my soul to keep

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

Ronin offers a good natured grumble at Remi's non-answer, his arms tightening around him a bit. Still, the kiss delivered is enough to placate him, the Star sighing and shuffling down to lay properly with his husband. Dragging blankets and furs over them, he manages to thoroughly entangle himself with Remi, smiling softly down at him. "That sounds perfect," he admits, relishing just how real everything feels right now, even if it isn't really the case.

If falling asleep together is what the other man wants, however, it's what he'll get, and Ronin for one is absolutely exhausted. Nuzzling closer still, he kisses the crown of Remi's head and lolls back into the pillows. "I love you," he says, already sounding sleepier than he had been when he was trying to sleep in the Dragon's Nest. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

The huntsman

you trace my lines, stirring my soul

"Okay.." Long-distance wouldn't be easy, but with these abilities at their disposal, it might just be bearable. Snuggled up next to Ronin, the Star's heat easing the tension out of his muscles and the slow rhythmic breathing of his husband helping to quiet his own, Remi really did think it might be possible.

Of course, he'd only have such thoughts when they were like this. Reality would be like a nightmare from which only dreaming could provide any respite. Unlike when he was blind, the world would not lose colour. Food would not lose it's flavour, and the world would indeed go on. That's what would make it worse: that reality cared so little for the heaviness of the Lullaby's heart.

"It's you, for me." Remi whispers as this second-sleep takes him.

~FIN

THE ALCHEMIST