Make the most out of no time

Remi too was aware that there was something like a moment was creeping up on them, but he felt too conflicted—too confused—to do anything but try and still his breathing as Sam leaned against the tree, more or less forcing the bulkiness of their outerwear together. Luckily Sam was not as frozen as the alchemist was, and Remi found his hand once again in Sam's, though this time gloveless. With something like surprise he felt the gentle sensation of Sam's fingers against the sensitive skin of palm, his eyes falling helplessly towards the ascended's lips. "Sam—" He started to say, pausing to glance over the man's shoulder thinking he'd seen movement, but too quickly redirecting his focus back to the man before him, who had to realize just what it was he was doing. Swallowing down a breath that wanted to rasp from beneath his lips, Remi blinked for a moment, not really at all hearing the question asked of him at first. Tilting his head slightly to the side, flashes of blue danced before his eyes. Loren, Ianto, Rory, and now Sam. They all had blue eyes. "I suppose I have always liked blue eyes." He whispered, though just then, his eyes weren't focused on Sam's eyes at all, but his lips, and— —consequences. Recklessness. He will get hurt because of you. Movement. Large. Predatory. "SAM—" Remi suddenly whispered sternly, the soft and explorative expression on his face now gone, replaced with something hard and fierce. Folding his fingers around the ascended's hand, he tried to pull Sam to him, his eyes now locked on something behind the ascended. "Do...not...move.." He whispered mostly into Sam's hair, his body now stiff and his breath held. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

I suppose I have always liked blue eyes. It was such a simple line but so perfect, a sentence Sam would remember for years when he told himself this story again and again, remembered the way Remi's gaze drifted down to his lips, the hypothetical soundtrack swelling to a crescendo as they moved together and then... And then... He was pulled close, but not to the embrace he had expected. Sam had been ready to fall into Remi's arms anyway so went willingly despite his confusion. He almost didn't hear the instruction whispered into his hair over the daydreams in his head, but he heard enough to go absolutely still and grab onto Remi's side with his spare hand, not daring to quite look behind him. "What is it..?" He whispered quietly, wishing he could communicate directly into Remi's mind like they had as hawks. Samuel Another little "nothing ever after", nothing more? And lo, but no! What bliss Another jolly jaunt through the abyss

Remi's body bristled, pale eyes focused now on the shape of the bear, standing tall and ominous. How had it gotten so close? His heart was pounding in his chest, the blood sloshing so loudly in his veins that he was fairly certain that it was echoing out through the entire woodlands. Sam was likely as close to the alchemist as he could be, but still Remi's fingers tightened against the fabric of his jacket as the muscles in his arms tightened, banishing any remaining space between them. "It is a bear. But..." He took a shaky breath, wanting very much to look at Sam, but unable to break contact with the monstrosity before him. "...it is not normal. Sam—" Looking down now for just a moment into eyes so blue and lips so close that he could just— —and then it charged. "Get behind the tree." Remi yelled, sidestepping away from the tree, his body instantly melding and elongated into something no longer covered in deer hides, but into the large and powerful form of a lion. Muted-gold in the darkness, Remi roared loudly, rushing towards the charging bear. The bear outweighed him, but as a man and a lion Remi was agile and fast. Lunging forward with his paws outstretched, rather than collide with the bear head-on, his intention was to grab at its shoulder and extra limbs with his claws, dragging it in the air to try and prevent its advance towards the ascended. Surely a lion was more interesting than a bookmaker. Remi was counting on it. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

The bear's double-set of jaws snaked to bite into the lion's neck. Not used to opponents with such thick hair defending their most vulnerable bits, even with the strength of its jaws the bear had a hard time finding purchase. Its multiple hind legs though helped it keep its balance in the air, and while Remi might have wanted to try and pull it to the ground, it remained semi-standing, large clawed forepaws gripping against the tawny hide and tearing at it where it could.

With an angry and ferocious roar in response, the bear aimed a bite directly at Remi's shoulders, while throwing its body weight forward to try and pin him beneath its bulk.

