in these wild, wild woods

The woods are constant in the fact that they are always changing, and they have welcomed Vervain back with open arms. The days are never the same, and that goes for the witch as much as the forest - some mornings find her vibrant and energetic and breezing through the trees like a wildling. And others? Others are like this, when the trees hiss with falling rain, and everything feels still as the grave. On these morning, Vai wanders the area around her little cottage; it is still in something of a pitiful condition, terribly overgrown, and her herbs have grown rampant throughout the surrounding area. She's rather proud of them, in truth, but it means that they require some taming now. So that is Vai's task in the rain - to harvest the plants that are spreading beyond their borders, to rein them back in as much as possible. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

The paths might move and the trees might shift around when they are not closely watched, but no matter the change in the Greatwood, Remi will always know the way to the cottage. Perhaps it's an unspoken agreement between he and the Woods, or perhaps the Woods simply aren't in the mood to have limbs torn from trees by a lost manticore.

Whatever the answer might be, Remi comes upon the cottage in the rain with no difficulty. He hasn't prepared for the weather, but then, he rarely does. If the pitter-patter of water on leaves and boughs masks his arrival, he makes no attempt to rectify it with a called-out greeting. Instead, he brushes through a wild tangle of basil to wrap his arms around the witch diligently working on wrangling her herbs into some semblance of order.

"Mi dispiace così tanto." He whispers under his breath, finding himself muttering in Italian all the more since his conversation with Ronin. "Ronin and Mateo are—" Nodding over his shoulder meaning to gesture behind him, Remi just wraps his arms all the more tightly around Vai, his wet curls buried against the side of her neck. "I've missed you so much."

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Even a huntress cannot be on top form in the rain, and Vai is admittedly used to the woods sending anyone unsavoury on their way. So she doesn't anticipate the alchemist's approach, tucking a lock of wet hair behind her ear and gathering her herbs in a basket at her side. Already she is soaked through, on her knees in the mud, until dancing basil has her head whipping up. Rising to her feet in one fluid movement, Vai's hand is already raised as if to strike, only to find Remi suddenly all around her. "Oh--" It's about as elegant an answer as the Lullaby will get at first, Vai's arms folding around Remi to hold him close. If anything the rain around them intensifies, and she swears she can hear Mateo cackling about it if she listens hard enough. "I've missed you too," she whispers, smiling sweetly to him and kissing the crown of his head. "I had hoped you would get my letter. Do you want to go inside?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

Had she taken a swipe at him, he wouldn't have minded. He'd have laughed; which he does anyway. "Only if you do." He replies, finding comfort in one she once again smells like earth and life rather than sand and confinement. "I have been told I am sweet, but not enough to melt in the rain." With his accent as thick as it once was in Northaven, he peels himself back slightly to beam down at her.

"The woods are so much better than Torchline." He offers with an offhanded shrug. Indeed somewhere in the trees is the sound of a toddler cackling followed by a plume of fire. Rolling his eyes, Remi returns his stare to the witch and offers her an apologetic shrug. "I'll let Ronin explain that one to you." He says of the fire.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

He laughs and Vai finds herself chuckling through the rain as well, drawing back enough to cup his cheeks in her hands and look him over properly. "You sound like the boy I met in the woods in Northaven," she remarks, not at all sounding upset about that. "And he was absolutely sweet enough to melt in the rain, so lets head in and put on some tea. It's chilly out this morning." Which might explain the plume of fire that has Vai furrowing her brows, but she leaves it there right now. "I will let him as well," she decides. "I trust they'll follow us before they end up too waterlogged?" Grinning, she slips an arm around Remi to usher him towards the cottage, leaving her basket of herbs abandoned. "It is better than Torchline," she agrees quietly, smiling up at the canopy of leaves. "I feel I never should have left, some days." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

'Luckily you were there to find me in the woods, before that could happen.' Covering his hands with hers, Remi beams down at her, his expression sunny despite the downpour. "Alright, in we go. I expect Ronin and Mateo will be along shortly." There's another cackle, this time from the pair of them, that has Remi grinning crookedly. "..Or not."

Stepping inside, Remi is hit by a wall of familiar smells and sights. It feels like a lifetime ago that he was here, being given strange fatherly-advice from Devrum, as they helped create this place. 'Towel?' Remi murmurs, not moving from just beyond the door that he doesn't bring more of the outside in with him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Not the attack perhaps, but the choice to leave; not just Torchline, but Sunny and Jata. And, much as the alchemist feels a small inkling to say I told you so about Zephyr, there was the leaving of Zephyr as well.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"The woods have a habit of keeping you busy," Vai remarks with a grin, turning her head to see if she can spy Ronin and Mateo through the trees. The longer they spend out there, the more they'll find there is to do - she wouldn't be surprised if it's a long time before they head into the cottage. "Let's go, then. Wouldn't want to have to scoop you up in my basket, half melted." Letting Remi go, she turns and opens the door to usher them inside. She's already crossing the room to fetch a couple of towels, dabbing at her hair and holding the other across to the alchemist. The cottage isn't looking as good as it might when the witch is properly settled again - it's all clean and tidied up, but there are old ingredients and jars yet to be inspected. Putting a kettle full of water onto the stove and kindling the ashes in the woodburner to life, she moves to sink down in a seat at the table. "Mm...? I... well. What is there to talk about?" She smiles sadly. "He just... wouldn't grow up, I guess. He wasn't the man I thought he was, and I just... I don't have time for that, any more." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

Roughly scrubbing at himself with the towel as any boy might do to keep his mother from having to do any additional cleaning on his behalf when he's finished, Remi's skin is pink and his curls are a wild mess.

