and it rains, and rains, and rains

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin is barefoot as he follows after his husband, the Star glancing distractedly out across the moody horizon before Remi steals his attention (an easy task for his husband). He just about manages to shut the door behind them, blue eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness as man becomes monster, though both of them are equally and fiercely loved by Ronin. It’s with a soft, breathless chuckle that he watches the manticore lope away into the rain, though he’s not far behind

As it so happens, Ronin calls down storm clouds when the weather is grumpy, and he swoops by his husband on a grey and angry looking nimbus. He’s tempted to reach out and muss at the mane of golden hair, but he doesn’t want to tempt a predator’s instincts. So instead Ronin races ahead.

He spots the herds a few moments later, taking care to swoop behind the trees they shelter beneath. A few moments later a few starbolts wink in the darkness, lancing into the group and spooking them, sending them racing out - right into Remi’s jaws, with any luck.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

REMI

if you're not going to swim deep with me

As Ronin overtakes him, the urge to give chase is nearly overwhelming for a moment. The Alchemist has to actively dampen his senses and remind his non-predatory brain that Ronin is not here to steal his kill. And even should he be, Remi is not a lone hunter. He is not even alone.

So instead of racing into the underbrush, large and unwieldy as this body is, the manticore instead drops his shoulders, his tail curled into a tight loop over his hindquarters. His ears are forward, wings pinned tightly against his sides, as he exhales a breath through open jaws, listening intently into the darkness. For a moment all he can hear is rain and thunder. But as light sparks brightly before him, the tempo of the rain increases; the ramphire's hoofbeats start out as faraway drumbeats before surging frenetically from the sounds of the downpour.

Remi waits, and waits, and waits..though he is strong and fast enough to give chase. Even without his magic the herd is no match, but he bides his time. The first few leap over him, lowered as he is in the shrubbery. Suddenly though he rises up, wings unfurled and jaws agape much to the dismay of the terrified creatures that collide with his broad chest. Roaring loudly, the need for stealth utterly gone now, Remi's large paws pluck a ramphire from the air as one tries to leap over him. It is brought down easily, his claws flaying shoulder-muscle from bone as it crashes braying into the mud. Another mistakes his head for a rock and quickly meets rows of shark teeth for its error. Blood fills Remi's mouth and soon he's lost to it.

The world has melted into copper and crimson. His claws and teeth move like a knife through butter, slitting throats and halting the charge of many ramphire. Lost to instinct, the manticore twists in the air, a ballet composed for one. It is a tragedy, you will come to understand if you watch long enough. Though eventually, the bloodlust dims and frantic muscles are weighed down by exertion, the predator is never satisfied. He is merely backed into a cage with his trophies. Should Ronin find him, it will be to see the manticore drenched in blood from the shoulders forward, a myriad of bodies scattered around him, with his jaws hidden in the ribcage of a ramphire.

get out of my waters

Coding base by Sky!

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin is the shepherd in this little endeavour, herding the ramphire as they run, watching from the safety of his nimbus. Rain is pelting down around them, but the flashes of light from his starbolts are enough to corral them right towards Remi’s waiting jaws. And as his husband makes his move, venting anger and frustration and pure predatory glee, Ronin flies higher to let him find peace in his bloodshed. The Star has done violent things, he has even enjoyed them on occasion, but they are normally linked to his temper. And whilst it’s true that he is quicker to anger these days than he’s ever been, he doesn’t tend to do... things like this.

Which isn’t to say that there’s any judgement in him for Remi - on the contrary, he’s made himself scarce to give his husband solitude rather than to avoid what’s happening. As the roaring subsides, he lets his nimbus dip down below the clouds, summoning his astral projection to walk through the grasses towards the manticore. His husband he might be, and he might love Remi through and through, but Ronin still isn’t stupid enough to interrupt the monster’s meal and put himself in real danger.

”Hey,” he says, glowing softly in the night. ”You’ll spoil your appetite.”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

REMI

if you're not going to swim deep with me

Hawks are not the predators that lions are, and lions aren't the predators that manticores are. With each increase in what lurks within, Remi's anger and rage has similarly grown. He's never actually taken note of it before and certainly isn't doing so now, but there's probably a correlation there, should anyone care to tease it out. For now however he's entirely given in to it.

So it is that as Ronin appears, or seems to at least, Remi is helpless to resist the way he bristles at the other man's approach. His muscles ripple beneath his golden pelt as his ears pin against his skull, pale green eyes dull with a flat sort of hunger. Ronin will see the way it takes a few moments for his words to sink into the monster's skull, for them to be heard by the mind capable of understanding them. Blinking slowly the manticore relaxes, the snarl on his lips fading away

Not sure my appetite is capable of being spoiled. He replies, the words dark and heavily accented. Sitting down with his deadly tail curled around his paws, the manticore regards the man before him. Not when I'm like this. He adds with a lazy flick of an ear.

get out of my waters

Coding base by Sky!

