just a moment to hold

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

"Nor me. I was actually..." This was where it was strange to think of Isla as someone he was on a date with, and all the baggage that accompanied that, while still knowing she was his best friend. "..it made me wonder, about me, and what it meant. This..." He waves his hand, wanting to shrug off the words, but knowing Isla deserved much more than that. "..wanting you. And to be with you, like this." His blush is bright and despite how it creeps up to hide in his curls, it's as obvious as anything.

Grinning at her, not at all needing to tell her that they would work perfectly, he snorts under his breath. "Well, what else is surgery other than cutting into skin for a specific purpose?" And if that's all it was, she'd absolutely used them in surgery before.

Letting his own claws poke through his fingers, Remi's far less refined than Isla's, he nods toward the frames. "Okay, put your paper in through, like this." She doesn't need a demonstration, feeding paper into a frame isn't difficult, but Remi does so anyway. 'Now what is most important is picking your two anchoring stars. You will not be able to keep your arms perfectly still...or, well maybe you can, but they are needed if you need to stop for any reason." And why would they stop? Oh, Remi hasn't any thoughts on that at all.

"Two stars in opposite corners. That way you can easily put your frame back in the same place. You see?" So saying, Remi closes one eye, his tongue slipping out of the side of his mouth, as he marks a hole in the NE and SW corners of his paper, aligned with two stars in the sky.

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

"Oh...? It did?" Isla sounds surprised at that, shifting to sit abit more comfortably on the blanket and reaching out to brush her fingers (the ones without claws) across the back of his hand, offering a soft smile. "And what did you find out about yourself?" she asks, tilting her head. "...And what does this mean in general? I... well, you are a married man." She says it as if she has to remind him, for both of their sakes.

Still, she scoffs at his remark about surgery, following suit and slotting her paper into the frame. It makes sense, all that Remi says about anchoring stars, and as he moves to mark out his own, Isla works in the opposite direction. Her claws pop through the paper at the NW and the SE, and she peeks beyond the frame to make sure things are lined up properly. "And so from here we just... map them?" she asks.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

Sighing at the feeling of her fingers again his hand, Remi looks down at where their skin touches. "Well...I think I found out that it's only you." He begins, his voice a touch wry with amusement. "It has been pointed out to me and shown to me on two different occasions now that..." Remi laughs, running his fingers up the back of his neck and into his curls. "..I'm still not attracted to women. Just you." His eyes try and seek hers out, not sure if this will come across any certain way to her—insulting or complimentary or both. "Well...Ronin gave his free-pass back. At least for a little while he says. I...didn't, but I also have no desire to be with anyone else." Just you two, which was precisely the issue.

Glancing over, noting how she mirrored his movements and finding something incredibly satisfying about it, he nods. "Start as if you were drawing. Just broad strokes first: do not focus on every little star cluster that you see. Map out the most obvious ones first. If you try for too much detail, you will just tear the paper."

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

It's only you. Honestly, that isn't what Isla had been expecting - to hear that Remi was bisexual now rather than gay would have been much less surprising, and to say that she's both flattered and surprised would not do it justice. They're both blushing now, roses and starlight, and Isla clears her throat and looks away, because there's no way she has a response to that which isn't completely lame. "A free pass...? Oh, so you can... I see."

Her bare toes wiggle a bit on the blankets, Isla seeming utterly consumed by mapping out her stars. She isn't, of course - it's just an excuse so she doesn't end up too distracted, though it's a fruitless task. Her hands are steady and her eyes are keen, and so the main clusters of her stars become clear on her paper within mere moments. "Remi," she says suddenly, discarding the frame and turning towards him.

Her fingers seek out the lapels of his jacket, and she's pulling him into another kiss before her mind can tell her otherwise, and her feelings on the matter - and about him - roll off her in waves.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

'It...has been that way for over a year now, at least.' Remi murmurs. 'Though...you are the only one I've used mine for.' It's a quiet admission, one made while his eyes are averted on the stars. It's a fine line between being honest and saying things that might put Isla in an awkward position. You are all these things to me, he's trying to communicate. But I'm not asking to be the same to you.

