tanglewood

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

Remi had flown, rather than traveled via dream. Not that he was opposed to waking up in Maeve's bed, but he'd meant it when he said he wanted to stretch his wings. So very little could tax him nowadays, that it took flying nearly over the entire continent for him to feel even slightly drained. It was a good feeling though, and when he landed in Torchline it was with muscles singing from use and a weariness in his bones that made him feel a good deal more relaxed than he had been when last he left Torchline.

With his chambray shirt open at the colour and his curls breeze-tousled, Remi strolls absently through the streets with Maeve's bow and quiver of arrows. It doesn't take long for him to find the large courtyard that surrounds the queen's new government building, grand as it is. Taking a moment to inspect the fountain, Remi's lips turn into a frown that is nonetheless indicative of amusement as he admires the work gone into the creation of such a thing.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

Maeve joined him shortly after, footsteps echoing across the stone floor as she stopped at his shoulder, looking up at the fountain with an amused smile as she caught sight of Remi's expression. "I see you found the place without issue." She hummed from her place at his shoulder, hands clasped lightly over the small swell of her belly, the fabric of her dress more firmly pressed against her torso this way. The Nightshade looked better than the last time he saw her, having had the time to get a grip on her emotions, turning her focus onto more pressing things than a man who ran away on a boat.

The flowers aren't in bloom around them, but the air is no less sweet; the floral notes mixing with the salt from the sea. Through the glass of the roof, some of it stained with various colors, shades of blue and are cast across the stone in a splash of color. While the demigod beside her might not be a fan of Safrin, it would be hard to deny that the architecture and details of the building itself weren't beautiful in their own right.

Maeve

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

Turning towards Maeve, Remi's eyes instantly go to her belly. Perhaps it's because of everything happening with Hotaru, or perhaps it's simply the contrast of Maeve's petite form suddenly swollen in the middle (however slightly), that has him blinking with soft surprise. 'You are pregnant?' He asks, helpfully. 'I did not realize.'

Not wanting to overstep and yet feeling dread like a tide tugging at his toes, Remi bites the inside of his lip as his eyes narrow. Perhaps it's just because of the sun, but more than likely it's to implore the new Queen to tell him the truth. "Maeve...are things alright here? With you?" The special weapon...the pregnancy...the change in leadership..?

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

Of course he didn't realize. She hadn't told him the last time she saw him. It had still been so fresh that she hadn't fully wrapped her head around it yet. Nor had she been showing like she is now. Still, a faint flush rises to her cheeks at his surprise and she offers him a small smile. "It's alright. I haven't told many people. Though, the news will surely start to spread." Maeve muses softly, motioning for him to follow her to a nearby bench, taking a seat on the edge of it with a sigh.

Her hands find her lap, fingers twisting into the fabric in a nervous habit that perhaps gives away her unease as she struggles to find where to begin. "I'm just trying to keep myself safe, Remi..." She says softly, daring to look up at him from beneath her lashes, a sheen of tears suddenly making her eyes glassy. "I don't have anyone else who is going to truly look after me like that. Not in the way you and Ronin have each other. I can't just sit here and do nothing." Locke was gone, Sunjata was leaving, Remi and Ronin were off to the Greatwood and concerned for their own family. She was going to have to look after herself. Her baby. There was a war coming. They both knew it. All she could do was try and slot herself into a position that offered safety.

Maeve

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

"It does tend to do that." He agrees softly as his mind unhelpfully regurgitates what Aurelia had said along those lines, about Hotaru's pregnancy. Removing the bow and quiver as he follows along, Remi sits at her side, stretching one arm across the back of the bench and crosses his legs at the ankles. 'Safe from what?" He implores, their green eyes meeting as his head tilts gently to the side. 'Where is Locke?' Though he and the man hadn't parted on the best of terms, certainly he and the madame had been together then, and that was only last season. And though pregnancy wasn't his forte, based on how far along she was...unless it wasn't his, of course.

"Maeve," It wasn't his place, and perhaps it had more to do with the strange way he'd come to know the queen more than anything else, but he felt an urge to protect her in a way that no longer came naturally to him. "—a bow is not going to keep you safe. Not in a war. Not against fires or floods. Not while you are nursing." Knowing that she'd lived here her whole life, Remi doesn't bother to suggest that she move to the Greatwood, especially having just been named queen.

"Perhaps you should have asked Safrin for a weapon, instead of me." Reluctantly said, even Remi's pride wasn't so grandiose that he couldn't see when his efforts were going to come up short.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

Her lips press into a thin line, a desperate attempt to keep the bottom one from quivering, clinging to what little bit of control she has over her emotions in a vice. "Everything." She whispers, voice breaking at the end, a tremble to her words as her fear bubbles up in her chest so quickly that it steals her breath. Where is Locke? Her chin drops, tucking in against her chest and a barely contained sniffle leaves her, "He left me. He said he didn't need me and he left. He's out on the Ark right now, but I-" The words die and she can't bear to finish the sentence. 'I don't think he's coming back to me.'

The way he says her name makes her look up and the barely contained tears cling to her lashes, threatening to spill along her cheeks, "I know, Remi, but I have to try and prepare, don't I?" An edge of desperation creeps into her words, throat tight as her fingers clutch at the fabric of her dress in a white knuckled grip, bottom lip catching between her teeth. "I did... I asked her too. After you. I'm getting the things together. I just need a feather from Ronin."

Maeve

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

'Hey," Shifting encouragingly that she might lean against him if she wanted, Remi's arm moves to stretch around her. Though her privacy would be broken by their touch, it didn't take empathetic magic to read through the clear signs of distress marking her pretty features. "I feel like I am in the habit of calling the men in your life idiots, but che idiota." The travelling tongue slips easily from his lips as he shakes his head. 'Is it his?' Remi asks, barely biting back the words, shall I kill him?, and grumbling instead.

"A feather?" Remi's gaze is skeptical. "But his feathers burn. They burn everything." How Maeve was meant to deal with that was beyond him, and his slow frown says as much. "Well if it helps, you are welcome to any of mine." Pausing, he considers. "Or manticore poison." Remi adds with a casual shrug, not needing to imply who it might be for.

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

Maeve all but collapses against his chest, pressing into him as she begins to tremble with barely contained sobs, the sound of them catching in her throat and instead coming out in muffled bursts against the fabric of his shirt. It's a bloom of pain, confusion, heartbreak, and fear. All of it swirling into a dark mass that she doesn't know how to get a hold of. That she can't ever seem to truly pack away. He'll feel all of it and she doesn't have it in herself to even try and save him from it. Maeve makes a sound that might be a laugh, but it's too watery to distinguish clearly, "I think I'm bad at choosing men..." She mutters, head resting against the crook of his shoulder, breaths hitching as she attempts to slow them.

A small nod is managed as she reaches up to try and wipe away her tears, only for them to replaced moments later, "It is... He doesn't know. I found out after he left." And only a few really knew about it aside from him. Sunjata being one of them. The relief he felt when she said it wasn't his. The almost callous way he's treated her since. Friends. That's what they supposedly were and yet. There's a fresh flare of hurt that Remi will surely feel, centering around that particular individual and his counterpart, Nate. Nate who so cruelly did all he could to keep her on edge during their meeting with his predatory smirks and sharp words. It's a bubble of hate, hot and acrid in her belly, something that Remi likely will notice all too well.

"Safrin said it needed to burn." Maeve lifts her head to look up at him, but doesn't dare pull from his embrace, eyes still swimming with tears. Her smile is faint, barely staying on her lips for more than a second, "You're kind to offer, but I don't think she'd be too thrilled if I brought one of yours."

Maeve

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

He doesn't tell her to shhhh, doesn't try and dry her tears. Bottling it up he knows is not the fastest way to healing. What Remi does do, is gather Maeve as close to him as she wants, while shrouding her with his wings; she might not have anything to be ashamed of, but that didn't mean that everyone needed to be privy to the moment. Her emotions feel to him like a rose, grown from tepid and dark waters such that the petals have all turned black. Beautiful as it is, fingers have come to pluck the petals away, laughing at the thorns and the broken stem. Gently his fingers roam over her arm, patient and still in the wake of her flood. "Perhaps you should try women." He notes with a small smile. "It has never really worked out for me, but.." Shrugging against her, he bites back on his smile, not meaning to make light of her situation.

'Mmmm. But his are already burning." Gazing down at her as if he might kiss her, and indeed any other man might well do just that, Remi just nods softly. "A fair point. She is not very fond of me."

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

He tucks her away from the world around them. No one else can see her like this. Can feel her emotions this way. The Lullaby, for all of his strength and ability to crush, simply cradles her against him. His feathers warm and silky as the brush along her arm in tandem with his fingers, a firm support around her, holding her close as she slowly attempts to pull herself together. Broken and cracked pieces barely held together with nothing more than force of will alone. His suggestion draws a watery huff of breath that's akin to a laugh as she wipes at the tears on her cheeks, "The last woman I slept with turned me away too." She doesn't mention that it was Hotaru. Instead she pushes forward with a soft confession,"I just don't think I have very good luck with relationships..." With love. Perhaps she doesn't get to have something like that. Not in the same way everyone else does.

"I know, but the symbolism." Maeve tilts her chin up, jade eyes meeting his and if it had been anyone else, maybe she would have leaned in to him. It's Remi, though. Remi who is not at all like the other men in her life. Remi who has truly been nothing but kind to her. Understanding and protective over her in a way that she can't truly comprehend. "No, she isn't, but I am. You're really good to me, Remi. I'm lucky to be able to call you my friend."

Maeve

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

"Nor did I, when I was younger." Though he was only a few years older than Maeve, at 21, he still had many heartbreaks before he wound up with Ronin. That was likely little comfort to her now, so instead he tries something else entirely. "But now you have this—" Nodding toward her stomach, not feeling permitted to reach down and touch her over and above where his arms already cradled her. "—and I can promise you that the love you feel for that life will dwarf and outshine anyone else. There might be days when it is still lonely and hard, and raising a child alone is not easy, but...that love is unlike any other." Now it is Remi's emotions that sparkle darkly as he remembers weeks that faded into months that he kept himself hidden away from the world with only Aoife to give him life.

'If the feather is meant to burn, perhaps she would want one of mine all the more.' Remi counters slightly. "Reducing some part of me to ash might be precisely the sort of thing Safrin would like." Her words wipe the playful smile from his lips as he gazes down at her. "I cannot say there are many who have done what you have, for me." Remi replies softly, his fingertips and feathers stilling for a moment. "That is something I will never forget."

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

That love is already blooming. No matter how early it is. No matter how little the life in her belly is right now. She already knows that she would do anything for her baby. She was already trying to do everything in her power to keep them safe. Maeve sniffles, wiping at her eyes a final time before she reaches up, gently taking his hand and pressing it to the small swell of her belly. "I already feel it. I love them more than anything. Whether or not Locke is here... I still want this baby." She murmurs, letting go of his hand so he might draw away from the contact if he wishes, but she doesn't move from the warmth of his embrace yet.

The idea of it makes her lips twitch and she has to admit that he makes a fairly convincing argument, "Maybe I'll take one just to give her the choice. Perhaps she'll find the offering amusing." Her breath leaves her in a stutter and she reaches up to cup his cheek, thumb brushing across his skin tenderly, but it's purely platonic. Simply feeling close enough with him to initiate that kind of contact. "I would do it again for you in a heartbeat if you needed me to. Mind numbing orgasm aside." The last part is a playful tease, nose wrinkling as she starts to feel a touch lighter.

Maeve

are you really going to talk about timing in times like these?

His hand nearly covers the entirety of her belly, and he's reminded in a flash of how his hands had nearly been able to curl around her waist. "If I can ever help with anything, you need only ask. You might be queen here now, but the Greatwood will always protect you should you need it." Remi whispers solemnly, his thumb tracing a soft semicircle over her belly as if he might impart the promise onto the life within as well.

'Plenty to pluck.' Remi offers; from long golden flight feathers to the white downy feathers closer to his body, the alchemist has feathers aplenty that Safrin might burn. Perhaps it would make a good offering if nothing else.

Feeling a bit like a beast chained by melody, Remi stills utterly beneath Maeve's fingers. The moment of green eyes curtain by feathers is only broken by a soft chuckle on his part, as he rolls his eyes at himself. "I did try." He points out, cheeks turning a charming shade of coral. "Once upon a time I knew what I was doing. Or at least, I thought I did."

remi

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

I would fall from grace just to touch your face

It's a promise and the warmth behind it curls around her bones, fortifying her in a way that little else has and she knows that he means it. Not just empty words meant to smooth out her frayed edges, but a vow. "That means a lot to me. Thank you, Remi." She murmurs, eyes dipping down to the hand covering her belly, the swell of it almost completely hidden beneath his palm. No one else has touched her like that and the feeling is almost odd, but there is a comfort to it that she wasn't expecting.

"I'll let you do it. I'd hate to hurt you." Not that she really thinks she can, but she would hate to actually cause him any discomfort. Even if it was only mild and over in seconds. Safrin might not chose them for the weapon, but she would likely get a touch of satisfaction from burning them all the same. Feathers plucked from the one who keeps Ronin from truly being hers brought as an offering? Maeve can't help wondering how her herald might react to that.

It's interesting to witness the sway she holds over him. No matter how minute it might be. She feels his cheek warm beneath her palm as a blush paints his skin, drawing a smile to her lips as she meets his seaglass gaze once more, "And you did wonderfully. Pretty sure I was living in bliss for at least a few minutes." Maeve finally draws her hand away after one last tender brush of her thumb. "I think you did pretty well, all things considered."

Maeve