devils in the canyon

took a fall from a windy height

Mateo is in Vai's arms and lost in one of the witch's stories in no time. Though the rain has let up, the weather still isn't ideal for what the two men now go to do; Remi knows he won't be able to keep this secret for very long, though. So they walk with the eyes of the Greatwood on them until the alchemist can't contain the knowledge of what he's been told any longer.

"I am going to tell you something, and it is going to make you angry." Remi prefaces as they walk through the moss. Is his accent intentionally thicker, or is this how he sounds now, given his conversation days ago with the Star? "And then I am going to tell you something else that you will probably be too angry to care about. So you are going to take that anger out on the tree, and then we will see where we stand." So saying, the alchemist halts, holding a hand out for his husband.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

Ronin, soaked through from his game of hide and seek with Mateo, meanders through the Greatwood in vibrant spirits indeed. His dark, wet hair is swept back out of his face, and he thoughtfully chews a sprig of peppermint bark as they stroll, glancing up only when his husband draws his attention. Truthfully, Ronin has been thinking more about pulling Remi close or taking his hand so they can swing them, or pinning him against a tree to make out. So to hear that he's about to be made angry is... well. He can't help but smile. "You always make the most compelling cases for going out and looking for Wicker Woman sap," he murmurs around the bark, reaching out to let his fingers close around his husband's. "Alright, then. Let's get this done." Ronin has no doubt that what Remi says is true - by now, he is just content to let things happen. He can't stop it, after all. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

took a fall from a windy height

Ronin is the most disarmingly handsome man that has ever lived. Remi is more sure of it now, sopping wet and effortlessly attractive as he is, that had he known postponing what is going to come next would have yielded a quick makeout session, he'd have happily swallowed down the words lurking on his tongue.  Alas..

"I love you." Remi says, holding tight to his husband's fingers as if the pressure of his own might strengthen the warbles of reassurance he's sending through the attuned bond.

"Thing one." Gods, even Remi can feel his blood run cold just thinking of what he's about to say. "Sunjata has had a child with Safrin." Expecting Ronin to jerk away perhaps, the alchemist holds fast to their connection, his pale eyes peering determinately into the Star's blues. "Thing two: Hotaru and Nate have left him. Or...are on a break." Remi doesn't precisely know which, so indicated by a light shake of his head. "So he's all alone now. He's going to need you."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

"I love you too," Ronin says sunnily - clearly he has no idea what's coming to him, and as they finally stop, he knows that the time has come for whatever to happen to... well, happen. Thing one, Remi says, and the Star tilts his head at his husband. And whatever Ronin might have been expecting, he clearly doesn't really believe it's going to be that bad. Except it is, put simply. It is that bad and more, and he does try to pull his hand away just to prevent the whipcrack of fury to riot through their Attuned bond and Remi's magic both. Naturally, he's not able to, and then thing two comes along and, regardless of having no predatory shifts lurking within him, a growl of frustration still manages to tear through Ronin's chest and throat. Light splinters out of him, near blinding in fractures of rage, and he clings hold of the alchemist all the tighter. "I see," he nearly snarls. "And what, pray tell, did he do such a thing for?" Already his feet are carrying him forward again, like he can find this Wicker Woman and pulverise it before thing three pops along. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

took a fall from a windy height

The riot of anger isn't unexpected, but gods is it a vibrant and unwieldy thing. Like a solar flare it all but blinds whatever mental eye the alchemist uses to see his husband's emotions, and were he not already prepared for it, he might have staggered backward from the force of it. Squinting his eyes against Ronin's quite literal blinding rage, Remi allows it all to wash over him. Balanced as ever as the pair seem to be, the alchemist is happy to be the ocean in which Ronin's storm rages.

"To protect Nate." Remi replies evenly, and this time as Ronin pulls away, the alchemist lets him. That is all the information I have. Comes the alchemist's silent call, not bothering to try and shout over the sound of the rain or the blood likely pounding in his husband's ears.

