give me something to sing about

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

Grinning as well, Ronin can at least trust his husband to rally when there's food involved, and he's about to suggest he duplicate himself when the Lullaby goes ahead and gets there first. And Ronin is more than happy to let him; snug against the other man, he busies himself stroking tender fingers down the length of Remi's body and pressing soft, endless kisses against the underside of his jaw.

Only when there's wine on offer does he bother to lever an elbow beneath himself, offering a lazy smile and a murmur of thanks (and a very lustful glance to the two Remi's, if only he were able to go again) as he accepts the cup. Sipping at the wine at the same time as he's smooched, the flush to Ronin's cheeks might be blamed on the exertion of the past few minutes, but his husband will know better.

"Mm, remember when we used to dream about this, while we were waiting for the war to crash into our lives?" he murmurs. "We'd imagine times like this. And I know they say you don't normally realise you're having your good times when they're happening, but... I really do know how good we've got it right now."

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

"I remember dreaming about this long before the war." Remi agrees a touch wistfully as he takes the cup of wine from his husband. "For all of the friends we have, and our children...gods, to just spend time with you.." Smiling foolishly, the alchemist gives his head a small and bashful shake. "Even at our wedding, I would have sent everyone home and rushed through the ceremony to have you all to myself." Such was the Lullaby's love for the Huntsman; selfish, unwaveringly needy, and always wild. I get a little bit Ghengis Khan.

Biting at the inside corner of his lip as his eyes narrow, Remi considers for a moment before nodding. "I think you are right. This is one of those moments." One they'd look back on in moments both good and bad.

Sighing contentedly, happy to let the cool breezes be all that blanketed them, the Lullaby, for the first time he could remember, allows himself simply to be. To be in Ronin's presence, to be blissfully and boyishly in love, to be satisfied.

"I was right, you know." He murmurs slyly, passing the wine cup back to Ronin. "You see how nice a picnic here is?"

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

"Mm, it feels like we've rarely had time to just be together, you and me. At least not without something lurking between us, like war or gods or just other people." Sighing out a content breath and flashing a smirk across at his husband, Ronin sneaks a kiss to Remi's cheek at the reminder about their wedding. "But it was such a rush, to make ourselves wait," he reminds him with a wicked whisper. "Not that I think I'd be able to do that again. I can barely go five seconds without wanting you." And he's not afraid to admit it, either.

Accepting the wine cup back, Ronin is in the process of properly savouring it, like they'd talked about for so long, his eyes shut and the breeze ruffling through his hair, when Remi speaks again. Peeping his eyes back open, it's with a very sly smile in return that the Huntsman leans in to shut his partner up with a proper kiss. "You," he mumbles against his lips, "were absolutely right. And now we can do this whenever we want." Kissing him again, Ronin takes another sip from the cup before offering it back to Remi.

"Do you know," he says conversationally, "I ran into Deimos down on the Tundra, when I went to hunt for ningo last."

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

Biting at the inside of his cheek and raising his eyebrows, Remi's smile is one of immediate agreement as he lets his shoulders sag. "Gods, when I think about all of the arguments we have had...and to think, we could have just not, and had moments like this instead." Flashing his husband a smile that says I know it is not so simple as that, the Lullaby turns his head so that the kiss meant for his cheek is stolen by his lips instead. "Five seconds? I am only at two." Gods but their love is ridiculous, if only because they aren't even exaggerating.

The taste of wine on Ronin's lips following then Huntsman's admission that Remi had been right is as sweet as any dessert Ronin had brought for them. Humming smugly, the Lullaby takes the wine and finishes it, before reaching out with his good hand to refill it for them.

"Oh did you now?" Tasting this newly-poured wine to ensure it was good enough to drink, Remi hands it off to Ronin. "And how is he doing?"

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

"Mm, but the make up sex is always particularly fun," Ronin points out, his words a little muffled from where he's trying to hold a conversation at the same time as kissing Remi. "You've got a point, though. Moments like this are certainly better than arguments." Parting from the Lullaby if only so he can refill their shared cup of wine, Ronin finally shifts to sit up a little more, that he might add some food into the mix.

