you're living make believe

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

Remi nods, a touch stiffly perhaps, and closes his eyes. Perhaps it's the fire, the danger, and his proximity to Isla, but the sheets that emerge from his memory are the delicate linens that cover the bed in the sex room. Hardly noticing, he hands one to Isla before mirroring her efforts and aiding the transition of the bodies into the grave.

'No,' A wing sprouts from his back to wrap around her, sheltering her from the ash that has begun to softly and silently rain down from the sky. "You have nothing to apologize for. Attacking a place of healing...one with patients..." Little do they know that across the world, the very same thing has been done that night as well. Shaking his head, Remi looks down at her and doesn't bother to fake a smile. "...only someone like Zariah would be so cruel." Could she have come back? But no, she was not one who could just slip away into the shadows.

"Come on. We can leave the note on the Notice Board and then go back to yours. It is like you said, that what we do next will be our choice, and I would rather take time to think things through. And keep you safe.

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine She leans into the wing and then back against Remi, more than grateful for his presence and his shelter. "Thank you," she mumbles, peeking between the feathers towards the approaching Temple. "You're right, too. It is something I considered, but..." She shakes her head. "The Launceleyns would come back onto the scene with a bang, but with banners and streamers as well to announce it all." This was horrifically calculated, and Isla doesn't like it one bit. Giving Remi's arm a gentle squeeze, she nods and leads them towards the Temple. It's chaos, and she leaves him at the outskirts of the goings on that she might slip in and write her notices without drawing too much attention. When she returns, it's looking more weary than ever, and she tucks herself right back beneath Remi's arm. "Let's go," she says softly. "Do you think I ought to get some surveillance for outside my house?" It isn't something she has ever considered she might need before.

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

'They would have, yes.' Remi agrees with a dark laugh. "Surely you would have noticed when you came through too. Someone would have." But if they couldn't pin this on the Launceleyns, then who?

With his arms folded and his face coloured by the crimson flames still burning brightly—the Temple was in no danger, and with so many ascended, it was easier to let it burn itself out—Remi considers all that's recently happened. Why couldn't he see Isla? What had she thought when he had seemingly ignored her? And worse, what did seeing him as he truly was, mean for them?

Wrapping both an arm and a wing around her as they walk back to her home, Remi considers. "It would probably be easy enough for someone like the Voice." Once upon a time it would have been easy enough for him as well, and the thought makes his stomach turn. "Either some sort of glass you could look through, or showed anyone nearby, or...a warning if windows or doors are opened." They had never lied to one another, and so Remi wasn't about to start now, however uncomfortable it made him feel to consider the ways in which someone might hurt her. "Though if someone were to throw something flammable into your home...the few seconds of warning might not be enough."

Gods how he wished she could just always have the means to fly, or to shift.

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine Remi isn't wrong there, and Isla nods to him as they meander back to her place. It isn't far until they come across the little house with the cheerful green door, and their topic of conversation has her faltering in a way she's never done before. "Do you think we should check it, before we go in?" Paranoia is not a feeling Isla is used to, and she doesn't like it. She doesn't like the idea of burning to death either though, in fairness, but she can still appreciate Remi for telling it like it is. "Maybe less surveillance then, and more fireproofing, or shielding?" she suggests, hating that they have to have this conversation but appreciating Remi all the more for being there. "Gods... I didn't think this would be the future, when I came back," she admits. "Or at least I thought there'd be a little more time."

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

Remi was thinking much the same, and though Isla's door appears to be closed and nothing seems amiss, after the evening she's just had there's no reason to assume anything to be safe. "I think so." But he doesn't tell her to wait outside, doesn't tell her that he'll handle it. Isla is not weak regardless of how close to death she'd come tonight. 'Come on. Together.'

There is no one inside of course, but gods he almost wishes there was that he might have something upon which to release his pent up frustration. "Maybe some of your fingers could shoot water." Remi suggests with a low laugh. 'Or some sort of...coating that protects you from fire?'

Barking out an unexpected laugh of agreement, Remi's cheeks flush a touch guilty as he nods stiffly. "I always thought when the fighting started, it would be because I said it would. Or Ronin. Or Wessex. That we would all know where we stood. But...the Grounds were supposed to be safe for the ascended..."

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine "Together," Isla agrees softly, managing a smile for Remi that actually reaches her eyes this time. She will always be thankful for him not treating her as though she's made of glass, and tonight is no different. Especially tonight. So they open the door and check the house and its perimeters, and Isla can't deny that her shoulders relax considerably to find it exactly the way she had left it. She can't pick up on anything awry that might be hidden or waiting to cause problems (or explosions) either, and so she nods to the kettle. "Tea?" she asks, before her head tilts in confusion to hear Remi laugh of all things. His explanation still doesn't make it funny, per say, but she can definitely appreciate gallows humour. "It is supposed to be a safe place," she agrees. "But I... I'm unsure if Wessex is still Queen any more. Who should I bring this to, so that everyone knows it wasn't an accident?" Because it wasn't. That much she is certain about.

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

"Please."

Running his fingers along the back of one of her chairs, the alchemist tilts his head slightly in recognition. "Oh?" Glancing at her over his shoulder, Remi frowns. "I thought that sort of...went with her being a demigod." It didn't at all, but in the alchemist's mind, Wessex as Queen of the grounds was almost a necessary component of her demihood. What would the Grounds be, if not an ascended hub?

"Sam, maybe? Nate." It's grudgingly said, and while Remi might indeed be naive, he isn't a complete idiot. "Sunjata too, perhaps. I cannot imagine that this attack was from Torchline, but when there was friction before, it seemed to help to have all the rulers on one side." Running his thumb between his eyes, Remi turns to lean against the chair he'd been fidgeting with, folding his arms across his chest.

'You...do not have to answer if you do not want to, but...the plan to stop the Order from entering the Grounds...was that...ever completed?" In speaking with Sam recently it became abundantly clear to Remi that as an EnEmY there were certain things he probably shouldn't know.

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine "Yes, so did I," Isla says absently, though she can only shrug and smile to him. "Some of us aren't cut out for it, I suppose," she says, managing a cheeky wink in his direction. As the former governor of Torchline, he should know that all too well. So she moves to put the tea on the stove, waving a hand for Remi to make himself comfortable anywhere he likes in the living room. Isla's space is small and practical, but it's cozy enough. "Perhaps I will send a letter to both Sunjata and Nate. And I will seek out Sam, as well," she agrees, smiling to him more softly now. "Thank you Remi. That's... that is really helpful." Whilst she waits for the water to boil, she moves to sink down on the sofa. And whilst the Lullaby might be the enemy, he's still Isla's friend, and she has no qualms speaking to him about it. "I don't believe so," she says. "There haven't been any notices about it, anyway. Why? Would... are you going to be kicked out of the Grounds, when that happens?"

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

"And some of us are." He says with an equally cheeky smile, before his expressions sobers somewhat. "You would make a good ruler, you know." Remi's gaze is soft, fixed somewhere near her shoulder before lifting. "You are clever and kind, but just. And—" He holds up a finger. "—those who do not actively seek out leadership are usually the ones who are all the better for the job."

Waiting for Isla to sit first, not out of chivalry but a want to be near her, Remi sinks down next to her on the couch. "Oh no, I only meant...if it was done, we could rule out the Order as having a hand in this." Biting the inside of his cheek, he mentally makes a note to have Ronin dig up what information he could. "Me? No" Looking lazily over at Isla the alchemist smiles and shakes his head. "I will never join them." The leash he was on was plenty tight. He didn't need another.

"Isla.." Sounding suddenly more serious, Remi turns toward her. "Had I not..." murdered your patients "..what would you have done if your patients had been left to live?" In his mindseye he can imagine her at their bedsides, clutching their hands and promising not to leave. Would she have done what he did, in their final moments? Administered something to take away the pain that they needn't burn alive? Would she then have made her own escape?

Or, given the inevitability that came with the lives Ludo had him take, would the trio simply have burned up together?

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine "I would not want to rule for love nor riches," Isla says softly, smiling to Remi as he moves to sit beside her. Their previous awkwardness seems to have melted away now that the Temple and the fire are at their backs, and she tucks herself under his arm as if he'd just come to console her after some bad news. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. And I have far too many responsibilities to risk being uneasy about anything much." Not that these latest events will help in that respect. Her brow furrows as she considers Remi's points, Isla slowly shaking her head. "Do you think the Order would target non-Ascended for the sake of an infirmary?" she asks. "Would they be so callous as to target an infirmary to begin with?" What monstrous organisation had the Ascended in their sights? She doesn't want to think about his other questions, even if they are easy enough to answer. "I would have done my duty," she says quietly. It's vague, but given Isla's history as a field medic, it's easy to assume she would have done as Remi did, and given them a merciful death. Whether she gave herself enough time to get out as well, though? That isn't something she has to think about, thanks to the Lullaby.

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

'Of course not. Neither of those things sound much like you." He quips back, crinkling his nose. "Besides, you're an ascended now. You do not get uneasy. You are the most levelheaded person I know." Leaning over to press a kiss against the top of her head, Remi considered, and then raises a brow. "So if not you, and not Wessex, who then?"

Remi doesn't have to think long before answering, and Isla will likely feel him tense against her as he nods. "I think they probably would not have counted on there being any non-ascended, but...they do not strike me as the sort to worry about casualties. The ends will always justify the means for them." Gravely said, Remi's jaw tightens.

Staring into the darkness that spills out from the corner of the room, Remi takes a slow breath, and then another, and another. "I do not know why I could not see you..." Except, he thinks he does. His eyelashes don't quite flutter all the way closed, though they twitch as thoughts race through the back of his mind. Pulling her slightly closer, he leans fully into the back of the couch and stares blankly up at the ceiling.

"If..it ever comes to it...between you and I...if..I am ever a threat to you..." Remi's eyes sting, despite being free of tears, though he can't quite finish his sentence.

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine "The key to levelheadedness is not to let anyone know you're panicking," Isla points out with a secretive wink, though she grins at the kiss he presses against her hair and relaxes further against his chest. "I don't know," she confesses regarding the state of the Hollowed Grounds. "But I do hope it's figured out soon. This is the worst time for the Grounds to be in flux. We need direction and reassurance." Isla does, anyway. What he has to say about the Order is not encouraging, and Isla frowns, easily able to feel his muscles tense and ripple at the mere thought of it all. "Do they strike you as the sort to attack buildings like the infirmary?" she wonders. "It's a little... underhanded, to attack the sick." Underhanded and completely immoral. Like Remi, Isla also knows why but doesn't, when it comes to him being unable to see her. She finds herself squished closer, not that she minds and she presses her eyes shut at the mere thought. "I will do what I can to protect myself," she vows. "...But right now, I think we both know that if it came to it, I wouldn't be able to run from you, or fight you."

REMI

the alchemist

I've said that hope I'll never find
To my myself I must confide

'Oh, so being a great liar.' Remi grins in such a way that his entire face seems to light up with boyish amusement. "See? Perfect for you, then." Isla is no liar by a stretch, but in the aftermath of what has happened, the alchemist is more than happy to reach for low hanging fruit if it brings a smile to her face.

'Yes.' Remi replies instantly, before quickly clarifying. "Cian does, anyway. But...it is Ronin who leads the dragoons. He would obviously not do something like this." But the Eye had many resources available to him, so it hardly mattered.

Reaching for one of her hands, he holds it softly in his own, before pressing against one of her fingertips as if she were a cat whose claws he could coax out. "I am most dangerous when I am close." He whispers in a guilty voice, swallowing hard. Lifting her hand as he closes his eyes, his head still reclined against the back of the couch, he'll place her fingers against his neck. Against where his jugular beats. "You would not need to run. You would only need to be close." He adds in a voice that's hardly more than air over his lips as his eyelashes thicken with unshed tears.

Because if Ludo had made it so he couldn't see Isla, what else might the herald do? Why not make it so that it appeared as though Isla was one of the patients? Why not make the Lullaby unknowingly kill his best friend?

That there's no choice outside your mind
when your heart is overthrown

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Isla take your medicine "Hey!" Isla smacks him gently for that one, though she is smiling, so he's gotten his wish at least. "I won't dignify that with a further explanation. You'll only twist it around anyway," she accuses, though thr warmth in her tone betrays her amusement about the whole situation. If only things could stay that light. Isla's brows furrow as she hears about Cian, about Ronin, and then Remi's taking one of her hands. Isla is a cat with claws, but now doesn't seem like the right time to slip out a scalpel blade. Good thing, too, as her fingertips press to the pulse at his neck. "Remi," she says softly, both wanting to comfort him but absolutely not knowing how. "I..." Huffing out a sigh, she perhaps contradicts the subject matter by shifting closer to the Lullaby, but so be it. "I will make sure I am protected," she tells him. "Even if that means being protected from you. You will not be responsible for another of my deaths."