sink or swim

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

She stands on the beach, frozen in place even as the lukewarm water of the Arclight Ocean laps at her toes, a white knuckle grip around the gem from a Cloudmanta in her palm. The air is chilly, nipping at her skin and bringing goosebumps to the surface of her pale skin, a tightness in her throat. It was silly, wasn't it? Having lived in Torchline her entire life, but not knowing how to swim. Being too scared to try. There have been attempts. Rather poor ones. The one with Sunjata and once with Locke. Neither of them successful in really teaching her. Still, it felt necessary for her to learn.

Why she thought it a good idea to attempt on her own was beyond her, but the idea simply struck and now she's here. Standing, forcing herself to breathe, and not moving an inch. Maeve shakes her head, moving to step back as the pit in her stomach grows, the anxiety building there much too overwhelming.

Maeve

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Having asked at the Court of the Stars where to find Maeve, he'd been directed toward the beach. So it is that the alchemist will approach Torchline's queen with his shoes in his hand and a bulky sweater covered in stars (one of Ronin's), bulky on an already bulky frame. But it has been years, if ever, that Remi was ever properly concerned with how he looked to others, a carelessness that who and what he is now, has only increased. "Maeve—!" He calls out, accented voice ringing across the sands that she might be well aware of his presence before he's near enough to speak in a conversational tone.

"Am I disturbing you? I wanted to apologize for what I said, in the Woods." He explains, offering her a chilly smile that's only tight-lipped because of the temperature and stiff breeze.

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

She's not expecting anyone to come looking for her out here. It wasn't often that the queen got time to herself anymore. Between Edmund, the Halenani, and the citizens of there was little time spent alone. The Lullaby's voice is the last she expects to hear, however. Maeve spins, a hand coming up to cover her heart and that breath she's been holding suddenly expels, dark brows knitting together at the sight of him. "Remi?" The Nightshade is just about to ask him what exactly he's doing out here, but he beats her to it. She shakes her head, wind tousled curls shifting with the movement as she shoves her hands into the pockets of her sweater, an attempt to keep from fidgeting.

"No, of course not." The reply is easy and she takes a few steps forward to greet him, hesitating only a moment before she moves to hug him, knowing better than to linger too long in the embrace. It still strikes her at times how oddly close they are. The bond that they share. One that she's not sure he easily maintains with others. The hug only lasts for a breath before she's drawing back, not wanting to overwhelm him with her emotions, knowing that her anxiety is still lingering even if it's not at the forefront of her thoughts. "Oh? It's alright, Remi. You don't need to apologize. It was perhaps a bit reckless of me to make the trip, but I didn't want to break my promise. Even if Ronin would have understood."

Maeve

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Covered in layers of fabric as they are to keep the cold from their bones, there's only a whisper of skin contact before Maeve pulls away. Just enough to feel a flutter of anxiety like a silent dusting of snow at midnight. "It was not my place to say anything." Remi argues with a small shake of his head. "I...Hotaru recently took our twins from the Greatwood to King's End, without telling anyone, and without..." Not wanting to malign the mother of his children no matter what she'd done, the alchemist smiles sadly as his gaze drops and his head shakes. "It rattled me, and seeing you in the Greatwood brought those feelings back. But I should not have directed them at you." Remi, who hated when those who had no business making judgements about his lives did so, felt suitably ashamed of himself for doing precisely that to someone else.

"Chilly day for...bird watching?" Raising a brow in Maeve's direction, Remi looks out toward the sea where only a few hungry seabirds could be seen.

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

The apology isn't surprising. Perhaps it should have been considering who the Lullaby was, but  their relationship has never been like that. Maeve makes a soft sound in the back of her throat, reaching out to wrap chilled fingers around his arm, knowing he wouldn't be able to feel anything through the bulk of his sweater. "I understand, Remi. I'm not upset." She murmurs, offering a small smile, tight lipped and faint due to the cold that nips at her bare skin. "If I'd been in your shoes I likely would have reacted the same way." It makes sense to her given the situation. The concerns he has as a new father, as an obvious protector, resonates with the Nightshade and her expression softens.

