passed down like folksongs

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

"And what's wrong with the ocean?" Remi wonders, glad that the crispness of the sea-air prevents any body heat of Finn's from radiating his way.

"I've.." Remi swallows awkwardly on a piece of fish, gulping it down before replying. "..thought about it. But..Seren complicates things." She wasn't his daughter, and had made that clear from the start. However much affection he'd come to feel for her, the lane in the sand was deep and obvious. "And you know, no matter how hard Ronin and I have been working at it, neither of us has managed to get pregnant yet." Remi adds with an entirely inappropriate grin, smiling stupidly out at the sea.

A wife. They'd more or less danced around the topic of Finn's sexuality, but now there it was. Remi was both relieved to hear it and strangely disappointed just the same. "You say you want daughters until you have them." Remi replies with a weary and knowing smile. "They have you wrapped around their fingers from the moment they're born." He adds with a sad smile. "You'll never feel weaker or more helpless than you do with them. Knowing you can't protect them from everything."

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

”Drowning in it,” Finn says pointedly, before taking another bite of breakfast, his eyes on the churning waves. He’d told Remi previously, about not doing well under the water. The ocean had a lot of water to slip under, and therein lay his problem. Swinging a leg absently and listening to the other man, Finn scoffs and clears his throat. ”Well they say practice makes perfect,” he remarks, as if to say he couldn’t fault Remi and Ronin for trying.

Unaware of the conclusions the Alchemist is drawing about him from every slip of imagined information, Finn merely leans back on one hand (carefully, so as not to aggravate the bruises). ”I suppose it’s a good thing, then. That I only have them in this other life,” he murmurs, glancing sidelong at the other man. ”Yours sounds pretty nice, though. Houseboat, early morning work. Bit different to governor.”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

"Finn." The Alchemist says, turning a pointed sea-green gaze towards the Spyglass with one brow mischievously raised. "Am I to understand that you don't know how to swim."

Grinning with boyish mischief at the water, Remi nods. "No one can say we haven't tried." He agrees, dimples out in full force. He can practically feel Ronin rolling his eyes at him, before demanding that Remi return home at once to try again.

"I didn't say it wasn't absolutely worth it." The Alchemist corrects in a low voice, his smile slipping away entirely as he regards the sea, grateful that her broiling dance before them is a perfect echo of how he currently feels. "Mmm. A bit different, yeah." Rubbing at one of his ears and forcing himself not to lean back just as Finn has done, Remi pulls out a piece of fish and drops it into the water where eager mouths snatch it up.

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

”I am not what you would call a strong swimmer,” Finn corrects him tartly, though there’s a small smile playing at his lips. ”I had a bad experience with the water, when I was young. It left its marks.” It’s a lot more than he’d have said even a couple of conversations ago, so there’s that. ”I like to watch the sea. Being in it is another story.”

Falling quiet for a few minutes to finish breakfast, watch the waves and enjoy the sea birds circling overhead - hoping for a snack, he suspects - Finn eventually sits back up, considering all that Remi has said. ”Quit, if you hate it,” he remarks suddenly. ”Some people don’t have the option to back out of what they’ve gotten into. You do. So quit.” If you hate it.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

The Alchemist bites the inside of his lip, debating something. The way his smile wants to pull free of his teeth is quite telling, should Finn see it. Eyes narrowed a playful twinkle in them, he shrugs off Finn's advice. "Ronin was king of the Hollowed Grounds so...I've got to outlast his reign if nothing else." Remi says, only semi-seriously, still clearly thinking about whatever it was that's making him look so boyish.

Glancing up at the circling Hels, Remi holds out a bit of fish. They aren't terribly smart and certainly not privy to the Alchemist's plan, and so happily swoop down. With reflexes far faster than any normal man should possess (hello dexterity 40), Remi snatches one of the birds out of the air. It squawks unhappily, demanding the fish in Remi's fingers as compensation, which he happily gives. Repeating the same trick and now holding two birds, Remi looks at Finn and shoves a Hel into his lap. "That one is for you." He says, before edging himself off the pier and...

...onto the water.

Looking up at Finn with an expression of unfettered smugness, he extends a hand up to the Spyglass, presumably to help him down onto the water. "There. No need to be in the sea. We'll start with on her, first."

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

”Ah, a competition.” Finn smirks, nodding his understanding. Regardless of anything else, his remark seems to have cleared the storm clouds from Remi’s expression, the Spyglass turning his attention instead to the birds circling high above them. Seeming perturbed as Remi reaches up the piece of fish - then downright horrified as he uses it to snatch the Hel from the air, Finn finds himself with one of the creatures in his lap before he can so much as open his mouth to object.

”What are you doing?” he wants to know, swallowing hard as the Alchemist suddenly vaults off the side of the pier... and... walks. On the water. With the bird in his hand. And the other stretched up at Finn. ”Oh, no. No, no... it’s alright.” He’s shaking his head already, scooting back on the pier with the Hel squawking and flapping in his grip. ”I don’t...” Want to? Feel safe? Know what I’m doing? There’s a lot of contenders, honestly.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

"It is indeed alright." Remi agrees, his smile entirely golden as his fingers waggle in the air between them. "It's just like walking on the sand, so long as you hold onto the bird." To prove his point, Remi taps a foot on the waves which only undulate softly beneath him. The barrier isn't quite flat, but it certainly isn't anything one would trip over.

"Walking helps with digestion and is better for your ribs than sitting. And there's no swimming involved, nor any need to be in the water so really, I'm not sure what you're worried about." Other than walking on water not being a normal thing for one to do at all, the Alchemist thinks he sounds entirely reasonable.

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

Finn is uncomfortable. It’s precisely the caveat of holding onto the bird that worries him - the creature doesn’t seem particularly thrilled to be held by him, thus destroying any notion of his being a once-upon-a-time veterinarian. But his tongue ties itself in knots in his attempts to tell Remi about his fear of slipping beneath the water and not coming back up, of hands pressing his shoulders down, preventing him from surfacing, of the air burning so hard in his lungs that it’s worse than drowning, probably—

”Okay.” He shuffles to the edge of the pier, reaches out to grab Remi’s hand (his fingers are freezing cold), and hops off the edge onto the water. The landing is jarring and he winces, the Hel now tucked under his arm where it settles for the time being at least. Looking at Remi - and only at Remi, the Alchemist might note, Finn not once looking down - he stands expectantly. ”What now?”

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

If Remi's mischief is at all tempered by Finn's obvious discomfort, he doesn't show it. His fingers close around Finn's, noting that they are softer than his own are; for a moment he wishes the only thing he'd noticed was the cold, but this was his idea after all. He doesn't let the Spyglass's hand go until he's sure that Finn is going to stay upright; even then, he'll leave it to the other man to collect his hand back.

Smiling approvingly at Finn, holding steady his gaze, the Alchemist just shrugs softly. He turns his head to indicate the direction behind him, though keeps his eyes trained softly upon the Spyglass. "Why, now Finn, we just go for a walk. Off into the horizon if you like, or..perhaps just down the coast."

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

Finn’s fingers are indeed softer than Remi’s; the only callouses can be found on his fingertips, though honestly, the feel of the Alchemist’s hand in his is a distant thing compared to the wide expanse of water beneath his feet. For a second he thinks he might see his breakfast a second time, blinking a couple of times as Remi’s words register. ”Along the coast, unsurprisingly, sounds preferable,” he manages.

Only then does he realise his hand is still gripping the Alchemist’s, and Finn releases him abruptly, his eyes flicking briefly to the Hel tucked under his arm as if to check that it hasn’t mysteriously disappeared. ”So we just...walk.” Even taking a step feels bizarre, but the water supports his weight well enough, so Finn just keeps going, trying to focus on the stretch of beach nearby.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

"Mmmm you're right. The horizon-line does look rather rainy just now."

From having a lifetime of bearing awkward touches, the Alchemist is able to maintain a completely consistent pressure against Finn's hand: neither too hard nor too tight, his fingers not varying even slightly. He even has the nerve to look slightly bemused as Finn releases what might be his only lifeline so abruptly, even though it's absolutely what Remi wants.

"We just walk." Remi agrees, patiently. And then, almost under his breath, he adds: "I'll not let anything happen to you." For all of Finn's research there are things he simply can't know about Remi, like the calibre of man he can be, when he so chooses. Hopefully he won't have to find out, but it isn't unlikely that Finn will do something stupid and release his Hel.

"It isn't ice, Finn. You don't need to walk like that." He points out with a small smile, remaining well within grabbing distance should Finn lose his footing.

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

Yes, because it’s definitely the rain that is stopping Finn from marching out into the horizon. Very astute. The Spyglass couldn’t look more uncomfortable currently, and he lets out a breathless sort of laugh in response to what he assumes is meant to be a reassurance from Remi. ”You have already happened to me,” he tells him pointedly, trying to adjust his stance to something more natural, with... sort of success.

It’s not one of those occasions where the nervous sailor turns out to love it once he’s on the waves. No, Finn is rigid as steel, wary at best and terrified at worst, waiting this stroll out until it’s over. ”With wings, I’m surprised you choose to walk over the water when you might fly,” he remarks, trying for small talk and not succeeding even slightly.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

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

Remi finds his shoulders stiffening slightly at Finn's words, though he meets the man's pointed stare easily enough. "Last I checked, you were the one to seek me out initially. I think that means it's you who happened to me." The Alchemist points out with a slight tilt of his head. Nonetheless, Remi is both offended and entirely thrilled to be thought of as some force of nature which has simply acted upon Finn. It leaves him feeling rather hollow but powerful, which for the Alchemist is certainly not a healthy combination.

"Oh, you'd prefer I leave you then? So saying, large pale wings sprout from the Alchemist's sides, and he can do little more than grin in Finn's direction, wondering if the Spyglass bothered at all to think through the implications of his words. "Or is that your way of asking me to carry you back to shore?"

THE ALCHEMIST

and i said, "only every other memory".

FINN

The two of them are not a healthy combination in general, and it’s something that Finn realised as early as their first conversation. And yet here they are, constantly in orbit without ever really touching, trying to find their missing pieces in each other. Maybe Finn did happen to Remi. Maybe he keeps happening to Remi. He’s as helpless to it as anything else in his life though, if that’s the case.

Still walking, unsure how to navigate the bump and sway of the waves, he glances back over his shoulder at Remi with eyes made even stormier by the churning water below. ”How does it feel to be afraid of being kind?” he wonders softly, gazing at this man who might be an angel on the sea in his current iteration. But Finn has seen Remi kill children with this face of an angel. With his face.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!