[SE] paradise found

This can't be right. The Taliesin family have arrived at Torchline in time for the tide to be at just the right distance from the hot sand. They've bundled together towels, buckets, spades, and even some small flags that Mateo spotted from one of the stalls in the market, and they've headed down onto the beach. There's not a cloud to be seen. Hels call out for snacks overhead. Ronin can smell salt and sweetness, and his toes are buried in the sand where he sits, his bare shoulders already starting to turn pink. No one has come to shoo them away. Apopo hasn't erupted. Some giant beast hasn't crawled out from the water to ask for a beating. For all intents and purposes, things are perfectly, beautifully calm. And Ronin is suspicious. If anyone can brood at the beach, it's the Dark Star, and he glowers at the waves like they might come to interrupt their vacation at any moment. Mateo, meanwhile, is oblivious to all of this, and he is very busy trying to dig his way to the Cordillera - or the Cordigliera in the travelling tongue. ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

It's a different stretch of beach from the one the pair found themselves in on their first night in Torchline. A different stretch from where Remi had thrown his ring, from where they'd had sex on the beach, from where Remi was voted in as Governor. This stretch would have new memories made upon it, and the alchemist knew just how he'd like to start.

It's a difficult thing to find ice in Torchline, but it's near impossible to find it on the beach. How convenient, then, that there is a dragon around who is more than happy to aid Remi with his shenanigans?

Stealthing toward where Ronin sits, unfairly handsome and somehow oozing charm despite the fact he's just staring at the waves, Remi raises a finger to his lips as Mateo glances his way. Darting forward, Remi tucks the seashells which Sugar has frozen into mini-blocks of ice, down the back of Ronin's swimming shorts. Anticipating swift retaliation, Remi immediately sprints forward, his toes gripping the sand as he makes a bee-line toward the waves as if that might somehow save it.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Mateo's expression is a dead giveaway, so it's a good thing that his son has promptly turned away to grin into the pit he's digging. He plops a few shells along the side of the pit for later, oooing appropriately to give Remi time to exact his shenanigans. And of course the Lullaby strikes just as Ronin glances up, as if sensing the presence of someone behind him. His 'oh, hey' turns into a strangled yelp at the press of freezing sea shells, and it's with an explosion of sand that he has to wiggle to his feet. Sugar is trilling overhead - a noise that sounds suspiciously like laughter - and Ronin hops and jumps and shakes the shells out of the leg of his shorts before making chase on his husband. "You sonovabitch," he calls after him, laughing as they race towards the waves. It doesn't matter who reaches the water first - Ronin is still keen on wrapping warm and sandy arms around Remi, hugging him close before throwing them both into the shallows. ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

'Language!' Remi scolds over his shoulder as his feet thud against the wet sand. He takes a few lunging steps over the waves that race toward the shoreline before he feels arms around him and a body pressed against his own that draws a cackle from his lips and sends them both falling to their knees. Only just remembering to take a breath as he finds his head submerged beneath the waves, Remi wriggles and flails, though by no means actually makes any efforts to escape his husband's grasp. Reaching around, the alchemist does his best to determine if any of the icy-shells are still in Ronin's pants, and if so, to press them against his skin once more.

As Remi surfaces, he does his best to bring as much water with him as is possible that it might rain down upon he and Ronin seconds later. With a grin that suggests he's entirely aware of the massive clump of seaweed that now sits atop his head, the alchemist beams adoringly at the Star. "If you wanted to go for a swim, you just needed to say so."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Fuck you is what Ronin wants to say, but he knows better than to go quite so far in front of their son. Not that Mateo notices or cares, too busy excavating the beach for treasure (or for science, if you ask him). As for the shells, Remi will find nothing of them in Ronin’s shorts, but the Star imagines it’s as good an excuse to grab his ass as any, and he doesn’t begrudge his husband at all. Grab away, Remi. They surface together and the Lullaby isn’t the only one grinning - Ronin leans forward to try and kiss the smug smile off Remi’s face, tugging him closer so they might continue to warm away the chill from the waves. “Oh I’m sorry. I want to go for a swim,” be all but croons, peering up at the gorgeous seaweedy locks the other man has obtained. “You would make a rather fetching Mer,” he remarks wickedly. ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

As if Remi needs an excuse.

Failing spectacularly to kiss the smug smile off of Remi's face, Ronin's lips succeed only in making it decidedly more crooked. "See? That's all you needed to say." He hums wickedly, before drawing himself up as tall as he could. "Better than you, I expect."

Was the Star the more handsome? Undoubtedly, yes. But if this was a water-based contest, surely the alchemist with his various shifts would have the advantage? Of course, there was only one thing to do.

'Mateo—' Looking over Ronin's shoulder toward their son, Remi beckons the boy away from his scientific experiments and toward the shallows. "Do you think you could be an impartial judge in a contest between the two of us?"

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"Better than me?" Ronin's jaw drops in imaginary outrage, and between his arms around his husband and the shallows tugging them to and fro, this is about as close to dancing in the sea as either of them will get without fully committing to it. Speaking of which, the Star raises his eyebrows and turns to watch as Mateo's curly head pops out of the hole he's been digging, flashes them a dimpled grin that manages to be a mix of both Star and Lullaby, and climbs out to pad down the sand to them. Leaving little footprints behind, he peers between one seaweed clogged father to the other. "Sì! Cosa concorso?" he asks. That's completely void of meaning to Ronin, so he glances back to his husband with a pleasantly vacant expression on his face, hoping that Remi will be so kind as to explain what they are doing and what beautiful sounding gibberish just came out of their son's mouth. ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

'Have you got some kelp in your ear?' Remi wonders as his feet slowly cover with sand as the pair sway back and forth in the shallows. 'I will say it louder this time: absolutely better than you."