The next question makes her pause and her cheeks flush a deeper shade of pink. Her jade gaze follows his towards the waves, flicking between the few seabirds that rise on the cool breeze, "Ah, yes. I suppose it is." Not that she was doing that. Not at all. Far from it actually. "I thought I might try swimming again." In the middle of Deepfrost because that made so much sense. "I don't know how really and it just seems... Wrong. I've lived here my entire life and never managed to learn."

Maeve

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

'I appreciate that.' He mumbles a touch self-consciously. Grudges were so often held these days that to hear someway simply offer him absolution was almost as contrary a notion as the Madame not knowing how to swim.

Again? he nearly asks, but as she explains Remi finds himself nodding. "Not wrong, but...surprising, I suppose." Following Maeve's gaze out to see, the alchemist lets his head tilt slightly to the side as if weighed down by memory. "For the last few years before coming here, the fort we were all stationed at was right on the ocean." He explains, his voice sounding distant as he imagined a different sea overlaying the one before them. "A commoner like me had little else to do with my spare time. I swam a lot." So saying, he blinks himself out of it and turns back.

"I can swim with you, if you like." He offers. Maybe he's just being polite, or perhaps it's penance. Either way, there's a boyish smile on his lips as his head tilts further now, this time awaiting her answer.

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

Had it been anyone else Maeve likely would have held a grudge if it was anyone else. Anyone at all. The fact that it was Remington simply meant she was more inclined to forgive, forget, and move on. "Of course." She murmurs, arms wrapping around her middle as she drifts towards his side now, turning her attention towards the ocean, the waves slightly choppy in the grey light.

It seems every time they come together Maeve learns something more about him. Another little piece of information to tuck away that explains this man all that more clearly to her. She's quiet as she listens, her lips curling into a soft smile, thinking about how there were similar times in her life where the only thing she could afford to do was nothing.

"I'm not very good, but if you're willing." She returns his smile, hesitating for a moment as she starts to shrug off her sweater. "You'll be okay? With touching me? I-" A sharp breath is drawn between clenched teeth, cheeks flushing pink and not just from the cold. "I don't want to overwhelm you."

Maeve

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Maeve was one of the few people he'd met who was always conscious and courteous when it came to his empathy ability. Most were quick to forget about it, not that Remi blamed them. "I can always go with you shifted. We both know I am not a great conversationalist as it is, so I doubt you will be missing much." He replies with a crooked smile. 'And I will be able to hear you, so you can just picture me nodding along, or saying something unintentionally rude like I usually do."

Having seen much more of the Queen than just her sans a sweater, nevertheless Remi turns his eyes out toward the sea and takes a few steps forward. "I should warn you though. My aquatic shift is...well." The corners of his lips turn down as if in a frown, but there's a twinkle of mischief in his pale eyes. "..It is very large."

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

Maeve rolls her eyes at him with a soft huff of a laugh, "As if I don't always enjoy our talks, Remi." She drawls in response, a playful smiling curling on her lips as she begins toeing off her boots and wiggling out of her pants. Never shy about her body, she's quick to discard her clothing despite the chill in the air that nips at her newly exposed skin. "You hardly say anything rude to me. If anything I'd say you're rather sweet." To her. To Ronin. To very, very few who actually see that side of Remi. She was well aware that her opinion on the matter was likely one of the few that sat on that side of things.

Her brow arches, a curios tilt to her head as she steps towards the water after him, "Now, I've never been one to be intimidated by size, but color me intrigued." Maeve shivers as the water laps at her toes, instantly chilling her and making goosebumps rise across her flesh.

Maeve

REMI

then it went dark

Indeed, Maeve's opinion was part of a rapidly dwindling minority, and yet the alchemist didn't seem to mind. Once he'd spent his every waking hour attending to the needs of others and worrying about what they thought of him. Now if he was forced to care for more than a few moments about things that didn't interest him, he was sour for hours about it.

'Well, do not say I didn't warn you. It will take me a moment to get deep enough.' And he would need to be deep enough, because he truly was that big. So saying, Remi spreads his wings that he might fly out over the water, before diving in. The water had him tensing slightly, but as his shift began to take over, the chill disappeared. From her place, Maeve would begin to see massive tentacles begin to rise out of the water. Because of where his eyes were in relation to the rest of his body, there was no real way of looking at the Queen, and so he left his movements up to intuition.

Sliding his tentacles toward the shoreline, Remi pats the water gently, encouraging the madame toward him that he might pull her out, all the while layering his tentacles around her so that there was always something to grab onto it.

& it rained
and rained and rained

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

Unlike Remi, Maeve was always lived to please. It's been her way of life for years, but now she was learning there wasn't a way to simply please everyone. Still, her annoyance didn't flare as readily as Remi's did. Those thoughts are chased aside as she steps into the water, shivering instantly as the icy cold waves bite at her skin, causing goosebumps to rise across his skin.

Her brow arches, head cocking to the side at the cryptic nature of his words, a smile playing on her lips despite herself. "I don't think you have a problem getting deep, Remi." Maeve quips without hesitating, a smirk curling on her lips, knowing there would likely be a faint flush that rises to his cheeks. She isn't left waiting long as he takes off into the air, wings flaring out as he takes to the air, diving into the water some ways off of shore. She's not sure what to expect, but the image of tentacles rising out of the water and reaching towards her isn't it.

It's an almost jarring sensation, watching them reach for her, almost playfully splashing the top of the water to invite her in. She takes another step forward, reaching out hesitantly to hold onto one of his tentacles, finding the sensation incredibly odd. The first few steps are easy, but as she gets up to her ribs, Maeve feels the hints of panic sink in. He's there, tough. All around her. "I can't say I was expecting this."

Maeve

REMI

then it went dark

Remi's tentacles, long enough to break ships in half but dexterous enough that he could control each and every round sucker, moved gracefully through the water that Maeve might have her choice of which parts of him to hold onto. Splashing gently, almost childishly, to encourage her on, far beneath the darkened depths Remi will push himself away from the shoreline out into slightly deeper waters.

Once Maeve has her bearings more or less, the kraken will tug on his tentacles that she might use one as a floatie; kicking her legs behind her should give her the feel of what it is to swim more or less on her own, but still with him near enough to catch her should it prove too much.

& it rained
and rained and rained

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

It's an incredibly odd sensation to be floating out in the ocean with little to support you. The sandy ocean floor disappears from beneath her and the panic sets in for a moment. Hot and cloying like humid jungle air, but that feeling is chased away as Remi's tentacles move to almost cradle her in the water. Maeve lets out a breath as numb fingers flex around slick flesh and she lets him drag her out deeper. It's what happens at first, the Nightshade struggling for a moment to get the movements right, but finally she seems to put two and two together.

Her arms extend in front of her, holding onto him as she kicks her legs behind her, allowing her own movements in combination with Remi's to propel her forward. Had she not been with a giant kraken, the queen might have worried for what lurked in the deep here, but thankfully there was no need to when he had taken the form of what sailors wrote their shanties about.

Maeve

REMI

then it went dark

As he had done with Isla months before when the pair were on speaking terms, Remi tries to carefully wrap the tips of his tentacles around Maeve's ankles, with one slinking up her bare body for her to brace against. Then, with a speed that felt like nothing down below to him, but would seem ungodly fast to anyone watching, Maeve would appear to fly across the water. With his body looming close enough should she fall, but his grip sure, Remi would continue to propel the former Madame across the surface of the water as if she were some pale-skinned water spirit come out to play in the moonlight.

Without the ability to speak or to use his magic to sense her emotions, Remi was forced to rely on Maeve's ability to get his attention when she'd had too much and wanted to go back.

& it rained
and rained and rained