not alone

and on to the glory at my right hand

"Hobbled and mundane, hm?" Ronin says with a sweet smile delivered through further kisses against the corner of Remi's mouth and his chin. "Like two guys meeting on the beach? Or having drinks together? Or training soldiers and making fireworks to use as props?" The surge of love that accompanies his words surprises even Ronin with his warmth and strength, and his stomach flops with butterflies that he can't imagine will ever go away.

"I think hobbled and mundane with you sounds wonderful. And I would need you just as much, so don't flatter me," he says, delivering a final kiss to the alchemist's lips before flopping back into the snow again, waiting for the feeling to return to his legs as he strums his fingers down the length of Remi's spine and against his wing joints.

Unable not to chuckle at the sudden swerve in conversation, though Ronin understands how Remi got there, the Huntsman nods his agreement. "I'll be on hand with an ice pack for you," he promises.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

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

Blushing furiously to think of their first meeting, despite the fact that they were still nestled naked together on the tundra, with Remi's bareass out for the world to see, the Lullaby's dimples deepen as he bites the inside of his cheek. "Just like that. Only you wouldn't get to be a fancy baron." Remi adds, tilting his head at the last minute that he might trick Ronin into kissing him on the lips.

"And without any friends in high places, I think we would both end up spending a good amount of time in jail." Crookedly, Remi waggles his eyebrows as if this might not be so bad. "I will flatter you all I like." The Lullaby threatens. "And if you argue, I will pin you here and now and tickle your feet with all of my tentacles at once."\

Feeling giddy and boyish as the warm plume of Ronin's affection makes his bones feel buoyant, Remi nods his appreciation. "Pain I can handle. I am not sure I can take being bit by anyone else, let alone Nate." Isla was probably the only one Remi wouldn't be inclined to kill afterward, but he had vowed to keep his distance from her for another reason entirely, though perhaps it wasn't so dissimilar.

and on to the glory at my right hand

"I don't need to be a fancy baron if I have you," Ronin says easily and without hesitation, smiling as he's tricked into planting another kiss against Remi's lips. "You can be an alchemist," he continues without breaking the kiss, meaning his words are all but mumbled into the other man's mouth, "and I'll be a freelance artist. We'll go jogging every morning so we don't get flabby, and so we're fast enough to outrun the law." It's a perfectly mundane existence, and it makes Ronin almost jealous that they don't have it.

Parting from Remi just enough to receive his threat, Ronin flashes a wicked smile in his husband's direction. "You be careful, or I'll end up with a tentacle kink," he warns, letting his hands fan across the soft warmth of Remi's wings. "And I think you might be lucky - Nate probably wants to kick you more than he wants to bite you." Snapping his teeth for good measure, Ronin holds Remi close even as he starts to force himself into a sitting position.

"What do you say we fly out to the hot springs now? I think we've earned it."

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

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

"I am an alchemist." Remi counters into their kiss. True, he transmuted the living into the dead and dinner parties into nightmares more often than metal into gold, but what of it? "Jogging," The Lullaby scoffs affectionately. "How about we go jogging so that we can eat all the wine and cheese we like, and we stay crafty to evade the law."

Feeling mischievous and so very, very in love, Remi grins wide enough that his dimples deepen. "Oh well." Rolling his eyes dramatically, the Lullaby shakes his head. "If you go and do that, I would be forced to think of another way to harass you. I am not sure I am up for that task." Remi hums sarcastically. He was fairly certain if he became a wraith just now and floated through the Huntsman's body, Ronin would scream.

'mmmmmmmmmmmmmm,' Groaning in protest as Ronin begins to sit them up, Remi wraps his wings around his husband's body as best he can without interfering with the Huntsman's own additional appendages. "I would want to even if we hadn't." He agrees, finally parting from Ronin that they might both stand. Glancing down at himself, Remi twitches his lips thoughtfully as he glances toward their piles of clothing. "Is...it even worth getting dressed, do you think?" They could shift, or fly naked, but putting clothes back on given the state of themselves seemed a touch pointless.

and on to the glory at my right hand

"I am so sorry. Of course you are," Ronin purrs against Remi's lips, though he does wrinkle his nose at the other man's counter offer. "I could probably be convinced. I am not all that crafty though, if you haven't noticed. I used to be, but then I fell wildly in love with a man who proposed to me whilst I was concussed, and I've never really come back from that."

Ronin would scream, so it's probably a good idea that Remi keeps his wraithly tendencies to himself, especially given how warm and fuzzy the Huntsman is feeling right now. He mmmmmmmms right back at his husband, letting his own wings melt back into his shoulders so he can be better cocooned by Remi. "Luckily for you it was always in the plan, mm?"

Parting is equal parts necessary and also the worst, though as Ronin gazes across at the alchemist, half dressed and looking unfairly rugged and handsome, he's already shaking his head. "No need at all. Though I'm covered, I think," he murmurs, and as a ruff of crimson feathers flicker down his neck and across his shoulders, the Huntsman finds himself clad in skintight leather and twinkling constellations. "Better or worse?" he asks.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

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

Raising a brow in earnest before scowling down at his husband, Remi offers his counterpart an offended look for his sass. "Remind me how you came to be concussed..?  Something about...heroism? No, that wasn't it. It's on the tip of my tongue..."

Prepared to argue more about how he'd proposed and whose fault it was that Ronin had lost his crafty side, the alchemist finds himself stunned into unfair silence as Safrin's leather armour covers Ronin's body. "Oh come on." Folding his arms across his chest, with his pants crumpled around his ankle and with only one shoe on, Remi and Ronin suddenly looking like the before and after of some very well-done beauty ad. "I'll take you again." Remi warns, advancing on his husband. "See if I don't." More playful than serious, there should be little doubt that should the Huntsman continue to be so unreasonably handful, that Remi would find the stamina for it.

Wrapping his arms around Ronin's shoulders and sighing into the feeling of leather against his bare skin, the Lullaby stretches out his wings with a grin. "I'm flying naked, then." He declares as if that was somehow a worthy counter.

and on to the glory at my right hand

"I bravely led the way down some treacherously steep steps leading into the bowels of the Spire," Ronin explains, thus proving that his crafty side is alive and well, "and I was cruelly assaulted by monsters in the dark, which resulted in my losing my footing and falling. Down the stairs. Because of monsters." He nods seriously.

And as his leather clad body provides a perfect distraction, of course Ronin capitalises on it, running his hands down the sleek and shining material. "Come on?" he echoes, and as Remi advances across the snow and utters his warnings, a dark sort of fire alights in the Huntsman's eyes. Already he feels heat curl in his belly, his arms slipping around Remi's waist to draw him flush against him.

"Promises, promises," he laments, only to flash a smile to Remi as if flying naked is a fair compromise. "You fly naked, then you take me again at the hot springs. If you can catch me." He winks.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

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

Pulling a face as his husband says bowels if only to be a shit, Remi raises both of his eyebrows at once. 'Cruelly assaulted by monsters.' He repeats, nodding. "I have never heard of gravity and clumsiness referred to as monsters, but who am I to question the great Huntsman?" Beaming, Remi shrugs his shoulders. "Besides, you can hardly fault me for trying to lock you down while you weren't all there. You're a catch, and back then, I wasn't as fast or strong as I am now."

With a low growl, Remi stands taller in his husband's arms, grinning victoriously. Glancing toward the end of the tundra where the Climb's caves began, Remi considers their END stats accepts his husband's challenge. "If I catch you, I get to take you again. And if I lose, you can take me." He suggests, giving his wings a dramatic fanning.

and on to the glory at my right hand

"No one can question the great Huntsman when it comes to issues like these. I have faced many, many monsters, Remi, and none have caught me out quite so thoroughly as the ones in the Spire. In the bowels of the Spire." Bouncing his eyebrows at the Lullaby, his smile turns crooked both to hear that he's a catch and as Remi straightens up to his entire inch of difference in height.

Having let his hands cup the other man's bare ass by now, he also considers the distance, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. Given that Ronin knows he is neither faster than his husband and nor does he have more stamina, it's almost as though he doesn't want to win. What a surprise. "Deal," he rumbles, draping himself against Remi as if to make the most of his husband's tolness.

But then, of course, it's time to make good on the challenge. Stepping back, still ruffed with fiery feathers, draconic wings expand from Ronin's shoulders. With a beat and a leap into the air, he lets one of the cold gales catch him and soars away towards the Climb.

Even a headstart won't save him, though, and Ronin has never been happier to lose a race.

~FIN

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)