Lean Time For Heroes

Remi's words about rose coloured glasses made him affectionately roll his eyes. Sam knew well what Remi's flaws were, had seen them up close and personal. But he thought love was choosing to see past those, going on not in spite of the flaws but through them. Forgiveness was sweet enough for him to be contented through and through anyway. He let his legs tangle with Remi's and his hands rest of the small of his back. "L...let's just k-keep at at bears for now. Aim...aim low." He laughed. Sam was ready to sleep himself, but he had never been one for good timing of conversations. They happened whenever he was brave enough to broach a topic regardless of what else was happening. Remi's admission that he had driven him so wild made him pause. If he could he would have blushed to the tips of his ears.  Instead he pressed a kiss to the side of Remi's neck. "No, it...it was w-wonderful. I...d-don't know if I'd want every time to be like that,  but...I enjoyed it." The last part was whispered as if a dark, secret confession. Sam let a hand trail gently down Remi's spine, a touch designed to be suggestive but not arousing. He pulled away a little to say something else,  but upon seeing Remi's face he frowned at just how tired he looked. "...We sh.. should talk more later. You look exhausted." Sam kissed Remi once more quickly and sweetly then snuggled back into him,  ready to rest. Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

"Given that you can fly so easily now, it almost seems like cheating to have the bar that low. " Remi chuckled, one of his feet moving against Sam's. It was a habit of his that the bookmaker would come to learn if they spent enough time like this: Remi tended to move his feet a lot when he was tired. He particularly liked the soft portion of skin on the top of Sam's foot, and idly ran his own foot back and forth over it. Unable to glance down at Sam given how nestled he was against Remi's neck and chest, the alchemist's own blush would go temporarily unnoticed. He'd never done anything like that. The closest he'd ever come had been the night he'd spent with Ianto had come mostly from the fact that the alchemist had, after 20 years, finally allowed himself to give in. What he'd done with Sam though .. that was something he couldn't even really pinpoint where his urgency and need had come from. Only that it had, and Sam had been there, and had complied. But then the alchemist remembered how Sam had looked in the cave, how willing he'd been ... and if he really was in love with Remi, the line between wanting and merely willing felt like it was wasting away. Remi pulled Sam closer to him, pressing his cheek against the top of Sam's head as he gave a non-committal nod. Remi sighed happily into Sam's kiss, his lips curling into a smile. "I am sorry. I know this is important." He whispered, wrapping his arms around Sam once more, and curling himself against him. "But I am so tired.." The alchemist's eyes began to flutter shut, before they snapped open again. Focusing on the dim copper of Sam's hair in the darkness, Remi ran a hand up the bookmaker's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Be here when I wake up, alright? Or if you do go somewhere, wake me." REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

"I can only fly i-if I'm lu...lucky enough to bite you. " Sam smiled, the words feeling dirty and intimate, loving in his mouth all at once. Remi was right; it would be easy now. They had established the bites as a part of their version of closeness. The taste of blood would always remind him of Remi now, would always bring to mind thoughts of skin and body and love. "I'll b-be here." He promised, rubbing his nose against Remi's neck. "I d-don't want to...to leave. And the same to you. D...don't go without telling me. That's...our n-new promise." With a smile on his lips and his hands on Remi's back he drifted off into an easy sleep. Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

Remi chuckled into the darkness. "I seem to recall you biting without even asking first during the bear attack." He said gently, no indication of judgement or anger. It was a smart move on Sam's part, and other than the fact that even as a lion Remi had temporarily fallen victim to the intoxicants of Sam's bite, it had all worked out well. "We should make sure you always have.." some of me in you? "My abilities. Just in case." "Deal." The alchemist replied, sighing sleepily and contentedly against Sam. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

"Mmm." Sam didn't take long to fall into sleep with Remi, his hands slowly relaxing on his skin and as he fell deeper, his head leaning to rest on his chest. To the beat of Remi's heart he dreamt of nothing in particular, something that he wouldn't be able to recall as anything but a vaguely pleasant grey. When he woke it was clearly some time later, as he could see the remains of a few new offerings left on the shrine and there were new footsteps in the fluid stains on the floor. Sam briefly made sure he wasn't missing any personal items (he wasn't) and then tried to relax about the fact that people had seen him shirtless with another man in bed in the temple. What would his parents have thought? With a smile, he realised he didn't much care in the moment. But the thought did start him down a new path, where he began to think of his earlier plans to visit The Voice after Longnight. To take her up on the offer to fix his voice, to ask her to make him better. For Remi...and for himself. But it occurred to him that this was just a moving of his goalposts, just changing the word 'normal' for 'better'...if he kept improving himself would there be enough of him left? He was shaken from his deep thought by Remi stirring next to him. Sam kissed the tip of his nose, then his chin. "Hello. D-did you sleep well? I've been...thinking." Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

Remi dreamed of unicorns and fire and blue eyes. But as his eyes softly fluttered open, the images disappeared, replaced by copper and freckles and the feeling of Sam's lips on his nose. "Mmmmm.." The alchemist mumbled, rolling onto his back and stretching his arms wide. The feeling of his muscles expanding made him moan happy, and as he let himself collapse back, he sluggishly re-tightened his grip around Sam as he glanced over. "I feel like I could sleep for a hundred years." He laughed, stiffing a yawn with the back of his hand. "Oh? Thinking?" Remi asked, leaning onto his side and boyishly propping his head into his hand. Disheveled as he was, curls a mess with sleep still in his eyes, Remi looked more and more like some sort of sculpted cherub than whatever hero he'd been made out to be as of late. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

"I'd miss you aw-awfully if you did that." Sam let himself be pulled back into Remi's arms, resting on his shoulder while his hand idly stroked at his chest. The way he'd always thought he'd lay on a man in a bed if he was lucky enough to have one, and the way he automatically went to cuddle with Remi whenever he got the chance to. It was comfortable, he could feel Remi's body under his fingers (and he was not a statue. Remi was attractive and to touch him was a great gift). "Yes, th-thinking." Sam glanced up towards Remi, thinking (hoping) he probably already knew the answer to the question he was going to ask, but wanting to ask it anyway. "W...would you wan-want me to g-get my voice fi...fixed? So I d-d-don't...ha." Of course he stuttered more while asking this question, of course. "...So I c-can speak smoothly." "And..." He held up a hand to pause any response Remi might have, needing to say both things before he lost the nerve to. "W-would you...c-come with me? Next time I...see The Vo-Voice?" Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

The alchemist snorted a laugh. "Then I suppose I will just have to wake up." He mumbled affectionately, sighing beneath Sam's wandering fingers and enjoying the simple silence between the two of them. Remi's brow furrowed slightly as Sam asked his question. It certainly wasn't what the alchemist had been expecting, but even so he wasn't terribly surprised. Reaching for Sam's hand that trailed along his chest, he gently brought it to his lips and kissed it softly. "You know I do not think you need to change, Sam." He whispered, head tilting to the side slightly to better see the man nestled against him. "Is it something you want? Does it bother you?" The only time Remi had been even moderately bothered by how Sam spoke was in times of urgency when he needed to communicate things quickly. But hopefully those times would be few and far in between. "Of course I will." He agreed instantly, pressing another kiss to Sam's fingers before placing their hands back on his chest. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

"I...d-don't know. If it bothers me. It...ma-makes people take me less...less seriously. Th-they think I'm d-dumb or..." He trailed off, his brows furrowed as his mind replayed every time someone had given him a dismissive look as he tried to work his way through a tricky syllable. "...I...I g-guess I'll think about it. It would be nice...b-but...less me, maybe?" Sam didn't quite know how to phrase it, but his voice, as much of a problem as it could be for him, was a huge part of his self. To suddenly be without it would feel like speaking through a filter, presenting himself as something he was not. But wasn't he already doing that with the upgrade? Those things aside, Remi was promising him things and kissing his fingers; both of which made him smile. "Th-thank you. I t-told her about you, you know. L...last time I was there. I wan-wanted to know what she thought. Of Asce-ascended being with others. She said...you'd m-make a good Ascended. Which...m-may or may n-not be a compliment." Sam laughed and looked up to Remi to see if he thought that was a good idea or not. "She said th-that it was alright though. Even...even th-though you're Attuned...and Abandoned." Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve

"mmmm." Remi hummed thoughtfully, the sound echoing through his chest as he considered. "I know my accent was a bit of a burden and I still do try and soften it. I know it can be frustrating having others not understand you." Remi could see easily how those with a less sympathetic ear could parse Sam as not being very intelligent, which of course couldn't be farther from the truth. Glancing down, Remi looked adoringly at Sam before sighing softly against him. 'You know, there is a difference between not being true to who you are, and allowing yourself to change. I am not the person I once was, but that does not make me any less me. It is the same for you. If you are making these changes because you want them, then you are not any less. You are just different. And that is okay." The alchemist said, leaning onto his side so that he could properly wrap his arms around the bookmaker and look down at him. Raising a brow slightly at hearing that Sam was interested in what the Voice thought at all, much less about the two of them together, the alchemist nodded for him to continue. "A good ascended, hmm?" He said with a roguish shake of his head. "Ahh yes. Abandoned. Such a nice thing to be called, don't you think?" He asked with a crinkle of his nose. REMI What have I become? My sweetest friend—Everyone I know goes away in the end If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way

"Y-your accent is lovely." Sam insisted, offended on Remi's behalf that anyone could insult it. He supposed it did sometimes take him a moment to unwrap the thickness of Remi's voice from around the words he said, but it was always a task done willingly. The next thing Remi said was so sweet, so kind; only Remi could have said it. Those kind of words were still a novelty to Sam and he drank them in with a delighted smile on his face. "As long as I-I'm a kind...kind of different you like." "Well. Ab-abandoned by the Gods, maybe. B-But not by me. Never by me." This was said with a conviction, Sam making a promise to himself to not leave Remi as easily as he had earlier ever again. He had learnt from his panic and despair, let them shape him quickly into someone who valued the time he could spend in Remi's arms more than anything else. He kissed Remi's chest above his heart and then laid there quietly with him just staring at the ceiling and listening to the noises around them; the Rathskeller downstairs and the monsters outside. The only sound he cared about was Remi's soft breathing above him and the thump of one real heartbeat speaking for two between them. Samuel I'm starting to wake from silent sleep I'm starting to break and I can grieve