[se]if the sky grows heavy

the lullaby

I had a dream about a burning house
You were stuck inside, I couldn't get you out

After all this time it occurred to Remi that he wasn't entirely sure if Ludo could read minds or not. Certainly, the herald knew a great deal, but was it actually telepathy? Standing in front of the shrine, his wings tucked against his flanks and his tail curled nearly to his back so that it wouldn't hurt anyone, he honestly couldn't say for sure. Well, If you cannot hear me, perhaps that is better for us both. Thought with a leonine chuckle (read: low roar) humming from his lips, the manticore retreated a step or two so that he could run his massive claws through the dry earth surrounding the tree which held Ludo's shrine.

It was a service he offered the woods on a regular basis and though Remi had been rather lax in his duties as Guardian (because..there wasn't anyone here), it was true that he cared more for the land than its inhabitants. Should he survive the war, he made a silent vow never to lead another land. It wasn't good for them and it was even worse for him.

I lay beside you and pulled you close
And the two of us went up in smoke

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Thanks to Flora's influence he had a map and permission to enter the Greatwood, even if his reason for doing so had just moved back to Halo. Still, for the first time in his life Halo was feeling claustrophobic and Tal was drawn to somewhere new. Not for a job, but for himself and his desire to walk amid green and growing things that might once have called Halo home, before the sea had frozen over.

Still, he wouldn't be Tal if he didn't have a box in his hands as he walked through the Woods, following the map to a shrine tucked off the beaten path. Boreal ranged ahead of him, head swinging low from side to side as she tasted all of the new scents in this place. The trees had shifted a little ways back, changing to something spookier and more forbidding and the courier swallowed hard and looked from side to side as the shadows grew indefinably darker.

And then he heard the roar.

He didn't quite squeak, but he jumped a little as the dragon's head raised and pale eyes pinned in the direction they had been walking. The tip of her tail twitched and then she bounded forward, low and eager, while Tal tip-toed frantically after her. "Boreal, girl, get back here! Boreal! Hsst! C'mon!"

She stopped abruptly a little ways ahead and Tal finally caught up with her.

Only to freeze as well at the sight of the manticore clawing up the earth.

He swallowed hard against a throat gone suddenly dry and tugged at her tail, trying to quietly urge her to back away from the mighty creature.

the lullaby

I had a dream about a burning house
You were stuck inside, I couldn't get you out

Remi valued his privacy these days more than he ever had. War was coming, the world seemed to be fracturing apart thanks to the choices he and others had been making, and just now his husband was off being a hero in Torchline leaving the Lullaby alone to stew in his own thoughts. So it was that he was comfortably broiling in his own mental juices when Tal and Boreal came upon him.

Turning slowly with clods of dirt caked in his paws and caught in the golden fur running down his chest and beneath his legs, the manticore fixed his sea-glass stare on the courier and his companion. Though felines can't properly frown they are masters of showing disdain without having to do much of anything, and it was with just such a look that Remi regarded Tal now. It wasn't a personal stare in that the Lullaby would have regarded anyone outside of his family with precisely such a look.

Straightening, Remi shifted his gaze towards the box the courier held and then back up again.

I lay beside you and pulled you close
And the two of us went up in smoke

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

A sensitive feline nose might notice the aroma of eau de la terreur that the courier was sporting.

It might also pick up the scent of sugary baked goods from the box which Tal clutched close to his chest as he swallowed, making his adam's apple bob like a little ping pong ball in a throat gone painfully dry.

Thanks - at least in part - to Morgan's staged death scene he had an idea of what a (fake) manticore could do to a body and it was all too easy to envision it happening to him. Rumors of the Lullaby's monstrous shift had made the rounds in Halo after that, though the demigod's good (scary?) name had been cleared in the end.

"Um. Uh. H-hi, Mister... um. Remi," he whispered as Boreal tilted her head at the much larger predator with wary curiosity. "S-sorry. Didn't mean t'interrupt I was just. Uh. Just gonna bring some... some offerin's for Ludo an' I heard it had a shrine here. Um. I can... come back later...?"

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

For a moment Remi considered shifting to become a wraith; if he barelled directly through Tal, would that scare the courier away from his woods for good? Alas, were it not for the fact that he'd brought something for Ludo, the plan might have worked. As it was, the herald would surely have something to say about the Lullaby frightening away those who were here to leave gifts.

Even ones who smelled as though they'd bathed in rotting flowers.

So, instead of becoming ghostly and terrifying, Remi simply became a man again. "You heard right." He says with a sigh before inclining his head towards a particularly gnarled and blackened tree with a shrine carved into it. "You are here now. No need to come back twice." Or, ever again.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

The manticore became a man and Tal exhaled an audible sigh of relief. Not that Remi was any less scary in his human form but...

The tail was really intimidating. Not to mention the jaws, the claws, and all the rest of it.

"Thanks, s--uh. Remi," he corrected hurriedly, taking care to give the freshly-clawed earth a wide berth on his way to the shrine. He unpacked the box carefully, setting a dish and its contents on the altar: a small, round cake with eyes and nose and whiskers done in icing and two sharp marzipan ears poking up from the top. There was even a little curl of fondant tail stuck on the back. The box bore the imprint of one of Snowcloak's best bakeries as Tal tucked it into his Bag and knelt to pray for Ludo's protection in the coming war.

Boreal watched the cake with bright-eyed intensity that never wavered, and a tail that occasionally twitched as she contemplated blasphemy.

When the courier finished he stood and dusted his knees off then turned and faced Remi, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks for the map 'n everything." Flora might have made the promise, but it wasn't hard to figure out where she'd gotten his payment from. "Is there anythin' you want taken t'Stormbreak, while I'm here?"

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

The Lullaby tried not to take note of what it was the courier was leaving as an offering, though even shifted as he was Remi was able to detect the bright sugary notes of the cake left for Ludo. It would undoubtedly attract various woodland creatures if not the herald itself, but…gods. Rubbing a hand over his eyes, Remi just sighed and forced it from his thoughts.

“The…oh. Yes, you are welcome.” What Flora had to do with the courier was beyond him and he doubted if she’d tell him should he ask. “The Woods are not as fickle as they once were, but a map still helps.” He adds with a shrug.

As for Stormbreak? Remi just gives his head a shake. “No, I am there fairly often, what with Ronin being the Commander and all.” Nearly he had said general, but that wasn’t right. Or at least, it was only right between he and his husband. "How long until you return to Halo? I have a letter for someone there, but I can send it by raven if you are not returning right away."

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

When it came to the Old Gods, Tal was sometimes bigger on enthusiasm than common sense. But if the woodland critters (or local demigods) enjoyed the offering in the god's place, well, maybe that was just Ludo working in mysterious ways, right?

Sure, Tal.

The courier relaxed a little further as they continued talking, and he'd be lying if he wasn't a little relieved that he wouldn't be taking another bouquet of uh. Suggestive flowers to Stormbreak's Commander. A job was a job, but some jobs were more awkward than others.

Something Tal's own reactions didn't often help.

He tilted his head in consideration of the Lullaby's question, however, doing some mental math as he distractedly reached back to tug on one of Boreal's horns to stop her from sneaking towards the altar. "Umm..." An airship from the Sidhe Village to Torchline and then the portal from there to Halo, barring any requests reaching him along the way. He had some supplies to gather back home anyways before he headed into the Oerwoud on Flora's next mission so... "Shouldn't be more'n three days? A raven wouldn't be much faster, an' less guarantee on gettin' where it's goin'." He shrugged and flashed Remi a wry grin. "Hopefully I'll be even faster when the skyport in Halo gets built."

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

"Mmmmmmmm." To what part of the courier's words this was meant to address isn't clear at all, especially with the way Remi's hand covers his face as he presses his fingertips between his eyes. "The letter is.." back at home; not keen on leading Tal back towards the houseboat even though its location wasn't necessarily a secret, Remi ponders for a moment before letting his hand fall back to his side.

"Perhaps just a message would be better. There is a woman in Halo now, Hotaru? She runs a spa, or...she did, once." Frowning, it seemed as though the Lullaby was mentally chastizing himself for something before continuing. "If you could let her know..." Let her know what? This was precisely the problem Remi had when trying to pen the Valkyrie a note and he was finding that trying to articulate the strange sentiments he needed to communicate was just as hard as writing them.

"..nevermind." Remi decides. He'd just find her in the dreaming. She was the mother of his children after all, so if for no other reason than that, hopefully, she could forgive the intrusion.

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Tal tilted his head as Remi thought, not unlike one of his sled dogs waiting for either a command or a treat. Wherever the letter was, Tal was now curious... but alas, that curiosity was not to be sated. A message was just as easily delivered, however, and he nodded at first--

"Ru? I know her. My sisters loved her spa," he admitted, a tad rueful. Remembering what Flora had said about her parentage and trying - and failing - to imagine Hotaru, with all her sisterly teasing, and gruff Remi doing...

Nope. His nose wrinkled up with his thoughts, his poker face tragically lacking. He didn't think of Ru that way and he didn't even want to imagine her in flagrant delicto with anyone. It was just... weird.

An' she's a pretty good friend, too, I guess." And he only 'guessed' because it was awkward for him to admit such things out loud. "Is... is there somethin' you could send her, like a token? Just to let her know... I dunno. That you're thinkin' of her?" He reached up to rub the back of his neck uncomfortably. Human relationships really weren't his forte, and it showed in moments like these.

REMI

the alchemist

Walk me home in the dead of night,
'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Gruffly now that his mind had been made up, Remi shook his head. "No, I should just...I will speak to her myself." He says on the heels of a sigh, once again pressing his fingers between his eyes to stave off the building pressure there. It was typical of someone like Remi to try and ward off pain with more pain, but if there was some sort of life lesson there, the alchemist wasn't in the mood to see it.

"Careful the smell of that does not draw unwanted attention." He says belatedly, of Taylson's offering. Feathering his jaw, the Lullaby nods in the courier's direction as he turned to leave. He couldn't say good to see you with any semblance of honesty, and so instead he just forced a tight-lipped and distracted smile onto his lips before striding off towards his houseboat that he might put himself to sleep and speak with the Valkyrie.

~FIN

So say you'll stay with me tonight.
'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!