[SE] olly olly oxen free

we live in a world someone else imagined

The way Ronin's brows furrow tells Remi everything he needs to know about what the Star thinks about this, and he shifts the other man in his arms so the branches haven't a chance at touching him. "So to get my supernova, I'd have to hit you with the supernova. Not heal you with it," he mutters, wrinkling his nose. The Stonesong appears before them now, Ronin following the fresh and rippling current towards their piles of clothes before he sets Remi down.

"The nimbus is just... a seat that flies," he says with a soft huff of laughter, shrugging his shoulder. "I'm the attacker, I think. So... I guess the projection and the shooting stars are the easiest. Do you want to do both now...?"

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

{asy}"Mmhmm." Remi agrees, tugging in a breath through his nose and exhaling it easily. Pressing a kiss to his husband's cheek, Remi presses one of his feet toward the ground to softly escape his husband's arms. "I know you do not like this, and I know that this could kill me. But it won't, and one day it might save us both." Or Mateo. Or Seren. Or any of their friends.

"I love you." He adds, as if it might help, but striding a handful of paces away. Naked and frowning slightly, quite unsure what to do with his hands, Remi pulls in a breath and nods. "Both, yeah. Might as well. Then we can get to the kissing-it-better part." Unable to brace against the magic as it would likely defeat the purpose, all Remi could do was stare as earnestly and reassuringly at Ronin as he could while waiting for his husband to unleash hell on him.

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

we live in a world someone else imagined

Breathing out a long, unhappy sigh, Ronin nods. "Alright - we'll do the supernova another day, I think. I'll need time to think about that one." He doesn't need time, and he knows exactly how to draw it out such that it would get the effect that Remi wants - he just doesn't like it. So it can wait.

"I love you too," he mumbles, digging his toes into the soft grass and the cool dirt beneath, forcing his hands to soften at his sides. To gaze up at Remi a few paces away, he can't imagine ever wanting to hurt him - but for his safety, and in the full knowledge that this is what has to happen, he'll do it.

So it's with a pulse of willpower that a veritable catherine wheel appears behind Ronin, the shooting stars backlighting him with celestial fire. There are half a dozen or more, and he feeds more power into them until he's satisfied that they'll do as much damage as he can summon. And then he lets them loose on the man he adores.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

Remi has never stood on the receiving end of one of Ronin's attacks before. Not really. Despite the many spars they've had together, never have either of them gone full force before. In the moments before the pain, all Remi can think is how exquisitely beautiful Ronin looks, backlit by power and starlight. And when the bolts blaze toward him? It's glorious and consuming.

Precisely until it isn't.

Thrown back hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs, the hair on his chest sizzles as burn marks snarl against his flesh. All he can smell is his body cooking, and though it is far from the sort of blow that could kill him, his limbs still shake despite how he grips at the soil with his fingertips and toes to try and anchor himself. It feels like an age before his ears stop ringing, and as soon as he can, he lifts his head properly toward his husband. A trickle of blood escapes from one of his ears, disappearing into the scruff on his cheeks.

"...ow." Waiving a hand at Ronin to prevent the Star from coming closer, Remi shakily gets to his feet. "Go on. Astral-me. No sense in you kissing it better when you're just going to do it all again."

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

we live in a world someone else imagined

Ronin tries to take it back as soon as the starbolts have been released, but of course it's far too late for it then. He winces against the flare of light, the smell of burning flesh that hits the air, a hand raising to shield his eyes. When he lets it drop again it's to see the damage dealt to Remi, to watch the other man struggle to his feet, and already he feels his chest grow tight and his feet start to move. But Remi stops him, Ronin swallowing down his protests with a sad shake of his head that nonetheless accepts what is about to happen.

He blurs forward - it's very rare for Ronin to push himself to go as fast as he knows his body can take - but at the same time he stays exactly where he is, eyes closed to concentrate. And it's his projection that launches at the alchemist in a battery of blows that call back from his time as a Storm Guard; strikes to the torso and a sweep of the legs to try and bring the other man down.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

Ronin is the better soldier in all respects, but it's like beating a training dummy the way the alchemist's body utterly collapses beneath the assault. It takes nearly all of his willpower to keep constrained the parts of him that want to lash back at Ronin's duplicate; perhaps that's why he so easily tumbles back to his knees as Ronin's foot sweeps his feet out from under him.

The physical attacks might not have hurt so much were it not for the fresh burns streaking across Remi's chest, shoulders, and arms. Blood flows freely from a split in his lip now (or had he bit his tongue?), and so it's a rather garbled and wet groan of pain that Remi utters as he gasps for breath. "I think you cracked a rib." Spitting a wad of crimson into the soil, the alchemist looks up at Ronin's projection. "Doing this naked was...one of our worst ideas." He manages with a crooked smile.

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

we live in a world someone else imagined

It isn't the projection which flickers out, but rather the Ronin standing a few feet away, the Star switching places with his other self in order to get as close to Remi as possible without wasting even a second. "I'm so sorry," he all but whispers, shifting to his knees to help Remi to get himself upright. "I hope you don't ever need me to do that again, because I'm not sure I can."

For all the alchemist's crooked smiles, the upset that rolls out of Ronin is bone deep, prickled through with guilt and shame. Already a fierce glow is sparking up within his chest, givingg warning to an impending supernova. "Am I allowed to heal you?" he asks. "Or do you have to stay like this...?"

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

"I am alright." Remi mumbles, reaching out for Ronin and knowing it to be the real one without even having to look. "Surely you have...wanted to do that before. Just think of..every crust dipped in..wine." It hurts to breathe; cracked ribs and burned skin making taking even a small breath feel like shards of glass rubbed into his consciousness.

"Hey," Closing his eyes against Ronin's dazzle but feeling his way up Ronin's arm and shoulder to clasp his husband's cheek without having to look. "-I am okay. You would endure this pain too, if it meant saving Mateo or Seren." That Ronin hated it the alchemist understood, but certainly he could try and remove his husband's guilt just the same.

"I..think you can." Honestly, Ludo's instructions were foggy just now, just like everything else.

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

we live in a world someone else imagined

"Never," Ronin assures his husband, his head shaking. He has never wanted to do this to Remi - not at this level of brutality, anyway. There's a difference between imagining a small startbolt as an act of grumpy vengeance and this. His eyes close as Remi's fingers come brushing against his cheeks, the Star pressing a gentle kiss against the inside of his wrist. It doesn't stop the guilt, but he still understands.

He's too wound up, still, to think of the repercussions should Ludo have wanted Remi to heal naturally from the attacks - at the news that he is able to help, he wastes no time. "Okay, hold on," he mumbles, carefully gathering Remi against his chest and shielding the Lullaby's eyes against the light, before unleashing the supernova. Nothing around them counts as Ronin's enemy, so when the world clears, it remains untouched - but hopefully his husband should be feeling better.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

It's as though Ronin's light consumes him. It does in a literal way, but he also sees it behind his eyelids despite how Ronin protects him from the light, and he hears it in his bones as his body knits itself back together. Not fully healed of course, Ronin's attacks having done more damage than he is able to heal in one go, still, it's more than enough to leave a sunny smile on Remi's lips as the light eventually fades.

Exhaling in a steady stream, Remi rubs a hand over his eyes before trying to blink his way back toward clarity. "Thank you." It doesn't need saying, but that doesn't stop the alchemist from adding a pulse of appreciation just the same. Grinning wearily into Ronin's arms as he spreads his toes into the dirt and tries to relax, it suddenly occurs to him what an absolutely bizarre afternoon the pair have had.

"You know, I think only you and I could have a day like this." He points out with a smirk, before trying to glance over Ronin's shoulder to get his barings. "I think I might be ready for that swim to rinse off. What about you?"

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

we live in a world someone else imagined

Ronin doesn't feel as though he needs to be thanked, and as the light fades and Remi is left, if not entirely healed then at least much better off than before, the Star leans in to press gentle kisses against his cheeks and the side of his neck. "This is just par for the course at this point for us, isn't it?" he murmurs, breathing a soft sigh against the alchemist's curls and carefully getting to his feet to gather up the other man in his arms.

"I am definitely ready for that swim. You can chill out for the rest of the day though, okay?" He smiles, making it sound more like a plea than anything else. "And when we get home, I'll be making sure to kiss every bit of you better. I don't care if it's healed up, you still need it."

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

'I think that hurt more, because it came from you.' Remi murmurs, knowing the information was necessary if not poorly timed. "And I do not mean that for sentimental reasons. It...I have taken worse and not felt nearly so winded from it." Likely it had to do with Ronin being one of the few who could actually kill the Lullaby. Whether that meant the damage he dealt was twice as effective or if it was just a trick of Remi's mind, he didn't know. Nor was he at all inclined to find out now.

"When we get home?" Remi whines as he slips into the Stonesong, immediately sighing out his relief at the water's chill. "Well...I suppose that is for the best. Ianto's daughter seems to be everywhere, usually when you do not want her to be." The last thing he needed from this day was to explain sex to Fiadh, who would probably ask if she could try it next.

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection

we live in a world someone else imagined

"That does not make me feel any better, unsurprisingly," Ronin murmurs, still scattering kisses along Remi's neck as he meanders down the bank and into the Stonesong. The water is cool and soothing against his skin, and he isn't even the one to have been injured that badly in all of this. Sinking into the river, he settles against the bank with Remi in his arms letting the current do the work for them.

Wrinkling his nose to hear about Fiadh's proclivity for beign everywhere, Ronin hums out a gentle sigh. "We can always find a room in the Sidhe Village," he suggests. "Or the Sea of Branches. Might be a bit cramped given that they're both Fae run, but it's a place to sleep." And to kiss things better.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

Groaning dramatically in Ronin's arms, the alchemist heaves an arm over his eyes. "Guai a me se devo aspettare fino a quando torniamo a casa per averti a letto." He mumbles under his breath, the rise and fall of his voice suggesting very much that he's spinning quite the terrible tale.

Peaking open an eye to see if his rouse was working, Remi relaxes against Ronin with the sort of comfort that is only born from two have shared as much as they have. " I can make it home on one condition." Tilting his head back to gaze upside down at the Star, Remi grins. "Fly me home?"

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection