good night, sweet prince

"Sometimes managing is the best we can hope for in our situation," Isla murmurs with a gentle smile as he sets her down, the medic absently straightening out his shirt and looking over the rest of him. She moves with the sort of intimacy and easy comfort that comes with two people who once shared a bond that ran so deeply. But she is still distinctly separate now, and that doesn't escape her - she steps back a bit to smile up at him. "No Ronin...?" She tilts her head, brushing an errant curl out of her face, only for the Star's absence to be utterly swamped by the news about her friend's son. "What...?" Isla's grin grows into something bright and warm (and fanged, obviously), and she rushes forward all over again to hug him tightly. "Tell me everything," she gushes. "What's his name? How old is he? How did... how, Remi? Congratulations." ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Thank you." The alchemist chuckles, as if there's some crowd around to whom he's emphasizing his appreciation. "Honestly, the length of my beard is the last thing on my mind." He adds with a shrug. Being constantly on the verge of losing his fucking mind for any number of reasons made basic skincare seem utterly irrelevant. And honestly, the less he showered, the less he probably had to worry about Ianto (or anyone else) being a temptation. So there was that.

More than abiding her fusses over him, the alchemist practically melts into them. Its been months since he's physically been around anyone with whom he's been so at ease. Even Vai didn't count, given how much the alchemist would always look up to her and strive to make her proud as any son might.

'No Ronin.' He confirms, though the melancholy is easily swamped by talk of his son and Isla's arms around his neck once again. 'Come on, I'll introduce you.' The offer is made before he thinks it through, but already his heart has run away with the idea of bringing Isla through the woods to where Mateo will be snoozing, or eating, or playing.

"Mateo Isla Taliesin." Remi replies sappily, reaching for one of Isla's hands that he might enfold it in his. "Actually you played a rather large part in bringing him to life." The Lullaby adds bashfully.

"It should be. I'm pretty sure I saw a mouse making itself at home in there." Isla reaches up to give his beard a bit of a tug, offering a small smirk before withdrawing (at least until he's leading her into the Greatwood). "Oh, Remi, I don't..." She isn't sure, at first, stumbling over the barrier line fully with her hand captured in the alchemist's. "I don't want to cause any trouble," she says in a more hushed voice, glancing amongst the trees and smoothing out her coat. None of her wariness stops her from trotting alongside him, of course, the medic too happy to see her friend to let even her stalwart logic interrupt. So reservations aside, they worm their way back into the woods. "Oh, I'm... I..." She doesn't know what to say regarding Ronin - she's worried he's died again and doesn't know how to ask, and it shows. Luckily, Remi comes to her rescue with the boy's name, and a silvery, shimmering sort of blush suffuses her cheeks. "You gave me to him for a middle name?" She beams. "That's... wait. I did? Remi, do I want to know?" She's laughing; she can't help it. ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"I have always liked animals." The alchemist softly protests, raising his head away from Isla's fingers like some offended animal before flashing her a smile. "I'm the thing that guards this place. The only thing you have to fear is me, and you certainly don't need to do that." He adds, his hand tightening around hers though he doesn't tug her along until she seems at least roughly comfortable with the idea.

"He's fine. Or at least..he's as fine as I am." Remi supplies as they walk, knowing Isla's tells like the back of his hand. "We've been apart for...months now." He squints as he tries to remember. Time has all but ceased to exist for Remi given how he spends his days (and nights). "He's in a place called Stormbreak, half way across the world." Farther, actually, but Remi hasn't seen a map of Caido yet. "And I'm here." He shakes his head a touch dismissively, silently suggesting they can tug at that particular string later.

"Mmhm." Pride and love tinge his cheeks as he nods, before his expression turns from soft confusion to embarrassment. "Gods, nothing like that." He laughs, nudging her as they walk. "I...I can do things in dreams now. Build whole worlds if I want to. And I did, when things got really bad. I created a whole life for myself down there. I created a child." He knows how mad it sounds. It was mad at the time, after all, but then again, so was he. "And when things got too real, I couldn't pull myself out. So...when Ronin asked who I'd trust our son with when I couldn't be around...the only possible answer was you." Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, looking boyish and shy, Remi ruffles his free hand through his curls as they stroll into the Woods. "Later, Ludo made him real for us."

