[se] sailboat bed

took a fall from a windy height

"I'd rather embrace you for as long as you last." Remi mumbles menacingly under his breath, unable to wipe the shit-eating grin off of his face as he enters the wagon.

"Oh, you're something alright." The Lullaby agrees, huffing as his hands are swatted away. Of course as the Ludo doll nears his face, he's helpless to refrain from snapping his teeth at the raggedy creature, even as it grabs his nose. "It doesn't feel like that." Remi murmurs, his voice nasally as Ronin closes his nostrils. "When it touches you, it's more like...a cold blanket."

Glancing over his shoulder at where the excess material is, Remi smirks and folds his arms across his chest. "Of course I can do better. You might be an artiste, but I am an alchemist."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

Ronin raises his eyebrows at his husband as if to playfully scold him for his filthy mind, though of course he can't, because he adores him. So instead he just uses the puppet to bother him some more, mussing his curls and booping him on the forehead. Still, he can't help but titter to see the alchemist snapping his teeth at the felt doll, and the Ludo puppet dances away to take pride of place on one of the coat hooks, where it can watch them when they sleep or something equally as disturbing.

"Oh I am terribly sorry - I haven't had much actual experience in being wrapped in death blankets. Would you like to show me where I am going wrong?" Ronin beckons to the materials. "The crafting station is yours, oh mighty alchemist. Do your very worst. Or best. Or... just make a fucking doll, Remi." He scoffs.

the dark star

took a fall from a windy height

Oh, how that little doll will keep Remi up at night. For now, though, the alchemist merely gives the doll a warning look as it perches (smugly, he thinks) upon one of the coat racks.

"Your wish is my command." The Lullaby sings chipperly. Peeling his shirt off, covered in leaves and mosses as it is, he tosses it at his husband's head before taking a seat at the small table and bench where the materials are. With a glare in Ronin's direction, Remi dramatically unfurls his wings, holding up the one closest to the edge of the table and flexing it in an arc to hide, presumably, the alchemical processes going into the creation of his doll.

It takes as long as it takes; Remi is entirely lost in the process, hunched over, wings spread, tongue running over his bottom lip as he concentrates far too hard on the creation of this doll. Eventually, when his wings lower (and perhaps a pillow is thrown at Ronin to wake him up, or otherwise get his attention back), Remi holds up his...

...well. It isn't a doll.

If you were to squint, it would probably have more of a turtle-shape than one of a human. But given the swath of dark cloth around the shape, it was a bit deceptive. Filled with various beans, not necessarily for shape but to hold in heat—more on that later—the only real distinguishing feature was the fingers and toes which could be seen. Carefully painted bone-white and stitched with black on the ends, the frostbite was brutally clear and almost painful to look at. "When it was a boy...it couldn't find shelter during LongNight, and froze to death." Remi explains in a voice warm with emotion, not often used when the Lullaby talks about the herald. "This way, when placed next to a fire or against a kettle, the doll will retain the heat."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

Ronin could get used to hearing that, the Star catching his husband's shirt (with his face) and spending some time peeling it away while Remi gets himself set up at the impromptu crafting statement. Ronin has seated himself on the edge of the bed by the time the Lullaby has made it clear that he absolutely does not get to see this feat of alchemical genius take place real-time, and he tuts and rolls his eyes obnoxiously, before letting the other man have his privacy behind his wing-wall.

But Remi takes forever, and so in the meantime Ronin tidies up, feeds Mateo, sings their son a lullaby and rocks him back to sleep, strips down to his underwear and collapses into bed, and starts to sketch. The profile of Remi's face next to the campfire outside is starting to take place in smudges of charcoal when he finally speaks, the Star glancing up with his tongue still poking out. "That is horrifying," he informs the alchemist about his turtle shaped lump with its mismatched fingers and toes.

As he explains, though, voice softening and emotion filling the little wagon, Ronin sobers somewhat. "I had no idea," he mumbles, slipping off the bed to pad over and look upon the doll. "What a sweet thing to do."

the dark star

took a fall from a windy height

Remi doesn't argue that the figure he holds looks terrifying. Were it not for Ludo's penchant for trickery and love of games, he thinks the herald would be viewed far less adoringly than it often was. Terrifying was an apt term, as Remi well knew.

It's perhaps a testament to the effort the alchemist has put into his doll that his focus remains on the Ludo-figure rather than his husband's nearly-naked body (though of course that garners a bashful look from the alchemist). "I can't imagine what it would be like to freeze to death that way." The Lullaby offers slowly. He doesn't just mean what it would be like to be so cold that you died, but what it would be to have no one looking for you. To be a child expected to survive in that way. It both makes Remi want to crumble to the floor and shed tears that Ludo likely wouldn't even care enough about to wipe away, as much as it makes him want to shred the trunk of the closest tree.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

"Me neither..." Ronin's gaze has softened a bit, and he has padded up to stand behind his husband's chair now, hands gently clasping his shoulders. "During Longnight as well, and just a child. I wonder why no one gave it a place to stay." He sighs, leaning in to kiss the crown of Remi's head, before drawing away again to crawl back into bed. He pats the space next to him, inviting the alchemist (and the weird Ludo creation, he supposes) in with him.

"Come on. It's only just LeafChange. If you're going to be thinking such cold thoughts, at least come where I can warm you up," he suggests with a gentle smile. "I've got more than enough warmth for the two of us and any weird spooky kids you want to bring along." And if that isn't a testament to their relationship, Ronin doesn't know what is.

the dark star

took a fall from a windy height

"You've seen how they act." The alchemist murmurs. "The fear. The lack of preparation despite the fact it comes the same time every year." The muscles of Remi's jaw feather for a moment as he stares down at the wood grain pattern on the table, not seeing it, but instead imagining a boy with his knobby knees hugged close to his chest, too cold and tired to cry out for help anymore.

His limbs move of their own accord, wings slipping back into his skin as he pads over to the bed. Indeed he does bring the strange Ludo-doll, though it's more because his fingers have forgotten to put it down. 'It makes me want to stay as far away from the Grounds during LongNight, but also to be there, you know?" Quickly though the alchemist shakes his head, not wanting to dwell too deeply on the horrors of LongNight especially after how the last one went.

Sliding beneath the covers and curling himself around Ronin with an arm draped over the huntsman's chest, Remi can only chuckle quietly. "This is going to be the sort of thing we tell Mateo when he's older, when he looks back on these strange dolls and asks where they came from." The thought of it fills the Lullaby with a warmth he hadn't been expecting, and he pulls himself all the closer to Ronin as if to share it. "I like thinking of it that way...that these are the memories we'll look back on."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

"Mm..." Longnight casts a huge, black shadow over Ronin, and it probably always will, but that just means that the Star's agreement is all the more grave as Remi speaks. He pulls the blankets around them as his husband comes to join him, an arm sneaking around the Lullaby in return so he can share in the warmth and the closeness. "I know exactly what you mean," he says softly, his blue eyes faraway, and he shivers suddenly, shaking himself out of it so he might bury his face against Remi's curls.

Talk of memories, of their son and the future, along with the reassuring and real weight of Remi draped across his chest... it does a lot to soothe the Star, and his emotions (and he's just realised, belatedly, that his poor husband would have been privy to everything going on with him) start to melt towards the calm and the hopeful. "I like that idea as well," he murmurs, peering up at the assortment of strange lights Ianto has put together for decoration and illumation both.

"Just think how many memories we'll have by the time we can tell him stories about this. How many times he'll have used your little Ludo doll to warm his toes on Deepfrost nights." He grins.

the dark star

took a fall from a windy height

There is a word for it, though Remi doesn't know what it is. In his mind, Ronin's emotions are like a lake. The surface is glassy and calm, despite all that lingers beneath. However as you move out, leaving behind the shore but not properly in the deep yet, just where the light very nearly can't reach the bottom anymore....there in the darkness, in the stillness, is something that doesn't belong. It's out of place, jarringly so. It feels the alchemist with a sense of dread and foreboding, despite the complete normalcy of it. In a real lake, such an object might just be a sunken anchor or something else equally innocuous. But it chills him, this strange feeling does, and he too hugs the Star all the closer for it.

