never claimed to be a saint

Hey, starchild, are you listening?

Beginning to regret this topic for conversation, as the good mood was steadily dying under tension and unease, Seren slowly set her plate aside. It was a shame on the cake, but at least she had eaten most of her piece already... and the rest could always be saved for later.
"I was there when it happened," she murmured, both wanting to know and wishing she could just forget the whole ordeal. "The unicorn that died... It belonged to Hotaru. Sunjata's... former wife, right?" It was not proof, but Maeve's reaction and Aurelia's words had painted a picture that lent itself to doubt. And since she had yet to be entrusted with such secrets because what are timelines it was all too easy to believe she knew what really went down that night.

Swallowing even harder when Remi's attention was turned on her more fully, Seren wished he could have agreed with her. Not this. Did she want to hear this? But the question was on her tongue already, and not asking would be the same as looking away from a truth she could almost already see. Ask, ask, ask... Her lips felt numb.

They have before. "What do you mean?"

Seren

REMI

the alchemist

What good are hands
if there's nothing that they hold

Remi nods, slightly surprised to hear that Seren had been there, and yet...not, just the same. "Atlas, yes." He confirms, giving Seren a wondering look. One touch would confirm or deny his suspicions that she knew more than she was letting on..but what of it? He knew what Hotaru and Deimos had done. And he didn't care.

The blue of Seren's eyes was so much like Ronin's that it made it difficult for Remi to focus so long as he peered into them. Reluctantly, almost, he swipes his fingertips across his eyes before letting his hands return between his knees. "Safrin and Ludo..what they are to Ronin and I in terms of being those who made us demigods...what Safrin is to you as your mother...those are not the only roles they play." Sure that Safrin is listening, judging him for his words, Remi tries to choose them carefully. "But there are things that need doing, such that...no is not an option for us. Not with how you and Mateo were brought into the world."

And what good are hearts
if you bury them all alone?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Hey, starchild, are you listening?

"I hope they will be able to sort things out," was all the girl offered, under Remi's searching gaze. In truth, she had nothing but guesses to go on, and what she knew had already been passed on to Aurelia.

More focused on the conversation about the gods they were so intrinsically tied to, Seren struggled somewhat to grasp what Remi was reaching for.
"Well, yes. They are the Heralds of Vi and Mort," she said, her gaze searching his to see if she was going in the right direction. "And... I suppose, with the war coming... they will be the ones moving the chess pieces?" Only this game had three players. Black for Ludo, White for Safrin, and... whatever color the Voice might be best described in. Red, perhaps, dyed to the bone with the blood of those whose lives would be forever disrupted and lost.

"What do you mean by how we were brought about?" That did not make sense to her. Seren was a demigod and her ties to Safrin were obvious. Mateo was not, to her knowledge. Even if there had been some external aid in both cases, why should the boy be a target... but perhaps that was enough?

Seren

REMI

the alchemist

What good are hands
if there's nothing that they hold

'Yes, if you want to think about it like that. With me, for instance, whatever Ludo might think of me...at the end of the day, I am a pawn in this war. If using its hold over Mateo is what gets me to do what it wants...then that is what it shall do." Baby, or not.

Blushing a touch, Remi gives Seren a wry look. "You are old enough now that I am sure I do not need to tell you where babies come from. And where they do not." He says. "Mateo is only alive because Ludo made it that way. I had...dreamed him up, in a world I made for your father and I. Without Ludo, he would still only exist in my mind." As for Seren? Well. Remi was absolutely not going to be the one to describe the night of her conception.

And what good are hearts
if you bury them all alone?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Hey, starchild, are you listening?

Biting the inside of her cheek, the young woman let that sink in. The weight of the burdens Remi was willing to carry for the sake of his child. And her own father too - she didn't need to ask to know that Ronin was the same.

"Do you... resent Ludo, for it?" she asked. "Would it be easier on you - on dad - if we weren't..." Around? Conceived the way they were? Even Seren wasn't sure what she meant, only that asking set her chest to aching, soft and insistent. The very idea of being a burden on these men that she loved so much...

She was grateful for the change in pace, for the wry look and - was Remi blushing? It left her space to joke, to laugh, to breathe a little easier.
"You mean you are not going to give me the birds and bees talk here? Because that would have been the perfect segue into the Talk." Her look was very wide-eyed and innocent... for all of three heartbeats. Then she couldn't hold back the laughter anymore, spilling forth like refreshing water from a spring.

Leaning back, she sighed after a while. "Born from a dream..." Her expression turned a bit dreamy itself. "That's awfully romantic, for a deity that would use the same child as leverage. Ludo is a strange one, isn't it."