Feathers ripple through the alchemist's curls as he comes to stand tall behind the Star. He'll let Ronin wear himself out, if such a thing is even possible, eyeing the wayward branches of the tree that might escape his husband's blind rage. He'll interfere if he needs to, but a wack from the Wicker Woman is hardly enough to hurt either of them by this point. Ti amo. Remi whispers silently, but sweetly. Like a warm breeze through Ronin's galeforce fury, the alchemist doesn't attempt to alleviate what his husband is feeling. He's simply there to ride it out with him.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

I warned him, Ronin all but rumbles through their bond, taking the peppermint bark from between his lips and tossing it off into the woods, cracking his knuckles to approach the Wicker Woman up ahead. He's a fool. And there's something else, too, something that Remi likely has already come to anticipate but is entirely new to the Star. That ribbon of possessiveness, of jealousy but not, that rears its ugly head. "I love you too," Ronin mutters under his breath, and he means it with every fibre of himself. Still, he's not able to take his eyes from the object of his fury right now, tearing forward with feathers ruffling through his dark hair and erupting from his arms. Unlike most, his avian shift does not appear at signs of stress or nerves - no, it is righteous anger that fuels Ronin's phoenix, and it is unleashed on the Wicker Woman without prejudice. Branches crack and splinter under Ronin's persuasive techniques, landing back across near Remi for him to collect sap as he likes. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

took a fall from a windy height

We all do stupid things, to protect the ones we love. Remi comments. It doesn't make Sunjata any less of a fool, but it makes what he did more understandable, if no less idiotic.

The Lullaby watches his husband as he begins to burn, unable to help the gasp of appreciation and slow lust that builds to see the Star so exquisite in his anger. With crackling limbs and breaking boughs that sound like screams, the Wicker Woman writhes and tries to strike at the burning half-man. A few of these death throws are successful, but already the tree has caught completely on fire. The way it twists is no longer entirely under its own control.

The sap is almost secondary in Remi's mind at this point, and knowing how long it will likely take Ronin to burn himself out, the alchemist carefully scoops a bit of sap into a jar he brought for precisely this reason. Ronin's heat has made it a good deal more viscous, and of all the times they've been sent on this particular errand, this might yet go down as one of the easiest to complete.

But now he is alone, during monsoon season, with a new child and no one else. Regardless of what has passed between the three of them, and of the chaos that still muddies the waters, Remi wasn't lying when he said he would make efforts to find the softer side of himself who once so easily dictated his decisions. You should go to him. Mateo can stay here with Vai and we can go to Torchline.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

Oh, hush, Ronin wants to say to the Wicker Woman, but he is too busy setting it alight and unfairly taking out his temper on it. I don't care, Remi. He can't help the cold tone of his voice, and at this moment in time, it's true. He doesn't care. Let Sunjata struggle and suffer in his decision. Ronin had warned him - hells, the Flood had seen first hand just how horrific it was to be tethered so eternally to a goddess. (And honestly, Ronin had already been tethered to begin with, given that he owed his life to Safrin). If I go to see him, it won't be good. That is the be all and end all of it, and Ronin isn't sure when it will change. The Wicker Woman is burning all around him now, screeching and crackling heralding its death, and the Star turns to look at his husband with an exquisite sort of pain in his eyes. "How are you being so kind?" he whispers. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

took a fall from a windy height

I know you don't. Not right now, anyway. And it's fine that he doesn't, and if anyone understands what it was to be unfairly (or righteously, what did it matter) furious and cold, it was Remi.

Maybe not. But it might be better than him being alone. Because at the end of the day, Ronin wasn't Remi. Consumed by anger and dispair and disbelief, he'd not do the things that the alchemist might.

As Ronin turns, it isn't the fire that pulls the air from his lungs (though that said, the pressure change caused by the sudden blaze is as marvellous as it is hard on his ears), but the sight of the Star embroiled in his own pain was as heartwrenching as it was beautiful to see. The contrast of cold blue eyes against a background of raging flames made the alchemist's heart skip a beat as he reaches out a hand for his husband, heedless of the heat or fire.

"Because I remember how it felt for the few days we were apart. And I wish now I could take back those words, even though it brought us to where we are now." With an expression as gentle as Ronin's was hard, Remi simply stands bathed in firelight, with nothing but love and understanding wafting from him. "Perhaps this is my way of making amends for what I did to him, and to you."

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

Remi's words are warm with the sort of understanding that simultaneously makes Ronin sick and makes him hopelessly, wonderfully in love with his husband. The grumble that leaves him is annoyed at best, and though the Wicker Woman continues to char and smoulder in his wake, the Star lets the feathers sink back into his skin. It leaves him pale (the tan of Torchline is long past) and exhausted and... naked, obviously, all of the fire having smouldered away his clothes. "Gods damn you for being so incredible," he mutters through the softly pattering rain, Ronin stepping forward to reach for his husband as if he's the only thing in the world that has a chance of containing him. And he really might be, honestly. "I'm sorry. You said I'd be angry, but I... I suppose I didn't really believe you. How did you know I'd react like that?" RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

took a fall from a windy height

"They have, many times now." Remi says with a small laugh. A cape appears in his hands, and though it isn't drawn from a particularly strong memory, it should last Ronin until they get back to the cottage. The Star draws near and as Remi flutters it around his shoulders, he tugs Ronin closer.

"Because I know you." The alchemist replies, leaning forward to press a rain-soaked kiss against the Star's lips. "And because I know how you feel about Safrin." Another kiss, this one warmer. "And because I know how Seren affected you." A third, warmer still. "And because this is not just anyone who has done this, but Sunjata."

It's betrayal on all sides, in a sense, and though Remi hates the goddess and all she stands for, the ties she has with Ronin are immutable at this point. And now, the same could be said for Sunjata.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

Ronin can't help but chuckle at that - and at the cape - and he steps forward to slip his arms around Remi as he draws close. His skin is hot from the fire but wet from the rain, and he leans into the warm and lingering kisses as if they are the only thing keeping him tethered. "You do know me," he whispers, as if the realisation is fresh for him, and he draws his husband closer against his chest. His anger is still palpable, but it is more of a slow smoulder than a firestorm now - besides which, he is more interested in kissing Remi. "You are too good to me," he mumbles against his lips, fingers sliding into the back of wet curls. "Far too good." And this time it's Ronin who is in danger of trying to use sex as a bandaid, and given that he is already naked, it might be difficult to stop him from making a mistake or a dozen up against a tree. "We need to get back, if we are going to Torchline." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

took a fall from a windy height

'Never.' The alchemist hums back, his lips pulling into a smile against Ronin's as he shakes his head ever so slightly. As impressive as Ronin's flames were before, the heat that their lingering kisses begin to build in his belly is one he far prefers.

"We do, yes." Remi agrees, his hands slipping beneath the flutter of the cape to trickle down his husband's sides until they rest on his hips. "It is going to be quite the flight, given that it is monsoon season." That should imply that they need to conserve their energy or make sure to eat enough before they set off. Somehow though, Remi's tone suggests something else completely.

i only knew how to hold on tight
& pray for love enough to last all night

Humming out a note of pleasure to feel Remi's fingertips stroke along his ribs and down to his hips, Ronin can't stop himself rocking forward into the touch. Although his husband is absolutely still clothed (and what a regret it is), the rain and the cool air means that it is somewhat difficult not to concentrate on all the places where heat is building between them. "Gods, I really do love you," he half moans against Remi's lips, not parting so much as draping an arm around the other man. "Come on, then. You got your sap, and I got angry. Our work here is done." It will be a very slow walk back to the cottage, it's true, and maybe a few other trees might fall victim to Ronin's ire. But they make it, eventually, so they might spend the evening with Vai in her cottage, both drying off and preparing for the journey ahead. ~FIN RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving