Apéritif

& doesn't the white page seem unfinished
without the dark stain of alphabets?

Every word from Finn's mouth is obscured by the rattling of bones as if somewhere a group of children were using them as dice. Closing his eyes as if that might dull the crimson sway emanating from the Spyglass, Remi feels the world begin to sway as the gaggle of beasts in his bones begin to get the better of him.

"You are right that scraps are not enough for me. Are you so sure they are enough for your family?" Remi muses, his voice tense but soft. "If you belong to yourself then you cannot belong to them. What a strange sort of love that is, to always be at a distance." Opening his eyes slowly, shocked that the world still had colour and texture, Remi grips the table with one clawed hand as the footing beneath him threatens to give way.

"Dessert? You know I cannot accept anything from you, Finn." Said as if this was a test, as if Finn was no more than some veiled fae trying to trick Remi into offering it in, if only for a moment, Remi has to swallow back the bile that rises in his throat. This, of course, being the reaction he should have had to thinking of the wine as Finn's blood, and not the Spyglass's kindness.

the lullaby

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)