Seren

REMI

the alchemist

What good are hands
if there's nothing that they hold

"Never." Remi replies instantly, though he feels a prick of guilt in the back of his mind. Things would be easier without Seren, if only because that would mean that Safrin had never slept with Ronin. Had never forged that unbreakable bond. Extending his hand to her, though making sure his magic didn't reveal his emotions to her, the alchemist can only smile at Seren, and softly squeeze her fingers if they're offered. "You are very loved. The things that brought you about...what happened before you were born..none of that changes anything."

Pulling in an obnoxiously long and loud breath, Remi just gives Seren as blank of a stare as he can imagine. "Much as I would like to, your father has very much been looking forward to it." He says with a laugh. Oh, and seeing as I recently got someone pregnant by accident, I am not the best candidate.

"It is that, yes." The alchemist agrees, still chuckling. Seren didn't need to know that, had Ludo not interfered, Remi would likely have driven himself insane and stayed in a coma for the rest of his life. One dream-son was worth having their demigod functioning, apparently.

And what good are hearts
if you bury them all alone?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Hey, starchild, are you listening?

For the swiftness of that reply, Seren loved him. For the outstretched hand, and the kind squeeze as she took it, she loved him. Gratitude and warmth and relief was a light blanket to cover lingering doubts and nagging worries that had no name, and it all washed across the bridge of touch in the unguarded way of one who had never had to control their emotions.
"If ever I seem about to do something that will make things difficult for you, please tell me?" she murmured. "I would rather lock myself in my room and tell my mother no, than put my family at risk."

Snickering at the idea of being given the Talk by her father, Seren squeezed Remi's hand and let go. "Then I will not let him down," she grinned. "I foresee a very long, very involved conversation in his future." Of course Seren already knew all the details. But it might be amusing to watch her father squirm for a while.

A slight bump on her shoulder made her look down. A very long-nosed Umbra had reached up and nosed longingly after the cake she had set aside. The plate had vanished, making a mess on the table. Rolling her eyes, Seren glanced over to Remi for permission. Feeding dragons by the table had never been exactly forbidden, but it had never been exactly allowed either...

Seren

REMI

the alchemist

What good are hands
if there's nothing that they hold

'I will. But I do not foresee that happening.' If only because saying no to Safrin was something that neither Seren nor Ronin could ever do. Hardship was better than having their lives torn apart, and that's what saying no to the goddess always seemed to entail. "Your father will always love you, as will I. Nothing you could ever do will change that. And nothing will ever change how much we love each other, either."

Blushing again, though this time the cause of it was in imagining just how angry Ronin was going to be that Remi volunteered him to have this talk with Seren, Remi folds his hands back between his knees. "I can promise you that this talk will be easier than the one that comes should you ever tell him that you are seeing someone." The alchemist points out with a chuckle. Ronin was dramatic at the best of times, but at the thought of someone being with his daughter? Ohho. That was sure to bring out the best and worst in the Star.

Giving Umbra a stern stare, before glancing towards Seren with a nod, Remi is forced to shrug. "I suppose that is my fault for not having better memories of plates." He says. "I would be grateful if you would help clean up." He adds toward the dragonling.

And what good are hearts
if you bury them all alone?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Hey, starchild, are you listening?

Reassured, she gave her step-father a warm smile, of the sort that seemed to light up the room. "I love you too," she murmured. "No matter what." It was a brief memory, but a strong one. Of a dimly lit room with stars painted on the walls, and herself writhing in fever-sweat under downy blankets. Both her fathers had been there to hold burning little hands when she needed it the most; it was something Seren would never forget.

Remi's blush was adorable, even as his message was not. Seren grimaced slightly as the picture of her father's face came to mind. What angle of sternness would his eyebrows hold, if that kind of conversation ever needed to be had? "I still suspect he will be more reasonable about it than Mother," she mumbled. "Not that there's much risk of that happening... I have too many other things to do." Love was an afterthought in Seren's life, a subject for night-time reading and idle moments - few and far in between training, exploration and family time.

Umbra quickly took Remi up on the offer, and in a very swift few gulps the cake was gone, and the table licked clean. Wrinkling her nose at the dragon, she shrugged back. "Why would you have clear memories of plates? This is plenty impressive - I'd only remember broken cups on the floor, and what good are those."

Seren

REMI

the alchemist

What good are hands
if there's nothing that they hold

"It tends to sneak up on you when you least expect it." Remi counters with a sly smile and as innocent a shrug as he can manage.

Watching the dragonling clean what's left thoroughly, he glances back to Seren with a bemused smile. "Oh, you never know when you might need something sharp." She was her father's daughter after all. Her mother's too. That Seren should have weapons on hand was basically a given at this point. 'Then again, who remembers broken cups?'

With a chuckle, the pair let the afternoon wind down with Remi showing the girl some of the various things he'd been working on. Chief among them was the Skyboat he and Mateo had been building. "And yes, we will all take her out together." He vows warmly.

~FIN

And what good are hearts
if you bury them all alone?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!