Take a Break With Me

laughing like children, living like lovers & I guess that's why they call it the blues. "Uhh." Remi intoned, blinking. "Yes. It is." The alchemist wasn't normally one to simply cater to the whims of those around him, but given that this conversation seemed far less about wine and more about Phoebe's feelings, he didn't want to give her any reason to doubt herself further. The fact that he thought the wine tasted a bit like stale juice with an outrageous alcohol content was of no consequence, and if he suggested one of his mixtures she'd probably be hard on herself about it. So silence it was. "Wait, he—" Remi tried to interject, but then Phoebe had already continued and so the alchemist took a sip of his wine and continued to listen. The mention of Frey made him scowl a bit, not because he thought Safrin was much better (he didn't know much about her, really), but simply because of the memories that name induced. —dumb-dumb? Remi bit the inside of his cheek hard to keep from laughing or smirking, making sure to keep his face calm and sympathetic rather than softly amused. That Bastien described Safrin as pretty was not so surprising, he'd done much the same when describing her to Remi, and though the alchemist was by no means an expert on the female psyche, he thought that perhaps the rather superficial aspect of Bastien's wording probably came across quite flat to someone like Phoebe. Especially someone like Phoebe who was perhaps considering the artist as a potential boyfriend only to hear that a goddess was the sort who had caught his eye. As she finished, Remi exhaled a wooooosh of air. Reaching across he tried to take the hand not clutching the wine glass to give it a gentle squeeze. "It sounds to me in this moment you are doing a better job of caring about Safrin than Bastien is." Remi wasn't quite sure if he meant that as some sort of praise for potentially pleasing the deity or just a way of knocking the artist down a few pegs to show his camaraderie with Phoebe's state of mind. Pulling his hand back, he filled his glass again (somehow the bottle was looking quite empty now). "People could get hurt, you are quite right." He said, nibbling his lip and trying to someone order his thoughts into something that was more than just vague sounds of exasperation directed towards Bastien. Taking another breath, Remi sighed and leaned back, swiping a hand across his eyes. "My friend Ronin is quite taken with Safrin as well. Given how Frey treated us, what they made us feel, would you be surprised if Safrin was the same? Perhaps her beauty was all that Bastien was left with after his meeting with her." It wasn't much, but it was a bit of a defense, not that Remi felt as though he was required to defend the goddess or the artist (nevermind that he somehow was part of the man's church now..). "As for the sex...well.." Sheepishly Remi ran a hand through his curls and offered the midwife a crooked grin. "As I said to you before, I do know that this seems to be Bastien's way of worship. Through art and language and his body he offers his praise." Shrugging his shoulders to indicate that he neither agreed nor disagreed with this, Remi continued. "I know nothing of what the gods do or do not like. It is entirely possible that his actions will offend Safrin. Hopefully your words made him see that." Then, rather curiously, Remi looked at Phoebe as if debating something internally, before apparently giving in. "Was it because of your understanding of Frey that you spoke so with Bastien?"