"Are you sure about that? You do cut a very intimidating figure," Isla remarks to Remi, giving him a gentle nudge as they walk. Her eyes purposely remain on the alchemist, trusting him to lead the way (and simultaneously trying to make herself seem as unthreatening as possible to the trees and whatever might be hiding in them). Her shoulders relax to hear Ronin is alive, even if not present, and she nods slowly. "That sounds difficult," she says, but leaves the topic alone with little more than a gentle squeeze against his fingers. Besides, they're talking about Mateo by this point, the babe who shouldn't be, and her pebble blues widen enough to make her look positively girlish as he explains. Huffing out a breathless sort of laugh, Isla can only offer a shrug. "That sounds so positively insane, I have no choice but to believe you," she says simply. "I'm honoured, though. That you thought of me." ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

He chuckles at that, shrugging. He might be stronger and more powerful now than he ever was before, but there'd never be a day he could turn against Isla. Then again, there'd likely never come a day when she wasn't just as equally of taking him down, either.

"I wonder if I can show you.." Glancing at her over his shoulder and raising a brow, the alchemist softly ponders. "I know ascended have the ability to sleep...but do you dream?" Squeezing her fingers and shaking his head in her direction. "Of course I thought of you. You're..." Pausing, his lashes blinking against the sunlight as his mind worked to confirm, Remi's lips part in a slow smile. "You're genuinely my oldest friend, second only to Ronin in terms of really knowing me." And even then, for a time, Isla had access to the alchemist's mind in a way that Ronin never could. "Of course I thought of you."

She tilts her head to him as he glances back, Isla offering a gentle smile. "We can sleep, but I don't find it all that easy," she admits. "I don't think I really bothered with it, when I was still working the clinic. I don't recall any dreams either, but... that would make for an interesting experiment, don't you think?" Endlessly curious, it isn't so surprising that Isla wants to start mining for knowledge within days of returning to the land of the living. Remi knocks her off track (probably for the best) with his candidness and charm, and she turns to clasp his hand between both of her own. "You know that flattery gets you everywhere," she scolds him gently, a smile sneaking across her lips. "Are you... allowed in the Grounds, now?" she asks suddenly. "It's just, I was hoping to get the clinic back up and running. And if you ever need anything, I'd like you to be able to come and find me in a bind." ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Remi is frowning as Isla explains—it all sounding very logical if not disappointing—but quickly grins as she suggests she'd be up for trying. "I do like a good experiment." He agrees, his smile large enough that his dimples could collect rainwater should it start to pour.

"I can assure you I had no idea." He chuckles in response. "Honestly, I should probably check in with Wessex about that. They are setting up defences against the Order—the anti-ascended group from Stormbreak—" He quickly supplies, knowing Isla wouldn't know who they were yet, "—and that they aren't allowed here. As for my going there? I don't think I've been formally told I can't..." And, as Isla had already pointed out, saying no to Remi would now take some considerable muscle to back it up.

"That sounds like a great idea. With Phoebe gone, the medical clinic has all but been abandoned. There aren't as many non-ascended as there were but...well. Can you heal ascended?" He knew as a unicorn she specifically could, but whether or not her skills as a medic would quite transfer over, he had no idea.

Unfortunately Isla cannot see Remi's dimples for all of the beard in the way, but she gets the general idea of it. "As do I," she murmurs, giving him a gentle nudge and continuing to follow him through the canopies of trees. The fact that his response about being allowed in the Grounds is so woolly is good enough for the medic, and Isla flashes him a bright and secretive grin. "That sounds an awful lot like a yes, Remi," she says. "You'll have to let me give you a check up. Mateo, too - I bet you've been letting him eat dirt and bugs, haven't you?" The news about this Order, about Stormbreak... it has her furrowing her brow, Isla feeling even more like she was somehow tainting the world by existing, even if her entire purpose was to heal. "I have never tried," she confesses about the Ascended, looking thoughtfully up at the trees. "But now I'm going to. I'll add that to the list of experiments, for when the clinic is back up and running." ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Now, as adoring and doting of a father as Remi was, he did lack a good deal of practical know-how when it came to raising a child. Shitty upbringing as he'd had, it hadn't even occurred to him to take Mateo for a check-up, especially with Phoebe being so far away these days. "Oh..uh..." Running a hand across the back of his neck and flashing his friend an apologetic but also shit-eating grin, he can only shrug. "I mean..bugs are a good source of protein?"

