plunge

I will fight the end

"Absolutely not. I'm thrilled that I just learned something new about you - this is better than my birthday." Ronin grins, and as they linger before the bed together, he lets crimson and gold feathers shiver across his form, drying him off and (hopefully) providing enough heat that Remi can begin to do the same.

Nodding bashfully, he lets out a long sigh and considers whether he wants to meticulously brush the sand from his feet before climbing into the bed. "I knew I loved you when I came back," he agrees. "The guildhall was where we started though, wasn't it? Properly, I mean." Grinning, he gives Remi a gentle nudge with an unfeathered elbow as he recalls their kitchen floor romp.

"If I remember, we did laugh it off as a fumble at first. I think that was shortly before you were with Ianto." And it still causes him a little sadness, to know that the fox had been hurt by their falling for one another. "Just like that time in the kitchen, though..." Raising his gaze to Remi and trying on an expression that tries to be grave and serious, "even though you are taller and stronger, I am willing to let you be the little spoon tonight."

'til the end is here

Coding base by Sky!

i kept falling over, i kept looking backward

"I'm sure there are still a few more things you can learn about me." Indeed, after his recent dream with Finn, Remi could think of quite a few ways that the Huntsman might gain more insight into the man he'd married. Sighing into the heat and brushing a bit of seawater from his arms, Remi too is left considering the bed. He could always make them a new one if they dirtied this one, but...something about that seemed insincere.

"When you came back? You mean, when I opened the door, didn't believe it was you, and didn't let you see your daughter?" Remi wonders with a grin, before his heart is similarly clutched by a feeling that wasn't quite regret, but was perhaps a close cousin. "That was hard." The Lullaby whispers, of Ianto. "We kissed right here, and.." Pulling in a shivery breath, Remi smiles sadly. "I knew it was you." Raising his eyes, it's with an incredulous but adoring smile that one of Remi's eyebrows arches.

"Oh to be in love with such a generous man." Now, unable to help himself, he tugs Ronin down into the sea of mismatched quilts and blankets that had been the best they could afford and barter for themselves once upon a time. 'From a literal monster of the sea, to now nearly naked on a bed made out of memories, with your equally monstrous husband." Remi hums, fitting himself perfectly against the Huntsman before tilting his head back against one of Ronin's shoulders.

"I love you, always and forever."

i went broke believing that the simple should be hard

Table inspo from kae!

I will fight the end

"Oh? That's like all of my birthdays, then," Ronin says with a bright smile - he's hardly going to complain about experiencing new things with his husband, especially if it unlocks new insights about him. "Mm, that's right. I don't know how you managed to look so handsome all hollowed out and suspicious and angry, but you did." Beaming, Ronin leans in to steal a smooch from Remi's cheek, both a compliment and a consolation about the difficulties they'd had to navigate to get here.

"It'll always be me," he vows, though before he can remark about his generosity he's being tugged into bed. Sweeping as much sand off his feet as possible, it doesn't take much for Ronin to nuzzle beneath the blankets and curl up around Remi, drawing him snug against his chest. "And I love you," he whispers in return, kissing the space just behind the Lullaby's ear.

"Mm... after this war is over," he says softly, "do you want to go ahead with that plan? A hunting lodge, you as a tour guide." Remi will be able to hear the grin in his words. "Maybe with a better job title, though. Resident storyteller."

'til the end is here

Coding base by Sky!

i kept falling over, i kept looking backward

Snuggling up against the Huntsman as if they weren't the powerful and deadly monsters of the deep and just two men very much in love, Remi presses his cheek against the splattering of ink on Ronin's chest and closes his eyes. The sound of the waves offers to lull him off to sleep as they pound out a rhythm that nearly matches Ronin's own heartbeat, but the Lullaby isn't quite ready to let go of this day yet.

Opening his eyes, one of his hands emerges from beneath the blankets to draw constellations from another world against Ronin's skin. "After the war..." He repeats thoughtfully. 'In the Wilds, maybe. I do not know if I am cut out for life somewhere that there are rules." Even if he was the one making them.

"Can I ask you something serious?" So saying, Remi lifts his head that he might rest his chin on his hand and peer into his husband's eyes. It's a look that says he knows he can ask Ronin anything, but wonders if this is the right moment or if they should simply enjoy the music of the sea.

i went broke believing that the simple should be hard

Table inspo from kae!

I will fight the end

Remi isn't the only one at risk of falling asleep to the ocean's lullaby, and as he lets himself sink more deeply into the comfort offered by the familiarity all around, all the tension seems to leave Ronin's body. The blankets smell like woodsmoke and leather and juniper berries, and a smile curls across his lips to feel his husband's fingertips against his skin. "The Wilds sounds nice. Maybe King's End, or the Oerwoud. The Feverlands is too squelchy."

His breathing has grown deep and heavy, and he's on the cusp of drifting off when Remi's question punctuates the air. Peeling his eyes back open, Ronin presses a few kisses against the alchemist's curls just to wake himself up, though the warmth radiating out through the bed from their combined heat is almost irresistible. "Serious-but-stupid? Or actually serious?" He smirks, one of his palms pressing against Remi's chest over the starburst of a scar.

"I'm all ears," he tells him.

'til the end is here

Coding base by Sky!

i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out.
but i flicker from time to time

"Or the Cordillera." Remi adds with a crooked smile. For all the familiar smells around them, nothing grounds him quite like the feel of Ronin

'Actually serious.' Remi replies...well, seriously. "I love you," he mumbles before getting into the thick of it, not able to say much of anything else while peering into Ronin's ocean-bright stare. "I think we should talk about what happens if either of us dies, temporarily." Leaning and shifting so that he was laying half on his husband now, Remi swallows and lets his head waver from side to side. "About..Mateo and the twins. About..the Greatwood. The war. About...what would and wouldn't be allowed, depending on how long it goes on for." They both had needs of various kinds as well as their obligations. Being dead for a month was different than were it for a year, and if ever they were going to hammer out the uncomfortable details, why shouldn't it be done on a bed made of memories?

I swear I still believe but I don't know

"Or the Cordillera," Ronin agrees, smiling softly and shifting to lay back properly and let Remi half drape himself across him. His fingers tease through curls drying with seasalt in them, drifting down to a stubbled chin and a strong shoulder. "I love you too," he says, riding the words out on a sleepy sigh and waiting patiently for the alchemist to drop the next heavy conversation.

And he doesn't have to wait long, though Ronin doesn't seem quite as perturbed about it, his fingertips drawing absent patterns along Remi's bicep. "Well, unless Hotaru gets in trouble, I imagine the twins would go and stay with her," he murmurs. It's not about his preference in this - it's just what he figured would happen.

The Greatwood and the war are different, of course - Remi is a leader of one and Ronin is bound to the other through the Order. He doesn't expect Remi to pick up any slack for him should he be out of commission. As for the rest, though - what's allowed or not... he can only gently shrug his shoulders. "As long as you aren't dead for good, I have no intention of climbing into anyone else's bed. If that's what you mean," he mumbles.

the dark star

i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out.
but i flicker from time to time

Pressing his tongue against the inside of one cheek and letting his eyes close, Remi pulls in an unhappy breath before forcing himself to say what needs to be said. "But..would you look out for them?" He asks as his eyes flutter back open. 'Protect them?' Feathering his jaw ever so slightly, Remi tries to breath out the tension that's mounting in his muscles.

"I think we need to take it a bit more seriously than all of that." The longer they went on as they had been, the more likely he thought it was that one of them would die. Though given the mechanisms of their deaths, Remi was the more probable of the pair. "I would want you to replace me temporarily in the Greatwood. Juniper...is far too quick to try and play peacemaker. She is good to balance me out I think, but it is a naive position."

Frowning down at the Huntsman, Remi adjusts one of his arms that his hand—his ruined one as it happened—mightly softly cup Ronin's cheek. "And if it is months? A year? We hardly made it weeks before, good intentions or not." He says, once again trying to force himself to relax. "Not many get to make a plan for a temporary death. I just...do not want us to be naive about it."

I swear I still believe but I don't know

As in most situations, one of them is the balm against the other. This time it's Ronin, tranquil and sleepy and stupidly in love, despite the serious nature of their talk. "Yes," he whispers, trying to meet Remi's eyes and leaning in to press a chase, gentle kiss against his lips. "Yes, I would protect them. I'd step in where you couldn't be there, I promise." The sincerity warbles out of him, too - since his breakdown in the Oerwoud about it all, he's scrubbed himself clean of the scales of resentment, at least when it came to the twins.

Kissing Remi a second time, Ronin blinks himself a little more alert and nods, hearing out the alchemist's just-in-case plans. "I can do that," he says of the Greatwood. "Good thing I didn't get strongarmed into becoming the new Eye, otherwise I'd not be available for this." It's a gentle joke, if that. "I wouldn't expect you to carry anything for the Order, though, if the roles were reversed. You are most powerful when you aren't beholden to anything. And besides, it would mean you were bAnNeD from Halo, and setting foot in the Grounds would kill you."

And that is not ideal for either of them.

Leaning into the hand that cups his cheek, however ruined it might be, Ronin closes his eyes and smiles. "It was different back then. Knowing you were hurting on the other side of the world, that we needed each other. I think if this happened, I would wait. I would be alright." Eyes fluttering open, he suddenly realises the other side of that coin. "Of course I absolutely don't expect the same from you, not if you think you'd need it."

the dark star

i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out.
but i flicker from time to time

Sighing heavily, his worry about the twins being top of mind should he be pulled temporarily from this life, Remi is finally able to relax somewhat. Not as boneless as his muscle, at least now he isn't just hard edges of muscle and uncertainty.

A line appears between Remi's eyebrows at the mention of not being part of the Order and all that would imply. Initially, the alchemist would have argued that he'd happily (well, without argument) take Ronin's responsibilities, but unsurprisingly the Huntsman had a point. "Well...perhaps I would spend my time building an absurd shrine around your body. Or I would just use your death as an excuse to start the war. I would not have anything else to do." Said with a dark smile, not even the emotions warbling between them are any real indication of whether or not Remi is kidding.

Leaning down to press his lips softly against Ronin's, it could hardly be called a kiss. Really, it was like using his lips in place of his arms to hug the Huntsman, albeit a good deal more gently. "I could conjure you up in dreams." Remi says without much conviction. "I wonder if there is a way of knowing...maybe Ludo could make me an hourglass."

I swear I still believe but I don't know

Smiling as he feels Remi relax, even a fraction, Ronin finds himself sprawled beneath his husband now (and honestly there's no place he enjoys being more, unless perhaps it's on top of him instead). "An absurd shrine? I expect to come around with a flower crown in a meadow that you've cultivated," he informs him with a cheeky smile. "Maybe in a glass coffin, like from one of Vai's fairytales."

The alchemist's dark smile earns a crooked one in return, Ronin sneaking a kiss against Remi's chin. "I'd be sad if you started the war without me," he admits. "All this hype and preparation, I'd at least want to be there," he murmurs.

His eyes flutter closed again as Remi leans in to kiss him, Ronin's hands running down the other man's back. "An hourglass?" he whispers, smiling against his lips. "That sounds good, actually. Put it in the glass coffin with me, and you can count down until I come back."

the dark star

i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out.
but i flicker from time to time

Grinning, adoring Ronin for making something so morbid come across so enchanting, Remi nods. "I was thinking some vast pyramid in your honour. But if you would prefer a meadow, I can do that." As for a glass coffin? The alchemist grins crookedly. "I will kiss you every day, just to see if that breaks the spell." Would he, when Ronin awoke, tell the Huntsman about all the other men and women who had allegedly kissed him? Ones like Phoebe or Maeve? Oh absolutely he would.

"Okay, no war. Perhaps I would just melt Halo instead." Remi says with a shrug, obviously still not over Morgan's banishment. Now that the idea was taking form in his mind, the alchemist is able to edge closer to full relaxation (especially given that he was subtly edging his way into being fully astride the Huntsman). " It would take out the not-knowing. I think that was what was hardest with us before...with the blight and then the sickness from Tanau...with being separated across the continent."

Very nearly does Remi suggest that they go right now. Once the alchemist had an idea it was hard to put it down, so it is that his hands begin to wander that he might distract himself. 'Anything else?' He asks, even as his lips begin to press featherlight kisses against Ronin's cheek, chin, and the side of his neck.

I swear I still believe but I don't know

"No one would be able to see me in a pyramid," Ronin says with gentle protest, though it's difficult to complain about anything with Remi where he is. "Unless it's a glass pyramid... but no. A meadow works, that way you can still deal with the Greatwood and I'll be nearby." He winks. "I expect kisses everyday too, so I'm glad you mentioned it." Leaning up, he steals a kiss as if to seal that point.

"Mm, I like that idea better. I wonder if there's anything under Halo or if it's just all ice..." He tugs the blankets over Remi further, letting his hands roam all over the other man now it becomes clear that he intends to properly climb aboard him. Still, he pauses enough to give the Lullaby an understanding smile and a nod. "It would," he agrees. "Though I want you to know that even if we both agree to wait, if I woke up and you'd just really needed to be close to someone, I'm not going to treat it like anything serious. It's good to have good intentions, but we know how difficult it can be."

There's nothing else, not really, but Ronin does feel reciprocation tickling at his brain before he lets it shut off completely. "Well, what about you? What would you want? Shall I just tuck you up in bed and wait?"

the dark star

i wish I could say I am a light that never goes out.
but i flicker from time to time

"If I made the pyramid large enough, you would be able to see it from half a world away." Remi counters. "Though in a meadow I could prowl around, pretending to be some monster you had to be saved from. I am sure that was in one of Vai's storybooks." The point so sealed, Remi hums decadently against the kiss.

"Well, if you are gone long enough I shall find out." Remi says in a whisper, shivering slightly at the sensation of furs against his bareskin, and how they trapped the heat growing between their bodies. Not wanting to agree to something he couldn't commit to either way, the alchemist focuses solely on the golden thread of love inside of himself, taut as a bowstring, that he might wrap the feeling around Ronin as well. "At the very least, I think we can both agree to use protection."

Press a kiss into the hollow left by one of Ronin's collar bones, the alchemist considers as he flutters his eyelashes over his husband's skin. "Depending on whether or not we will begin to rot away....you could hang me up as a scarecrow." Remi suggests with a grin. "Or hide me behind a waterfall, where someone might expect to find treasure."