Remi pokes small holes in his own starmap, but whether or not it actually resembles anything at all in the sky is anyone's guess. There are billions of stars though, so this pattern probably does exist somewhere. "Mmmm?" He murmurs, distracted, glancing over his shoulder at her, not at all expecting her hands to be tugging at him. That said, the alchemist is utterly pliant, his hands dropping the frame onto the blanket and reaching for her as the butterflies in his belly take flight. Isla's emotions might be more or less procedurally generated, not quite carrying with them the same colour as others' feelings do, but it's all there in black and white, beneath his fingertips just the same. The unexpectedness of her kiss has him gasping for air against her lips, as one hand wraps around her waist while the other climbs the column of her spine. Beautiful as she looks in this dress, there was fabric everywhere, and Remi can't help but be relieved as his fingers find the skin of her neck before combing into her hair, finally feeling her.

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

Isla moans softly into the kiss, and as Remi's hands go wandering she's as helpful as she can be given the circumstances. There is a lot of fabric, and she shifts to swing a leg across his lap and sit astride him so at least he only really needs to worry about navigating things from the waist up. Her lips, whilst undeniably eager, never stray beyond sweetness and softness, as if this is some tentative makeout session between two inexperienced teenagers.

"You," she murmurs against his lips, her fingers slipping up and over his shoulders before plunging into his curls. "I didn't realise-- I wasn't looking for--" Cutting herself off with further kisses, in the end Isla can only smile softly and melt further against him, wishing they were connected in more places than they currently were. Wishing they were back in that room, but she doesn't let herself think quite that far ahead.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

It's worse, the way she kisses him softly. It leaves him forced to follow suit, wanting more—everything—and yet being tugged along with a single strand of thread. Melting into his lap, Remi tries to hide the way his breath hitches and studders in his throat, his eyes rolling up and back slightly through half-closed lashes. Fingers dropping, his hands work to spread out the bottom of her dress around them as if wanting to perfect the image of her atop him; really, it was an obvious excuse for his hands to slip over her thighs, if only briefly.

You, she whispers, and for a moment Remi wonders if it wasn't an accusation. She explains in half-said thoughts, but he finds himself nodding just the same. He'd gone too far, said too much. "No, and it isn't." It isn't a thing. It wasn't anything. It couldn't be. "It...just kiss me." Small as she is in his arms and with a nauseating about of strength, it takes no effort at all for him to hold her against him, leaning back slowly until his head is against the grass and his arms are tugging her against him.

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

Isla isn't sure if she's articulated herself even remotely well enough, but as Remi's fingers ghost across her thighs, causing her to arch against him and hum a note of encouragement into his mouth, she finds she doesn't care right now. There will be time to hammer out the details when they aren't so... this, and she's kissing him again as they fall back into the blankets and the grasses, draped across his chest and his lap. "I do love you," she whispers against his lips; that's a bond that not even death has been able to break - and Isla has died twice, so she ought to know.

Suddenly all the Ascended wants is to feel as much of Remi as possible, room or no room, and her fingers move to carefully unbutton his shirt. The only issue is that she's still got claws, at this point, and so instead the buttons snip very delicately away. Isla's sorry is mumbled against the warmth of his chest, her hands pushing the fabric to his shoulders so she might better explore him.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

As long as no one is in love, and even then...as long as no one says it. It's the one thing he'd promised Ronin, the only line he knows on which side he has to remain. But right now with Isla in his arms and his eyes lifted toward the clouds, the ground is the last place he's looking. "I love you. Always." Remi mumbles, and though his internal temperature is rising, the words aren't hastily said.

Laughing as her fingers slip against his shirt, cutting them clean off instead of removing them, Remi can only shake his head. "No you aren't." He whispers, but as her fingers push back the material and the night air and Isla's gaze fall upon him, his lips part in a shaky sigh and Remi is quite certain he's forgotten entirely how to breathe. His chest flutters beneath her fingers and though air is moving over his lips, he feels dizzy and drunk.

