in these trying times we're not trying

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

She's as kind and understanding as he's come to expect the workers of such institutions to be, and he's appreciative of that in ways he can't express. Or, no he absolutely can. With his hands against her skin, Remi lets his magic run through her that she might feel his boyish uncertainty, his insurmountable appreciation and comfort; it is all swamped however by the ever-present notion that he is in fact letting her down. That he's wrong, or insulting for not enjoying her company the way he's meant to. It's all a hang over from his life in Northaven of course, and as progressive, as things are in Caido, still there are tangles from the narrow-minded way he was raised.

"Surely it shouldn't be this hard to want you, if my preferences really had changed?" Remi wonders aloud. He knew in his bones that he wanted Isla (one in particular, ayyoo), and knew he was very much still gay. "Even if you were...aren't?...my type, this...you...I should want this more."

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Maeve

At first she doesn't realize what he's doing. The sensation of new emotions confusing until she takes a moment to feel them. They very clearly aren't hers and she draws in a breath as she basks in the fact that he feels safe here. Comfortable enough to even try this. That makes her feel better even with that bitterness that threatens to overwhelm all of the good. Maeve is quick to soothe him, shaking her head as she cups his cheek, "If your preferences had changed, then no... I would think that it wouldn't be hard to want me, but you also don't know me. That could have something to do with it too." She murmurs, leaning down to press a chaste lips to his lips that's meant to be reassuring as she wraps herself around him in a tender embrace. It's all she can really do. Let him feel that she's not upset, that she understands, and that she's here to help him however he needs.

"A lot of things influence desire, Remi. Emotions, appearances, and history just to name some. There are some people who can't manage to have sex without having a connection or feelings for their partner. There are some who don't want sex at all. Just because you don't want me or my body, doesn't mean that the encounter you had with the other woman wasn't real." Maeve lets her fingers continue to slide through his hair, nails scratching lightly at his scalp as she looks down at him. She sighs softly, pursing her lips for a moment as she considers if she should say anything else. Ultimately she drops her head to rest against his chest until he decides he wants to move.

Poor little girl
still waiting for her happy ending

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

As she covers him, the moment turning tender and sweet rather than casually orgasmic as it had been moments before, the alchemist is tempted to simply conjure another blanket to cover them both with to let the moment float past.

'There are men I've been instantly attracted to, though...I don't think I have ever actually had casual sex before. Everyone I've ever been with, I have at least...know. Maybe not well, but nothing ever like this."

Not bothering to try and hide the way he tilts his head into the pressure her fingertips provide, his own slide to her lower back as his wings wrap around her. "No, I know it's real with her. I just...I didn't know why. I still don't. But there are so many things that complicate it.." Sighing, the alchemist shakes his head, before his smile turns wry and crooked.

"I mean this in the most respectful way possible, but I don't want to have sex with you, Maeve." Remi decides with laugh that she'll feel all across her stomach and chest where she's pressed against him.

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Maeve

"Casual sex isn't for everyone. Some people just aren't made for it." He's not the first one unable to do this with her and he definitely won't be the last. As time goes on you just don't take it personally anymore. People have their own issues and it isn't her fault if they can't connect with her. No one's fault really. It's just how things were sometimes.

She lays there with him, not bothering to cover herself especially once his wings wrap around her again. His feathers splay across her skin, shielding her from the cool air of her room and she lets herself relax against him. Now that she isn't concerned with leading them through a sexual encounter her demeanor becomes looser. Instead she just lounges on top of him, continuing to offer physical comfort with her fingers in his hair. "You should go out with her. Not with the intention of having sex, but just... exploring things. Dating is good. People should do it more."

His laugh draws one from her as she's jostled slightly with the movement of it. Her own laughter softer than his as she shakes her head, "That's alright, love. Plenty of other people do." She teases, drawing back to wink down at him, "You should come by another time. Not for this, but to talk. I can't say I didn't at least enjoy your company."

Poor little girl
still waiting for her happy ending

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

She's light and small atop of him, and her wealth of skin gives something for his never-resting fingers to focus on. He trails out star patterns across her shoulders while her lower back becomes a canvas for telescopes he might one day find the time to build. All of this he does more or less without thinking.

"Well..I am married." The alchemist murmurs with a small chuckle. Indeed, with the magic that connects his wedding band to Ronin's, the Star will likely wonder what his husband has been up to this morning. But Remi doesn't have the air of a man who is currently being unfaithful, but such is his arrangement with the Star. "That's one of the things that complicates it, not that either of them mind." He adds with a shrug.

'I do not doubt it.' Remi replies with a sincere smile, before a blush colours his cheeks. "Well, I am glad to know that I have not forgotten everything about how to please a woman." But that too, was the tricky thing about Isla. They could only have sex in the sex room, a place where necessarily every sensation was heightened anyhow. "I am not in Torchline as often as I once was. I live in Stormbreak now. But if Ronin gets his dock set up, it will be easier to go back and forth."