Reaching out and pressing his finger against the crease formed between Isla's eyes as if he might wipe away her upset as easily as he could the line, Remi just grins at her. "If there's anyone who can, it's you." He says confidently as the trees finally decide to part and reveal Ianto's wagon.

The merchant appears to be making something out of string and wood (a dream-catcher, Remi has been told before, not that he believes it, especially given his magic), and at his feet on a blanket is a blue-eyed boy. Mateo hasn't quite started to speak yet, but he does hum and sing a wide variety of sounds, many of which he's doing now as Ianto chats away to him.

"Hope you don't mind I've brought an old friend to say hello."

"Bugs are a good source of protein. And all sorts of other nasties that might make your little bug sick." Isla smiles sunnily up at Remi, giving him a gentle poke in the ribs (it's like poking a brick wall, honestly). "So I'll see you both in a couple of days for a check up shall I?" It's phrased as a question, but Remi will know well that it isn't one. Isla's hand comes up instinctively to try and swat away the finger trying to wiggle away her frown, and she scoffs out a surprised laugh just as the trees part to reveal a wagon, and a man she knows well even if she has never met him on two legs. "Hello, Ianto," she says with a soft and polite smile. The fox in question (obviously) drops everything he's holding in his shock, and what would have been a fine dream catcher is just a bunch of sticks and string now. He will greet them politely enough and linger for small talk and conversation, but of course this isn't really about Ianto. It's about that blue-eyed boy at his feet. "He's so grown up already, Remi," Isla breathes. ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Well...good for his immune system, then." Remi replies as if that's any sort of defence. Flinching dramatically as he's poked, the alchemist sighs as if he's just consigned himself to something very undesirable. "Yes, yes. I'll even make sure to shower first." It's as much a practical thing as a polite one; Isla likely won't even be able to find any skin on the alchemist not caked with hair or grime for the woods, which certainly wouldn't make a check-up all that easy.

Beaming as all eyes are upon Mateo, Remi chuckles under his breath and immediately shakes his head. "Don't let Ronin hear you say that. He's only been able to see Mateo in dreams and is worried about missing out on everything." And..he wasn't wrong. They all knew he wasn't wrong.

Reaching down and plucking up Mateo from the blanket, the boy giving a distinct trill of unhappiness at no longer being able to shred the grass beneath Ianto's chair, quickly turns his attention to his father's beard. Tugging at it—this being something Remi has been forced to bear—the alchemist turns back toward Isla as he bounces Mateo slightly to get his attention. "What say you little man? Want to meet someone special?"

"My clinic and the rest of the Hollowed Grounds thank you for your sacrifice," Isla says with a solemn bow of her head, as if Remi deciding to shower before coming to see her is an act of true heroism. And with the state of him currently, yeah, it really might be. Luckily the bear-man of an alchemist is not nearly as important as the little bundle of mischief he scoops up into his arms, Isla grinning and approaching slowly as she is introduced to Mateo. Her smile is a touch apologetic at first as she glances to Remi, nodding her understanding. "It must be very hard for him," she murmurs, reaching out to tickle one of the boy's chubby little cheeks. "Hallo there, Mateo. I'm Isla, and you are infinitely more adorable than either of your fathers." She chuckles. "You're raising a heartbreaker there, Remi." ISLA pray for me pray to me

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Rolling his eyes and begrudgingly nodding—fine, he would shave and shower—Remi couldn't help but wonder if once upon a time Devrum received such flack.

Cackling brightly as he's fussed over, Mateo twists in Remi's arms, his pudgy hands reaching out for Isla that she might scoop him away and continue her fusses. Not unlike Ronin, Mateo is clearly quite comfortable in the limelight. 'Well, that'll be another thing he'll have to get advice from Ronin about." Remi chuckles, offering the baby over to Isla who he has no doubt will accept. Much as Ronin might think he's missing out, in truth this might just help balance the scales. During Mateo's more formative years, it'll be the Star who is able to provide the best support for the boy, rather than the alchemist.

"He's just about the only thing that has kept me in check these months." Remi says, sighing slightly and glancing at Ianto out of the corner of his eye—perhaps apologetically, perhaps predatorily—before turning back to Isla and Mateo.