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even my darkness shines for you

Their houseboat is coming along; between the Taliesins, the kitchen is finished, cupboards and shelves filled with brick-a-brack and a stove almost always keeping the place heated or cooking something delicious for hungry demigods to snack on. And the bedroom, too, is all but complete - not that it needed much, given that it's not really a separate room and more just a pile of blankets and furs to stretch out on at night.

Ronin isn't anywhere near the boat this morning, though, and as the sky lightens to purple and pink with the onset of the sunrise, the Huntsman is running along the riverbank. His feet get itchy in the middle of the night at the moment, and whilst he's almost entirely sure it's the luxere to blame, it could be the sleeping beast in him too. Whatever the cause, he's been leaping fallen trees and sprinting through the forest since well before dawn, and only now is home in sight.

Falling to a halt, his chest heaving and sweat beading down the length of his spine, Ronin sweeps his dark hair out of his face and clambers up onto the houseboat. Slipping inside, it's a vague hope that he might have made it home before his husband awakens. He doubts it, though

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He hasn't made it, no, but that's alright. Stirring just moments after Ronin left the bed, the shaky heartbeat he can feel on his finger tells him all he needs to know about where Ronin has gone and why. This morning the alchemist leaves the Huntsman to it, knowing that sometimes certain itches require other things, and some just didn't.

"..bring the coffee with you.." The pile of furs mumbles in a thickly accented voice. On the counter, Remi has made them each a cup of coffee before crawling back into bed. It's still steaming even; judging Ronin's return based on the rise and fall of his heartbeat and having gone through these motions at least once a week since the start of the season, Remi has gotten pretty good at it.

The furs grumble something that might be a demand or a plea, before they shift and raise like a great wing, ushering Ronin within.

With the coffee.

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In times to come, when there's war and darkness, blood and chaos, Ronin will reach back into times like these for comfort. For once, too, he thinks he's fully appreciative of the moment, standing just within the little houseboat, the smell of woodsmoke and coffee lacing through the air and the sleepy music of his husband's voice rising from the furs like a caress. Ronin's smile comes very easily indeed, and he closes his eyes just for a second as he tugs his shirt over his head, wanting to etch every bit of this into his memories.

"Nessun problema." Ronin is not like his son, and he is far from a sponge when it comes to the travelling tongue. But what he has picked up he has tried to perfect, and though his accent will never be the same as Remi's, the emphasis at least comes in the right places these days. And so, letting his projection pick up their coffee, Ronin kicks off his shoes and shimmies out of his pants, leaving him in a pair of star-spangled boxers to crawl into the warm, safe darkness of their bed.

"I'm waiting with the coffee whenever you're ready," he assures Remi, though he's already seeking out bronzed skin and soft lips, aiming to wrap himself around his husband even if it's just for a few minutes.

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Beneath the furs, Remi's grin is instant and adoring despite how his husband's accent wraps around the travelling tongue in all the wrong ways (whatever Ronin might think). Had the alchemist the attention span for it, he might have sent his own duplicate to sip coffee while he busied himself with other things, but alas, for all his cleverness multitasking has rarely been one of his strengths.

In identical dress, Remi wraps a fur around Ronin's shoulders to both welcome him into bed as much as trap him in place. The Huntsman's skin is crisp and cool from his morning trek, leaving Remi's wandering fingers keen to chase away the chill. "You feel like dawn." He mumbles against his husband's lips; golden, and fresh, and captivating. 'And you smell like the leaves." Wanting to be blanketed by his husband rather than the furs with which he'd been spooning since Ronin left their bed, Remi raises his hips that he might wrap his legs around his husband's waist, growling a triumphant sort of sound in the back of his throat.

"And now you're mine and I am never letting you go."

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"Mm, I brought it home with me," Ronin says of the dawn, his words murmured against lips much warmer than his own. With the fur around his shoulders and his husband locking him in place, it's with a rumble of laughter that the Huntsman complies, rolling over to stretch himself over Remi, soaking up his sleepy heat. "Untrue," he murmurs, leaning in to leave a kiss in the soft space just beneath the other man's ear. "I'm not yours now - I have always been yours."

He leaves a smile along with the kiss, sagging further against Remi and burying his head in the crook of the alchemist's neck. "If coffee goes cold, it's my fault and I'll warm it back up. Or make us more," he vows, falling quiet for a few blissful moments to simply enjoy the beat of his husband's heart, the welcome, comfortable darkness beneath the blankets. "Mm... good morning," he says eventually, the belated greeting no less sweet. "I missed you."

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"nnn?" Still sluggish from sleep, the alchemist tilts his head slightly—right into Ronin's lips as it happens—before grinning slowly. "It's very rude to correct me when I am trying to be sweet, you know." He grumbles, grinning up at the ceiling as shivers stretch down his neck from where his husband is smiling against his skin.

'You would think we would find a way to drink our coffee cold by now." Remi murmurs as his fingertips rove up either side of Ronin's spine. His legs relax slightly around the Huntsman's hips, but only because he's sure his husband isn't going anywhere. And if he does? Well, the alchemist is always happy to give chase.

"Good morning." He whispers, smoothing back the furs somewhat to let the light streaming in from their windows break apart the darkness. "I missed you more. I got a letter while you were gone and I thought perhaps you had sent it asking me to join you." His disappointed tone and the fact that no, Ronin had not sent such a letter, indicated that the contents were not nearly as interesting as what he'd been imagining. "It was from Gideon, asking if I wanted to go with him to the Climb." Adjusting his hips slightly that he might remain comfortably beneath the former-Star, Remi raises a brow silently enquiring whether or not Ronin had any insight into this bizarre request.

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"Hm? Oh - I'm so sorry," Ronin murmurs into the crook of Remi's shoulder; it's his turn to shiver at the fingers that come teasing up the length of his spine, and anything more he wants to say to make up for his rudeness is promptly forgotten. "Your fingers feel really nice," he says instead, smiling despite the lameness of his own comment. "Mm, but I don't like cold coffee," he whispers, shifting just a little so he might peek up at Remi in time for the early morning light to be revealed.

If it meant more mornings like this, though, he'd drink it freezing for the rest of his life. "A letter...?" Ronin yawns. "I'd not have bothered, I'd have come knocking at the window for you instead." Grinning, he shifts just enough alongside his husband that they might comfortably talk whilst tangled up with one another.

"A letter from Gideon," he echoes, sounding as bemused as Remi looks. "Did he mention what for? I've not heard anything from the Order about the Climb. We just got back from Frey's Breath, too..."

Nothing suggests that Ronin thinks Remi is going to go, and he untangles an arm to reach out and accept Remi's coffee from his projection, offering it out to the alchemist with a sleepy smile.

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'No you aren't.' Remi slyly whispers back. "I can feel your emotions you know, and not one of them is apologetic." He adds, the rest of his admonishment lost in the wake of Ronin's uncharacteristically lamely-phrased praise. "That is probably because I love touching you." So saying the alchemist's fingers splay apart that he might capture more of Ronin's body beneath his palms as his hands continue to rise and fall down the length of his husband's back.

'Nor me.' He agrees, before nodding. "Oh, I thought you might be trying to be romantic. Silly me." Remi adds, of why Ronin might have sent a letter instead. Sliding a leg between Ronin's to keep them hopelessly intertwined, Remi rests the side of his head in one hand as he shrugs. 'That it was something for Ludo. I take it that is why I was asked to go along. It is not as though he and I have really spoken to one another before." There was the destruction of the shrine and the priest's presence in the Trinity Temple with the demon-creature, but otherwise? He and Gideon hadn't said more than a few words to one another.

'Mmm, you are too good to me." The alchemist purrs as he sits up slightly that he might drink without spilling. 'Seems everyone is off on some wild quest these days. Seren, Amalia, now Gideon...' Wearily, he exhales, turning the stream of his unhappiness into a stiff wind directed at his coffee that it might cool down a touch faster.

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"I'm sorry that I'm not more apologetic?" Ronin tries, grumbling affectionately as they shift about further, remaining just as tangled up together if not a little more free to interact with the world. Not that Ronin really wants to, especially with the hands that spread across his back, pressing against his skin such that he hopes they leave behind warm and golden prints. "You do? We should touch each other more," he decides, as if they aren't already about as close as they could be.

"You know I don't send love letters," he all but purrs, dropping a kiss against Remi's shoulder before drawing back so his projection might feed him coffee. "My romantic gestures are much more subtle." The Huntsman comes home with tattoos, as Remi has already seen.

That it is to do with Ludo doesn't really surprise Ronin, but he's no less grumpy at the idea of Remi leaving. "I'm as good to you as you deserve," he corrects softly, smiling up at him. "I'm not sure why we need to be involved in these quests, though. Are you going to go?"

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'You know? I was just thinking the same thing. There is not enough touching in this marriage." Which of course was absurd given how constantly intertwined the pair were, and yet? There would not come a day where Remi didn't constantly crave more. Letting his foot revolve in lazy circles to brush against Ronin's ankle, he smirks into his coffee and has to choke it down before replying. "That is you all over. Subtle Ronin. It is what everyone calls you." The Huntsman was about as subtle as monsoon season in Torchline, and gods if Remi didn't absolutely love him for it.

"I don't either." He agrees, sighing. "At least with Phoebe's it..." Trailing off, the alchemist lets his head lob from side to side, suggesting at least it might benefit us one day, without actually saying the words. "I know it is probably clever of everyone to be asking for help, but gods if it doesn't just seem lazy." Taking a sip of his coffee, Remi swallows around a snarl.

"And why us?" And, not to be cruel, he asks: "And why Seren?"

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"There really isn't." Smiling and trying to trap Remi's foot between both of his own, Ronin finally shifts to sit himself up a bit more, accepting his own coffee from the projection while it continues to feed Remi sips of the drink. "If you come and sit with me, we'll be well on our way to touching each other more." He lifts his arm that the alchemist might come and tuck himself beneath it while they both wake up properly.

"Do they? I am so subtle I'm afraid I haven't even noticed what the world is saying about me," he murmurs, twirling one of Remi's curls between his fingers and looking for all the world as if he's absolutely telling the truth. Still, as the conversation moves on, honesty does fracture through the Huntsman's expression, and he offers a small and bashful smile at Remi. "Yeah," he agrees about Phoebe, without needing to give it words. "I know."

Leaning across to press a coffee flavoured kiss to the other man's cheek, Ronin shakes his head. "Us because we've proved we can get the job done," he guesses. "Seren though, I'm not sure... I just hope she keeps herself safe."

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As his foot is trapped, Ronin will feel a tentacle begin to slither up the back of his leg while the alchemist flashes him an innocent smile. 'I like the sound of that.' Sitting up as well, careful to keep his coffee cup level, Remi indeed fits himself against his husband, but not before stretching luxuriously such that his shoulders crackled.

Warm against the very real body at his side, Remi has half a mind to slip a tentacle out of the window, unmoore their boat, and let themselves drift away. Eventually, they would reach the sea, and from there? Maybe they could just keep floating. Maybe they'd even bump into an unexplored part of the world where no one knew their names.

"Well, perhaps we should stop proving we can get the job done." Remi grumbles against the kiss to his cheek. Turning back to behold Ronin bathed in the morning light, the alchemist sips in a quick and awed breath before holding up a finger. "Stay right there. Don't you dare move." Suddenly enthusiastic, Remi slides of bed and begins opening and closing various drawers. Ronin has done most of the putting-away, which left Remi utterly clueless when it came to where his things were. Eventually he found at least most of what he was looking for—a brush and a big of parchment—and, returning to the bed, he continues to hold up a warning finger as if Ronin was a dog told to sit.

Dipping the paintbrush into his coffee, the alchemist begins to sketch out the shape of his husband's face, paying careful attention to the light and shadow falling on him from the window. 'If nothing else, I'm sure Safrin would keep her safe.' He mumbles as an afterthought, more focused on the quick strokes of his brush.

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"Remiiiiii." The appearance and feel of a tentacle draws the complaint from Ronin's lips, though he ruins it by the way he's grinning. Especially as his husband fits himself so wonderfully against his side, the Huntsman can't keep the smile from his face. So he sips at his coffee instead, his fingers drawing absent patterns across Remi's bicep and shoulder, and a laugh rumbles up in his chest to hear the other man's suggestion. "We keep trying that, but I think we can't help helping," he murmurs, only to find Remi looking up at him.

"What is... oh?" Ronin does stay put, because yes, he absolutely does fear the sort of punishment that will probably come along with moving, though he can't help but furrow his brow in a little bit of distress as the alchemist starts rummaging around. If he'd said what he was looking for, Ronin might have been able to help (but that, of course, would ruin what's about to become one of the sweetest gestures he's ever experienced).

Granted, he doesn't expect Remi to dip the brush into the coffee. "What are you..." He drifts off, able to recognise the brushstrokes of a portrait intuitively by now, finding himself flushing and glancing away. "Fingers crossed," he mumbles about Seren. "Why are you painting me?"

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'You promised to love all of me." The alchemist argues. "That includes tentacles." Besides, with how sensitive his suckers were, it made much more sense to utilize them rather than just his toes.

"Shush." Remi huffs dismissively as Ronin begins to question his choice of paint. Would his husband have preferred blood? Because that was the only other easily accessible liquid they had at the moment. "Ay, I said no moving." The alchemist complains through a curtain of his own curls as he frowns over the top of the parchment as his husband looks away.

'What do you mean?' The question at first doesn't make any sense; why was he painting Ronin? Because he looked effortlessly handsome, that was why. Smudging a bit of the coffee on the page as a means of shading, Remi bites his tongue in an effort to make his mouth water, before sucking on the end of the paintbrush to dilute the pigment with his spit. "Because I have never seen your eyes this colour blue before." Remi mumbles under his breath. "They have never been lit by morning sun coming through these windows, in this place." He adds with a shrug, his gaze still intensely focused on the page before him, glancing only up at Ronin in quick succession before darting back.

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