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

As long as nobody says it. That's something that Isla can get on board with, but if only either of them were in any place to seal it with words. As it is, Isla's lips are very busy, and the way her hands roam over Remi is almost greedy; eager fingers trace featherlight patterns across his chest and down his ribcage, her claws only melting away at the very last moment. Glancing up at him with lips pressed to his sternum, Isla makes no secret of how she's creeping steadily lower, but she does pause for thought, at least.

"Should we slow down?" she wonders, even as her fingers move now towards his belt. "I know it's not the same as..." As before, her small shrug suggests. "I don't really know the etiquette," she confesses. Her best friend, who she loves and may or may not be in love with, who is married but it doesn't matter, who is gay but it doesn't matter... it's one of a kind, to be sure.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

Lost in the way her fingers feel like wind across his skin and how her lips are like footprints, it's only as she speaks again that Remi peels his head off of the ground, his elbows finding their way beneath him so that he can glance down at her more easily. Her question has him giving her an imploring look, his lips parted into a confused O as his eyebrows band together almost in a wince.  Trying and failing to find the words to say, Isla, you've already made me hard and now your fingers are on my belt asking if you should stop, the muscles of Remi's chest tense slightly as he looks up toward the stars with a bemused laugh.

Remi will let the obvious bulge in his pants speak for all the reasons they should not slow down, relying on his Isla-drunk mind to try and play devil's advocate.  "Out here..." He swallows as his eyes fall back on her. And gods if seeing her pebble blue eyes looking back at him from between his legs wasn't making everything difficult. "..I cannot reciprocate. I cannot make you feel good in the same way, and there is something..." He frowns; Remi hadn't found the words with Vai, and he certainly wasn't going to be able to find them now. "I want too."

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

Isla's smile is almost painfully apologetic, and she sighs where she's draped across his stomach, well aware of the state he's currently in - that's she's put him in. "Well," she says softly, her lips whispering over his flesh as she speaks. "I think you already made me feel quite incredible when we were in that room during LongNight, multiple times, and I wasn't given any chance to reciprocate." She makes the reasoning seem quite sound, and her hands slowly continue with the unbuckling of his belt.

"So this would make me feel good." Perhaps there's a hint of predatory satisfaction in her eyes now, to be able to look up the length of Remi's body bathed in starlight, stripped by her own hands, and she lets out a fluttery breath across his skin that is entirely unnecessary, but old habits are hard to break. "Then perhaps next time, we can plan a little better?"

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

REMI

the lullaby

there's a light that you give me
when I'm in shadow

Isla will feel the way Remi's body tenses beneath her, and as much as he truly does try to listen to what she's saying, his mind is very, very distracted by the pulse of her lips against his skin. 'You think?' Remi says with a half-laugh, before rolling his eyes at himself. "I seem to remember you kicking me in the nose a number of times and telling me to go to sleep."

Her eyes on him feel as tangible as anything else, and his toes curl in the shoes he wasn't smart enough to take off, like she had. "Isla, if you keep looking at me like that, there won't be a next time. There will just be now, and me flying you across the Grounds, and breaking open that door again if I have to." Had it ever been fixed? Should he have apologized to Bastien? Thoughts for later.

Reaching down to softly tangle his fingers into her hair, he gives her a look that's as much of a wince as it is of resignation. He wants her, wants this. He'll feel like an ass for letting her make him feel good while he can't offer her anything in return, but gods it isn't though he has it in him to tell her to stop.

there's a feeling you give me, an everglow

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla

"I was kicking you in the nose, that's right. But in the times before that, I think I was quite happy to have you between my legs. So the least you can do is be kind enough not to kick me in the nose and tell me to go to sleep." At least for the first or second time - it's only polite. And if anything, the challenge in his voice only has a glitter of further amusement in Isla's eyes, but thankfully she turns her attention away from his face before they can literally stare each other into having sex.

His fingers slip into her hair - hair that's been pinned very delicately, Remi will find, but those pins will slide out of her golden locks with ease, if that's what he wants to do. Meanwhile, Isla strips him of his belt, discarding it somewhere across the blanket, and swiftly unbuttons his pants to free his erection. "Do you remember the last time we were like this?" Isla whispers, barely, leaning in to run her tongue teasingly up the length of him, just enough to barely offer him a taste of what's to come.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives