Hot Date

SAMUEL Remi confirmed twice that he'd never hurt him, not intentionally, as Sam already knew. He smiled with his whole body at the words though, squeezing Remi's hand and not taking his eyes away from his face. Trust was something new to Sam, something rather frightening, but he was beginning to feel comfortable giving it to those around him. The soft light around them, lanterns with star-shaped holes casting constellations all around the room...it was hard to feel anything other than happy anyway. He nodded just barely at the question then laughed as he heard the grand secret. "M..me neither, though I suppose you already knew that." Sam chuckled and shrugged, a little embarrassed at his own inexperience. "But this is a good st-start. I think." He let quiet fall for a moment and stroked gently along the feathers on Remi's wrist, amazed at how soft they were. But finally there was a question burning in his mind that he had to ask, even though he knew it may be awkward. He spoke softly and carefully, trying his best to put it well. "...But...you have...you have had something before, hav-haven't you? With someone? Did you not..d-date them? I find it hard to believe n-no one asked you before. You are..." Sam glanced down to the floor. "Handsome and w-well spoken and talented." I'm starting to heal and find some faith I'm starting to feel what's out of place Don't need you to save me, I can't wait To fall, to fail and start again

"I think so as well." Remi agreed with a melodic sort of laugh. Looking down, he watched as Sam gently touched the feathery glove that now coated his hand and lower arm. Only Vai had ever...pet? him. That wasn't to say other men had not had the benefit of feathery fingers upon them before, but no one had ever really taken the time to simply see the alchemist as he was. Not without immediately demanding something more of him, that was. The mention of someone before immediately made something inside of Remi clench and freeze. Feathers ruffled through his hair for a moment as his emotions warbled unhappily. Hearing Sam call him handsome and well spoken and talented of all things, just made Remi shake his head with gentle resignation. He was...attractive in a sense. Enough women had told him so, but given his inclinations it had never much mattered. Then again, despite the wealth of beauty in Northaven, it mattered little. Procreation was enforced regardless of desire. As for being well-spoken? Remi laughed gently. "Being well-spoken is not a compliment I have ever received." He admitted, wondering whether or not to be flattered or to ask his friend if perhaps there wasn't something wrong with his hearing. But Sam's question was still there, compliments aside. There was a before. There had been a somebody. "There was, yes." Remi said, voice and eyes low. "His name was Loren. We met quite unexpectedly while I was experimenting on a beach one night. He had an interest in science as well and so we began working together. He was a magician you see, and at the time I had no magic of my own and supplies were hard to come by, so Loren facilitated my work by creating what I needed." Gently, Remi retracted his hands from Sam's to hide the way his fingers wanted to clench into fists. The start of his friendship with Loren had been so pure and perfect, that to speak of it now knowing how it ended was difficult in a way Remi hadn't thought it would be. Wrapping his now human-fingers around his arms, Remi leaned back against the chair, gazing across at Sam with sad but honest eyes. "Men were not allowed to be with other men in Northaven, and so...even though I developed feelings for Loren, I never said anything. One night we were drinking together and he tried to kiss me. I.." Remi frowned with embarrassment, but quickly a smile tugged upwards on his lips. "I quite literally flew away." He revealed with a wry sort of smile. "Anyhow. Eventually he asked me to choose between losing him and doing what I thought was right...which at the time meant not breaking the laws. But I had fallen in love with him, and so chose him... and then almost the next day we found ourselves here. And he..." Remi paused and ran his fingers distractedly through his curls. "Well if his family is to be believed, he found someone else and is with them now, I think." With a sort of sigh-laugh, Remi raised his gaze to Sam with a gentle shrug. "So no time for dates, really." REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

SAMUEL Sam softly smiled, knowing that in comparison to him everyone was well-spoken. But it was true that Remi often had a charming way of putting things, a simple way of speaking that made it all clear. It was speech designed to be friendly, helpful; not demeaning or over-complicated so he could feel superior. His hands went to his cup when Remi let them go, Sam nodding every so often and looking down into his tea as he listened to the story. Would this Loren show up again? If he was here in Caido it was certainly possible. Sam tried to not let the jealous panic in his throat jump out. "...If...i-if he threw you away like that. He didn't know what he had." He insisted after a contemplative silence. "You...you deserve better, Remi." Sam had no idea if he was able to give Remi what he deserved, didn't know what a good relationship looked like or how to shape it...but he would try as much as he could if allowed. Feeling this was all getting a little sombre for a date, he let another second of quiet pass then turned back towards Remi, smiling. "You...like i-it here though, right? I heard you joined the um. The church." The way he said the word implied that Sam knew full well that it was not at all a church in the traditional sense. "What...what is it like inside? I didn't think it was m-my kind of thing." I'm starting to heal and find some faith I'm starting to feel what's out of place Don't need you to save me, I can't wait To fall, to fail and start again

Remi's lashed fluttered as Sam phrased it as him having been thrown away. Some part of Remi stil clung to the idea that there was a reasonable explanation for all of this. That part of him was growing smaller and less viable with every passing day, and yet the kernel of it was still embedded so deeply within himself that it would take far more time than had passed to eradicate. Saying nothing, Remi merely offered his friend a sideways sort of smile as he too reached for his tea, sipping and savouring the flavours with a gentle sigh. "I...think so. Northaven was surrounded by a Wall we could not go passed, and here there is the barrier..but there is more freedom here." The mention of the church made Remi chuckle under his breath and shrug, glancing up over the rim of his cup at the tone of voice Sam used. "No, I do not think it is your kind of thing. I do not think it is my kind of thing, actually." Running a hand through his curls, Remi sat up a bit straighter and let the hand still wrapped around his bicep fall into his lap. "Bastien has decorated it beautifully. All dim light and stars and artwork. It...ahh...certainly is a place of worship, but I think Bastien's predilections for sexual worship are a bit.." Obvious? Daunting? Too much? "..surprising." Remi settled on at last.   "I was actually thinking of starting my own guild." Then, with an immediate grin, he flashed Sam a smile. "Not a church or anything of that sort. A place for creators...like me, like you if you wanted. " His shoulders shrugged gently. It wasn't anything he had given a ton of thought to, but he'd happily hear what Sam had to say, if anything at all. REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

SAMUEL "From...from what I know of him, they aren't su-surprising." Sam said with a little laugh, but he did know what Remi meant. The town had never had anything quite so..bold about these things before, so open about it's objectives. They weren't prudes, exactly, but when survival and hardship was your life, sexual hedonism was hardly a priority. He was about to ask what Remi had gotten up to in there when Remi brought up his own guild idea. "Oh, I think that sounds...that s-sounds amazing!" He put down his tea again and put his hands on the arm of Remi's chair excitedly, leaning in to speak. "I would l-love that. The...th-the Craftperson's guild? Something like that? W-what would we d-do? Make things together?" To be asked to be a part of something was lovely, but to be asked by Remi this early...he couldn't help the thrill in his eyes. It dulled just a little as he remembered something and frowned. "Oh. But I...I am in J-Jigano's loreseekers. But...I can st-still be in yours too, right? There's...there's no reason why not. I am not so b-busy there. I do worry Jigano might make me do s-something dangerous sometimes, though." He said this casually, with a little laugh at the end, but there was a serious worried tone beneath. I'm starting to heal and find some faith I'm starting to feel what's out of place Don't need you to save me, I can't wait To fall, to fail and start again

Remi grinned and nodded. "Perhaps you are right. He did tell me as much the first day I met him. I suppose I just thought...Well. I am not sure what I thought, so perhaps I should not be surprised at all." A hang-over from his time hiding who and what he was in Northaven, Remi had always been extremely aware of when other men were near to touching him. He didn't flinch away (or fly away) as he used to, but as Sam excitedly leaned forward, hands against the arm of his chair, the alchemist couldn't help but wonder if Sam's enthusiasm was truly so animated normally, or if his friend was merely finding excuses to position himself nearer. With a laugh, Remi shrugged and nodded. "That sounds fine to me. I have never been good at names. Most of the alcohols I make for Vai are actually just numbers - the order in which I made them." He admitted with a boyish grin. "And yes, that was the thought ... Tristyn my neighbour on the other side is a blacksmith. And I know that Rory works with leather. We are all so varied I thought that having us together might inspire something new. If nothing else, we might share resources and ideas...and...well it might be nice just to have others to work alongside." As much as Remi was used to working silently and by himself in his shop, he was quite a social creature by nature. Even if no one was speaking, a room full of minds and hands all with the aim of creating something more than the sum of the parts they began with? It sounded lovely. "Ah...well, I do not see why not?" Remi replied with hesitant shrug, though his expression smoothed instantly into one of reassurance at Sam's latter worry. Whatever might have transpired between himself and the bard and regardless of how broken their non-relationship now was, Remi was quite sure that Jigano would never put Sam in harms way. "Jigano cares for you a lot Sam. I do not think he would ever ask anything of you that you are not capable of." REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

