Desperado

A cabin in the Woodlands and a child on the way - particularly in the middle of Deepfrost, Vervain had not expected quite such an abrupt change. Still, there was little for her to complain about at the moment; it was early morning and snowing softly outside, painting the woods in a very pretty shade indeed. The fire within the cabin was roaring and the huntress was wrapped in a blanket, sitting in one of the wicker chairs outside on the porch to listen to the rustle of the trees in the snow-heavy wind. Her dark curls were left free around her shoulders, her fingers clasped on a steaming mug of tea, and sleepy eyes watched the wilds with unabashed contentment. For all of the joys of running the Rathskeller, for pottering around the Settlement or being in her little temporary abode in the Domiciles, this was like coming home. Like really coming home. Letting out a long sigh, a particularly brisk wind caused her to shiver ever so slightly, and Vai decided to retreat indoors again. She rose to her feet, sipping at her tea and padding towards the front door to let herself back in. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do "I brave these haunted woods just to bring you some tea, and you go inside just as I arrive?" Remi called out, voice and eyes bright as a smile rang out in his voice. Given that the deer-skin jacket Vai had helped him make made him blend in with the underbrush, he wasn't surprised at all that the huntress hadn't seen him. He was coming unannounced after all. With a grin and without waiting for an invitation, Remi followed Vai up the stairs. Seeing Vai after a mini sort of catastrophe just seemed like the right thing to do, and as he gathered up various herbs to make a tea into his pockets that morning, he hadn't even really thought about it. His feet had simply taken him here, and here was where he felt like he needed to be.

The familiar trill of a voice had Vervain pausing in the doorway, lowering her cup from her lips so she could turn and smile at the approaching figure from the woods. "It is early, and snowing," she pointed out to him with a playful crinkle of her nose, Vai stepping into the cabin and waiting for him to follow her up. When he had stepped inside she clicked the door shut and set her tea to one side before turning to greet him. "This must be some very good tea for you to brave haunted woods to bring it to me. We'll have to get you a red riding hood next, and make sure you are wary of big bad wolves." With a warm laugh, Vai drew Remi into a close hug, holding him for a moment before releasing him once more. She held out her hands for his jacket, so she could hang it up for him. "Do you want to sit on the porch while it brews? Or indoors?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do At the mention of wolves, Remi gave a faux shiver and shook his head. "After what happened in the woods with the last set of wolves, I think I am properly wary now." He grinned. "Though if you think I would look good in red...?" He trailed off mischievously, grinning and shrugging out of his jacket. "I have spent enough time outdoors in the haunted woods for one morning" Remi replied with an easy smile and shrug. Glancing around, Remi gave a low whistle of approval. This was the first time he'd been inside Vai's new home since it had been completed. "This is really something." Remi mused with an appreciative nod, before moving towards one of the support columns and tapping it gently with his hand. "I put this one here, you know. Or—" Glancing around he realized that there were several identical columns. "—probably this one anyways." He added with a sheepish grin.

"I can't say if you look good in red until I see you in it. I'll find you a hood and we can test the theory out." Vai tipped him a mischievous wink, accepting his jacket and hanging it up safe before nodding to him. Inside it was, and she was happy to defer to him. Picking up her cup again and sipping at her tea, she led Remi across to the hearth and sank down to sit on one of the furs gathered there. Flashing him a grin, she followed his gaze to the probably-column he had built. "You two did an incredible job of the place," she agreed, tilting her head at the column again. "You ought to carve your name in that one, then. At least that way you won't forget it, eh?" Reaching out, Vai placed the kettle over the fire to heat some more water, before patting the ground beside her. "How have you been? It's a little further to walk to come and see you now, and you are one of the busiest people I know. I must have missed a thousand things." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do "Carving my name onto another man's house...how very...manly?" He asked almost rhetorically as he grinned across at the huntress. At some point no doubt he'd claw or talon some part of Vai's home he was sure. He didn't need to write his name, he'd leave his mark in some other way. Yawning lazily, Remi walked over and plunked down bonelessly beside her. Leaning his head back, Remi stared up at the roof and sighed slightly, letting his eyes fall close and his breathing slow. "One thousand and one." He said slyly, opening one of his eyes and staring at her through the small slit, before closing it once again and taking another deep breath. "A lot has happened." He admitted honestly, before opening his eyes again and turning to regard her. "But even with everything going on..." Nibbling the inside of his cheek, Remi looked entirely forlorn and just plain old emotionally exhausted. "I keep thinking about him. About Loren. I do not know how to move on from this. I have never loved anyone like that before. I asked Ronin, but of course he was no help."

"The most manly, you might say. In fact I'd say it was a challenge to mark it in a way that Devrum won't notice. If you succeed I'll get you a present." Vai grinned back at Remi, shifting to make more room for him as he moved to flop down on the furs beside her. She divided her attention between the water and the alchemist, glancing to him as he began to speak and letting her smile grow crooked. "Consider myself mistaken," she remarked wryly. She grew quiet to let him talk, a pensive expression on her face as Loren left his lips like a ghost. Humming an agreement, she nodded sadly and tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "It never truly goes away, Remi..." she admitted. "But as a person, you... grow, I suppose. Eventually you grow enough to make room for those feelings, as well as others. Though I suppose that won't help you much now. It was how it happened with my first husband, though..." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do Well. That was too good to pass up. Extending a finger and letting a lion-claw appear from it, Remi knelt down and made as straight a line as he could just above the floor on the base of the column. Glancing up at Vai, he grinned. "Something tells me Devrum is not the one normally on his hands and knees. Not in here anyways." He added with a wink, before rising again "I keep expecting that I will see him. That he'll just wander into my shop as he did once, or that I will just happen to bump into him. The worst part is, I always feel a bit excited, as if it were actually possible." He knew how absurd and pathetic he sounded, but he never hesitated to share his feelings with the huntress and he wouldn't start now. "I wish that everything did not somehow make me think of him. Or that...at least he had told me to my face. I keep hoping that it is all a misunderstanding somehow. That there is a way back, even though I know that there is not." Drawing his knees up to his chest, he looked hopefully up as she mentioned making room for others. "First husband?" Remi narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to recall if he knew this fact. Surely he did, she must have mentioned it when she'd initially told him about Ashe. "And now?" He asked invitingly.

Vervain chuckled softly as she watched Remi go about marking his place on the column, nodding and seeming impressed. Though a lascivious look did flicker across her face at his mention of Devrum not being the one on his hands and knees, and she smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "That is not for me to say," she said, though her filthy expression suggested very much otherwise. Confident that her comments should suffice in making Remi queasy at the very least, Vai leant across to check on the kettle, before sitting back and crossing her legs comfortably. Her smile was sad, and understanding too. "Yes, I know the feeling well," she assured him quietly. "But even if there were a way back, it may not erase the hurt you already feel." Shrugging her shoulders, she glanced to the alchemist, a faraway look in her eyes. "Yes. Ashetta's father, Trustan. I married him and became a mother when I was younger than Ashe is now. We were happy... but I grew unwell. I remember little of the time, but I heard Trustan believed I was already dead, and he took Ashetta away..." She frowned. A coward, he had been, but she had loved him wholeheartedly all the same. "He died, before I could ever tell him I had survived..." Blinking quickly, Vai took a deep breath and let it out again, before smiling more brightly to the hawk. "Now? I still love Trustan, and I always will. It's a warmth and a fondness that I feel, and a gratitude that he gave me memories, and a daughter to cherish. But my heart belongs to Devrum, and our child." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do Queasy, unhappy, and vaguely curious to be sure. Remi couldn't quite tell if her words were a relief, or another dagger in his heart. Part of him felt panicky and shaky at the thought that he might always feel this way about Loren. Not just the love, but the desperate longing, how he missed him every moment throughout the day and how every shade of blue somehow paled in comparison to a hue he could no longer remember with any sort of confidence. As Vai spoke, Remi's mouth dropped open. He definitely would have remembered this part of the story had it been told to him before. That the man died before Vai could set things right made something clench sickly inside of Remi's stomach, if only because somewhere in a dark and unhappy place that Remi tried not to think about, part of him did wish Loren might have died, if only because it would mean the Launceleyn didn't in fact leave him. "Vai I am so sorry." He said gently, knowing that it was a long time ago but still feeling the need to say so. "Did finding Devrum make it any easier?"

"There is no need to apologise, Remi. But thank you. Trustan was a good man and he did all he could for Ashetta, even if he was not strong." Not in heart, nor in mind. The huntress glanced up as the kettle began to whistle, reaching out to grab a cloth and remove it from the fire. Absently she gathered two new mugs so she could pour the water into each one and let Remi arrange the tea. Her smile warmed and brightened at the mention of the bear man, and she nodded to him. "Yes, Remi. It did. I know Loren was the first person you ever felt anything for, and that is a potent thing. But believe me when I say that there is someone out there who actually deserves you, as long as you let yourself remain open to it. Easier said than done, I know, but... it will happen." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do Absently Remi recalled one of the first times they'd made tea together, and how he'd stupidly grabbed the hot kettle with his bare hands. Now here he was with magic surging through his veins and stupidly he had the impulse to jump up and do the work for Vai anyways. Chuckling, he simply watched her pour the water into the mugs, feeling settled and reassured by the amount of shared memories that now existed between them. Taking a breath, the alchemist nodded. After a moment he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and yawned. "I think I liked it better when all of my romantic relationships were fake." He joked, grinning at her. "So much less complicated and certainly no feelings to worry about."

"I don't think that's true, is it Remi..." Vervain smiled kindly to the alchemist, reaching across to clasp his shoulder after she had replaced the kettle. "All yours." She waved a hand at the mugs, indicating that he could add the tea he had brought with him whenever he wanted to. "I think it hurts now, but in the long term you'll be glad that you got to feel so alive." A crappy sentiment when he was still feeling bad about it, but it was what it was. "So can I count on you to babysit, when the time comes?" she asked with a crooked grin. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

remi The higher I climb the farther I fall when I do "No...I suppose not." Remi agreed with a chuckle. With a magical flourish, the tea he'd brought floated from his pocket, did a bit of a detour in midair (poorly though, showmanship was not really Remi's forte), before plopping into their respective mugs. Dropping his eyes to her belly, Remi's smile widened. "And here I am letting you make me tea." He said shaking his head with a grin. "Can I do anything for you? Make you anything?" Admittedly Remi knew very, very little about what pregnancy entailed. Perhaps he could visit Phoebe and see if she had any suggestions?