Hearing the travelling tongue rattled off so effortlessly from his son's lips has Remi sagging against Ronin slightly as he sips in a shivery breath. "Molto bene." He calls out, of Mateo's efforts. "La competizione, is between tuo padre e io, to see who can be il migliore sirena." Emphasizing this last word, Remi points to the seaweed on his head before nodding back toward the ocean to give Mateo a clue as to what the word might mean.

Absolutely at no point does he bother explaining any of this to Ronin. If he later adds in special criteria that the Star knows nothing about? Well, perhaps he ought to be as diligent as their son in learning this new language.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Learning languages is not Ronin's forte, as Remi will know very well by now, and besides, this is some adorable father-son shit that he and Mateo can share. Who is Ronin to elbow his way in? Still, the joke's on him because he has only half an idea what the fuck is happening as Remi weaves in and out of the travelling tongue. And Mateo (completely the opposite to Ronin, and like a sponge for new words) glances brightly between his fathers and the open ocean behind them. "Il migliore sirena," he repeats, before a fresh grin spreads across his face. "A mermaid!" he announces, unaware that they're supposed to be keeping anything from the Star. He just wants to know that he got the word right. "Okay, Da. Do I need to chiudere gli occhi and wait?" Ronin, both warmed and confused by this whole affair, nudges a hip against Remi's. "What?" he asks. ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

Remi waits patiently, expectantly, and as Mateo gleans the meaning himself, the alchemist beams his proud approval. It is indeed some adorable father and son shit, and Remi finds himself utterly swept away by their son's clever mind. "Molto buona!" He agrees, before giving his head a slight shake. "No, non ancora." Nudged by Ronin, the alchemist frowns and nudges his husband back. "Do not interrupt. That is very rude." He scolds, giving Ronin's ass a punishing squeeze.

"How about we get...cinque minuti, mm?" He suggests to Mateo, before raising a brow in Ronin's direction. If the Star doesn't understand how long they have, well...so much the worse for his mermaid transformation then.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Jumping as his ass is squeezed, Ronin would very much like to point out that deliberately excluding someone from a conversation is considered much more rude than interruptions, in the grand scheme of things. But he knows by now that the words will fall on deaf ears, so he merely stands by and lets father and son converse, digging his toes into the sand under the water. "Cinque minuti", Mateo repeats, trying to puzzle it out and having to briefly count on his fingers, mouthing the numbers in the travelling tongue until he gets to five, before he's nodding delightedly at the two of them. "Okay!" he announces, hopping up the beach a few paces and turning back towards the hole he's been digging. "I'll wait up here!" ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

'Gods but he's clever.' Remi whispers under his breath, glancing briefly at Ronin with a proud smile. Then, the alchemist reaches to shove at his husband that he might fall into the shallows and thus awarding Remi a precious extra few seconds start.

After their five minutes are up, this is what Remi has to show: over one nipple is a seashell, and having been unable to find another in time, he just cascades down his long seaweed hair into what is meant to be a braid (it's a knot). For his mermaid tail, of course Remi's lower portion is now entirely kraken limbs fuck the timeline, each of which hold a shiny stone that he might use to bribe impress the judge.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin, who still has absolutely no idea what's going on, nonetheless grins back at his husband and nods his agreement with him. "He must get that from you," he murmurs. Then again, the Star must have some degree of cunning, because as Remi flails away to get to work on who knows what, for how knows long, Ronin manages to clean a little bit from it based on what the other man is doing. So when their five minutes is up (five? was that it?) Ronin has found himself some netting tangled between the rocks to wrap around his head for hair, and a long strip of seaweed to wind about his chest to cover his modesty - the little he possesses anyway. For his tail, he's had no choice but to also shift his lower half, but without anything seafaring in his arsenal, Mateo will need to judge his 'mermaid tail' by the magnificent and fiery (and wet) plumage of  a phoenix's tail feathers. "Bribery? Really?" he huffs at Remi's rocks, as they son approaches from his excavation up the beach. It's with a gasp that Mateo gazes between his two fathers, clearly entranced by both of them. "Che belle sirene!" He applauds, gazing between tentacles and feathers and clapping his hands together as he tries to decide. Eventually, after much serious deliberation (and a random die roll, don't @ me), the boy makes his decision. "Papa," he decides, nodding to Ronin. "Mermaids are not supposed to have so many tentacles, are they Da?" ronypony it's always nice to make an impression

REMI

the alchemist

& my heart ran away with me

Remi has no idea what his husband could be referring to, and the look of utter shock on his face very much says as much. (I absolutely will @ u) So when Mateo chooses Ronin as the winner, the alchemist is left utterly stunned. How he could lose to a mermaid with feathers which were on fire, was entirely beyond him.

"You have much to learn about mermaids." The alchemist replies, folding his arms over his chest. "When I was Governor of Torchline, I met with the king of the mermaids. Do you know what his lower half was?" Yes, that's right boys and girls. "An octopus." An octopus with precisely the same amount of tentacles as those Remi currently had.

"But alas. The judge as spoken. You are the winner." Remi relents, before reaching out to tug Ronin back into the sea. "Now come and kiss me better before I become a very sore loser."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!