[SE] dirty fingernails

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

His eyebrows raise a touch at Remi's not question, Ronin nibbling at the inside of his cheek and feeling both disappointed that the other man hadn't decided to go through with asking it, and also very relieved indeed. He rakes a hand backwards through his dark hair, offering a respectful nod to the shrine (though it reads more like he's saying 'sup) and backing up, as if needing to get some breathing room between he and Remi before he really didn't want any at all.

Distantly, in the back of his mind, he wonders why that would be a bad thing, but then he's nodding along with the alchemist and all but tripping back onto the jungle path. "Uh... do you want to fly?" he asks, motioning to one of the endlessly tall trees. "We'd probably have to climb up there before taking off, because of the canopy..." Gods, why can't he direct his gaze away from Remi's feet?

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

'Fly?' Remi's voice threatens to crack as he repeats the suggestion, which he follows by an all-too-obvious clearing of his throat. If they fly they won't be able to be near one another, and, not that he wants that, it's just...well, he doesn't not want it either. And why hadn't he been able to ask Ronin if he could kiss him?

Feeling frustrated and disoriented by his own thoughts, Remi just lifts his eyes to the canopy and nods distantly. 'That sounds like a good idea. Are you...a good climber?' The words are out before Remi even really knows what he's saying; biting the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste copper, he swears silently at himself.

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

Having been staring distantly up at the canopy without really seeing it at all, Ronin huffs out a shuddery sort of breath and drags his gaze back down (all the way back down to Remi's feet, yes). "I... well, I should hope so, since we live in the Greatwood with all those trees," he mumbles, having lingered next to one of the large trunks clad in vines to make for easy climbing even if they hadn't been good at it.

The sudden reminder, though, that oh yeah, they live together finally has Ronin dragging his gaze up to the alchemist's face, and he all but drowns in seaglass eyes as he tries desperately to remember what he was about to say. With pink cheeks he holds out a hand, trying on a smile that tries to be charming and comes out boyish and bashful. "Want a leg up?"

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

"Oh...right, of course." Remi stammers, feeling his cheeks flush anew. Of course Ronin could climb trees. He'd been a storm guard and had fallen from the sky as a star, and was a warrior, and a hunter, and...why all of that blurred together in Remi's mind to form a picture of the man naked, Remi had no idea, but gods it wasn't helping.

The extended hand takes him by surprise, if only because he sees hand but hears leg. "Oh," He murmurs, stalling for time, not that his mind uses it wisely. Coming up with no excuse, it's with shaky fingers that Remi reaches for Ronin's hand, and when their fingers brush? Fireworks doesn't even begin to describe it.

Beginning in the back of his lungs, Remi feels his entire body shiver with adrenaline and anticipation that seemed to douse him in purple waves of hyper-sensation. Fueled by heat as much as excitement, the feeling expands through his veins making it impossible to stand still despite being utterly locked in place. "Sorry," Remi mumbles apologetically as his fingertips twitch as if jolted by an electrical current.

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

It doesn't even describe it. Ronin grows red right to the tips of his ears again, and even though his hand is clammy as it closes around Remi's, it's like a thunderclap has just rocketed up through his arm and down his spine. He feels his stomach flip-flop and, while he tries to say something (that's okay or don't worry about it or fuck me up against this tree) his mouth seems to goldfish and little else comes of it.

So instead, feeling his fingers similarly twitch in the other man's, he merely steps a little closer. Or does he tug Remi closer? Gods, he doesn't know, but the Longheat morning suddenly seems unbearably hot, and as much as Ronin wants to look away from the Lullaby's face, he also finds that he simply can't. "I... uh, I mean... you look..."

You look like the most handsome man in the world. Just say it, Ronin. Gods. With his heart thundering in his chest, he wonders if he might just pass the fuck out.

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

Frowning suddenly, wondering if perhaps he'd stained his clothing with the berries or gods knew what else, Remi look down sharply. Terrifyingly he found nothing about himself that looked obviously noteworthy, and so he could only wonder with silent horror if there was something on his face—in his teeth?—or worse. Rubbing at his cheek with one shoulder (was that it? had he gotten whatever Ronin had seen?), Remi turns back toward the tree. 'We should try and go, before..' Before? Before the thought of kissing you becomes too overbearing to resist. Before I go mad and strip you of everything you're wearing. Before I'm forced to risk the canopy and make a break for the sky.

"I..just need..." For the second time Remi slips his hand away from Ronin's, wincing apologetically. Turning his gaze up towards the boughs, willing them to arrange themselves into something easily scalable, and reaches. Luckily his strength had remained even if none of his rationality had.

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

Remi steps away again, and really it is for the best. If only Ronin's body agreed with him in that way, but alas, it only feels frustration as the warmth that promises much, much more finds itself tantalisingly out of reach. Clearing his throat and rubbing at the red in his cheeks as if he might banish it, he gives a stiff nod and turns back to the tree trunk. "I suppose we had better start climbing, then," he murmurs.

Wrapping his hands around the nearest vines that he might start to clamber among the boughs, Ronin would like to say that not facing Remi helps matters, but it's a filthy lie. The alchemist is never far from his thoughts, and it probably explains why he reaches for a branch only for his hand to close around nothing at all. And just like that, Ronin whumps out of the tree.

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

As Ronin hit the ground, the combined impact of their shared attuned bond along with the blushberries nearly had Remi losing his grip as well. The insides of his legs felt as though his bones were being tickled by a feather while his palms grew instantly sweaty and his vision began to blur. "Ronin," He panted, turning his head awkwardly over his shoulder and dropping back to the ground with his wings spread.

Kneeling instantly at his husband's side, and yet acting for all intents and purposes like this was the first time he'd ever seen the man, it was with trembling fingers that he reached out for Ronin's shoulder. "Are you hurt?" The sizzle of emotions, amplified by adrenaline and whatever strange toxins were in the berries, had the alchemist gasping for breath as sunlight felt as though it was building dangerously in the back of his throat. Feeling suddenly awkward about his wings, Remi shifts his shoulders ever so slightly while focusing intensely on maintaining an amount of pressure against the other man's skin that said I hope you're okay, and not it is taking all my willpower not to blanket you with my body and take you right here on the jungle floor.

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

In the grand scheme of things, Ronin is little more than winded, but he currently feels as though his fingers and toes have gone numb and as though someone has poured hot water across his shoulders. Groaning and rolling onto his back, he squints up at what he's completely convinced, for a second, is an angel with his wings spread and a hand that feels like sunlight on his shoulder. The blush in Ronin's cheeks spreads up to his ears and down to the gods only know where, and he swallows hard.

"Just my pride," he wheezes, trying to get his elbows under him, though he's not sure whether he's trying to get closer to Remi or to get away from him. "Sorry. I'm okay," he manages, one hand coming up to brush a few leaves out of his hair. His fingers almost drop back to his side again, but he finds them brushing over the back of the Lullaby's hand instead, his mouth feeling very dry all of a sudden.

"Shall we try again?"

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

"Well, that will heal." Remi replies, stumbling over the words as he watches Ronin push a few leaves from his dark head of hair. The Huntsman suddenly appears like some strange and wild woodling creature, a sprite of wood and sea forced into this body with laughing blue eyes and lips that look like they would be sweet to taste.

"Mmmmm." Remi hears himself agreeing, though as his fingers close around Ronin's shoulders to help him sit up, Remi's torso doesn't draw backwards, but remains just as immobile as his gaze. He can feel his consciousness rattling around his head but seemed utterly unable to affect anything his body was doing (or wasn't doing).

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

It would heal, but the rest of his body might not if it keeps taking tumbles out of the trees. And Ronin feels as though it might just do that if he has to climb back up. Luckily, despite his question (and Remi's answer that isn't an answer), he's caught by the pale green of the other man's eyes, the way it seems to take on the darker colours of the jungle all around, and he doesn't move at all.

And neither does the Lullaby, and his hands seem to radiate warmth where they press against Ronin's shoulders, forcing the breath to catch in his throat. "Remi?" he asks, or he thinks he does, wondering whether speaking will break the spell he seems to be under, or if it will merely bewitch him further. Either way his fingers ghost along the back of Remi's hand, sneaking along his wrist and forearm.

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

Gentle as Ronin's fingers might be, they feel like tendrils of golden fire against the alchemist's skin. Having breathed in as deep as was possible but still finding himself gasping for air, it's with a tremble that he replies to his own name with a slight shake of his head. "Ronin, I...I don't think..." Swallowing hard, Remi blinks against an onslaught of colours that suddenly seem to shine out of Ronin's eyes. '...Ronin—!" Though the words are whispery and broken, there's a sense of urgency in them that the Huntsman might recognize as normally coming at the end of certain activities.

"Ronin, I'm..." His fingers tighten against his husband's shoulder as fresh explosions of crimson appear in blotchy circles on his cheeks.

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.

you've long seen your downfall, spelled out in another's bones

Ronin is way ahead of Remi (though probably not in that way, but give it a hot second), and the way his name escapes the other man's lips is enough to erase every single bit of willpower that he has left. And let's face it, there wasn't much willpower there to begin with. He thinks he nods, or maybe says the Lullaby's name again, but in reality clumsy fingers have come to grip Remi's shirt, tugging him forward in an attempt to topple him.

And if that doesn't succeed in drawing the alchemist over him, Ronin all but flops back against the foliage, trying to pull him down into a kiss. It's not his best, given the situation - no stunning romance, no breathless passion, but gods if it doesn't feel like the best first time they've ever not had.

RONIN

kidnap me from my reality & crushed pieces of my soul

Stiff and unbalanced to begin with, it'll take precious little to encourage Remi's body to pitch forward. Fear and adrenaline spike in equal measure as he feels himself begin to fall, and gods if this doesn't feel like the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to him. Having his fingers bitten off by a prehistoric dinosaur trapped beneath the ice doesn't compare at all to the tangible panic he feels at the gentle encouragement of his long-time partners seeking lips.

Clumsily Remi braces himself with one hand shoved into the soil just as his lips crash into Ronin's. It's imperfect and is probably more teeth than it is tongue or lips, but gods if it doesn't set him ablaze. "—oh—oh, Ro—" The words are panted against the Huntsman's lips. Remi squeezes his eyes closed as he claws his hand into the dirt, trying to stave off what is already well upon him.

With a shudder that begins in the balls of his feet before winding up the backs of his thighs, Remi is helpless against the thrust of his hips. Stealing a desperate kiss he'll likely need to apologize later for, the Lullaby cums, fully clothed.

colour me outside the lines

until my shattered heart is whole

REMI

Table & Gif-sniping by SKY who deserves our love and affection for always.