"Mmmmmmmmm." Remi hums happily, a finger tracing various scars and marks on Ronin's chest, lulled by the rise and fall of the Star's breath. "Since he isn't a demigod like Seren...do you think he'll age normally? Or...because of what we are, do you think...?" Sighing slightly, the Lullaby softly shakes his head. "I just love this age so much."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

Ronin's eyes slip shut to try and focus only on the touch of his husband and the way his warmth spreads in a pleasant weight across his chest. He's smiling as well, his fingers teasing through Remi's curls, and behind his eyelids he's already watching Mateo crawling for the first time, taking his first steps, saying his first word, and even though he also adores their son at this age, he's also excited for the future. "We've got no reason to think he'll age any faster than normal."

He leans in to kiss his forehead. "So buckle up, because I think you've got plenty more of this age to enjoy. And that also means you just agreed to get up with him in the night." Remi will likely be able to feel Ronin grinning. "I wouldn't want you to miss anything, and I know you love this so much."

the dark star

took a fall from a windy height

Remi hums a sound that might be agreement as he nuzzles against his husband's chest. His curls blur the wing of the hawk which stretches over Ronin's shoulder so that the Lullaby can hear the steady beating of the Star's heart.

Grumbling, despite not minding getting up with Mateo one bit, Remi annoyingly sticks his finger in his husband's bellybutton simply to be a shit if only because the moment calls for it. "You can literally get up without leaving the bed." He adds for good measure.

"So...Ianto mentioned this dust storm to the west..." The Lullaby says with a casualness that Ronin will recognize as his I've thought about this for a while before mentioning it, voice.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

"Hey, you're disturbing my lint collection." Ronin scoffs and tries to wiggle away from the finger that finds its way into his belly button, his laughter huffed into Remi's hair, his arms all tangled around the alchemist to make it impossible to go far. So instead Ronin smooshes himself closer, winding around his husband to the point where there's hardly any space between them - certainly not enough for Remi to sneak his hand.

"You are right - I can," he drawls, sounding thoroughly entertained at the prospect of his husband still having to creep across the wagon on cold toes to fetch their baby. He's just settling down to the prospect of sleep when Remi's voice sneaks through the air again, a little muffled where Ronin has him tucked so close. "Oh, did he," he mumbles, letting out a long sigh and peeping an eye open to look at the Lullaby. "When do we leave for it?"

the dark star

took a fall from a windy height

"That's the point." Remi grumbles back. Indeed there is a puff of lint on his finger that he wipes on Ronin's stomach as if it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever found on his husband's body. It isn't, by far.

Not wanting to move from where he's happily nestled against Ronin, the Lullaby nevertheless squirms a touch that the Star might feel his appreciation and excitement. "Oh..I was thinking the day after tomorrow?" Remi replies, shrugging against Ronin as if he hasn't already firmly decided it. "Ianto offered to stay with Mateo...and I'm sure we can find a fae or two to come along with us. Apparently last time there was a landshark that held things up, so staying off the ground will be our best course of action.."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

we live in a world someone else imagined

"Ew, I don't want it back." Ronin cackles, drawing the blankets over them further and leaning in to press a kiss to the tip of his husband's nose. "Mm... day after tomorrow gives me enough time for at least two early morning jogs. And it gives you time to join me," he suggests, grinning like a fiend and collapsing back into the bed again. His eyes slip shut, the Star sighing contently. "Mateo will be safe with Ianto," he says, sounding remarkably certain about it. The fox has proven himself a surprisingly capable guardian when needed.

As for the Fae? Ronin merely shrugs his shoulders, as if he's neither here nor there about them coming along. He and Remi could take on whatever was necessary out in the storms - he's almost completely sure about that. "Land sharks, hm? Lucky for you, we know a very clever man who can ride on clouds. And a manticore."

the dark star