SAMUEL Sam's newfound willingness to get close was a combination of a few things. His desire to be close to Remi was one of them, yes, but there was also simply the freedom of learning who he was in social situations. In private, like this, he found that it was natural to move his hands around and to laugh more. Perhaps this was a hint of who he could have been without all of the things that constricted him. He did not like to be with other people when he worked. Sam always worried they were all looking at his work and laughing, amazed that he would present such trash out as books. But for Remi, for the guild...he nodded. "Yes. Community is good." He nodded sagely as if he had considered the benefits of unity for a long time. "Not will-willingly, no. But sometimes I think he...I think he thinks I can do more than I can." Sam shrugged. "But I know he w-wouldn't on purpose. I'm lucky to have friends. Like J-Jigano, and Isla, and like you...though um...ahah." Sam pushed his hair up and looked at the stairs, anywhere but Remi. "Maybe we w-won't just be friends forever." I'm starting to heal and find some faith I'm starting to feel what's out of place Don't need you to save me, I can't wait To fall, to fail and start again

"You can tell him that, you know. And even if you are capable of things, there is no shame in doing things at your own pace." The subtext of this was clear, or so Remi thought. The alchemist wasn't particularly sure what it was he wanted or felt in this moment, but whatever it was and whatever might happen, he'd not push Sam passed his comfort zone. If there was any chance at all that Jigano had been right about him, he'd not reinforce those notions now. Not with his friendship and potentially Sam's heart on the line. Remi watched as Sam's eyes deliberately focused on anything at all in the room that was not him, and he allowed himself a quiet smile, his eyes softly falling on the man seated next to him even as his blue-eyes scoured the room. His pale lashes, the way his hair was slowly settling back into place from where his fingers had brushed through it, the coppery and gold hair that he'd let grow against the line of his jaw. "I suppose we will have to see." Remi replied in a low voice, his smile coating the words and shaping them. "Until then, I learned something. For you, I suppose." He added with a chuckle. Picking up the feather again, he held it out for Sam to see. Twirling it between his fingers, the feather slowly became coated in a fine and thin layer of gold. " I cannot be much of an alchemist if I cannot turn things to gold, now can I?" He mused with a small grin. REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

SAMUEL "I don't w-want him to think me a coward. The...the first time we met. Was in a book. And..I think I was n-not very brave at all then." Sam had forgotten all about his self-sacrificing moment in that adventure, forgotten how he had helped and how they had both gotten themselves out. He looked up at Remi and nodded. They would have to see, he supposed, but Sam wanted to rush headlong into anything they could offer as a pair. He desired the love, companionship and calm of a relationship more than anything else in the moment, the possibility that he could look at Remi and think anything approaching my boyfriend...it was the giddiest notion he'd ever thought of. "Learned something...?" He asked, looking up just in time to see Remi turn the feather gold. Sam's eyes widened with a look of absolute amazement. "Oh! That's wonderful! Can I...?" He reached out to take the feather. "You are...so ta-talented, Remi. I wonder what it must be like to have...such a m-mind." I'm starting to heal and find some faith I'm starting to feel what's out of place Don't need you to save me, I can't wait To fall, to fail and start again

"I do not think Jigano could ever think you were a coward, Sam. Friends do not think of friends that way." The alchemist consoled gently, head tilting to the side slightly to hear that the pair had been in another book-adventure together. "Of course. It is no flower, but perhaps it will do." He chuckled, handing it over with a contented smile. Folding his hands together and gently running his thumb against the length of his palm, Remi glanced across at Sam frowning slightly. He didn't like at all to be thought of as clever, or to be put on the sort of pedestal that the ascended was moving him towards. Remi's mind was nothing, he was nothing. The addition of magic just made things more complicated, but the alchemist was still just himself. Just a boy who had grown up with nothing. "I am sure it is exactly like your own mind." Remi replied with a sideways smile. REMI I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows Oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close

SAMUEL "It is beautiful ju-just the same." Sam commented, taking the feather between his fingers and twirling it so it caught the light. He was delighted that Remi had taken it upon himself to learn a new skill just for him. And now he had something to take with him to remind him of this date, of the promise the morning held and the way the light softly touched Remi's hair. He wanted to deny what Remi said, immediately knowing it was wrong, that Remi was so much smarter and better...but he liked to indulge in the fantasy that they were equals. So Sam just smiled and shrugged, looking at the feather until his mind caught up enough to realise there was now silence. "More tea?" He asked, picking up the pot. Once it was poured he found another idea coming to him, more to say; it was hard to be quiet when Remi was right there. For once mostly comfortable he chatted about whatever came to mind easily, moving to lean in when he felt especially excited and sometimes looking over just to see a smile. It was easy, it was calm. It was lovely. When Sam finally said goodbye to Remi at around noon he dared another squeeze of his hand and a wide smile at the door, but not a kiss. It was too soon, probably. But he hoped next time - and at this point, he was pretty sure there would be a next time - they might pass that line too. He closed the door then giddily spun around, waltzing by himself in his store with a pleased smile on his face. Even hours later a thrumming excitement resided in his chest, the promise of a something he'd never had before. I'm starting to heal and find some faith I'm starting to feel what's out of place Don't need you to save me, I can't wait To fall, to fail and start again