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

It’s only because Ronin’s projection is standing before Remi, rather than the real deal, that he feels remotely safe as the manticore snarls and bristles, understandably annoyed at the interruption. Still, he waits patiently for the Alchemist to come back to himself enough to speak with the Star, and even the projection relaxes as the voice - dark as it might sound - purrs through to him. ”If not your appetite then, maybe just your temper,” he remarks, stepping slowly forward to gaze around at the ramphire corpses.

”No magic, then, but you’ve still got this.” Whatever this is depends on the two of them, and whilst Ronin isn’t sure how much control his husband has right now, it doesn’t stop him from drawing closer still, using the manticore as a buffer against the wind and the rain. ”How do you feel?”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

REMI

if you're not going to swim deep with me

I thought that was the point? Remi rumbles in response. He looks nearly like a contented kitten who has unravelled a giant ball of yarn and is not happily sitting in the devastation of his own making. Only it isn't yarn, but dissected corpses who, like the string, never stood a chance.

The sound Remi makes is somewhere between a growl and a hum, and it resonates elastically in the back of his throat behind rows of sharp teeth. Subconsciously his lip raises in a snarl as Ronin nears, but it's quickly smoothed away as the man within the beast clambers to the forefront. Sometimes I wish that I was more easily ... taxed, physically." Remi hardly needed sleep anymore. His muscles were almost never tired. There were few feats of physical strength he encountered in his days that were outside of his abilities. He wanted his muscles to scream and burn, and for those sensations to drag his mind back down toward rationality. But strong as he was, he could have kept going for hours, and there were not enough ramphire for that.

Glancing down at his paws, bright garnet against gold, the manticore just shakes his head. Better, though. Then he shrugs as much as a manticore can. And worse. We should take these to the docks where they can be used as bait. He adds. The way he's torn into the deer-like bodies has ruined them as far as cuts of meat go. But other predators who don't mind their meals being dead already will still eat them.

get out of my waters

Coding base by Sky!

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

”Oh, it was definitely the point. I’m just glad it seems to have worked. Sort of,” Ronin murmurs, though he doesn’t feel as though they’ve achieved much with Remi’s next remark; just a load of dead ramphire. Suddenly he wishes he was there in earnest, not just a projection, and for a wonder - he is, suddenly. Remi will likely see and feel the Star stagger against the manticore’s side, righting himself and squinting up into the clouds, where his projection was now sitting comfortably on his nimbus.

”If you want to be taxed physically, I can do that, you know,” he says; maybe it’s supposed to sound playful or flirtatious, but it just comes out flat and bemused. ”I just... swapped places with my astral projection.”

Running his fingers through his wet hair, he gazes around at all of the wrecked bodies, nodding. ”Hang on, let me see if I can take care of it. Or at least get them closer to the docks. Want to come and see?” He steps away, gesturing for Remi to walk with him so he doesn’t get... well. They’ll find out.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

lay a whisper on my pillow, leave the winter on the ground

Remi both knows and doesn't know that something has happened. There are no differences between Ronin's astral self and his real self (until his astral self is injured, anyway), but when the form staggers against his side, instinctively Remi feels as if something has happened. Turning his massive skull to better look at the man leaning against him, the manticore raises one of his thick eyebrows. But then I'd be too tired to guard your dreams. He points out with a flat and toothy grin.

I... Remi thinks he has control over himself, but he'd not risk Ronin's life for anything. And so knowing that it truly is his husband at his side, he clumsily melds back into his own skin so that the chances of accidentally paralyzing Ronin with his tail are far lower. Never 0, but much closer at least. "Well that's a handy trick." Remi murmurs once all of his teeth are back where they ought to be. Grinning boyishly at his husband, the answer being obviously yes, he follows behind Ronin as the downpour attempts to wash away the blood that he's currently coated with.

THE ALCHEMIST

i wake up lonely, this air of silence, in the bedroom and all around

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

”But you’d also be tired enough to sleep, and have dreams yourself.” Or be happy, he wants to say, but he stifles that back - it seems suddenly very real and very depressing, that he has to take his husband out to murder ramphire. Quite where his melancholy has come from Ronin doesn’t know, and he shakes himself out of it to walk a few paces back, glancing over his shoulder to grin at the sudden, bloody sight of Remi back in his underwear.

”You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he says, slipping an arm around the other man as if suddenly needing him close, pressing a kiss to his temple. Ronin lifts his free hand then, holding it out before them, palm facing the fields of corpses. Taking a deep breath and focusing on the Aquarius constellation on his wrist, quite suddenly where there were previously tattoos, now there are heavy golden shackles.

There’s a roar like a waterfall, and a wave of dark and shimmering water, deep as the cosmos, floods out before them. It picks up the ramphire, washing them away down the incline towards the cliffs, bathing the two men in an eerie light.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

lay a whisper on my pillow, leave the winter on the ground

I'd rather be in your dreams anyway. Remi says and finds he truly means it. There is the romantic part of him that would spend all of his hours with Ronin, both awake and dreaming, but it actually the Alchemist can't think of anything that would be more relaxing than to sink into slumber at Ronin's side and continue on with him even once his mind had gone.

Grinning, looking entirely like a child (except for the blood) who has escaped bedtime and gotten himself into trouble, Remi just chuckles. His star-and-dragon underwear is adorably form-fitted thanks to the rain, and as he slips an arm around Ronin, his bare feet squelching in the mud. He cares little though, even as the storm pelts down around the pair.

Swallowing hard as the shackles appear, Remi fixes his gaze on the blue of Ronin's eyes lest he be tempted to reach out and try and break the magical bonds. He'd absolutely not learned his lesson when it comes to severing these types of bonds, but he's at least more clever than last time. Remi doesn't flinch as the galactic flow of cosmic water clears away the ramphire, though he does squint at it distrustfully.

"Well that's dramatic." He says, grinning crookedly at Ronin, still not letting his eyes drop to the golden cuffs.

THE ALCHEMIST

i wake up lonely, this air of silence, in the bedroom and all around

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin watches too, as the cosmic flood washes away the ramphire, sending them down onto the sands where they can be better ferried towards the docks. The shackles are things that he barely notices, his arm still wound comfortably around his husband; the warmth against his side, the boyish look on Remi’s handsome face - it all helps to soothe the sudden sadness that had seized him, sending it tumbling away after the ramphire.

”It is so dramatic,” he agrees, shaking out his hand and leaning his head against Remi’s; the shackles fade away with the water, becoming constellations once more. ”That’s sort of what happened in the dream, so I’m glad it didn’t disappoint.” He chuckles. ”Do we have to go and take them all the way to the dock now?”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

lay a whisper on my pillow, leave the winter on the ground

The movement tugs Remi's gaze down, and he feels a bitter sense of satisfaction to see the golden cuffs fade away. "I hate those for so many reasons." He grumbles against Ronin, burying his nose in the Star's hair. They remind him of the night Ronin spent with Safrin. Of Seren. Of the class system in Northaven.

"Oh? You were cleaning up after me in your gladiator arena, were you?" He asks jokingly, assuming it was far more serious than that if Ronin's life had nearly been on the line. "We probably should.." Remi agrees, before twisting slightly to put himself in front of Ronin so that he could better draw the Star against him. "But then, Sunjata would probably have to get out of bed to arrest me for public indecency." Shrugging his shoulders with a mischievous grin, Remi just looks towards the beach. He can't see if of course, not through the downpour, but it's a token gesture at best anyway. "And with his wedding coming up, he needs all the beauty sleep he can get."

THE ALCHEMIST

i wake up lonely, this air of silence, in the bedroom and all around

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin smiles softly, leaning in to kiss the corner of Remi’s mouth, holding up his arm for the Alchemist to see. ”Say the word,” he murmurs, ”and we’ll go home, and we’ll cut these out, star by star.” He sounds like he means it, grip tightening on his husband. ”I can’t stand the idea of you hating anything, especially when it’s something that lives in my skin. So if you don’t like it, it’ll go.”

Snorting, he begins to walk them sneakily away from the cliffs and the beach, Ronin obviously not in the mood for chores when he has Remi in his starry, dragon underwear beside him. ”You know, I can happily arrest you for public indecency instead,” he offers with a dark chuckle. ”Handcuffs and everything. Give me a nudge, Governor, and I’ll put you away.”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

lay a whisper on my pillow, leave the winter on the ground

The normal reaction would be to immediately say no need for that, or some similar sentiment. Remi however merely growls into the press of his husband's lips against the corner of his mouth, his own arms tightening around Ronin's waist. "If only it were so simple as that." He says with a dark smile. "Because she'd put them back." Remi whispers, his pupils so large now that his pale eyes look entirely dark. Pulling back if only so he can take one of Ronin's wrists, he raises it to his lips pressing infinitely careful and tender kisses against the skin.

Grinning as he falls easily into step next to the Star, Remi raises a brow as he gives his counterpart a roguish smirk. "And if I resist arrest?" He wonders, lips twisting down into a lopsided frown that nonetheless communicates his amusement at the thought.

THE ALCHEMIST

i wake up lonely, this air of silence, in the bedroom and all around