[SE] under the same sky

we live in a world someone else imagined

”So,” Ronin says, like it’s not the middle of the night and he’s not sprawled on a picnic blanket under the stars in the Greatwood. ”Hostile takeover in Halo. Sunjata quit as Governor in Torchline, and Aurelia and Maeve have taken over. Isla and Bastien have taken over the Hollowed Grounds. And you have your eye on this place.” Smirking over at his husband, the Star’s gaze soon returns to the cosmos overhead.

He can see Safrin’s warrior constellation from here, and he isn’t sure but it definitely seems brighter than it ever has before. Either way, as he tracks it across the sky, he can’t help but wonder if the being it’s based on ever had to deal with this kind of political upheaval. ”It’s bullshit, huh,” he mumbles with a shake of his head, stretching out and letting his antlers partially shift to crown his head, setting the area around them aglow.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

Remi has his own thoughts about the takeover in Halo, but not because of the shift of power there. Because Hotaru had apparently been a part of it. The tense line of his jaw says probably all Ronin needs to hear about what he thinks of it, as much as the swipe of his fingers across his eyes says he doesn't want to articulate it. "It all seems...a bit like a game. Isla never wanted to rule, though I think she will be good for it. And Bastien?" He laughs, dazedly. "Aurelia and Maeve? And now Hotaru and Noah?" Remi doesn't know Noah at all, and hardly knows Hotaru truth be told. He thinks she has a good mind for it, but never did he think she'd have the desire for it. Not unlike Isla, in that regard, not that he'd ever tell the Remedy that.

Sliding an arm around Ronin without bothering to look at the constellation, Remi pulls in a slow breath that is meant to be calming but has no effect at all. "I am not particularly good with strategy when it comes to this sort of thing...so what do you make of it all?"

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 shifts automatically to fit beneath his husband's arm, careful not to stab him with his antlers by accident and tracking the constellation for a few more moments before letting his gaze drop. They are meant to be here to scout the place out and find a good location for their new band of residents to live... but fuck it, it's gotten dark and there's no place Ronin would rather be. "Mm, it does seem a bit like a game," he agrees softly, reaching up with gentle fingers to try and tease some of the tension from Remi's jaw.

As for his thoughts about it? Ronin snorts under his breath. "It could be really good or really bad," he mumbles. "Eight seasons to get leadership established in all these new places, to prepare for a war... One might say it rings of panic," he admits, before grinning. "Except in our case, of course. We both know you and I are only in it for the treehouses."

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

For a moment, it doesn't work. In fact, deep down, Remi considers snapping his teeth toward the Star with careless aim. Even without being partially shifted as Ronin is, there's something in the air that drives Remi almost as mad as it drives Ronin. It makes him want to chase his husband until their lungs burn. To press talon-tipped fingers into muscles spasming from overuse. So it's with an intentional exhale that Remi forces himself to relax, tilting his cheek into his husband's hand.

"Really good or really bad. Quite the expert answer, husband." Remi says with a roll of his eyes. "Rings of panic?" He can't help but laugh. "What a poet you are."

As for treehouses? "And seeing you out of your stuffy stormbreak uniform. It has been too long since I have seen you scruffy and wild."

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's strange, the way they navigate each other in Leafchange, and much as Remi wants to chase, Ronin wants to run. He smiles softly up at Remi as he finally relaxes, brushing a thumb across his cheek and scoffing as the alchemist inevitably makes fun of him. "You ask for my opinion and then you disregard it," he says with a dramatic sigh, only to shift and roll into a sitting position.

Throwing a leg over Remi, Ronin sits astride his husband to gaze down at him, crowned in light with a backdrop of stars. "I am a poet," he boasts. "I've been writing you poetry for years, you know. Hid it all in a box under our bed, because I knew you would make fun."

The mention of scruffy and wild, though, that has him grinning, Ronin gasping softly. "Who, me? Maybe I should start growing out my hair and beard now, huh?"

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

"I asked for your opinion." Remi agrees. "Not a platitude for Cian or your dragoons." He adds crookedly. The crookedness grows and then disappears into a shaky part of his lips as Ronin sweeps himself to sit astride him. 'Have you?' Sounding absolutely twitterpated and delighted, Remi places his hands on his husband's thighs with as much chastity as he can possibly manage. "You really are a poet, you know. I only make fun because you are so much better than words than I am. In questa lingua, però. Nel linguaggio dei viaggi, posso far suonare bene qualsiasi cosa.." This latter sentiment, whatever it is, is spoken with a flourish and with a deep-dimpled smile.

"Well, if you start now, you might look appropriately woodsy in...oh...a few seasons?" Grinning up at Ronin, the light of his antlers casting them booth in a cool silvery light, Remi tries to tread the strange waters he finds himself in, of being ridiculously in love, and yet wanting to terrorize the Star until he cried for mercy.

"So," Shifting his hips up with a grin, Remi places one of his arms beneath his head while the other picks at a strand on Ronin's pants. "How much more star gazing is there to be done before your Safrin-suit is complete?"

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 was not a platitude," Ronin half growls, though there is a grin on his face as he plucks at one of the buttons on Remi's shirt. "If you want my opinion, I think they've all been idiots. I'm annoyed at Sunjata for just fucking off and I imagine Safrin is seething about the whole thing." He huffs, rubbing at his chin and shifting with Remi's hips to get more comfortable (an impossible task, but whatever).

A smile curls across his face to hear his husband's native tongue, a shiver running up Ronin's spine. "Yeah, well... Bene... molto... lingua. Come bacio." He nods wisely, butchering the accent and loving every second of it.

He prefers not to think about the seasons of not bothering with personal grooming that it would take to be Remi's level of woodsy, instead peering up at the stars and grinning. "Oh, this was the last one," he says airily. "My Safrin-suit should be almost done. You mustn't ogle me in it though, I'm very shy."

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

"It makes me feel a bit smug about my time as Governor...relatively smooth sailing compared to all of this." Remi tries to hide his grin, shrugging as neutrally as is possible with a brag like that. "I suppose what comes next will either confirm or deny that I am any good at it." It being ruling, which anyone with half a brain would think Remi should be quite bad at.

Listening to Ronin try and speak the travelling tongue, has Remi grinning as his lips form around the words his husband is butchering. "Come bacio?" He wonders, head lifting off his arm slightly. "Are you sure you did not mean baciami?" Reaching a hand up to grab at Ronin's collar, the alchemist roughly (he isn't sorry) tugs Ronin toward him that he might complete his own request of being kissed.

Satisfied and yet very much left wanting, Remi releases the Star and raises a brow at his modesty. "Ogle you? Why Ronin I would never. Unless by ogle you mean shamelessly check you out, because I absolutely will be doing that." He adds with a boyish laugh that comes easier to him than it has in weeks. "I am picturing...assless chaps? Crotchless too, probably. Maybe just a pair of suspenders covered in stars that connect them?"

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

"Luckily, now as then, you will have someone looking over your shoulder to make sure things don't go terribly awry." Ronin grins, puffing out his chest as if Remi can guess exactly who that someone might be. The pride only swells further to see his husband's reaction to him (obviously flawlessly) speaking the travelling tongue, the Star nodding wisely as he's dragged into a kiss. "That's exactly what I meant, yes," he murmurs. Is it? Fuck if he knows.

Sitting back again, he gives the matter some serious consideration, before finally offering a nod of agreement. "No ogling, then. Only checking out. And whilst the mental image of that is fairly horrifying, I'm pretty sure I could make it work." He bounces his eyebrows at Remi, as if to say don't you?

But then Ronin's attention is caught by something in the sky above, his brow furrowing. "Oh shit," he murmurs, shifting to rise to his feet. And then, "Oh, shit!" accompanied with a flare of panic down their Attuned bond.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

"That is what Sunjata was missing." Remi agrees with a grin, the mischief utterly lost in the press of his lips against the Star's.

Sliding one hand up his husband's thigh, Remi draws a half-circle around Ronin's groin with a talon. Shooting the Star a considering look, he shrugs his shoulders a touch lazily. "We could always test it first and find ou—what?" The sweet pulse of adrenaline Ronin's words inspire has Remi on his feet as well, looking into the darkness with eyes that are suddenly several shades darker and more intense.

What? He reiterates silently, lest he gives their position away. Vaguely, as he stands at the ready, Remi seems to grow darker. To fade somehow, especially at the edges.

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

They both rise to their feet, and around them the woods suddenly seem darker and more sinister than before. Ronin's eyes are fixed firmly upon the sky, though out of the corner of his eye he can see Remi, all tense muscle and predatory might. And the Huntsman manages to contain himself up until that point, before a sudden and wicked smile flickers across Ronin's face. He glances sidelong at his husband, daring to lean in closer just for a second.

"Nothing," he says airily. "I was just playing a trick on you." And he is not stupid enough to stick around when he's just wound up the Lullaby. Apparently, though, he is stupid enough to run. And run Ronin does, though the real word for it is most likely prance, since he's already shifted into a luxere by the time he bolts into the undergrowth, cackling down their Attuned bond.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

Hovering now moreso than he's standing, the edges of the alchemist continue to flake away even as Ronin airily draws near. The words do little to calm Remi's predatory senses; once riled, it isn't reason or explanation that can shove the beast back into its cave. Unsurprisingly as Ronin flares away, Remi is hot on his heels though not quite in the shift that Ronin might have expected.

Entirely bereft of his body now, Remi flows behind Ronin like a shadow that has come unglued from its tether. Dressed not in his clothes but in a faded grey cloak, there is only the barest bit of green amidst the darkness that indicates where his face might be. New to this shift—and almost entirely unaware of what's happening—Ronin's laughter bounces off of him like rain upon feathers. It beads and slips away, not permeating into the mind below that suddenly beckons its body to follow with a relentless pace.

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 is bolting, and his blood is singing in his veins as he goes. There is nothing quite like running as a luxere, even more so in this season, and with his pulse in his ears and his hooves pounding against the earth, he clears a fallen log and has just enough time to peep over his shoulder only to see a fucking nightmare in pursuit.

Remi...? Where are you? There is something in the woods. Ronin is absolutely asking for it, with the way his fear and panic spike down the Attuned bond, and he doubts anyone would blame Remi for not paying attention to it. Boy who cried wolf and all that.

So until (or if) his husband responds, Ronin picks up the speed, the light from his antlers casting a garish glow against the shadowy trees, the woods black around him.

the dark star

REMI

the lullaby

Right behind you. Remi answers a touch ominously, though whether it's intentional or just a happy coincidence is anyone's guess. There are lots of things in these Woods. It is not like you to run from them. The only things Ronin usually ran from were chores or manticores, and just now, Remi was neither.

However fast Ronin runs, Remi is able to keep up. Without having to dodge or leap over things, his heart rate hardly rises at all despite the thunderous pace Ronin is setting. Everything feels strangely muted in this form. There's no rush of wind by his ears, and even the scent of the forest feels far away. All Remi is aware of is his husband's heartbeat and the light of his antlers. Unlike as a manticore Remi doesn't feel the urge to tear and slice. Instead, he wonders vaguely what it might be like to swaddle the light the Huntsman emits, until it goes out entirely.

Like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection