not alone

and on to the glory at my right hand

It has been hell, waiting outside the Kraai. Ronin feels it, because of course he does, and as the heartbeat on his finger spikes and spikes again, he's almost walking into the bar before he can stop himself. Scales have armoured his neck and shoulders and it's with hands tipped with talons that he's folded his arms tightly across his chest. No one makes small talk with him. No one asks him for anything.

Head down, jaw clenched, the Huntsman absolutely shouldn't be feeling jealous about this. Because there's nothing to feel jealous about, especially not with Neron fucking Launceleyn. And yet, the more time passes, the stronger the urge to kick down the door of the Kraai and manhandle his husband out of the snake pit becomes.

In fact, his feet are already moving, Ronin straightening up from the icy wall of the establishment, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Gods, come on," he hisses under his breath, wanting to be calmer than he feels and failing miserably.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

Neron is out before Remi is, but the alchemist is quick to follow. If even one patron makes some quip about what the Hailstorm and Lullaby were up, they'd find bits of glass littering their hair and their table stained with their blood before they knew what hit them.  Not not meeting Ronin's gaze but with an eye for the door, the Lullaby storms out of the Kraai with wings already beginning to itch against his shoulder blades and feathers snarling in his curls.

Hardly daring to breathe until the door is closed and Remi is sure that Neron's eyes can't follow him any longer, does he turn toward Ronin with an expression that's a mixture of pain and fury. "Gods, Ronin, that..." The words don't come, because there's no way to describe what it was like to someone who'd never felt it. It was like breathing in gas fumes or hurtling off of a cliff. It was a high like no other, but gods if the fall wasn't the coldest and most infuriating thing. "...making him would have been so much better." Remi says at last, looking tense and feral.

and on to the glory at my right hand

Ronin shouldn't feel glad at the sight of his husband, all caged violence and tightrope fury as he is. He shouldn't feel glad, but fuck, he does. Letting out a breath that it feels like he's been holding since Remi first stepped into the Kraai, he waits until there's snow crunching under foot and the patrons (and the smug bartender) are out of sight before his wings stretch from his shoulders.

"I have no doubt," he whispers, the shadows cast on his face from the light from the Kraai making him look ghoulish. "Let's fly? We can land when you're ready, when we're far enough away." Because gods if he doesn't want to turn his back on the Citadel right now. "It's done though?" He has to check, even though he knows Remi wouldn't have left without completing his task.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

Remi too stretches his wings, ignoring the way the leather of his jacket yawns against the strain. He feels fit to burst in a way that makes him crave violence, and it's only his husband's presence that keeps him from monstering his way back into the Kraai to finish things as he wished to leave them. Appearing ghostly given the lack of shadow his own wings cast, the alchemist nods. 'It is.' He says, the affirmation no more than a croak given how dry his lips felt. Gods what he wouldn't give for a drink, though nothing short of literal murder would have him going back into the bar just now.

'I love you.' Suddenly said, the Lullaby gives his husband a forlorn smile. There was more to say than that, but after. After.

Lifting off, Remi flies recklessly toward the low ceiling of cloud cover where the air is thin and bitterly cold. There are no thermals here to help them fly, meaning their wings will have to continuously pump to keep them aloft. It won't be enough to tire them the way they'd been tired when last they were here, but if he could make his lungs and muscles burn, perhaps it might thaw the lingering feeling of Neron on his skin.

and on to the glory at my right hand

"And I love you," Ronin says softly, returning a whisper of a smile and waiting until his husband - strong and ominous but somehow reminding the Huntsman of a ball of feathers all the same - lifts off into the sky before following. He soars in Remi's wake, simultaneously letting the other man take the lead in his own catharsis but also ensuring that there's a buffer should the Lullaby's instincts suddenly urge him to turn back.

It's bitter and breathless up against the blanket of clouds, but Ronin feels a cold sweat forming down his back nonetheless from the workout his wings are getting. If only there were a blizzard he rumbles through the Attuned bond, sounding faintly amused. That might give us a real challenge. Below them, he can just about spot the glimmer of a herd of luxere, though their antlers will drop any day now. He knows this intimately, and the less said about his nubs situation, the better.

Do you want to hunt?

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

Huffing a single beat of amusement through the bond, the Lullaby bobs his head in agreement. A blizzard would be a nightmare to fly through, and there was no question in Remi's mind that he'd have flown directly into it without question. As it was though, other than the cloud cover, the weather was fairly mild all things considered. Cold and hateful, but not difficult. Not for demigods, anyway.

Remi doesn't need his attention directed toward the Luxere to know what his husband is referring to. You wouldn't feel...bad? about it? He wonders, the question alone slight evidence that he was regaining a bit of his rationality. Had the last time he killed a luxere, been with Isla? Squeezing his eyes shut, Remi shivers through the bond. Not Isla. Stop. He thinks to himself, wishing suddenly that Oria was with him that she might stab him in the eardrum.

and on to the glory at my right hand

No. Not any more, Ronin murmurs softly back through the bond. There's more than a luxere living in my blood these days, remember? You were there when I tore one apart with my bare hands. There isn't even any guilt or sorrow in his tone; Ronin is merely saying it how it is, and it's with a predator's interest and a dragon's eyes that he watches the herd run and leap across the snow.

It's perhaps a blessing that the Huntsman doesn't know what Remi is thinking - he does sense the shudder that runs through him, though. Wings beating hard to catch up with the other man, Ronin flies a little beneath Remi rather than side by side to prevent their wings from clashing. You can even go first, if you want.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

Remi had been, but that had been more of an impulse. A way to redirect the dragon's instincts that the man might not do something he came to regret. But, as it was easier and easier to do these days, the alchemist took his husband at his word. Then I would absolutely like to hunt.

Feeling the air begin to cool the sweat beading around his hairline, the Lullaby pulls in a deep breath before shaking his head. No. Reaching out his hand, the gesture merely a token one of course, he grins. Together.

Seemingly falling out of the sky, the alchemist doesn't bother to shift into a body made to take down creatures like luxere. Instead, he becomes some bastardized monster, with tentacles pushed out from his sides, hands turned into claws, and a mouth filled with rows of too many teeth. Though the luxere could smell both men, there was nowhere for them to run, though run they did. Across the tundra they fled, leaping and braying with fright. Once, as a hawk, Remi had nearly been killed by a fleeing deer and had Vai not been there to patch him up, he wouldn't have made it. Now, luxere after luxere stumbled and tripped over its own eviscerated throat as the Lullaby slashed at them.

and on to the glory at my right hand

Together. Ronin doesn't have a way to articulate how it feels to hear that from his husband, but the rippling heat that's both love and anticipation warble through the bond as best he can make it.

And so they fall away together, peeling through the air in a dive, and where Remi becomes monstrous and savage, Ronin is sleek in his murder. With wings tucked in tight, it's with a dragon's claws and a phoenix's talons that he takes out his first prey, all but landing on the luxere to pin it down and slit its throat before he's away again, leaving it to stagger into its companions in a blind panic.

With fire and blood and teeth, Ronin takes down two more deer, though he keeps an eye on his husband close by, wondering when enough will be enough. If it will.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

It's bloody and fast and full of fire and fear. Remi can feel his husband's flames begin to curdle the air with their heat and gods if it isn't divine. With three down, Remi reaches out with a tentacle to snag a buck as it goes by. Without hesitation, the Lullaby uses his tentacle as if it were a boa constrictor, snapping out and wrapping around the creature with strength enough to crush its ribs and dislocate its spine in several places. The sound is so exquisite that it has him sagging down the ground, landing in a vividly red snowbank.

Bloodied, breathless, and smiling, Remi turns his eyes to where the herd is still trying to flee to see what his husband might make of their departure. This is more meat than the two of them will need—though he's sure the fae won't mind the additional food and pelts—but then, this was never about that sort of need to begin with.

and on to the glory at my right hand

As the herd flees and Remi lands, he'll find his husband watching them depart with wings spread and blood turning one side of his face red. A shudder runs through him, almost imperceptible but nonetheless poignant, as he tries to decide whether or not the luxere are worth pursuing. Remi will feel Ronin's heartbeat on his finger as a slow and steady thing, no longer the fluttering of a prey animal, and when he turns to face the other man it's with a slow smile in his direction.

"Done?" he asks, his voice surprisingly soft and calm, all things considered. "Or we could chase them back towards the Kraai..." He doesn't know what he'd prefer currently, but as his eyes rake over the Lullaby, he could easily be convinced into whatever Remi wants.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

Drenched in blood and seeming all the calmer for it, the Lullaby reaches for a bit of snow that he might clean off his hands. Quite why this matters given the state of him is anyone's guess.

Glancing over his shoulder thoughtfully, Remi shakes his head as he returns his gaze to his husband. "If I thought there was any chance of them charging right into the Kraai I absolutely would." He replies with a crooked smile, rising out of the snow and moving toward Ronin. Holding out his ruined hand and pulling his sleeve up to reveal the marks left by Neron, Remi grimaces as his stomach turns. "I know it would be overkill...but please. Heal this. I don't want to see the marks."

and on to the glory at my right hand

"We could absolutely make it so that they charged into the Kraai," Ronin points out as he strolls towards his husband, though the hot urge to chase and rend and tear is slowly ebbing away, replaced by a different kind of warmth. A warmth that's full of green eyes and strong arms and hot springs. Remi holds out his forearm and a soft growl rises up in the Huntsman's throat - he doesn't need to say it with words that he'd also like this particular mark to go away.

"It would be my pleasure," he murmurs, leaning down to press his lips against the bite, even as a fierce glow begins to flicker out of him. The supernova engages only a moment later, spraying snow in all directions, but when it all dies down, the Lullaby's skin will be smooth and free of marks.

"Much better," he says, smiling and delivering another kiss to his wrist.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

Very nearly the urge to pull his arm away is strong enough that he almost does; the thought of having Ronin's lips where Neron's had just been is enough to bring a splash of acid up the back of his throat. Not bothering to close his eyes, happy enough to have stars blot out his vision, Remi breathes deeply as the world around them erodes into starlight and snow.

There's something so impossibly tantalizing about the feel of such a soft kiss on his skin after all the murder and fury and unhappy arousal, that has the Lullaby softly inhaling with surprise and delight. "Ronin..." Twisting his hand to curl his fingers against his husband's cheek that he might draw Ronin's focus, Remi kisses his husband hard enough to suggest that there might be more healing yet to do. The blue of Neron's eyes still stings in the back of Remi's mind as does his smug smile, and gods but he wants to replace it. To forget it forever, but if not that, to at least bury it beneath the weight of his husband's touch.