"A b-bear...?" Sam repeated in a low murmur, looking up to stare at Remi. For the second when the reality of the fear wasn't entirely real, he almost enjoyed being held so close and being so protected...but then it was all thrown into chaos. He obediently stumbled back towards the tree, watching with wide horrified eyes as Remi shifted then began to fight. He felt helpless, unable to do anything but stare and make panicked noises. But then he saw the bear go to bite at Remi's shoulder, something that would no doubt wound him seriously...and Sam decided to try and put his Ascended strength to use. He couldn't just stand and watch Remi fight for him when so much was on the line. Reaching down to grasp a fallen branch he swallowed the lump of terror in his throat and bounded forward two steps, whacking the branch as hard down into the bears back as he could. He wasn't really sure what he was trying to do, other than take some of the attack away from Remi. Samuel Another little "nothing ever after", nothing more? And lo, but no! What bliss Another jolly jaunt through the abyss

Remi could feel the jaws of the creature tightening around his throat, but his mane did provide a formidable barrier. Still his breathing became laboured as his throat was restricted, and nimble or not, there was hardly anywhere to go. Despite the pain, as streaks of blood appeared on the bear's side, the lion's bloodlust was engaged and engorged in a way that Remi hadn't quite felt since that first night shifting into it.  His rational mind was cast away in the force of primitive emotions, and even as his body was thrown hard to the ground, he did not panic. As the bear's teeth found the thin flesh of his shoulders, Remi roared loudly with pain, his massive teeth snapping for the bear's paw nearest to him, hoping to sever it at the wrist with his powerful jaws. THWACK Snarling to the side, all Remi could see beneath the darkness of the bear's fur were Sam's feet. Too close— He tried to think, but the lion pushed his thoughts away with careless and brute force. Trying to scramble out from beneath the bear, hopefully having broken one of its wrists, Remi tried to stand at Sam's side, hunkered low and ready to pounce despite the tributaries of blood matting his fur. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

The feeling of the stick breaking across its back was like nothing.

Nothing but annoying.

Raising its eyes to the not-squirrel he had seen before, the bear roared angrily and swiped a clawed paw at Sam's face, just as Remi bit down hard on one of its other paws. Grunting suddenly in pain as the lion's teeth broke the delicate bones at the end of its forearm, the bear hobbled back a step or two, snarling at the pair. Snapping both sets of jaws, it lunged towards Sam. He seemed like the easier target.

Sam took several shaking steps back after his attack, realising quickly it had had no effect. Other than to turn the bears attention to him. A claw was swiped at his face and he gasped sharply as it caught his cheek, a wet pain flooding his face. Fluid dripped from his jaw as he fell backwards, scrambling back across the ground as the creature advanced. "R-Remi!" He called, the desire to be seen as useful overtaken by terror. Just to try and stall the oncoming attack for a second he grabbed a stone and threw it hard at the bears face, hoping the lion could assist him before revenge for the act was begun. It was getting closer and closer, and all he could do was throw up his arms to protect his face (which was burning, his skin broken--) and curl up as small as he could. Samuel Another little "nothing ever after", nothing more? And lo, but no! What bliss Another jolly jaunt through the abyss

It was lucky that Sam did not bleed, or at least that which leaked out of the man was not the sort of thing that drew the lion's attention in a negative way. Intercepting the bear mid-lunge, Remi roared loudly, teeth and claws flashing as he too reared up onto his hind lags, lashing his tail for balance. Though lions were not normally used to taking down prey with fur as thick as this bear had, Remi's jaws were more than up for the task and snapped with perfunctory precision towards the bear's throat. Despite the creature's physical protests, Remi would try to clamp his jaws around the bear's windpipe, crushing and then not letting go. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

If the bear was going to go down, the lion was coming with it.

Feeling the lion's jaws clamp around its throat, the bear retaliated 10-fold. Now that the large feline was well within its grasp, the bear reached out with three limbs, long and gnarled claws digging against the muscles of the lion's shoulders and ribcage. With a muted howl of pain, the bear bite at one of Remi's ears, the smell of blood now far outweighing the pleasant tang of peppermint that had lured it towards the two men.

Sam brought his arms away from his face as the expected attack did not come. There was a flurry of movement before him, kicked up snow and fur and blood and growls-- Instinctively he pushed himself further away, trying to get away from the danger, but...Remi was still there, in the fight. He couldn't just run. There wasn't much he could do though; Sam got to his feet and held his face, staring useless at the struggle in front of him. Unless...no, it was ridiculous. But as he watched the chaos unfold it was the only idea he had. If Remi had another lion with him, he could definitely overpower the bear. And they had mentioned how Sam could transform again only that very night... With a desperate, teary cry he ran forward and trying his best to avoid the bear, tried to sink his fangs into Remi's shoulderblade. Hoping that the pleasure from the bite would be enough to hold off any objections for the time he needed, Sam would gulp down all the blood he could take, trying not to choke on the amount he was drinking in such a short time. Samuel Another little "nothing ever after", nothing more? And lo, but no! What bliss Another jolly jaunt through the abyss

The pain was overwhelming. Not a fighter by any stretch of imagination, no part of the alchemist's humble and gentle mind was fortified for this sort of assault. Even with the lion's hardy presence in his very soul bolstering him forward, Remi couldn't help the angry and tormented wail of agony that screamed through him. Still he held on. Grappling with a bear was perhaps the most absurd thing he'd ever done (perhaps even more fool hardy than when he'd attacked a deer as a hawk), but as he struggled and staggered against it, he realized that there was no going back. He had to keep the bear's attention off of Sam. Hopefully the ascended had used his speed to run, but as a needle-sharp pinch ricocheted a harmony pleasurable waves across his shoulders, Remi knew that he hadn't. In this form the bliss of Sam's bite was tangible, unfettered by human-complications of pleasure, and the lion soaked up the endorphins humming pleasantly through its body. Unlike how Remi had experienced this as a man, as a predator, the urge to devour and kill and triumph was made all the stronger by the singing symphony of heat and indescribable bliss clambering through his veins. Clamping down all the harder on the bear's throat, despite the pleasure, Rmei could feel his strength fading. Blood trickled in earnest now from his flanks, from his ear, from a deep gash on his chest. remi Too long till I drown in your hands

To Sam's absolute astonishment and relief, Remi did not push him away nor did the bear manage to hurt him. He got the blood he needed then stepped back and closed his eyes, trying desperately to mimic his shift in the cave in much less time and with a much more panicked need. He imagined Remi as a lion, powerful and commanding, the golden fur and mane and the sharp paws... When he opened his eyes again, he was lower to the ground but felt stronger, more able. Sam looked down at his paws just once to check then rushed forward and bit the bear right in the face, not having the finesse of Remi's fighting skills. He tried to sink his teeth somewhere between the bear's eyes and nose, but his bottom jaw would definitely catch it's eye. Samuel Another little "nothing ever after", nothing more? And lo, but no! What bliss Another jolly jaunt through the abyss

Remi couldn't necessarily feel that Sam had pulled back, but he was certainly aware of the effects. Pain roared loudly through his entire body, no longer dampened by the waves of minding-melding pleasure that accompanied the ascended's bite. This only served to incense the lion more, who roared furiously in response. Without warning, another golden shape appeared above him, and instinctively Remi growled with ferocious hostility towards the other male. Trying to swim to the surface of his own mind and shove down the predatory instincts that knew it needed to kill the bear, but wanted also to dispense of his competition, Remi tried desperately to cry out—somewhere— But before he could continue, fueled by bloodlust, the lion reigned supreme in the alchemist's own mind. not bone the lion snarled mentally, Remi's voice no longer kindly accented, but now thick with hunger and aggression. With a grunt, Remi disengaged his jaws from the creature's throat, barreling his head against the bear's chest and trying to force it over and backgrounds. If the pair could get it prone, surely then they could bleed the last of the life from it. Throat— The lion demanded, even as his claws tried to rake down and across the bear's sensitive belly. remi Too long till I drown in your hands