"Two?" he repeats with a raise of his eyebrow, sandwiching a bite of cheese between two thin apple slices and offering it out to Remi. "I'm impressed." And as for Deimos, "He seems to be doing great," he says. "Warden of Halo - and Halo has changed - a lot. I said I might drop by the Citadel at some point. He asked about Stormbreak and the Abandoned." And here Ronin perhaps sounds a little guilty. "I said I couldn't help, what with not being anything to do with it any more."

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

Rubbing his hand across his eyes before sitting up as well, Remi leans back against two tentacles which have sprung from his lower back. "One and a half." The Lullaby clarifies with a roguish grin and bob of his eyebrows as he accepts the cheese and apple. Chomping it between his teeth and mmmmmmmmmmming at the crispness of it, he does his utmost to care about the situation in Halo.

'Oh, well that is good.' He says of Deimos being the warden, of the change in ... wait, what? "Do you mean..politically it has changed or has it changed like everything else?" Probably a bit of both, now that he thinks about it. Sending a mental pulse of affection and reassurance as Stormbreak is mentioned, the Lullaby shrugs his left shoulder. "Has anyone stepped up in Stormbreak, do you know? I wonder what the gods might make of having it be more... abandoned-friendly. I suppose there is no reason to think another Voice might not spring up again, but then, the world is different now than when she first rose to power I should think."

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

Enjoying his own cheese and apple and offering a roguish wink to Remi in response to the was it one second? before they want to ravish each other again, Ronin hums a note of general agreement about Halo. "Yes," he mumbles. "Though I'm just assuming about the politics. From above, though, the landscape is... rugged," he says, trying to find the best way to explain it. "There's a strange forest, a beach with black sand, and greenery. Still colder than a witch's tit, though."

Offering another apple-cheese bite out to Remi and popping another into his mouth as well, Ronin gives a good natured rumble about Stormbreak while he works on rolling a bit of cheese into a slice of meat this time. "I have no idea," he confesses, and while at first he seems quite frustrated about it, the expression suddenly clears from his face like the sun breaking though stormclouds. "...And I don't actually care," he says through a soft laugh. "It isn't my problem any more."

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

Frowning, Remi tries to imagine any amount of greenery poking through the icy and frozen hellscape of Halo and finds that even his imagination can't do it. "Huh." He replies, pausing to briefly see if any part of himself had the desire to go and see Halo for himself and finding that no, he really didn't. "Well that's..." Again, he shrugs. It was what it was, really, just like everything else.

Happy to be fed, Remi eats his cheese first before holding his apple slice out to Ronin for a refill. 'I wonder how long that will last." The Lullaby says with a grin. "I have this reoccurring dream where Mateo becomes the leader of Stormbreak, only instead of ruling it, he just channels you and me constantly to take care of things." The terrifying part of said dream is that it wasn't even that farfetched.

"So .... it is Deimos in Halo, Maeve in Torchline, and...everywhere else is just..up for grabs?" Remi raises his eyebrows, nostrils flared in disbelief.

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

"Exactly," Ronin says in response to Remi's shrug, already having anticipated that the other man wouldn't want anything to do with Halo or visiting it; he's surprised enough that Remi wants to go down to Torchline, but then he imagines that's more to do with Mateo and Flora than it is to do with wanting to sight see.

Happily providing a refill of cheese - and a rollup of meat and cheese as well - the Huntsman hums his agreement while chewing on his snack. "A reoccurring nightmare, you mean," he says with a flash of teeth when he's done, shaking his head at the mere thought of what might happen if Mateo were to be in charge of anything, with or without their help.

"Well I wouldn't describe it as up for grabs, but yeah, it seems like they're all meandering along without leadership," he clarifies, taking a sip of wine and offering it out to Remi. "I actually saw Maeve a little while ago, too. Safrin called us into a big weird group dream."

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

Eyes wide in agreement, Remi stuffs everything he's just been given into his mouth, crunching it all together rather than enjoying it separately as Ronin had likely meant for him to.

"Really puts it all into perspective though. At times I felt so guilty for not doing more for the Greatwood, and.." Glancing off, likely not even in the direction that the Greatwood-isles were, the Lullaby gives a pensive mmmmmmmmmm, before shrugging. "...well, everything seems to be doing just fine." Accepting the wine, Remi takes a sip that's slightly larger than he perhaps should have given that they're more or less sharing, considers spitting some back into the cup before Ronin might notice, before just offering the Huntsman an apologetic grin as he hands it back.

'Oh, she...?' Trying not to frown too deeply, no matter what Remi manages to do or not do with his face, his emotions through the attuned bond discolour quite quickly. "...and how did that go?"

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

Pulling a face that suggests that Ronin had absolutely intended for Remi to enjoy his snacks separately, he nonetheless continues to make them for his husband. Little cheese rollups, strawberries dipped in honey and thick slices of bread and butter all make their way across to the alchemist, even while the Huntsman smiles softly to hear about the world and how it's just fine without them. "I sort of love it," he admits. "No more... babysitting feels like the wrong word, but that's what it was, right? We were babysitting whole regions in case anything went wrong."

Accepting the wine and finishing the cup, Ronin opts not to refill it so he can instead take the Lullaby's good hand, kissing each fingertip individually. "It was fine," he says, and the other man will be able to feel his honesty. "She healed all those who were up here with us, during the fight. I asked if she'd consider healing you, but I imagine you know how that went." Kissing his knuckles before finally moving to deal with their wine (they'll need it, he thinks), he does think Safrin has something of a point.

"Do you think now that everything with Mort is settled, you might go to see Ludo?" he asks.

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

Butter with strawberries on a plate of bread, cheese in honey; delicious. That's how Remi eats them, anyway. 'It felt exactly like that, though our idea of babysitting might be slightly skewed.' He agrees with a crooked smile. None of their children had ever been remotely normal in the traditional sense, and really, neither had their ascents to leadership.

Sighing as his fingers are kissed, the gesture such a simple one and yet it touched Remi's heart completely, the Lullaby resists the urge to tousle his husband's hair with a tentacle and instead merely sends a pulse of unfettered love his way. 'You do not seem particularly healed.' The Lullaby comments in a low voice. Naked still, Ronin's scars were all clearly visible, both old and new. Grumbling at this as Ronin likely knew he would, Remi's expression sours. "You did not need to do that." Pulling in a breath through his nose to keep himself from saying anything more, he resorts to glaring down somewhere by Ronin's knee.

'What for?' Remi wonders stubbornly.

you are terrifying and strange and beautiful

"Perhaps," he agrees. "But I think that taking care of something is just as difficult, even if ours was a bit... scaled up." With magical children and cities to rule over, it's obviously not the same as just regular babies, but it's still keeping things alive, right? Ronin likes to think so, anyway.

"That is because I didn't ask to be," he murmurs against Remi's fingers, and even though he didn't have to do it, he doesn't regret it even for a moment. "All I have are scars. I can live with those," he points out, threading his fingers through Remi's now and trying to search out his eyes, though he wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen.

"You know what for," he says softly, offering a gentle smile to his husband. "If Safrin can heal them, Ludo might be able to heal you. If not everything, then perhaps just what happened with the Core."

The huntsman

i've seen fire & i've seen rain.
i've seen sunny days that i thought would never end

Keeping them alive, huh Ronin? As parents, they were at about a 50% mortality rate, so...ahem, moving on.

Having moved from biting at his cheek to the sensitive skin on the inside of his lower lip, Remi snarls a touch as Ronin, cleverly, mentions that his were scars; the implication of course being that Remi's wounds were not just scars.

'And who says I need healing?' Remi tries and fails to lift his right arm, which only has him sniffing defiantly. "I have tentacles and a duplicate to compensate." Those abilities didn't stop the bone-deep ache that still resonated through him each time his right arm sparked or glimmered with whatever power the Core had been made of. Like a slowly exploding nova or nuclear meltdown, whatever was happening on his right side had dimmed slightly, but certainly had slowed.

Instead of continuing to be obstinate, Remi instead straightens, looking straight into his husband's eyes. "I am done trading favours with gods. I I am done running errands for them. If I could give up being a demigod I would, but because I cannot..the least I can do is just...manage on my own." It isn't stubbornness that creases the lines around Remi's eyes, but a simple and very human attempt to hold onto some semblance of autonomy when so much had been taken.