Rather than taking a seat at the table, Remi decides to plop down right before the woodstove. The heat against the back of his neck is reassuring and comforting, and already the alchemist can feel the frenetic panic that had vibrated in his bones on their journey over, begin to fade.

Hearing Vai put words to the situation so succinctly has Remi frowning an expression of sad understanding. "Well, for one you have time left for anything that you want." He protests with boyish confidence; Vai would outlive them all, he was quite sure of that. "But..you deserve the best. And if he was not that..." Only able to shrug, Remi stretches out a leg to anchor himself against the base of Vai's chair. "...then I am not too sorry to see you leave him."

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Vervain can't help but smile to watch the easy antics of the boy-turned-god before her, the way he musses his hair and scrubs at his skin and hunkers down against the wood stove. "Don't burn yourself," she cautions as any mother would, turning in her seat so she can face him while they talk and while she continues to dab at her hair to dry it off. "You are too kind, Remi," she remarks softly, not that she believes him. Vai is too long in the tooth for that, these days. "You might well be right, though," she agrees about Zeph. "It's sad, but... it isn't my first rodeo. I'll brush myself off and just..." Just deal with it? Just be alone? She doesn't know right now - her life doesn't span much beyond the woods and the home she wants to carve out of them. "I was thinking of moving into the Sidhe Village, if they would have me." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

"I am too wet to burn, I think." Remi replies, though he does scooch himself forward a little just to be safe. Frowning rather than articulating the protest that's immediately on his tongue, the alchemist just gives Vai a look of I know I am right, and leaves it at that. Vai was eternal and the alchemist was helpless to see her as anything other than that.

"I am sure they would. Juniper, who acts as a diplomat for the fae now, has a good mind. She is untrusting of outsiders the way all fae are, but.." Remi ruffles a hand through his curls which in no way helps the chaotic state of his hair and shrugs. "...she is at least willing to listen to reason and does not jump to conclusions." Besides, Vai was an asset to the fae, and as close to being a child of the Woods as anyone might hope to be who wasn't born in them.

"Well you will have Ianto as company. I do not see him leaving the Woods ever. And with everything I am meant to do here, many of the fae probably have not even noticed that I have left."

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"Well, I would much rather not risk it," Vai says of Remi burning, flashing him a mischievous smile and wiping off her face and neck before tossing the towel over the back of her chair. She doesn't rebuke him for his wordless confirmation of being right, instead rising to her feet and moving about to collect up the tea leaves and a couple of chipped cups for them to drink out of. One ear, of course, is on the conversation - Remi is the master of these woods, as far as Vai is concerned. Or as much of one as the place gets, wild as it can be. "Then I will get in touch with Juniper," she decides. "I can get a place set up in the village, and you can use this cottage as a bolthole or something similar, for whatever you're doing in the Greatwood? Or I'll just keep it as a herb garden." Shrugging, it's quite nice to think of the future, and Vai feels her shoulders relax. "Oh?" She grins at the thought of Ianto. "I'll make sure to extend an invite to dinner for the both of you, then. My door is always open, you know that." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

"Bolt-hole?" Remi repeats, his confusion evident. "I am starting to think everyone knows more about defenses than I do." Which both is and isn't to be expected.

The alchemist does indeed know that Vai's door is always open to him, but the reassurance of it fills him with a warmth and joy that is at odds with the sparse and not-quite-yet-Vai cottage in which they sit. But that too both is and isn't to be expected. "Well, you will never see Ianto turn down a meal. Nor me." He adds with a grin.

"But before that, I have a bone to pick with you." Waggling a finger up toward the witch and schooling his expression into one that is meant to look haughtily unimpressed (it doesn't), Remi tilts his head accusingly to the side. "My date with Isla went spectatcularly poorly, I will have you know." The implication of his tone being that it was somehow Vai's fault.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"Guilty," Vai says with a warm smile. "Though it's more of a hunting term, honestly. A bolt-hole is a place for you to go if you need a safe place to hide from danger. A hole to bolt into," she explains. "I could camouflage this place so that it blends in a little better, and if anyone ever needs to hide out here in a spot of trouble, it'll be available." It's an option, at least. One of many. "I will have to make sure my pantry is fully stocked, then," she remarks with a chuckle, only to raise her eyebrows as Remi seems suddenly accusatory - not that Vai takes it seriously when she realises the subject of his bone to pick. The kettle starts to whistle above Remi's head, and she moves to make the tea. "It did? Well... what did you do wrong?" she wonders, flashing the alchemist a cheeky grin. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

"Oh." Remi frowns at the ground for a moment, wondering if he might have puzzled that out for himself if given enough time. "I rather like that." He admits with a grin. "But I do not plan on bringing any danger to your door, though I like the idea of it. Maybe we could have a few around the Woods. Maybe if we even asked her nicely, the trees would help lead those who needed safety to them."

Remi doesn't move as Vai grabs the pot over his head (though it would be a good time for her to drop it on him, for his impertinence). "Listen," He begins, huffing in a breath. "...lots of things, probably." Exhaling in a wooooosh, Remi ruffles both hands through his curls before propping his chin up on one of his palms. "It started off so well...and then she nearly left, and then things were going well again, and then they..." Scrunching his nose and exhaling another dramatically boyish breath, Remi turns his pale stare up toward the witch. "I think I realized that...I do not want to date Isla. It was like..we could not leave behind the fact that we were bestfriends, to try and be this new thing. But we could not be the new thing with everything in our past." Did that make sense? Probably not. "But I also realized that much as I love Isla and always will, I do not want...a relationship with anyone other than Ronin, if that makes sense?"

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!