clumsily, frowning at his fingers as he creates a feather and spins it erratically.

Sensing instantly just where the sphere landed, the Alchemist lurches forward as if there's something he might do. His fingers stretch out and then immediately clench into fists as he cringes down at Finn, knowing far too well the pain the main feels. "Fuck, sorry..I...wasn't looking."

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

Knowing nothing about the way his counterpart has just analysed his lighthearted quip (sometimes a triangle is just a triangle, Remi), from Finn’s perspective things have just gotten profoundly and horribly awkward. And then the cherry on the top: sudden, maddening pain! He feels sick, nausea creeping up the back of his throat, and his eyes squeeze shut in an attempt to wrangle the several sources of discomfort thrumming throughout his body.

”It’s fine,” he says through a quick exhale. It was not fine, but there is nothing else to say about it, in truth. Finn does his best to force his legs and back to straighten, to relax the muscles in his abdomen, ignore the deep and unpleasant ache from... oh, everywhere at this point.

His hand closes on the sphere, holding it up and offering it back to Remi in good time. ”Maybe I’m not so talented at prevention after all,” he manages. ”And perhaps we really should be worrying about your ire, rather than your husband’s.”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

Remi lingers for just a moment, still aware that there is nothing he can do for the other man, but feeling his pain acutely. Offering a groan of sympathy, he takes a few steps backward until the back of his legs find the windowsill again. "I won't judge you if you want to curl up a bit." He offers with a roguish smirk.

Snorting at that, glad to see Finn's sense of humour was still intact, Remi reaches forward to collect the sphere. He wouldn't have been surprised if Finn had tried to retaliate, but in his current position, he was more likely to break a window than probably nut Remi in return. "We...were given them. By the gods. We all shared the same strange dream telling us what they did, and when we woke up, there they were." Running a hand through his curls and sighing, he just looks down at the sphere with a huff of annoyance. "Can't break them, mark them, or get rid of them. I've tossed mine into the ocean, the volcano...and it always comes back."

A bit like you.

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

”Oh, I want to. I just don’t think my bruised ribs will forgive me,” Finn assures the other man with a pained sort of smile, though he’s recovering little by little as the seconds become minutes. Indeed, by the time Remi takes the sphere back and retires to the window sill he’s practically able to listen to what the Alchemist has to say, and he raises his eyebrows in unabashed interest. No, his research has not taken him quite this far just yet.

”Who is we?” he wonders idly, frowning at the strange sphere. ”And what do they do, exactly?” His researcher’s mind wants to examine the orb now (at eye level, rather than groin, preferably), wondering how this has managed to slip between his fingers for so long. Not a mistake to be made a second time, certainly.

”A shame it couldn’t have come back to you just now when you threw it,” he says. Before it hit me doesn’t need to be added, he hopes.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

he said "i bet you don't remember me"

"Uh.." Exhaling and closing his eyes to think, Remi tries to remember. "Phoebe and I received this one from Rae...A man called Jigano received one from Ludo, and Amalia received hers from Vi."  Opening his eyes, he shrugs. "Both Amalia and Jigano are in the Grounds, but Amalia is on her honeymoon here, right now." His cheeks colour even more to speak of Amalia, after how their last encounter went.

'You won't see anything if you look into it. But when we do we can...see how close the ascended are to opening a new portal." Remi doesn't bother to look down into his sphere. He doesn't care.

Snorting again, his sympathy for the other man now giving away to boyish mercilessness, the Alchemist just grins. Well Finn, if your dick was really as big as you think I'd have seen it and wouldn't have hit it. "Ahh well. All in the name of learning new things, mm?"

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

The information gets filed away for later, the Spyglass committing to memory the names, the gods, the properties of the sphere. Interesting, that of the four mentioned, three are on the list for the Order to seek out and speak to. And two of them, well, Finn has already met. ”I’ve spoken to her,” he says of Amalia. ”A couple of times, actually. Though never on official business.” His cheeks colour too, but it’s for an entirely different reason; a mix of embarrassment and something else, something he doesn’t yet have words for.

Humming out a disbelieving and boyish sort of agreement, he barely hides the smile that wants to creep across his face. Shame you’ll never get to see it, huh Remi. ”I guess so,” he says, before sighing deeply (as best his ribs allow, anyway). ”I suppose I should try to... have a day, then. Unless you’d like to join me for breakfast. Or... whatever meal this time of day requires.”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!