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Maeve

The way he says it makes her smile and she quips back, "You and half the people who end up in my bed." Maeve huffs a laugh, shaking her head because that doesn't mean too much around here. Not to some people at least. His fingers across her skin does wonders for making her relax further on top of his chest and if she had any desire to move before it is quickly fading. Sometimes she just wants to be held too and if Remi is willing to indulge her for a bit, she plans to take advantage of it.

A hum pushes past her lips and she shakes her head, "Indeed you have not. I was rather enjoying myself. I can't say I was left wanting." She says with a grin that is evident in her voice even if he can't see it on her lips from where she's tucked against him. It isn't until he mentions Ronin that her head lifts, brows drawing together, "Ronin is your husband? Small fucking world." She shakes her head in disbelief before actually bothering to explain herself.

"He helped me when he was here earlier this season. Escorted me to the Wilds to find this herb I needed. Only we got flung all the way to the Boondocks. Traveled together for maybe a week or so? I didn't realize he was your husband."

Poor little girl
still waiting for her happy ending

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

'To be fair, I didn't end up in your bed.' Remi points out with a mischievous grin. They ended up on the floor, not that it was different from the point she was making of course.

'That I am glad to hear.' The alchemist replies, and if he looks vaguely proud of himself for it, so what? Feeling the Madame's contentment Remi continues to act as her mattress, his fingers now working at bits of tension he finds in her lower back as he listens to the vibrations of what she says echoing through his chest.

"Mm? Oh. huh." Remi chuckles, but isn't that surprised that Ronin has made Maeve's acquaintance. The Star was a regular social butterfly, and from what the alchemist had seen of the Madame so far, she was likely to attract attention anywhere she went. "But yes, that's him. I'm sure he was perfectly heroic and charming the whole time." The Star always was.

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Maeve

"We would have been in bed if somebody wasn't so concerned with the smell of my sheets." She retorts playfully, rolling her eyes even as she groans when his fingers start to work out the various knots and kinks in her back. Between this and the orgasm he gave her earlier, she's feeling rather content. Her head drops back down to his shoulder as her fingers move absentmindedly across his skin.

She wrinkles her nose, "He was rather grumpy at first. Actually, really grumpy. He warmed up eventually, but I would argue that he was not perfectly charming the entire time." Maeve laughs, sighing softly as the sound dies out and she eventually settles back down. "He was, overall, a nice travel companion."

The Madame moves to sit up slowly, pulling herself away from him though she is loathe to actually leave his warm embrace. She stretches, rolling her neck this way and that before moving behind the screen to find his clothes, collecting them along with her robe. Maeve places them lightly on her bed before slipping her robe back on. "Figured you might like your clothes, but please don't feel the need to rush off."

Poor little girl
still waiting for her happy ending

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Remi crinkles his nose. "My senses can be...hard to dull, at times." He vaguely explains. All the more so during sex. Though perhaps had they been on the bed, with the scent of Locke in his nose, Remi might have performed better.

"Oh, that must have been..." Remi frowns as his fingertips pulse like rain outward from her spine. "...we had a very rough LongNight. The days right after were very dark." Maeve's description sounds completely out of place for the Star, but considering Ronin had just watched his best friend be 'murdered' and had his marriage nearly end, he was owed a bit of leniency.

Releasing Maeve and feeling the chill of the seabreeze now that she wasn't pressed against him, the alchemist sits up, ruffling a hand through his curls. Beneath him the bearskin rug disappears and indeed the floorboards are every bit as hard as she'd implied they would be. Rising to his feet, Remi reaches for his clothes as his wings fold against his back and then disappear altogether. "I have already stayed a lot longer than I intended to."

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

Maeve

Maeve waves a hand dismissively at his apology for his senses, "I'm only teasing, Remi. No need to apologize." The Madame is already busying herself with straightening up the room and putting on a fresh kettle of tea. Her eyes flit back and forth between him and her work, shaking her head, "He didn't talk about it much, but I knew something had happened. He was vague." Ronin had been perfectly lovely in all actuality. Even with the events that happened before their meeting.

She moves back over to him, taking his hand and leading him towards the door, "Fair enough. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Remi. I hope everything works out. Seriously feel free to stop by anytime." Maeve lifts up on her toes to press a parting kiss to his cheek before she opens the door for him.

Poor little girl
still waiting for her happy ending

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

As soon as Remi is back in the Torchline sun, he'll wonder what exactly just happened.  For now though, he merely smiles warmly at Maeve. "And you. I will tell Ronin that he owes you a more charming representation of himself." He adds with a chuckle, leaning down as she rises on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"The main currency in Stormbreak is favours...if you ever need anything, just ask." He offers with a last parting smile, before leaving the apartments that certainly no longer belong to Phoebe. Padding down the stairs, all Remi can think is how Ronin will likely burst into laughter when he finds out about this, especially seeing as the Star already knew Maeve.

~FIN

THE LULLABY

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing