should've worshipped you sooner

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

It's in a luxere's fur that Ronin prances his way back through Ludo's Woods and out along the banks of the Stonesong. His hooves pound through shallow waters like a drumbeat, head tossing velvet antlers as both instinct and feeling succumb to the need to move, to run, to get out the energy that crackles through his bones.

In the same way as Remi arrived in a daze from Mort's presence, soothed and placated, Ronin is invigorated, and the burning in his lungs when he finally arrives at the houseboat makes him near giddy. It is, of course, still only just after dawn, so as he shifts back, instead of tromping up and kicking open the door, the Huntsman does his best to be careful.

(His success is dependent on whether the thunder of his heartbeat has already woken Remi up).

Anyway. Sneaking(?) inside, Ronin will kick off his shoes and, cool from the morning air and smelling like tea and fresh grass, crawl up the length of their bed to try and pin Remi down through the blankets to cover his face in kisses.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Within the mound of blankets, the Huntsman's wandering fingers will find...nothing. Not even a warm spot to indicate where Remi had been (to suggest, perhaps, that he was merely in the bedroom). This will likely have the Huntsman sitting up, and now that he has reason to actually look around rather than just torpedoing towards the bed, he'll notice the little houseboat is in a shocking state. Looking vaguely burglarized, the couch cushions have all been thrown onto the floor, the shoelaces of all nearby shoes have been tugged out of their eyelets, and every cupboard is open in the kitchen.

It's about at this moment of observation that Ronin will hear a SCREEEEEAAACHHH from somewhere high above, followed by a blast of cold air and the sudden feeling of four fairly dexterous hands gripping his skull as something soft covers his eyes.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

And he's very disappointed indeed that he can't kiss his husband awake as planned, giving the pillows a good smooching for a couple of seconds before realising his mistake. "Mm...?" Ronin does, indeed, sit himself up, peeping around their little living space and furrowing his brow as he realises everything that is awry. "Oh... already?" he guesses, because he absolutely remembers the terrible mischief that comes along with this shift.

Still, Ronin is smiling and trying to figure out where his husband might be when a rabid beast shrieks from somewhere overhead, and a furry death lands right on his face. "R'ME," comes the Huntsman's muffled approximation of the Lullaby's name, and he's trying not to breath in fur (difficult, when he's laughing) as he attempts to peel the creature off his skull to see him properly.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Already.

Still chilly from having ridden Sugar down from where they'd been laying in wait for their prey Ronin, Remi's paws are not quite as adept as they otherwise might be such that he was more easily peeled from the Huntsman's head than he'd have liked. In his grip Ronin will find a squirming raccoon with jam and sugar smeared into the fur around his whiskers and nail polish on his claws (Sugar has had a matching manicure as well, compliments of Oria).

Flailing wildly to be released, the raccoon dramatically goes limp in Ronin's hands save for an unhappy twitching of his tail. I AM STARVING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

It's better than he might have imagined, and Ronin has to bite down hard on his lip not to burst out laughing at the sight of the jam-smeared, claw-painted fluffball in his arms. "I am so sorry," he gushes, snuggling the furry iteration of chaos close into his arms. "I will make us whatever you want right now, you name it." As he speaks, his fingers come to scritch behind inky black ears and into the thick ruff of fur around Remi's neck.

"I met Mort," he says, softly and quietly in response to where, precisely, he has been, the Huntsman shifting off the bed and to his feet so he can carry Remi over to the stove and start concocting whatever feast he's in the mood for. "Like... I met him. He... He was everything you told me he was." And more, still.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

For a moment the raccoon's eyes narrow as if to try and decide if the scratching was merely a distraction or if Ronin really meant he'd made food. Deciding he could (and would) have both, Remi allowed the scritches (one of his hindlegs mirrored the movements of Ronin's hand), as he pondered what food he wanted. Eggs and sasig and muffins with cream and jam. He decides brightly.

Floundering back and forth that he might crawl onto Ronin's shoulders, the Huntsman will no doubt feel a playful pause in the Lullaby's thoughts. Did he give you snacks? Remi wonders; if Mort hadn't provided the Huntsman with food that he could share, the Lullaby wasn't interested in the encounter until the massive pit in his belly had been filled.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Remi's raccoon instincts are wild and Ronin can absolutely get on board with them, allowing his husband to climb aboard his shoulders as he fires up the stove and places a frying pan over the flame to get it heated up. "I can do that," he assures him, already melting butter and cracking eggs. "Hold on--" he warns before leaning forward to grab sausages from their ice box, tossing those into the pan as well so they can start to sizzle and spit.

"Sort of. He gave me very good tea," he says, almost apologetically, as if he can feel the alchemist's very nonchalant opinion about it all. "And another gift too, but I will tell you about that later. Did you eat all the jam and cream or is there any left?" Already reaching up for the muffins, Ronin does spot some honey, so if they need to, they can substitute. "Also, can I interest you in some cocoa while we wait?"

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Did you bring the tea home? Remi wants to know as he snorfles around Ronin's ear with his nose. You can tell a lot about a person's health by how their ears smell, you know. Apparently deciding what he smelled was good enough for the moment, the raccoon leaps from his husband's shoulders where a bit of the shiny packaging from the sausage has fallen on the countertop. Picking it up and turning it over and over in his small hands, Remi sits down and peers innocently up at Ronin as he nods. Yes. It was very good. He says of the jam and cream, hence why he wants more.

Yes please. But with milk, the powder does not taste the same without it. And indeed as the Huntsman goes toward where the jar of cocoa powder is, he'll see the telltale brown smears which indicate that someone has tried to simply lick the cocoa from the jar.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

"We drank it all, sorr-- ak!" Ronin's shoulder comes up automatically even as he's chuckling at the sensation of an inquisitive nose in his ear, the Huntsman feeling mildly violated even as Remi springs away to settle himself on the counter. Turning their sausages a bit so they cook evenly, he hmms at his husband's response and reaches up to get the honey for their muffins. "This will be very good too," he decides, given that they no longer have a choice.

"What's do you mean, it doesn't ta-- oh." Nodding slowly as he picks up the jar, Ronin considers small locking mechanisms for their snacks before realising Remi would likely delight in destroying them like this. Nevertheless, having literally asked it of the God of Death, of all people, he rolls with the punches.

Pouring milk into a separate pan to heat up, Ronin busies himself whisking the powder into the mixture to make cocoa that hasn't been licked out of the container. "You're adorable, do you know that?" he informs the other man, even as he cuts up a muffin to drizzle with honey and offer out to Remi.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Sagely, Remi nods as Ronin finds the jar of cocoa, the pulse through the attuned bond being one of complete fatalism; he was always destined to try and eat the powder, thus, there was no reason to apologize for having done so. Or the corresponding mess.

Reaching out as greedily as a man who hasn't eaten in weeks, the raccoon turns the muffin over and around in his little paws until he finds precisely the right angle with which to attack it. Ronin.. Remi tilts his dark button-black eyes up towards the Huntsman while still monching away on the muffin. ...why am I a raccoon again? It's casually asked, given that this shift has very little in the way of serious thoughts that don't have to deal with food, but even a mischievous and easily distracted mind can comprehend the nature of its own existence for at least a second or so.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Smiling softly and watching the shenanigans with the muffin out of the corner of his eye, Ronin tries his best to focus on cocoa and breakfast. And soon enough with plates and mugs, he adds a veritable feast around the raccoon for him to enjoy, which conveniently gives them time to talk properly amongst themselves.

I went to Mort because I was worried about you, he explains, reverting to their Attuned bond so he can sip at his drink while he explains. And he... suggested that Ludo might have been too good at making you into what you needed to be as its demigod. That maybe you needed something that wasn't all teeth and death and violence...

Sighing and setting down his cup, he offers Remi an apologetic smile. I'm sorry I didn't discuss it with you first. It all just... it was happening. It was Mort... But now, gods, he's worried he might have taken a choice away from the Lullaby.

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Sitting on the table instead of in his normal chair (short arms, you know), Remi proceeds to dip his sausage into the honey and his muffin into his cocoa as he hears Ronin out. His ears flick a few times, notably at teeth and death and violence, though for all intents and purposes the raccoon seems much more interested in the potential food pairings before him than the fact that his husband had inserted a new shift into his soul without asking first.

That makes sense. Remi says at last, chewing loudly and with his mouth open on a particularly crusty bit of bread. Crumbs fall into the pale fur of his belly, not that Remi seems to notice, as he leans forward for another sausage.

I do think I could probably still kill someone in this form. He continues between alternating mouthfuls of bread and sausage. Especially if they took my sausage. Gravely said, it is indeed perhaps one of the few things that would cause Remi to become properly violent in this shift, rather than simply chaotic.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

Not really knowing what he expected - and still not prepared, given how Remi might feel once he's back to his usual self (...if that even happens?), the Huntsman watches the mismatched feasting with amusement in his blue eyes. "Does it?" he murmurs around a bite of sausage. "I'm glad you think so... but if it isn't what you want, I... well, I imagine Ludo could always take it back again."

Which, based on the past ten minutes, would make their lives instantly neater but also infinitely more boring (and they absolutely weren't that boring to begin with). "Oh, of that I have no doubt. You can be quite the airborne menace, too," he adds, mopping up some honey and muffin with his eggs. "Did you and Sugar plan that yourselves?"

remi

A lot's been changin' lately and I can't tell
If it's me or if it's everybody else

Mmmmm...I think it makes sense to keep it, actually. Every shift I have, and even just being me has a purpose in this war. But if this shift stays free of responsibility...if it stays secret maybe, then I can just... Remi makes a gesture with his little paws that vaguely approximates a wave going out; be chill, is what he means. Maybe you can just tell everyone you found me in Stormbreak. Or that I'm actually Fiadh. He suggests, this time dunking his sausage into his cocoa.

You say plan..we say spontaneous inspiration. Which was to say that no, it hadn't been planned, but when Ronin had come in and not immediately seen the two hunched above the cupboards, it was simply an opportunity too good to resist.

we're only human but w?'ve got hands & hearts & noses
So stop and sm?ll the fuckin' roses

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!