say nothing

I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows
For my mind to run around with my ear up to the ground

It was hard to make anything out in all of the white. Luckily Remi didn't have to worry about getting lost, not with Ronin's capitol compass tucked away in his furs, but that didn't lessen his confusion as to how the Halovians were able to navigate all of this nothingness. The only discernable landmark he could make out was a yawning opening in the mantel of ice that surrounded all of Halo. It was the entrance to the Fangs he was fairly certain, though he'd never been in them before. A place where Mageglass could be found as well as all sorts of other nasty things.

Unable to hear anything above the howling of the winds, it was only by luck really that he caught sight of (or thought he caught sight of), a vaguely human-shaped blur amidst the snow. Just in case it happened to be an ursur-shaped blur camouflaged as a human-shaped blur, Remi pushed his wings through the openings in his thick coat.

"Hello—?"

REMI

it's 2am and i took 17 shots of vodka trying to forget your name

but the only name i forgot was mine. and sober —

It was to be an easy trip back to the Grounds from retrieving the last few pieces from what she’s called home for a year now. But of course, her little wagon has broken and the wheel is stuck in the ice and snow somewhere and it’s left her to her own devices – tugging on the wooden contraption until she finally managed to get it into the Fangs. Now, she doesn’t get tired as she once had, but her sensors do flare at her in warning to take it easy – something she’s focused on so intensely that the young woman jumps when she hears the voice call out to her.

“Fuck.” She curses, before drawing straight up and pretending like she’s had her armor upgrade on the entire time when she most certainly hasn’t. Her gaze narrows and she steps out from the snowy background just enough to recognize the figure and still in her tracks – bright blue eyes wide as she realizes just who she’s stumbled across. “Remi? What are you doing out here?” She asks, hoping that it isn’t to wrap her in all of the recent trauma surrounding Stormbreak.

— or drunk, you're the only thing on my mind

KIADA

I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows
For my mind to run around with my ear up to the ground

Emerging from the white like a ghost, though Remi recognized her at once it still takes his mind a few moments to understand who he's seeing. Flames accompany the young woman's presence in his thoughts; the Monster Hunter's Guild burning to the ground and all those other LongNight tragedies from years ago. "Kiada? I..." Well, he really hadn't been doing much of anything, and so no words readily come to answer the question. Closing his mouth, he gives his head a slight shake.

"It has been a while since I have been allowed to wander around Halo." He admits with a smile that grows a touch crooked. "Are you still living here?" Nocturnal eyes hardly helped him to see in the blinding white, so much of her wagon appeared like some dark shadow behind her.

REMI

it's 2am and i took 17 shots of vodka trying to forget your name

but the only name i forgot was mine. and sober —

Recognition flickers across the both of them and Kiada swallows hard as the awkwardness in the Fangs becomes nearly tangible. But he breaks the silence swiftly, mentioning it has been a while since he’s been here and asking if she still lives here. A question that somewhat amuses her as she can’t help the light laugh from leaving her, the shaking of her head despite how she keeps her distance and her armor still on. She fruitlessly tugs at the wagon before she responds, her arms moving to cross over her chest as she shrugs lightly.

“I was. Still living here, that is.” She admits a touch sadly. “Now I'm moving back to the Grounds given the whole Stormbreak incident.” She imagines he can understand – that she might want to go to a space where she’s safest.

— or drunk, you're the only thing on my mind

KIADA

I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows
For my mind to run around with my ear up to the ground

Not unlike a fish might, Remi's mouth opens, closes, and then opens again. It's only because of the cold that he eventually closes it, biting at the inside of his cheek and nodding dismally. "Stormbreak...mmmm." What more was there to say about it? That it shouldn't have happened? That it made everything so much worse? That gods, couldn't everyone just stay in their own fucking lane for a single season? But what was the point?

"I know everyone says it, but I do wish things were not this way." Though he and Kiada had never been close before, it wasn't as though the alchemist harboured any grudges against her. She was quick-witted, strong, as well as beautiful. Given the choice between continued death and living as an ascended, the alchemist isn't so sure he wouldn't choose to come back to life just as she had.

"Well, I'll...let you get to it. I would offer to help, but.." Shrugging, Remi frowns in an expression that seemed to say both, you don't need it, and that wouldn't go well for either of us.

REMI

it's 2am and i took 17 shots of vodka trying to forget your name

but the only name i forgot was mine. and sober —

She’s so glad that it doesn’t continue the conversation – simply just an acknowledgement of the event that took place. It’s easier that way, after all. Not that she really harbors anything against Remi – they were decent acquaintances once upon a time and she hasn’t met the man since she’d come back from the dead, since she’d come back as an Ascended – something that she knows intimately well how well Ludo feels about them.

“As do I.” Kiada murmurs a hint sadly, though she doesn’t acknowledge much else. Instead, she focuses on kicking a bit of the ice around the wagon wheels out from their spokes, unsure where to continue the conversation from there. It was a stressful time, not just for her she imagines but for the rest of them wanting to simply live a peaceful life.

That’s all she wanted when she returned, too.

So she nods to him, taking her leave as she gives the wagon a hearty tug, to head toward the portal and away from the chill winter of Halo once more. “Have a good visit to Halo, Remi.” She offers by her parting, and slips away into the cover of white yet again.

- FIN <333

— or drunk, you're the only thing on my mind

KIADA